How do you obtain a reimbursement from DIRECTV for fraudulent credit card charges.?

[joachim]

Last night, we opened our bank statement and discovered that DIRECTV had fraudulently charged our account for over $800.00. A web search showed this to be a common occurrence and I need to know if there is any way to force DIRECTV to return our money in a timely fashion. This charge had nothing to do with an overdue balance. We terminated the service within two weeks because it never worked properly. DIRECTV only admits to records of two calls concerning intermittent service, both were weather-related in their opinion. Our service went out several times daily in good weather for 10 minutes to a few hours. This is obviously an equipment or alignment issue. Several calls (I spent around 20 hours on the phone with tech support, billing and customer service when this first happened) failed to rectify the situation, so within the first two weeks of non-service we canceled the account.

As a secondary issue we had ordered a "bundle" consisting of home phone, cable and high speed internet. The phone and internet service was brokered to AT&T, who has always dealt with us in a professional manner. The phone was installed on the day scheduled with no problems. The high speed was a problem. The closest internet terminal was too far to provide us with service. AT&T only last month ran the internet wiring to our house.

In summery, DIRECTV has charged us over $1000.00 (deposits, fees, ect.) and provided no service of any kind, with the exception of a few days of intermittent cable. They continued to send a bill after the service was canceled by us. An internet search reveled thousands of other people with similar complaints. All the complaints center around unauthorized credit card transactions. Contacting customer service was of no avail. We were informed that we should fill a dispute letter with DIRECTV and we will be contacted within 14-21 days. I doubt if being contacted will equate to being reimbursed anytime this year as they have already had two class-action lawsuits filed against them for fraudulent business practices in the last two months as well as others in the past. As they currently have an "F" rating with the Better Business Bureau, I don't think they are concerned with customer satisfaction and don't expect them to willingly rectify this situation. Monday, I will contact the state and federal Attorney's General, the FCC, the BBB as well as my bank to see what can be done. Is there another agency that has jurisdiction in this case? Is anyone aware of a way to expeditiously recover this money? Why aren't our "government watchdogs" intervening?

Thank You

[armin]

Call your card company & tell them this was a fraudulant credit charge. Work this from your card angle, rather than the DTV angle....