I too am being pushed by Direct TV into some sort of 24 month contract. So far, I have resisted as I won't even have a regular cell phone due to the contracts required. I don't like Direct TV because everytime it storms, it goes out, every time it snows, it goes out and their customer service tells you things like "go brush the snow off the dish to make it work because it won't work with any snow on it" and it happens to be 9pm at nite and the dish is 2 stories up, yea, right, just what I am going to do! It did clear itself about half hour later and work again. Or, when it went out during a rainstorm, I called for a credit and the CS rep told me that they ALWAYS went black at that time every week for "update maintence"...which was a lie, this was at 11:45 at nite during the Tonite Show, and it never "regularly goes black" at that time! Lazy SOB's! I frequently tell friends that the customer service reps at Direct TV are ones that even everybody's nightmare, Comcast, would not hire!
Now I have a LCD HD TV, well, you have to upgrade everything for that---and Direct TV quoted me that to replace the dish to an HD dish would cost me $149 plus $49 installation, plus they would have to re-do all the wiring (??) and there would be an extra $10 a month to 'rent' the new HD ready box. And, of course the 24 month contract was also mentioned. So far, I said NO!! They want to keep me as a customer, they hustle their bustle out here and replace the dish/box for FREE!
But, I am shocked that all the people who complained here about Direct Tv and Dish TV have not also written to their state Attorney General's office about some of the tactics used by both companies. There are some real illegal things going on here, and don't just write once, write once a month if need be! They have to answer to the AG by letter for every complaint sent in, so, write away folks! If they get enough complaints, they open an investigation against the company, so, these companies HATE to see complaints to the AG's about their business practices!
They can't charge you for "free" stuff like giving you free HBO for a month out of the blue and then start charging you for it!! That is a negative sign up, where you have to contact them NOT to bill you for a "free gift", and I thot those were illegal everywhere. And, what I am seeing with these contracts is anything goes on the cable companies part (ie raising rates from agreed upon prices, lowering services, not replacing equipment etc), but the customer is stuck paying regardless of what the contract says! If I am forced to sign a 2 year contract at say, $75 a month for the 1st year, then that is what I had BETTER be charged!
All I can say is you get the cable company you tolerate, and we need a massive campaign to the AG's of each state demanding they closely moniter these thieves!