ORLANDO,Fla. — An Oviedo woman claims her DIRECTV bill doubled in a year, and she blames surprise fees she never agreed to pay.
Action 9's Todd Ulrich found hundreds of consumers have contacted the attorney general with similar complaints.
“Never did I think it would double, never,” customer Amy Fox said.
According to Fox, her DIRECTV bill jumped from $70 to $140 a month in just a year. There was a promotional discount on her account, but she blames increases she never agreed to, such as a monthly local sports fee.
“I was never asked, I was never told about this fee,” Fox said.
Then Fox uncovered charges for additional channels she says were never ordered.
“They just showed up on the bill apparently for the last year," Fox said.
Ulrich checked out similar complaints and found 400 consumers complained about the company's business practices since 2012.
Another customer, Eddie Field, said he is not surprised. Field claims DIRECTV charged him for a premium channels promotion that was supposed to be free.
“They're telling you one thing and turning around and doing something totally different," Field said.
DIRECTV has a controversial history. It signed agreements with the attorney general three separate times, ending investigations into unfair and deceptive practices.
Its most recent complaint has opened a new state investigation to see if it violated a 2011 settlement.
Fox was going to cancel her service, but discovered a $200 cancellation fee.
“Which was a shocker, because we are a year and a half into a two year agreement,” Fox said.
DIRECTV told Channel 9 that the state's complaints are a small fraction of satisfied customers it has in Florida. The company believes it is fully compliant with the attorney general settlment and continues to work with the agency.
DIRECTV released a statement to Eyewitness News:
"To put this into perspective, the number of complaints to the state attorney general over the past two years represent a very small fraction of the tens of thousands of customers we have in Florida, the vast majority of whom are happy with our service. We believe we are fully compliant with the terms of the state attorneys general settlement several years ago, and we continue to have a cooperative working relationship with the Florida AG, as well as other state AG offices, and are always happy to quickly resolve complaints or provide information on our compliance"
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