Has Anyone Ever SUED DirecTV?

[jdc2003]

Originally Posted by Steelerfan

Why wouldn't a lawyer want to sue????

Because I'm a corporate defense lawyer. By definition, we don't sue anyone. We defend frivolous lawsuits and to be frank this kind of case would never come across my desk for a multitude of reasons (No. 1 - it's not worth anything to a company, if anything its a "nuisance suit"). I defend things like large party wage and hour class actions against large companies where they're facing 7, 8 and in some cases 9 figure loss exposures. So this kind of thing isn't my forte, I'm just restating horn book common law (meaning there doesn't necessarily have to be a statute on the books for something to equate to a per se cause of action).

Second and more important, I can't comment on the original poster's jurisdiction but in CA at least, neither party may be represented by counsel in small claims court. So regardless, to the cynic who might say that people like me egg on suits because we otherwise wouldn't be in business, that argument holds no dice either.

As I said before, I'm an unbiased spectator. But if I were an administrative law judge (which most small claims judges are - meaning they're not elected and have about as much judicial experience as me), and those facts were presented to me, I'd probably side with the plaintiff (though probably not for the lost wages for the same reasons that someone else pointed out).

[Steelerfan]

[quote=jdc2003;377896]We defend frivolous lawsuits

My point exactly...There is a lawyer on the other side bringing these frivolous lawsuits to court...What happened to accountablity in todays world...I rest my case...

[mluntz]

Originally Posted by MrTwix

The reality is this: DirecTV advertises HD programming ("100 HD Channels by Year-End.. Sign Up NOW").. In NO advertisement do they mention "Oh yeah, by the way, if you have trees, forgeddaboutit!" At NO time does the Customer Service Rep say to the customer, "Do you have ANY trees in the North-West, South-West, or North-East, South-East part of your property for which a signal would be impossible to come by?"

No, they don't ask ANY of these questions up front. They are more interested in the sale than anything else.

They might not come out and say all that, but they do mention in writing that you"must have a clear view of the southern sky"

I do feel sorry for you though, and I hope everything works out!

[248 F1]

I've got to tell you Mr. City Manager, the way I read it: You were already a DirecTv customer, so in all probability you were aware of, or should have been aware of the DirecTv telephone number or web address. You can ask questions and do research there. You chose not to. You were a member of this forum (you have 17 or so posts) so you knew, or should have known, you could have asked questions or done research here. You chose not to. You did choose to go out and purchase an expensive new TV and receiver before you even knew if you could receive the service. You referenced in your letter that "....at this point you had no real options when the first installer told you he could "not mount (the dish) on the eaves or on the brick because it is against company policy, not to mention that the dish is too heavy” Yes you most certainly did have another option. How about stop and get another opinion or stop and do some research. Unfortunately you chose not to and did choose to believe the installer which you yourself indicated might have not been the most knowledgeable. (Look back in your letter where you reference the 180 degree satellite arc he was supposedly indicating) Did you really believe that your satellite dish would gather signals from that wide of an arc? Had you bothered to check you would have seen the MANY references to clear line of sight and general aiming direction requirements. Sounds like you bought a boat, built a dock and got pissed when they couldn't deliver you a lake. ..... And I think I resent your implication that just because you can see MY satellite dish as you drive by MY house that you consider it "junked up". If I were the judge ....case dismissed, no merit. Good Luck.

[bigtimmo]

A somewhat old yet wise saying simply sums up this whole dilemma:

"If someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?"

[orod75]

Man I really do feel bad for you, but I have to agree with some of the people here. You were already a directv customer which meant you already had a dish on your roof, so why would you need to point the new one in the total opposite direction. Maybe I'm wrong and I would feel screwed just like you if it happened to me, but I think I would get a second opinion before I started bringing trees down.

[gryphon75]

Originally Posted by bigtimmo

A somewhat old yet wise saying simply sums up this whole dilemma:

"If someone told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?"

Originally Posted by gryphon75

If they told you that you should have jumped off the roof of your house because you could fly, would they still be liable because you do not understand the laws of physics.

Yes, and they would sue the state because they did not prevent them from jumping off the bridge by installing appropiate warning and fencing to prevent someone from jumping off the bridge.

[bigtimmo]

Originally Posted by gryphon75

Yes, and they would sue the state because they did not prevent them from jumping off the bridge by installing appropiate warning and fencing to prevent someone from jumping off the bridge.

Very nice.

[mystic7]

Originally Posted by gryphon75

I question if we are treated like crap because maybe we started treating them like crap with the belief that they are a "big company" they can afford it.

I've never treated even the dumbest sales clerk like crap. But that's beside the point. It is we, the customer, who are the ones spending the money. True, a lot of a-holes have abused "the customer is always right" but the kind of service we get today would have put any company out of business 20-30 years ago.

[mystic7]

Originally Posted by jdc2003

And for those who believe that you "can't collect", that's not true. Try having the judgment filed with the court and ruining someone's credit, or (hopefully) if they're a homeowner, you can have a lis pendens attached to their home so that they effectively can never sell until they pay off a judgment with the court.

Yeah, right. Tell it to Jenkins General Contractors. Oh wait, now they're EZ Fix General Contractors. Hold on, now they're Two Guys General Contractors. Catch my drift?

Of course, you're "hopeful" that they're a homeowner instead of a business (as if shady businesses haven't already taken into account that they're gonna get sued and have protected their assets). But of course you will get YOUR fee. This is why people don't like lawyers, among other reasons.

[hitdog042]

Originally Posted by mystic7

First off, suing in small claims court is a waste of time. Even if they don't show up and you're automatically declared the winner, good luck actually collecting.

Secondly, you seem like an intelligent person. You admit that you realized the trees he asked you to cut down were completely opposite the direction that the dishes needed to be pointed (even I, as uninterested in the technical aspects as I am, know that the dishes have to point south-southwest), yet in your haste to get HD you went ahead and cut the trees down. So if I were you I'd accept part of the blame for this fiasco and move on. Maybe get cable.

This is about as unbiased a response as you're going to get.

Mystic, learn the legal system.

Small claims is very effective. If you auto win, the court will take it right out of the company bank account if they do not pay.

A company as big as Premiere certainly will not flee the area over 3,000 dollars.

Mysic - wow. I mean, just wow to your post.

I own my own business, and I've sued many people in SC court. Collected every single time. Some harder than others with garnishments, but I got my money every single time.

[MrTwix]

I suppose, 248 F1, that the DirecTV installer who told me that the best way to receive uninterrupted HD signals is to cut down two trees "knew or should have known" that he was wrong.

Yes, I chose to believe the installer and did as he said, eventually. Yet, as a consumer, as a person with little to no knowledge of high definition satellite dishes, I would reasonably expect that any DirecTV representative would have greater knowledge than I in these areas.

I wasn't aware of his lack of knowledge, or incompetency, until the second installer arrived and made the comment about me having cut down the trees. At the time when the first installer was on my property, I figured he was lazy and just wanted to make excuses to not perform the job so he could go home as it was now after 5pm by the time he got to my home.

So I prepped the area by cutting down two trees and hauling them away at his directive. Two days later, the next installer arrived and told me the bad news. Up until then, I thought I was doing the right thing.

Many have commented that I should already know, as a long-time DirecTV customer, that the HD dish points in the same direction. Who says? I questioned the installer on this point and he assured me that, "yes, while the majority of satellites are in the Southern sky, you need to have a clear view to the North-West sky to align to a satellite there." I hadn't yet seen an HD dish and, as a consumer, with little expertise in HD, I deferred to HIS KNOWLEDGE and EXPERIENCE. HE is the PROFESSIONAL satellite installer. He had even looked through his meter tool to scan the sky and he kept going back to the North-West.. He did this many times during his 20-minutes on my property..

Had this been a regular SD install as has been the case so many times before for me, I would have scoffed at his statement regarding aligning to the North-West sky... My dish has pointed South-West since the beginning of time. Yet, HD was a new animal and for all I knew, he was the EXPERT on these things.. Plus, every other DirecTV installer I had seen on my property, over 13+ years, had done a great job and knew what they were talking about. I expected this to be NO different.

This is a case about consumer protection. I was given erroneous information by a trained, professional, DirecTV installer who was going to provide me a service that his company is known for and it turned out that he was wrong. Wrongs need to be made right.

And yes, I read these forums regularly (at least since I purchased my HD TV).. I also have read here that many people have had significant problems with DirecTV installers, customer service and tech support. Could it be, just for a second, that I have had the same experience here? I got a bad installer who, through his professional guidance and recommendation, told me the best way to assure HD signal was to remove two trees. Had he told me that I could receive HD signal WITHOUT removing two trees, do you think I would have cut two trees down? Hardly.

One more thing 248 F1, you so easily take offense to my statement about having a satellite dish on my roof would "junk it up." You need to get a life. If this dish was as big as the installer told me it was (and now that I've seen it, it isn't as big as I might have thought), the last thing I wanted was to have a large dish mounted in the center of my roof (through my shingles) with 4 coaxial cables tracking across my roof to points unknown. There is no other house in my neighborhood who has their dish installed this way.

So, this is my definition of "junked up." I am sorry if you are offended and yet you made it what it was. Considering your overall post, you are most likely a person who has been screwed in life and you are bitter about it. That, or you like to screw people.

In the end, I will go to court, the judge will decide, and I will have to live with it if it goes south on me. I am not in this lawsuit for the lawsuits sake. I truly believe the DirecTV installer made misleading and false statements which, subsequently, caused me to lose two trees in my yard. It would seem ridiculous for every consumer to have to research EVERY decision to the nth degree before they make a decision just so we won't get screwed by the professionals. The economy would virtually stop if we had to undertake such a process.

The reason they are called PROFESSIONALS is that they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities in their field that you and I don't necessarily have. If we can't depend on professionals to offer correct advice and to do the job right, then who can we depend on?

Some may not agree with me (as indicated here in this forum) and that is OK. I am not suing you anyway. I can live with any decision although, if I lose, I still won't agree. Will it make me a bitter person if I lose--No. It will end up being (regardless of the outcome) a valuable life experience and a few lessons learned (good or bad)..

MrTwix

[248 F1]

That's it, I'm crossing you off my Christmas card list.

[mystic7]

Originally Posted by hitdog042

Mystic, learn the legal system.

Small claims is very effective. If you auto win, the court will take it right out of the company bank account if they do not pay.

A company as big as Premiere certainly will not flee the area over 3,000 dollars.

Mysic - wow. I mean, just wow to your post.

I own my own business, and I've sued many people in SC court. Collected every single time. Some harder than others with garnishments, but I got my money every single time.

Count your blessings that you don't live in Florida. And, just the other day, here in NC, they did a story about a guy who does exactly what I was describing. He gets sued, he changes his company's name, and keeps right on doing business. And it will happen more and more as Florida gets too "hot" for these scumbags and they move on to fresh territory.

[jpcamaro70]

Originally Posted by MrTwix

I suppose, 248 F1, that the DirecTV installer who told me that the best way to receive uninterrupted HD signals is to cut down two trees "knew or should have known" that he was wrong.

Yes, I chose to believe the installer and did as he said, eventually. Yet, as a consumer, as a person with little to no knowledge of high definition satellite dishes, I would reasonably expect that any DirecTV representative would have greater knowledge than I in these areas.

I wasn't aware of his lack of knowledge, or incompetency, until the second installer arrived and made the comment about me having cut down the trees. At the time when the first installer was on my property, I figured he was lazy and just wanted to make excuses to not perform the job so he could go home as it was now after 5pm by the time he got to my home.

So I prepped the area by cutting down two trees and hauling them away at his directive. Two days later, the next installer arrived and told me the bad news. Up until then, I thought I was doing the right thing.

Many have commented that I should already know, as a long-time DirecTV customer, that the HD dish points in the same direction. Who says? I questioned the installer on this point and he assured me that, "yes, while the majority of satellites are in the Southern sky, you need to have a clear view to the North-West sky to align to a satellite there." I hadn't yet seen an HD dish and, as a consumer, with little expertise in HD, I deferred to HIS KNOWLEDGE and EXPERIENCE. HE is the PROFESSIONAL satellite installer. He had even looked through his meter tool to scan the sky and he kept going back to the North-West.. He did this many times during his 20-minutes on my property..

Had this been a regular SD install as has been the case so many times before for me, I would have scoffed at his statement regarding aligning to the North-West sky... My dish has pointed South-West since the beginning of time. Yet, HD was a new animal and for all I knew, he was the EXPERT on these things.. Plus, every other DirecTV installer I had seen on my property, over 13+ years, had done a great job and knew what they were talking about. I expected this to be NO different.

This is a case about consumer protection. I was given erroneous information by a trained, professional, DirecTV installer who was going to provide me a service that his company is known for and it turned out that he was wrong. Wrongs need to be made right.

And yes, I read these forums regularly (at least since I purchased my HD TV).. I also have read here that many people have had significant problems with DirecTV installers, customer service and tech support. Could it be, just for a second, that I have had the same experience here? I got a bad installer who, through his professional guidance and recommendation, told me the best way to assure HD signal was to remove two trees. Had he told me that I could receive HD signal WITHOUT removing two trees, do you think I would have cut two trees down? Hardly.

One more thing 248 F1, you so easily take offense to my statement about having a satellite dish on my roof would "junk it up." You need to get a life. If this dish was as big as the installer told me it was (and now that I've seen it, it isn't as big as I might have thought), the last thing I wanted was to have a large dish mounted in the center of my roof (through my shingles) with 4 coaxial cables tracking across my roof to points unknown. There is no other house in my neighborhood who has their dish installed this way.

So, this is my definition of "junked up." I am sorry if you are offended and yet you made it what it was. Considering your overall post, you are most likely a person who has been screwed in life and you are bitter about it. That, or you like to screw people.

In the end, I will go to court, the judge will decide, and I will have to live with it if it goes south on me. I am not in this lawsuit for the lawsuits sake. I truly believe the DirecTV installer made misleading and false statements which, subsequently, caused me to lose two trees in my yard. It would seem ridiculous for every consumer to have to research EVERY decision to the nth degree before they make a decision just so we won't get screwed by the professionals. The economy would virtually stop if we had to undertake such a process.

The reason they are called PROFESSIONALS is that they have the knowledge, skills, and abilities in their field that you and I don't necessarily have. If we can't depend on professionals to offer correct advice and to do the job right, then who can we depend on?

Some may not agree with me (as indicated here in this forum) and that is OK. I am not suing you anyway. I can live with any decision although, if I lose, I still won't agree. Will it make me a bitter person if I lose--No. It will end up being (regardless of the outcome) a valuable life experience and a few lessons learned (good or bad)..

MrTwix

IMHO, this is a ridiculous lawsuit. kind of like the lady and mcdonalds coffee. I will not sue anyone over a tree, as beautiful as they are, unless it was a very expensive exotic tree. you made the choice, based on one persons knowledge. Our "resident attorney" says you have basis in regards to the law, OK fine, i understand. But really think about it, this is so stupid, like the moronic BS you see on Judge Judy, People's Court, and the like. None of which are in HD. Damn, i would have loved to see Judy treat you like a petty jerk in HD.