Direct TV Woes...

[lunasgal]

Hi all

I filed for Chapter 7 almost two weeks ago, just came home tonight and my Direct TV has been cancelled, and when I call customer service their system is down for maintenance.. I have never been late with Direct TV, and they were listed but listed as affirming ..

Is this common for company's to shut your service off? I know my lawyer said it can happen 1-10 people filing but I am shocked as I have been with this 10 years and never been late and out of contract...

Is my cell phone, and my Comcast internet next? Sigh the stress of filing just gets worse!

Kristen

[catleg]

I would talk to them first before jumping to any conclusions.

Normally these "entertainment" services bill you in advance, not arrears, so there is not a creditor/debtor relationship.

[frogger]

I would talk to them first before jumping to any conclusions.

Normally these "entertainment" services bill you in advance, not arrears, so there is not a creditor/debtor relationship.

Right. You pay in advance.

I had no problems with them and did not even list them when filing.

[ccsjoe]

My attorney is not listing DirecTV, cell phone, internet, etc. These are considered utilities that you pay a month in advance for normally. Only time to list them is if you are in arrears.

[lunasgal]

So I called them, and they confirmed they did shut my service off due to notice of ch 7, and will reactivate after my case is discharged, with a deposit. They said they have issued me a refund check for my credit balance ( since I just paid my bill 3 days ago) I have been with them forever, never missed one payment- I will never be back to Direct TV due to this...

My lawyer listed Direct TV, Comcast and AT&T under my other utilities.. I wish he didn't and I hope my other two don't do the same thing- I haven't read of this happening to under people and I hope Direct TV is the only one as Comcast I have my home phone under, and I don't think legally they can shut off without requiring me to pay a deposit..

Frustrated, but who said this would be easy!!

[nceguyfromne]

So I called them, and they confirmed they did shut my service off due to notice of ch 7, and will reactivate after my case is discharged, with a deposit. They said they have issued me a refund check for my credit balance ( since I just paid my bill 3 days ago) I have been with them forever, never missed one payment- I will never be back to Direct TV due to this...

My lawyer listed Direct TV, Comcast and AT&T under my other utilities.. I wish he didn't and I hope my other two don't do the same thing- I haven't read of this happening to under people and I hope Direct TV is the only one as Comcast I have my home phone under, and I don't think legally they can shut off without requiring me to pay a deposit..

Frustrated, but who said this would be easy!!

Unfortunately I don't think there is anything statutorily preventing DirecTV from suspending your service and refunding your pre-payments. They are not a public utility like the electric or water companies. I think your best hope is that Comcast does not do the same thing and you are able to switch over to them (or maybe Dish Network?) for TV service. Your attorney would have been right in listing these providers in your BK if you owed them past-due amounts and were seeking to discharge them -- and, preferably, did not use their services anymore -- but given your "current" status on the accounts I don't really understand what your attorney was thinking. My attorney did not list anything for which I was not seeking a discharge and the trustee had nothing to say about it. Even my landlord was not listed as a creditor because rent, like TV service, was paid in advance and I was on-time.

Best of luck.

[iv65536]

I had no problems whatsoever on the utilities - DirecTV did not do anything to my TV service, Comcast didn't do anything to my internet, AT&T did nothing to my cellphone, and Xcel Energy did nothing to my electric or gas service. I was current when I filed and continued paying them as normal. DirecTV, Comcast, and AT&T were listed, but the address I put on the matrix in each case was their corporate offices.

[catleg]

What might trip up Direct TV is breaking the contract which is how they cover the equipment subsidy. Still it seems stupid to terminate your service, which they can do at any time for non payment. Talk to your cable company and see if they have a dish buy back offer, when I dropped Dish Network for Time Warner Cable, they paid cash for the dish itself and the converter boxes. It was a lot of money, about $250. I'll bet Comcast has that too.

[lunasgal]

The crazy thing is I have been out of contract for over a year- Never late in all the time I have had them- They have sent me a box to send back the receivers, and have said I can reapply when my BK is discharged..WHICH I WON'T and will happily send back their receivers... The dish I will see how I can get rid of that on my own time in the future..

Since my lawyer listed them under individuals debtors statement of intention, and listed that I wanted to reaffirm the debt AT&T, Comcast and DirectTV all got notice of my pending BK... Only Direct TV has been shut off so far, hopefully the others will be fine- Hell I will even pay a deposit- Just give me a chance!

Comcast is coming out Thursday to install TV, but I have to tell you I am not minding my free digital converter box and get all the major local channels just find..So if they decide to shut me off too, (which I don't think they can do since I have my home phone also without notice since I am always paid on time ) I will be ok- Netflix and RedBox will be low cost alternatives, after all its all about a fresh start right?

[lunasgal]

Oh and yes catleg- Comcast is saving me like $50 a month for the next six months with their TV offer.. I will love their ondemand as well. I just hope they don't cut me off too when they get notice ( which they should have already gotten ) , but hopefully since I have my home phone with them they will let me pay a deposit for something first..

[OhioFiler]

The crazy thing is I have been out of contract for over a year- Never late in all the time I have had them- They have sent me a box to send back the receivers, and have said I can reapply when my BK is discharged..WHICH I WON'T and will happily send back their receivers... The dish I will see how I can get rid of that on my own time in the future..

Since my lawyer listed them under individuals debtors statement of intention, and listed that I wanted to reaffirm the debt AT&T, Comcast and DirectTV all got notice of my pending BK... Only Direct TV has been shut off so far, hopefully the others will be fine- Hell I will even pay a deposit- Just give me a chance!

Comcast is coming out Thursday to install TV, but I have to tell you I am not minding my free digital converter box and get all the major local channels just find..So if they decide to shut me off too, (which I don't think they can do since I have my home phone also without notice since I am always paid on time ) I will be ok- Netflix and RedBox will be low cost alternatives, after all its all about a fresh start right?

I certainly would not send their receivers back to them. Tell them to come and get them (but don't answer the door).

[catleg]

Comcast is OK, I use Verizon FIOS which is the best.

[keptdigging]

My guess is that their logic is that sending you a bill could some how be construed as violating the automatic stay. Filing this month, hopefully we'll just ignore the utilities. I'm current and certainly don't think of them as creditors. And yes I have Directv.