Fired DirecTV Contractors Say They Refused To Lie To Customers

By Martin H. Bosworth
ConsumerAffairs.com

May 7, 2006

DirecTV • Billing Problems • Installation • Maintenance • Rebates • Sales Practices • Billing for "Adult" Shows • About those "Adult" Bills ... --- News • DirecTV Takes Disputed Fees Out of Customer Accounts, Suit Charges • Major League Baseball, Cable Operators Reach Agreement • Major League Baseball Extends TV Deadline • Senators Object to DirecTV Deal that Shuts Out Baseball Fans • DirecTV Settles Do Not Call Charges • DirecTV Telemarketers To Pay $75,000 Penalty • Fired DirecTV Contractors Say They Refused To Lie To Customers • Outbreak of DirecTV Porn Charges Hits Philadelphia • DirecTV Fined $5 Million for Do-Not-Call Violations • DirecTV Will Reform Ad Practices, Pay Millions in Refunds • DirecTV Abandons Satellite Internet Plans

A group of technicians employed by a contractor for DirecTV say they were fired for exposing the company's alleged practice of heavily pushing customers to hook up their satellite receivers to phone lines, even though the service doesn't require it.

The technicians, who worked for cable and satellite infrastructure provider MasTec in Orlando, Florida, told news station Local6 that they were pressured to tell customers "anything you have to" in order to get them to hook their receivers to phone lines.

Technician Frank Martinez told Local6 that he was ordered to "tell them if these phone lines are not connected, the receiver will blow up."

Technicians said that $5 was deducted from their paycheck for every receiver they installed without the phone line connection.

As a result of the May 1st report, the technicians were promptly fired from MasTec, and say they are pursuing legal action against their former company and DirecTV.

The DirecTV service doesn't require a phone connection to order pay-per-view movies or events, as that can be done via the company's Web site or over the phone.

So what does media mogul Rupert Murdoch's satellite service gain from the procedure?

Money, for starters. Each phone line connection could cost a customer as much as $52 per room, according to the Local6 report, and another $50 for a wireless phone jack.

Not only that, but the company collects data on transactions made through the phone lines for its own purposes. That could mean anything from targeted advertising, to selling the information to other subsidiaries of the Murdoch empire, or other businesses.

DirecTV partner TiVo came under fire in 2004 for collecting information on the shows its users recorded, and being able to track specific instances of rewinding or pausing a show.

Although TiVo clearly disclosed its practice and gave customers the ability to "opt out", users of DirecTV's TiVo service often had difficulty changing their recorder's settings to prevent the data being relayed back to the company, according to postings on customer forums.

The relationship between MasTec and DirecTV is equally cozy.

DirecTV is MasTec's biggest client, paying it more than $300 million in new installations in 2005. The company is a major player for both cable and telecom companies, providing them with the crucial "last-mile" connections for high-speed television and broadband services to customers' homes.

Bob Apple, current president of MasTec's "Energy Group" division, was formerly Senior Vice President of DirecTV, ironically focused on the "installation, warranty, and service businesses," according to his company bio.

MasTec has also has financial and investment troubles over the years. In April 2006, the company settled several lawsuits which claimed it had overstated its earnings and deceived shareholders.

According to the company, the lawsuits were settled without paying the plaintiffs, even though "the company believes it would have been successful in defense of these actions."

In Mastec's words, "Management concluded that entering into the settlement was the prudent course of action, given the low amount of the settlement, the inherent risk and uncertainty of legal proceedings, and the substantial time and expense required to defend these cases."

DirecTV's own business practices have been regularly questioned by customers, particularly those who have been repeatedly billed for adult-oriented programming they say they did not order.

The company recently paid millions to settle a 22-state investigation into claims that its partner telemarketing firms were violating the Do-Not-Call Act in order to get new customers.

It also had to cough up another $5 million to settle charges of deceptive advertising, bad billing procedures, and not providing service requested by customers.

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