USABILITY: DirecTV’s puzzling bill viewing policies
I got an email from DirecTV recently, telling me that prices are going up. They linked to a PDF with new pricing info. It looks like the price of just about every subscription plan/feature they offer is going up by $2-5/month. It was not customized for me, though–it was very generic.
To find out how much my own rates were going to increase, I had to login to my account on directv.com. When I got there, though, I had a very hard time figuring out exactly what my current plan is, and how much I’m currently paying for it.
See, the problem is that I signed up with my bank to receive e-bills from most of my billers, including DirecTV. For some reason, because I usually like to view and pay all of my bills from one central location (my bank’s website), DirecTV will not allow me to view any of my bills–past or present–on directv.com.Here’s what I got when I tried to view a bill (to see which subcription package/rate plan I’ve been on for the past few years):
Our records show you are signed up to view your DIRECTV bill through your financial institution, or another bill paying web site, and not through directv.com. Because the DIRECTV online bill view service allows you to view your bill at only one web site, you are unable to view your bill at directv.com.
To view your bill here instead, you must first discontinue the online bill view you set up at your other bill paying website, by following the instructions they provide. Once de-enrolled from their bill view feature, it may take up to 30 days before you can view your bill statement at directv.com.
In the meantime, you still have access to all other directv.com account functions, including making an immediate, one-time check or credit card payment. Thank you.To ensure the privacy of your personal information, this message will no longer appear once you close the pop-up browser window.
I don’t understand the point of preventing me from viewing my bill from multiple locations. I encountered this same odd behavior with Verizon in the past. Does anybody know why they would do this? I could understand limiting users to having monthly e-bills sent to only one bank. But I think you should always be able to view your account information, including at least the most recent bill, on the company’s site, itself.
To make matters worse, it can take a month or two to get them to start sending e-bills to a bank, and then it can take a month to stop them from sending e-bills to that bank. That huge delay puzzles me, as well. Online customer account management and B2B communication should be instantaneous. 30 days is worse than snail mail! Couldn’t DirecTV print out my bill, send it to my bank via horseback mail carrier, and have someone at my bank type the bill into their system in less than 30 days? Ugh!
Anyways, my rate increase is about 5.5%. Oh well, not like I have much choice. It’s Comcast or DirecTV, here, and I’m happy with my DirecTV DVR that I got before their agreement with Tivo ended. I tried Comcast cable for a while, last year, but I couldn’t deal with the horrible Scientific Atlanta DVR that came with that.
**UPDATE BEFORE POSTING**Okay, I’ve been meaning to blog about this for several weeks, now. I logged into my account at directv.com, a few minutes ago, and I was able to see the name and price of my subscription plan right at the top of the main Account Details page, in a section called “Activity Since Last Bill.”
Click the above link to see the expanded Activity Since Last Bill section from my directv.com Account Details page.
I’m not sure if I just didn’t notice/find this link when I was looking for it, a few weeks ago, or if they’ve since made some changes to their website. I think I’m seeing a lot more DHTML/AJAX going on, so I’m thinking they made some UI improvements recently.
Unfortunately, the “View Bills” link still takes me to that page quoted above, where they tell me that I can’t view my bill on their site since I signed up to be able to receive e-bills on my bank’s site. Hmpf.
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February 22nd, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Heh. I’m about to cancel my $22/mo cable bill because I have used it for exactly 0 minutes in the last 6 months. And I watch at least 2.5 hrs of stuff every night. Netflix + broadband = better deal!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:34 pm
Ah.. Well I’m stuck with my $60 monthly cable bill, for the time being, because that’s my only available broadband option. That’s why I tried to give Comcast cable TV service a chance last year, but in the end it mostly came down to the fact that non-Tivo DVRs are horribly unusable!
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:35 pm
How much is the broadband without the cable, though? Netflix + p2p = cable * 50. I hear you can get HDTV channels on the air for free with a good outdoor antenna (For indoor antennas, I am more limited). I haven’t gone that route because I don’t want to mess with an outdoor antenna/lightning rod connected to my tv/computer. But a lot of houses have an antenna already. At which point, netflix is the top-end, antenna is the bottom-end, p2p is the side-stuff that wouldn’t otherwise be on, and cable is….. practically redundant. Practically.
February 23rd, 2008 at 1:27 am
$59.13/month is how much I pay for my Comcast cable modem service, and that does not include cable TV. That sucks, but it’s our only broadband option at this time.
When I tried cable TV about a year ago, it brought my bill up to about $86. I hated the DVR interface so much, though, so I cancelled that and went back to $59.13/mo for cable modem + about $65/mo for DirecTV.
We don’t watch that many movies, so netflix is kinda pointless for us. We watch mostly broadcast TV, but definitely regularly watch some shows on basic (or “expanded”, whatever they call it) cable channels. We don’t have a rooftop antenna, and we’re not really interested in messing with that either.
Oh, and we are not getting HD content at this time. HD receivers, especially DVRs, are too expensive at this point, and I think HDTV service costs more per month too (not sure, doesn’t matter though).
We only have one HDTV in the house, and it does not currently have cable/satellite going into it. Some day we’ll upgrade stuff, but prices are apparently headed in the wrong direction, so that day may still be quite a ways off.
May 7th, 2008 at 7:19 am
Hi, have you asked them why you can not view your bill from multiple locations? I think it is a security measure.
September 3rd, 2008 at 7:14 am
Hey guys,
I am from the UK (scotland) and we have just had a new tv on the market and it incorporates High Definition TV for free! We have a system called freesat which offer free satellite television - put together this is a really good package for any home! Do you not have anything similar in the US?
We do have SKY TV over here but for the full package it costs around £48 (around ($95) per month a bit expensive for a load of re-runs
have a look at my website for more information on our digital tv and it will give you price comparrisons and details of the new TV’s. Cable tv hasn’t reached my area yet so sorry can’t give you comparable prices and service details.
hope you
November 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I love Time Warner cable. They have good bundle deals, and very affordable tv plans!