After facing complaints filed by state attorneys in 50 states, DirecTV has agreed to pay state governments $13.25 million in addition to reimbursing individual customers who have filed complaints over misleading promotional deals and pricing. Complaints filed against the satellite company include failing to disclose price increases built into agreements, extending contracts without customers’ consent and promising to include channels that were unavailable in certain packages. Interestingly enough, despite agreeing to settle and offering millions in compensation, the settlement does not include any acknowledgment on DirecTV’s part of any wrongdoing; instead, Chief Executive Mike White suggests that the company is paying in order to shut everybody up as quickly as possible:
It was important that we resolve these issues because we are a high integrity company and we value our customer service reputation. And frankly, we wanted to get this matter behind us.
Moving forward, DirecTV promises to more clearly outline what customers are signing up for, and for how long.
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