I’m still having a problem canceling my DirecTV service, even after I wrote about my attempts in February in a post titled Don’t Turn Your Evangelists into Enemies.

If I was DirecTV, I’d make my business model simple:

Get customers.
Keep customers.
If they have a problem, fix it.
If they choose to cancel, try to minimize how loudly they’ll complain to others by being extra nice to them.

From my experience and the experiences of countless others who have complained on the internet, DirecTV is currently pursuing a customer service policy that can be summed up in one sentence:

Make it REALLY HARD to cancel the service or dispute charges.

And while I don’t have the time to detail my experiences here (I’ll do that another day) I can tell you my new policy:

DON’T USE DIRECTV.  THEY ARE A HATEFUL AND DIFFICULT COMPANY.

Luckily, Tim Shroyer shared his own experience with DirecTV on his blog, along with an example of a good experience with Saturn.  You can read his account here.

After reading his account, I know for sure who he’ll praise to friends and who he’ll badmouth.

How unfortunate for DirecTV.

Look for a full account of my experience tomorrow!