Attorney General's News Release

Jan. 21, 1998

DirecTV to give refunds to consumers, pay $28,000 to state in agreement obtained by Nixon

Jefferson City, Mo. — DirecTV Inc., a satellite broadcasting service, has agreed to pay $28,000 in investigative costs to the state of Missouri in a multistate agreement to resolve allegations that the company misled customers by removing certain channels advertised in a one-year prepaid subscription offer, Attorney General Jay Nixon announced today.

More than 17,000 Missourians participated in DirecTV's "$200 Cash Back" offer by purchasing a satellite system and one year of specific programming services. The offer gave consumers a $200 rebate for subscribing to DirecTV for a year.

Before the prepaid subscriptions expired, DirecTV removed some of the channels included in the prepaid subscriptions and replaced them with other channels. To keep the channels advertised in the offer, consumers were required to pay an additional $4 per month.

"This agreement helps ensure that Missourians who purchase certain services are guaranteed those services," Nixon said. "The use of deception to make a fast buck isn't something that goes unnoticed in the state of Missouri."

Under the agreement, DirecTV is required to:

• Provide dissatisfied customers with the advertised channels at no charge for the number of months remaining in their subscriptions when the company made programming changes in April 1997.
• Give customers who have canceled their subscriptions $4 refunds for each month after programming changes were made.
• Refrain from changing the programming of customers who prepaid for the advertised channels without giving them an opportunity to cancel their subscriptions for a refund.

Missouri is one of 29 states that will receive a total $812,000 from DirecTV. The other states are Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont and West Virginia.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818