Washington state suing DirecTV on consumers' behalf

The state of Washington is suing DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite-television company, for allegedly burning consumers with big fees and terms buried in fine print.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna said DirecTV has generated more consumer complaints than any other business in 2009. He called the company's sales tactics "unconscionable."

"The minuscule 5.5-point fine print at the bottom of a DirecTV advertisement is enough to give someone a migraine," McKenna said in a prepared statement. "Even if consumers used a magnifying glass, they still wouldn't discover that the 'good deal' they were promised came with potential expensive pitfalls."

DirecTV, in a prepared statement, said the allegations lack merit and the company is confident a court will agree.

"We always strive to provide 100 percent customer satisfaction," the statement said, "but, to put it in perspective, we are talking about less than 1 percent of our customer base in the entire state."

The vast majority of DirecTV customers, the company said, understand the lease agreement and are happy with the service.

McKenna's office said Washington residents have filed more than 700 complaints against DirecTV since 2006, including 375 this year. The lawsuit is based on a yearlong investigation by the office's Consumer Protection Division.

In its lawsuit, filed Monday in King County Superior Court, the state alleges that DirecTV woos viewers with low prices, while "hiding a multitude of fees, planned rate changes and terms that call for automatic renewals."

Some examples of the allegations:

• DirecTV's contracts are very one-sided and severely limit customers' rights and remedies.

• Customers sometimes don't receive the promised promotional rate if they don't submit a rebate form before the service is installed, and sometimes the company fails to tell customers that they need to file a rebate form.

• The company says customers will receive "free" installation and equipment and service upgrades but then charges them monthly fees for the equipment or premium channels.

• The company fails to disclose that its least expensive package ($29.99 a month) is available only to customers who meet certain financing conditions.

• Customers who didn't ask for a $5.99 per month equipment-repair plan are charged $10 for canceling it.

Linda Shaw: 206-464-2359 or lshaw@seattletimes.com