Sometimes long-term contracts can be extremely demanding.
Isabel Albright of San Lorenzo, California was one of the oldest people in America.
She lived through two world wars, 18 presidents and six moon landings. However, she couldn’t outlive her satellite TV contract.
Sadly, last December Isabel died at the remarkable age of 102. While her family was repairing her house for sale they received an “early termination fee” from DirecTV. She lived longer than television itself and yet, she was in debt of it. John Manrique, her son in law, told ABC 7:
“Everything was fine until we went to disconnect and that’s when all the surprises happened.”
The bill from the TV company was for $160. The family was stunned. What happened was they hired a caregiver for Isabel and they added some extra channels for the nurse. However, no one warned them that this additional service started a whole new two-year agreement with DirecTV.
“They told us… we’re going to charge you $160 for an early termination fee. She’s gone… We’re selling the house. You’re going to tell us we have to keep the service at a house that’s not ours?”
The response they got from DirecTV was that even though Albright died, they still have to pay the bill, because the contract was in the name of Linda, her daughter.
Linda was paying all of her mother’s bills because Isabel, at her age, couldn’t handle them anymore.
The family kept calling the TV company asking for proof they’d signed a two-year agreement. John was furious.
“They had no proof other than you started this new service on this date…and that starts a new contract whether you signed it or not.”
Luckily, the Manrique family contacted the ABC production 7 On Your Side. They reached out to DirecTV and not long after, the family received a letter of apology from the TV’s parent company AT&T. The company apologized and agreed to waive the early termination fee after all.
