Woman Dies At 102, DirecTV Charges Family Early Termination Fee

SAN LORENZO, CA — The family of a San Lorenzo woman who died last year at the age of 102 received an unpleasant surprise shortly after her death — thanks to her longtime service provider, DirecTV.

Isabel Albright, of San Lorenzo, died in December 2018. But shortly after her death, while her family was sorting through her former home and working to disconnect her satellite dish, they were told by DirecTV that they owed a $160 early termination fee, KGO reported.

“We're selling the house. You're going to tell us we have to keep the service at a house that's not ours?" Albright’s son in law John Manrique told KGO.

The cause of the unexpected charge turned out to be a new DirecTV box that the family had installed in the back room of Albright’s house toward the end of her life — intended for the caregivers who tended to her.

That new service was in the name of Albright’s daughter, Linda. Unbeknownst to the family, it carried a new two-year agreement with DirecTV.

Because the bill was in Linda’s name, DirecTV told Albright’s family they needed to pay — even though the family said Linda had been paying all of her mother’s bills during that period.

“We were trying to make sure that all the bills got paid,” Manrique told KGO.

Shortly after being contacted by KGO, DirecTV’s parent company AT&T agreed to waive the early termination fee — and sent Manrique a letter of apology.