Damaged my $2000 TV, refused to take ownership and replace or let me out of my contract

BEWARE! I read horrible reviews online about DirecTV but did not think that anything could be as bad as what I am experiencing. In July, I was doing work in the basement of my home and knocked the little DirecTV receiver box causing it to interupt service (which should not have even been an issue because had it have been properly grounded it would not have been just dangling down from the ceiling in a way that could get tampered with in the first place). As a result, I had an error code that kept appearing on the screen. After following the steps outlines in the settings menu on how to fix it, I called the customer technical support helpline and thats when all my trouble started. The customer service rep who did not even speak english well asked me to do the same steps that i had already done. I told her that i had already completed the steps and they did not work. I told her that it was an expensive TV set and I did not want to continue to mess with it myself. She told me that they would not be able to send a technician out to my house unless i followed her steps exactly despite having already done them or if I wanted to pay a fee. I agreed to let her talk me through the steps again. While she was taking me through the steps, she was having my plug and unplug wires, push buttons, etc. at one point I saw a spark come from the back of the DirecTV receiver, and then when it came back on there was only colored lines where the picture had been. I immediately told all of this to the customer tech who was on the phone in a panicked voice but she just told me to continue on with the steps. I told her that i could not do the steps any longer because there was no picture and i could not see what was going on anymore. She then told me that she did not know how to fix the TV and that I would need to pay the fee to have another technician come out to my house to take a look. She told me a phone number to call and put in a damage claim. I called the number and it was a closed office-- no one there to help me. I called the customer service line back and asked to speak to a manager. She talked to me for a bit assuring me that everything was recorded on the phone call when my TV was damaged and that it would be taken care of. She sent a technician out the next morning free of charge.

The next morning when the technician arrived, he took one look at my TV and told me that it was most likely ruined because plasma screens have very sensitive screens and when the picture goes the whole thing is ruined. He turned on the TV and now there was not even the colored lines, just a blank black screen that made a loud POP when you tried to turn it on.  He looked at the wired and informed me that they were not done properly. He fixed them, along with the dangling box in the basement and told me that someone would be in touch but that I would be ok because everything was recorded.

I received a call a few days later informing me that I would need to schedule a time for another person to come "check on the damage" and take pictures to prove that there really was damage. He came out and looked at the TV and said that he would not be able to do anything because there was nothing he could see wrong with the wiring. I let him know thats because someone else already came out and fixed it all but had told me that there was a problem. He said that he would make a note of that and left. I did not hear back for several weeks. I tried calling and emailing and even mailing the damage claim address but no one ever got back to me. finally after talking to several people overseas in their customer support, I was told that my damage claim was denied because there was evidence that there was no faulty wiring. I tried to explain thats because they sent someone the very next day to correct all of it BEFORE the investigator came out. They told me that they could not help, nor could they transfer me to anyone in America that would be better able to explain the situation to me. Day after Day I continued to call back and try to get some answers but all they gave me was the runaround and phone numbers that were disconnected.

Now, not only am i out for the $2000 for my TV, but DirecTV is saying that my contract is binding and they will not allow me to leave without paying a fee. I explained the situation again about how they are not only liable for my TV, but also tampered with evidence in order to close the case. After talking to several extremely rude people overseas in their customer support, I was transferred to someone in America who told me that there was nothing they could do for me. I can keep my service, or I can pay the fee to leave. This company is a sham and I would not recommend to my worst enemy.