DirecTV changes you may not know about...

[Ol Smoke]

I have been with DTV for over 15 years now.  Sometime last night my DVR stopped working.  I did the usual stuff; reset, turn off and on, and other things but it won't put out

an HDMI signal to the TV.  So I called them this morning and here is what they told me. (Short version)

 

Can't help you because you aren't paying for the protection plan on your boxes. ($8 per month)  I told them I don't need the upkeep fee because I can fix my own wiring

and the old TV's I have.  I just need a new DVR because this one died.  Well we can send a tech to your house to test the unit.  If it is truly dead you will have to send it to

us (My cost) and we will send you a new one for $145.  PLus you will have to agree to a new 2 year extension on your programming.

 

So let me get this straight.  I am leasing their equipment, but I am liable for it's upkeep and replacement.  I can't buy the equipment so I have to lease it.

No other provider is this way.  If their equipment dies, they send you another along with a box to send the other one back for free.

 

So I waded thru the pretend managers until I got a real guy in Denver that actually was a managing control person.  Here is what he told me.

"Yes that is the way it is now.  We had to do that to stop people from sending in older boxes just to get a new one"  So we charge for for all that now.

You can bypass all the charges by getting the protection plan added to your account.  That way if anything goes wrong with any equipment connected to your

DTV system we will repair it for free.  Because you have been such a longtime member and no one has explained all these changes to you, I will send out a new DVR

with a call tag and a return box.  When it gets there you call this number xxxxxx and I will assist you in getting it online. But after this, you will have to pay for any changes

to your systems.

 

So I just wanted to tell other DTV users out there, that if you have a box that is over a year old,  add the protection fee to your bill to protect you from going through what I did.

I was just lucky that I have been with them for so long.  Other wise I would have been out about $200 to get this DVR replaced.

 

What is neat about this protection plan is that it covers everything;  wiring, TV, boxes, dishes, realignment..etc.  I am going to get it for one year and have them replace all

this old wiring in my house, clean and realign my dishes.

Edited June 13, 2013 by Ol' Smoke

[deadauntbob]

no, nearly every other provider is that way. It's their stuff, but you have to pay for taking care of it. Did they tell you that the new DVR they are sending comes with a two year service commitment? That you will be stuck with them for two years if you plug it in? Read the fine print if that is of any concern to you as I stumbled upon similar language when I had an issue with Dish. 

 

I too have been a customer of both Dish (former) and Direct (current). I can find nothing really positive to say about either. I dumped Dish when they stopped carrying AMC and IFC a year ago and was glad to be rid of them. When my current agreement with Direct expires a year from now I will happily send them packing and be content with the airwaves, netflix and hulu. 

[Ol Smoke]

Hey Bob, yeah I knew all that.  But I did make an error in my statement up there.  The whole system coverage is about $22 a month.  The $8 is just for the box.

 

We have to have Directv for us, because we have the motorhome.  I like to get TV when we are camping so it works out.  Otherwise I would be back on Verizon FIOS.

[deadauntbob]

Smoke, somehow camping and TV just seem to contradict one another...but I get your point. I have been hinting at spouse (now that Lulu has flown the coop) that we ought to sell the farm, buy an big bus thing and see how long it takes the property tax people to track us down. 

[Ol Smoke]

I know Bob it's like military intelligence,  right.  But we are gone for weeks at a time.  I need my Fox News to find out the truth around here.

 

But I do a lot of sitting around the campfire too.  The only problem with camping for me is,  I miss my cigs.  There wasn't anything better than

a campfire, hot coffee, good company and a pack of smokes.  Those were the days my friend.

 

I didn't know that Lulu was ?relative?  He is just 30 miles from me and about 4 miles from my oldest son.

Edited June 16, 2013 by Ol' Smoke

[deadauntbob]

I'm about 30 miles from you too. I hatched him from an egg, nurtured him these many years, taught him everything I know and then the laboratory made me give him back. But I still think of him as my son...because he is.