$300 to upgrade to HD DVR receiver on DirecTV?!?!

[msaint]

OK, so Mrs. Saint and I finally decided to enter the 21st century and get a nice LCD HDTV....we already had DirecTV and obviously now needed the HD receiver with DVR so we can, you know, WATCH SHOWS AND GAMES IN HD!

 

So we call DirecTV and they tell us it's an additional THREE HUNDRED bucks for the HD DVR receiver.

 

Is this legit? Can anyone with HD DVR DirecTV chime in and tell us whether we're being robbed, or if this is standard pricing? Seems insane. Quite a monopoly they've got going here.

 

Thanks.

[TimC]

Yeah, I got the same answer so I haven't yet upgraded. Directv is such an f'n joke. I wish we could get Comcast out here in the sticks and I could shove that monthly charge for each receiver up their monopolistic greedy collective ass.

[Kid Cid]

Usually there is some kind of special going on so you might want to hunt around for Ads or other promotions. The usual one is four months of their premium package free. Works out to about $300. I know that when I got mine BB (I know but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do) was running a special where the entire price of the box was rebated.

[AtomicCEO]

They are running a promotion right now that gives new customers either an HD or a DVR upgrade for free. The HD-DVR was going to cost me $199 when I looked at it this past weekend.

 

Call them up and tell them you're going to be eligible for that deal soon if you aren't eligible for it now.

[twiley]

They tried the same thing with us. We threatened to disconnect our entire service and go over to Dish. I got the entire install and receiver for free.

 

I'm not sure what package you currently have but we pretty much had everything along with Sunday Ticket and NHL so we had a little leverage.

 

Edit: You'll need to get around the initial customer service rep first and ask to speak to a manager. My wife works in the communication industry so she was very familiar with their "customer retention" practices. The first lady she spoke with could do nothing but stammer while my wife laid down all the facts.

Edited December 3, 2007 by twiley

[msaint]

Thanks, all.

 

Mrs. Saint called them up and worked her magic -- she's FAR more tactful and diplomatic than I am -- spoke to a manager and we got it reduced to $100 vs. $300.

[polksalet]

the day dish picks up fox business I am jumping ship

[twiley]

Thanks, all.

 

Mrs. Saint called them up and worked her magic -- she's FAR more tactful and diplomatic than I am -- spoke to a manager and we got it reduced to $100 vs. $300.

Did you threaten to pull the plug? That's worth another $100 IMO.

[Egret]

I paid ~200 for my DirecTivo HD last year. They gave me the new one for shipping, $19, and sent someone to move the DirecTivo to another room. They added another line into that room so I could use the dual tuners.

 

Have you tried customer retention? Call and at the voice prompt say "cancel" or "customer retention". I don't remember which one works.

[BiggieFries]

the day dish picks up fox business I am jumping ship

 

This reminds me...

 

My brother-in-law just got a new HDTV and has been with Dish Network for a number of years prior. He called up Dish to get the HD receiver and was told that Dish does not broadcast local HD channels (fox, nbc, cbs, abc)... at all. And the rep told him that they probably won't anytime soon. This made no sense to me. Can anyone shed some light on this? I ended up telling him to buy an HD antenna to get the local HD stations.

 

Not sure if this was just in our area or if it's nation wide with Dish Network. Any one know the deal here? Just find it peculiar.

[Avernus]

that's crazy....

 

Comcast is running 99 bucks a month for a year for phone, internet and digital and HD programming...

 

10 bucks more a month and you get the HD DVR with recording up to 16 hours of HD programming...which is about either 30 or 60 hours of SD programming..

[Double Agent]

Had the same issue with DirecTv this week. We have a HD receiver in the living room and a DVR in the bedroom. At the time, the HD DVR was $199 and the standard DVR was free...so we took the free one and stuck it in the bedroom. For our Christmas present to each other, we are purchasing a 42" LCD for the bedroom. We needed a HD receiver. So I called DTV on Saturday and let them know that I would like a HD DVR for the living room and then I'd just move the HD receiver into the bedroom. That's when they hit me with $299 plus a delivery charge. Was gonna cost around $320.00. There were absolutely no promotions. I called back on Monday to try my luck again. Nothing. So I called Dish and got all the specifics. Basically everything was going to be free plus a $50 set up fee. But I was getting 2 HD DVRs and 2 standard receivers for free. I told them I would think about it. Called DirecTV to cancel effective 01/01/08. And guess what? They are sending out the new, black HD DVR tomorrow morning....for free. Not even charging the delivery fee.

 

You gotta talk to someone in retention if you want to get anywhere.

[twiley]

You gotta talk to someone in retention if you want to get anywhere.

Absolutely.

 

I've yet to have a cable, phone, internet provider allow me to disconnect without giving me some enormous discount. It's all a game, 80% of their current customers are either lazy or don't know that all it takes is a call to "customer disconnect/retention" to get the latest and greatest deal.

 

You essentially did what we did with DirectTV. They threw in Superfan too but my wife was really bargaining with them.

[Double Agent]

You essentially did what we did with DirectTV. They threw in Superfan too but my wife was really bargaining with them.

 

What is Superfan. I don't even know what it is and I feel cheated.

[Ursa Majoris]

Funny how the pro- and anti-Comcast threads are right next to each other.

[Ziachild007]

Absolutely.

 

I've yet to have a cable, phone, internet provider allow me to disconnect without giving me some enormous discount. It's all a game, 80% of their current customers are either lazy or don't know that all it takes is a call to "customer disconnect/retention" to get the latest and greatest deal.

 

You essentially did what we did with DirectTV. They threw in Superfan too but my wife was really bargaining with them.

 

While this is all true, there is one catch. Everytime the upgrade your equipment, they also upgrade your contract. THis is even in the case that they give you an upgrade to keep you as a customer. And while its not really a big deal if you are going to stay with them for the contract, it can be if you want/need to make any upgrades before the contract is up w/o paying full price. At that point uf you threaten to leave, they can tell you they have you locked under contract and if you do not fulfil that obligation, you will be charged with the remainder of the contract.

 

Trust me, I found this out today.

[twiley]

What is Superfan. I don't even know what it is and I feel cheated.

NFL Superfan - HD games for NFL and a bunch of other stuff like player tracker.

[Chief Dick]

Thanks, all.

 

Mrs. Saint called them up and worked her magic -- she's FAR more tactful and diplomatic than I am -- spoke to a manager and we got it reduced to $100 vs. $300.

 

Mrs. Saint: "Don't you know who my husband is?"

 

Customer Service: "Uh....no.

 

Mrs. Saint: "He's Radio. You hear me, Radio."

[twiley]

While this is all true, there is one catch. Everytime the upgrade your equipment, they also upgrade your contract. THis is even in the case that they give you an upgrade to keep you as a customer. And while its not really a big deal if you are going to stay with them for the contract, it can be if you want/need to make any upgrades before the contract is up w/o paying full price. At that point uf you threaten to leave, they can tell you they have you locked under contract and if you do not fulfil that obligation, you will be charged with the remainder of the contract.

 

Trust me, I found this out today.

Ouch.

[Azazello1313]

While this is all true, there is one catch. Everytime the upgrade your equipment, they also upgrade your contract. THis is even in the case that they give you an upgrade to keep you as a customer. And while its not really a big deal if you are going to stay with them for the contract, it can be if you want/need to make any upgrades before the contract is up w/o paying full price. At that point uf you threaten to leave, they can tell you they have you locked under contract and if you do not fulfil that obligation, you will be charged with the remainder of the contract.

 

Trust me, I found this out today.

 

you still have some leverage with them though.

"and what date is my contract up? OK, i'll write that in my calendar and i'd like you to go ahead and schedule termination of my service on that date so i don't have to call back"

[myhousekey]

I called customer retention before the football season last year and they gave me:

HD DVR for $19.99

Free HD Programming 6 mths

Free Superfan

$10 off bill for 12 months

 

I did end up buying a 2nd HD DVR from Costco for about $250 though.

[Brentastic]

I just moved to a new apartment - landlord has Directv (just a two flat) so it is included in my rent. She ordered me a regular HD box (no DVR) - after I realized there was no DVR, I asked her to look into getting me the HD DVR box. Since I am not the account holder and apparently she cannot haggle, I ended up getting the HD DVR for $300. I'm not that upset because I now have DVR (crucial, IMO) and at least I own the box so when I do finally have my own home, I can get Directv and already have the DVR HD box. Unfortunately, I have missed the past 2 weeks of Survivor and Kid Nation as a result of not having the DVR - but I'm getting it this coming Monday

 

However, if I were the account holder, I would have got that sumbitch for free - I can Gair-un-teeeee that!!

[montster]

While this is all true, there is one catch. Everytime the upgrade your equipment, they also upgrade your contract. THis is even in the case that they give you an upgrade to keep you as a customer. And while its not really a big deal if you are going to stay with them for the contract, it can be if you want/need to make any upgrades before the contract is up w/o paying full price. At that point uf you threaten to leave, they can tell you they have you locked under contract and if you do not fulfil that obligation, you will be charged with the remainder of the contract.

 

Trust me, I found this out today.

 

you can suspend your account for up to nine months, paying nothing during that time, and it will still count under your contract. i did this earlier this year when we moved and were renting a condo whose idiotic CC&Rs made it too difficult to put a dish up. so, technically, if you followed through with a threat to cancel, you could just suspend your account for mine months, pay nothing during that time and then cancel after the nine months, paying the penalty on the remaining contract.

 

NFL Superfan - HD games for NFL and a bunch of other stuff like player tracker.

 

the red zone channel is the greatest thing ever. if the cowboys aren't on, i just watch the red zone channel -- no commercials, and they show every touchdown, either as it happens or just after. that alone is worth it to me.

 

has anyone used player tracker? i've never tried it.

[BearcatGreg]

you can suspend your account for up to nine months, paying nothing during that time, and it will still count under your contract. i did this earlier this year when we moved and were renting a condo whose idiotic CC&Rs made it too difficult to put a dish up. so, technically, if you followed through with a threat to cancel, you could just suspend your account for mine months, pay nothing during that time and then cancel after the nine months, paying the penalty on the remaining contract.

the red zone channel is the greatest thing ever. if the cowboys aren't on, i just watch the red zone channel -- no commercials, and they show every touchdown, either as it happens or just after. that alone is worth it to me.

 

has anyone used player tracker? i've never tried it.

I use player tracker every week. You get a message at the bottom of the screen for every player stat. You can set up two teams with 18 players per team. Go to Channel 701 to set up your teams.

[otis29]

This reminds me...

 

My brother-in-law just got a new HDTV and has been with Dish Network for a number of years prior. He called up Dish to get the HD receiver and was told that Dish does not broadcast local HD channels (fox, nbc, cbs, abc)... at all. And the rep told him that they probably won't anytime soon. This made no sense to me. Can anyone shed some light on this? I ended up telling him to buy an HD antenna to get the local HD stations.

 

Not sure if this was just in our area or if it's nation wide with Dish Network. Any one know the deal here? Just find it peculiar.

I think that is applicable to your local area. I'm in the Sacramento area and Dish gives us the broadcast locals in our HD package, except for Fox. I just use a roof antenna to pick that up.

 

I know they add broadcast locals periodically, but I've also heard they are holding off on adding much until they get another satellite in the air - sometime early next year I believe.