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View Full Version : HR20 purchase: D* won't honor what they promise?


DarkAudit
10-07-07, 11:10 AM
I called D* about 10 days after I signed up, telling the CSR I'd made a mistake with the original order and needed an HR 20 DVR unit instead of one of the H20s I got. The CSR offered the HR20 at the new subscriber price of $199, chargeable to the bill and split over 3 months. The existing H20 had to be returned and shut off immediately (as in during the call). Two days later and I'm the happy owner of an HR20.

That is until the bill arrived yesterday. I got the $100 credit for returning the H20, but they charged all of the rest of the cost on this month's statement. When I called D* to straighten it out, and explained what the CSR had offered when I placed the order, the CSR I spoke with now told me that there was no way they could honor that offer.

I tried to tell this CSR that the only reason I accepted the offer was the ability to split the cost over several payments, and that this was a verbal contract I had entered into with D*. Even when I told the CSR that this was either breach of contract or fraud on their part, he wouldn't budge. He couldn't get his supervisor, so he transferred me to a "specialist".

This was even worse. Again I tried to explain what the CSR who took the original order offered. This one still said that they could not honor the offer, and refused to take the cost off the bill, repeating the mantra "all sales are final" no matter how often I tried to tell him that D* had broken the terms of the offer. The best the guy could come up with was a $10 discount for a year. No thanks. That took a $315 bill down to $305 this month. I finally had to ask for *this* guy's supervisor.

Finally, someone who could actually see what D* had offered when I placed the order. He could see on his end that the agreement was for 3 payments, not one lump sum. After a bit of number crunching, he was able to adjust the bill to my satisfaction.

Now why on earth do they have these CSRs who steadfastly refuse to honor what D* has offered? They have the information right there in front of them, but all they can say is "I'm sorry we can't do that". If they couldn't do that, then why did another CSR offer the thing? Are they intentionally perpetrating frauds or breaches of contracts?

The first CSR put an offer on the table on behalf of D*. I accepted the terms of *that* offer. It doesn't matter if that CSR made a mistake or not. I placed the order in good faith, and should not have to bear the costs based on *their* mistake.

If that is not a valid offer, it was either fraud then or breach of contract now. In either case, it's D*'s problem, not mine. It shouldn't have taken an hour on the phone and two departments to fix.

purtman
10-07-07, 11:19 AM
You mentioned the $100 credit for returning the H20. Was there a $100 deposit on it? When I got the HR20 for $150, I had a $150 credit up front with $99 for each of the next three months.
In your case, did they give you the $100 credit and then bill you the $99 each of the next three months? Find out. I don't ever recall a "deposit refund", but I could be wrong.

DarkAudit
10-07-07, 04:32 PM
You mentioned the $100 credit for returning the H20. Was there a $100 deposit on it? When I got the HR20 for $150, I had a $150 credit up front with $99 for each of the next three months.
In your case, did they give you the $100 credit and then bill you the $99 each of the next three months? Find out. I don't ever recall a "deposit refund", but I could be wrong.

They credited the programing package $100, and billed the HR20 for the full $299. The H20 I sent back was a second receiver, and I'd paid up front for that one.

vurbano
10-07-07, 05:11 PM
You know you are still not going to own it.

spartanstew
10-07-07, 06:06 PM
Why would you not take the $10 credit for 1 year? That would have saved you $120. Instead you now have the costs split over 3 months, which will save you about 11 cents in interest.


120 dollars VS 11 cents.

Seems like a no-brainer.

JLucPicard
10-07-07, 06:46 PM
Why would you not take the $10 credit for 1 year? That would have saved you $120. Instead you now have the costs split over 3 months, which will save you about 11 cents in interest.


120 dollars VS 11 cents.

Seems like a no-brainer.
I find myself in a position where I might be able to make a decision to upgrade based on being able to split the cost over three months, but wouldn't neessarily make the same decision if I was told I had to pay it all at once if paying all at once meant I may not be able to pay my entire bill in full that first month.

Yes there is certainly the school of thought that if you don't have enough discretionary income to absorb something like that for TV, you shouldn't be doing it at all. The fact remains, if the OP felt he could make that move based on split payments, but not come up with all of it in one lump, and DirecTV offered what they did, coming back now and simply stating "Doesn't matter what we told you, we're going to charge it all at once now" would not set well with me, either - $10 a month credit or not.

DarkAudit
10-07-07, 08:55 PM
Why would you not take the $10 credit for 1 year? That would have saved you $120. Instead you now have the costs split over 3 months, which will save you about 11 cents in interest.


120 dollars VS 11 cents.

Seems like a no-brainer.

It's also a matter of what I can afford today. Dropping a $315 bill to $305 doesn't do me any good if the finances of the month can't take that hit. Adjusting it down to $180 is much easier to take.

JLucPicard
10-07-07, 09:02 PM
DarkAudit,

This may not be the most desireable solution, but if they are still willing to offer you the $10 per month (and you can't get them to honor the three-pay deal), you could just figure what you would pay with the three pay and split it that way yourself. You would get nailed for a couple of late payment charges and there would be a couple of late payments on your record, but the discount would cover the late charges and then some. Or maybe pay what you can over the next two months instead.

Like I said, certainly not ideal, and I would have to think about it a bit if I found myself in the same situation and ultimately might not handle it that way myself, but it's an option.

DarkAudit
10-07-07, 09:09 PM
DarkAudit,

This may not be the most desireable solution, but if they are still willing to offer you the $10 per month (and you can't get them to honor the three-pay deal), you could just figure what you would pay with the three pay and split it that way yourself. You would get nailed for a couple of late payment charges and there would be a couple of late payments on your record, but the discount would cover the late charges and then some. Or maybe pay what you can over the next two months instead.

Like I said, certainly not ideal, and I would have to think about it a bit if I found myself in the same situation and ultimately might not handle it that way myself, but it's an option.

The supervisor of the "specialist" finally acknowledged that they made the 3-payment offer when I placed the order, and adjusted the bill accordingly. The $315 bill is now $180 for this month. I'm satisfied with that. :)

I still would like to know why the other two CSR's I spoke with yesterday had no intention of honoring the offer.

Stuart Sweet
10-07-07, 09:26 PM
This is being moved to the Ordering and Installation subforum.