Paying for a DOD movie

[ansky]

I am downloading a $3.99 PPV movie on DOD. When I go to play it I get a "Check phone line to order message". I don't have a phone line connected. Is there any other way to pay for the movie? I called CS and the woman seemed very confused as to what DOD even was. She said I could order the movie online, but when I go to the PPV list online the movie I'm downloading (Breach) is not even listed as an available option. If my receiver is connected to the network I don't see why I would also need a phone line connected. If there is no other way to order the movie then DOD is useless to me.

[lwilli201]

You do not pay for the movie untill you watch it. There has to be a way for D* to know you watched it, and that is by telephone. If you order online, the movie will be available on all your receivers and I believe you are billed right away.

[ansky]

You do not pay for the movie untill you watch it. There has to be a way for D* to know you watched it, and that is by telephone. If you order online, the movie will be available on all your receivers and I believe you are billed right away.

I know, that's the problem. I don't have a phone line so that option is out. And the movie I'm downloading does not show up as available online. So I can't order it that way either. I don't see why they can't bill you through the internet network connection. So it looks like VOD will not be an option for people without phone lines (at least for pay content).

[lwilli201]

It is an issue that they will have to look into. More and more people are using wireless only.

[rbrome]

That's odd. I had no problem downloading a PPV movie over On Demand the other day and watching it. I don't have a phone line.

[lwilli201]

That's odd. I had no problem downloading a PPV movie over On Demand the other day and watching it. I don't have a phone line.

Does the charge for the movie show up on your recent billing activity?

[JLucPicard]

I could be completely wrong here (it's happened before, will happen again! :)), but at present, isn't the internet connection capability with the HR20/21 pretty much just an "incoming" communication and not outgoing (similar to the dish - can receive signals in, cannot send signals out).

I would imagine that people at DirecTV have or will get the idea that the internet connection could function in the same manner that the phone thing does now, but are the HR20/21 even capable of "outgoing" communication with a software update, or would that be a hardware thing?

I'm just under the impression that internet connections to those DVRs are incoming only communication.

[66stang351]

I could be completely wrong here (it's happened before, will happen again! :)), but at present, isn't the internet connection capability with the HR20/21 pretty much just an "incoming" communication and not outgoing (similar to the dish - can receive signals in, cannot send signals out).

I would imagine that people at DirecTV have or will get the idea that the internet connection could function in the same manner that the phone thing does now, but are the HR20/21 even capable of "outgoing" communication with a software update, or would that be a hardware thing?

I'm just under the impression that internet connections to those DVRs are incoming only communication.It has to have outgoing to request the download.

[JLucPicard]

DOH! See, wrong again. Then I guess they just need to work with the capability and security issues involved in feeding the information from the receiver to their billing system through an internet connection.

[ansky]

That's odd. I had no problem downloading a PPV movie over On Demand the other day and watching it. I don't have a phone line.
Do you remember what movie it was? Maybe just certain movies are not working properly.

[repulski]

That's odd. I had no problem downloading a PPV movie over On Demand the other day and watching it. I don't have a phone line.

you can order so much ppv without a phone line,but after a certain limit it will cut you off. Don't know if it;s the same way for Vod.

[ansky]

you can order so much ppv without a phone line,but after a certain limit it will cut you off. Don't know if it;s the same way for Vod.

That's an interesting point. On Saturday I ordered a PPV movie the traditional way online (not a VOD movie). When I tried to bill it to my account I got an error message about a spending limit and I had to charge it to my credit card. So I called CS to figure out what was going on because I never set a spending limit. The guy said they are upgrading their servers and that was likely the cause of the problem. So maybe the VOD problem is related.

[marksman]

They need to fix this before they go live. Makes no sense to have internet required DOD and then require a phone line too.