If there is a discount, would you buy a refurbished PVR?

[Mark Holtz]

Would you buy a receiver from Dish or a Dealer that is refurbished, has a few cosmetic blemishes, but otherwise works fine if there was a discount?

[gcutler]

If the warranty was identical to new machine and the product was at least 25%-50% off then yes. I'm sure they just refurbish the broken component and test, especially with Dish, any other component can fail tomorrow and the older the unit the greater the chance (unless you have failure within the first few hours of a new unit)

[boba]

The discount would have to be sizeable with DISH'S history for remanufactured problems and the fact they only give a 90 day warranty on them.

[AkShark]

I take a refurbished 921 please!! I am sure they must have a few already!!! LOL

[dbronstein]

If there was a good warranty and the discount was decent - 25% or so - I would buy one.

Dennis

[Jacob S]

It would most definitely have to be a sizable discount because if you get it for nearly half price, then you could get two for the price of one, if one goes bad, you buy another one and still have the same amount as you would have had in one new one.

The good thing about it is that you could get the extended warranty for $1.99 a month therefore it would be Dish's responsibility to replace the receiver anyways. One would be CRAZY not to get the extended warranty coverage on some of these expensive PVR receivers.

I wonder if Dish will charge a higher rate on the PVR receivers in the future because of their higher value? If it is just a component that goes bad in them then it would not cost anymore to fix them than it would with a regular receiver unless the hard drive went bad in it unless they made a deal with the hard drive manufacturer for a longer warranty.

[jeffwtux]

Not a 7200, but anything else, sure.
BTW: why don't they allow refurbs on Club Dish deals? What's the difference?

[Jacob S]

What I dont understand is how they did not allow them on the free dish promotion before and now they do. Its like they want you to use the refurbs over the new systems to rid of them on one promotion, yet not on another promotion.

I think they do not want them used on the club dish promotion because it is a referral and they want to make a good impression on that referral so that they will have good referrals themselves and that the customers that gave the referral would get more referrals.

[DarrellP]

As long as it was a good price and came with no strings attached (like a 1 year commitment) and had a decent warranty & could be picked up under the Extended Warranty agreement.

[FTA Michael]

Ditto. Give me a good deal and a warranty that covers infant mortality, and I'd grab a solid-state refurb receiver in a second.

If it's a DishPlayer, I'd worry about the hard drive, so I'd need a stronger discount.

[Jacob S]

If a new one goes out on you then you get a refurbishes receiver anyways.

[DarrellP]

My first replacement was a refurb but my 2nd one was brand new.

[raj2001]

On the DirecTV side of things, people are snapping up refurb DirecTiVo units as fast as they are advertised. So, yes, I would go and buy a refurbished unit, as long as I got the same warranty and could put it under my DirecTV protection plan. I'm not a Dish subscriber but if I was one I would do the same.

[Jacob S]

Now why the heck would Dish give me such a hard time about giving me a new unit when mine went bad THREE times and have to talk to the executive vice president to get any real results? That just is not right, some get better treatment. They were telling me to call one number and the one number told me to call the one back, they were putting me through such bull and that is why you want to get the $1.99 warranty so you are not out of a new unit after a year. Mine was in warranty but they expected me to pay $15 for advance exchange 3 times plus accept a refurbished unit for the third time in a row and not offer me a 508 for the trouble or anything. They just did not care.

Well maybe they will not care to lose about 15 dozen customers I gave them.

[jgoggan]

I got a refurbished DishPVR501 when I signed up as a new customer earlier last year. It has worked perfectly and I have had no problems with it. Plus, I got the whole package for under $100 (including shipping and such) -- and only had to commit to one year of the Top50 (which is all we wanted).

Well worth it. I'd take 2 more if it was allowed. heh.

- John...

[Bob Haller]

I dont trust Anything from the E refurb department. Over a period of years 2 DOAs, one dirty unit that appeared to have never been checked.

Definetely buy the $2 a month warranty. I dont object buying a refurb, and paying a lower price. But if a brand new box dies within the first 30 days they should give you a BRAND NEW box to replace it.

Es attemopt to cut costs is hurting retention, lots of people will not put up with stuff like this.

[FrankD1]

DON"T DO IT!!! Last summer, I bought a refurb 501 from the main web dealer often mentioned on these boards. I think it was 25-30% below retail, and it worked for about two weeks before the drive died. The dealer was great and worked with me in swapping it out, but I still had to deal with the delay in cross shipping (I paid extra for air shipping, since I'm in SoCal and the dealer's in Florida). The relplacement, which was also a refurb, was semi-DOA. It powered up, but would reboot itself every 2-3 minutes. At this point, I was fed up (as was the dealer, because it was costing him money too), so I ponied up the extra money and air charges and exchanged the 2nd unit for a new 501. That one has been rock-solid so far (knock wood). The dealer stopped carrying the refurb 501s, because my problems weren't the only ones he encountered.

[gcutler]

In general Refubs from other companies are not bad (although a part can always go bad 5 seconds after buying it.) I wonder what dish does to their refurbs that makes them so "special" :D

Perhaps it is a combination of poor production parts to begin with and bad luck by the purchaser.

[Jacob S]

Do you have to pay for Advanced Exchange Shipping if a receiver goes bad under the $1.99 warranty?

[DishDude1]

If you buy a new one and it dies after 24 hours, you get a refurb anyway :(

They aren't any good when they are new, and they are a lot worse as refurbs!

[jegrant]

I'd buy a refurbished PVR (no dishplayers though) if available for 25-50 percent off and assuming it was covered under my $1.99 warranty I already subscribe to.

[UpOnTheMountain]

I would also purchase a refurb unit, but would prefer to deal with a reputable dealer than with dish directly. 30 days warranty with advanced replacement, 33% + discount, and confirmation of being able to put under the $1.99 plan ... l are all necessary to close the deal.

[Bob Haller]

Originally posted by Jacob S
Do you have to pay for Advanced Exchange Shipping if a receiver goes bad under the $1.99 warranty?


Not if you have CC auto pay, They waive the fee.

[Steve Mehs]

I don't think I would go with a refurb. I would feel more comfortable, in addition to a nice discount, if I could see what was wrong with the unit. But still, I like having new equiptment.

[Jacob S]

But if you have credit card autopay and do not have the extended warranty but was in the manufacturer's warranty period, then you would have to pay the Advanced Exchange?

[Bob Haller]

Yes they say they will charge shipping under warranty. My PVR remote ate batteries and they said there would be a $5 charge for shipping under warranty. But it didnt appear on the bill.

My 721 is getting advanced exchanged covered under new warranty and system warranty with no CC autopay. Again they said there will be a 15$ charge.

I dont like CC autopay, since I once had a problem with bogus charges not related to E It was a bear to fix.

[Jacob S]

Agreed. Once they have your money, good luck getting it back, since there is a no refund policy.