A good replacement experience

[msmith]

(Mods - please move if this is the wrong place)

Recently my 9-month-old HR20-700 developed hard drive problems. It was rebooting randomly and about 1/2 of the time it rebooted I'd lose everything (all programs, series links, favorites, etc). I'd already tried redownloading the current software - no luck.

I called DTV last Friday and reported the problem about 4pm EDT. The rep walked me through a reboot, and then agreed to replace the receiver. That was done about 5pm.

Later Friday I checked the web site. My replacement had already shipped!

Yesterday (Monday) I received an HR21-700. I called to get it activated, and mentioned to the rep that I used OTA channels and that I'd need an AM21 to do that. He agreed to send one to me and credit me for the cost - I should get that later this week. He got me activated pretty quickly - about 15 minutes after the automatic software download was complete.

The cost to me? $19.95. I don't have the Protection Plan. My commitment date did not move. One of the reps did give me a minor adjustment to take care of the $19.95 as well.

This was the first good experience I've had with DirecTV customer service in a long time.

[msmith]

Well, they managed to screw this up.

The $10 per month for 12 months that was supposed to pay for the AM21 (which should have been free because they replaced an HR20 with an HR21) only actually got credited for 2 months and then disappeared. I had to call back today and talk to two reps before I got it reinstated.

I'll check tomorrow to see if it actually appears.

[msmith]

OK, the credit is back. Apparently it'll end up being $10 per month for 14 months because of the screw-up.

DirecTV - THIS IS WHY I won't do automatic payments, or stop using the paper statement.

[Thaedron]

Perhaps you need to request a change to the title to be

"A mostly good replacement experience" :D

Glad to hear that things are working out for you in the end. Even if not as smooth as they should be.