Trying to negotiate HD upgrade for my parents

[alhurricane]

My parents have been with DirecTV for 2 years and their contract is up. They have purchased some HD TVs for the house and are interested in upgrading their DirecTV to HD. Since they are not overly tech savvy and I am a long time DirecTV customer, I offered to help get them setup.

They are looking to upgrade 2 regular DVRs to HD DVRs and one standard receiver to a HD receiver.

When I called DirecTV, they first quoted me a price of $600, which to me is laughable. I finally got transferred to the next level up and the best I could get was a grand total of $375. I did not go through customer retention at that time.

In essence, I would like people's opinion on what you think would be a realistic deal. I thought that with their contract up, I would have more leverage, but they wouldn't budge much. I even told them that the local cable and another satellite company offered to get them all setup for $100, but that didn't phase them.

Thanks in advance.

[Stuart Sweet]

$375 for two DVRs and a receiver does represent a savings from the list price.

My advice for you is to wait until after the super bowl. If history is any indication, our friends at DIRECTV are more charitable in February than they are in December.

[RAD]

I think what I've seen is folks can get one HD DVR for free or discounted to $99 but other receivers go for regular price, unless they hit retention and then YMMV.

[Garyunc]

$600?????

2 HDDVR's go for $199 each and the HD receiver is $99. What the heck was the extra $100 for? installation charges?

Given that DirectTV will be getting an extra 9.95 per month, I think you should get 1 HDDVR free as a given. The 2nd HDDVR and HD receiver would cost you $299. They should also waive standard installation. That is the deal I would go for.

I know that is only $75 better than last deal you got. You could offer to pay them $375 and ask them for a $10 per month credit for 1 year. They like those credits.

[Brent04]

[QUOTE=Garyunc;2309202]$600?????

2 HDDVR's go for $199 each and the HD receiver is $99. What the heck was the extra $100 for? installation charges?

QUOTE]

Probably some for the new dish also.

[cowart]

I would go for 1 HD DVR @ $199 and 1 HD receiver @ $99 from Directv, and then I would get an HR22 from Costco for $170. The HR22 has twice the capacity of the current models supplied by DirecTV.

You will also have to upgrade to a better antenna, probably at some cost.

How many cables do they have running to each set? You would want 2 cables for each HD DVR. If that is not possible, consider getting a SWM setup.

[rudeney]

$600?????

2 HDDVR's go for $199 each and the HD receiver is $99. What the heck was the extra $100 for? installation charges?

Add in taxes and $19.95 S&H for each receiver and it comes closer. Plus, they may have wanted another $50-$100 for professional installation.

[carl6]

I would go for 1 HD DVR @ $199 and 1 HD receiver @ $99 from Directv, and then I would get an HR22 from Costco for $170. The HR22 has twice the capacity of the current models supplied by DirecTV.


The HR20 and HR21 have roughly 50 hours of HD recording capacity. The HR22 and HR23 have roughly 100 hours of HD recording capacity. You could get any one of those from DirecTV, there is no way to predict.

Costco is certainly a cost effective option for an additional DVR, and if they are going to replace an existing DVR the necessary wiring is already there.

By obtaining the initial HD upgrade through DirecTV you will get the dish and installation.

[JoeTheDragon]

The HR20 and HR21 have roughly 50 hours of HD recording capacity. The HR22 and HR23 have roughly 100 hours of HD recording capacity. You could get any one of those from DirecTV, there is no way to predict.


you can also use e-sata with direct tv HD DVR's