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Definition of upgrade question

1K views 19 replies 6 participants last post by  Jodean 
#1 ·
Is the simple act of adding a non-DVR receiver or client considered an upgrade? Nothing from DirecTV would be needed other than mailing the receiver. The line to the dish is already sitting there unused.

When I go to the page on the D website for adding equipment, it shows the Genie client at $99, and HD receivers & DVRs at $0. There are no footnotes with fine print about additional commitments, etc.

To complicate matters, I have a free upgrade showing as well that I don't want burn on just an additional receiver. I currently have an HR44 & HR22.
 
#2 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
Is the simple act of adding a non-DVR receiver or client considered an upgrade? Nothing from DirecTV would be needed other than mailing the receiver. The line to the dish is already sitting there unused.

When I go to the page on the D website for adding equipment, it shows the Genie client at $99, and HD receivers & DVRs at $0. There are no footnotes with fine print about additional commitments, etc.

To complicate matters, I have a free upgrade showing as well that I don't want burn on just an additional receiver. I currently have an HR44 & HR22.

Will require an added fee per mo. $ 7.00
What UP-GRADE would you want with your Free Upgrade ?
 
#3 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
Is the simple act of adding a non-DVR receiver or client considered an upgrade? Nothing from DirecTV would be needed other than mailing the receiver. The line to the dish is already sitting there unused.

When I go to the page on the D website for adding equipment, it shows the Genie client at $99, and HD receivers & DVRs at $0. There are no footnotes with fine print about additional commitments, etc.

To complicate matters, I have a free upgrade showing as well that I don't want burn on just an additional receiver. I currently have an HR44 & HR22.
What do you want to 'burn' your upgrade on? Other than getting an HR54 for 4K, there isn't much you can upgrade too.

DIRECTV will define swapping your HR22 to a mini as an upgrade. While the HR22 isn't a speed demon, swapping that for a mini is a down-grade IMHO. If you can get an HR24 for free, that would be a good change.

But I'd call. The web site will have fees. You talk with them and you can probably get discounts.

And yes, I think if you add to your system, it is considered an upgrade and you'll incur an additional contract.
 
#4 ·
trh said:
What do you want to 'burn' your upgrade on? Other than getting an HR54 for 4K, there isn't much you can upgrade too.

DIRECTV will define swapping your HR22 to a mini as an upgrade. While the HR22 isn't a speed demon, swapping that for a mini is a down-grade IMHO. If you can get an HR24 for free, that would be a good change.

But I'd call. The web site will have fees. You talk with them and you can probably get discounts.

And yes, I think if you add to your system, it is considered an upgrade and you'll incur an additional contract.
I want to burn the free upgrade on the eagerly anticipated, yet currently mythical, "real" 4K solution.

I'm not swapping anything, just want to add a simple HD receiver.
 
#5 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
I want to burn the free upgrade on the eagerly anticipated, yet currently mythical, "real" 4K solution.

I'm not swapping anything, just want to add a simple HD receiver.
When that mythical 4K device/solution happens, you may have qualified for several upgrades.

If you add to your current equipment, I'm pretty sure that is considered an upgrade and you'll get hit with a contract extension.

If you have anything specific in mind (another DVR, a mini), call and ask. Many people have gotten free equipment..... just came with a 2-year extension.
 
#9 ·
dpeters11 said:
All drop ships are a year, and since you're adding a box, it's not an upgrade. .
getting any box by either swapping or simply adding a new location is consider an upgrade. DIRECTV has 3 type of orders, an install, an upgrade and a service call.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#11 ·
dpeters11 said:
I really do hate how DirecTV defines things, didn't know of this one...they shouldn't burn his PP upgrade right.
well, the OP does not have to burn up his PP upgrade, all they need to do is pay full price for the box. You can't get a promotional price without using the upgrade. You can't have the cake and eat it too.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#12 ·
peds48 said:
well, the OP does not have to burn up his PP upgrade, all they need to do is pay full price for the box. You can't get a promotional price without using the upgrade. You can't have the cake and eat it too.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Where did I say I wouldn't pay for it? I simply asked asked if it was considered an upgrade, as there was no definition as to what was behind the pricing on the website. If I were looking to "have my cake and eat it too", I would have said that.
 
#13 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
Where did I say I wouldn't pay for it? I simply asked asked if it was considered an upgrade, as there was no definition as to what was behind the pricing on the website. If I were looking to "have my cake and eat it too", I would have said that.
my reply was not to you, thus the quoted text.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#14 ·
I thought some might be interested in how this all played out. BTW I discussed all the scenarios presented in this thread. Initially they said that getting an additional HD Receiver for $0 as shown in their website would burn my free PP upgrade, and nothing they could do about it even if I paid $99 for it.

Then I ended up in retention because I wanted to cancel the Sports Pack. We went around in circles for a bit as I presented the original scenario. All I wanted was to pay $0 or $99 for a contract extension of 12 months, and no impact on my free upgrade. They said the system wouldn't do that even if I paid $99, and would require a 24 month contract extension, and burning of my free upgrade.

There was a lot of back and forth, and fortunately my CSR was a sweetheart, and 47 minutes later we agreed on a deal. I agreed to pay $199 for an antiquated HD receiver, and they agreed to no contact extension, no impact to my PP free upgrade, $25/mth off my bill for 24 mths, $10/mth off the Sports Pack for 6 months, and free Sunday Ticket for the rest of the year. Trading $660 + ST for $199 seemed like an acceptable deal to me. I'm not a discount whore (the last time I called for a discount was several years ago on ST before I cancelled it) so that may suck in the grand scheme of things, but it was very reasonable to me. YMMV
 
#15 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
I thought some might be interested in how this all played out. BTW I discussed all the scenarios presented in this thread. Initially they said that getting an additional HD Receiver for $0 as shown in their website would burn my free PP upgrade, and nothing they could do about it even if I paid $99 for it.

Then I ended up in retention because I wanted to cancel the Sports Pack. We went around in circles for a bit as I presented the original scenario. All I wanted was to pay $0 or $99 for a contract extension of 12 months, and no impact on my free upgrade. They said the system wouldn't do that even if I paid $99, and would require a 24 month contract extension, and burning of my free upgrade.

There was a lot of back and forth, and fortunately my CSR was a sweetheart, and 47 minutes later we agreed on a deal. I agreed to pay $199 for an antiquated HD receiver, and they agreed to no contact extension, no impact to my PP free upgrade, $25/mth off my bill for 24 mths, $10/mth off the Sports Pack for 6 months, and free Sunday Ticket for the rest of the year. Trading $660 + ST for $199 seemed like an acceptable deal to me. I'm not a discount whore (the last time I called for a discount was several years ago on ST before I cancelled it) so that may suck in the grand scheme of things, but it was very reasonable to me. YMMV
Let us know what your NEXT Bill says
 
#16 ·
ragweed10 said:
Let us know what your NEXT Bill says
You can bet I have that on my to do list. I even asked for an Email describing our deal, which I doubt I'll see. However, I'm not terribly worried about it as a 20 year customer with no record of abusing discounts. If they can't figure out how to honor that agreement, then I have no problem moving on. I pay an obscene amount of money for the amount of TV I actually watch, and am not locked into anything as a must have. I could likely find a less expensive way of doing business, just not as convenient as what I have.

I don't want want to leave DirecTV unless forced to by gross incompetence.
 
#17 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
I thought some might be interested in how this all played out. BTW I discussed all the scenarios presented in this thread. Initially they said that getting an additional HD Receiver for $0 as shown in their website would burn my free PP upgrade, and nothing they could do about it even if I paid $99 for it.
and that was your problem, as I said earlier, you can't have the cake and eat it too. The only way to not use your upgrade was to pay full price for the receiver, the $0 and $99 amounts are both promotional prices which would have used the upgrade.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#18 ·
ragweed10 said:
Let us know what your NEXT Bill says
The HD receiver was installed on Friday, and I just got around to checking what actually happened. When I check my equipment it shows the HD Receiver added, and the Free Upgrade notice is still there. Interestingly the tech who showed up mentioned notes about no upgrade or contract extension was listed on the work order he was seeing on his tablet.

I then went to recent activity, and the $25 off for 24 months showed, as well as the $10 off the Sportspack for 6 months, and I know the ST is there as I have been watching it today.

So it seems to have worked as I was told on the phone. I don't see anywhere I can check on my contract date, which would be interesting. If by chance that did get extended, I would certainly call requesting a refund of the $199 for the receiver, which was supposed to be free with a contract extension.

Overall, this was a pretty bizarre experience. All I wanted was an additional HD receiver without burning my free upgrade. I was originally told I could do that for $99 if they mailed the receiver to me, and extended my contract 1 year. I said fine to that, but she couldn't get the system to accept it for some reason. It had to be $199, no contract extension, and they had to send a tech. That made no sense to me so I asked if they could give me a programming credit to make up for the cost of the receiver. That is when she offered all the goodies listed above. I had no problem accepting that, because I wouldn't have asked for anything if they had done the $99 scenario.

Bottom line I offered to pay them $99 (for a receiver that likely has been paid for many times over already) plus $7/mth, and a 1 year contract extension if they would preserve my free upgrade. Instead I paid them $199 for the same receiver plus $7/mth, and received $660 of program credits plus free ST with no contract extension, and preserved my free upgrade. In what universe does that make sense to DirecTV?

And then to complete the bizarreness of the episode the tech who came was not very informed. Nice kid, but definitely not very experienced. All he had to do was connect the existing coax to the receiver, and make sure it was working. Programming came up, but then the fun started. He had a Genie peanut remote with him, and asked if it was OK. I said great, as it was the same as I was already using. Problem was he couldn't get it to connect to the TV, which had been controlled by a Genie remote for the 3 years or so previously. He said he has that problem a lot, and got a regular remote which connected no problem.

I then asked him to check the internet connectivity, which he couldn't make work. I asked him if needed the DECA adapter with the ethernet cable that my HR22 had. He didn't have one with him, but said he would get one and come back. When he came back he said he made a call, and there could only be one of those adapters on the system. He said they told him to reset the internet connection on the Genie, and then connect the Receiver. Big surprise, that didn't work. He just said the receiver couldn't do it, left a card with his phone number, and departed.

After he left I noticed the receiver was not connected to the Whole Home system at all. After checking the D* website about Whole Home, I then checked to make sure it was an H25 receiver, reset my Genie, and just like magic the H25 internet worked, and all the recordings from both DVR's showed up. I then took the Genie remote he couldn't program that he left behind, and programmed it to the TV on the first try.

I guess all's well that ends well. :rotfl:

p.s. Is there a way to check contract date online?
 
#19 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
p.s. Is there a way to check contract date online?
No, you need to call.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
#20 ·
Gordon Shumway said:
The HD receiver was installed on Friday, and I just got around to checking what actually happened. When I check my equipment it shows the HD Receiver added, and the Free Upgrade notice is still there. Interestingly the tech who showed up mentioned notes about no upgrade or contract extension was listed on the work order he was seeing on his tablet.

I then went to recent activity, and the $25 off for 24 months showed, as well as the $10 off the Sportspack for 6 months, and I know the ST is there as I have been watching it today.

So it seems to have worked as I was told on the phone. I don't see anywhere I can check on my contract date, which would be interesting. If by chance that did get extended, I would certainly call requesting a refund of the $199 for the receiver, which was supposed to be free with a contract extension.

Overall, this was a pretty bizarre experience. All I wanted was an additional HD receiver without burning my free upgrade. I was originally told I could do that for $99 if they mailed the receiver to me, and extended my contract 1 year. I said fine to that, but she couldn't get the system to accept it for some reason. It had to be $199, no contract extension, and they had to send a tech. That made no sense to me so I asked if they could give me a programming credit to make up for the cost of the receiver. That is when she offered all the goodies listed above. I had no problem accepting that, because I wouldn't have asked for anything if they had done the $99 scenario.

Bottom line I offered to pay them $99 (for a receiver that likely has been paid for many times over already) plus $7/mth, and a 1 year contract extension if they would preserve my free upgrade. Instead I paid them $199 for the same receiver plus $7/mth, and received $660 of program credits plus free ST with no contract extension, and preserved my free upgrade. In what universe does that make sense to DirecTV?

And then to complete the bizarreness of the episode the tech who came was not very informed. Nice kid, but definitely not very experienced. All he had to do was connect the existing coax to the receiver, and make sure it was working. Programming came up, but then the fun started. He had a Genie peanut remote with him, and asked if it was OK. I said great, as it was the same as I was already using. Problem was he couldn't get it to connect to the TV, which had been controlled by a Genie remote for the 3 years or so previously. He said he has that problem a lot, and got a regular remote which connected no problem.

I then asked him to check the internet connectivity, which he couldn't make work. I asked him if needed the DECA adapter with the ethernet cable that my HR22 had. He didn't have one with him, but said he would get one and come back. When he came back he said he made a call, and there could only be one of those adapters on the system. He said they told him to reset the internet connection on the Genie, and then connect the Receiver. Big surprise, that didn't work. He just said the receiver couldn't do it, left a card with his phone number, and departed.

After he left I noticed the receiver was not connected to the Whole Home system at all. After checking the D* website about Whole Home, I then checked to make sure it was an H25 receiver, reset my Genie, and just like magic the H25 internet worked, and all the recordings from both DVR's showed up. I then took the Genie remote he couldn't program that he left behind, and programmed it to the TV on the first try.

I guess all's well that ends well. :rotfl:

p.s. Is there a way to check contract date online?
Im pretty sure you "bought" and HD receiver......im willing to bet its says "owned" instead of leased.

This is about the only way out of contract extensions.
 
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