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?