HR54 questions

Not me they don't. Apparently their system shows I have an older multi-switch and that I need a truck roll to swap the LNBs out and go to a SWM setup. Weird, since I only have one cable going to my DVR and both tuners work (two if you count OTA) and I don't have any b-bands. You guessed it, there isn't any way for them to change my account in the system to a SWM LNB to allow me to do a self install.

 

Oh... ok... so what you are saying is eBay HR54s ARE activatable as long as its NIB AND has a NIB access card? From my understanding they NEVER let you activate a used access card, but they did let you activate a used box as leased. They usually charged you $20 for an access card. I guess they don't do that anymore.

Still, I wouldn't trust calling them up and asking a CSR lol...

 

Thought you meant HRs. I have installed a couple refurbs since the transition. One installed/activated easily, the other took the heroes at ATT 5 days to activate it. 5 days to do something I did on the other refurb in minutes.

Rich

 

Wow, I thought my story was wild, but you guys have better ones. I requested a Genie upgrade that didn’t go well and left me with a HR22 in limbo with a no signal error. In hindsight, ATT deactivated the HR22 early in anticipation and the tech’s cancellation didn’t make it to the ATT mother ship. The HR22 could not be reactivated because the upgrade order was active and blocked it. I spent hours on the phone with tech support doing reboot and reset drills, apparently their flow chart didn’t cover this situation. Several days and two tech visits later, they sent me a replacement HR24. Once the old upgrade order was cleared by ATT support, the HR22 worked just fine. I would have thought the transitioning hiccups would have been resolved by now, but I guess not.

 

And you haven't even heard the one about my OG install back in 2002. I specifically told the guy he needed his big boy ladder since it was going on the roof of a 2 story house. He of course showed up with a 6 ft ladder. He says he'll try find an extension ladder. Don't hear from him for a few days then he calls me and says he thought his buddy would have one, but he didn't, so he wants to stop by my house to finish the job. I'm like how you gonna do that with a 6 ft ladder? and he goes I'll figure something out.

So what did he figure out? He got TWO slightly longer ladders and DUCT TAPED them together. I had the morgue on standby for when he fell off.

But if we've learned nothing from Mythbusters, it's that duct tape is pretty legit.

 

That's been reported before - the CSRs don't have a way to update their records to show that you have SWM based on your word. Only an installer can do it. So your self-installed SWM upgrade will remain non-SWM in their records until you have an installer visit.

 

Doubtful. The OEMs who make the receivers don't make the access cards.

 

Well, if its really people stealing them from warehouses, then it sounds like they should crack down on warehouse theft. I honestly can't imagine the warehouses not caring about people walking out with $300 items. I used to work at a Home Depot competitor and they ran after a guy trying to steal a box of staples.

Doing it the "let's never activate an eBay DVR regardless of its state" is just screwing over innocent people.

But the policy seems to be working if people are trying to dump them on eBay for $50. That's way below cost. I sold a keyboard on eBay last year for $130.

Honestly, even if you got it for $0 by stealing it, selling an item for $50 on eBay isn't worth the hassle. Especially when you offer free shipping. eBay fees. Paypal fees. Shipping fees. You'll end up with what? $20 to $30? And that's before you have to deal with the buyer complaining that he can't activate it and wants his money back and the negative feedback.

 

Well I'm just going by anecdotal stories, but from what installers here have said in the past they would just load what they needed for their day's assigned jobs from the warehouse into their truck and drive off. If they grabbed a few extra boxes, no one knew or cared.

A lot of this stuff had traditionally been done by third parties since Directv didn't have employees everywhere, and used contractors like Mastec in some places, so they couldn't really control how things worked too well. Maybe that's changed under AT&T.

While I agree that unless you are stealing huge amounts you aren't making enough money to make it worth the hassle and risk, there's probably an element of "my employer screwed me, so I'll screw him back" if you get stiffed on some job for something that wasn't your fault. Installers here have complained about "chargebacks" for when someone has to revisit their installation to fix something. You lost $50 on something that wasn't your fault, so you grab an extra receiver and sell it for $50...

 

I had a guy out to my home a few weeks ago to activate that refurb that the ATT CSRs screwed up. He arrived in a nice truck emblazoned with Death Stars and was surprisingly professional. All he had to do was make a call to that special place and he had it activated in minutes. Sure, anyone with that number could have done it, but he impressed me. Been a long time since that happened.

Rich