[Canis Lupus]

I'm standing in the Boise Best Buy right now. There are 2 Hr-20s available right now. Since you guys have been so helpful to me, it's payback time. They're 299 + Idaho Tax (5%) and you pay the shipping by FedEx if you want one. I'll front you and you pay me by PayPal. Any takers - first 2 to respond.

 

[Canis Lupus]

EDIT: now there's 1 left. I have another which I'm keeping as a backup til I test the first one I bought. If it works - I'll have one more (not before Monday).

 

[Canis Lupus]

OK I'm leaving the store with 2 Hr-20s. I'm gonna keep one of them until my first ordered one arrives and proves to be working. That means I have one right now for the first taker and will have the other hopefully available by Mon or Tues. Lemme know - headed back to the office.

 

[litzdog911]

You do know that when you "buy" those from Best Buy you're actually leasing them. I don't think you can just turn around and reselling without messing your DirecTV Lease agreement.

Here's what it says on Best Buy's web site regarding your lease commitment ....

DIRECTV Hardware Lease Terms
Purchase of 12 consecutive months (24 consecutive months for advanced receivers) of any DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE ($44.99/mo. or above), or DIRECTV PARA TODOS programming package ($29.99/mo. or above), or qualifying international services bundle, within 30 days of equipment lease. FAILURE TO ACTIVATE DIRECTV SYSTEM WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIPT MAY RESULT IN CHARGE OF $150 PER DIRECTV RECEIVER NOT ACTIVATED. IF YOU FAIL TO MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT, DIRECTV MAY CHARGE PRORATED FEE OF UP TO $150 FOR STANDARD RECEIVERS (UP TO $300 FOR ADVANCED RECEIVERS). RECEIVERS ARE AT ALL TIMES PROPERTY OF DIRECTV AND MUST BE RETURNED UPON CANCELLATION OF SERVICE, OR ADDITIONAL FEES APPLY. VISIT DIRECTV.COM OR CALL 1-800-DIRECTV FOR DETAILS. DIRECTV programming pricing, terms and conditions subject to change. Taxes not included. Equipment not transferable and may not be sold. Programming sold separately. Pricing residential. Receipt of DIRECTV programming subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; copy provided at DIRECTV.com and in the first bill. ©2006 DIRECTV, Inc. DIRECTV, the Cyclone Design logo, TOTAL CHOICE and DIRECTV PLUS are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

 

[litzdog911]

Just checked BestBuy's web site again and they're still in stock, including several BestBuys in the Seattle area.

 

[jsevinsk]

You do know that when you "buy" those from Best Buy you're actually leasing them. I don't think you can just turn around and reselling without messing your DirecTV Lease agreement.

When I bought one at Best Buy, I never signed any agreement. If I paid cash for the thing, how would DirecTV even know that I have it?

John

 

[Que]

When I bought one at Best Buy, I never signed any agreement. If I paid cash for the thing, how would DirecTV even know that I have it?

John

You have to call them to turn it on.

 

[jsevinsk]

You have to call them to turn it on.

So, in theory, if I haven't activated it yet, I could sell it to someone else, and they could activate it. I believe that's what the submitter wants to do.

John

 

[Que]

So, in theory, if I haven't activated it yet, I could sell it to someone else, and they could activate it. I believe that's what the submitter wants to do.

John

Sure

 

[LameLefty]

So, in theory, if I haven't activated it yet, I could sell it to someone else, and they could activate it. I believe that's what the submitter wants to do.

John

Provided the retailer doesn't take personal info at the time of initial "sale" or "lease" or whatever. Though it would NOT be out of the question for DirecTV to require such info at the time of the transaction, even if you paid cash. They may or may not do it that way, but they would be within their rights to require their authorized distributors to do it so they could enforce that $150 non-activation fee.

 

[litzdog911]

Provided the retailer doesn't take personal info at the time of initial "sale" or "lease" or whatever. Though it would NOT be out of the question for DirecTV to require such info at the time of the transaction, even if you paid cash. They may or may not do it that way, but they would be within their rights to require their authorized distributors to do it so they could enforce that $150 non-activation fee.

I guess that's the main question .... do Best Buy and other "lease resellers" report this information to DirecTV? I've not heard any stories of people getting stung by this, though.

 

[tbranan]

You do know that when you "buy" those from Best Buy you're actually leasing them. I don't think you can just turn around and reselling without messing your DirecTV Lease agreement.

Here's what it says on Best Buy's web site regarding your lease commitment ....

DIRECTV Hardware Lease Terms
Purchase of 12 consecutive months (24 consecutive months for advanced receivers) of any DIRECTV TOTAL CHOICE ($44.99/mo. or above), or DIRECTV PARA TODOS programming package ($29.99/mo. or above), or qualifying international services bundle, within 30 days of equipment lease. FAILURE TO ACTIVATE DIRECTV SYSTEM WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIPT MAY RESULT IN CHARGE OF $150 PER DIRECTV RECEIVER NOT ACTIVATED. IF YOU FAIL TO MAINTAIN YOUR PROGRAMMING COMMITMENT, DIRECTV MAY CHARGE PRORATED FEE OF UP TO $150 FOR STANDARD RECEIVERS (UP TO $300 FOR ADVANCED RECEIVERS). RECEIVERS ARE AT ALL TIMES PROPERTY OF DIRECTV AND MUST BE RETURNED UPON CANCELLATION OF SERVICE, OR ADDITIONAL FEES APPLY. VISIT DIRECTV.COM OR CALL 1-800-DIRECTV FOR DETAILS. DIRECTV programming pricing, terms and conditions subject to change. Taxes not included. Equipment not transferable and may not be sold. Programming sold separately. Pricing residential. Receipt of DIRECTV programming subject to DIRECTV Customer Agreement; copy provided at DIRECTV.com and in the first bill. ©2006 DIRECTV, Inc. DIRECTV, the Cyclone Design logo, TOTAL CHOICE and DIRECTV PLUS are registered trademarks of DIRECTV, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

When you open the little plastic Topps baseball card-like wrapper that the card is in, then you are in the lease, supposedly. The wrapper has all that legal jargon on it that basically says if you open the package, you are bound to the lease agreement, yada yada yada.....

 

[Canis Lupus]

OK back at my office with 2 HR-20s. Good points all and thanks litzdog for providing the D* terms.

Here's how I'm looking at it and you guys tell me if there are any flaws with what I'm proposing (I won't take offense).

I'm awaiting arrival of an HR-20 and dish coming by UPS which I bought in CA. They should be here Monday.

I still also have an install date on 11/5 when I'm supposed to get an HR-20 and dish and multiswitch etc. I havent cancelled or changed anything for this install (not yet).

Given that there have been some (and yes I'm sure most are software related) issues with the DVRs, and also they're out of stock right now, I thought I'd approach this on 2 fronts:

I checked the stock at Best Buy and ran down there to grab a backup for myself in case I have probs with the one on the way. I saw there were 2 more and jumped online to this forum to see if anyone wanted me to pick one up for them. While online at the store posting here, someone grabbed the 2nd to last one on the shelf, so I went and grabbed the last one, so I now have 2.

In my previous experience buying hardware, I always arranged it myself and then contacted D* to turn on my programming. These are leased though, so it's possible there are issues, but if I were D*, I'd just activate a card and collect the new revenue without question unless maybe there was previous activation on the card etc. I assume though that if you can buy (or even lease) a D* product at another retailer besides them, it would only make sense that you can activate it no matter where you got it from (aside from the obvious illegal or other ne'er do well methods).

I have no intention of activating or messing with these receivers unless I HAVE to (i.e. the one on the way arrives DOA). I went to Best Buy and grabbed 1 as a backup, and then noticed more so I posted to this forum. My intentions are completely for good in all respects.

Just a note that Idaho Tax is actually 6% so the cost is 317.99 plus shipping by FedEx. I have no intention of taking a profit for my troubles. I see this only as a way to help out those of you who might benefit.

If nobody wants one, that's OK too. I'll hold on to them until my first one gets here, and if all goes well, I'll simply return them to Best Buy (I have a 30 day refund window anyway which is the same as D*'s activation window).

Thanks.

EDIT: Anyone interested can PM me. Thanks.
EDIT: BB refund window and D* activation window are both 30 days - my bad

 

[glennb]

When I bought my HR20 at CircuitCity about 3 weeks ago I had to register my name and address with DIRECTV right there at CircuitCity before I could walk out.
I had to call DIRECTV when everything was hooked up to activate the receiver and add the HDTV programming package.

About 2 years ago I bought 2 DIRECTV regular receivers at bestbuy for my parents for Christmas I had to give them my name as the person purchasing the receivers and register my parents name and address as the DIRECTV customers that would be using the receivers.

If you bought the HR20s and walked out of the store without giving them your name, address, etc... someone at the store screwed up. If they aren't registered with DIRECTV as being purchased you might have one heck of a time when you call and try to get them activated with DIRECTV.

 

[Canis Lupus]

When you open the little plastic Topps baseball card-like wrapper that the card is in, then you are in the lease, supposedly. The wrapper has all that legal jargon on it that basically says if you open the package, you are bound to the lease agreement, yada yada yada.....

Good point. I just went back to my car and checked the packaging. The boxes are not taped with a seal or any other indication of what constitutes opening them. I opened one and there is no documentation indicating that this is a leased product. The manual and quick start guides are not sealed. The only things wrapped in plastic are the cables and the receiver. The manual contains no info that this is a leased product. Hmmm.

 

[Canis Lupus]

When I bought my HR20 at CircuitCity about 3 weeks ago I had to register my name and address with DIRECTV right there at CircuitCity before I could walk out.
I had to call DIRECTV when everything was hooked up to activate the receiver and add the HDTV programming package.

About 2 years ago I bought 2 DIRECTV regular receivers at bestbuy for my parents for Christmas I had to give them my name as the person purchasing the receivers and register my parents name and address as the DIRECTV customers that would be using the receivers.

If you bought the HR20s and walked out of the store without giving them your name, address, etc... someone at the store screwed up. If they aren't registered with DIRECTV as being purchased you might have one heck of a time when you call and try to get them activated with DIRECTV.

Good point glennb. I walked out of the store providing no information other than the swipe of my credit card. My receipt has NO information on it at all - no name or address
or anything. I'm gonna call D* and state that I bought this hardware as a backup because of their out of stock problems and see what they say.

 

[naijai]

Good point glennb. I walked out of the store providing no information other than the swipe of my credit card. My receipt has NO information on it at all - no name or address
or anything. I'm gonna call D* and state that I bought this hardware as a backup because of their out of stock problems and see what they say.

Thats why you cannot buy the equipment from most retailers with cash unless the rules have changed to buy any DTV equipment you can only use a card which is what will the charged the non-activation if if deemed so

 

[Canis Lupus]

Just got off the phone with retention. I was told the hardware is totally transferrable. The only thing that matters is the access card tied to a qualified account, which even if I activated it, could still be transferred although the new "lessee" would have to reactivate their own new programming package under the terms above, and would have to get a new access card.

Retention asked me for no information regarding the BB purchase, and no information regarding my D* account. She did not make any warnings to me about either the 30-day activation requirement or the fact that I made this purchase without providing information to BB. She made no mention that BB should have asked me for specific name and address information when I purchased them.

Then we joked about the fact that it was "good idea to have a backup", and that D* doesn't really care about where the hardware comes from, they only care about making money off of subscriptions.

I'm having a hard time figuring out how D* even can enforce the 30 day activation requirement without very specific info from the lessee at time of lease.

 

[Rob55]

I picked up my HR-20 mid-September at BB here in Jersey. They box was sealed with a circular "DTV" sticker and everything inside (once I opened the box) seemed to be new. No one at BB ever asked for an info from me. I just swiped my card and was on my way. When activating later that evening, everything went smoothly, no questions from the CSR as to where I got it from or anything like that.

 

[Jeremy W]

Thats why you cannot buy the equipment from most retailers with cash unless the rules have changed to buy any DTV equipment you can only use a card which is what will the charged the non-activation if if deemed so

You can buy DirecTV receivers with cash at Best Buy. I have done it before.