[mbushnell]

I purchased a Sharp 37D90U LCD Flat Panel Display in late September & contacted DirecTV to upgrade my service to an HD DVR.

The original DirecTV HD upgrade install date was Monday, October 2. They called that morning, saying that they were out of stock on the HD DVR's, and they expected them in on Sunday, October 8. So, I rescheduled the DirecTV HD install for yesterday, between 1 and 5 in the afternoon.

By 4:30 yesterday afternoon, I still had no DirecTV installers & no phone calls, so I called up DirecTV, and they said that they were still out of stock on the HD DVR's, and that my work order for the install has been put on "Hold" until the HD DVR's come in.

Now they expect them in on Saturday, October 14, but they will not schedule installs until they actually arrive.

Does anyone know if there is a reason for the HD DVR's being out of stock? Is it because of volume of sales, or is there a technical reason for it?

Up till now, I've been watching the new Sharp display in SD, as we got rid of the OTA Antenna back in the early 1980's, when cable came to town, and go rid of cable 5 or 6 years ago when we hooked up DirecTV.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

They are out of stock... as they are high in demand and volume of sales.
They are producing more every day.

In the HR20 forums, you will see reports from people getting units that are less then 1 week old.

 

[Impact Direct]

The new HD DVR HR20 is in high demand and also had some big problems with the internal software. I would wait 2 or 3 months later to get one. I'm a sub contractor for DTV and I have seen so many problems with the new HD DVR. An hour installation would become two hours because of the time playing with the receiver to get it to work right.

 

[tstarn]

The new HD DVR HR20 is in high demand and also had some big problems with the internal software. I would wait 2 or 3 months later to get one. I'm a sub contractor for DTV and I have seen so many problems with the new HD DVR. An hour installation would become two hours because of the time playing with the receiver to get it to work right.

Thanks for that information, Impact. Many people are saying that the problems with the HR-20, well-documented on this forum, are only in a small minority of the machines, with most of them having no problems. Do you have that as your experience? Just curious.

 

[Herdfan]

Look for one at your local Best Buy. If they have one, buy it and then call D* and ask for a credit of $299. If D* won't give you a credit, return the unit to BB.

 

[tstarn]

Look for one at your local Best Buy. If they have one, buy it and then call D* and ask for a credit of $299. If D* won't give you a credit, return the unit to BB.

That was my strategy, but I ordered it online at BB.com. D* gladly offered the credit, plus $20 a month for 6 mos. (installer never showed up, so they got extra generous).

 

[Thinker3932]

That was my strategy, but I ordered it online at BB.com. D* gladly offered the credit, plus $20 a month for 6 mos. (installer never showed up, so they got extra generous).

Wait a minute, people are getting D* to credit the purchase cost of an HR20? How, I bought my HR20 at BBY because the one I was shipped, which I also paid $299 for, went bad. I thought everyone had to pay if they wanted the HR20.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Wait a minute, people are getting D* to credit the purchase cost of an HR20? How, I bought my HR20 at BBY because the one I was shipped, which I also paid $299 for, went bad. I thought everyone had to pay if they wanted the HR20.

Credits are probably the difference between what you would pay from DirecTV and what you payed at Best Buy.

But then again, this is nothing new.... Credits are very inconsistent across subscribers.

 

[premio]

Credits are probably the difference between what you would pay from DirecTV and what you payed at Best Buy.

But then again, this is nothing new.... Credits are very inconsistent across subscribers.

Some of us got them for free during the peak of high demand.. Others were paying 599 at the time I think..

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Some of us got them for free during the peak of high demand.. Others were paying 599 at the time I think..

NO one should have ever payed $599 for them...
The highest they have been is $299

If you payed $599 for an HR20... start making some phone calls
(Unless you bought it on Ebay, or some other un-authorized vendor)

 

[grate88]

NO one should have ever payed $599 for them...
The highest they have been is $299

If you payed $599 for an HR20... start making some phone calls
(Unless you bought it on Ebay, or some other un-authorized vendor)

Not for me - 3 payments of 133 from directv the first week of sept. a total of 399.

They did discount me a good portion after several complaints about the unit however.

 

[Thinker3932]

Well, I know when I first ordered for BBUY online form the official "waiting list email" it was $399. Then I found one for $299 and bought that (which didn't work) so I walked into Best Buy and it was only $299. Seems like they were really trying to screw the earlier adopters.

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Well, I know when I first ordered for BBUY online form the official "waiting list email" it was $399. Then I found one for $299 and bought that (which didn't work) so I walked into Best Buy and it was only $299. Seems like they were really trying to screw the earlier adopters.

I don't think the intent was to "screw" early adopters.
I just don't think they had all the ducks in a row on what kind of promotions they wanted for the unit.

As if you probably called today, and proved you payed $299 and you could now get it for $99... I am sure tey will do something to offset that $200.