[cspiteri]

HR20-700s are now being sold by various vendors for $338.00 with $100.00 cash back from DirecTv (for new subscribers). These uits are being advertised as "owned" not "leased".
Has DTV changed their policies regarding this equipment??

 

[shaun-ohio]

nope anything you buy after march 1st of this year is considered leased, and if you choose to not like directv, you are just out of the money you pay for it, because they want you to send it back

 

[bonscott87]

Good luck getting DirecTV to activate as owned at that price. Sounds shady to me.

 

[jamieh1]

I own my 2 HR20-700's, I got both of them free, this was when they first came out. I payed $99 for one then they gave me a $100 credit. The other didnt pay anything.
They also let me keep my old HR10-250s. When I placed the order they asked me if I wanted OWN or LEASE, I told them I want to own them. When I activated the receivers I was told to ask to be switched to the access card dept and to tell them to flag them as OWNED. I asked to be switched to the AC Dept and told them I needed 2 receivers flagged as owned, they didnt ask any questions and my recvrs are shown as mirrored.

 

[cspiteri]

I asked one of the advertisers of the deal if DTV had changed their policy. I was told "just tell them you paid $800 for the unit and they(DTV) will mark it as "owned". So how would DTV know what you paid for the unit??? Do they get the difference between $800 and the actual sale price?? This whole scenario sounds risky to me. I don`t like paying $300 then $5.00/month to lease a receiver but I sure don`t want to do something stupid which would result in a loss of service. Any commernts????

 

[veryoldschool]

I asked one of the advertisers of the deal if DTV had changed their policy. I was told "just tell them you paid $800 for the unit and they(DTV) will mark it as "owned". So how would DTV know what you paid for the unit??? Do they get the difference between $800 and the actual sale price?? This whole scenario sounds risky to me. I don`t like paying $300 then $5.00/month to lease a receiver but I sure don`t want to do something stupid which would result in a loss of service. Any commernts????

There have been several postings that say many things. I won't say whether they're right or not, BUT what I can say is what I had them do for me. A HR-20 "sells" for $299, as a lease. As a D* customer that has already spend $800 on a HD receiver that they've "obsoleted" with their MPEG-4 changes, I wasn't about to pay $299 for the "privilege" to lease their new hardware. Buying hardware is one thing & leasing another. If it was a "security deposit" fine, but it's not. After a few call with D* & a few departments, they understood my position and sent me a HR-20 for free. Some of those that have had to buy a HR-20 have been credited to their account the purchase price. This could be a programing credit, but it's still a credit. There is a two year programing commitment that doesn't seem to be "optional" so D* will get their due. If they can, they will "sucker" those that are willing to part with their money, but they also know that they"ll get "theirs" with just the programing charges, since in the end it's just a lease that requires the hardware to be returned in the end. This is just my experience but it's true.

 

[bonscott87]

I asked one of the advertisers of the deal if DTV had changed their policy. I was told "just tell them you paid $800 for the unit and they(DTV) will mark it as "owned". So how would DTV know what you paid for the unit??? Do they get the difference between $800 and the actual sale price?? This whole scenario sounds risky to me. I don`t like paying $300 then $5.00/month to lease a receiver but I sure don`t want to do something stupid which would result in a loss of service. Any commernts????

You're just being scammed. Plain and simple. When you activate they will ask you 2 things:
1) Where you purchased it
2) How much you paid.

It's pretty simple to check out for DirecTV. They will have a list of authorized dealers, including those authorized to sell at the $800 price. If that dealer isn't on the list then you're out of luck.

And has been talked about many times....there is no advantage to "owning" it anyway. You still pay $5 a month for the extra receiver, leased or owned. If it's your only receiver then you don't pay a dime extra per month, leased or owned. Being leased if it dies DirecTV will replace it for you. If owned and it dies you're out of luck, replace it yourself.

 

[bethg727]

And has been talked about many times....there is no advantage to "owning" it anyway. You still pay $5 a month for the extra receiver, leased or owned. If it's your only receiver then you don't pay a dime extra per month, leased or owned. Being leased if it dies DirecTV will replace it for you. If owned and it dies you're out of luck, replace it yourself.

My HR10 just died and was replaced by an HR20 as I have the protection plan. The HR10 was owned but when they sent me the refurbished HR20, it shows up as leased. I thought about calling D* but then realized that what bonscott87 says it true. There is no benefit to my owning.

If it weren't for my non-leased receivers, I could dump the protection plan and save money.

 

[cspiteri]

I`m not clear on the "leased" equipment program. If I understand your message, there is no additional cost if the "leased" HR-20 is my only receiver. That is unless my current receiver is not a DVR, then there is a $5.99/month DVR fee. Is this correct????
Thank you

 

[bethg727]

I`m not clear on the "leased" equipment program. If I understand your message, there is no additional cost if the "leased" HR-20 is my only receiver. That is unless my current receiver is not a DVR, then there is a $5.99/month DVR fee. Is this correct????
Thank you

There is a $5.99 DVR monthly fee regardless if it is your only receiver. This is waived if you have Total Choice Premier or if you paid for a lifetime subscription when it was offered with the D* Tivo DVRs. There is also a $4.99 mirroring fee for each additional receiver regardless of whether it is a DVR or not.

 

[cspiteri]

Thanks for the clarification. I looked on the DTV site and it`s not clear if the TC Premier package includes HD. It mentions that a 3 or 5 LNb dish is required. Since these dish configurations are required for HD can I assume that the HD service is part of the package???

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Thanks for the clarification. I looked on the DTV site and it`s not clear if the TC Premier package includes HD. It mentions that a 3 or 5 LNb dish is required. Since these dish configurations are required for HD can I assume that the HD service is part of the package???

No package (except Titanium) contains the HD-Add on

 

[WolfClan Dan]

In December, I upgraded to HD with the HR20 by calling Directv, they charged $199 for the receiver.

Yesterday when I called them, the rep informed me I own the HR-20. How can that be? The CSR told me they did not send me the HR20, therefore it was mine.

However, they are incorrect. The installer brought everything with him. My only concern was if the HR20 breaks, I would be out of luck. Another CSR assured me, since I have the protection plan, the receiver is covered either way and as far as I was concerned, the reciever is covered.

Now understand, I informed two different CSR's that I paid $199 for the reciever through Directv. They informed me, they show I own it and were not very concerned.

My question is, should I be concerned? Does owning the reciever benefit me at all, other than the fact I could sell it to cover any cancellation fees they would impose on me if they dont get more HD programming soon.

 

[linuxworks]

And has been talked about many times....there is no advantage to "owning" it anyway.

and given the fact that the hr20 will LOCK UP YOUR DATA if you are not current - owning one makes less than no sense

I had mine disconnected (cancelled service) and to my shock and surprise, the shows that I had recorded just the day before were locked up tight. I couldn't go to list view at all and I could go to menu view and see the names of the shows but when I selected them for playback a 'copyright violation' dialog popped up!

neither of my other tivo boxes would hold your bits hostage like this.

what I recorded in the past, I should be able to keep. again, I can do this on tivo but you cannot do this on hr20 ;(

yet another reason to dump this POS.

 

[paulman182]

and given the fact that the hr20 will LOCK UP YOUR DATA if you are not current - owning one makes less than no sense
I had mine disconnected (cancelled service) and to my shock and surprise, the shows that I had recorded just the day before were locked up tight. I couldn't go to list view at all and I could go to menu view and see the names of the shows but when I selected them for playback a 'copyright violation' dialog popped up!

I have read the way around this is to disconnect the receiver from the dish before it receives the deactivation command from the satellite.

Some have posted that if you do this, the HR20 will play back your recordings for a period of time.

 

[linuxworks]

but if that only buys you a LITTLE time, its not much of a real 'fix'.

the very idea that past recordings I made (and have in my own home!) could be held hostage - that wears VERY thin with me. very.

 

[WolfClan Dan]

I am reposting this in hopes of a response:

In December, I upgraded to HD with the HR20 by calling Directv, they charged $199 for the receiver.

Yesterday when I called them, the rep informed me I own the HR-20. How can that be? The CSR told me they did not send me the HR20, therefore it was mine.

However, they are incorrect. The installer brought everything with him. My only concern was if the HR20 breaks, I would be out of luck. Another CSR assured me, since I have the protection plan, the receiver is covered either way and as far as I was concerned, the reciever is covered.

Now understand, I informed two different CSR's that I paid $199 for the reciever through Directv. They informed me, they show I own it and were not very concerned.

My question is, should I be concerned? Does owning the reciever benefit me at all, other than the fact I could sell it to cover any cancellation fees they would impose on me if they dont get more HD programming soon.

 

[naijai]

It depends on the offer but if you want to know the truth ask fo the acccess card team they have the final say