[dmurphy]

Hello all -

I apologize for this brief interruption, and I do ask that we do *not* turn this into a "is the protection plan worth it?" type of thread, but I do have a question for those 'in the know' ...

I had a customer-owned R15-500 receiver stop powering up. I called and a replacement receiver (an R15-100) was shipped to me along with a return slip for the R15-500.

I just went through the replacement procedure on the phone with the customer service department, and from speaking to the agent, she indicated that the new receiver was also an "owned" (and not leased) receiver. I thought all was copacetic.

So, I log into my DirecTV.com account and look at Recent Activity ...

I see a ($0.33) credit for Additional Receiver (the R15-500 that was disconnected), and a $0.33 charge for a Leased Receiver (the R15-100).

Under the protection plan, should not an Owned receiver be replaced by an Owned receiver?

I called back to Customer Service, and the agent I spoke with indicated that when I returned the R15-500, and it gets processed in the warehouse, the R15-100 will "automatically" switch to an Owned status.

Somehow, I doubt this.

Does anyone know how this works? Did I just get hosed? a) moved to a leased receiver; and b) having to send back my owned (broken) receiver.

The way I see it, if they're going to provide me with a leased receiver, I may as well keep the R15-500 and strip the HD out of it. I can use a 160gb disk somewhere else. If that's the case, I may as well put the 160gb into one of my DTiVo's and send 'em back the R15-100 then.

 

[RACJ2]

Under the protection plan, should not an Owned receiver be replaced by an Owned receiver?

I called back to Customer Service, and the agent I spoke with indicated that when I returned the R15-500, and it gets processed in the warehouse, the R15-100 will "automatically" switch to an Owned status.

Somehow, I doubt this.

Does anyone know how this works? Did I just get hosed? a) moved to a leased receiver; and b) having to send back my owned (broken) receiver.

From what I have read in other posts, they will manually override it back to owned.

 

[JLucPicard]

Did you do go through the activation of the replacement receiver with the Protection Plan department, or just the first CSR to answer the phone?

I've done a couple of "owned for owned" replacements. I went through the PP Dept to get the replacement and I believe I went through them again to activate it. There is coding in their system that they are supposed to use when activating a replacement receiver in an owned for owned scenario. When I did that with mine, I had no "temporary" leased status at all - it immediately showed up with an "Additional Receiver Fee" as it should when owned. Procedures do change there from time to time. If they are saying now that it will revert to owned once they receive the defective receiver, you could wait and see if that happens.

You could probably also call the PP Department and ask them if that is the standard procedure now, or if something got messed up in the activation process. If something did get messed up (I believe with just a few exceptions, any activation by a front-line CSR now gets done as "leased"), see if the PP Department can fix it. If they can't, ask to be transferred to the Access Card Department. And maybe have the PP rep put notes in your account before transferring you that explain the new unit should be owned.

 

[dmurphy]

Did you do go through the activation of the replacement receiver with the Protection Plan department, or just the first CSR to answer the phone?

I should've known better, but I just followed the directions in the box - it said to say "I need to advice my new receiver" at the voice prompt. and off I went.

I've done a couple of "owned for owned" replacements. I went through the PP Dept to get the replacement and I believe I went through them again to activate it. There is coding in their system that they are supposed to use when activating a replacement receiver in an owned for owned scenario. When I did that with mine, I had no "temporary" leased status at all - it immediately showed up with an "Additional Receiver Fee" as it should when owned. Procedures do change there from time to time. If they are saying now that it will revert to owned once they receive the defective receiver, you could wait and see if that happens.

I'm going to give the PP department a call today and see if I can get a clear story from them.

The CSR I spoke to changed his story a few times (first, from you can keep the bad receiver, to the bad receiver was not owned, it was leased, to all receivers are leased, to it's going to change automatically.) I don't think he really understood what I was asking.

Thanks!!

 

[jimb726]

I should've known better, but I just followed the directions in the box - it said to say "I need to advice my new receiver" at the voice prompt. and off I went.

I'm going to give the PP department a call today and see if I can get a clear story from them.

The CSR I spoke to changed his story a few times (first, from you can keep the bad receiver, to the bad receiver was not owned, it was leased, to all receivers are leased, to it's going to change automatically.) I don't think he really understood what I was asking.

Thanks!!

Not that it changes the situation but keep in mind that for the last 30 months or so, policy has been Leased recievers. I would venture that such a small percentage of recent recivers are owned that CSR's may not have a lot of experience with them. Personally I got over it very quickly and actually prefer this over ownership. If something goes wrong, you get a new one, if I were to leave DirecTv, I dont have to worry about disposal. But thats just me. i hope they resolve it for you.

 

[dhhaines]

I had an owned R10 replaced by an R15 less than a year ago and the R15 is showing up as owned. I didn't activate through PP, just an everyday CSR with out a problem. I never asked about it staying as owned they just did it.

 

[dmurphy]

Not that it changes the situation but keep in mind that for the last 30 months or so, policy has been Leased recievers. I would venture that such a small percentage of recent recivers are owned that CSR's may not have a lot of experience with them. Personally I got over it very quickly and actually prefer this over ownership. If something goes wrong, you get a new one, if I were to leave DirecTv, I dont have to worry about disposal. But thats just me. i hope they resolve it for you.

I have nothing in principle against leasing - in fact, I'm split about 50/50 between leased and owned receivers.

The key here, though, is that I purchased a receiver a while back, and to have it taken away, and replaced with a leased receiver, leaves me with negative equity. They've taken something I own away and replaced it with something I don't.

Because I *own* the receiver, should I decide to turn it off (which I do occasionally - I have several DTiVo's on shelves), I should be able to leave it on the shelf, gut it for parts, etc. if I so desire. I've had at least one DTiVo donate a hard disk to an external enclosure.

So after getting off the phone with the Protection Plan folks, they routed me to the Access Card department. Finally - someone who could help!!

The Access Card folks changed the status from Leased to Owned for me, and all I have to do is send the old receiver back. Easy as can be. And the way it should have been from Day One.

It's all resolved now, thanks to a helpful CSR in the access card department.

Fortunately, I've been a DirecTV customer for a long time (coming up on 10 years soon...) As such, I have multiple generations of both hardware and programming tied to my account. I'd be shocked if there were more than a handful of CSRs who remain from when I signed up so many moons ago. Unfortunately, the newer CSRs never dealt with self-installs, owned equipment, DVR Lifetime service, stuff like that - so when I do have to call in, it can be confusing for the CSR. I know this, I understand this, and I accept this.

I'm probably more of a 'pain' in the neck customer than most, because I do have legacy services; I have legacy receivers; I have multiple receivers (7); and I do expect my services to continue as they are.

I'm a little scared these days since my oldest receiver (a Hughes GXCEBOT DirecTiVo Series 1) is listed as the 'primary' on the account. I'm afraid that should I ever have to replace that box due to failure, my account is going to fall apart (again). The last time I replaced the primary receiver, it took 3 months to get my service back to where it was before. That DVR Lifetime is a great feature, but I think there's about 3 people left at DirecTV who understand it.

Yikes!

 

[rudeney]

I had an owned R10 replaced by an R15 less than a year ago and the R15 is showing up as owned. I didn't activate through PP, just an everyday CSR with out a problem. I never asked about it staying as owned they just did it.

Same here - two UTV's replaced with R15's under the PP - both activated by front-line CSR's and both properly listed as owned.

 

[dhhaines]

I'm a little scared these days since my oldest receiver (a Hughes GXCEBOT DirecTiVo Series 1) is listed as the 'primary' on the account. I'm afraid that should I ever have to replace that box due to failure, my account is going to fall apart (again). The last time I replaced the primary receiver, it took 3 months to get my service back to where it was before. That DVR Lifetime is a great feature, but I think there's about 3 people left at DirecTV who understand it.

Yikes!

And here I thought that I was the only one still Using the GXCEBOT ! :grin:

I have the same thing.. it's the primary on my account.

 

[dmurphy]

And here I thought that I was the only one still Using the GXCEBOT ! :grin:

I have the same thing.. it's the primary on my account.

That GXCEBOT is one of the best pieces of electronics -- of any sort -- I own. It's so stable - it just *works*!

I wish that DirecTV/TiVo had continued updating its software. Some of the "Series 2" features would be nice -- mostly groups and now the Recently Deleted folder.

Other than that, the GXCEBOT just keeps on keepin' on ...

 

[DrummerBoy523]

That GXCEBOT is one of the best pieces of electronics -- of any sort -- I own. It's so stable - it just *works*!

I wish that DirecTV/TiVo had continued updating its software. Some of the "Series 2" features would be nice -- mostly groups and now the Recently Deleted folder.

Other than that, the GXCEBOT just keeps on keepin' on ...

our DirecTivo (series 2) has the option for folders and also has the recently deleted folder. Did they not send that update out to all the DirecTivo boxes?

 

[dmurphy]

our DirecTivo (series 2) has the option for folders and also has the recently deleted folder. Did they not send that update out to all the DirecTivo boxes?

No.

If you have a Series1 DirecTiVo box (Hughes GXCEBOT, Sony SAT-T60, Philips DSR6000, etc.), you're still "stuck" on version 3 of the TiVo software.

The Series1 units didn't get the folder options, the recently deleted folder, none of that goodness & light that came to the Series2 systems (HDVR2, SD-DVR40/80, DSR7000, R10, etc.)

 

[dhhaines]

No.

If you have a Series1 DirecTiVo box (Hughes GXCEBOT, Sony SAT-T60, Philips DSR6000, etc.), you're still "stuck" on version 3 of the TiVo software.

The Series1 units didn't get the folder options, the recently deleted folder, none of that goodness & light that came to the Series2 systems (HDVR2, SD-DVR40/80, DSR7000, R10, etc.)

Too bad too. It's a much better box than any of the Series2 boxes in reliability. I can't even remember how long I've had this box hooked up, but I've replaced 2 R10's and an R15 while this one has kept recording what I've told it to record.

Too bad we can't say the same for this generation of boxes(HR2xx). I don't see them working for more than a couple years.

 

[dmurphy]

Too bad we can't say the same for this generation of boxes(HR2xx). I don't see them working for more than a couple years.

I'll be honest. My HR20 is pretty much rock-solid these days. Much better than the HR10-250 I had ever was. That thing used to shut down, lock up, and was slow as molasses. The HR20 has none of those issues for me.

I'm sure there are lots of people dissatisfied with the HR20, but I'm not one of 'em.