Would I Be Charged To Replace My HR20-700?

Generally you'll be charged $19.95 for shipping and handling plus you start a new two year commitment.

ptimmerm said:

Having some issues with my HR20-700 this morning. It might be a hardware issue. Presuming it needs to be replaced, will I have to pay for that? I think the answer is yes (even though we lease these things and that totally irks me), but a buddy of mine called to upgrade to HD the other week and was told if he ever had a problem with his equipment he would NOT be charged for a replacement.

So, which is it?

Click to expand...

What "should happen" is without the protection plan, you pay shipping [$20] and your programing commitment is NOT extended.
The DirecTV computer system along with many CSRs, have a very hard time getting this to work, and promote the protection plan as being needed, when in fact, it would cover the shipping [along with any thing else from DirecTV beyond the leased receiver].

Stuart Sweet said:

Generally you'll be charged $19.95 for shipping and handling plus you start a new two year commitment.

Click to expand...

Are you sure about new two year commitment? This was discussed here not long time ago and it was confirmed by Directv that getting a replacement should not renew the commitment.

If you're on the protection plan the commitment should not be renewed. To get another leased receiver while not on the protection plan generally restarts the commitment.

Stuart Sweet said:

If you're on the protection plan the commitment should not be renewed. To get another leased receiver while not on the protection plan generally restarts the commitment.

Click to expand...

You are right it generally does but it should not.

From Upstream's post:

After posting this on this forum, I received multiple private messages from posters who say they work at DirecTV to inform me that DirecTV's policy is that replacing defective recievers does not trigger a new commitment

Click here for rest of post

I stand corrected. I guess when my HR20 was replaced in December '06 the CSR handled it incorrectly. Thanks for setting me straight.

Stuart Sweet said:

Generally you'll be charged $19.95 for shipping and handling plus you start a new two year commitment.

Click to expand...

Didn't happen that way for me this week. I paid $19.95, but the commitment date didn't move.

Also, it seems that D* is using different strategies for receiver replacements depending upon whether or not the customer has the PP. For example, many customers without the PP are being told they have to pay for an $80 technician visit to verify that it is an equipment problem and not something else (wiring, switch, disk, user error, etc.) On the other hand, those with the PP are being shipped a replacement receiver, even when they request a technician to help with the connections.

I understand that D* is doing this to manage costs, but in the long run it will cost them. They’ll end up shipping receivers to PP subs that get improperly connected and then end up requiring much more CSR phone time and eventually a tech visit. For those situations where it’s an obvious receiver failure, they end up paying the tech when they could have just paid shipping (presumably, if it is a true receiver failure, they wouldn’t actually charge the customer for the service visit?).