Customer Service

They're certainly interested in keeping their customers. But they're clearly having a hard time hiring and training qualified support folks. Sad, but true. 

DTV has run out of refurbished HR24s that haven't been made in years so they can only replace them with an HR54 Genie or an HS17 Genie2 client only system that would be an upgrade with a new 2 yr contract.

@shannon02 In my opinion, if they can’t replace an HR-2x receiver with an HR-24 and can only offer a genie, that should negate the requirement for a 2 year contract. I have 2 HR-2x receivers and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before one or both of them fail. 

They are not going to reprogram the computer, upgrades come with a 2 yr contract.

@Kkeng40 

DirecTV is interested in keeping customers. Problem is that since the pandemic call centers were hit the hardest from social distancing requirements. Now people don't want such jobs when they can be at home, or living off some sort of assitance, without dealing with customers (who realistically only call when they have a problem). And before that, AT&T's acquisition threw a lot of AT&T agents into the DirecTV side with minimal training (having to just look up policy as they go).

This means that qualified and informed customer service agents are in short supply. Plus the outsourcing to try and make up for the low staffing.

But replacing a receiver is not as simple as it once was. They were heavily pushing the Genie (and now Genie-2) setups to be all-in-one. Earlier lines haven't been made in years. This means that warranty replacements for pre-Genie models might not be available, leaving an upgrade as the only option.

What is the model of your old reciever? Why are you trying to replace it? If it is malfunctioning, then it should be a warranty replacement (if any of that line in stock). Normally $19.95 delivery, but that is covered by the protection plan. (hint: you pay that $8.99 every month whther you use it or not so it is not a good value).

However, if upgrade is the only way to go then yes it will come with a 24 month service agreement. If it has been at least 2 years since your last upgrade/additional TV added then you should qualify for a free upgrade. The one-time least cost is only if you upgrade early, or you go for more than one box as only the first is covered by the free upgrade.

What's the model number of the old receiver you want to replace?

I shouldn’t be penalized in any way if they don’t have an equipment replacement so that I can continue my service. I shouldn’t be required to sign a new contract. I’ve been a customer for close to 30 years. I’ve been loyal to them. They should be loyal to me. But unfortunately they aren’t. 
I guess we will see what happens when the technician comes to check it out.

30 yrs what is 2 more?

@Kkeng40 

Well in 2 years it will be 30. They launched in 1994 which makes 2024 the actual 30. Which means a 24 month service agreement is a drop in the bucket to take you to that 30.

But another user on the forum claimed that on-site they started warranty replacing regular HDDVRs with a Genie as needed. I don't know if that is actually true, but is a reasonable possibility.

But what is the model of your receiver and why are you replacing it? If it is an MPEG-2 box, that is neither warranty or upgrade but a required MPEG swap. So knowing the details of the situation will allow us to give specific guidance.

On a related note, I do hope the new co-owner of DirecTV goes back to full receivers. There really needs to be a newer model of HDDVR to work with SWM and the Genie from the ground up, instead of more adapted for it. Logically, the next model number would be HR25 but that is just my musing and not an actual model number.

Loyalty doesn't mean they give you free stuff all the time with no requirement. They are still a business. It depends on your exact situation what the options are. And remember, a new co-owner has just taken the reigns for DirecTV so they cannot make big changes just yet during the migration.