DVR issues

You are not paying for the replacement receiver but do pay for the shipping.

I understand that. Why would I need to pay anything? Why am I the paying customer paying  for shipping? I don’t own their equipment. Their equipment stopped working properly. Why not have someone bring a new one if they’re worried about shipping costs? 

Because you agreed to it when you sighed up.

DTV Equipment Lease agreement:      We also reserve the right to charge reasonable shipping and handling fees in connection with replacement of any Leased Equipment, 

Oh I see. Thank you for your help. You’re obviously missing the point. But I appreciate your input.

Hello @Jlaw423, thanks for reaching us and bringing this to our attention.

We're not ready to see you leave the DIRECTV family. To better assist you and take a closer look on the replacement options, please check your DIRECTV Message Inbox (It's the chat Icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums).

We will be there waiting for your answer.

Adriana, DIRECTV Community Specialist

The only way to get a free replacement is if you pay extra for the monthly Equipment Protection Plan. Otherwise it's $20 for shipping. It's always been that way. And that's a better deal than paying for the Equipment Protection Plan. 

How is that better? You do realize they’re charging you for each box every month right? Instead of saying it’s a lease they rename it as “access fee”. Their decision as a company to not have locations for drop off or pickup of equipment is solely of their own doing. Doing so only benefits them. Certainly not the customer

@Jlaw423 this is a public forum and we are customers just like you, so we also suffer with the shipping fee. It’s named an ‘access fee’ because you are accessing DIRECTV satellite via a receiver, and this costs money because DIRECTV isn’t free. Hence, the name ‘ACCESS fee’. 

I agree that it can be annoying that DIRECTV receivers can’t be picked up at a local DIRECTV store per se. However, you can drop off equipment at a participating UPS or FedEx location to be returned.

@Jlaw423 He’s not missing the point. He, like myself, has just been a customer a long time. For those of us that have been customers since before they went to the lease model, just paying $20 for shipping is great. In the old days, if you wanted a new or replacement receiver, you had to buy one. $20 sure beats spending $200-$1000. Also, that access fee is not to cover the cost of the lease. There has always been a “per receiver” charge.

Got it. Thank you everyone for your input. I guess I’m wrong for questioning these practices. I mean it sounds like y’all have been treated far worse in the past, so in your minds this is acceptable and actually a good option. Have a great Day.

The $8.99 is the Equipment Protection Plan. That is an optional service. It covers the cost of shipping of replacement boxes ($19.95), service calls ($99), and remotes ($15).

With the equipment being leased, we just pay shipping if a box has to be sent out under warranty. In the old owned days, the warranty was just 1 year. After that, you had to pay for a replacement at full retail cost (HDDVR $499), or alternatively use your upgrade once lease options were available. With the box being owned by DirecTV (leased), the warranty is ongoing. So 5 or 10 years later you just pay the shipping of $19.95 which is much cheaper than the old way and you save your free upgrade for an actual upgrade when desired.

If this were happening early, say within 90 days of getting the box, then it could be considered defective and warranty a replacement at no cost to you. But having a box for years, eventually it wears out especially with a traditional HDD for the DVR's storage. Defective doesn't mean work at peak performance forever.

And having someone bring the box is more expensive than shipping. They don't have DirecTV techs living next door to everyone. So employees time and effort, gas, and taking all that away from someone who actually needs a tech to do work, is overall more costly than just shipping the box. Remember, service call is $99 but shipping replacement box is $19.95.

You do NOT pay monthly for the lease. You pay $7 for each additional TV being authorized on the service no matter how connected. This is the same cost as the owned days or if you have a TV with no box (built-in RVU client). Any lease cost is one-time up front, but only if you didn't qualify for a free upgrade.

With all that being said about how DirecTV has been setup for decades, if you are so offended by this cost that should be rarely needed, then call them and when you get the voice system say "cancel". The retention/cancellation department may be able to cover the cost as a one-time courtesy to retain your business. If not, then they are the ones to go over closing the account.

You are not wrong for questioning the practices. We have explained how it actually works and how it has changed since the early days. We were not "treated worse" as you claim (seriously, you make it sound like they are out to get everyone personally with evil intent). Satellite pay TV was new so had a much different model for how equipment was handled. Over the years as they became a stable service in the market, they decided to update their model that was a better balance for them and the consumer. A one time shipping cost for a box that may be 2, 5, or 10+ years old is very reasonable. That is an on-going warranty (for as long as that line of equipment type exists of course).

As for the protection plan, that agent made a hard sell which sounded like they positioned it as a required option. It is not a warranty, but similar to an insurance option. In the long run, the one-time costs are much cheaper. If you need the protection plan often enough to where it is the lower cost overall, then something is seriously wrong. That is why I don't find it a good value in general. I see it only good for those that are in a financial situation where they cannot keep reserve funds and so deal better with a known monthly cost, even if they pay for it always regardless if they use it or not. For them it helps manage the finances easier, even though they are paying more in the end.

lol y’all are so invested in this company. You don’t even work for them. I pointed out that even Comcast which we can all agree is way worse doesn’t charge for any of this. When I said you were treated worse…i was referring to having to pay $200 for any equipment at all. So I’m sure $20 is way better. I think it’s hilarious that I’m pinned as being the “bad guy” or possibly a difficult customer in this situation. We all pay for service for tv. I don’t think pointing out the absurdity in having to pay for faulty equipment to be sent back is such a bad thing. What happens if I pay the $20 and get another faulty box back in return? Which is not as far fetched as you can would think, seeing as how they refurbish most of these boxes. Then I’ll need to send another $20? Also is this equipment supposed to last the life of the customer? This is just another way they can either sell you on another warranty or take zero responsibility for faulty equipment, other than sending you another reciever on your dime.

You don't pay to return the receivers.  Replacement receivers come with a 90 day warranty so it will be replaced without another shipping fee.   No the hard drive can fail at anytime so there is no way to tell how long it will last.

Well that’s good to know. Thank you Shannon.