Tutor
Dvr service is not activated message...but it is
Yesterday, all my dvr’s stopped functioning as dvr’s. I have an hd dvr, 21-200 and a genie with 3 clients. I looked up the issue here and I have seen it mentioned and most of the time it Could not be fixed. The non genie dvr’s message is “dvr service is not activated. Please call dtv.” The genies error message is “Some features and functionality are unavailable due to the type of account you have. Please go to Directtv.com/business for more info.”
Aftet searching this forum, it seems this issue first became prominent in 2018 with RC1 conversion switching accounts to business accounts. I was on the phone 3 times yesterday for hours trying to get this resolved and every call ended in we have to send out a tech. But according to these forums, it is not a hardware issue. Somehow my account was switched to a business account but according to At&T, everything is fine. Some users here actually never got this resolved other than to leave directv. I have no access to previous recordings on my list or any other dvr services, such as pause or rewind or record. How can I get At&T to fix this issue? They say there is nothing wrong on their end.
Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
Nice research you did there. Yes the migration to the new account system has had a common issue of changing from Residential to Business/Commercial which doesn't allow DVR service. From the error messages you are seeing, that seems to be the problem for your Genie setup and HR21. Strange that they say the account is fine, so a bit more digging is needed.
Log into your account online to verify that DVR service is showing. If it is then I would use www.directv.com/refresh to refresh the service authorizations to remind the boxes they have DVR service. Usually gets a authorization issue fixed within a few minutes. I would do a red button reset as well, just to be safe. Reset in a specific order: Genie > WVB (if you have any wireless Clients) > Clients > HR21. Make sure reset is completely done before moving to the next in the chain.
That is what can be done in case it is on your side. After that would be the account itself. Call DirecTV and when you get the voice system say "cancel" as their retention/cancellation department is normally staffed by more experienced agents. Check to see if you are in the new account system (RC1) and that your account type is Residential and not something else. The agent should check all boxes to verify the line item for DVR service is on each one. A not unheard of situation on why not fixed is if an agent checked that the Genie had DVR service, but the "Primary" receiver on the account was a different one (such as when keeping an older one like your HR21) didn't and they didn't check it.
So in the end it should be either the boxes need to refresh their authorization, DirecTV needs to correct the account type to Residential, or the line item for DVR service on each box needs to added where it is missing. Hope the next agent can get this sorted out for you.
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Missparker10
Tutor
6 years ago
Thanks for the reply. I’ve tried everything on my end and no resolution. I’m on my second phone call today. First was retention. They said I am on the RC1 system. My account is residential. They said all boxes have dvr service turned on and that the genie is the main receiver. Now I’ve been transferred to tech.....YES!! The tech person fixed it. She went through line by line and said that dvr service was NOT activated even tho the 3 previous CSR’s had thought it was. I’m not sure how that was missed before but she took her time. It took her around 30 minutes but she finally fixed it. If I could send her a cookie I would.
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nabukl
ACE - Professor
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2.3K Messages
6 years ago
Do you by any chance have an thr22 on your account? Supposedly the new rc1 system has an issue with that model that causes the "business account" error
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nabukl
ACE - Professor
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2.3K Messages
6 years ago
It's no surprise to me at all that multiple csrs overlooked that the dvr service WASN'T active. Attention to detail is extremely important but often overlooked by them.
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
Glad it is fixed now. Sounds like prior agents saw DVR service on the account but didn't bother checking individual line items of each box. Good agents spend so much time cleaning up after the others.
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Missparker10
Tutor
6 years ago
@nabukl
Yes I do have a HR22 on the account.
@Juniper
And I asked the last 2 Csr reps if they went over it line by line. Sigh. The one who finally fixed it, she didn’t even have to be asked. She was gone a long time and kept apologizing for how long she was taking. I tried to really emphasize how thankful I was to her because she fixed what 3 other agents didn’t/couldn’t.
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nabukl
ACE - Professor
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2.3K Messages
6 years ago
@Missparker10 , thanks for answering but I asked if you have a the 22 (DirecTV TiVo) not an hr22 but glad the issue was fixed anyway. @Juniper yep, I was one of those "clean up" agents.
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Missparker10
Tutor
6 years ago
@nabukl ack. Sorry. Nope. I don’t have a TiVo. But I sure do miss mine
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Juniper
ACE - Expert
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23K Messages
6 years ago
@Missparker10
If the agent was gone a long time, perhaps it was more than just a simple line item issue. Especially now that accounts are in a new billing system that probably has its own quirks. Regardless of cause, I am very glad it is fixed.
Understandable confusion on the model number. The THR22 was the last attempt at a TiVO for DirecTV, which is different from HR22 which is DirecTV designed. The TiVO based HDDVR didn't fully work with DirecTV services, had trouble with On Demand, and you had to pay for TiVO service on top of DVR service (which incidentally the new account system had big issues with this legacy service causing anyone with this model to lose service on it). So DirecTV moved on sticking with their own equipment for the several models after that.
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