Faulty Receivers/Protection Plan Scam

We are sorry for this situation you have experienced with your equipment. The Protection Plan helps you save money in case a Technician needs to repair something at your home or these unpredictable moments get you. Please check https://www.directv.com/technology/satellite-protection-plan/. Do you want to restore the Protection Plan? Natalia, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Absolutely not you won't extort $8 out of me every month just to keep you from nuking my receiver.  I'll pay that $20 you scammed me out of this time after paying for your useless protection plan for 10+ years and you NEVER once repairing ANYTHING at my home. Now you nuke my receiver knowing you get to squeeze $20 out of me since I cancelled your useless plan. Scam company. How about get better receivers and never EVER charge a customer a PENNY if YOUR CRAP receiver malfunctions within a year of being installed you scammers

Hard drives fail sooner or later there is nothing DTV is doing to cause it.  I've had my HR24 for years without the protection plan.

I paid a bill in excess of $300 for approximately 10 years, most with the protection plan. Soon as I reduced my bill by switching from premier to choice and cancelling their protection plan which I never needed, all of a sudden my receiver does not work. Either they nuked the receiver or they should not be charging me shipping and handling as the receiver was installed less than a year ago when I had the protection plan. Mind the business that PAYS you!

@LLCoolJ 

The protection plan I agree is not a good value. However it doesn't cause the receiver to go out just because you don't have it.

Delivery of replacement box is $19.95. Service calls are $99. Remotes $15. With how infrequently you need those, it is cheaper to pay the one-time costs as needed instead of an ongoing charge. I only see the plan being good for someone who has trouble maintaining reserve funds, so having a known cost already built in makes it easier.

DirecTV didn't nuke your receiver. If it went out after removing the protection plan that is very bad luck, but it can happen. Boxes don't last forever.

Call DirecTV back and ask if they will do a one-time credit on the delivery as a courtesy for how long you've had the plan. Though they are not obligated to do so, it would be the right thing to do in this situation.

Boxes don't last forever? Please stop sending your bots in here to defend your scam plan. I had the box for less than a year. I should not be paying anything if nothing in my home caused this to go out.

@LLCoolJ 

I am no more of a bot than you are. This is a public forum as I have listed in all my posts.

By the nature of tech they can fail at anytime. There is no such thing as perfect. DirecTV does provide a 90 day worry free guarantee, but there are times with at least a replacement box they have covered delivery if within 1 year (as that was the warranty time frame back when owned was an option).

You are inventing a scam/nuke where there is none. Yes the plan is not a good value, so I recommend against it unless you need a set cost in your monthly bill. But DirecTV, nor any other TV provider, is not doing some magic to kill your box upon removing it.

Leave the conspiracy crazy in the trash.

Lol at it being a conspiracy that a company makes crap boxes on purpose that break within a year so they can then present their customers with the option of a "protection plan". What a decorative imagination one must have. Must be a capitalist!

There are a few customers out there that where still using SD DVRs that are 20 years old but now have to be replaced as DTV is shutting down the SD only channels.  You just had bad luck with this receiver.

Since the pandemic, very little in new boxes appear to have been made. Pretty much everything is refurbished now. And this all happened after AT&T stopped production of prior gen boxes because they wanted everyone going to an all-in-one setup.

Hopefully the new co-owner will change equipment direction away from the all-in-one setups. As for new models innovated and produced, that still may take some time. Production and logistics are still recovering from that mess (for multiple companies).

I have had boxes last many years without the protection plan. As mentioned I don't consider it a good value. That doesn't turn it into a scam. Yes it is a decorative imagination to come up with that boxes are triggered to fail when protection plan is removed. You're just lashing out because that was some bad luck on the timing and realizing you personally didn't need to spend that much money on the plan over the years.

Umm, capitalism is our economic system. Like any other system it has its flaws. By living in America and earning money and spending it, you are part of that system. Unless you live off the grid in some wilderness and are self-sustaining with no transfer of funds, you are a capitalist by default.

I'm a paying customer with the right to voice a complaint and just because you have a cape on does not make my complaint invalid. You are not a legal judge of DirecTv's morality on this issue. You do not have all of the necessary information nor are privy to it, therefore your interpretation of the events is merely speculative and hearsay.

And I would have asked DirecTv if they could waive the shipping and handling as a one-time courtesy, but their "technician" who did NOTHING to try and troubleshoot the issue, showed no empathy whatsoever and actually laughed at me then after I called him out for his behavior simply asked "Would you like to process the payment?" Unprofessional and disadvantageous, the "DirecTv" Way!

Enjoy your day!

You do have the right to complain. I am not disputing that. Just pointing out that your claim it is designed for the box to go out once you deactivate the protection plan is beyond the pale. Millions of us have had boxes last many years, regardless if we have the protection plan or not. Your car is not designed to fail as soon as you choose not to have insurance (or lapse on a payment).

I do believe it would be proper of DirecTV to cover the delivery cost of this replacement because of the situation. They are not required to do so, but it would be the right thing to do in my opinion.

If their tech did nothing to troubleshoot, that is another matter. I would submit complaint on that tech. You can also share the details of the technical issue to see if the community could help you find a solution to avoid needing a replacement box or service call, or perhaps narrow down what needs to be done on DirecTV's side.

Many in the community are willing to help provide guidance and information. We just like to keep it grounded to a realistic perspective.

I have been a customer 23 years, and just now went to a Geni 2, before had the old style HR21, etc.

Never failed, but i added fan cooling to the one in my cabinet. I worked for a company where we developed the early DTV receivers and know they make heat and heat will age electronics.

All that is just anecdotal, in my case with stuff either failing right away, or lasting a long time, $9 a month is not a good deal for me.

The main reason for posting is I am not really pleased with receiving refurbished equipment that has clearly failed before, but I "paid" as new, i.e. don't have any extended warranty, and I think the new stuff has a 90 day warranty.

But my track record with DTV is positive in terms of reliability, so I hope it continues, and so I will not be spending $9 a month for now. The equipment is effectively leased as I understand it, so I can connect HDMI and enter wifi passwords myself. I installed and aligned my dish maybe 10 years ago, still going strong.

The $9 a month might be good for people with lots of issues I guess.

Greg

All receivers come with a 90 day warranty regardless if they are "new" or refurbished.   Even the HS17 has refurbished units out there and soon the C71KW will be refurbished if they are not out there yet.  90% of DTV receivers are refurbished.  AFAIK DTV orders X numbers of their next line when built, they release them mainly to new customers then any that come back are refurbished to use for upgrades/replacements.

DirecTV provides a 90 day coverage for service calls and boxes before a service call or delivery of replacement is chargeable. Even with refurbishing (if done right) you theoretically should be fine for at least a year. If it were up to me, I would extend out covering delivery for at least that year to match up the old fashioned 1 year warranty for owned boxes back in the day.

With having protection plan for years, and having a box go out shortly after, it would be a very reasonable courtesy for DirecTV to cover delivery of that box (if one is needed, we don't know anything about the issue other than perhaps no troubleshooting by the agent over the phone). They may not be obligated, but would be the right thing to do for customer service in my opinion.

Refurbishing makes sense as they own the boxes. But it should be done right so it is in like-new condition. And even if 10 years later, still just $19.95 (plus tax of course) to replace the box and don't have to pay $499 (owned HDDVR) again.

If you have enough issues to make $8.99 worth it, something is seriously wrong. I had a friend who didn't manage reserve funds well at all, so a monthly protection plan had him covered. Sure he spent more, but it made up for his own issues. But for others like us, we can spend the $19.95 (delivery of box) or $99 (service call) as needed as it should be no more than once every few years or so.

Quality of refurbishing can definitely be an issue. However it does not get designed to fail upon recognizing protection plan removed. That is super science/big brother fantasy that just doesn't happen.