Gemini disappointment

Hello There. I read all about your experience with the Gemini. We're sorry this equipment has technical issues and you got frustrated. We know you want to get this fixed. DIRECTV appreciates your loyalty. Let's meet in a DM so that we can check the options together. Erika, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Minis are $99 and you will not get back the mini you had but the same model number.

""Minis are $99 and you will not get back the mini you had but the same model number""

I'm fully aware I would not get "mine" back.  As stated in my post dtv tried to sell it to me for $199 at first then act like they were doing me a favor at $99.     I shouldn't have to pay for one at all since it is replacing faulty equipment and defiantly shouldn't have to up my contract again.....

""Hello There. I read all about your experience with the Gemini. We're sorry this equipment has technical issues and you got frustrated. We know you want to get this fixed. DIRECTV appreciates your loyalty. Let's meet in a DM so that we can check the options together. Erika, DIRECTV Community Specialist""

Thank you I will DM you soon when I get a little more time.

@Chadwalker82 

As stated in my post dtv tried to sell it to me for $199 at first then act like they were doing me a favor at $99.

DirecTV doesn't "sell" (purchase to own) any Genie or Mini Genie. They are lease-only, meaning you return the box back to them when done. All Mini Genies are $99. They have never been $199.

HDDVRs (non-Genie) have the one-time lease cost of $199 (if you aren't up for a free upgrade). That is discounted from the full retail cost of $499 (when purchase to own was still available).

I suspect the agent you were talking with was trying to spin the positive point that being leased is cheaper than if you had to buy your own, but were doing so with inaccurate info.

A warranty replacement is $19.95 delivery. It is like for like, which a Gemini and Mini Genie are not as they are two different lines of equipment. Going from one to the other would be an 'upgrade' with a 24 month service agreement. As a note, regular, wireless, and 4K models of Mini Genie are 3 separate lines so are not like for like (i.e. C61, C61W, C61K). A warranty replacement gets same model or newer depending on stock (so not 100% you would get the same model unless you had the newest one in the first place).

have a tech coming out Monday.  Not sure if it will do any good.

Tech going out is wrong. That is $99 to work on cabling, dish, etc. but not repair a box as that cannot be done on-site. If the box is faulty, they ship one to you and then in turn you send the problem one back to them so they can take it apart and refurbish it as well as reload software if it is repairable.

After questioning the guy he confesses " free for 3 months then an additional $13 a month.

Protection plan is not $13. Either you were speaking to a 3rd party retailer with their own in-house plan, or you had a DirecTV agent in severe need of retraining. The protection plan is $8.99 which covers cost of delivery, service calls, and replacement remotes ($15 through DirecTV itself, though cheaper through mass retailers). The Premier level is $20.99 to cover non-DirecTV equipment, and then there is $25.98 for the highest level as that includes Accidental Damage Handling. And it doesn't have a 3 month free option. It has a 30 day no charge/no claim period, but you don't get it for free. Personally I don't find even the base level a good value as you pay more in the long run then what the one-time costs would be.

https://www.directv.com/satellite/technology/protection-plan/ 

To the previous comment.   They indeed try to sell it to me.  It was dtv customer service not a third party.

Protection plan is 8.99 which I have.  He claimed to be giving me the premier protection plan ( covers tv ect also) for free,. Then finally confesses free for 3 months then 13.99 a month

@Chadwalker82 

Everything Genie and newer is lease-only. They have never had a purchase to own option. Since you recently got the Gemini, to get a Mini Genie would be an 'upgrade' of $99 since any free upgrade was already used. Agent was trying to spin the cost in a positive light instead of just telling you straight up how it worked.

Nothing was "confessed" as protection plan doesn't have a free trial as works similar to insurance. Perhaps they planned to provide a separate one-time credit to cover the value of 3 months, but that would have been unethical as buying the upgrade of that plan for their internal perks of 'upsells'.

Didn't know you already had the Protection Plan. That bit of info clears up the other cost that was quoted. Since you already have the Equipment Protection Plan ($8.99) then if you had gone to Protection Plan Premier ($20.99) that would have been an increase of $12. I suspect he got to $13 by rounding something wrong.

I stand by the Protection Plan is not a good value as you pay $107.98 every year whether you use it or not. You would need massive work every year to make it the cheaper cost.

how to simply get my genie mini back and return Gemini without them charging for the box or upping contract?

Different lines of equipment so it is an 'upgrade' order for them regardless of the reason. There is no way to avoid the service agreement. However, it goes from day it is installed/activated, not added to the end of the current one. So that would just be a matter of days or weeks depending how long it has been since you got the Gemini.

The only way the box would be free is if the agent ordering it could push through a one-time credit to cover the cost as the $99 is how much it is until you qualify for your next free upgrade.

With the box powering itself off, and it is determined not to be a loose/faulty power cord or issue with the outlet or surge protection/power strip, then just go with a warranty replacement. Since you have the Protection Plan the delivery cost is covered, which should be anyway if it is within 90 days of activating the new box. That way you get a box working as intended without dealing with cost and renewing the agreement again.

As a note, make sure the box is not plugged into a 'smart' power strip. They don't work well with DirecTV equipment unlike a regular surge protector. And I would also check that if your TV has HDMI-CEC that it is turned off.

Sorry to hear you have had so much trouble. I have two Geminis and except for a few quirks they are fine.

DTV has fixed the HDR compatible issue.

Closed Captioning now in info window like the Genie. But also through Voice command.

The only issue is HDR is always on.

Minor glitch with my upstairs remote. It turns the TV back on after I turn it off. Usually once a week. Wierd.

I have 4 gemini devices and have noticed multiple issues with each one. There are voice syncing issues when using apps. So bad that it's unwatchable. The nice new voice remote is hit or miss. Sometimes the channel will change and sometimes it won't. The gemini at times will randomly reset itself. Very annoying. I had been a directv subscriber from 1995 until 2020. I gave up on directv in 2020 for several reasons. One reason was their lack of updated equipment. I was excited to learn of the release of the new gemini devices and decided to give directv another try after my 3 year absence. I am highly disappointed with the gemini. I understand it is a new device but during my 25 years of directv I have received many directv upgrades as soon as they were released. Never before have I experienced so many issues with new equipment. Hopefully they correct these issues with the gemini or my return to directv may be limited to the 2 year agreement. 

We have the same issue with our Gemini.  We've had our unit for at least 3 years.  Lately, the box will reboot itself, or when starting an app, it goes back to the channel the box was on.  The volume issue is very irritating.  The whole thing functions like Windows 3.1.  We have to reboot our box at least 1 to 2 times per week, which is extremely annoying.  

We also have problems when we pause live tv.  If we pause the tv for more than a few seconds when we try to go back to view the recorded portion, the box pops out of the pause and goes to a different channel so we lose the recorded portion that was on pause and have no way to get back to it.  

The box is up to date.  We are ready to send it back and cancel the service.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Our Gemini crashes live tv every 60~ minutes or so. This Gemini is a replacement for the first Gemini we received two months ago. Live tv crashes, which is obvious as we lose the ability to rewind what we’re watching. Watching apps (Netflix, Hulu, and even recorded shows from the main hub dvr are 100% stable). 

Both Gemini’s show the same behavior. 

After being a customer 23 years, and having the same HR series recorder for a long time, I just went to the Genie 2 and one Gemini and one Geni Mini.

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED

The Gemini reboots, and when watching a recorded show, drops out and goes back to my current DTV channel.

I have the latest software on everything. I spend a hour on the phone with the "Geni" experts and they are clueless... I pointed out what appeared to be a problem myself (the Gemini was connecting to the wireless bridge for internet, not my wifi access point 10 feet away)

Mine still shows low signal strength and cannot turn on HDR. A very poor choice on my part to get "more features"...

I guess it will be fixed eventually... but a very poor showing at the moment...

I had a Genie2 HS17 (the Triangular server) and two 4K Genie minis. They were always installed as wired I never needed wireless.

I got two Geminis to replace the Genies. The kits came with wired adapters. It was virtually plug and play.

The Genie2 Server has a built in wireless bridge which worked for Genie non 4K minis before Geminis.

You shouldn't need a wireless bridge if you have a Genie2. 

Yeah, I am questioning that, and I have Ethernet 4 inches away from the Geni Mini client.... not all installers are part time rocket scientists..

I would think that I could hardware everything... is that so?

greg

The old Directv TV setup was always Coaxial cables from the Satellite Dish to each individual receiver/DVR  like the HR20 thru 54. 

My wired arrangement still has Coax from the Genie2 (HS17) to the 4K Genie Minis or now a Gemini adapter box then a small Cat5 line to each Gemini. The actual internet Cat5 line plugs into the Genie2.

Do you have a Gemini kit or did an installer just wing it?

The Gemini C71WK can be wireless connected to the HS17 using the built in WVB the only 4K client that can do so.