HR44-700

Right, unfortunately this feature is nonexistent on the Genie HD DVRs. This is one of many reasons why I specifically stuck with the old HD DVR standalone receivers like the HR20 thru HR24. If you absolutely miss the feature, you can get an HR24 from Solid Signal and get the feature back. If not, call DIRECTV retention and demand for an older non-Genie HD DVR. I am sure they can come through and send you one, although those have had stock issues recently, so no guarantees. However, it is worth it to make the call. 

Thank you very much for your response and your direction. As I was told, if I leave DirecTV before two years have passed then I may be charged $240 for doing so.

They charged $299 for an "upgrade" to a Genie DVR. A direct replacement for a regular HD DVR should have been only $20 (free with Equipment Protection Plan). 

Hey @StevenDudley ,let's check together the charges for the new device and the Early Termination Fee.

Let's meet in a Direct Message to take a closer look on this. Please check your DIRECTV Message Inbox (It's the chat icon next to the bell icon in the upper right corner of the Forums)

Johana, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Would love to chat with you, but I can't find the (Edited per community guidelines)😆 icon that you referred me to.😥

as litzdog says, replacement of a faulty HD dvr is only $20. You should not have been pushed into an "upgrade", 

A little frustrated this morning, first off I want to thank all of you for your advice / comments. I thought I was heading in the right direction because a DirecTV representative ask me for my information and they would look into this for me. After a few nice back and forth text I received a text this morning from another DirecTV representative stating that I could hit the record button when I went to bed and in the morning I would be able to see what I had recoded. I don't believe  that it would solve my problem that I had initially requested a solution to. Not to mention that there was no mention of the $299 replacement fee for their failed equipment, the $240 fee for early termination and the $3 a month increase in my bill. I get the sense that I'm not a big enough player for them to care, but do want to thank everyone for there thoughts. Thank you

If you don't have any mini clients you can just leave the HR44 on the channel you want and don't put it in standby mode. New equipment to the account starts a new 2 year contract that will cost you $480 if you cancel DTV in the first month and is reduced by $20 per month.

A warranty replacement is $19.95 and would be like-for-like, even if newer model number of the same line.

A Genie is an upgrade which comes with a 24 month service agreement. If it had been over 2 years of active service, with account in good standing, since your last upgrade (which adding a TV counts as an upgrade), then a free one should have been available. The $299 for the Genie is only if you are upgrading early.

So that $299 doesn't make sense unless you did something else within the last 2 years.

As the Genie is DirecTV's Advanced Whole Home HDDVR, in addition the HD and DVR services you already have there is the $3 Whole Home DVR as a required service. Though the Genie has more tuners than a regular HDDVR (5 vs 2), I do not suggest it for a single TV home as you don't get the full value out of it.

You need to contact the "loyalty" department and contest the $300 fee.  I just had a similar issue (been with dtv for 15 yrs) and they sent out a new genie for free.

When an upgrade is placed, an order confirmation is emailed detailing the cost and 24 month service agreement. That way if an agent doesn't disclose everything they were supposed to (accidental or on purpose), you have information to check before you have the equipment for your protection.

With the order confirmation, most likely the upgrade would stand. But if already contested over the phone, then a BBB complaint to send the issue to corporate would be a shot.

A warranty replacement would have been $19.95 delivery. An upgrade as the only option should only happen if the old box was from the old owned days where the 1 year warranty had expired.

The Genie's design to manage multiple Clients with the 5 tuners means it doesn't have the guaranteed buffer when you turn it off (even though it is not truly off, otherwise it couldn't record or receive updates). So though the Genie (HR44 is the 2nd generation) is an upgrade, it doesn't keep every single feature of your earlier HDDVR.

As for the $299, how long ago was your last upgrade? If you have had over 2 years of active service, and account has been in good standing, since your last upgrade (adding a TV counts) then it should have been free. If that is your situaiton, I would callback and dispute the cost.

Unfortunately regular HDDVRs (last one HR24), haven't been made in years. At least they didn't push you into the Genie-2 (HS17) line as that is its own beast.

The Genie is DirecTV's Advanced Whole Home HDDVR. It requires $10 HD and $10 DVR, which you should have already had per your HDDVR. It only adds in $3 for Whole Home DVR. This is what allows your boxes to watch the recordings of each other. I wouldn't normally recommend it for a single TV home since you cannot use that feature, but there are those who on a single TV need to go from 2 to 5 tuners.

Sorry if my post was a bit of a repeat. Apparently the full page didn't load so only had some of the original posts. Good luck to all in this thread.

I would like to thank everyone here for your help/direction. I contacted someone at DirecTV that was able to help me with most of my concerns. I am satisfied with the results (other than the fact that I can no longer "reverse" to the beginning of a station when I first turn the TV on) but  without any options I guess it is the best I can do. Thank you all again for your support.