Is there a way to lock out account changes from the remote

Hey, we are more than happy to bring you the best options to avoid this kind of situation. You have two options. The first is to set the parental control with a pin code. You can check how to set this at the following link https://www.directv.com/support/stream/article/KM1227368/. The second option is to change your password. This will help as well. You will find more information on the next link https://www.directv.com/support/stream/article/KM1454942. I hope this help you. Thanks for being the best part of the DIRECTV family. Remember, we are always here for you. Dylan, DIRECTV Community Specialist

Dylan, 

First - thank you for responding.  However, neither of those options prevent someone from being able to add , say...Epix..., to the programming.  I'm trying to lock out remote-based purchases, not limit what people can watch.  Any additional assistance would be appreciated.

Sorry, that Directvhelp did not help you with this simple question.  Unfortunately at this time, there is no way to prevent changes from happening when using your remote.  Your best option would be to make sure that when he is looking for something to watch he could use the favorites channel list which you would have to set up in the guide that way you can eliminate the add-on channels from showing in the guide.  But if he is using the voice control option to add the channels then there is no way to prevent this thing from happening.  You would think that Directv would have made it so that a passcode could be used to prevent this type of thing from happening since there have been a lot of complaints about this since this capability was added to the service.  All I can tell you to do is to call customer service and complain when your Grandfather adds channels the best people to talk to about this would be the loyalty/retention department.  To get them when you call customer service say cancel to the bot.  Sometimes they will credit you back some money but most of the time they will not.  Hopefully, they will add a feature in the future so that purchases can be blocked.  But until then good luck with your Grandfather.