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2oldman's avatar
2oldman
Explorer II
Apr 17, 2015

DTV blew away my programming, nightmare restoring it

My Directv HR21-100 receiver died a couple days ago. Got the replacement today, an HR24-500.

Fired it up and voila, NO programming. Went online to reauthorize. Rebooted, several times. Nope, still nothing but 201 in SD. It appears DTV terminated ALL my programming. I spent the next hour (yes, an hour) on the phone trying to get it back. Got it back.. or so I thought. Now, I have no DNS, channels 390-399.

Called back. Spent another hour on the phone, call finally was 'Lost' due to poor Verizon reception in one room. Did the representative try to call me back? Of course not.

Took a dinner break. Decided to try on chat. Spent another hour or more there, she couldn't fix it, and is sending out a service tech tomorrow - between noon and 4pm.

This has never happened, ever. Usually getting service back is easy. I'm not hopeful this service call will fix anything, but one needs to remain positive.

It seems utterly ridiculous that they would do anything to my programming package, let alone make me spend hours on the phone trying to get it back. Is replacing a receiver supposed to be this difficult?

I don't see a bright future for Directv if this is any indication of how things are going over there.

32 Replies

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  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    Resolution:

    Technician showed up an hour early for appointment. GF was home, I was not. All he did was plug in the receiver, verify my programming worked, said he couldn't do anything about DNS and left.

    I set up my RV dish and see if DNS is there. IT IS!!! So we're good. I always thought I had it on both receivers. Either I was wrong, or they've changed their system.

    Now I don't have to have a heart attack or cancel my service.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    Now today I get an insulting email from DTV telling me how to resolve programming issues by going online to reauthorize. Yeah.

    The only way they're going to wiggle out of this one is if the receiver is defective, and there was no way to know that from headquarters. And it'll be the first time this has ever happened.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    wa8yxm wrote:
    Do you mean that you can not watch premium channels (DNS for example) you pay for.or Do you mean your program selections to record automatically were lost?
    I mean that I had NO signal from directv giving me my Select package with channels like CNN in it. I could not watch any live TV except ch 201. It was as if I was a new customer and had to purchase an entertainment package.

    I got a kick out of the one operator on the phone. As I'm patiently waiting for her to figure out the problem, I asked "Did you guys change all my programming?" She waited several more minutes then said "No, you don't have any programming." I guffawed.. "Oooh.. so you DID change my programming - from some to none!!" I didn't hear her laugh.

    I realize I lose all my recordings on the old receiver's hard drive.
    az99 wrote:
    It is DirecTv. Did you really expect it to go better?
    I did. As I said, this has never happened, and even so, their ability to restore programming has never taken hours, and that's usually user-fixable with an online Reactivate. With Netflix et al breathing down DTV's neck, and this kind of service (with at least 3 people trying to fix it) is not boding well for them.
    edatlanta wrote:
    I would call back and immediately ask for the retention department. These people can do virtually anything and have the interest to help also.
    That may happen if I cannot get my DNS back. DTV costs me a lot of money, but I'm willing to can it for this kind of junk.
  • az99's avatar
    az99
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    It is DirecTv. Did you really expect it to go better?
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Apr 17, 2015
    When you say you lost all your programming.

    Do you mean that you can not watch premium channels (DNS for example) you pay for.

    or Do you mean your program selections to record automatically were lost?

    The first is a DirecTV problem and they should be able to fix it remotely

    The second is not fixable..The personal schedule of recordings and such are stored on the hard drive and were lost with the receiver.. Rcommend hard copy lists.
  • edatlanta's avatar
    edatlanta
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    I would call back and immediately ask for the retention department. These people can do virtually anything and have the interest to help also.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    I'll set up the RV receiver tomorrow and see what I get on there. The receiver I'm having problem with is in the house.
  • Steve1950's avatar
    Steve1950
    Explorer
    Apr 17, 2015
    . That's the wonderful world of customer service. Don't give up on dtv, they all have issues.
  • 2oldman's avatar
    2oldman
    Explorer II
    Apr 17, 2015
    rvten wrote:
    Did you get a new activation card also?
    Yes.

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