directv protection plan

[GTO66]

How many have had to use the plan? And for those who decline the plan and had a problem what was the cost? Thanks

[GTO66]

I cancelled the protection plan I just can't see paying 100 a year to protect there equipment.I only have two hd recievers and a standard reciever.If one fails I'll make do till the end of the contract then return them.Like I said earlier I would love to charge a "protection plan" on a rental property....Good luck with that.

[schneid]

As for reliability, I used an HR20-100 without issues since 2007. Just retired it for a free "Genie". They told me trash it. It was a great box as I swapped in a 1TB drive, extra cooling and it tuned and recorded OTA. Wanted to ditch the multi-gizmo hack job it required to do SWM and whole-home.

If your equipment fails, they will fix or replace it under the service plan. Remember, it really belongs to them so I wonder why we have to pay at all?

As for AM21's, they are NOT covered by the service plan but should have a warranty if relatively new.

[Pirate1]

I wonder if the protection plan would cover their AM21N which crapped out only after a month of use?

[diveman52]

Been with DTV since 1995, Never needed a service call. Guess I saved a lot of money.
I did not upgrade to HD until they offered the receiver for free.
Tech came out installed new dish and receiver, No Cost.

[GTO66]

yes at the end of 2 years you can upgrade your equipment,however you must sign on for another 2 years. I bet when you call to cancel they will be happy to work something out if not just switch providers.I'm more concerned with how often there recievers fail and the cost to replace if you don't have the protection plan. Thanks

[Bucky_Badger]

kab449 wrote:
In order to better sell this to the customer, they have added the ability to upgrade to DTV's latest equipment at the end of your 2 year contract. This means having all your old equipment swapped out for the latest and greatest every two years. Not making any recommendations but this may be important to you and make it worth the $9.99 it now costs. They also have another one that costs 19.99 but covers all your electronic equipment like tablets and smartphones.

I bet it still locks you into another 2 year contract tho

[JRS___B]

There is another funny phenomenon associated with Direct TV service calls.

I was in Crystal River FL. I was willing to pay the $50 service call for someone to come out to Rock Crusher Canyon RV Park.

Direct TV said they do not service portable dishes.

Now this kind of made sense at the time since their closest "official" Direct TV installer was in New Port Richey, FL, a good 50 miles or away. Paying them a flat $50 for a service call that required a 2-hour round trip drive of 100 miles or more would not make sense.

But I found out later that there was local outfit who would have come out. I do not know if this was a subcontracting arrangement with the Port Richey Direct TV outfit, or what. Maybe I would have had to pay him cash rather than have the charge put on my bill.

Anyway, if you are in a RV park and need someone to come out, and Direct TV can't/won't help, then ask around. There is probably someone local who can fix your problem.

[schneid]

I was paying $7.99/mo. Not sure if being on an RV plan they would service anything. Not an issue as I do it myself anyway. They did just drop-ship me an HR34 "Genie" for free. That saved some change. Wonder if part of my 2-year contract extension they upped the service fee to $9.99?

[kab449]

In order to better sell this to the customer, they have added the ability to upgrade to DTV's latest equipment at the end of your 2 year contract. This means having all your old equipment swapped out for the latest and greatest every two years. Not making any recommendations but this may be important to you and make it worth the $9.99 it now costs. They also have another one that costs 19.99 but covers all your electronic equipment like tablets and smartphones.

[JRS___B]

I have been with Direct TV for 5 years or more.

One time I had them out to upgrade my service to HD. That included changing out the dish, and running all new cables as well as bringing out and connecting a new box HD DVR box. I paid a service call (I think more than $50, but I am not sure now) and was unhappy about that.

A month or two ago that same HD DVR quit. They brought out and installed a new one. That cost me $50. The tech said all of the boxes like mine failed prematurely and he was surprise mine lasted 3 years. Again I was not real happy.

But it is still better than $7.99 per month for 60 months.

[JoeGood988]

I had the protection plan for a ew years only to find out it doesn't cover what I wanted it for. It's suppose to cover damage due to lightning or any other accidents that damage the system. Power surges and other problems. But when I took it out, they said if something happened to the dish alignment, loss of signal, they would come out and realign the dish at no charge....well, not so, if the dish is mounted on the ground, on blocks as most RV's do, having kids run into your dish, knocking it out of alignment isn't a emergency situation...a $50 service call is charged. If I have to move the dish and need a tech to get the signal...$50 service fee.
The service contract is $5 per month added to the bill...$60 a year. Having a service call is cheaper than a yearly fee...also I had a power surge that messed up the receiver..they replaced it for free with no service contract...because I was a long time member

[GTO66]

They charge 7.99 a month to protect there equipment.I wish I could charge a protection charge on a rental property. Say the a/c breaks sorry you don't have the protection plan.I didn't find out about the protection plan till I got the first bill. Just wondering how often there is a problem with the equipment?

[JRS___B]

Off the topic but, FYI - both Dish and Direct TV now prohibit their service people from going on roofs. They do all of their work from a ladder on the side of your house.

Now I know some will still scamper up there because it is too much time and trouble to call in and get the harness and all. But if the say they cannot go on your roof, they are telling the straight story, at least in Michigan.

[K_Charles]

Directv said you can't own the box, you pay $5 a month. If it doesn't work you send it back and they send you another. Back when it was USSB we had to buy the box but that was a long time ago.