1 year anniversary DVR offer.

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walkerjs

SatelliteGuys Family
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Supporting Founder
Jul 20, 2004
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Okay, so I'm coming up on my first full year of having Direct and naturally they have sent out an incentive offer in the interest of keeping me for yet another year. Not that they really need to do anything to keep me on as we've been more than happy with the service and have no intentions of going back to any kind of cable service, but they don't need to know that if they're gonna offer some discounted stuff. :D

So they've sent an offer for a $49 DirecTivo, and this is something that my wife is on the one hand looking forward to, but on the other hand is fearful of any possible extra charges that might be incurred. I think she is still bewildered as to why we had to actually pay for the privilege of getting Direct in the first place since I don't think she really "get's" that purchasing three satellite recievers and a three LNB oval Dish would cost far more than it did when we got it, and now that we've been with D* for a year we own it outright. I think she's been brainwashed by years of Comcast and their rental boxes. She would be the one who would mostly use it because she uses the main room TV the most and has rather different TV viewing habits than I.

Anyway, one of the things the offer states is something about, you guessed it, another year of continued service with DirecTV! So is this what it actually means? Or is this for people who haven't signed up at all yet? I suppose I could understand that Direct would keep it's steely hand firmly wrapped around us for one year, but to get this DVR for $49 I have to commit to yet another year with them? Once again this isn't really a problem as I fully intend to remain with them, but I just want to make sure in case something Bad happens in the future like having to suddenly need to cancel D* for some reason and I don't want my wife getting on my case about it if there is suddenly some fee required. Also I note that Circuit City has a DirecTV D10 with Tivo built in for $99, and it would almost be worth the $50 for a freedom standpoint but I wanted to be sure before I took either offer.

Of course after watching how my wife uses the main room Tivo I'll probably just go get the $99 receiver for myself anyway.
 
As long as the offer does not say anything about a $50 rebate, you should go for it. The rebate is for NEW customers only.

When they give you a promo price on anything it will be stipulated with a 12 month commitment to a Total Choice package. Of course if you cancel before the 12 months are up you will pay penalty. The penalty is prorated however, which is actually quite nice. Can't say that for my DSL service.

Only other fee you would pay is the $4.99 DVR fee if you don't have Total Choice Premier, fee is included in that package.
 
Tonedeaf said:
Only other fee you would pay is the $4.99 DVR fee if you don't have Total Choice Premier, fee is included in that package.

It wasn't clear if you already had a DVR. If you do, you already pay the 4.99 DVR fee and that will cover you for any additional Tivos, so your monthly bill will not change. If you don't already have a Tivo, you may want to negotiate with D* for two Tivos. Your monthly bill will be going up by the $4.99, which would cover both Tivos. There's a lot of people who report getting two Tivo's for free by going through customer retention.
 
peterl1365 said:
It wasn't clear if you already had a DVR. If you do, you already pay the 4.99 DVR fee and that will cover you for any additional Tivos, so your monthly bill will not change. If you don't already have a Tivo, you may want to negotiate with D* for two Tivos. Your monthly bill will be going up by the $4.99, which would cover both Tivos. There's a lot of people who report getting two Tivo's for free by going through customer retention.

Sorry, didn't include all the details. I have three RCA receivers with no Tivo at all so I'd have to pay the $4.99 for the Tivo service, which I'm not at odds with. Looking again at the offer it does indeed seem as though if I take them up on their offer it means that I'm in for another year of committment, something which we have no problem with. Also, looking at the offer, they state that should I cancel early I would have to pay some higher fee for each Tivo I have which seems to imply that I can get two DirecTivos at $49 each with this offer. I just have to stick with them for a year. Is that what I am to infer with this? Getting two Tivo receivers for the price of one would be a sweet deal since it means I would be able to record all of my geeky SciFi and documentary crap while my wife would be able to record (or 'tivo') all of her FitTV excersize and The West Wing crap independently. :D

I will, of course, ask them when I call the number but since I have until August 31 and don't plan on taking them up on their offer until July or so I thought I'd get some research on it in.
 
walkerjs said:
I just have to stick with them for a year. Is that what I am to infer with this?
Yes. When D* gives you new equipment or you activate new equipment, you are under a 12 month contract. $150 early termination fee, reduced by $12.50 each month you are in the contract.

There would NOT be 1 fee per Tivo though should you cancel.
 
Tonedeaf said:
Yes. When D* gives you new equipment or you activate new equipment, you are under a 12 month contract. $150 early termination fee, reduced by $12.50 each month you are in the contract.

There would NOT be 1 fee per Tivo though should you cancel.

Okay, well that makes it pretty clear. Guess I'll just have to suffer through the crisp clear picture, rock solid reliability, reasonable rate, decent channel selection, ability to pick and choose premium channels instantly, quick menus, and no hassle billing for yet another year. 'Cept now I'll have to muddle through that Tivo thing that everyone is alway up on about! :D :D :D :D

Next year, HDTV or bust!
 
walkerjs said:
Okay, well that makes it pretty clear. Guess I'll just have to suffer through the crisp clear picture, rock solid reliability, reasonable rate, decent channel selection, ability to pick and choose premium channels instantly, quick menus, and no hassle billing for yet another year. 'Cept now I'll have to muddle through that Tivo thing that everyone is alway up on about! :D :D :D :D

Next year, HDTV or bust!

Life is rough, isn't it? :yes
 
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