Added Receiver but received REFURB...AMAZING install otherwise

[msajeff]

I thought the refurbs were only used as replacements for defective boxes. We set up an appointment today to add an HD-DVR and I about fell on the floor when he told me he had an HR20 in the truck...then fell over when I saw it was a refurb. Is this something D* will fix if I call and complain? (Part of the reason we added it was to swap with the HR20 in the living room since the HR-22/23 would match the rest of my black components there.)

ALSO...we were moving the standard receiver we had in the bedroom to an extra bedroom. He brought in a refurb H20 and said it was free so I didn't argue with him there. As he was installing that one I was mentioning about the R15 being the only receiver from our initial install still in use and talk him about the audio sync issues. He said he had a new R22 in the truck and was willing to switch it out. So I feel a bit guilty about complaining about the HR20 since I did get an upgraded standard DVR and an upgrade to an HD box but yet if I should have gotten a newer HR model, I don't want to let it pass. Oh and the new HD-DVR should have kicked me into a new commitment but upon viewing my account tonight, it's noted that there's "no commitment required." Is that something that will change or did somebody at D* screw up while activating the boxes? And if it was, would me complaining about the HR20 possibly throw me into that commitment?

Edit: One more question. I realized that I still had one program on the old R15 that I wanted to back up to DVD. Should I be able to hook that box up and transfer it or am I screwed? Would taking the access card out of the new R22 and putting it into the R15 work if it makes me hook up to the sat?

 

[thetech2009]

I thought the refurbs were only used as replacements for defective boxes. We set up an appointment today to add an HD-DVR and I about fell on the floor when he told me he had an HR20 in the truck...then fell over when I saw it was a refurb. Is this something D* will fix if I call and complain? (Part of the reason we added it was to swap with the HR20 in the living room since the HR-22/23 would match the rest of my black components there.)

ALSO...we were moving the standard receiver we had in the bedroom to an extra bedroom. He brought in a refurb H20 and said it was free so I didn't argue with him there. As he was installing that one I was mentioning about the R15 being the only receiver from our initial install still in use and talk him about the audio sync issues. He said he had a new R22 in the truck and was willing to switch it out. So I feel a bit guilty about complaining about the HR20 since I did get an upgraded standard DVR and an upgrade to an HD box but yet if I should have gotten a newer HR model, I don't want to let it pass. Oh and the new HD-DVR should have kicked me into a new commitment but upon viewing my account tonight, it's noted that there's "no commitment required." Is that something that will change or did somebody at D* screw up while activating the boxes? And if it was, would me complaining about the HR20 possibly throw me into that commitment?

Edit: One more question. I realized that I still had one program on the old R15 that I wanted to back up to DVD. Should I be able to hook that box up and transfer it or am I screwed? Would taking the access card out of the new R22 and putting it into the R15 work if it makes me hook up to the sat?

yes it is a common practice for direct to put older model refurbed units in the field, they are trying to save money. the other question about extracting data from the dvr is yes and no, no if you are just a every day average user, and yes if you know how. (directs answer for that would be no sir that is not possible) as far as your other question about commitment thats a new one on me.

 

[Zynergi]

Well atm I have 19 Standard Boxes, 4 HD boxes, 2 HDDVR and 2 DVR and the only ones not refurb are the DVR's... and a majority of the techs are in similar boats.

Ask yourself this if you owned a company that you had to send a product to a customers home for them to use your service... you have say 3000 cancellations in a quarter.. each with an average of 3 receivers... thats 9000 boxes being returned to your company. You going to eat 9000 boxes or clean em up.. factory reset em.. test em and send em back out?

There is no difference in service with a Hx20 verses a Hx23.. it does as advertised.. receives D* programming and allows you to use DVR function. As far as the Recall.. that was canceled as not all H20-600's were overheating.

As far as D* compensating you.. I seriously doubt it.. they will simply say we dont guarantee which model we send out, only that it will be a HDDVR that will work with our system. "But E* does it"... well D* isnt E*.. hate to sound harsh about it.. but that is the fact.

?Note for potential new customers who want X specific model.. you have to acquire it yourself and waive any discounts that would normally be available if D* sends "whats on the truck"

 

[Jimbo]

Well atm I have 19 Standard Boxes, 4 HD boxes, 2 HDDVR and 2 DVR and the only ones not refurb are the DVR's... and a majority of the techs are in similar boats.

Ask yourself this if you owned a company that you had to send a product to a customers home for them to use your service... you have say 3000 cancellations in a quarter.. each with an average of 3 receivers... thats 9000 boxes being returned to your company. You going to eat 9000 boxes or clean em up.. factory reset em.. test em and send em back out?

There is no difference in service with a Hx20 verses a Hx23.. it does as advertised.. receives D* programming and allows you to use DVR function. As far as the Recall.. that was canceled as not all H20-600's were overheating.

As far as D* compensating you.. I seriously doubt it.. they will simply say we dont guarantee which model we send out, only that it will be a HDDVR that will work with our system. "But E* does it"... well D* isnt E*.. hate to sound harsh about it.. but that is the fact.

?Note for potential new customers who want X specific model.. you have to acquire it yourself and waive any discounts that would normally be available if D* sends "whats on the truck"

A minor to some difference, the Hx23 does not have a OTA tuner, the Hx20 does.
I prefer the ones that DO have them in them.

Jimbo

 

[thetech2009]

personally as a tech i am glad they no longer come with the OTA tunner. i hate going to a sc just to tell the customer i cant do any thing for them and that direct isnt resposible for their ota signal... one less headache

 

[Jimbo]

personally as a tech i am glad they no longer come with the OTA tunner. i hate going to a sc just to tell the customer i cant do any thing for them and that direct isnt resposible for their ota signal... one less headache

Yes, but I get MY locals via OTA antenna , so I would like them to come back.
they got rid of them to gain addl income, it really didn't cost them but a few cents per unit to have one in it.

Jimbo

 

[msajeff]

Didn't expect any compensation....wasn't even going to ask after the installer gave me free upgrades to a H20 (refurb) and R22 (new) from a D11 and R15.

Here's my issue with D* policy. If someone is paying for an upgrade, they should both receive the same. At the very least they should receive the same box contents. I mean seriously, even the refurb HRs should come with AT LEAST component cables. If not, the installer should have been provided with them separately when they received their refurbed boxes. My installer hooked them up with COMPOSITE cables to my HDTV.

I called tonight and after being told that I should have gotten a new one, the CSR went for approval from her manager and was corrected regarding D* policy. To make a long story short, I was told to ask for a new box when our protection plan tech comes on Wednesday (existing issue with our HR20 in the living room) and that he should call the local office if he doesn't have a new one. If he's unwillingly to make the switch I was told to get D* on the phone and they would instruct him to make the switch.

And if you guys think I'm a typical a-hole D* customer... Due to the composite cable hookup the lady was urging me to open up a complaint against the installer. I didn't even let her get past making the suggestion before I quickly said no. As I said in my initial post, the guy obviously can't install something he doesn't have and he bent over backwards to make sure our entire setup was the best it could be.

One question for the installers here...Would the following setup work for SWM and if not, what won't work? H20, R22, HR20, HR20.

 

[msajeff]

A minor to some difference, the Hx23 does not have a OTA tuner, the Hx20 does.
I prefer the ones that DO have them in them.

Jimbo

Also doesn't the Hx23 have a 500gb vs a 320gb HD. And cosmetically aren't all of the non-HR20s in black rather than silver? Also the internal converters in the Hx23 are a big plus for those who don't have a lot of extra room for those two converters.

I've found the HR20's OTA input to be for lack of a better work pathetic. We have a OTA antenna on our roof and it could only pick up a reliable signal from 2 stations and a somewhat reliable signal from 1. Our TV picks up all of the OTA channels (roughly 12.)

 

[thetech2009]

Didn't expect any compensation....wasn't even going to ask after the installer gave me free upgrades to a H20 (refurb) and R22 (new) from a D11 and R15.

Here's my issue with D* policy. If someone is paying for an upgrade, they should both receive the same. At the very least they should receive the same box contents. I mean seriously, even the refurb HRs should come with AT LEAST component cables. If not, the installer should have been provided with them separately when they received their refurbed boxes. My installer hooked them up with COMPOSITE cables to my HDTV.

I called tonight and after being told that I should have gotten a new one, the CSR went for approval from her manager and was corrected regarding D* policy. To make a long story short, I was told to ask for a new box when our protection plan tech comes on Wednesday (existing issue with our HR20 in the living room) and that he should call the local office if he doesn't have a new one. If he's unwillingly to make the switch I was told to get D* on the phone and they would instruct him to make the switch.

And if you guys think I'm a typical a-hole D* customer... Due to the composite cable hookup the lady was urging me to open up a complaint against the installer. I didn't even let her get past making the suggestion before I quickly said no. As I said in my initial post, the guy obviously can't install something he doesn't have and he bent over backwards to make sure our entire setup was the best it could be.

One question for the installers here...Would the following setup work for SWM and if not, what won't work? H20, R22, HR20, HR20.

ALL will work

 

[Jimbo]

Also doesn't the Hx23 have a 500gb vs a 320gb HD. And cosmetically aren't all of the non-HR20s in black rather than silver? Also the internal converters in the Hx23 are a big plus for those who don't have a lot of extra room for those two converters.

I've found the HR20's OTA input to be for lack of a better work pathetic. We have a OTA antenna on our roof and it could only pick up a reliable signal from 2 stations and a somewhat reliable signal from 1. Our TV picks up all of the OTA channels (roughly 12.)

First off, no one here said you were an a hole, (post prior to this one I copied)

As far as the OTA antenna tuner, being pathetic ?
I love mine, I pick up about 30 channels with it between two different cities.

Jimbo

 

[msajeff]

I know Jimbo...but I also know that 90% of the population would have probably acted like a-holes the second they knew they were getting a refurb unit. The installer told me about a guy last week who just canceled the order when he was informed he wasn't getting an HR23. To me that's rude beyond belief and in reality is costing the installer not only the job he's not getting paid to do but gas and time.

Doesn't matter now...the recordings it has done have been full of glitches. Even checked the HR20 in the living room to make sure the glitching/frame drops weren't being caused by the signal. Going to call in the morning and see of D* can just send out a replacement directly.

Jimbo, maybe it's just a defective OTA input in my setup. Of course if I was in your shoes I'd be begging for HR20s just for the OTA.

Glad to know all will work with SWM. I had thought that I read the HR20 was not capable of SWM...good thing I was wrong.

 

[sunoff58]

hr2x and swm = ok

 

[Jimbo]

I know Jimbo...but I also know that 90% of the population would have probably acted like a-holes the second they knew they were getting a refurb unit. The installer told me about a guy last week who just canceled the order when he was informed he wasn't getting an HR23. To me that's rude beyond belief and in reality is costing the installer not only the job he's not getting paid to do but gas and time.

Doesn't matter now...the recordings it has done have been full of glitches. Even checked the HR20 in the living room to make sure the glitching/frame drops weren't being caused by the signal. Going to call in the morning and see of D* can just send out a replacement directly.

Jimbo, maybe it's just a defective OTA input in my setup. Of course if I was in your shoes I'd be begging for HR20s just for the OTA.

Glad to know all will work with SWM. I had thought that I read the HR20 was not capable of SWM...good thing I was wrong.

I personally have had a Refurbbed HR20-700 for quite some time now and have had very good luck with it.
As for refurbed, I have NO Problem with them, you know they work NOW

I don't yet have the SWM set up, but don't really need one as I already have my coax run to where I need it.
However, if you look at the HR20, the 1st spot, Sat 1 has SWM listed next to it as well.

Jimbo

 

[jcinci]

msajeff, I agree with you on the HR20 OTA tuner. It is beyond pathetic. I get 1 or 2 channels on my HR20 and get just about all of my digital channels on my TV off the same indoor antennae.

 

[raoul5788]

msajeff, I agree with you on the HR20 OTA tuner. It is beyond pathetic. I get 1 or 2 channels on my HR20 and get just about all of my digital channels on my TV off the same indoor antennae.

Try using just the HR20 on the antenna. Sharing it with your television will cut down the number of stations it will receive. The tuner in the HR20 may be more sensitive to signal loss than the one in the television.

 

[KAB]

msajeff, I agree with you on the HR20 OTA tuner. It is beyond pathetic.

Read it again!!!

 

[msajeff]

Try using just the HR20 on the antenna. Sharing it with your television will cut down the number of stations it will receive. The tuner in the HR20 may be more sensitive to signal loss than the one in the television.

Very true. If you are splitting the signal you need to have a pre-amp installed since you are essentially also splitting the signal strength.

In my case I've never had them split. We had an older HDTV that didn't have a digital tuner so OTA was only available to us via the HR20. The weak signal actually forced my hand into "moving." I just thought I had a weak signal until we bought a new TV last August. I was amazed at how many channels I was actually able to pull in. Doing a rough check, only channels that were pulling full strength (as seen on our Samsung TV) were able to be picked up by the HR20. The channel we had issues with dropped frames and such was at about 3/4 strength. Does this sound normal or like there may have been a problem with the OTA component of our HR20?

 

[msajeff]

Just a quick update. Somehow their system canceled my service call for Wednesday so now I've got to sit and wait for the 23rd. They apparently aren't giving out the numbers to their HSPs either so no way to get it bumped up. I did however find a sympathetic ear regarding the refurb issue and the end result is that they are drop shipping an HR23 to me. I'm a bit confused by the way my account looks...he was talking about sending just one but it looks like it's been setup to ship two.

I'm also pleasantly surprised that the "No Annual Commitment" is still showing online when I view my programming page