Buying receivers from other people?

[curtishd]

I see some people are selling their receivers online for cheaper than DTV is selling when I call them so...
1. What should I watch out for when buying from local people?
2. Do I need to get my own access card (card that is inserted into front of receiver) and does it cost anything?
3. Any issues with buying a HD DVR vs. other types of receivers?
4. Are there any additional fees from DTV for buying a receiver outside of them like activation fee or anything?
5. Is the HR20 hd dvr the most advanced receiver as far a features (I know there is the HR21 and HR22 but my understanding is that they have the same features and there are minor hardware differences)?

 

[iceturkee]

i would avoid this at all cost. more than likely, some of these people may be selling leased units that should have been returned to directv. before i pay any money, i would demand the seller give you the access card number and receiver id. then i would call directv to confirm if its a leased unit. if it is, don't buy it.

 

[Ronnie-]

I agree, always confirm with D* before you buy one from someone. Too many horror stories about this

 

[mental1]

access cards are "married" to the subscriber and can't be transferred. You will have to buy a new one so keep that in mind. Just add $20 to the units price because that is what Directv will hit you up for. In most cases if it was a leased receiver that was not turned back in after the customer cancelled their subscription (voluntary or involuntary), they only have a limited amount of time to return the unit or have their credit card hit for the purchase price. If this happens, it is their receiver to do with as they please. Just to be safe though, as said above I would get the receiver ID & serial number (the card is worthless and you don't need that number) & call 1800directv. Tell them you are going to buy the receiver and want to know if anything is owed on the account.

As far as the HR20 goes, if you can find one of those that haven't crapped out yet(they were junk) they only record 50hrs of hd and/or 200hrs of sd. If you can get one cheap enough, why not. It will do the job, just wont hold as much shows.

 

[Jimbo]

As far as the HR20 goes, if you can find one of those that haven't crapped out yet(they were junk) they only record 50hrs of hd and/or 200hrs of sd. If you can get one cheap enough, why not. It will do the job, just wont hold as much shows.

I disagree,
I love my HR20-700, works great, handles OTA signals as well.
I can record just fine.
If the hard drive size is an issue for you, the newer ones are not that much larger...
300 to 500, big deal.....
Buy a External HD and use it .... I have a Seagate 750 and have had NO problems with the Seagate or the HR20-700.

Jimbo

 

[mental1]

If you knew how many of those things I had to replace on service calls, you would think differently. If yours is still working fine, you are one of the lucky ones. I remember we had a memo go out to all of the Techs stating that the Techs were not to tell the customers that their receivers were junk anymore. I bet around half failed within the first few months of being installed.

Also, 50hrs to 100hrs and 200hrs to 400hrs is pretty significant if you ask me.

 

[Ronnie-]

Most of the problems with the HR-20 were software related, and has since been corrected. I actually have two of them with ZERO problems going on 3 years. There would have been no difference if the hardware platform had been the 21, 22, 23 to start

 

[robx46]

So if HR20's are junk, which is better between the HR21 & HR22? I'm getting D* installed next week for the 1st time, coming with 2 HD DVR's. According to D*'s site, it sounds like what we'll get are HR21's.
As far as reliability and overall quality, how might the HR21 & 22's compare to E*'s vip722? I ask cuz we've been using the vip722 for 16 months now, really no probs at all. If I'm gonna be in for a headache with what the installers give us vs what we had in the vip722 (assuming HR21), plz give me a heads up! Btw, not having OTA doesn't matter one bit to me, non issue.

@ curtishd...

I just did some research about buying recievers online. Ideally, you certainly want to get them cheaper than what D* offers them for. Save a few bucks now, then you can resell it down the road if/when you are done with it. So that part is nice.
If you get a used reciever, from my understanding all you need to do is pay $20 for a new access card, then you are all set.

And no matter whether you own the reciever or not, its gonna cost $5 to get programming on it. If leasing it's a $5 lease fee. If you own it, its still $5 but I think its called a mirroring fee or something like that.

So ideally, you might want to look for a good deal for a new one. If it's ebay, which I have seen a few good deals on new HD DVR's, like $140 (with shipping), but you might need to be lucky to nail down one of those in an HR21 or HR22. Then make sure the seller has some sort of return policy (whether you buy new or used), you don't to get screwed. Cuz if something goes wrong with a reciever that isn't from D* and you need it fixed, D* won't help you out, cuz its not theirs!

I say try to buy new because even though you might save $40 on say an HD DVR used, once you add on that $20 fee for a new card, you aren't saving too much on something already used. New, truly new recievers should have a new clean card, thus no fee. But I'm sure some scammers sell recievers technically new, but toss in a used card.
In other words, always check on the card no matter what. Don't just hook up the new or used reciever without checking on this or else you could get stuck paying somebody else's huge bill if the card isn't clean. To be safe you may want to pay $20 for a new card no matter what you get, new (if from ebay) or used.

That said, you might want to consider amazon.com. Safer. There is an HR22 on there for $180, free shipping, brand new. Comes from a reliable online store with return policies and all that good stuff. And knowing for sure that its new, no need to worry about the $20 fee.

I would suggest going that route if you are convinced you want to not go through D*. You save $20, in this example, than leasing from D*. And you can resell when you are done with it as opposed to just giving it back when the contract is up when you lease.

Oh, and that reminds me. Be very careful ordering from anywhere online. you MUST read the fine print.
Often times, even on places like best buy and some of the recievers on amazon, they are in fact leases! They will say so if you read on (though the $180 one I saw on amazon wasn't a lease, but I think an HR21 they had on there was, so be careful). The lease of course means when your contract is up, they still need to be returned even though you didn't buy them from D*! Thus, it makes no sense to buy a lease unless you are saving quite a bit cuz why not just get it from D*, they can offically install and set it up, and you know you are definitely covered on any service issues.

In the end, that's what I did. I wanted an HD DVR (extra one), talked to the lady about how I wasn't too thrilled about the $200 price tag, and because of that she offered me 12 free months of showtime for paying the $199 for the extra HD DVR. So it really worked out in the end!
Yeah I paid $199 for the HD DVR, but in return I got over $120 worth of free showtime (12 months)!
So they definitely try to make it worth you while going through them, and they also highly suggest it for the reasons I mentioned.

 

[Jimbo]

If you knew how many of those things I had to replace on service calls, you would think differently. If yours is still working fine, you are one of the lucky ones. I remember we had a memo go out to all of the Techs stating that the Techs were not to tell the customers that their receivers were junk anymore. I bet around half failed within the first few months of being installed.

Also, 50hrs to 100hrs and 200hrs to 400hrs is pretty significant if you ask me.

IF YOU give me another HD DVR with an OTA antenna, then well talk.
Till then, I'll keep my rock solid HR20-700.

I don't went an add on (for OTA) because D* got CHEAP ....

When the weather is really bad and I lose my locals, MY OTA ALWAYS works, that can't be said for the D* local signal.

When they wake up and go back to putting OTA tuners in the rec's, fine...
While they are at it, make it one that can SCAN for channels too.

Jimbo

 

[Jimbo]

So if HR20's are junk, which is better between the HR21 & HR22? I'm getting D* installed next week for the 1st time, coming with 2 HD DVR's. According to D*'s site, it sounds like what we'll get are HR21's.
As far as reliability and overall quality, how might the HR21 & 22's compare to E*'s vip722? I ask cuz we've been using the vip722 for 16 months now, really no probs at all. If I'm gonna be in for a headache with what the installers give us vs what we had in the vip722 (assuming HR21), plz give me a heads up! Btw, not having OTA doesn't matter one bit to me, non issue.

@ curtishd...

I just did some research about buying recievers online. Ideally, you certainly want to get them cheaper than what D* offers them for. Save a few bucks now, then you can resell it down the road if/when you are done with it. So that part is nice.
If you get a used reciever, from my understanding all you need to do is pay $20 for a new access card, then you are all set.

And no matter whether you own the reciever or not, its gonna cost $5 to get programming on it. If leasing it's a $5 lease fee. If you own it, its still $5 but I think its called a mirroring fee or something like that.

So ideally, you might want to look for a good deal for a new one. If it's ebay, which I have seen a few good deals on new HD DVR's, like $140 (with shipping), but you might need to be lucky to nail down one of those in an HR21 or HR22. Then make sure the seller has some sort of return policy (whether you buy new or used), you don't to get screwed. Cuz if something goes wrong with a reciever that isn't from D* and you need it fixed, D* won't help you out, cuz its not theirs!

I say try to buy new because even though you might save $40 on say an HD DVR used, once you add on that $20 fee for a new card, you aren't saving too much on something already used. New, truly new recievers should have a new clean card, thus no fee. But I'm sure some scammers sell recievers technically new, but toss in a used card.
In other words, always check on the card no matter what. Don't just hook up the new or used reciever without checking on this or else you could get stuck paying somebody else's huge bill if the card isn't clean. To be safe you may want to pay $20 for a new card no matter what you get, new (if from ebay) or used.

That said, you might want to consider amazon.com. Safer. There is an HR22 on there for $180, free shipping, brand new. Comes from a reliable online store with return policies and all that good stuff. And knowing for sure that its new, no need to worry about the $20 fee.

I would suggest going that route if you are convinced you want to not go through D*. You save $20, in this example, than leasing from D*. And you can resell when you are done with it as opposed to just giving it back when the contract is up when you lease.

Oh, and that reminds me. Be very careful ordering from anywhere online. you MUST read the fine print.
Often times, even on places like best buy and some of the recievers on amazon, they are in fact leases! They will say so if you read on (though the $180 one I saw on amazon wasn't a lease, but I think an HR21 they had on there was, so be careful). The lease of course means when your contract is up, they still need to be returned even though you didn't buy them from D*! Thus, it makes no sense to buy a lease unless you are saving quite a bit cuz why not just get it from D*, they can offically install and set it up, and you know you are definitely covered on any service issues.

In the end, that's what I did. I wanted an HD DVR (extra one), talked to the lady about how I wasn't too thrilled about the $200 price tag, and because of that she offered me 12 free months of showtime for paying the $199 for the extra HD DVR. So it really worked out in the end!
Yeah I paid $199 for the HD DVR, but in return I got over $120 worth of free showtime (12 months)!
So they definitely try to make it worth you while going through them, and they also highly suggest it for the reasons I mentioned.

You'll be making a HUGE mistake if you decide to go the CHEAP route and buy off ebay.
You CANNOT RESELL a current D* REC, LEGALLY.
They are LEASE to you and should be returned to D* when you are done with them.
You do NOT OWN it.

IF you buy off ebay or where ever , make sure it's not one that has a BALANCE that you will be required to pay before activating.
These are reasons people sell them, because they KNOW they have a balance or should be going back to D*.

All you need to do is CALL D* and tell them what your wanting and they normally will discount the rec for you. Depending on your status with them and payment history.

 

[mental1]

If the person selling the receiver has already been charged for it from Directv, you CAN sell/buy it. Its that simple. The $199 price tag that comes with a new HD-DVR is the LEASE price, no matter where you buy it. To buy it from Directv it would cost substantially more. I would be willing to bet that Amazon is no different and the box would come with a sticker on it saying its Directvs property and must be returned to them if you cancel your contract.

I don't need OTA on my receivers, I rarely ever lose signal (maybe 10mins total in the last 3yrs) on them because I know how to sight in a dish.

 

[iceturkee]

So if HR20's are junk, which is better between the HR21 & HR22? I'm getting D* installed next week for the 1st time, coming with 2 HD DVR's. According to D*'s site, it sounds like what we'll get are HR21's.
As far as reliability and overall quality, how might the HR21 & 22's compare to E*'s vip722? I ask cuz we've been using the vip722 for 16 months now, really no probs at all. If I'm gonna be in for a headache with what the installers give us vs what we had in the vip722 (assuming HR21), plz give me a heads up! Btw, not having OTA doesn't matter one bit to me, non issue.

@ curtishd...

I just did some research about buying recievers online. Ideally, you certainly want to get them cheaper than what D* offers them for. Save a few bucks now, then you can resell it down the road if/when you are done with it. So that part is nice.
If you get a used reciever, from my understanding all you need to do is pay $20 for a new access card, then you are all set.

And no matter whether you own the reciever or not, its gonna cost $5 to get programming on it. If leasing it's a $5 lease fee. If you own it, its still $5 but I think its called a mirroring fee or something like that.

So ideally, you might want to look for a good deal for a new one. If it's ebay, which I have seen a few good deals on new HD DVR's, like $140 (with shipping), but you might need to be lucky to nail down one of those in an HR21 or HR22. Then make sure the seller has some sort of return policy (whether you buy new or used), you don't to get screwed. Cuz if something goes wrong with a reciever that isn't from D* and you need it fixed, D* won't help you out, cuz its not theirs!

I say try to buy new because even though you might save $40 on say an HD DVR used, once you add on that $20 fee for a new card, you aren't saving too much on something already used. New, truly new recievers should have a new clean card, thus no fee. But I'm sure some scammers sell recievers technically new, but toss in a used card.
In other words, always check on the card no matter what. Don't just hook up the new or used reciever without checking on this or else you could get stuck paying somebody else's huge bill if the card isn't clean. To be safe you may want to pay $20 for a new card no matter what you get, new (if from ebay) or used.

That said, you might want to consider amazon.com. Safer. There is an HR22 on there for $180, free shipping, brand new. Comes from a reliable online store with return policies and all that good stuff. And knowing for sure that its new, no need to worry about the $20 fee.

I would suggest going that route if you are convinced you want to not go through D*. You save $20, in this example, than leasing from D*. And you can resell when you are done with it as opposed to just giving it back when the contract is up when you lease.

Oh, and that reminds me. Be very careful ordering from anywhere online. you MUST read the fine print.
Often times, even on places like best buy and some of the recievers on amazon, they are in fact leases! They will say so if you read on (though the $180 one I saw on amazon wasn't a lease, but I think an HR21 they had on there was, so be careful). The lease of course means when your contract is up, they still need to be returned even though you didn't buy them from D*! Thus, it makes no sense to buy a lease unless you are saving quite a bit cuz why not just get it from D*, they can offically install and set it up, and you know you are definitely covered on any service issues.

In the end, that's what I did. I wanted an HD DVR (extra one), talked to the lady about how I wasn't too thrilled about the $200 price tag, and because of that she offered me 12 free months of showtime for paying the $199 for the extra HD DVR. So it really worked out in the end!
Yeah I paid $199 for the HD DVR, but in return I got over $120 worth of free showtime (12 months)!
So they definitely try to make it worth you while going through them, and they also highly suggest it for the reasons I mentioned.

those units are leased and belong to directv. it wouldn't be beyond the realm of reality for you to ``buy'' a used unit from someone and when you activate it, directv will ask for it to be returned. if you don't return, you will be billed full price which is still $400 plus for an hd dvr. buyer beware!!

 

[Zynergi]

Keep in mind 2 that if a tech shows up to install boxes you got off ebay or wherever, there will be an installation charge per box.

 

[Jimbo]

If the person selling the receiver has already been charged for it from Directv, you CAN sell/buy it. Its that simple. The $199 price tag that comes with a new HD-DVR is the LEASE price, no matter where you buy it. To buy it from Directv it would cost substantially more. I would be willing to bet that Amazon is no different and the box would come with a sticker on it saying its Directvs property and must be returned to them if you cancel your contract.

I don't need OTA on my receivers, I rarely ever lose signal (maybe 10mins total in the last 3yrs) on them because I know how to sight in a dish.

I don't lose signal often either, however, I also have no need to hand addl. money to them when I am fully capable of getting my locals OTA.

The HD DVR's originally run about $ 850. if you were to buy them outright.

Jimbo

 

[tds4182]

I disagree,
I love my HR20-700, works great, handles OTA signals as well.
I can record just fine.
If the hard drive size is an issue for you, the newer ones are not that much larger...
300 to 500, big deal.....
Buy a External HD and use it .... I have a Seagate 750 and have had NO problems with the Seagate or the HR20-700.

Jimbo

Ditto to what Jimbo said. My HR20-700 has performed flawlessly.

I had an HR10-250 before that and I prefer the HR20.

 

[bkushner]

I have a brand new HR21-700 I bought with cash at Best Buy and never used. Tried selling but everyone is afraid to buy. It sits here new in box.

 

[curtishd]

I have a brand new HR21-700 I bought with cash at Best Buy and never used. Tried selling but everyone is afraid to buy. It sits here new in box.

PM with an asking price.
If you can buy these receivers at Best Buy and Costco then I can't understand why you can't buy them from each other.

 

[HDinCincy]

I have a brand new HR21-700 I bought with cash at Best Buy and never used. Tried selling but everyone is afraid to buy. It sits here new in box.

Unless you paid $500 or so, you didn't buy it, you only paid an upfront lease fee similar to what you would pay when you first lease an automobile. When you lease a car, there is usually a several thousand dollar payment. You still do not own the car. Same with the receiver. D* subsidizes the upfront fee but THEY own the box. Sorry.

 

[Jimbo]

I have a brand new HR21-700 I bought with cash at Best Buy and never used. Tried selling but everyone is afraid to buy. It sits here new in box.

PM with an asking price.
If you can buy these receivers at Best Buy and Costco then I can't understand why you can't buy them from each other.

You leased the box when you got it from BB.

Seeing it has NOT been activated, might change things in D*'s eyes, maybe, I would call and confirm before buying though.

Jimbo

 

[William1]

What gets me is, when I cal DirecTV and ask for a new box, they send it, my cost is $19.95.

Years ago, I bought ouright, a Thomson HD DTC 210 (I think)it cost me about $700. I had a second receiver. I paid a $5.99 monthly mirroring fee.

My monthly cost have not changed. If a box goes bad or there is a upgrade, my cost is just the $19.95 per box, sometimes even completely free. I can see no logic in attempting to buy a box outright. Am I missing something?