Directv Going To Lease Only On 3/1/06

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newsposter said:
I assume any stuff we own now can be shelved for a year and then turned back on right?
Depends on the speed of the mpeg 4 and 5 lnb dish upgrades? i wouldnt count on anything, Directv doesnt owe you anything once the box is turned off. I dont necessarily agree with this but the box was not generating income so i dont think they would be doing anything for people with older boxes that are no longer compatible with their new mpeg4 system. although we all know that will take much longer than a year some of us may be left with worthless boxes if they are not activated. We shall see
 
DTV TiVo Dealer said:
except if you go through a big box CE chain or through DIRECTV directly you must order and pay for professional installation.
What if you are an existing customer? I am not going to pay installation fees for them to come hook up a receiver.:mad: There is not a D* installer in this country that is touching my setup.

D* will regret they day they came up with this little plan. And Robert, I think many of D* dealers will regret it as well. D* is taking something that used to be easy, ie walk into a BB or CC or order it online, and turning it into cableco hell.

I am beginning to think I can live without NFLST after 12 years.:eek:

Also Robert: Will you sell H20's/AT9's to customers who don't live in the top 36 markets?
 
OK, first of all greetings.

I held off as long as I could with all this HD stuff but I finally took the plunge and purchased an HDTV in December. I've been with DTV for 3 years (2 SD-DVRs, 1 SD Receiver) and would like to upgrade to their HD service.

Questions: Do I act now before 3/1, buy my equipment (HD DVR + Sat Antenna + OTA Antenna) and sign away to a 2 year commitment?

Until when would I have to wait to get an HD-DVR under the new lease agreement? (They were going to be released QTR 3. I can't wait that long.)

Should I just purchase through eBay and not sign any contracts?

Thanks for the help!
 
Going lease only could be a sign that only MPEG-4 HD receivers may be offered to customers in the near future in which are a bit more expensive than their MPEG-2 receivers. Remember a while back when it was said that all existing subscribers were going to get a new HD DVR? I do not know whether to believe that so much now since some are getting nonDVR's.

If the consumer has to pay $150-200 to lease then Dish Network is going to look more attractive and Dish Network is going to be more likely to take the same route or at least make their offers not as good for those that want to still own their hardware.
 
Great idea DirecTV!

It's been a LOOOONG time since I posted here. But am I missing something?? This sounds like GREAT news! Leasing is the only reason I have both Comcast and DirecTV. I'm paying $5 a month right now for a HD DVR with Comcast much better than a one time fee of $700! Come March Bye Bye Comcast! The only bad thing is no TNT HD right in the middle of the NBA season, Oh well.

Also, was it me or did I see a commercial for a free HD box with DirecTV special on TV like 3am this morning??:eek:
 
dnyce said:
But am I missing something?? This sounds like GREAT news! Leasing is the only reason I have both Comcast and DirecTV. I'm paying $5 a month right now for a HD DVR with Comcast much better than a one time fee of $700!
Maybe you are missing something.;) While no one knows all the specifics, the plan/rumor being circulated is that all D* is doing from the customer standpoint is replacing the mirroring fee with a lease fee. You still have to pay an upfront amount for higher-end equipment. The current amount being bandied about is $300 upfront for the HD DVR which is just slightly cheaper than you can get it for now, but now you own it and take it out in the woods and shoot holes in it if you choose. What D* wants is for you to pay the $300 upfront, yet they still own the box.:(
 
herdfan said:
Maybe you are missing something.;) While no one knows all the specifics, the plan/rumor being circulated is that all D* is doing from the customer standpoint is replacing the mirroring fee with a lease fee. You still have to pay an upfront amount for higher-end equipment. The current amount being bandied about is $300 upfront for the HD DVR which is just slightly cheaper than you can get it for now, but now you own it and take it out in the woods and shoot holes in it if you choose. What D* wants is for you to pay the $300 upfront, yet they still own the box.:(

:eek: Oh! I retract my previous statement. That sucks!
 
I was thinking about dropping comcast this fall and going with only directv but now that I read they are doing this in making you pay for the box AND for a lease fee as well I think I may just keep both comcast and directv.
 
charper1 said:
This is not at all what I have been reading.
From post #17 by Scott:
The new Lease Program requires customers to pay a nominal lease fee, some examples of which are highlighted below (please note that the following illustrations are for new customers only). Note that the monthly lease fee is in addition to applicable programming charges:

New Customer Hardware
Upfront Hardware Lease Fees
Total Monthly Costs to Customer
Commitment Period/Early Cancellation Fee
1 Standard Receiver
$0
$0 Lease Fee (no fee for first receiver)
+Monthly programming
1 Year/ $150 prorated
1 Standard Receiver + 1 DVR
$0 (after $100 mail-in rebate*)
$0 Lease Fee (no fee for first receiver)
+ $4.99 Lease Fee (for second receiver) + $5.99 DVR Service Fee (Whole House)
+ Monthly Programming
2 Years/ $300 prorated
2 DVRs + 1 HD
$197 (after $100 mail-in rebate*)$0 Lease Fee (no fee for first receiver)
+ $4.99 Lease Fee (for second receiver)
+ $4.99 Lease Fee (for third receiver)
+ $5.99 DVR Service Fee (Whole House)
+ Monthly Programming
2 Years/ $300 prorated
1 HD DVR
$299 (after $100 mail-in rebate*)$0 Lease Fee (no fee for first receiver)
+ $5.99 DVR Service Fee (Whole House)
+ Monthly Programming
2 Years/ $300 prorated

So at least for 2 DVR's + HD and the HD DVR there is an upfront cost.
 
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It is simple -- they are doing it for tax reasons. They own and they can depreciate it and still charge you for upgrades. Eventually they will have to replace every unit when they fully switch to MPEG 4 so everyone will be leasing. By owning the units also they can control pirating better..
 
herdfan, at the top of that quoute, it says, "New Customers". So would I assume that as an existing sub, I get the privelige of being "milked" that 197 or 299 fee (assuming that we get the saw buck off as well) & then I get to give D* back the harware at the end of the lease? :(
 
DTV TiVo Dealer said:
I can't get any coherent answers from DIRECTV myself. If I understand the consumer’s side of this it should make little to no difference as DIRECTV is not charging any additional fee(s). All they did is re-name the $4.99/mo. additional receiver fee to a lease fee. Most hardware prices stay the same, except if you go through a big box CE chain or through DIRECTV directly you must order and pay for professional installation.

-Robert

So, say I "lease" a new HD DVR with an upfront fee of $299 (after $100 MIR). After the commitment period, I decided to go with cable. Does DirecTV take the HD DVR or do I get to keep it?

From the wording of "lease", I get the feeling that I need to return the HD DVR. If so, that's a HUGE change.

It's like paying a 100% on a Lexus for a 3-year lease and at the end of the contract, I have to give the car back to the dealer without getting anything back!

What am I missing?

Hong.
 
hongcho said:
So, say I "lease" a new HD DVR with an upfront fee of $299 (after $100 MIR). After the commitment period, I decided to go with cable. Does DirecTV take the HD DVR or do I get to keep it?
From the wording of "lease", I get the feeling that I need to return the HD DVR. If so, that's a HUGE change.
It's like paying a 100% on a Lexus for a 3-year lease and at the end of the contract, I have to give the car back to the dealer without getting anything back!
What am I missing?
Hong.

I agree that is a difference here. However how much does a used receiver go for? I'm pretty sure it less than a used Lexus. Maybe $50? And that'd be for a 2 year old model. If it's 4 years old it's probably worthless anyway. I agree that I don't like the idea of paying for something and then being told that I'm leasing it. But in the long run, I don't see much of a difference in total cost. I can bet they'll never be able to get $1000 for a new product like the HD-DVR again. Look at how those dropped in price in 2 years.

-JustBob
 
I dont know why anyone thinks that stuff we bought outright will become leased equipment. That doesn't sound the least bit legal especially since i vaguely remember in a contract somewhere that DTV doesn't own the equipment and you are responsible for maintainance ...blah blah.

For new subs it's a new ballgame. But beyond increasing DVR fees, I doubt they can change title to something you legally bought and paid for.
 
JustBob said:
However how much does a used receiver go for? I'm pretty sure it less than a used Lexus. Maybe $50? And that'd be for a 2 year old model. If it's 4 years old it's probably worthless anyway.

Well, the point in my example was that it's like paying full price for the Lexus upfront to lease.

BTW, my HR10-250 is two years old. I am sure I can get more than $250 on eBay (just checked).

So the difference is after I am done with DirecTV (with the price increase, it begs me to :p), I will have $250 at hand if I own it. With this lease, I have nothing and I paid about the same.

Hong.
 
Darn it all to hell. Got an R15 2 months ago and of course locked in for 2 years, and now all this BS announcements of leasing equipment and price increases etc. I seriously want to go with something else. Doesn't look too bright of a future with D*.

Any ideas on getting out of the contract?
 
Tonedeaf said:
Darn it all to hell. Got an R15 2 months ago and of course locked in for 2 years, and now all this BS announcements of leasing equipment and price increases etc. I seriously want to go with something else. Doesn't look too bright of a future with D*.

Unfortunately, where ever you go, you are going to get an increase, all providers have jumped on the bandwagon. DISH a few weeks ago, and even today our local cable company announced today, as of March 1, they are increasing their prices.
 
Interstingly, I just came from our local Wal-Mart - they have a couple stacks of the D* DVR+ units now. They just got these, since I bought their last 2 D-Tivo's a couple weeks ago. Funny that D* is talking about leasing only & now Wally's just got these in...
 
dishrich said:
Interstingly, I just came from our local Wal-Mart - they have a couple stacks of the D* DVR+ units now. They just got these, since I bought their last 2 D-Tivo's a couple weeks ago. Funny that D* is talking about leasing only & now Wally's just got these in...

Does not matter, once D* goes lease, you will still see D* receivers at Wal-Mart, BB, CC and other CE stores, if I am not mistaken, CE stores will still buy the receivers from D* and then sell them back to D* once a customer sign's up for service under the latest greatest promotion that D* has going at the time. Also going by that memorandum, CE stores can still sell receivers to those who want to buy instead, but customers who want to own will have to pay full msrp or higher to do so, or at least high enough so that your local CES can still make a profit, the only difference will be that all the good promotions will be lease only, that is the way it has mostly bean with E* the last couple of years now.
 
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