Directv Going To Lease Only On 3/1/06

[dragon002]

dragon002, you're a bit of a **** aren't you? Seems to me all you can do is post garbage. Maybe you ought to go watch TV and leave the dicsussion to people who are ....um....discussing and maybe adding real content.

pounce,

did you read all of the posts??

garbage?? murdock is NOT going to talk to you.
you are not going to change directvs plans.

if you and the others dont like directv....move on......

that was all i was saying.

 

[sleeks]

Isn't E* doing the same thing essentially.....

$299 for the HD DVR and thats a lease also.

So the satellite companies are obviously not going the way of the cable companies where there is no upfront costs.

I don't like the upfront costs either.....

 

[dragon002]

sleeks.

exactly!

but murdoch is satan and ergen is an angel, give me a break!!

 

[lou_do]

I don't understand what all the whining is about. I bought my 2 HD receivers for a total of around $700.00 (no rebates). One went bad and it cost me another $299.00 to replace (no rebates again). So up to today, it has cost me nearly $1000.00 for my D* HD receivers, not to count what I had in the old SD ones, which I forget what they cost, originally.

The 2 HD receivers will need to be replaced soon, for two new H20s. They will be done at no cost to me. I know, I will go under the lease program and pay my $4.99 a month lease fee, of which I now pay the same thing called a mirror fee. Three months down the road, my new H20 dies and they replace it at no charge to me. I don't have to go out and spend another $199.00 for a new H20. Just pay my $4.99 a month lease fee on the second unit.

If I were a new customer, I think the initial price is $394.00, for 2 new HD receivers, minus any rebates they may give. My original cost was around $700.00.

Is it something about the desire to own a closet full of outdated and broken receivers? I have 3 outdated or broken SD receivers and a broken HD receiver, and will soon add 2 more outdated HD receivers to the collection, in my closet. They are soon to be worthless.

I just look at that initial fee, what ever it may be, as insurance. I would rather pay a one time fee of say $199.00, and not have to shell out another $199.00 every time a receiver craps out. Voice of experience, it can get expensive. I just don't see that big of a deal about the new lease program.

 

[lovswr]

I don't understand what all the whining is about. I bought my 2 HD receivers for a total of around $700.00 (no rebates). One went bad and it cost me another $299.00 to replace (no rebates again). So up to today, it has cost me nearly $1000.00 for my D* HD receivers, not to count what I had in the old SD ones, which I forget what they cost, originally.

The 2 HD receivers will need to be replaced soon, for two new H20s. They will be done at no cost to me. I know, I will go under the lease program and pay my $4.99 a month lease fee, of which I now pay the same thing called a mirror fee. Three months down the road, my new H20 dies and they replace it at no charge to me. I don't have to go out and spend another $199.00 for a new H20. Just pay my $4.99 a month lease fee on the second unit.

If I were a new customer, I think the initial price is $394.00, for 2 new HD receivers, minus any rebates they may give. My original cost was around $700.00.

Is it something about the desire to own a closet full of outdated and broken receivers? I have 3 outdated or broken SD receivers and a broken HD receiver, and will soon add 2 more outdated HD receivers to the collection, in my closet. They are soon to be worthless.

I just look at that initial fee, what ever it may be, as insurance. I would rather pay a one time fee of say $199.00, and not have to shell out another $199.00 every time a receiver craps out. Voice of experience, it can get expensive. I just don't see that big of a deal about the new lease program.

But lou_do, I think the general sentiment of those of us who are looking at the word lease think the equipment should be free. Vurb tends to go for theatrics, but on this point, I think his heart is in the right place. If Comacast, et al have any sense, they will take out National ads in this Sundays papers to let people know that you now can have the *privilege* of paying up front & every month too.

This reminds me of a saying that two guys I used to know when I was in the Army in NJ. Hi, we are Jim & Doug. We may be dumb but we're stupid too!

 

[lou_do]

But lou_do, I think the general sentiment of those of us who are looking at the word lease think the equipment should be free. Vurb tends to go for theatrics, but on this point, I think his heart is in the right place. If Comacast, et al have any sense, they will take out National ads in this Sundays papers to let people know that you now can have the *privilege* of paying up front & every month too.

I know what you are saying, but my point is, it is going to cost me, and I am sure others, a lot less with their lease plan, than it has over the last few years.

No up front cost would be nice, but you may see that about the same time you can lease a vehicle, for no up front cost.

 

[pounce]

The 2 HD receivers will need to be replaced soon, for two new H20s. They will be done at no cost to me. I know, I will go under the lease program and pay my $4.99 a month lease fee, of which I now pay the same thing called a mirror fee. Three months down the road, my new H20 dies and they replace it at no charge to me. I don't have to go out and spend another $199.00 for a new H20. Just pay my $4.99 a month lease fee on the second unit.

Actually, this is not correct. If you want two new H20's you are goign to pay $99 each to "upgrade" and then pay 4.99 a month. If at any time during the two year agreement you want to upgrade of change these 2 H20's you are going to have to pay another fee.

 

[lou_do]

Actually, this is not correct. If you want two new H20's you are goign to pay $99 each to "upgrade" and then pay 4.99 a month. If at any time during the two year agreement you want to upgrade of change these 2 H20's you are going to have to pay another fee.

I was told that will depend on where you sit, on the new HEARTS Program. People with poor credit record may pay more than others with good credit.

 

[mjitkop]

When you lease a car, don't you have to pay a down payment too? To me, the DirecTV "lease" seems to be the same.

 

[lou_do]

When you lease a car, don't you have to pay a down payment too? To me, the DirecTV "lease" seems to be the same.

Right, with cars they are called fees, not down payment.

 

[lee78221]

I was told that will depend on where you sit, on the new HEARTS Program. People with poor credit record may pay more than others with good credit.

OT: I just call DIRECTV and I have 3 HEARTS

 

[lovswr]

Right, with cars they are called fees, not down payment.

I reject the 'car' model. At the end of that lease, the car still has some value to you. I do not get to apply 2 years of "leasing" & then get to buy the D box at some discounted rate. If I have low miles good condition at the end of a car lease, the dealer has to "buy" the car back from me. With D what do I get at the end. I get to pay up front, pay during & then (with a new contract, I guess) pay again. I mean WTF!?!?!?

 

[herdfan]

I think the big thing here is D* erred with the use of the word lease. This word has certain meanings mainly to cable users. They are used to "leasing" a box from the cable company, but not paying up front for it.

Since D* is just replacing the mirror fee for the lease fee, nothing is changing in that regard. All we are doing is paying up-front for the use of a certain type of receiver. The higher end receiver we want, the more up-front we pay.

I have leased vehicles using the single payment option where you pay a large chuck up-front and have use of the vehicle for a period of time. With the new deal here you are basically doing the same, only with the car, you have to give it back.

With all that being said, I prefer to own my own receivers. I am more than willing to pay the true cost and have in the past. My first HR10-250 cost $949 with the second in at $400 only because BB wrote a bad coupon. So if $750 is the cost, I can decide what I want to do.

 

[jim tressler]

interesting.. did they just give that info up or did you ask.. regular csr or retention

OT: I just call DIRECTV and I have 3 HEARTS

 

[lou_do]

IWith all that being said, I prefer to own my own receivers. I am more than willing to pay the true cost and have in the past. My first HR10-250 cost $949 with the second in at $400 only because BB wrote a bad coupon. So if $750 is the cost, I can decide what I want to do.

It should be that you could do it either way, just like a car. Buy it outright or lease it. That way everyone would be happy.

 

[pounce]

I was told that will depend on where you sit, on the new HEARTS Program. People with poor credit record may pay more than others with good credit.

Not sure about that. I have always payed with automatic payment and my FICO is 800. I have no idea what my Directv credit rating or HEARTS program rating is, but I spent 30 minutes with the rep on the lease program and they told me that there is an upgrade fee of $99 for HD boxes. I'm assuming I'm on the high end of the credit scoring.

So, under the lease program you would pay $99 up front and 4.99 a month. Over two years that means 218.76 + any taxes you might need to pay.

What wasn't clear to me during the conversation I had was if the customer pays a Lease of 4.99 per box or per household. If I have 5 boxes do I pay 24.95 per month for the lease's or do I pay just 4.99? I don't know.

 

[tstarn06]

Directv's "lease" is no deal at all.

Just off the phone with Directv. The charge is $499 for the HD-DVR (MPEG-2) "hardware upgrade" for current customers under the lease program, which is hardly a lease by the standard definition. Thats the same price as buying the thing in February. His explanation of the advantage of leasing? With the lease, if the box breaks you get a new one. Wow, what an offer!

The way he explained it, for this "hardware upgrade," current customers must pay $499 (this is exactly what he said) and agree to a 24-month commitment. You do the math as to the per month lease charge. Would you ever buy a car on lease and pay the entire amount up front? How about the cable model, whereby you pay $10 a month with no upfront fee? What happened to that?

Directv seems to be on a real money grab with its bogus lease program, but it's gonna backfire big time in my view. The poor soul on the other end said he would pass my comments (I tried to be civil) to his supervisor. Yeah, right.

And this price, $499, is for the "lease" on the soon-to-be obsolete HD-DVR. Am I in a bad dream? Looks like Comcast is gonna be my provider in the next few months, unless things change dramatically. Or maybe even FIOS via Verizon. In my view, Directv will lose a boatload of customers after this news gets out.

 

[hiker]

There's a brief explanation of leasing on the CC website here.
Note the restrictions on the number of leases per year.

 

[mikew]

WOW! $499 to lease an HD Tivo? Also, if you don't return it, or it is damaged they'll charge you an additional $470! Glad I bought my system in January and have my rebates in hand. $499 lease fee and 24 month commitment? I'd never have signed up with DirecTV if these were the terms.



RETURN OF DIRECTV EQUIPMENT. If you cease to be DIRECTV's customer for any reason (whether voluntarily or if you decide to disconnect/cancel terminate your DVR service (if you are leasing a DVR Receiver), you must call DIRECTV within seven (7) days after the termination of your DIRECTV programming services or DVR service, as applicable, to (i) make arrangements for DIRECTV to pick up all of your DIRECTV equipment, or (ii) obtain information from DIRECTV necessary to arrange for a ground or air freight service to pick up and deliver all of your DIRECTV equipment to DIRECTV. You acknowledge that the DIRECTV equipment belongs to DIRECTV and the DIRECTV equipment, including the access card inserted into each receiver, must be returned to DIRECTV in good working order, normal wear and tear excepted. In the event that all of the DIRECTV equipment is not returned to DIRECTV within thirty (30) days of the termination of your DIRECTV programming services or is damaged when it is returned to DIRECTV, you agree to pay DIRECTV the sum of $55 for each DIRECTV standard receiver; $200 for each DIRECTV DVR Receiver; $240 for each DIRECTV HD Receiver: or $470 for each DIRECTV HD DVR Receiver that is not returned to DIRECTV or that is damaged when it is returned to DIRECTV as compensation for a portion of the expenses incurred by DIRECTV in establishing your account, and providing you the DIRECTV equipment for your use. Visit DIRECTV.com or call 1-800-531-5000 for details.

 

[hiker]

...
How it will be blended with the current owners isn't known yet, but as of the most recent deals, including MPEG4 hardware, buying was still an option. It is also very unlikely that they would replace an owned box with a leased one. That would be an invitation for a lawsuit.

Has anyone yet got a reading on how they will deal with owned equipment?
For example, if I want to upgrade my owned HD DVR HR10 with the new model HR20 when available, will I not own the HR20 but lease it?