New DirecTV Customer - HR21 Sadness

[uncrules]

When I got my First HR20, I knew something was not normal with the function.
I've used enough receivers in my time before the HR's to base this off of, Long before I knew of DBS TAlk and Satellite guys.
I'm sure Hundreds of Thousands of others also.

There are far more complaints around then just here.

H20-600 was a flatout POS and this was faster the the HR20-700 when it was first released.
D* CSR's admitted they had thousands of complaints.

People are not as dumb as we think.

The H20-600 was very slow when it first came out but a long time after it came out they finally updated the software and the box actually became very fast, much faster than any of the HR2x boxes I have now (note I don't have a HR24). Taking into account the speed performance gain and easily the best OTA tuner in any D* box I've ever owned, the H20-600 actually became a good box for me. There were complaints about it over heating but mine never did.

 

[TigerpounceTN]

Don't bother with the BBB ... D* is fulfilling thier obligation already, as mentioned plenty of times it's been mentioned that you get what you order, you ordered a HD DVR and you got one, thats all D* is required to do.

I bought a very nice TV, when the newer model came out that was faster, were they obligated to send me a NEW TV so I could keep the newest equipment, NO.

IF the company was going to upgrade every person with the new equipment they would never MAKE any MONEY as all thier resources would be going to existing subs.

I tend to disagree. Nowhere on the web site will you find the information that you can be stuck with a slow old refurbished unit with a smaller hard drive and pitiful response times. You will also typically not find that when you buy a brand new tv, the equivalent in my mind of establishing new service, that the electronics store wheels out an older used model and wedges it in your car or truck and passes it off as the same thing. They also won't send you an older model as a replacement if your tv breaks under warranty either.

This complaint with DirecTV will not go away until they allow hardware choice or at least only pass around the garbage receivers as a replacement for the same model or lower. I might not sound like a satisfied subscriber at the moment, but I am. I love DirecTV service, but this particular facet does not impress me at all. I also would not consider giving a new subscriber your new receiver as an "upgrade" because they are going to be stuck with that receiver for two years unless it breaks or they actually do upgrade. They will make plenty of money off of a satisfied customer. Someone stuck with older, unreliable, slow, failing hardware.... Not so much.

 

[Jimbo]

Jimbo, Read my posts I SAID H20-600

Sorry, My bad.
We've been discussing the HR's, missed it when reading it.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Sorry, My bad.
We've been discussing the HR's, missed it when reading it.

Remember the H20 was out first, Then the lovely HR 20, and boy was I disappointed.
Man that Hr20 was bad.

Go to Cnet.com and look, see if that brings back any hidden memories.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

The H20-600 was very slow when it first came out but a long time after it came out they finally updated the software and the box actually became very fast, much faster than any of the HR2x boxes I have now (note I don't have a HR24). Taking into account the speed performance gain and easily the best OTA tuner in any D* box I've ever owned, the H20-600 actually became a good box for me. There were complaints about it over heating but mine never did.

I went through 3 of them.
1 over heated, Dead., 2nd one go toasted in a CE, Last one was recalled, so I dropped it for the R16 since it wasn't hooked up to an HD tv since the Hr20 moved in.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I have a HR21. It is slow. I don't worry about it. It works perfectly, except that it is sluggish. Never missed or lost a recording. Never freezes up.

D* offered me a free HR24 as a replacement but I turned it down due to the 24 month commitment if I took it. As of now I'm commitment free and I like that.

 

[cfb]

The numbers I quoted were accurate at the time of the boxes coming out... if you wanted a TIVO it was $ 1000, I almost got one for $ 750 when the prices came down.
I have a Sony HD -100 that I paid $ 750 for.
Just because they can BUILD them cheaper, doesn't mean you can BUY them cheaper.

IF we could BUY items for COST, the companies would obviously go OUT of BUSINESS.

They sort of make a little money by selling the monthly service for a lot of years on top of that box. The cable folks have managed to get by for decades not charging up front and just charging a monthly rental fee. Tivo manages to sell the box and only gets $12 a month vs $75-100+ for directv.

Sure, for about 9 months you could pay $1000 for a tivo, then they dropped to $399 and less pretty quick, and thats when a 30GB hard drive cost about $200. Not sure why that has any bearing whatsoever on any current business discussion around profit making.

The point is, directv could make plenty of money without charging up front for the box, and its not costing them $1000 to make, so creating a strawman around $1000/box prices just doesnt seem to make any sense. They're not subsidizing $1000. They're not subsidizing $500. They're subsidizing ~$170, maybe less.

 

[Jimbo]

They sort of make a little money by selling the monthly service for a lot of years on top of that box. The cable folks have managed to get by for decades not charging up front and just charging a monthly rental fee. Tivo manages to sell the box and only gets $12 a month vs $75-100+ for directv.

Sure, for about 9 months you could pay $1000 for a tivo, then they dropped to $399 and less pretty quick, and thats when a 30GB hard drive cost about $200. Not sure why that has any bearing whatsoever on any current business discussion around profit making.

The point is, directv could make plenty of money without charging up front for the box, and its not costing them $1000 to make, so creating a strawman around $1000/box prices just doesnt seem to make any sense. They're not subsidizing $1000. They're not subsidizing $500. They're subsidizing ~$170, maybe less.

I would MUCH RATHER pay an UPFRONT fee than pay for it EVERY MONTH of my existance with them .... my local cable company charges $ 18 p/m for a HD DVR, thats PER MONTH for EACH ONE .... so I would pay $ 72 in recvr fees every month with cable, PLUS the programming.

TIVO is an entirely different situation, they supply the box but NO PROGRAMMING. Of course D*'s overall price is going to be more, your including Programming.

 

[cfb]

Eh, once again you're shooting for worst case scenario. I can buy a tivo for $99 and pay ~$7-8 a month for the service while directv is charging me $199, $7 a month for dvr service, $6 a month for a receiver fee, and $3 for mrv which tivo doesnt charge for. I think directv's mrv works better than tivo's for some cable providers, but it has a much higher network demand.

Oh, and I get to keep the tivo and can sell it for close to what I paid for it.

At least in the cable model, that you're renting the product is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. I dont hear a lot of people who are renting cable boxes freaking out when they have to send it back when they cancel cable.

But once again, we've wandered from the actual point. The actual point is that directv makes you pay for a box, pay for a service, pay a lease fee, and give the box back at the end. Theres no reason why they shouldnt give the customer the most current box available when they're buying or being given a deal, especially if they ask for it.

 

[StealthMonkey]

I bought a very nice TV, when the newer model came out that was faster, were they obligated to send me a NEW TV so I could keep the newest equipment, NO.

You are such an apologist. That is not the same thing at all. If you are going to disagree, fine, but at least don't make up analogies that don't make any sense.

It would be more similar to if you ordered a 42" TV and the website said "enjoy full HD 1080p with our TVs", then when you received it, it was 720p. Then they say, "Our older models are 720p, we don't guarantee resolution."

DirecTV's website makes it seem like you will get new hardware, specifically it says "Record up to 100 hrs in HD and 400 hrs in SD". The model I received cannot do that.

Now, to be clear, if they come out with new hardware a month from now, I don't feel that I have any right to it, nor will I attempt to get it.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Being that its 2010, If that HR21 showed up at my door, again right through that D* van window it would go.:rant:

I would flat out refuse a New D* install with 3 year old equipment.

 

[Jimbo]

Eh, once again you're shooting for worst case scenario. I can buy a tivo for $99 and pay ~$7-8 a month for the service while directv is charging me $199, $7 a month for dvr service, $6 a month for a receiver fee, and $3 for mrv which tivo doesnt charge for. I think directv's mrv works better than tivo's for some cable providers, but it has a much higher network demand.

Oh, and I get to keep the tivo and can sell it for close to what I paid for it.

At least in the cable model, that you're renting the product is pretty straightforward and easy to understand. I dont hear a lot of people who are renting cable boxes freaking out when they have to send it back when they cancel cable.

But once again, we've wandered from the actual point. The actual point is that directv makes you pay for a box, pay for a service, pay a lease fee, and give the box back at the end. Theres no reason why they shouldnt give the customer the most current box available when they're buying or being given a deal, especially if they ask for it.

Of course not, they are THRILLED to get rid of it !

 

[Jimbo]

DirecTV's website makes it seem like you will get new hardware, specifically it says "Record up to 100 hrs in HD and 400 hrs in SD". The model I received cannot do that.

Now, to be clear, if they come out with new hardware a month from now, I don't feel that I have any right to it, nor will I attempt to get it.

How big of a Hard drive does it take to get the 100 hrs of HD ?

I don't use the internal HD, so thats never been an issue with me.

 

[Mike0616]

Of course not, they are THRILLED to get rid of it !

Almost as thrilled as I was to send back the POS HR20-700s that I had?

PS: Mine were slower than molasses in the winter and buggier than a flophouse mattress, but then, I am not running for "King of the D* Apologists."

 

[joed32]

Compared to what?

They execute remote commands instantly, no delay whatsoever.

 

[rmmrph]

Let me start by saying I have used a HR10-250 in the past and currently have a HR20 and a HR21. I use them in native mode. Under normal usage, just changing channels and the like are slow, but not so much that I am like oh my God my life will be over before it changes. The HR21 does slow down when recording from the AM21, and that is only time I would say it is significantly slower. Both perform program searches and add new recordings MUCH faster than the HR10 ever could. There are times were I would request a new recording on the HR10 then go pour myself a cup of coffee, putz around the kitchen for a few minutes and it still wouldn't finished when I came back. Now that is what I called slow and annoying.

 

[cfb]

Of course not, they are THRILLED to get rid of it !

Not really the point at all. The point was they didnt have to pay for it up front and then have to give it back, they didnt ever think they might own it, and there was no early termination fee if they decided it was a piece of junk or was too slow to operate in a reasonable manner.

People who rent a cable box or buy a tivo are never in doubt or wrong about their ownership status, they arent financially obliged to stay in the relationship, and they can ask for and receive a particular model from the vendor.

As I've covered before, the biggest problem in a customer/vendor relationship is doubt. Here the customer doesnt know what hardware they'll get, may not get the newest and best product, and doesnt even know who will be installing it or exactly when. In other words, the system is designed to create the maximum doubt.

About the only reason why it works at all is because the majority of customers dont know there are different products with different performance levels, so they arent disappointed when they get an old product with an old design that might even be refurbished rather than new.

 

[Jimbo]

Almost as thrilled as I was to send back the POS HR20-700s that I had?

PS: Mine were slower than molasses in the winter and buggier than a flophouse mattress, but then, I am not running for "King of the D* Apologists."

Where you been hiding ?
Sorry about your issues .... I had several HR20-700's and for the most part they all worked as well as expected.
Still do fro that matter.

You ever look into why it was slow ?
Every see if there was a solution ?

 

[Gimpy McFarlan]

I never had a HR20-600, actually I think they were -100's , but anyways, I've always had the -700's and still to this day have several and they have been GREAT.

+1

I have 2 HR21-700 receivers and both work well. Just recently added multiple room viewing and I'm very happy it.

 

[PMKS]

I haven't heard anything about the HR22's, I had a HR22-100 put in last year, and run it in Native mode.

It's kinda slow compared to my H21's/H23 non DVR's, but has performed flawlessly since it was put it.