Replacing a troublesome HR21

[mike6097]

I have been having issues with one of my HR21s for a while now. Often will not respond to remote without restarting receiver (not batteries). Recordings are stuttering making them barely watchable. Occasionally it will work fine. I relocated to a bedroom because it was very frustrating in main viewing room. Finally called DTV and requested a replacement box. They ran a remote test and said all was fine and offered to send out a tech. I requested a replacement box either new or refurb(not picky just want it to work). They refused without a tech visit. They wanted to sell me the protection plan, I passed but they did offer a one tome tech visit free. I passed on this as well as I did not want the hassle for now. I will take them up on it if box acts up in the future (sure it will soon).

Any advice on how to simply get a replacement receiver sent to me without jumping through the hoops? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[bayoubrut]

It might not be a bad idea to take them up on the PP. You could make sure that the HR-21 is replaced....if you catch my drift.

 

[jcrandall]

If you can convince them to send you a new receiver it only costs $20 for shipping if you don't have the protection plan.

If I am sure the box is the problem I tell them I will not pay for a service call unless they replace the box and the problem persists, as my other receivers and not having the problem. Call back, be specific about the recordings stuttering badly, like a problem with the hard drive.

 

[kjlued]

If the dish has been up for a year or more, it may be in your best interest to have a tech come out.
Chances are the dish is improperly peaked and will need to be tuned to have the box activate.

It isn't always as simple as unplugging one, plugging in the new one, and calling them to activate when it comes to HD.

 

[bayoubrut]

I have been having issues with one of my HR21s for a while now. Often will not respond to remote without restarting receiver (not batteries). Recordings are stuttering making them barely watchable. Occasionally it will work fine. I relocated to a bedroom because it was very frustrating in main viewing room. Finally called DTV and requested a replacement box. They ran a remote test and said all was fine and offered to send out a tech. I requested a replacement box either new or refurb(not picky just want it to work). They refused without a tech visit. They wanted to sell me the protection plan, I passed but they did offer a one tome tech visit free. I passed on this as well as I did not want the hassle for now. I will take them up on it if box acts up in the future (sure it will soon).

Any advice on how to simply get a replacement receiver sent to me without jumping through the hoops? Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike

Have you checked your signals on all three satellites and transponders? If signals are good on 101 but are lower on 99 or 103 than it is most likely an out of line ODU.

 

[mike6097]

I have not checked signal strength. I have 3 HD DVR receivers and only one of them give me any trouble. I will hive that a look. Trying to avoid the PP for now.

 

[kjlued]

I have not checked signal strength. I have 3 HD DVR receivers and only one of them give me any trouble. I will hive that a look. Trying to avoid the PP for now.

The DVR's working/not working has nothing to do with low signal strengths.
In fact, they will work perfectly fine with low signal strength but you will just notice weather fade a little more.

The thing is, if the dish is not peaked darn near perfect, you won't be able to get the receiver to activate because of the installation verification process.

 

[wildbill129]

Since it sounds like it was working before, it still works intermittently, your other boxes work fine, and you switched rooms to rule out a cabling problem, I can't see how low signal strength would have an effect.

Sounds to me like a bad box. As Jason said, you can get a new one for $20 shipping to replace a leased receiver/dvr. Don't let them add two years to your contract either. If you are frustrated enough, call them back, tell them it won't even turn on anymore. They will send you a new one.

 

[kjlued]

Not questioning if it is a bad box or not.
The thing is DirecTv won't send him the box in the mail, instead they want to send a tech out on a trouble call (for free might I add).
What I am saying, is it is probably in his best interest to have the service call performed as there is a good chance the dish is slightly out of alignment.
This won't cause the issues that he is having, but instead will cause issues when he tries to activate the new receiver causing him to have to have a tech come out anyways.

 

[wildbill129]

Not questioning if it is a bad box or not.
The thing is DirecTv won't send him the box in the mail, instead they want to send a tech out on a trouble call (for free might I add).
What I am saying, is it is probably in his best interest to have the service call performed as there is a good chance the dish is slightly out of alignment.
This won't cause the issues that he is having, but instead will cause issues when he tries to activate the new receiver causing him to have to have a tech come out anyways.

Ohhhh ok, that makes sense.

They will send out a box if you tell them it's dead. No tech needed.....not that your not needed

 

[kjlued]

Well, one will most likely be needed anyways.

Installation Verification launched back in August of 2008.
However, for a while it the software was not in the receiver and if it was, it allowed you to continue past it.
So, if there was not a HD receiver activated on that dish in the last year or so, there is a better chance then not it is out of alignment and the receiver won't activate until it is fixed.
(there is no continuing past it)

 

[wildbill129]

The OP said "One of my HR21's." So I am making the assumption he has more than one HR. I've bought boxes from retailers, and had them shipped to me by DirecTV. Never had a problem activating it myself.

 

[kjlued]

A little over a year ago, I could have activated an HD receiver on an 18" dish.

Like I said, things are different then they used to be.
These, a dish needs to be darn near perfect to activate a HD receiver.
I don't know how many more ways or times I can explain it.

Maybe you should just trust me on this since I activate over 100 of these a month.

 

[wildbill129]

A little over a year ago, I could have activated an HD receiver on an 18" dish.

Like I said, things are different then they used to be.
These, a dish needs to be darn near perfect to activate a HD receiver.
I don't know how many more ways or times I can explain it.

Maybe you should just trust me on this since I activate over 100 of these a month.

Ok, so all of us that have purchased HR24's from retailers and installed them ourselves just got lucky? . All his other receivers work, including his HD receivers. I hate to break it to you, DirecTV still ships receivers to customers without a tech holding their hand.

 

[kjlued]

You just said receivers you purchase from retailers then continued to say shipped from DirecTV

2 different things.

I have installed receivers shipped from DirecTV and yes, they are the same ones we get and yes they go through IV.
Also, those who did get DTV shipped receivers working without a hitch might have had upgrades since IV retest, they may have known how to tune the dish themselves, or they may have just been lucky.
Regardless if DTV does occasionally ship receivers, they were not offering it to him but yet they were offering a free service call instead of paying the $20 for shipping.
So why not take it. They run techs 7 days a week and since he is not in a hurry, I am sure he can be easily accommodated.


And just because his other receivers are working fine, it does not mean the dish is peaked to optimal performance.
So, why not make sure and get a free tune up while at it.

Just because your car starts and runs, it does not mean it is giving you the best performance it is capable of.

 

[bayoubrut]

Since he didn't say whether or not the trouble continued when he moved the box it could also be a cable or connector. It could be a handful of things which is why they will send a tech for service call. Besides checking signal is a good idea regardless, its not like he had to climb on roof with meter...geez