What's the deal with DirecTv's lease?

[sportse]

From everything I have read/heard, DirecTv owns the receivers indefinitely, even beyond the TWO year contract. This seemed strange and many of the reps said the same thing when I called. I finally got to a customer service person that talked to a supervisor.

This supervisor said you do OWN the receiver(s) after the contract. Is the supervisor correct or did they just tell me that to get me off the phone? This model makes more sense (like my previous contract with them and the cell phone industry) .

 

[Bob Nielsen]

I think your original information was correct. With the original pricing model, you paid for the receiver and a monthly "additional receiver" fee for each receiver after the first. The lease fee is a replacement the older "additional receiver" fee in the case of non-owned receivers. When the commitment is up you do not own the receiver, although in some cases Directv will not ask for them back (older models) if you cancel service.

If you lease a car, you do not own it at the end of a contract. In fact, the more expensive the car is, the more you pay each month. Directv charges the same monthly lease fee for all models and an upfront fee which varies (more for the more expensive models).

 

[sportse]

follow-up

Thank you for the comment, but can you clarify why you chose your position? Do you know or are you assuming?

The "lease fee" for additional receivers is regardless of whether or not you own the receiver (I asked since I have 2 DirecTv receivers in the garage from a previous contract).

The car analogy is not accurate for this situation, we are talking about a $700 MSRP vs a $20-50K MSRP. I would imagine that you "pay-off" the receiver over a 24 month contract (thus their choice).

 

[boba]

At the end of the LEASE you agree to return the equipment if you terminate the subscription. Does that sound like you own the equipment? From the lease agreement "You understand and agree that you have not purchased the directv equipment," lease contract is available at Good TV. Better TV. DIRECTV..

 

[sportse]

What about the 2 year CONTRACT? Isn't that different than a "lease"? A lease doesn't go away after 2 years, but a contract does.....It sounds like the "Supervisor" in customer service was full of it.

 

[iwc5893]

What about the 2 year CONTRACT? Isn't that different than a "lease"? A lease doesn't go away after 2 years, but a contract does.....It sounds like the "Supervisor" in customer service was full of it.

He was...alas, he probably told you what you wanted to hear just to get you off the phone. Just like you were told here that you do not own the receivers, then questioned the person who provided you the information.

So, I will attempt to answer your question.

You do not own the receiver. You lease the receiver from D*. At the end of your subscription, you are required to return the receiver to D* or be charged for them (at which time you will own them). The one or two year contract is a minimum programming commitment so that D* may recoup the costs of providing you your equipment and installation at little or no charge. You are not "paying off" the equipment over the term of the contract.

It is entirely up to D* if they want the receivers back after you are no longer a customer. The general rule of thumb is that they will let you keep the standard receivers, but will make you send back any advanced receivers (HD, DVR, HD/DVR).

I think Bob Nielsen "chose his position" because he actually read the entire Lease Agreement. I would suggest you do so also, because regardless of what you were told by a CSR or a Supervisor, that is what you will be held accountable to.

 

[sportse]

Thank you for the response (as sarcastic and sharp as some of it was). I DID read it and the reason I called was to ask what the point of the "contract" was, if in turn I never owned anything. I wanted the rationale behind it as it seemed strange to lock someone into a contract when nothing they gave you had much value (installation).

One pays for the "use" of the receiver in the up-front cost and reoccurring programming fees. When you cancel, they get the receiver back, so they are out nothing during that period of time. Just trying to understand the logic of the 2 year contract.

 

[skyviewmark]

Direct puts very expensive equipment and labor into your house.. And they ask in return that you agree to at least keep paying your programming for a specified term so that they can recoup some of the loss that they have substained upfront.. Thus the programming commitment.

 

[LonghornXP]

Direct puts very expensive equipment and labor into your house.. And they ask in return that you agree to at least keep paying your programming for a specified term so that they can recoup some of the loss that they have substained upfront.. Thus the programming commitment.

I think you said it quite well and I also believe this is the reason why DirecTV still requires a two year to lock you into their service. My question and I believe its a good question is what if you cancel service after the year year agreement. Now lets say a year later you restart the account again should DirecTV mail/install the same hardware you had again (not the exact box you had just HD for HD, HD DVR for HD DVR etc) without making you pay another upfront cost. This only applies if you reconnect and don't take advantage of a new customer offer.

I would be very interested to find out what if any legal rights customers have with regards to reconnecting service using the same hardware they paid a lease fee for. Also this only applies "if" you sent the boxes back to DirecTV after the cancellation of course. I've asked this question to DirecTV many times and they cannot answer it. This last time I checked wasn't covered in the lease agreement nor the terms of service so I think its a good question.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Unless you paid Directv $749 for an HR-20 you will never own it.$299 is the lease price,or $199 what ever it is now,it comes with a 2 year contract. After 2 years you still do NOT own it. If you cancel D* you must return the receiver.you can still keep it after 2 year,but you can cancel without paying a fee.But anytime you activate a new receiver it comes with a 1 or 2 year contract.2 year on HD ,DVR,or HDDVR. 1 year on standard receivers.

 

[iwc5893]

Unless you paid Directv $749 for an HR-20 you will never own it.$299 is the lease price,or $199 what ever it is now,it comes with a 2 year contract. After 2 years you still do NOT own it. If you cancel D* you must return the receiver.you can still keep it after 2 year,but you can cancel without paying a fee.But anytime you activate a new receiver it comes with a 1 or 2 year contract.2 year on HD ,DVR,or HDDVR. 1 year on standard receivers.

I would also like to point out that even if you do purchase the HR20, you do not own the Access Card. That little thing must still be returned to D* when you are no longer a customer, rendering the HR20 useless.

 

[Vcize]

Direct puts very expensive equipment and labor into your house.. And they ask in return that you agree to at least keep paying your programming for a specified term so that they can recoup some of the loss that they have substained upfront.. Thus the programming commitment.

I think you said it quite well and I also believe this is the reason why DirecTV still requires a two year to lock you into their service.

Funny, because a certain *ahem* other company manages to install everything for you for free without any commitment, and gives you the receivers free of charge as well (another several hundred dollars D* is getting upfront).

Note: I'm not a customer of this other company, just a frustrated football fan that is having a hard time coughing up a ton of money up front for a bunch of stuff I have to give back.

 

[bonscott87]

The 2 year "contract" or commitment actually has nothing to do with the receiver(s) you may get. It is simply a commitment to a certain level of programming, Total Choice (or whatever it's called today).

As has been explained dozens of times:

Own the receiver, pay $4.99 "additional receiver fee"
Lease the receiver, pay $4.99 "lease fee"
This is of course for any receiver beyond your first one. There is no monthly fee for the first receiver, even if leased.

Same monthly fee no matter what.

So the HR20 for example. Own - $750 or Lease - Free to $299. Both have same monthly costs.

Gee, which way will I choose to go?

 

[Hemi 6.1]

The commitment for HR20, H20 and R15 receivers is for 2 years. With any package you want. You can downgrade . Your only commited to the $29.99 per month package.Which is Family pack.If you want "Plus HD" pack to start ,and 1 month later you downgrade to Family,that is aloud at NO charge.But you can only downgrade once every 30 days to avoid $10 fee. By the way D10,D11and D12 only have a 1 year commitment.

 

[skyviewmark]

I personally don't understand why the lease bother so many.. You get equipment at a free or reduced rate, What do you plan to do with it if you cut your D* Service off. It can only legally be used with D* Service so it becomes nothing more than a doorstop if service is terminated.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

The 2 year "contract" or commitment actually has nothing to do with the receiver(s) you may get. It is simply a commitment to a certain level of programming, Total Choice (or whatever it's called today).

True you are commited to a programming commitment. But how long your commited for goes by the equipment leased.

 

[bonscott87]

True you are commited to a programming commitment. But how long your commited for goes by the equipment leased.

Yep. Standard receivers are 1 year, "Advanced" receivers (HD or DVR) are 2 years.

But the commitment is for the programming, not for you keeping the receivers. Say you get an HR20 and hate it. You can send it back with no problems so long as you keep your account active with the programming for the time left on the commitment. Or you get an HR20 today and 6 months from now some new wiz bang receiver comes out you can trade up to the new receiver with no issues.

In other words, the receiver you get that triggers the commitment doesn't need to stay active on your account as the programming commitment is what it really is.

I'm sure you understand that but I just wanted to point that out to people that aren't clear on it.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Scott,
Theres so much BS that comes with all leases ,But I think your right,Now I think its all covered.

 

[sportse]

Doesn't D* charge an arm and 2 legs to upgrade receivers for current subscribers, or has that gotten better? I guess maybe that is my issue with it. If you are leasing the equipment and a new receiver comes out that is better, as a current subscriber, they get you again with the fees.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Question ?? I never asked this before or tried it but. If I have a commitment and I have 4 receivers can I still deactivate 1 of them and have just 3,or do I have to keep all 4.I'm not sure how that part works.What if I decided to just have 1 and drop 3? Is that aloud? Does the lease just need one active receiver?