Tuesday, May 27, 2014

DirectTV Tips to save you money - Advance Receiver, Protection Plan & other fees

It has been so long since I have posted on this blog and I hope to start again.  I've been looking to ways to save on my Comcast bill.  So we decided to give DirectTV a try since we saw an advertisement on their site for $25/month for the first year. 

I just want to make sure that everyone is clear in terms of what they sign up for, because I was very shocked when I received the bill.  I don't want anyone to have to go through what I went through.

1) Advanced Receiver Discount of $10/month if you sign up for Auto-pay and Paperless billing.  DirectTV phone rep failed to tell me that I needed to sign up for this when you place your order.  I was really screwed over by this.  Even though the rep apologized for not telling me that I needed to do this, they should have at least corrected it and made it right - which they failed to do.  Now my $25/month just became $35/month!

2) For $25/month you get only an SD receiver.  DirectTV rep failed to tell me that I needed to a different receiver to get HD!  So come install day, the install guy tells me this, then he installs a Genie DVR.  Of course, I don't find out until I get my bill that the Genie is an extra $25/month!  Now your bill is $25 + $10 + $25 = $60!  Make sure when you place your order that your rep gives you a free Genie upgrade.  Ask them how long this offer will last.

3) After 30 days, there is a $12 Protection Plan fee that appears on your bill!  You MUST catch this before they charge you for it otherwise you have to pay $10 to get rid of it.  Crazy huh? And now your bill becomes $25 + $10 + $25 + $12 = $72.

4) HBO + Showtime is only free for 3 months, after that you pay $30 month.  This I was aware of so I understood that I needed to cancel this one.

5) If you want to downgrade your HD DVR, they charge you $99 to do so.  I didn't realize had a fee! So if you are thinking that you will start with a HD DVR then cancel it afterwards, please reconsider as you will be paying $99 + $20 delivery fee + $50 upgrade fee + tax after the fact.  Total of over $180!

So after all this, calling on the phone to get #1, #2 and #3, I must admit that this is NOT want I had signed up for and no amount of free HBO can remove terrible experience.  I had a friend that asked if I would recommend DirectTV and I must say that I they didn't disclose all the facts to you prior to ordering. 

Honestly, DirectTV markets a price on their website, I expect my bill to match that price!  Folks stick with Comcast!  However if you still decide to go with DirectTV and found this blog post helpful, please use me as a referral when placing your new order.  You will get $100 off and so will I.  Send me a comment with your email address and I can reply with my referral ID.

Sincerely, one disappointed DirectTV customer

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