masterpjz9
join:2000-10-14
Peabody, MA | [DIRECTV] Protection Plan
Is the DIRECTV Protection Plan worth it? I hate to spend $7.99 a month on something that's useless and I'm never going to use. |
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH | Kinda like car insurance... you're glad you have it when you *need* it... $7.99/month is kinda steep though. If it were under $5, it would be more reasonable, IMO. |
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masterpjz9
join:2000-10-14
Peabody, MA
| said by Hall  :Kinda like car insurance... you're glad you have it when you *need* it... $7.99/month is kinda steep though. If it were under $5, it would be more reasonable, IMO. But what's the chance that my equipment is going to fail? And what usually fails the most in a DIRECTV system? |
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Gobbstopper
join:2005-01-18
Nashville, TN
| reply to masterpjz9
If you have a receiver go bad once a year, you've wasted your money. Receivers can be bought new for $60 or less at most electronic chains. If you expect multiple catastrophies every year, you get no charge for service calls, besides that, if you have a service call to replace a receiver you will get a refurbished unit.
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It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit It ! |
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masterpjz9
join:2000-10-14
Peabody, MA
| said by Gobbstopper :If you have a receiver go bad once a year, you've wasted your money. Receivers can be bought new for $60 or less at most electronic chains. If you expect multiple catastrophies every year, you get no charge for service calls, besides that, if you have a service call to replace a receiver you will get a refurbished unit. The only thing that I could see that would be worth the money would be if the HDTV receiver, LNB, or the multi-switch went bad. Other than that its not worth it financially. How often would they go bad? |
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ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA | reply to masterpjz9
I have had one Tivo replaced twice, and a second Tivo replaced once. Also, I have had an HD STB replaced. |
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Gobbstopper
join:2005-01-18
Nashville, TN
| reply to masterpjz9
Even 1 LNB and 1 multiswitch failing once a year, which is just really bad luck, is still less than a $70 service call.
If your HD receiver fails, you will get a refurbished unit, same with Tivo's. I've been to many service calls to replace the refurbs that they ship to customers. Though, if you steam enough, they will send out new equipment. If you are super confident that you could troubleshoot a failure down to a bad receiver, LNB , switch, or a rusty connector. Then feel free to fix it and save the service call fee.
Most of my customers with bad HD or Tivo's usually throw a fit and get replacements shipped for free, and also the fee for me to come and plug in the replacement gets waived also.
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It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit It ! |
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ciucca
join:2004-05-24
| Unless you have HDTV equipment its not worth it (Even with HDTV its debatable). If once a year a wind storm knocks over your dish or once a year an LNB shorts out it will cost $70 for a service call. More likely if once in 5 years you need a service technician come to your house for dish/LNB related problems your ahead of the game. The plan cost 95.88 a year x 5 years = $479 vs 1 service call for $70. |
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masterpjz9
join:2000-10-14
Peabody, MA
| reply to masterpjz9
said by Gobbstopper:
If your HD receiver fails, you will get a refurbished unit, same with Tivo's. I've been to many service calls to replace the refurbs that they ship to customers.
Will they do this without the service plan?
said by ciucca:
If once a year a wind storm knocks over your dish or once a year an LNB shorts out it will cost $70 for a service call.
Do they charge extra for the parts over the $70? |
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
1 edit | reply to masterpjz9
said by masterpjz9 :But what's the chance that my equipment is going to fail? And what usually fails the most in a DIRECTV system? Most equipment even if just a 90 day warranty will likely fail in that time or likely survive (barring lightning strikes, etc) beyond an extended warraty.
Extended warranties are one of the BIGGEST money MAKERS for the electronics retailing business.
Another thing about extended warranties lot of ( and read the) fine print.... things like surges and lightning are often excluded.
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
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Hayward
K A R - 1 2 0 C
Premium
join:2000-07-13
Key West, FL
1 edit | reply to ColdFiltered
said by ColdFiltered :I have had one Tivo replaced twice, and a second Tivo replaced once. Also, I have had an HD STB replaced. Hey I thought TiVo's were the greatest thing since sliced bread!!!
Doesn't sound like a great QC record to me. I've had two DISH DVR's (501 and 721) and both have performed fine, outside need (just like a HDD driven PC) for occasional reboot/clean up.
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»haywardm.com (Hayward's Key West)
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Hall
Premium,MVM
join:2000-04-28
Dayton, OH
 ·EarthLink
·AT&T Midwest
 ·Earthlink Cable Mo..
| reply to Hayward
said by Hayward : Extended warranties are one of the BIGGEST money MAKERS for the electronics retailing business. They're nothing more than insurance policies that the retailer or manufacturer take out on the equipment. You don't hear about insurance companies going out of business or filing bankruptcy too often ! |
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ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA
| reply to Hayward
The first TiVo got replaced afer about 2.5 months as the hard drive was failing (or so everyone guessed on TC forums). I thought it looked more like the MPEG decoder board. The second event hit both TiVos and was a result of my neighbor across the street being the target of an unfriendly lightning bolt.
Both he, myself, and a couple of other neighbors wound up with modems and or network cards fried. I lost to network cards due to my broadband's lack of spike protection, and the POTS pairs for the two TiVo units were equally affected on their modems.
Without the ability to make daily calls, those two Philips DSR6000Rs were dead in the water 14/30 days later. DirecTV replaced both with generation two units from Hughes.
I love the TiVo, or rather timeshifting, idea. I am now more focued on HD than SD so these units are really used by the wife (yes, both of them). If the HD TiVo were to come down to something like $500 I'd buy one, but even at $800 or more its too expensive in my opinion.
I love HD and will probably be an early adopter of the forthcoming Blu-ray player in 2005Q4. The players are slated, IIRC, to be about the same as a HD TiVo, but the money I don't spend on it can be used for $40-50 HD movies. |
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Gobbstopper
join:2005-01-18
Nashville, TN
| reply to masterpjz9
That $70 service call fee will cover whatever has to be done to repair it , including replacement of dish, LNB, switches and standard receivers.
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It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses. Hit It ! |
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mnmark
Go Johnnies
Premium
join:2004-06-29
Saint Paul, MN
clubs:
 ·Vonage
·Comcast
1 edit | reply to ColdFiltered
Without the ability to make daily calls, those two Philips DSR6000Rs were dead in the water 14/30 days later. DirecTV replaced both with generation two units from Hughes.
ColdFiltered , please explain your 'dead in the water' statement...DirecTiVo's do not lost any functionality by not dialing in - you only get a single daily reminder that you need to dial-in, which can be deleted in a matter of seconds. |
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ColdFiltered
join:2005-01-25
Atlanta, GA
| reply to masterpjz9
said by masterpjz9 :Is the DIRECTV Protection Plan worth it? I hate to spend $7.99 a month on something that's useless and I'm never going to use. AFAIK, the TiVo channel guide information is retrieved through POTS. This is one of the reasons why early on people installed NICs to utilize their broadband connection instead of dialing out.
And I caught what happens to that channel guide when it did expire, sometime after the actual lightning event took place. Its certain not to make sure the receiver is located where it is suppose to be, because my STB hasn't been plugged into a POTS line since the day one.
Now, there is additional functionality used with the phone line (namely PPV), but from what I have been told its also for TiVo-specific guide updates. I am only aware of DirecTV guide updates being d/l from satellite. |
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