Trying to figure out exact fees for DirecTV HD with Tivo

[mjitkop]

Hi everyone.

Little background: I have been a loyal DirecTV customer since November of 2001. Started with regular SD receivers and then upgraded to DVRs in 2004. Currently 4 TVs hooked up with their own DVRs and 1 of them is a lease (R15-300-CR) while all other 3 are owned. All DVRs other than the R15 are TiVo-powered. My wife hates the R15 with a passion and she said she wants TiVo.

Now 3 of the TVs are HD and the last one is a regular CRT TV (still working... for now).

I am looking into getting full advantage of the HD TVs by upgrading to HD with DirecTV. The main requirement is that all "receivers" hooked up to each HDTV must be TiVo HD DVRs. I understand that with TiVo you don't get Whole Home and it is not compatible with HMC but that's fine, I discussed this with the family and that's what we want.

I have been looking/asking around to figure out exactly to the penny, well at least to the dollar, how much my bill would be in the end every month. I can't get a clear number (can't figure out fees per account or receiver).

Here is my current statement:

	Current Charges for Service Period 03/24/12 - 04/23/12
03/24	04/23	PLUS DVR Monthly	76.99
03/24	04/23	Network: NBC West Monthly	2.50
03/24	04/23	Network: FOX West Monthly	2.50
03/24	04/23	Advanced Receiver-DVR $8.00/mo Included in Base Pkg	0.00
	Fees
03/25		Additional TV	6.00
03/25		Additional TV	6.00
03/25		Additional TV	6.00
	Adjustments & Credits
03/22		AT&T Customer Savings	-5.00	Credit
02/27		Tax Adjustment	-0.59	Credit
	Taxes
		Sales Tax	6.70
		Gross Earnings Tax Reimbursement	5.54
		AMOUNT DUE	$107.23

I want to get HD and replace 3 SD DVRs (including the R15) with TiVo HD DVRs. The CRT TV will remain as is with its current SD TiVo DVR (I know a SWM supports legacy receivers).

Would anybody be kind enough to help me figure out exactly what fees apply to the account and what fees apply per receiver? In the end, I need to understand the impact on my monthly bill.

Also I have heard that the up-front fee of $199 for a leased HD DVR gets credited back to your account in your bills after a given amount of time. Is this true?

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

[rkr0923]

You can never figure it out. Mine is different every other month or so, why I have no idea. Same with cell bill. Charge what they want to I guess.

 

[raoul5788]

Have you tried calling Directv and asking them?

 

[Hutch1814]

The SWM won't support it. Unless you have more then 8 tuners. Giving you a swm 16. Directv is now having non SWM receivers swapped for SWM supported so your 15 would become a 16. As for the billing, I doubt they'll credit $600 to hour bills after an X amount of time. They MIGHT credit some but this is more of something you would have to keep calling in until you get a rep that pleases you.

 

[andrewj0781]

Maybe you can find some answers here www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/technology/tivo_receiver

 

[jcrandall]

Small compared to the upfront cost, but there is a monthly $6 Tivo fee on top of the DVR fee that is included in your Plus HDDVR package.

 

[DodgerKing]

Small compared to the upfront cost, but there is a monthly $6 Tivo fee on top of the DVR fee that is included in your Plus HDDVR package.

So people have to pay more for something that does less, just because it has the TiVo name on it? So I ask, why would anyone want a TiVo?

 

[mjitkop]

You can never figure it out. Mine is different every other month or so, why I have no idea. Same with cell bill. Charge what they want to I guess.

This is probably the main reason why I am hesitant to sign up for auto-pay. I want to be able to verify how much money I need to send them before I pay my bill. In case of dispute, I can contact them before any money is taken from my account.

Have you tried calling Directv and asking them?

Of course, that's the first thing I did. The problem is they don't seem to be very clear about all the fine print. I figured I would ask you guys in case you already had experience with all this.

The SWM won't support it. Unless you have more then 8 tuners. Giving you a swm 16. Directv is now having non SWM receivers swapped for SWM supported so your 15 would become a 16. As for the billing, I doubt they'll credit $600 to hour bills after an X amount of time. They MIGHT credit some but this is more of something you would have to keep calling in until you get a rep that pleases you.

Thanks for the technical explanations.
I figured it would be very unlikely I would get the up-front fee back but that's what I was told by a salesperson in a retail store where they sell DirecTV subscriptions. In doubt, I preferred to come here and ask experienced people.

Maybe you can find some answers here www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/technology/tivo_receiver

Yes, I looked there before I contacted DirecTV. Not all fees are explicitly mentioned though and that's my problems. I thought I read somewhere there was a $20 monthly fee but I'm not sure if that applies to the whole account or if it's per DVR. And what exactly does that include? Is the HD fee included in it? After you add up all different fees that may or may not be listed in fine print, you may end up with a substantial monthly bill. That's what I'm trying to figure out.

Small compared to the upfront cost, but there is a monthly $6 Tivo fee on top of the DVR fee that is included in your Plus HDDVR package.

Thank you. This is exactly the kind of thing I'm trying to get a clear picture of.

So people have to pay more for something that does less, just because it has the TiVo name on it? So I ask, why would anyone want a TiVo?

Well, for one, it's matter of personal preferences. I like the user interface of TiVo better than DirecTV-branded DVRs. Also software stability and usability. To put it very, VERY nicely, the R15 software is crap! After years and years of using TiVo without any issues, I tend to prefer using TiVo for sure. I have been reading lately a lot of negative comments about the HRxx DirecTV HD DVRs so in my mind this only reinforces the idea that DirecTV software is not as good as it should. Winner in my mind: TiVo.

This doesn't mean that I don't like DirecTV. Being a loyal customer from more than 10 years proves that DirecTV is doing something right: content delivery. For hardware/software, I like to have the choice.

 

[Aridon]

The hr software has been great for years now. The 34 is buggy because it's brand new but most complaints about the dvrs are ancient history now.

 

[harshness]

I figured I would ask you guys in case you already had experience with all this.

The flaw in this reasoning is that you assumed that there are quite a few TiVo HD units out in the wild. I'm not entirely certain that they've rolled the THR-22 to all 50 states yet

Well, for one, it's matter of personal preferences. I like the user interface of TiVo better than DirecTV-branded DVRs. Also software stability and usability. To put it very, VERY nicely, the R15 software is crap! After years and years of using TiVo without any issues, I tend to prefer using TiVo for sure. I have been reading lately a lot of negative comments about the HRxx DirecTV HD DVRs so in my mind this only reinforces the idea that DirecTV software is not as good as it should. Winner in my mind: TiVo.

Do you really think it is fair to assume that the R15 software is representative of the current DIRECTV state-of-the-art?

The fee for TiVo service is $5/month/account (in addition to the $8/month/account) DVR fee.

DIRECTV Is there a service fee associated with the TiVo® HD DVR from DIRECTV

You'll pay $10 for HD Access.

I'm not sure how they treat you if you have TiVo for life.

If you're committed to TiVo and DIRECTV, does it really matter how much it costs?