what to do with an unused receiver

[txhockey]

I have had directv for many years and 2 years ago I got a roommate to help pay the bills. I let him use an old RCA sd box that was inactive but a couple of months later he bought a sd dvr from best buy. When he activated that receiver it restarted a 2 year commitment which will end in august. He is leaving at the end of the month and my question is this; can he take the dvr with him without penalty to my account or can i just deactivate the box without penalty? I have no need for the sd dvr as i have an hr20-700 that will be 3 yrs old in sept. I do not want to start a new commitment as I now have other tv options in my area that were not available when i moved into my current location and i want to see what kind of deals are available to me between all different providers.

 

[boba]

Directv owns both the DVR and the standard receiver so they will have to be returned under the lease agreement. As long as you keep minimum programming active there will be no penalty for returning the receivers.

 

[William1]

As a bonus, you will not longer have to pay the mirroring fees on his box, a savings of $4.99/month.

Be sure your roomate leaves the box with you. It is tied to your account. If they ever ask foir it, they expect you to prodce it. If you do not, they will charge you, not your roomate. Do not offer to send the box in. Wait for them to request it. They will send you a box and a prepaid shipping label. If you send it in out of the blue, they may not properly credit your account.

 

[txhockey]

let me make sure i understand correctly, if I deactivate the sd dvr and return it to Directv, if they ask for it, and keep my hd dvr active i will not have to pay any fees or penalties for not completing my 2 yr commitment.

 

[bjdotson]

let me make sure i understand correctly, if I deactivate the sd dvr and return it to Directv, if they ask for it, and keep my hd dvr active i will not have to pay any fees or penalties for not completing my 2 yr commitment.

The two year commitment is a commitment to stay with Directv. You are doing that, so it should be no problem

 

[Harold]

I have no dog in this fight, but let me get this right.

I let him use an old RCA sd box that was inactive but a couple of months later he bought a sd dvr from best buy.

He has to return it to Dirctv? How do they own it if he paid for it?

 

[Libra]

His roommate bought a leased receiver. That's how they sell them these days in the store. If it is deactivated from the account, it will have no impact on his commitment to DirecTV, just as dotson has stated.

As for the DVR... If he leaves and decides he would like to take it with him, DirecTV can create a new account for him and transfer the receiver information over to his new account, which would free you of any obligation to return it and face any penalties of the similar nature. I just recently encountered a mover's connect in the field where the customer bought the receivers and dish from his friend, and the receiver information was available on the work order, and showing active on his account. I'm sure that you can get on the phone with a CSR and they can help point you in the right direction and answer any of those more technical questions, though.