I see protection plans offered, but I'm wondering why I would need it? If I'm leasing the equipment, should the owner of the equipment replace/repair it if it's even needed? Does the equipment crap-out very often?
Why would I need a protection plan?
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It's more useful for cable, dish, and switch problems.
Yes, if you are leasing a receiver Direct TV will replace it for free if there is a failure but without the Protection Plan you will need to pay the $19.95 shipping/handling cost.
Yes, if you are leasing a receiver Direct TV will replace it for free if there is a failure but without the Protection Plan you will need to pay the $19.95 shipping/handling cost.
Ditto,
I've had the protection plan for years, and been a customer since the early 90's. The protection plan has replaced bad wiring twice, replaced a bad LNB, and replaced 2 receivers before they had the "lease" program.
If you're handy with cable/sat, then it's not really needed. I don't have it.
Yes the boxes are leased and will be replaced if needed but without the plan, you pay $19.95 for shipping. Also you would pay for dish, switch, wire replacement/troubleshooting. You pay for tech visits ($59 on average) as well.
With the plane, it's all covered. It comes out to $72 a year - that's more than 1 tech visit a year. If you are able to align the dish if needed, troubleshoot issues with switches/wires if needed AND don't think you need more than 1 tech visit a year, then it may be a waste.
While issues can happen, it is pretty dependable. I have had all the equipment you see in my sig for 2-3/4 years and have had no issues at all. You can add it at any time but I believe you have to wait about 30 days before it kicks in. So you have an issue that could wait...
Yes the boxes are leased and will be replaced if needed but without the plan, you pay $19.95 for shipping. Also you would pay for dish, switch, wire replacement/troubleshooting. You pay for tech visits ($59 on average) as well.
With the plane, it's all covered. It comes out to $72 a year - that's more than 1 tech visit a year. If you are able to align the dish if needed, troubleshoot issues with switches/wires if needed AND don't think you need more than 1 tech visit a year, then it may be a waste.
While issues can happen, it is pretty dependable. I have had all the equipment you see in my sig for 2-3/4 years and have had no issues at all. You can add it at any time but I believe you have to wait about 30 days before it kicks in. So you have an issue that could wait...
At $6 a month I don't see the plan as a worthwhile investment, unless you live in an older home where you question the wiring. I have been a customer for a couple years and have never had a problem. But then again, I am never a big fan of protection plans....
I've also heard that you can usually get the CSR to waive 1 tech visit fee (~$50) per year if you do not have the plan. This could be YMMV and might not be the case 100% of the time.
I don't have the Prot Plan and recently had a tech call to remount and realign my SL5 after a roof shingle replacement. He waived the svc charge.
I've been a long time subscriber to DirecTV (14 years) and have not had the protection plan since they started it. Maybe, I've been lucky, but I have not had any reason to need it, if I had it.
Does the protection plan even cover a dish relocation? I paid the $50 for mine to be moved recently. If the PP had covered it, it still isn't worth it. Put the $6/month in an account and use it for whatever might happen.
Does the protection plan even cover a dish relocation? I paid the $50 for mine to be moved recently. If the PP had covered it, it still isn't worth it. Put the $6/month in an account and use it for whatever might happen.
I've had the PP for a year and had an LNB replaced for free, so I think I'm about even.
I dont think the big benefit is in whether anything will break and how much it'd cost you to replace a part on its own. I think the big benefit is that if anything goes wrong, you make a phone call and its directvs problem to fix. Without the PP, I find that many people get into situations where directv says its the wiring or lnb but not the receiver and wants $$ to send someone out when you just KNOW its the receiver, or they want to replace a receiver when you think it might be something in the rest of the system causing the problem.
I also have a different number to call for my PP tech support calls than the regular number. I've called the regular number a few times and wasnt thrilled with the level of competency. The two PP calls I made got me to people who seemed to know something.
I dont think the big benefit is in whether anything will break and how much it'd cost you to replace a part on its own. I think the big benefit is that if anything goes wrong, you make a phone call and its directvs problem to fix. Without the PP, I find that many people get into situations where directv says its the wiring or lnb but not the receiver and wants $$ to send someone out when you just KNOW its the receiver, or they want to replace a receiver when you think it might be something in the rest of the system causing the problem.
I also have a different number to call for my PP tech support calls than the regular number. I've called the regular number a few times and wasnt thrilled with the level of competency. The two PP calls I made got me to people who seemed to know something.
Long time customers are often qualified for a free service call but again not everyone qualified for that promo.
PP only covers technical problems so a dish relocation would not be covered. Now technically, if the dish is already relocated but not aligned then that would become a technical problem if worded correctly
Unfortunately, for me, making it DTV's problem only makes it even more of my problem. I have a hard to get at dish and have had 3 DTV techs that could not get to it (one of whom ended up in the hospital). Their solution? Send another tech (even after I have called and explained the situation in detail). I would much rather take my chances, get a guy out here I know can solve my problem (the guy who did my install, private contractor) and then haggle with DTV to cover the out of pocket expense with programming discounts. As I said before, I have had no unexpected problems so far (I think due in part to a rock solid install by my guy) but they have twice been excellent about covering my costs (at install and when I upgraded to SWM and whole house DVR this week).
The service plan, I think, would only result in long outages should I ever have problems with the dish. Not worth the risk or the money. But as I say, that is just my situation, and everyone is different.
The service plan, I think, would only result in long outages should I ever have problems with the dish. Not worth the risk or the money. But as I say, that is just my situation, and everyone is different.
When I scheduled my dish relocation the CSR said that this wasn't covered under the plan. I asked although I've never had the plan, was curious.
I have had D* sence 98, loyal customer 03. I have never had the protection program. I have had them out to my house twice. The first time was in 04. I had the 18" dish changed to a phase III. The second time was in 06. I up graded the RCA rcvr to a D* r15 dvr. I was not charged for the dish swap or dvr up grade.
I believe that if you have a more complex setup (mrv, vod, swm) it would be good to have the pp. The more complex the setup, the more likely a problem is to show up in the future.
Also if you have a HR24 or H24, it would be good to have pp. Newer rcvrs tend to have problems that do not show up during testing. I am not saying HR24, H24 will give problems, it is the technology in the rcvrs, mrv, swm, that has not yet been proven to be reliable.
I believe that if you have a more complex setup (mrv, vod, swm) it would be good to have the pp. The more complex the setup, the more likely a problem is to show up in the future.
Also if you have a HR24 or H24, it would be good to have pp. Newer rcvrs tend to have problems that do not show up during testing. I am not saying HR24, H24 will give problems, it is the technology in the rcvrs, mrv, swm, that has not yet been proven to be reliable.
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