# Directv Discontinues Legacy Premiere Pricing (no dvr fee)



## texster (Mar 11, 2005)

I received a letter today stating that as of Feb 9, my account will be charged a $7/month Dvr fee. 

After waiting for an hour to speak with a supervisor, I was told that they were no longer offering legacy pricing and that even though I have been a continuous Premiere subscriber since 2004, I would now be charged the dvr fee. 

And what do I get in return? Sonic Tap instead of XM Sirius music channels.


Has anyone else had better success arguing with the brick walls at Directv?


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## bigpuma (Aug 12, 2003)

I wonder if this means an end to those with grandfathered lifetime DVR service.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

It shouldn't - that's a separate thing and harder for them to justify.

Didn't you have to be at some Premier Everything (or whatever) level to get the DVR fee exempted?


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## texster (Mar 11, 2005)

Yes, you had be be "premiere everything" as of june or july 2007 and the dvr fee waiver was grandfathered. At the time the fee was $4, now it seems it's gone up to $7.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Now I remember: Total Choice Premiere.


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## rubybear (Oct 16, 2007)

I also got the letter saying I would no longer get my DVR fee waived, starting with my February bill. 

I've sort of been waiting for that shoe to drop for awhile, now, as companies are looking for new ways to keep their income up. 

Oh well, it was a good deal while it lasted (4 1/2 years for me).


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## oosik77 (Nov 22, 1999)

Tell them to cancel your subscription. I bet that would get them to sing a different toon.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

oosik77 said:


> Tell them to cancel your subscription. I bet that would get them to sing a different toon.


Careful with that advice. Lately we're hearing more instances where DirecTV simply says "fine, there's the door". Don't threaten to cancel unless you're prepared to follow through.


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## lancelot (Jul 8, 2006)

Directv will end up losing big time on this one if enough grandfathered subscribers drop their service level. There was no cost to Directv because there's no programming fee. Jacking it up is an attack on their oldest and likely best customers. The "everything" pack should include everything. Not extra for HD, not extra for Dvr, etc. When customers feel like they've reached a price point, regardless of finances, they feel taken advantage of.


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## sven_kirk (Sep 11, 2005)

litzdog911 said:


> Careful with that advice. Lately we're hearing more instances where DirecTV simply says "fine, there's the door". Don't threaten to cancel unless you're prepared to follow through.


I was about to say the same thing. I didn't threaten to cancel, but I asked if they can give any specials and I got $10 of for the next 6 months. That was fine by me. I really don't care about Showtime or HBO.


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

I've been under the "$10 off for six months" thing off and on for 3.5 years. It's a very low bar for a grievance to get that response. 

I still haven't gotten a letter or anything. If they do start charging me $7.00, in addition to the new $5.00 price increase, that's a 10% increase in one shot. Pretty big. 

My TVs are getting old and my Tivo's too. I priced out FIOS last week and it's just as expensive as DirecTV with my separate cable modem service. I could go back to digital cable - I've only had one cable modem service issue in the last 2.5 years - but I still remember the hell those of us in Fairfax Co VA went through with Cox during the upgrades 10 years ago. Like with FIOS, my main problem is having to rent equipment. I've grown to really like the DirecTV method of just buying gear and not having a recurring fee. It is much, much cheaper over a 2-5 year lifespan of a given piece of gear.


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## acvthree (Jan 17, 2004)

I've got fios and don't rent anything but a low end set top box for a secondary TV and the cable cards.

I own the Tivo and router.

Al


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## gworkman (Feb 6, 2006)

Something about the DVR fee being waived kept me on Premium. I added Game Lounge for a few weeks and realized it was a waste of money so I turned it off. When I did, the grandfather gods struck down my free DVR service. I complained and got $6.00 off for 6 months. That was several months ago. With the new prices coming down, I decided to make some changes. I rewired a couple of TVs to share boxes and dropped two mirror fees. I went to the DVR/HD plus package (which gets discontinued in Feb) and got Starz/Showtime 2 for 1 offer. So instead of them getting 12 more dollars/month, they will lose 30/month.


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## spudly (Sep 19, 2001)

bigpuma said:


> I wonder if this means an end to those with grandfathered lifetime DVR service.


I can't see how they can legally do that!
If you bought a "lifetime" service how can they 'unlifetime' you down the road? For instance, it's not like a Gmail or Hotmail or any other "free" service where it is implied it will be free in perpetuaty then they decide to charge. Those of us paid for a lifetime subscription and that needs to be honored. I'm no lawyer but I imagine they couldn't have a legal leg to stand on... and would it even be worth it given the # of subs with that X the incrimental costs per sub. Then factor in the badwill it will creat + loss of a certain number of customers.

Just doesn't make sense...

-Glenn


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## sdaniel105 (Nov 25, 2009)

Are you saying for what I am paying $6/ month for all 4 of my Tivo's/ DVRs will soon be $24/ month?

Sean


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

sdaniel105 said:


> Are you saying for what I am paying $6/ month for all 4 of my Tivo's/ DVRs will soon be $24/ month?
> 
> Sean


No, but you will soon be paying $7/ month for your 4 DVRs.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

texster said:


> I received a letter today stating that as of Feb 9, my account will be charged a $7/month Dvr fee.
> 
> After waiting for an hour to speak with a supervisor, I was told that they were no longer offering legacy pricing and that even though I have been a continuous Premiere subscriber since 2004, I would now be charged the dvr fee.
> 
> ...


Can you PM me with a copy of this letter? Have not gotten one and I am grandfathered $0 DVR Fee.

I contacted DTV and they claim that I will remain grandfathered.


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## bigpuma (Aug 12, 2003)

codespy said:


> Can you PM me with a copy of this letter? Have not gotten one and I am grandfathered $0 DVR Fee.
> 
> I contacted DTV and they claim that I will remain grandfathered.


He is talking about something different. I assume you paid lifetime when you got your first DirecTiVo. That sounds like it will still be grandfathered. However they used to have the Premier package with D* that included the DVR fee. Those customers are losing the included DVR fee.


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

I haven't received a letter yet either and my bill for February still shows the DVR fee as $0.00. I've had Premier (currently 109.99 a month) for 8 years and with Tivos for six years. I'm wondering if maybe I'm somehow grandfathered in as well? I definitely don't remember paying for a lifetime Tivo license when I bought my unit, unless it was tacked on and I never noticed. How much did the lifetime licenses cost? When were they available, I got my Tivo back sometime in the winter of 2003-2004, from Best Buy I think.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

bigpuma said:


> He is talking about something different. I assume you paid lifetime when you got your first DirecTiVo. That sounds like it will still be grandfathered. However they used to have the Premier package with D* that included the DVR fee. Those customers are losing the included DVR fee.


He's talking about the same thing I am inquiring about. I did not get lifetime with any of my DirecTiVo's. I still have Premier with DVR fee included never got a letter stating I will start to get charged, that's why I am interested to see the letter.


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

I just saw my March bill, and the only thing different is the $5.00 more for Premier. No separate DVR fee. 

Date
Access Card
Description
Price
Tax
03/01/2010

Monthly Bill
$0.00
$0.00
03/01/2010
XXXXXXXX1234
PREMIER - Charge
$114.99
$5.75 (tax)
03/01/2010
XXXXXXXX5678
Additional Receiver - Charge
$5.00
$0.25 (tax)

A total of $125.99 for two units of Premier with $5.75 and $0.25 in taxes. Minus my perpetual $10.00 "customer service discount", $115.99 per month.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

Same here. No DVR fee.


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