# what to do when DTV says they didnt' get the DirecTiVo I sent back using their label?



## af250xxl (Jan 24, 2006)

*New update added 4/21 - please scroll to very bottom of this page *

One of my DirecTiVo units was acting a little funny, so I called DirecTV. They sent
a replacement unit(refurbished) to me. It arrived via FedEx two days later. 
I hooked up the replacement and everything looked okay. I placed the bad one
into the box and used the included FedEx shipping label provided by DirecTV.
I dropped it off at the FedEx office near my home. That was the first week
of February.

This morning, I received a call from a DirecTV customer service rep who asked if
my replacement equipment was working fine. She also wanted to know when
I sent back the defective unit. I didn't know the exact date, but it was the day
after the replacement unit was activated. She looked into her computer and
said it must have been Feb 8. However, they have no record of the unit being
returned to DirecTV. She said I would be charged for the unit cost if I cannot
produce shipping record or tracking number. I called FedEx and they contacted
that station... of course they didn't have a record of it from a month ago... 

Since the FedEx return label was supplied by DirecTV, I didn't take the time to
write down the tracking number on it. My understanding is that I was only
supposed to drop it off at the FedEx office. Was that unwise? What should
I do when the DirecTV rep calls back?

Thanks!


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## Boston Fan (Feb 8, 2006)

I have not shipped items to D*, but other retailers who have supplied me with a return label kept a record of the tracking number on the label they sent to me. I would check with the D* CSR and ask them if they have a record of the tracking #, and then contact FedEx with that info.


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## gshumaker (Feb 5, 2006)

Always make a copy of the return label - it saved me once - they charged me 150 and until i could produce a tracking number and proof that they got it back they would not take it off.

I just returned another unit as part of the dvr4m3 program and am waiting any day for another 150 charge to show up on the account!!

D* should have a record of the number since they sent it to you but you are at their mercy!!


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## face (Feb 9, 2005)

I had a similiar problem with some $1200 house plans I returned once. When I was able to get online and tell them when they were delivered and who actually signed for them, they magically appeared. Tracking numbers are a wonderful thing!


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## Guindalf (Jun 13, 2001)

There was a whole thread on this exact problem recently - I'm at work and don't have time to look for it to link.

The bottom line, IIRC, was if you ship ANYTHING, make sure you copy the label and keep a tracking number. Get a receipt when you drop it off to prove that it was shipped. Without all this, D* will blame you and charge you for the item not being received and there's not a lot you can do about it. Unfortunately, the burden of proof is on you.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but that's how it is!

Edit: I found the thread, I think...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=265266&highlight=fedex+tracking


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

Agreed. Something you ship is your responsibility. You should have kept the tracking number. You decided to save the 30 seconds it would have taken to write it down.

Sorry to sound cold, but now you know better.

If Directv had shipped you a unit, and you never received it, would you expect them to hold you responsible for it?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Agree with the others. DirecTV claimed they did not receive the DTiVo I returned to them, but I DID save the tracking number and, with that, they agreed that it had been received. It would be reasonable, though, for DirecTV to record the numbers from the return forms they send you, but it's not required.

On the other hand, DirecTV should be able to pull up their billing records with FedEx and find the shipment that way.


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## Tburt (Nov 29, 2004)

From this thread, and previous ones like this one...it would appear that this is a way for DTV to make a good sum of money from customers. In this day of computers, it should be easy to look up all the info. Individuals do not have software databases like DTV does. DTV could/should track their shipment labels sent out. This smells like many rebates companies use these days. DTV hopes a large enough number of people will not keep track of the info, so they can charge them making money off of them. In the event the person actually has the info, they credit their account. Otherwise BINGO, they made some extra cash. :down:


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## morgantown (Mar 29, 2005)

Same thing happend to me (got the standard form letter so I called and spoke with a fellow that -- politely was a pin head). Fortunately the return labels have a customer copy sheet right on top your supposed to keep. After about ten minutes I spoke with another CSR, again offered the tracking number and viola, all found -- no problems.

Does kind of leave the impression of a racket. But, I always keep tracking numbers (that is why they are there).


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## nova tivo (Apr 12, 2002)

I did a swap with DirecTV like you did. Sure enough, the returned unit never showed up in their system, but I kept the tracking number. The DirecTV customer rep sounded like she simply used the public FedEx online tracking system to see if a box with the correct weight made it back to Tennessee, not that they actually received the actuial defective TDTivo - I should have sent bricks back.

Here's the trick for you. When I went online to FedEx to track the return before I called, the FedEx system showed the same tracking number being used twice - one of the outbound and one for the inbound. Normally, every FedEx package has its own unique number, but I think if a FedEx RMA label is used, the same number gets recycled.

If you remember using the RMA label included in the box, see if you can get the outbound box number from DirecTV. It may match the RMA label number that you used to return the defective unit back to them. You and DirecTV can use this number to look it up in the FedEx tracking system. 

Otherwise, you may be hosed. As noted in an earlier post, it's a racket of "we can't find your package." Yeah, right.


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## Maren (Jan 2, 2005)

Same thing happened to me with DTV. I sent back the unit and did not save the tracking number. Dumb! I was being charged $1000 for the "unreturned" unit. He was adamant that I did not return the DVR and there was nothing he could do. I stressed over this for 24 hours, called back and explained the whole situation and was credited the $1000. So play CSR roulette and you may get lucky.


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## HDTVsportsfan (Nov 29, 2005)

I seriously doubt D* is doing this on purpose just to make money. There a far to many other legitimate ways to make money. They have more important things to concentrate on than going out of there way to rip/piss people off.

With that said, they should have the original return Call Tag number on record when they sent it out.


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## Tburt (Nov 29, 2004)

HDTVsportsfan said:


> I seriously doubt D* is doing this on purpose just to make money. There a far to many other legitimate ways to make money. They have more important things to concentrate on than going out of there way to rip/piss people off.
> 
> With that said, they should have the original return Call Tag number on record when they sent it out.


There are three reasons I can think of for this excessive loss of returned DTV boxes:

1) To make money off people that did not make copies of the documentation/info

2) Incompetence on the part of DTV

3) DTV just does not care about their customers

I think it is a combination of all 3. :down:

As for other ways to make money, like making people pay for their DTV boxes to have the privilege of paying DTV for leasing them. Then when it came time to send the previously paid for box(es) back, DTV very well might loose them. (see above and previous threads about this) That and the price increase after price increase, etc.

This is not the way I would run the company. I would use common sense.


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## af250xxl (Jan 24, 2006)

Here's an update...

DirecTV was able to find the FedEx tracking number. However, FedEx has no record of the package in the system at all. The FedEx agent called the FedEx
office where I dropped off the package. They have no idea what had happened
to the package. They could not have given me a receipt when I dropped it off
because it was a FedEx Ground return label. It does not get scanned until the
FedEx Ground driver picks it up and return to their main sorting facility 20 miles
away. (which explains why the FedEx office just leave all the Ground packages
in a pile in the corner)

Now DirecTV says they have no choice but to charge my account for it. 
Next time I'll just ship it myself and pay a few bucks for insured shipping...


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## Edmund (Nov 8, 2002)

That Refurb unit you have now isn't worth $162 charge, send that to DTV to cover the fee.


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

A thought.

When you shipped it back, did you put the box into a second, plain box? In other words, was it obvious, from the outside, what you were shipping?

If so, someone stole it.


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## af250xxl (Jan 24, 2006)

dtremain said:


> A thought.
> 
> When you shipped it back, did you put the box into a second, plain box? In other words, was it obvious, from the outside, what you were shipping?
> 
> If so, someone stole it.


No, from the outside it looked like any other brown cardboard box. That's the
same box DirecTV used when they shipped me the replacement unit. 
Why would anybody want to steal DirecTV equipment? Isn't it really easy to
track down?


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

af250xxl said:


> No, from the outside it looked like any other brown cardboard box. That's the
> same box DirecTV used when they shipped me the replacement unit.
> Why would anybody want to steal DirecTV equipment? Isn't it really easy to
> track down?


Well, yes, I guess on the initial set-up phone call, but, a thief wouldn't know that at first, just like he wouldn't know that it's defective.


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

HDTVsportsfan said:


> I seriously doubt D* is doing this on purpose just to make money. There a far to many other legitimate ways to make money. They have more important things to concentrate on than going out of there way to rip/piss people off.
> 
> With that said, they should have the original return Call Tag number on record when they sent it out.


I used to think the same way about police writing tickets till i found out that our local police actualy get a cut of the tickets they write. Now that is for money and not for saftey. Doesnt D* Hope you dont fill out your rebate properly so they could keep your money. It would not surprise me at all if they randomly attempt to say they did not get the box back and hope the sender did not document it. After all do they really want your old broken crap. Ok this is farfetched but i used to believe the police wrote tickets to keep our roads safe


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

dtremain said:


> Well, yes, I guess on the initial set-up phone call, but, a thief wouldn't know that at first, just like he wouldn't know that it's defective.


that reminds me of a quick funny story i heard. A woman in nyc dog died. She called the city to come pick it up. She was told she coould not put it in the trash and had to pay for the disposal. She put the dog in an old suitcase and went down to the subway. Sure enough someone grabbed the case and took off. Talk about a surprise package


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## Tburt (Nov 29, 2004)

Billy Bob Boy said:


> I used to think the same way about police writing tickets till i found out that our local police actualy get a cut of the tickets they write. Now that is for money and not for saftey. Doesnt D* Hope you dont fill out your rebate properly so they could keep your money. It would not surprise me at all if they randomly attempt to say they did not get the box back and hope the sender did not document it. After all do they really want your old broken crap. Ok this is farfetched but i used to believe the police wrote tickets to keep our roads safe


What, the police writing tickets are not too keep us safe? 

DTV wants the broken hardware back so they can sell it to another person. Afterwards the customer will then send it back to DTV. Then DTV can deny they received it once more.


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## chrpai (Nov 1, 2005)

I've done hard drive warry exchanges with Western Digital and they do something cool. They give you the option of purchasing a prepaid UPS form and printing it. The price was better then what I could do with UPS or Fedex with my account. By using the prepaid label they already know the tracking number the moment you print it. Kinda cool I thought.


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## HDTVsportsfan (Nov 29, 2005)

Tburt said:


> There are three reasons I can think of for this excessive loss of returned DTV boxes:
> 
> 1) To make money off people that did not make copies of the documentation/info
> 
> ...


O.K. I don't mean to be argumentative.....

Items 2 and 3, well..... That's quite possible. I personally have not had any terribly negative issues or experiences w/ D* over 10 years. I don't personally agree w/ 2 and 3, but again possible.

Item 1: You mention commmon sense. What about reality. For a deliberate effort at this would require some type of management meeting and a plan. I just find it hard to believe that somwhere in some board room some "suit" stood up and said let's do "this" and see how many time we can get away with it. I'm sure there is a certain gamble that all companies take with reference to these rebate/return options where they count on a cetain percentage of people not following thru. It just seems it would cost more money than what's it's worth.

DTremain may be correct.
The (possible) reason people would steal the boxe(s) is to get the access card to hack it.


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

HDTVsportsfan said:


> O.K. I don't mean to be argumentative.....
> 
> Items 2 and 3, well..... That's quite possible. I personally have not had any terribly negative issues or experiences w/ D* over 10 years. I don't personally agree w/ 2 and 3, but again possible.
> 
> ...


Well one day long ago in a galaxy far away someone stood up in a board room and said we can offer the customer a rebate, and hope they dont fill out the form the correct way that way we get to keep the money. Than someone JUMPED up and said wait we can also make the darn thing so complicated. Ie 8 forms to fill out and demand they rip up the box and send us pieces of cardboard. Than the third guy jumped up and said we can staff the rebate processing center with grade school dropouts and scour the earth for morons.   So the above idea is far fetched. Not so far fetched


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## af250xxl (Jan 24, 2006)

Here a little update...

I did make a copy of the return label before I shipped it. I just found the copy in the old DVR box in my basement.

However, FedEx's rep told me they have absolutely no info about the shipment, other than the single comment in their system that said "package information trasmitted to FedEx"... That was more than a month ago.

I called DirecTV again and told them excatly what the FedEx rep told me. DirecTV is still refusing to remove the *$210* charge for the DVR.

FedEx's rep did tell me that they couldn't have possibly given me a receipt when I dropped it off, because DirecTV used a prepaid return label. FedEx did start a trace. If FedEx still can find the package, what should I do? Did I do something wrong by simply handing the package over to the clerk at the FedEx/Kinko location, without demanding some sort of proof of shipment?

I'm really, really comfused now... feeling like a ping-pong ball, back and forth between DirecTV and FedEx.... 
Thanks!


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Unfortunately, yes. When I returned my DTiVos I insisted that the clerk scan in the label so that it was entered in the system before I left. Otherwise, there's no proof you actually shipped it. (The paranoid would say that passing a barcode reader over the label and hearing a beep isn't proof either, but...)


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

af250xxl said:


> FedEx's rep did tell me that they couldn't have possibly given me a receipt when I dropped it off, because DirecTV used a prepaid return label. FedEx did start a trace. If FedEx still can find the package, what should I do? Did I do something wrong by simply handing the package over to the clerk at the FedEx/Kinko location, without demanding some sort of proof of shipment?


I'm afriad that I agree with Steve. I owuld have demanded a receipt before I shipped something so expensive. While I believe your retelling of your conversation, there is simply no way that they couldn't have given you one.


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## Guindalf (Jun 13, 2001)

Yep, sorry. It's easy to say the hindsight is always 20/20, but that's the case here. There is little doubt that you probably shipped the box as you say, but the burden of proof is upon you, so it looks like unless you can convince someone at D*, you're SOL.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

You don't get a receipt from the shipping desk when you drop off the box. There is a customer receipt in the multipart return form, but unless the barcode has been scanned into the FedEx system to mark its entry, a receipt does you no good. 

The clerk told me to just "leave it on the counter". No way, I said - anyone could walk off with it. That's why I waited for the scan. It stood me in good stead, as DTV then claimed I had not returned one of the two units, whacking me with a $250 fee. When I could provide them both the tracking number and FedEx's record saying it had been received at the destination, they stopped arguing and gave me a credit.


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## jamieh1 (Mar 5, 2003)

Ive had Directv 2 times say I didnt ship back a replaced receiver, each time they were looking for the tracking from the unit they shipped me, not the return tracking #.
The last time it took them 2 weeks to credit the $1000 fee.


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## scottt (Sep 6, 2002)

af250xxl said:


> Here a little update...
> 
> I did make a copy of the return label before I shipped it. I just found the copy in the old DVR box in my basement.
> 
> ...


Did the place you dropped it off have cameras?


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## JackS (Jun 16, 2005)

I received a replacement R10 unit recently. It was delivered by FedEx.
There was a red baggy envelope on the outside of the box with "return
instructions inside" printed on it. Inside I found a pre-paid airbill for
FedEx. Also there was a one page instruction sheet describing how to
return an item to D*.

The directions say (in bold face type) to clearly write the RMA number
on the shipping box. The RMA number is on the airbill and has the
format of two letters followed by eight numbers. If the RMA number is
not found on the outside of the box, you may not get credit for the
returned item.

My plan is to follow the return directions. And, after reading this
thread, be prepared to respond with tracking numbers, etc when/if
D* denys receiving the old R10.

-Jack DirecTV R10, 70hr.


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

I once had a package to ship via FedEx - it already had the airbill, etc. on it so I stopped by the local FedEx counter to ship it (before the days of the Kinkos + FedEx merger).

They were pretty busy when I came in the door; I asked what I should do with it and they said "just put it over there" (pointing to a pile of boxes on the end of a conveyor that other customers had droppped off).

I saw nothing that would keep someone from walking off with a box as they left, and the tracking number thus would never have been entered into their system.


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## marksman (Mar 4, 2002)

af250xxl said:


> Here a little update...
> 
> I did make a copy of the return label before I shipped it. I just found the copy in the old DVR box in my basement.
> 
> ...


I would be hammering FedEx on this. It seems like they screwed this up. Worst case scenario take them to small claims court. I think you need to be beating on them and their customer service though, as they are the ones who screwed this up.

Or if you want to throw it back on DirecTV, technically they are Fedex's customer so they should be the one to go to Fedex and get this straightened out.

Either way, you need to lay the blame on the feet of one of them and then be aggressive about it.

By the way, I have shipped several boxes back, but I always schedule for Fedex to come pick them up from my house. This seems to be a pretty effective method because they have a record of the pick-up order and it is scanned as soon as it is picked up. So you might consider that for future reference, and it is actually very easy to do. No need to go anywhere.


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