# HDMI Swap out MAJOR pain



## yngdiego (Dec 9, 2001)

Ok my HD Tivo's HDMI port died this week, and my unit was out of warranty. So I called up DTV, and spent the last 2.5 hours arguing with them. The final result was a free swap out of the receiver, and a note on my account to waive any cancellation fees should I stop service in the next two years. She also gave me her badge number and flagged her comment in the system. And I very well might cancel and go with a series 3. 

I had to make numerous calls, talked to several managers, and several were downright rude and a couple were super nice. Thankfully the super nice one was the last one I talked with and put the waiver note. 

The male manager at the level 2 technical desk was a total ass. He looked at my account and said "well I see you get lots of credits on your account and now you want more special treatment." Well I haven't gotten a credit in ages, and that was to offset my $900 cost of the Tivo 2 years ago. Then his attitude just went down from there so I hung up on him. 

I am hopeful the June release of the HD Tivo with MPEG-4 will be free and worth the wait.


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## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

If it's out of warranty it sounds like you were being the rude person to get all bent out of shape with DIRECTV about it. You hanging up on one of the DIRECTV people seems downright rude to me.

You're the one that paid $900 for the TiVo, no one forced you to do it.

_I am hopeful the June release of the HD Tivo with MPEG-4 will be free and worth the wait._ 
Huh ? June release of HD TiVo? All I've heard about the series3 is 2nd half of 2006(sometime between July 1st-December 31st). 
Any HD MPEG-4 DVR DIRECTV releases won't have TiVo software. 
Free ?


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## yngdiego (Dec 9, 2001)

Excuse me, but I paid good money for the crap receiver and I'm not going to be forced into another 2 years of DTV service just to get a POS replaced. My dog did not eat it...it's bad engineering. Period. DTV should stand behind their hardware and customers. I did not break the unit....the engineering sucked.

Two managers that I talked to both said in June that HD receiver would be Tivo'd. Now they might just be thinking DVR..so I'm not saying this is gospel. And they were thinking the swapout would be free or no cost, but nothing was finalized.


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## tryptoneCRG (Apr 22, 2006)

Stanley is right...the hd-dvr that D* has coming out later this quarter (hopefully  ) will NOT have tivo software. It will be NDS software much like what is currently on the R-15, with some notable improvements.

rick


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

yngdiego...

If you purchased a $30,000 car, and your engine konked out after the warranty expired... how far do you think you will get with them? let alone, a full year after the warranty expired.

In my book... count your self lucky you got them to replace the unit.

Now if you had the extended service plan... different story.

But if you didn't... again... count yourself lucky.


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## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

yngdiego said:


> Excuse me, but I paid good money for the crap receiver and I'm not going to be forced into another 2 years of DTV service just to get a POS replaced. My dog did not eat it...it's bad engineering. Period. DTV should stand behind their hardware and customers. I did not break the unit....the engineering sucked.


Excuse me, You ran out bought one as soon as it came out and paid the big bucks for it. When you bought it, you knew what the warranty was.


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## tryptoneCRG (Apr 22, 2006)

You also knew you were buying brand new technology...The HR-10 was the very first hd dvr on the market.


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## SpankyInChicago (May 13, 2005)

The bottom line is you have every right to expect that a unit be replaced while it is under warranty, but you should have no expectation that it will be replaced after warranty. Even if the unit catches on fire and becomes totally worthless, you should have no expectation of replacement if the unit is no longer covered by warranty. For $900, DirecTV promised you that the unit would work for one year. It did. DirecTV honored their part of the deal. The fact that they replaced the unit after warranty is something you should be happy about, and the fact that you had to "fight" for it should not make you angry, but it should be something that you expect.


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## DonQijote (Mar 2, 2004)

yngdiego said:


> Ok my HD Tivo's HDMI port died this week, and my unit was out of warranty. So I called up DTV, and spent the last 2.5 hours arguing with them. The final result was a free swap out of the receiver, and a note on my account to waive any cancellation fees should I stop service in the next two years. She also gave me her badge number and flagged her comment in the system. And I very well might cancel and go with a series 3.
> 
> .


I have 8 D* receivers active on my account, including 3 HR10-250s. Since the first day I became a D* customer, they have treated me well.

*Whenever I have had reasons to interact with D* customer service, they have ALWAYS gone beyond my expectations to please me. I always talk to the CSR's politely and with respect. They always respond in kind.*

I imagine that they must receive some calls from customers that are a real pain, or that are unrealistic about their expectations from D*.


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## teasip (Aug 24, 2002)

Why not just remove the card, send it to CSS, pay $100, and be done with it for good?


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## yngdiego (Dec 9, 2001)

I'm not throwing another $100 at a POS box that will be outdated in a few months when the MPEG-4 locals start to come online. I'm very close to dropping DTV when the series 3 comes out and switch back to cable. There's no way in hell I'm comitting to another 2 years DTV.


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## teasip (Aug 24, 2002)

I can understand your position. In my case I receive my HD using OTA locals. I anticipate moving to Verizon FiOS TV in the near future but not until a better DVR is available through them. In the mean time I have a fully functional HD-TiVo, I didn't have to play DirecTV roulette, and I can sell a fully functional unit on eBay without any hesitation.


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## jacobms1 (Oct 5, 2004)

Rather than make this a big issue (since you may jump ship in two months to go with a series 3) did you not just switch over and use the component connection?


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## teasip (Aug 24, 2002)

Sale purposes.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

yngdiego said:


> I'm not throwing another $100 at a POS box that will be outdated in a few months when the MPEG-4 locals start to come online. I'm very close to dropping DTV when the series 3 comes out and switch back to cable. There's no way in hell I'm comitting to another 2 years DTV.


I thought the MPEG 4 locals started coming online late last year? If you don't want your "POS" box I will take it. I've been very happy with the three I have. 
Your easiest solution would have been to sign up for the protection plan and use the component outputs temporarily. After a few weeks you would have been able to get the unit replaced without any fuss. Very simple. but it sounds like you went about it the hard way.


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

yngdiego said:


> I'm not throwing another $100 at a POS box that will be outdated in a few months when the MPEG-4 locals start to come online. I'm very close to dropping DTV when the series 3 comes out and switch back to cable. There's no way in hell I'm comitting to another 2 years DTV.


Even after they extended the courtesy of covering your unit even though it was out of warranty? Where's the win-win here? (Please don't bother answering that).


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## ayrton911 (Sep 4, 2000)

Has anyone had one of these boxes a long time and had no issues with HDMI?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Yes. I have a box from May 2004 that is working fine. Although I didn't start using the HDMI until June 2005. The second box I bought from May 2004 the HDMI didn't work when I first tried it in June 2005. DirecTv replaced that one and it has bee working since then.
I bought a floor model last Summer that was made in June 2004 and that HDMI port has been working fine also. I don't know if they used the HDMI or component out when they had it connected on the showroom floor at BB.


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## joetoronto (Jul 26, 2004)

yngdiego said:


> Ok my HD Tivo's HDMI port died this week, and my unit was out of warranty. So I called up DTV, and spent the last 2.5 hours arguing with them. The final result was a free swap out of the receiver, and a note on my account to waive any cancellation fees should I stop service in the next two years. She also gave me her badge number and flagged her comment in the system. And I very well might cancel and go with a series 3.
> 
> I had to make numerous calls, talked to several managers, and several were downright rude and a couple were super nice. Thankfully the super nice one was the last one I talked with and put the waiver note.
> 
> ...


thank the lord people like you are the exception rather than the norm.


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## jhimmel (Dec 27, 2002)

ayrton911 said:


> Has anyone had one of these boxes a long time and had no issues with HDMI?


Yes.


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## yngdiego (Dec 9, 2001)

Well I also found out that the replacement box would be a lease, and not something I owned. So that means no resell when I get the series 3. So I shipped back the replacement box and will stick with my broken unit and use component. POS DTV I tell you....getting a series 3 as soon as they come out. Plus San Diego isn't anywhere on the local HD feed lists I've seen, so who knows if/when that will happen before something else on the HR210 dies.


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## Dunteachin (Feb 2, 2004)

I originally received my box from Circuit City back in May when they first came out. A few months later it would hang so I called and Directv replaced (not CC) for free and overnighted to boot.

Now after almost two years with the second box I purchased a TV with HDMI, and of course that doesn't work on the HR10. I just got off the phone after only 10 minutes and Directv is sending a new replacement for free (I'm paying $19.95 2 day shipping). No committments, no lease. BTW, the rep said no 6.2.

I guess if your respectful to others, but persistent in what you want (or think you deserve), then more times than not you will get your way. Directv always proves to me why I am never going back to cable. I love my TiVo's, but push come to shove I'll take NDS Directv vs. TiVo cable.

Anyway that my $.02


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## jash69 (Feb 25, 2005)

mine died yesterday morning. here were the symptoms. during a local channel outage, fox and abc in san francisco, the picture on every single channel went to 4 colors. it seemed like a lose wire/connection. i switched to my dvd to make sure it wasn't the sony plasma or anything between the media center and the set, which it wasn't. moving the box around fixed it long enough to watch primetime last night but this morning it happened again. i moved all my gear out to see what was the issue and when i touch the back of my hd10-250 anywhere near the hdmi port, all the colors go again. i called dtv and made the mistake of saying i wasn't sure if it was my cable or the box. they didn't want to help. i told them quickly what i did to diagnose it and then they agreed to send me a refurb in return for 2 years more commitment and after paying for shipping. i'm hopeful my diagnostic was right and it's the box vs the cable. i can't wait for piss poor quality control like this to be off the shelf and tivo to get swapped for dtv's own hd dvr.

sad state of affairs.


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## utvnut (Feb 4, 2004)

Both my hd10-250's are still working (May 2004 and July 2005) with HDMI to the TV. One to an HD LCD and one to a Hitachi rear projection HD CRT set.

I just picked up a Denon 2807 yesterday and found out I'm one of those with picture over HDMI but no sound. (On one box) If I have time someday I may unplug the one in the small room and see if it works with audio but for now I have HDMI video into the receiver and then on to the TV and audio over an optical cable.


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

yngdiego said:


> Well I also found out that the replacement box would be a lease, and not something I owned.


I don't see how they can do that - you OWN the box, if it's replaced under warranty, you still OWN the box.


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## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

yngdiego said:


> Well I also found out that the replacement box would be a lease, and not something I owned. So that means no resell when I get the series 3. So I shipped back the replacement box and will stick with my broken unit and use component. POS DTV I tell you....getting a series 3 as soon as they come out. Plus San Diego isn't anywhere on the local HD feed lists I've seen, so who knows if/when that will happen before something else on the HR210 dies.


In the DIRECTV customer account database for yngdiego it probably says - 
If this customer calls to cancel service - DO NOT TRY TO STOP THIS CUSTOMER FROM CANCELLING !!


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

jfh3 said:


> I don't see how they can do that - you OWN the box, if it's replaced under warranty, you still OWN the box.


It wasn't under warranty. They were basically giving him a free box with no termination fee.

This is the funniest thing I've ever heard. yngdiego, you have made my day.

You steps to success (apply to any product as you see fit):

1) wait for product warranty to be expired for OVER A YEAR
2) call up company and piss and moan about how terrible the product is, and then contradict it by ASKING FOR A REPLACEMENT
3) spend hours calling up different people until you get someone nice enough to listen to your childish tirade
4) trade a POS for a brand new box
5) PROFIT!!!


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## joetoronto (Jul 26, 2004)

classicX said:


> It wasn't under warranty. They were basically giving him a free box with no termination fee.
> 
> This is the funniest thing I've ever heard. yngdiego, you have made my day.
> 
> ...


exactly, and THEN go on the internet and tell everybody what a P.O.S. _directv_ is.


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