# Bought used Tivo, DirecTV won't activate it! Options??



## Rob00GT (Mar 10, 2003)

OK, so at a swap meet today I bought a used DirecTivo. It didn't have a remote or an access card but the price was right so I thought I'd take a chance. Got it home and hooked it up in the garage and lucky me, it booted right up and both tuners worked great. So I called up DriecTV to have the send me an access card. They asked for the serial numbers off the machine and after some checking on their system they told me that the previous owner still had a balance on their DirecTV bill and that the DVR could not be activated until that bill was paid.

I asked what my options were and they offered to sell me a new DVR for $99 plus $99 installation. I don't think so. I asked how much was owed on the old bill and he would only say "more than the cost of a new one". The CSR wouldn't give me the name or any info on the previous owner so I guess I'm screwed. On the bright side I guess I bought a perfectly servicable 80GB Western Digital hard drive.

If anyone can help me out I would certainly appreciate it. Here's the info off the receiver:
Samsung SIR-S4080R
Serial Number: 64EX703947
DVR Service Number: 3810000E0409FE4
Receiver ID: 0001 9138 5236

One option I thought about was using the Zipper on it to enable network connectivity then saving programs from my other DirecTivos. Sort of a "long term movie storage" unit. Anyone know if that's possible?


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## Tracy RainH2o (Nov 18, 2005)

Well you may be out of luck with DTV. I think the best option would be to use it as an unactivated networked unit. I guess you never know what you are buying. Sad to say but I guess it's best to call DTV with the serial numbers first. I never would have thought about that.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

You can use it as an MRV-only box. I have a couple unactivated units that I use that way, just to watch shows from other tivos.


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

Talk to a lawyer. This is asinine.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

Talk to a lawyer? I think a free DVR for $16 is cheaper.


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## Rax (Jun 11, 2002)

It couldn't have cost less than that.


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

The receiver is a piece of machinery to allow the user to watch Directv. Why shouldn't he be allowed to use it? Is it his fault another D* customer didn't pay his bill? Does D* believe the user is going to force the unknown, to him, previous owner of the receiver to pay his bill? Does D* not know this causes ill-will in the current user of the the receiver? Does D* wish to spend over $600 to acquire each new customer then refuse service to a (potential) new customer over this? Or do they want to tick-off a current customer? Is this D*s way to force more purchases of new boxes. Can you say public relations blunder!?

I'm someone who loved Directv so much (compared to cable company) this I got Directv for my son, my mother and mother-in-law. However, lately, I'm beginning to question the wisdom of Directv. 

Case in point one: I purchase 4 DVRs for the four different accounts and received only 1 rebate form from D*. Of 3 rebates that should have been received by now, only one received. On another, a call to D* CSR resulted in a promise for a call back that day after CSR promised to look into issue - call never returned. Second CSR hung up on me (I was being polite the entire phone call). Finally a call to retention resulted in $100 credit to account. **not a pleasant experience**

Case in point two: Local channels are so compressed that watching a football game is impossible!!! Have to watch them on my basic cable. **not a pleasant experience either**

Case in point three: Beginning March 1st, I will still purchase my D* receivers in a similiar manner as now, pay a montly fee for using them (hearafter called a rental), but will no longer "own" the equipment. **not a pleasant experience**

Case in point four: While not wishing to raise the issues of the merits of the R15 verses tivo, in my opinion based on my usage of the the DVR, the R15 is a piece of crap. **not a pleasant experience**

Directv should make a profit and have enough revenue for more satellites for HD and additional channels. This is what the customer wants. But don't nickle and dime us to death. I'll pay a higher fee for simple, uncomplicated service. But it's **not a pleasant experience** when I buy an additional receiver to use on my account only to be told I can't use it. As I stated in my post above, that's **asinine**. (And yes, I realize D* must keep their *advertised* rates as low as possible).

Directv should make the user experience simple, not complicated. Not a journey into unwritten rules into whether a piece of machinery that is made for their service is to be allowed to be used.

The reason I said contact a a lawyer was merely because I wonder about the legality of this. I suppose Directv feels since they have to activate the receiver they can refuse activation based on the actions of a previous owner of the receiver. Probably D* can do what they want - but I wonder. However the public relations problem associated with this and the user dissatisfaction with D*s service make me question their wisdom. As does the 4 forementioned situations.


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## Rax (Jun 11, 2002)

Any good lawyer would laugh at this. DirecTV has every right to refuse service to a receiver with a balance. Verizon and Alltel do the same thing for wireless service.

How do they know you (the past-due guy) didn't just deactivate the receiver and have your friend (account current) activate it and act like nothing happened?


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

It's a machine. Machines don't own money. Go after the PERSON. Why should D* make my life miserable just because they can't collect their debts?

And the phone is a "tool" just as the receiver. It's already *bought and paid for - no outstanding balance*. You may as well say it's the guns fault - not the person.


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## Mondo_man (Apr 17, 2004)

It's the access card, not the receiver that has the balance. All the info is on the card. Get a new card & you'll be all set. Call DTV again & get a card sent to you. I have done this with used units many times. Just get a rep that know what they are talking about...


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## Kanyon71 (Feb 13, 2003)

Mondo_man said:


> It's the access card, not the receiver that has the balance. All the info is on the card. Get a new card & you'll be all set. Call DTV again & get a card sent to you. I have done this with used units many times. Just get a rep that know what they are talking about...


The serial number from the receiver is also tied to an accountnot just the access card on the DVR's.


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

> DirecTV has every right to refuse service to a receiver with a balance. Verizon and Alltel do the same thing for wireless service.


Ain't technology wonderful. I remember the good ole days when I could purchase a used telephone and not have to worry if the previous owner hadn't paid his phone bill. I guess I'm showing my age when I can remember calling a company I did business with and a human being answered the phone and and actually wanted to keep my business.

And I was not aware that Verizon, which I use, did the same thing, although I'm not surprised. That's good information to keep in mind. People today are so used to this kind of service they expect and accept it. And if you're satisfied with this type of service, I'm happy for you.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

As long as it's not a RID receiver, you should be able to put any access card on your account into the receiver and then call 1-800-DIRECTV and choose the option saying you have an extension number appearing on your screen, then enter 711 for that number. That should automatically send a signal out to your receivers to re-marry the cards to the units they're in now.

If you already have DVR service active you shouldn't need to talk to anybody at DirecTV. If you have a standard receiver on your account you could give it a try easily enough.

The concept has been talked about here often enough, though I've never done it myself.


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## terpfan1980 (Jan 28, 2002)

I half expect that at some point one of these used receivers is gonna get sold to the mother/ father/ sister/ brother/ spouse/ or actual congress critter or U.S. Senator that gets fed up with hassles with used equipment like this and that will be the straw that breaks the back of service hassles like this.

Seriously, if the wrong person gets told *NO*, it's pretty amazing how quickly some legislative action can be taken to provide a more consumer friendly solution. Until that person gets bit though, everyone gets to wait and DirecTV holds the upper hand.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

dswallow said:


> As long as it's not a RID receiver...


As noted in the original post, it is a RID unit.


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## heySkippy (Jul 2, 2001)

Bill99 said:


> Ain't technology wonderful. I remember the good ole days when I could purchase a used telephone and not have to worry if the previous owner hadn't paid his phone bill.


In the real good old days, the phone company owned all the phones and leased them to the users.


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

> In the real good old days, the phone company owned all the phones and leased them to the users.


You got me   I guess what goes around comes around 

Kinda reminds me of the teenager, while looking for the phone, tells her mother that wouldn't it be a great invention if someone invented someway to attach the cordless phone to the base so that it wouldn't become lost.


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## Anewman (Jan 17, 2006)

Has anyone in CA tried registering a used car that has a balance(parking tickets or past due registration)?

DMV has been doing this same thing for at least 3-4 years.


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## dgpiii (May 9, 2004)

I got screwed for 500 bucks on a used car in CA that had a balance on its previous registrations. It is a complete racket!!!


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## Bill99 (Jan 1, 2004)

How easy is it, or quantify by stating how many hoops you must jump through, to find out if a car you want to purchase has these outstanding balances.

Sorry for topic drift.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

bdowell said:


> I half expect that at some point one of these used receivers is gonna get sold to the mother/ father/ sister/ brother/ spouse/ or actual congress critter or U.S. Senator that gets fed up with hassles with used equipment like this and that will be the straw that breaks the back of service hassles like this.
> 
> Seriously, if the wrong person gets told *NO*, it's pretty amazing how quickly some legislative action can be taken to provide a more consumer friendly solution. Until that person gets bit though, everyone gets to wait and DirecTV holds the upper hand.


Right idea, wrong result. All that would happen is that the "mother/ father/ sister/ brother/ spouse/ or actual congress critter or U.S. Senator" would get THEIR unit authorized. Once their itch was scratched, do you really think they'd bother changing the rules for everyone else?


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

Mondo_man said:


> It's the access card, not the receiver that has the balance....


For a RID unit, the receiver and the card are married and tracked as a single entity.


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## Finnstang (Sep 11, 2003)

I'm curious what the "right price" was at the swap meet. Spend the $16 and get one through the DIRECTV website using the DVR4ME promo code.


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## islander (Sep 15, 2002)

macquariumguy said:


> In the real good old days, the phone company owned all the phones and leased them to the users.


My parents were still leasing the wall phone in the kitchen until a few years ago....

I wonder how many times they paid for it over the years? I wonder how many people are STILL leasing their phone?


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

According an article I read recently, there are hundreds of thousands of people still paying to lease phones (and many of them probably don't even know it.)


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## lutton (Mar 10, 2004)

> As long as it's not a RID receiver, you should be able to put any access card on your account into the receiver and then call 1-800-DIRECTV and choose the option saying you have an extension number appearing on your screen, then enter 711 for that number. That should automatically send a signal out to your receivers to re-marry the cards to the units they're in now.


Really? I want to swap an old stand alone receiver with a slightly less old stand alone HD receiver I acquired. I can just take the card from the active receiver, swap it into the new and call and get it rehit? No playing CSR roulette?


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## srs5694 (Oct 14, 2001)

Rob00GT said:


> OK, so at a swap meet today I bought a used DirecTivo. It didn't have a remote or an access card but the price was right so I thought I'd take a chance. Got it home and hooked it up in the garage and lucky me, it booted right up and both tuners worked great. So I called up DriecTV to have the send me an access card. They asked for the serial numbers off the machine and after some checking on their system they told me that the previous owner still had a balance on their DirecTV bill and that the DVR could not be activated until that bill was paid.


My own approach would be two-fold:


Call again, and possibly another time or two, in hopes of getting a CSR who'll do the switch without too much hassle.
If #1 fails, get huffy and indignant, demand to speak to a supervisor, and generally raise a fuss about it. I might even threaten to drop DirecTV entirely, but only if I was prepared to follow through on the threat. If it doesn't get resolved at this point, I'd write a snail-mail letter expressing my displeasure. I might even send a copy to the FCC.

My opinion is that this is an outrageous abuse by DirecTV, even if it's legal, so #2 is certainly justified and not just showboating. Big corporations will take and take and take if they think they can get away with it. Part of our responsibility as consumers is to tell them -- firmly -- when they've crossed a line.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

lutton said:


> Really? I want to swap an old stand alone receiver with a slightly less old stand alone HD receiver I acquired. I can just take the card from the active receiver, swap it into the new and call and get it rehit? No playing CSR roulette?


Wouldn't DirecTV need the serial# of the receiver? I have a used DSR6000 that I am keeping as a backup, and have wondered if DirecTV would even let me activate the spare if my main DSR6000 died.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

sbourgeo said:


> Wouldn't DirecTV need the serial# of the receiver? I have a used DSR6000 that I am keeping as a backup, and have wondered if DirecTV would even let me activate the spare if my main DSR6000 died.


For older recievers, no. They tracked the serial number for informational purposes, but it had no impact on the CA system. The access card stores it (which is how it knows when it is in the "wrong" receiver) but it is easily changed by a re-hit.

This all changed with the RID receivers. The RID number IS tied to the CA system and is used to secure the commands sent specifically to your receiver (like turning on PPV, or changing channel access).


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## Thespis (Apr 24, 2003)

> My opinion is that this is an outrageous abuse by DirecTV, even if it's legal, so #2 is certainly justified and not just showboating.


Who are they abusing? They had nothing to do with the sale of the used reciever. In fact, if the OP had called before buying, they probably would have told him that the reciever would not be activated.


> Big corporations will take and take and take if they think they can get away with it. Part of our responsibility as consumers is to tell them -- firmly -- when they've crossed a line.


What line has DTV crossed? 
Not giving someone something they want is not the same thing as taking from them. If you asked me for a piece of candy and I said no, is that the same thing as taking a piece of candy from you?
While businesses can be greedy, consumers will also "take and take and take if they think they can get away with it". Check out all the threads about how to get free/cheap stuff from retentions. Maybe this is DTV's way of saying, "We'll give you free/cheap stuff, but we're not going to reactivate recievers from accounts that owe us money." IOW, don't buy used, get it cheap from us. 
A trade-in program for those who get stuck with banned recievers would be a nice gesture, though...


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## srs5694 (Oct 14, 2001)

Thespis said:


> srs5694 said:
> 
> 
> > My opinion is that this is an outrageous abuse by DirecTV, even if it's legal, so #2 is certainly justified and not just showboating.
> ...


DirecTV is preventing the customer from using the equipment that he owns. As presented, the purchase was legal and DirecTV's beef is with the previous owner; they're punishing an innocent individual by refusing to activate the equipment. IMHO, that's an abuse.



> What line has DTV crossed?
> Not giving someone something they want is not the same thing as taking from them. If you asked me for a piece of candy and I said no, is that the same thing as taking a piece of candy from you?


That's a very poor analogy at best. A better analogy would be that a customer walks into a store and asks to have the candy purchased from the store put into a re-usable canvas bag that the customer brought, but the store refuses and insists on bagging the candy in their own bag, for which they charge money.

Note that I never said DirecTV was stealing. Abuses come in many forms other than theft.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

Dan Collins said:


> For older recievers, no. They tracked the serial number for informational purposes, but it had no impact on the CA system. The access card stores it (which is how it knows when it is in the "wrong" receiver) but it is easily changed by a re-hit.
> 
> This all changed with the RID receivers. The RID number IS tied to the CA system and is used to secure the commands sent specifically to your receiver (like turning on PPV, or changing channel access).


Cool, thanks Dan. It's outstanding that I can swap my access card to my spare DSR6000 and force a re-marriage myself without even having to contact DirecTV.

Hopefully DirecTV won't do anything else to send me running into the waiting arms of Comcast. 

Steve


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

srs5694 said:


> ...A better analogy would be that a customer walks into a store and asks to have the candy purchased from the store put into a re-usable canvas bag that the customer brought, but the store refuses and insists on bagging the candy in their own bag, for which they charge money...


And there are many stores that operate exactly that way.

In any event, there is ALWAYS a remedy available to the consumer - they can decline to favor the vendor with their custom. This is their business policy, and has always BEEN their business policy. BTW, Dish Network has exactly the SAME business policy.

From DirecTV's POV, why should they allow someone to get a free receiver, rack a bunch of charges, and then, to add insult to injury, make a profit from the sale of a receiver that the seller didn't pay anything to obtain?

The principle is simple...when buying used equipment from someone you don't know, caveat emptor.


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## srs5694 (Oct 14, 2001)

Dan Collins said:


> > ...A better analogy would be that a customer walks into a store and asks to have the candy purchased from the store put into a re-usable canvas bag that the customer brought, but the store refuses and insists on bagging the candy in their own bag, for which they charge money...
> 
> 
> And there are many stores that operate exactly that way.


Could you please name a few? I have yet to encounter any that insist on selling you their own bags. Usually the bags are free and the store will let you use your own bags if you choose. A few do charge for bags but let you use your own if you choose.



> In any event, there is ALWAYS a remedy available to the consumer - they can decline to favor the vendor with their custom. This is their business policy, and has always BEEN their business policy. BTW, Dish Network has exactly the SAME business policy.


None of which makes it _right,_ in an ethical sense. Furthermore, if all the businesses in a given market segment have the same policy, then it's really not much of a remedy to say "take your business elsewhere."



> From DirecTV's POV, why should they allow someone to get a free receiver, rack a bunch of charges, and then, to add insult to injury, make a profit from the sale of a receiver that the seller didn't pay anything to obtain?


Because they chose to sell the receiver at a loss or give it away entirely. If the buyer takes advantage of that policy by cancelling service and then selling the receiver before DirecTV has recouped the cost of the receiver, DirecTV's beef is with its own policy. If the original purchaser has failed to pay bills, then DirecTV's complaint is with the original purchaser. In either case, DirecTV has no complaint against the person who bought the receiver second-hand, and yet the policy effectively punishes that person.



> The principle is simple...when buying used equipment from someone you don't know, caveat emptor.


As a _practical_ matter, I agree. From an _ethical_ point of view, I stand by my position that DirecTV is abusing its power, at least in the situation described in the first post to this thread.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

dgpiii said:


> I got screwed for 500 bucks on a used car in CA that had a balance on its previous registrations. It is a complete racket!!!


sounds like some company should open up a title insurance business for cars like they have with homes!


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## Rob00GT (Mar 10, 2003)

Well to bring this little story to a close (with a happy ending no less!) I applied the Zipper to the box and plugged in a trusty Netgear adapter. It now serves as a "long term movie storage" box for shows my wife and I like to watch again every few months. The good news is that even though the box does not have a subscription to DirecTV service (and actually doesn't even have an access card installed) it serves this purpose just fine. Since I didn't want it cluttering up my entertainment center I mounted it in my office next to my pc. Without a subscription no coax cables are required so hookup was a snap. My pc has an ATI All-In-Wonder 9600XT video card with S-video inputs so I view the Tivo onscreen menu on my pc whenever I need to add more movies to storage. Oh, and someone asked before how much I spent on what was almost a boat anchor.... at the swap meet I paid $15 cash for it. The 80GB hard drive was easily worth that if the Zipper hadn't saved me.

I was also able to add another "working" DirecTivo using the DVR4ME program. The $16 and change that it cost to have FedEx deliver it to my door was certainly cheap enough.


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## Boston Fan (Feb 8, 2006)

Glad to hear everything worked out in the end.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

sbourgeo said:


> Cool, thanks Dan. It's outstanding that I can swap my access card to my spare DSR6000 and force a re-marriage myself without even having to contact DirecTV.


I figured that I should mention that this still works. I pulled the access card from my old standalone DirecTV receiver, popped it in my spare DSR6000, and re-hit the card from this link on directv.com: http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/global/contentPage.jsp?assetId=1300015 .

Since I already have DVR service on my account, my DTiVo started working immediately with no issues and no dealing with clueless DirecTV CSR's. :up:


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

Rob00GT said:


> Oh, and someone asked before how much I spent on what was almost a boat anchor.... at the swap meet I paid $15 cash for it. The 80GB hard drive was easily worth that if the Zipper hadn't saved me.


A used 80GB hard drive? Probably not.


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## RBerryman (Sep 17, 2002)

Did this activate the unit without a requirement of a 1 or 2 year commitment?


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

bdowell said:


> I half expect that at some point one of these used receivers is gonna get sold to the mother/ father/ sister/ brother/ spouse/ or actual congress critter or U.S. Senator that gets fed up with hassles with used equipment like this and that will be the straw that breaks the back of service hassles like this.
> 
> Seriously, if the wrong person gets told *NO*, it's pretty amazing how quickly some legislative action can be taken to provide a more consumer friendly solution. Until that person gets bit though, everyone gets to wait and DirecTV holds the upper hand.


Its very similar to getting a bridge built leading in to a major airport over the railroad tracks. It cost allot of money and will never get built(Untill The Mayor of said city misses an airplane because of sitting for a train)

Btw I doubt if anyone of concequence will be out buying and activating used Directivos!!


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

RBerryman said:


> Did this activate the unit without a requirement of a 1 or 2 year commitment?


Yep. I'm still using my old standalone receiver as far as DirecTV is concerned.


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## DRNO_1 (Dec 15, 2007)

Well, in my experience with DirectTV, as with most companies frontline CSR, you'll need to go higher up than you have. Once you can prove that you're not affiliated with the past accountholder, this should be a done deal.

I will say this: If you do get past that hurdle, and they do activate it, make SURE they understand at the time that this is your reciever, and that they dont show it as leased from them. I had a situation where i bought two recievers from individuals at my place of business. I needed one access card from DirectTV for one of them so i called and bought one, and activated both recievers within a month or two as I acquired them. We went about a year like that, and then once directTV FAILED once again to upgrade my equipment for anything less than 99 dollars per reciever(of course they offered me free HBO for three months...gag) i decided to go with another provider that offered me free HD tv, free current HD equipment, yada yada. 

Having been a loyal DTV customer since 95, when we called to cancel DTV, they told me we had a two year committment as we had leased those recievers from them. Batlle then ensued, and by the time it was all over, we had Captain Customer Service Backpedaling and offering us things that should have been done up front on our three previous attempts to get our 13 year old equipment upgraded, but that still didnt match what they do for new customers.

Short of it is, google the execs at DTV's email addresses....send an email, you'll get a phone call correcting the problem within two days. frontline CSR's dont get paid to make decisions on those types of problems....


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

Did any of you notice that the thread is almost 2 years old??


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## Billy Bob Boy (Jul 25, 2004)

ttodd1 said:


> Did any of you notice that the thread is almost 2 years old??


Blame Sbourgeo he/she done Bumped it.

BTW This happens to me all the time. I get involved in a thread and after look at the OP 1-2 years old. Bumped threads should have a different color or something In the main menu list so you know before you open it it is bumped.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

Billy Bob Boy said:


> Blame Sbourgeo he/she done Bumped it.
> 
> BTW This happens to me all the time. I get involved in a thread and after look at the OP 1-2 years old. Bumped threads should have a different color or something In the main menu list so you know before you open it it is bumped.


I think if someone replying to a thread can't even pay enough attention to what they're replying to notice that it's 1 or 2 years old, they deserve to waste their time replying to a 1 or 2 year old thread.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

Billy Bob Boy said:


> Blame Sbourgeo he/she done Bumped it.


Hey, I might lose my man card if people think I'm a preoperative transsexual.


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## dswallow (Dec 3, 2000)

sbourgeo said:


> Hey, I might lose my man card if people think I'm a preoperative transsexual.


You might also gain it.


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