# Directv Contract Ending



## phunkyrockgal (Apr 26, 2009)

We have 2 directv tivo dvrs and I wanted to know if I can use them to connect to the tivo service after our contract is over. Does anyone know? I know I can watch whatever is already recorded on them because I did that while we were on break from Directv's service (while we were living in someone else's house and couldn't install a satellite)


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

phunkyrockgal said:


> We have 2 directv tivo dvrs and I wanted to know if I can use them to connect to the tivo service after our contract is over. Does anyone know? I know I can watch whatever is already recorded on them because I did that while we were on break from Directv's service (while we were living in someone else's house and couldn't install a satellite)


No. They will only be able to record the Directv signal. If you are no longer subscribing to Directv, they will not be able to record anything.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

Yes, you can watch pre-recorded shows on them, simply press the Directv button go to Directv Central -> Now Playing List and choose the recording you want to watch. Good Luck


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

rbtravis said:


> Yes, you can watch pre-recorded shows on them, simply press the Directv button go to Directv Central -> Now Playing List and choose the recording you want to watch. Good Luck


Yes, but that wasn't the OP's question.

The OP wanted to know if they could "connect to the TiVo srevice." I read that as meaning use it as a stand-alone TiVo.

And, of course, the answer to that is "no."


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

dtremain said:


> Yes, but that wasn't the OP's question.
> 
> The OP wanted to know if they could "connect to the TiVo srevice."


Typo or spelling?, Why so fast? Its not that this forum is busy. 
Chill out, all we are doing is trying to help. No one said you were wrong.


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## phunkyrockgal (Apr 26, 2009)

That stinks. Thanks for the help guys!


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

rbtravis said:


> Typo or spelling?, Why so fast? Its not that this forum is busy.
> Chill out, all we are doing is trying to help. No one said you were wrong.


I wasns't upset. I was just trying to clarify the issue for the newbie OP.


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

phunkyrockgal said:


> That stinks. Thanks for the help guys!


You're welcome.

Why are you dropping Directv anyway?


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## phunkyrockgal (Apr 26, 2009)

We've not been happy with customer service, our contract is ending and we're not happy with the channel lineup anymore.


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## cyberbeach (Nov 29, 2002)

I called to cancel DirecTV and DirecTV said I have to *return *both DirecTivos.

Anyone know any way around that? I've had DirecTV since 1996, then DirecTivo when it came out. But DirecTV has been moving HD over to the satellite signals that DirecTivo does not get, so even with OTA, I don't get much HD.

I bought two Tivo HD XL's and got FiOS installed - looks pretty great so far.

When the FiOS was all working, I called DirecTV and they told me their records show I got one HR10-250 for $499 and the other free (I don't remember the free one). They also said I am still only leasing them that if I don't return them, I'll get charged 199 a piece.

_Skipping past the part where I'm all outraged at the unjustness of charging me when I break the contract when I paid for a lot of DirecTV equipment over the years, and the fact that both of these units have been upgraded with WeaKnees drives and replacement fans by me... and that I moved the dish myself when I moved... and then I connected everything myself from the beginning to the end, never needed a single service call except maybe the last one to point the disk... _

The guy did say I get could get my recorded programs off the DirecTivo using the USB ports... have to find out if that's true and how to do it. If I could do that, then hell, they can have their DirecTivos back - I just want to watch my back-catalog of recorded stuff that's on the two DirecTivos now.

Advice, Corrections, & Directions needed - thanks!


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

> They also said I am still only leasing them that if I don't return them, I'll get charged 199 a piece.


Did you buy them or did you lease them? Until a year or two ago (sorry, don't remember when it changed) you had to buy DVRs and pay mirror fees. Then they changed to lease option and instead of mirror fees started charging you lease fees. It is confusing, but if your DirecTV bills show mirror fees, then these DVRs are yours and you get to keep them (you may have to escalate it to the supervisor).


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## magnus (Nov 12, 2004)

cyberbeach: What did your bill show? Did it show that the boxes were leased?


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## snickerrrrs (Mar 31, 2006)

phunkyrockgal said:


> We've not been happy with customer service, our contract is ending and we're not happy with the channel lineup anymore.


Make sure that your new service has all that you are looking for before you cancel Directv... I'm not crazy about Directv but I could never go back to a non-Tivo dvr. Cable prices are not any better from what I've seen and Motorola dvrs suck. You can stay month to month and not sign a new contract.. Good Luck 

PS: I'm waiting for the new Directv Tivo before I make any changes, especially to hd.


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## su_A_ve (Feb 3, 2004)

cyberbeach said:


> I called to cancel DirecTV and DirecTV said I have to *return *both DirecTivos.
> 
> Anyone know any way around that? I've had DirecTV since 1996, then DirecTivo when it came out. But DirecTV has been moving HD over to the satellite signals that DirecTivo does not get, so even with OTA, I don't get much HD.
> 
> ...


Clearly the CSR that 'helped' you had no clue. You cannot pull the recorded programs using the USB ports...

The question is if your units were leased. Where you paying a 'lease fee' or a 'mirroring fee' ? If the latter one, then clearly you own those doorstops. If the first one, well D* could have changed them at one point by mistake...


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## cyberbeach (Nov 29, 2002)

magnus said:


> cyberbeach: What did your bill show? Did it show that the boxes were leased?


Unfortunately the statements back to 2007 show 2 "leased receiver" s. However, I do know that I got them in July of 06.

But if leased, why did they charge $453?

07/27/06 $453.51 Professional Installation
Unscheduled - Call 1-888-355-7530

Item Description Price Qty.

DIRECTV 18x20 Triple LNB Satellite Dish Free 1
HD DVR Free 1
Swap ReplaceImplied DVR IRD Free 1
Handling $19.95
Standard Professional Install Free
Tax
Total $34.56

Even though the total says "34.56" it looks like I was charged 453.51.

Notice the "Swap Replace Implied DVR IRD" ? But they did not take my SAT-T60's - I've still got them piled up in storage.


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## Nicodareus (May 13, 2009)

Hey there, cyberbeach.

I had to create an account just so I could respond here..  Unfortunately, Direct TV uses a pure lease system. As of March 1st, 2006, -any- reciever you activate is the property of Direct TV. Yes, they still charged you for it. This is the way they work now. You 'pay' for the equipment, which still remains theirs, you pay 5$ a month for it, then you send it back or pay again. $240 roughly if it's a standard tivo reciever and $470 roughly if it's an HD reciever.

Unfortunately, it's all part of the contract you agreed to (Whether you read it or not. And I'm not saying you didn't, but simply pointing out that alot of people don't) This not only applies to recievers 'purchased' after 03/01/2006 either. If you have a reciever from before then that you actually own that got deactivated for whatever reason and reactivated it after 03/30/2006 (Their cutoff date for activating 'owned' recievers purchased before 03/01/2006) than it immediately becomes a leased reciever. Since you 'purchased' yours AFTER both of those dates, it's not even an issue. It's leased equipment, despite the fact you paid for it. This also applies to -anywhere- you 'purchase' the equipment. It doesn't matter if you 'buy' it from eBay, Amazon, Best Buy or a back alley merchant. It's still the property of DirecTV

I was actually researching all of this when I stumbled across your post and figured I'd pass along what I'd learned. Basically, what you were 'buying' was the right to use THEIR equipment. Direct TV does -not- sell recievers anymore. It's impossible to get anything but a lease program on any reciever not already activated as 'owned'. There was a class action lawsuit filed over this back in september. Run a google search on 'CV08-00906 ABC' and do some research (That's the case number for the lawsuit). You may very well be able to get in on it and help put a stop to this madness as well as reclaim ownership of your DVR. (And possibly even reclaim some lease fees in the end)

Once again. Case number: CV08-00906 ABC (PJWx)

I also urge anyone else who may be effected by this to consider looking into joining this class action lawsuit. More than likely if you think you 'own' your DirecTV reciever, you don't.

In retrospect, this probably answers the topic OP's question as well. Regardless if you can continue to use them or not, DTV is probably going to want your recievers back or charge you a fee. You might want to look into this lawsuit as well.


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## jcaudle (Aug 16, 2004)

samo said:


> Did you buy them or did you lease them? Until a year or two ago (sorry, don't remember when it changed) you had to buy DVRs and pay mirror fees. Then they changed to lease option and instead of mirror fees started charging you lease fees. It is confusing, but if your DirecTV bills show mirror fees, then these DVRs are yours and you get to keep them (you may have to escalate it to the supervisor).


As I remember, DirecTv started leasing the boxes in early 2006. I got my boxes in late 2005 so I owned them. I went back to cable a year later when the S3 was available.


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## ADent (Jan 7, 2000)

The above post is largely correct, but you can get owned boxes activated as owned. 

The default in the computer system, and what most CSRs do, is to activate them as leased - but if you get the right CSR they can activate as owned.

For awhile there I don't think this was their policy, but it changed awhile back.


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## cyberbeach (Nov 29, 2002)

Nicodareus said:


> Hey there, cyberbeach.
> 
> I had to create an account just so I could respond here..  Unfortunately, Direct TV uses a pure lease system. As of March 1st, 2006, -any- reciever you activate is the property of Direct TV. Yes, they still charged you for it. This is the way they work now. You 'pay' for the equipment, which still remains theirs, you pay 5$ a month for it, then you send it back or pay again. $240 roughly if it's a standard tivo reciever and $470 roughly if it's an HD reciever.
> 
> Unfortunately, it's all part of the contract you agreed to (Whether you read it or not. And I'm not saying you didn't, but simply pointing out that alot of people don't) (snip)


I understand they want to charge for the equipment and yet still collect a monthly fee, but charging for it a second time at the end is abusive, unless it was comped and you cancel within a year or two years.

Even the cell phone providers only charge you the diff between the subsidized price and the actual retail if you cancel early, and then after two years the equipment is paid off either way.

On top of all that, DirecTV just wants to deep-six these receivers anyway.

Thanks for the info.


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## Nicodareus (May 13, 2009)

cyberbeach said:


> I understand they want to charge for the equipment and yet still collect a monthly fee, but charging for it a second time at the end is abusive, unless it was comped and you cancel within a year or two years.
> 
> Even the cell phone providers only charge you the diff between the subsidized price and the actual retail if you cancel early, and then after two years the equipment is paid off either way.
> 
> ...


No trouble. And yeah, it's a racket. Sadly, as well as this has taken off for DirecTV, I foresee cable providers taking the same path in the future. The big problem is that people didn't realize this is going on or don't understand how it effects them. The cases of people getting ripped off by it have started to increase, since many people's contracts are only recently coming to an end that signed up after the change in policy, which is why the movements to get it changed have only started in the past few months.



> The above post is largely correct, but you can get owned boxes activated as owned.
> 
> The default in the computer system, and what most CSRs do, is to activate them as leased - but if you get the right CSR they can activate as owned.
> 
> For awhile there I don't think this was their policy, but it changed awhile back.


This would be news to me. And. Well.. Retailers. The only cases I've ever heard of where a reciever still gets activated as owned is if it was purchased before 03/01/06 and you raise a lot of hell at the CSR because you didn't realize when you were reactivating the reciever that it was going to become the property of DirecTV. And even then, your chances are slim at best. DirecTV has this all set up completely in their favor now. Their policy hasn't changed as far as I know. Or else there'd be no need for this lawsuit.

Any reciever's 'purchased' after 03/01/06 from -any- retailer or medium cannot be activated as owned. Lest the CSR screws up. And they are very likely to lose their job for it. And from what I understand, there have been several cases where these CSRs have lost their jobs for activating a reciever purchased before 03/01/06 as owned. The rare case it happens is basically a CSR letting their personal judgement get in the way of their job.


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

Nicodareus said:


> And from what I understand, there have been several cases where these CSRs have lost their jobs for activating a reciever purchased before 03/01/06 as owned. The rare case it happens is basically a CSR letting their personal judgement get in the way of their job.


Unless this has changed in the last several months, that isn't entirely accurate. I purchased extra DTivos just so that I would have them as loaners. I activated them and then deactivated them a couple of months later. When one dies, I activate a unit I have waiting on the shelf. Last time it happened was in the fall. I called DTV and said one of my Dtivos died and would like to reactivate my old unit. I reminded the CSR that the unit is owned and not leased and she transferred me to another department who then reactivated it with no problems. My bill still shows all four active units being owned and no new two year commitment.

Quite frankly, I am certain there is no way DTV is going to win a legal fight that turns a unit that you purchased into a leased unit simply by deactivating it for a period of time.


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## Nicodareus (May 13, 2009)

bengalfreak said:


> Quite frankly, I am certain there is no way DTV is going to win a legal fight that turns a unit that you purchased into a leased unit simply by deactivating it for a period of time.


Heh. Must be nice. As it's happened to my father and countless others I've read about in my research. And they wouldn't have much trouble winning a legal battle on it honestly (Unless this class action lawsuit gets enough support to go through and forces them to change their contract and practices). It's part of the contract you agree to anymore. It's amazing what you can get away with these days when you have millions of dollars to throw at politicians. I'm frankly surprised that this didn't happen to you. You're the first reported case I've seen of having activated/re-activated a reciever post-03/01/06 and not had it swapped to lease. But you rarely hear about the 'good' situations such as this, anyways. So I'm glad it worked out for you, at least.


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## halfempty (Oct 17, 2008)

Nicodareus said:


> Any reciever's 'purchased' after 03/01/06 from -any- retailer or medium cannot be activated as owned.


Except the HR21 Pro. You can purchase these as owned from several retailers, even direct from D*, they just cost a lot more. The old DTivos can still be activated as owned. The key is to find a CSR that knows how to do it.


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

Nicodareus said:


> Heh. Must be nice. As it's happened to my father and countless others I've read about in my research. And they wouldn't have much trouble winning a legal battle on it honestly (Unless this class action lawsuit gets enough support to go through and forces them to change their contract and practices). It's part of the contract you agree to anymore. It's amazing what you can get away with these days when you have millions of dollars to throw at politicians. I'm frankly surprised that this didn't happen to you. You're the first reported case I've seen of having activated/re-activated a reciever post-03/01/06 and not had it swapped to lease. But you rarely hear about the 'good' situations such as this, anyways. So I'm glad it worked out for you, at least.


Sorry, putting something in a contract doesn't make it legally enforceable especially when it is done surreptitiously (sp?) And secondly, at some point they would have to send me a copy of the contract that specifically states that a previously owned receiver becomes a leased receiver upon reactivation.

Thirdly, I haven't agreed to any contract between myself and DirecTV since my original one ran out six years ago. They have never even stated anything about a contract since then. I also record every phone conversation I have with DTV (as well as my cell phone company) and get the ID no. of whoever I'm talking to. I tell them I'm taping the conversation so it is legal. At least that way, I figure they'll tell me everything up front.

Unfortunately, direcTV (and every other major corporation) counts on you not wanting to spend lots of cash to defend your rights. I mean, who is gonna pay tens of thousands of dollars just to keep from having to pay a $250 early termination fee?


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## glen4cindy (Jul 18, 2003)

Let's be clear about 1 thing. DTV can call it a lease fee, mirroring fee, additional receiver fee, or some other made up name. It still remains that to provide programming to a 2nd, 3rd etc. box, you are going to pay the $4.99 or $5.99 or whatever it is now. It has been that way for YEARS, and there have not been thousands of posts on how this is an unfair practice. I'm sure DTV would not mind charging a full subscription fee to each box you care to activate. They KNOW that there would be no takers on this type of billing practice. So, they charge the additional fee, and probably always will. Let's not get ourselves in a big huff over WHAT they call it.

The real issue is that we have to pay a few hundred $$$ for something that we have to give back to DTV if we are EVER to cancel our service. This is the point that should be illegal. It should also be illegal that a machine that was PURCHASED many years ago that is reactivated automatically becomes property of DTV. I have 2 SD Tivo's that I PAID for. My bill shows ADDITIONAL RECEIVER FEE, and I suppose it's DTV's way to make sure I NEVER cancel, or if I do, to never reactivate my Tivo's.

People have mentioned cell phones being the same way. LOW up front cost, with the obligation to keep the service for a certain period of time. The difference is that after that period of time, you can throw your cell phone in the trash, sell it, or whatever and get another low cost phone that is better, re-up your contract, and be fine.

It's not like DTV would DO anything but probably trash my old SD-DVR80 Tivo unit if I ever decide to cancel my service and then reactivate and cancel again for whatever reason.

This should be the complaint. Not that they are calling it a lease fee. The fee has been there for years, just not called that.

Whatever became of the class action lawsuit that was filed some months back anyway? DTV is apparently still doing business this way or we would not be talking about this.

Thanks.


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

I don't remember exact numbers (it was years ago) , but when I bought my 2 R10s from the B&M stores I had to sign something that said that if I don't activate them within 30 days my credit card will be charged like $250 additional. I paid a $100 each and these money was refunded to me toward monthly bill with 2 year contract. If I'm to cancel these DVRs and not return them to DirecTV they would charge me whatever fee they have, but perhaps these fees are to recover original discount I received by activating service.
I have no problem returning these DirecTivos to DirecTv should I cancel the service on them. They didn't cost me anything in a first place and if I cancel the service on them it will be either to replace them with HD DVRs or to cancel DirecTV account. In either case these DVRs will be no use to me. 
It could be legit reason why DirecTv wants them back. My understanding is that pirates love previously subscribed units they can get from e-bay because they are not traceable and there is something about previously subscribed units that makes them easier to hack than brand new units.
As for cancellation fees for early termination, doesn't TiVo also charge you early termination fees even if you activated your old TiVo that was paid for years ago? I think it is common practice to keep customers captive. Doesn't make it nice, but it is what it is.


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

samo said:


> As for cancellation fees for early termination, doesn't TiVo also charge you early termination fees even if you activated your old TiVo that was paid for years ago? I think it is common practice to keep customers captive. Doesn't make it nice, but it is what it is.


Its only common practice for DirecTV. I have no problem with a contract requirement if they are providing me something upfront at a reduced rate. But I already fulfilled my contract requirement for my old Tivos. I purchased them, what gives DirecTV the right to say they are leased and owned by them simply because I reactivate an old unit?


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## glen4cindy (Jul 18, 2003)

bengalfreak said:


> Its only common practice for DirecTV. I have no problem with a contract requirement if they are providing me something upfront at a reduced rate. But I already fulfilled my contract requirement for my old Tivos. I purchased them, what gives DirecTV the right to say they are leased and owned by them simply because I reactivate an old unit?


I agree 1000% with this. I actually OWN my two Tivo units. They are both at least 4 years old, maybe 5. One thing that keeps me a customer is this policy that if I ever de-activate and then, re-activate MY property becomes DirecTv's property. It's not that I will be able to DO anything with them, it's just the principle that DTV thinks they have the right to take possession of my property.

What's more, many people have modified these Tivo style units with bigger hard drives. For this reason, they may not want to send these units in. If the hard drive has failed and one has purchased an upgrade kit from WeaKnees, this makes it not the same DVR that was originally purchased. Why just send this bigger hard drive unit to DTV when the hard drive could be used for other purposes?

It's one thing for one to "buy" a new receiver today, for the subsidized cost that DTV is providing, and then canceling after a short time, having to send it back or pay a cancellation fee. But, for a unit like mine that if 5 years old or so, for it to become property of DTV because of being re-activated, or a similarly old unit that one might buy on E-Bay automatically becoming property of DTV is just wrong. It certainly is one way DTV has to keep people from canceling and then coming back with the same equipment.


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## blips (Oct 20, 1999)

I agree. I have 2 DirecTivo's in my possession that I would like to active but I will not because they will claim them as their property. This is one of the reasons I am thinking of making the move to Comcast with the Tivo HD. I have been a customer of DirecTv's since 1997 but they are not making it easy for me to expand my service with them. So much for loyalty.


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## llurkin (Apr 28, 2005)

Rather than store the units in a closet, call Directv and ask for a supervisor after getting to the first level CSR. Now, tell the supervisor that you wish to activate, or reactivate a Tivo that you own. You could be plesantly suprised and find that they do activate owned units and they show up on your bill as an additional receiver.
And you then can stop fearing the boogeyman.
At least that's how it worked for me.


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

llurkin said:


> Rather than store the units in a closet, call Directv and ask for a supervisor after getting to the first level CSR. Now, tell the supervisor that you wish to activate, or reactivate a Tivo that you own. You could be plesantly suprised and find that they do activate owned units and they show up on your bill as an additional receiver.
> And you then can stop fearing the boogeyman.
> At least that's how it worked for me.


Me too.


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## LBCABob (Apr 21, 2001)

Apologies if this has been covered elsewhere: Is there any benefit to attempt to get DirecTV to "correct" your account and remove the word "leased" from your bill when your receiver(s) are ones you purchased (e.g. Philips DSR6000, Samsung and RCA) years ago? The word "leased" first appeared on my monthly statement in 12/2007 (after re-activating an old DSR6000 in guest room, workorder states "customer owned").

I have no plans to leave DirecTV - maybe switch to HD if/when the new TiVo HD+DirecTV unit becomes available. But if cancel DirecTV for some reason, DirecTV will demand I ship them my Samsung & RCA TiVo units? If I cancel the CC they have on file (so they can't make a charge against it), will they file a lawsuit against me to get their hands on my old technology? Of course, the units are fairly useless without DirecTV service anyway.

So, any real benefit to calling to get "leased" off my account?


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

LBCABob said:


> So, any real benefit to calling to get "leased" off my account?


They will, most likely, demand your equipment if you cancel service. And, again most likely, they will place a bad debt mark on your credit bureau profile if you refuse to ship it to them.


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## cthomp21 (Jul 15, 2007)

I'm curious as to what would happen if you were to de-activate owned units while still maintaining an open account.

Will they ask you ship them back? If so, would you be able to refuse based on their owned status?

I could see going through this method to allow you to retain all of your owned receivers (except for maybe the last one).

What's the use of an un-activated DirecTivo? Well, a hacked series 2 makes a great media server when used with Tivo Desktop and Tivoserver. You can archive an enormous amount of programming with a cheap, big harddrive. Hello movie library (albeit in SD, but that's what Bluray's are for) or a huge library of kids programming.


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## cyberbeach (Nov 29, 2002)

cyberbeach said:


> I called to cancel DirecTV and DirecTV said I have to *return *both DirecTivos.
> 
> When the FiOS was all working, I called DirecTV and they told me their records show I got one HR10-250 for $499 and the other free (I don't remember the free one). They also said I am still only leasing them that if I don't return them, I'll get charged 199 a piece.


I know this is an old thread, but in case someone googles/stumbles on to it:

The resolution of this issue: I lowered my service level to the absolute minimum, which was $29.95 per month, and kept both DirecTivo's for 3 more months, costing me about $90, even though I had switched over to Verizon Fios using two new Tivo HD XL's.

After 2 1/2 months, paying for 3, I called and canceled. I was then beyond the end of the contract, so there was NO cancellation fee, and I was told the DirecTivo's are mine to keep.

So I saved hundreds of dollars versus immediately canceling and paying the cancellation fee.

PS: Of course, by that time we had completed watching everything on the Directivo's and didn't need to keep them anymore. Still, I ran the system reset (erase) and now I have 2 243-hour Directivo HDs to sell.


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