Ok, so about a year ago (summer 2006) i went to Best Buy and bought a DirecTV H20 HD receiver for $99+tax.

now, a year later, i moved residences and canceled service...and now DirecTV is sweating me about returning the receiver -- that *I* bought for $100 -- back to them...:mad:

WTF, being that i bought the receiver outright, isn't it MINE???:mad:


This seems ridiculous to me. I was never told by the people at Best Buy that the receiver still belonged to DirecTV. What a waste of money. I was considering getting DirecTV service again, until this came up...but now, i can do without it. I'll be fine with Comcast, or even Dish Network...:rolleyes:

Unfortunately, you did not purchase the receiver. All DirecTV receivers are lease only. The same is true with Dish Network. Both satellite providers changed to a lease only model a few years ago.

Not true at least from Dish. I signed up for the two year contract with "free" equipment and at the end of the contract I asked if they wanted me to send back their crap and I was informed that it was my property. So I would assume if you paid money for it its yours.

Wrong! I switched from Dish to Directv. I had to send the DVR back to Dish. I had to pay 299. to Directv to lease my DVR. 100. was a deal.

Ok, so about a year ago (summer 2006) i went to Best Buy and bought a DirecTV H20 HD receiver for $99+tax.

now, a year later, i moved residences and canceled service...and now DirecTV is sweating me about returning the receiver -- that *I* bought for $100 -- back to them...:mad:

WTF, being that i bought the receiver outright, isn't it MINE???:mad:


This seems ridiculous to me. I was never told by the people at Best Buy that the receiver still belonged to DirecTV. What a waste of money. I was considering getting DirecTV service again, until this came up...but now, i can do without it. I'll be fine with Comcast, or even Dish Network...:rolleyes:You really needed to check what your D* agreement was. If it was a 2-year committment, then the receiver belongs to them until the 2-years are up.

What I don't understand is why you cancelled your service. D* would have given (their "Movers Connection" service) you a new dish, free including install, at your new location. The only "gotcha" is if you moved from a house into a condo (with dish mounting restrictions) or apartment.

Your receipt/contract from BB states exactly what your committment was. Since the prices of the D* STBs is actually around $400, the BB price was discounted for a X-year committment to D* service. As the other members said, D* now leases their STBs only (just as Dish and all of the Cable providers do).

Your mistake was not reading the "fine print" on the purchase agreement (or reading the info on the D* web site, which is clear as mud, of course). Most BB/CC sales people will tell you the restrictions (at least they are supposed to).

John-- he was talking about the H20, not the HR20 (DVR version). One H20 STB "lease", with a contract, is "free" (after you pay the taxes).

Even after the two years, it's D*'s receiver. They changed from ownership to lease as of March 2006. Read the contract. Outright ownership of an HD DVR or receiver would cost much more than the average $299 or $99 respectively. When I purchased my HR10-250, it was $1000.

What I don't understand is why you cancelled your service. D* would have given (their "Movers Connection" service) you a new dish, free including install, at your new location. The only "gotcha" is if you moved from a house into a condo (with dish mounting restrictions) or apartment.

Your receipt/contract from BB states exactly what your committment was. Since the prices of the D* STBs is actually around $400, the BB price was discounted for a X-year committment to D* service. As the other members said, D* now leases their STBs only (just as Dish and all of the Cable providers do).

Your mistake was not reading the "fine print" on the purchase agreement (or reading the info on the D* web site, which is clear as mud, of course). Most BB/CC sales people will tell you the restrictions (at least they are supposed to).

John-- he was talking about the H20, not the HR20 (DVR version). One H20 STB "lease", with a contract, is "free" (after you pay the taxes).
to keep my post short and to the point, i left out that i technically did NOT cancel my original service -- i lived with a friend, i bought the receiver, and i moved out, but the D* account was under his name. So with new service i'd be getting a new H20 for FREE (go figure), so i figured so i figured i could take the receiver, (perhaps even sell it), or at least transfer it over to my own (new) account (which i called D* today and they won't even allow that -- they want the receiver back or will charge my friend $200).

and, i'm looking at my BB receipt now, and NOWHERE on it is there any language about a "lease agreement" for this receiver. And of course, no one at BB notified me of this either when i bought it a year ago... You're right, the fine print on D*'s website is as "clear as mud", as i didn't even see it when i browsed it the other day...


whatever...it all seems like a shady business with hidden language...i'm done with Directv -- only reason i wanted them was for NFL Sunday Ticket, and by the time i get in my new apartment, the season will be half way over. I'll just go catch the games at my pop's house. Comcast will be a much better and simpler alternative -- won't have to worry about putting the goddamn dish on a tripod at my apartment, or whether or not i have a clear line of sight, good weather, and all that other bullsh**...

Did you sign anything at Best Buy?, I recall signing a electronic agreement when I got my H20. But I got the H20 in my 3-4 year with them. So I've got like 3 really old one lying around disactivated. although I own all of those not sure on the H20.

As far as I know all HR20 DVRs are owned by Directv and only leased to the customers. If anyone is selling these on eBay then they are essentially stolen from Directv and they could refuse to activate it (you must provide them the model and serial number in order to activate).

As for the H20s, there were some of the earliest production units that were sold to customers (starting in late 2005) before Directv switched to a lease only program for all of the HD equipment in the spring of 2006. I suppose that if you purchased a used one of the 'owned' rather than leased H20s then Directv would still require you to purchase a new access card ($20 the last a heard) before they would activate the used H20.

I "bought" my Directv in 1995 for $900.00 installed. They own nothing of mine. I even had to buy two replacement receiver over the years.

I sure hope TV manufacturers don't start "leasing" us our TV sets, and grocery stores "leasing" us our food. :)

I sure hope TV manufacturers don't start "leasing" us our TV sets, and grocery stores "leasing" us our food. :)

I've had food I'd be happy to "return".

I sure hope .. and grocery stores "leasing" us our food. :)

I'll be glad to repackage it and return it to them....:D:eek::D

I "bought" my Directv in 1995 for $900.00 installed. They own nothing of mine. I even had to buy two replacement receiver over the years.

And? Upgrade today, you'll be leasing.

And? Upgrade today, you'll be leasing.

I'll switch to DISH for a free package before I'll lease. But I'll talk to DirecTV about a DEAL first. I can only hope!

Deal or not, you'll still be leasing. Not sure why it's such a big deal if you can get the up front costs dropped off the equipment, it doesn't cost any more a month and if a leased receiver breaks you just exchange it.

let me get this straight. even though these h20 receivers are selling all over the net, if I buy one from say this guy (http://www.pricegrabber.com/user_sales_getprod.php?masterid=15568654&lot_id=7070503), I will actually be leasing the receiver and be forced into a long term contract?

I see the receivers and dishes for sale all over.

If I were to call up D**, would they give me the new big dish, a receiver without extending my current contract with them and with no other money down? seems like an awfully large dish. how is the rain fade?

"let me get this straight. even though these h20 receivers are selling all over the net, if I buy one from say this guy, I will actually be leasing the receiver and be forced into a long term contract?"

My understanding is you can not buy an H20 outright, it will be leased. I would suggest contacting D* for clarification.

"If I were to call up D**, would they give me the new big dish, a receiver without extending my current contract with them and with no other money down?"

You could probably get an H20 and dish for just the shipping and handling costs of $19.95 though you can't get around the contract extension.

to keep my post short and to the point, i left out that i technically did NOT cancel my original service -- i lived with a friend, i bought the receiver, and i moved out, but the D* account was under his name. So with new service i'd be getting a new H20 for FREE (go figure), so i figured so i figured i could take the receiver, (perhaps even sell it), or at least transfer it over to my own (new) account (which i called D* today and they won't even allow that -- they want the receiver back or will charge my friend $200).

and, i'm looking at my BB receipt now, and NOWHERE on it is there any language about a "lease agreement" for this receiver. And of course, no one at BB notified me of this either when i bought it a year ago... You're right, the fine print on D*'s website is as "clear as mud", as i didn't even see it when i browsed it the other day...


whatever...it all seems like a shady business with hidden language...i'm done with Directv -- only reason i wanted them was for NFL Sunday Ticket, and by the time i get in my new apartment, the season will be half way over. I'll just go catch the games at my pop's house. Comcast will be a much better and simpler alternative -- won't have to worry about putting the goddamn dish on a tripod at my apartment, or whether or not i have a clear line of sight, good weather, and all that other bullsh**...

After a couple of weeks with cable.................You will be back.:D

iLLWiLL - on your friend's monthly bill, it should have clearly stated the H20 was leased.

whatever...it all seems like a shady business with hidden language...i'm done with Directv -- only reason i wanted them was for NFL Sunday Ticket, and by the time i get in my new apartment, the season will be half way over. I'll just go catch the games at my pop's house. Comcast will be a much better and simpler alternative -- won't have to worry about putting the goddamn dish on a tripod at my apartment, or whether or not i have a clear line of sight, good weather, and all that other bullsh**...

We had Directv for almost 10 years, wasn't too bad when you could own your equipment, still expensive though. We sold the house and moved out of Wash DC hole to Massanutten Va, low and behold ,Adelphia/ now Comcast, the cable PQ blows Directv or Dish away. While we don't have as many channels, I would rather have quality than quanity, and I sure as hell won't give Directv 1200.00 for the 4 HD DVR's that I would need. People complain about Comcast and Time Warner and other cable companies, at least you are not putting out outrageous lease fees and a 2 year contract for crappy compressed to hell PQ

We had Directv for almost 10 years, wasn't too bad when you could own your equipment, still expensive though. We sold the house and moved out of Wash DC hole to Massanutten Va, low and behold ,Adelphia/ now Comcast, the cable PQ blows Directv or Dish away. While we don't have as many channels, I would rather have quality than quanity, and I sure as hell won't give Directv 1200.00 for the 4 HD DVR's that I would need. People complain about Comcast and Time Warner and other cable companies, at least you are not putting out outrageous lease fees and a 2 year contract for crappy compressed to hell PQ

Agreed - I was with D* for 5 years, finally got an HD display and called them about upgrading. Well, after being told that it would cost $300 to upgrade one DVR (to the HD version) and I still wouldn't own it, then pay an HD fee, change satellite dishes and still pay for a lease. I switched over to FIOS and have not looked back. I only pay a lease fee that was quoted up front to me and have been treated well.