DirecTV - return equipment

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GOS

2K Club - QQ Super Nova
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So, long and short of it. We canceled our DirecTV and switched to Dish. We only had DirecTV for 1.4 years. So, pretty up to date equipment. 3 wifi devices for 3 TV's and a big tower control center that fed those 3 boxes.

We had little, if any directive from DTV as to how to return this equipment. Go online, not really a lot of info...finally, call them. They tell us we can get rid of ALL of the equipment any way we see fit.

Huh? Never, from any other provider has that happened. Always, send a box, return equipment. We drilled the lady, said, your website says we will be charged if we don't return equipment within 21 days ( I think that's what it said) of cancellation. She just laughed and said, do not worry.

Anyone else cancel lately and have new equipment that they supposedly do not want returned? Why am I paranoid??
 
So, long and short of it. We canceled our DirecTV and switched to Dish. We only had DirecTV for 1.4 years. So, pretty up to date equipment. 3 wifi devices for 3 TV's and a big tower control center that fed those 3 boxes.

We had little, if any directive from DTV as to how to return this equipment. Go online, not really a lot of info...finally, call them. They tell us we can get rid of ALL of the equipment any way we see fit.

Huh? Never, from any other provider has that happened. Always, send a box, return equipment. We drilled the lady, said, your website says we will be charged if we don't return equipment within 21 days ( I think that's what it said) of cancellation. She just laughed and said, do not worry.

Anyone else cancel lately and have new equipment that they supposedly do not want returned? Why am I paranoid??

That's certainly UP FOR DEBATE:

GOS Vs. DIRECT TV

Tune in
 
Wow, if they tell you not to bother returning the equipment, I'd suggest getting that in writing. Surely that equipment is valuable and can be issued out to another customer. Why wouldn't they want it back? Is this what they tell all their customers to do?
 
Exactly. I am super suspicious. Seems so out there. Unfortunately, my wife made the contact. That said, I was listening...and for sure, that's what they said.
 
I had the same experience as you. I couldn't believe they didn't want the equipment back. I hung onto everything for a year
just in case and then recycled all of it. It's been two years now and the only calls I have gotten from Directv are the ones
begging me to come back.
 
  • Wow
Reactions: GOS
I had the same experience as you. I couldn't believe they didn't want the equipment back. I hung onto everything for a year
just in case and then recycled all of it. It's been two years now and the only calls I have gotten from Directv are the ones
begging me to come back.
WOW! OK. Well, for sure, I told my wife. I'm keeping all equipment and storing in the basement.
 
So, long and short of it. We canceled our DirecTV and switched to Dish. We only had DirecTV for 1.4 years. So, pretty up to date equipment. 3 wifi devices for 3 TV's and a big tower control center that fed those 3 boxes.

We had little, if any directive from DTV as to how to return this equipment. Go online, not really a lot of info...finally, call them. They tell us we can get rid of ALL of the equipment any way we see fit.

Huh? Never, from any other provider has that happened. Always, send a box, return equipment. We drilled the lady, said, your website says we will be charged if we don't return equipment within 21 days ( I think that's what it said) of cancellation. She just laughed and said, do not worry.

Anyone else cancel lately and have new equipment that they supposedly do not want returned? Why am I paranoid??

Last year when I moved from Florida I was told where to take it and I got a receipt and was able to track it back to DTV...I'm not surprised that things have changed...AT&T has stripped DTV to the bone and is probably going to sell it...
 
Last year when I moved from Florida I was told where to take it and I got a receipt and was able to track it back to DTV...I'm not surprised that things have changed...AT&T has stripped DTV to the bone and is probably going to sell it...
That's exactly what I told Mrs GOS. I said, based on these events, I don't think DirecTV will be in business much longer. Something just feels wrong.
 
Why am I paranoid??
You are not paranoid. You are lucid.

I had DirectTV for three years. At the end of the second year they sent me new equipment which I installed but then returned because it didn't have a particular feature which the old equipment did and it was very useful to my special needs son. Sometime during the third year a Verizon salesman came to my door and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. So I called DirectTV to cancel and they said I was in a two year contract. I told them I was in my third year. They said when I took the new equipment I agreed to a new term. I told them I hadn't and furthermore the state of PA has a buyers remorse law that gives you seven days to return anything without penalty. That rep said he was from PA and knew I was correct but he wasn't authorized to amend anything. For several years I got a big bill in the mail which I always tore up.
 
The same non-return for equipment thing happened to me a few years ago. I cancelled, and they didn't want the equipment back. They did however want the little SIM cards that went into the players. I was set up for three TVs, so the amount of equipment was considerable. I even complained, because in NY state you just cant throw that stuff in the trash. It has to be recycled by an accredited recycler, sometimes at a cost. I requested return shipping cartons so they could recycle it. I even escalated the request with a CS manager. They refused, saying it was my responsibility to dispose of it. I eventually did, for free, at a boy scout electronic recycle drive. I will never go back to DirectTV. Someday I'm gonna end up paying to have that dish removed from the roof as well.
 
The same non-return for equipment thing happened to me a few years ago. I cancelled, and they didn't want the equipment back. They did however want the little SIM cards that went into the players. I was set up for three TVs, so the amount of equipment was considerable. I even complained, because in NY state you just cant throw that stuff in the trash. It has to be recycled by an accredited recycler, sometimes at a cost. I requested return shipping cartons so they could recycle it. I even escalated the request with a CS manager. They refused, saying it was my responsibility to dispose of it. I eventually did, for free, at a boy scout electronic recycle drive. I will never go back to DirectTV. Someday I'm gonna end up paying to have that dish removed from the roof as well.
Perhaps that’s it, because of various laws requiring the correct disposal of electronic gear; for people returning thousands of units, they don’t want to pay the recycling fees. Plus if they don’t dispose of them properly, there may be hefty penalties fees. Additionally, from an accounting point of view, they can write off the units for tax purposes. Those units bought in bulk numbers by these large corporations, are probably fairly inexpensive. Also, they’d have to pay to ship the return box and materials and a large shipping fee for shipping the gear back to them; also time and money for handling all that.

I’ve never had DirectTV; but I’ve had Dish, and they wanted the unit shipped back; I’ve also had to return a failed U-Verse box. But recycling has since gone into the crapper since then and it’s very hard and costly now to get rid of electronics properly IMO. Mainly I believe because China has cut back on buying our recycled materials.
 
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To return your DirecTV equipment, you just bring it to any UPS Store. They scan each piece and give you a receipt then they take care of packing it up and shipping it back with no cost to you. Pretty simple...
 
Perhaps that’s it, because of various laws requiring the correct disposal of electronic gear; for people returning thousands of units, they don’t want to pay the recycling fees. Plus if they don’t dispose of them properly, there may be hefty penalties fees. Additionally, from an accounting point of view, they can write off the units for tax purposes. Those units bought in bulk numbers by these large corporations, are probably fairly inexpensive. Also, they’d have to pay to ship toe the return box and materials and a large shipping fee for shipping the gear back to them; also time and money for handling all that.

I’ve never had DirectTV; but I’ve had Dish, and they wanted the unit shipped back; I’ve also had to return a failed U-Verse box. But recycling has since gone into the crapper since then and it’s very hard and costly now to get rid of electronics properly IMO. Mainly I believe because China has cut back on buying our recycled materials.
DirectTV changes their equipment lineup pretty regularly as new developments come along, although they don't update their existing customers equipment unless it fails. They can't re-use the obsolete equipment for new customers, so its a financial hit for them to pay to have it shipped back and then to dispose of it. They have no problem passing that cost on to an ex-customer.
 
To return your DirecTV equipment, you just bring it to any UPS Store. They scan each piece and give you a receipt then they take care of packing it up and shipping it back with no cost to you. Pretty simple...
They never even mentioned that as a possibility. The bastards. Like I said, never again.
 
To return your DirecTV equipment, you just bring it to any UPS Store. They scan each piece and give you a receipt then they take care of packing it up and shipping it back with no cost to you. Pretty simple...
Same recycling issues, and pretty sure The UPS Store is not paying those shipping fees; DirectTV would pay them on a contract to get that done.
 
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