Did DirecTV start charging you after lifetime transfer?

[Espo]

I was going to transfer my DirecTV lifetime to a new S3. However, I plan on keeping my old DirecTivos for a while. Has anybody been charged a monthly fee of $5.99 by D*TV afterwards? Do they not have a way of knowing the LT's been removed?

[mtchamp]

I had DirecTV at home up until August. I had already bailed in anticipation of getting a Series3. When the DirecTV Lifetime transfer offer came out, I had just bought more Series3's and I was able to transfer 2 DirecTV Lifetimes even though I already cancelled DirecTV service.

I have a total of 3 DirecTV Lifetimes according to TiVo. It's been so long, I don't know when and under what conditions I purchased them. I have a couple more Series3's on the way so I can transfer the last DirecTV Lifetime. All these Series3 are for family and friends. I always did all the transactions and they pay me later.

I think that TiVo and DirecTV are not exchanging information and TiVo is just looking to win back good customers for it's standalone business. I think DirecTV will never know anything specific, like who did a Series3 Lifetime transfer, except that they might be experiencing a higher number of DirecTV with TiVo account cancellations.

I had 2 DirecTV accounts, one for home and one for work. I still have DirecTV at work and my next bill comes at the end of the month. I can't tell which Lifetime service was attached to which account. I did the transfer at the end of December, so we'll see if I'm charged for DVR service.

[20TIL6]

I was going to transfer my DirecTV lifetime to a new S3. However, I plan on keeping my old DirecTivos for a while. Has anybody been charged a monthly fee of $5.99 by D*TV afterwards? Do they not have a way of knowing the LT's been removed?
I cancelled my DTV account within the month after my transfer, so I will never know if DTV would have started charging me a monthly fee.

But I have serious doubts that they, 1) have the transfer information, or 2) even if they did, would start charging you a monthly DVR fee.

Facing the loss of your business, I think they would be more inclined to LOWER your bill. I mean, that's basically what buying an S3 means for them.

I would call them, tell them you bought an S3 and you need to cancel (I know you don't plan to for a while, but just play along). You'll get transferred to retention, and they will start making offers. See if you can get some $$ knocked off your bill, or some free premium channels for a while. But DON'T take any free equipment offers, or anything else that they locks you into a 2yr or more commitment. They want that commitment, and they will offer a lot to get it. Just say no, but try and get some non-commitment freebies (like a little discount for a while).

My feeling is that DTV needs to get the message that dropping TiVo was a bonehead move. I don't know if that is why you are switching to S3 and cable, but that's why I did.

Oh, and you will love your S3. Mine is great, no problems at all, and the cable/cablecard install was painless.

[eelton]

I was able to transfer 2 DirecTV Lifetimes even though I already cancelled DirecTV service.

I have a total of 3 DirecTV Lifetimes according to TiVo...I have a couple more Series3's on the way so I can transfer the last DirecTV Lifetime. Wow, this is surprising for two reasons: (1) your DirecTV service was already cancelled, and (2) you were able to transfer multiple lifetimes.

The lifetime subscription for DirecTV TiVos is per account rather than per unit. Therefore, you really only have one lifetime subscription. You shouldn't be able to transfer more than one. (After all, you only paid for one originally, right?)

Also, that lifetime subscription should disappear when the account is cancelled. Still, allowing a credit from that toward a series 3 lifetime wouldn't be as surprising on TiVo's part as allowing multiple lifetime transfers when only one really existed.

[20TIL6]

Wow, this is surprising for two reasons: (1) your DirecTV service was already cancelled, and (2) you were able to transfer multiple lifetimes.

The lifetime subscription for DirecTV TiVos is per account rather than per unit. Therefore, you really only have one lifetime subscription. You shouldn't be able to transfer more than one. (After all, you only paid for one originally, right?)

Also, that lifetime subscription should disappear when the account is cancelled. Still, allowing a credit from that toward a series 3 lifetime wouldn't be as surprising on TiVo's part as allowing multiple lifetime transfers when only one really existed.
Moving lifetime services from being per unit to per account was a DTV accounting move. I am not sure if TiVo is concerned about that, because the information they want is the TSN from the units. Despite what DTV did, I would think that TiVo would have a record of all those TSN's that at one point a lifetime sub was purchased for.

Meaning that he probably did pay a lifetime fee for each of those TSN's that he transferred to a S3.

At least this is the way I am reading it.

[Espo]

Is the expiration date for this transfer 1/31 or has it changed again? Do you have to say you bought it before 12/31?

[CraigHB]

Buy an S3 by 1/31, transfer lifetime to it by 3/2.

My S3 is going to be here this week. I'm another one of those customers DirecTV lost because they dropped TiVo.

[Billy66]

Moving lifetime services from being per unit to per account was a DTV accounting move. I am not sure if TiVo is concerned about that, because the information they want is the TSN from the units. Despite what DTV did, I would think that TiVo would have a record of all those TSN's that at one point a lifetime sub was purchased for.

Meaning that he probably did pay a lifetime fee for each of those TSN's that he transferred to a S3.

At least this is the way I am reading it.


With DTV, they only ever charged one lifetime or DVR fee. Mirroring to others was always included with the standard mirroring charge for programming.

He only would have paid DTV once.

[CrispyCritter]

With DTV, they only ever charged one lifetime or DVR fee. Mirroring to others was always included with the standard mirroring charge for programming.

He only would have paid DTV once.Yes. It was official policy from day 1 that DirecTV handled all the billing (TiVo was not paid directly), and official policy from day 1 that lifetime is mirrored on DirecTV. Given all the confusion, I just spent half an hour looking at the archives.

It also seems to be true that isolated TiVo reps accepted payment for DirecTiVo lifetimes, and isolated DirecTV reps required lifetime payment on every DVR you were subscribring. But those were service rep errors, and should have been corrected at the time.

[eelton]

Yes. It was official policy from day 1 that DirecTV handled all the billing (TiVo was not paid directly), and official policy from day 1 that lifetime is mirrored on DirecTV. Given all the confusion, I just spent half an hour looking at the archives.So just to be clear, transferring more than one "lifetime" from DirecTV is either exploiting a loophole or abusing the system, depending on your point of view.

(OK, I admit I'm a bit disappointed that I sold two DirecTV TiVos and only transferred one lifetime. Maybe if I had know this earlier...)

[Espo]

I had DirecTV at home up until August. I had already bailed in anticipation of getting a Series3. When the DirecTV Lifetime transfer offer came out, I had just bought more Series3's and I was able to transfer 2 DirecTV Lifetimes even though I already cancelled DirecTV service.

I have a total of 3 DirecTV Lifetimes according to TiVo. It's been so long, I don't know when and under what conditions I purchased them. I have a couple more Series3's on the way so I can transfer the last DirecTV Lifetime. All these Series3 are for family and friends. I always did all the transactions and they pay me later.

I think that TiVo and DirecTV are not exchanging information and TiVo is just looking to win back good customers for it's standalone business. I think DirecTV will never know anything specific, like who did a Series3 Lifetime transfer, except that they might be experiencing a higher number of DirecTV with TiVo account cancellations.

I had 2 DirecTV accounts, one for home and one for work. I still have DirecTV at work and my next bill comes at the end of the month. I can't tell which Lifetime service was attached to which account. I did the transfer at the end of December, so we'll see if I'm charged for DVR service.
Did you happen to get your next D* bill & notice any changes?

[Espo]

Anyone?