HR20/21 lease fee

[JeffZ81]

Do you need to pay the lease fee as long as you have the receiver or does the lease fee "expire" after 24 months? Thanks.

[TonyTheTiger]

There are no fees that are any different from the old fees - except, maybe, by name. You pay nothing extra for the first receiver but you still pay a $4.99 mirroring fee for each additional box, plus $5.99 DVR fee.

And no, these fees do not change when your commitment is up.

[stevel]

What you pay for the HR2x is a "lease upgrade fee" - this is a one-time payment. As Tony says, there is no ongoing lease fee.

[cramer]

My bill says otherwise... there's $4.99 lease fee on there. It's currently comp'd, but DTV can stop that credit when ever they feel like it (and probablly will.)

BTW, this is worse than any cable company -- at least they don't make you pay for the box ("lease upgrade fee") and then rent the thing too.

[stevel]

Yours says "lease fee", specifically? Odd. The $4.99 is more likely to be the receiver mirroring fee. Perhaps it has been miscoded.

[shibby191]

My bill says otherwise... there's $4.99 lease fee on there. It's currently comp'd, but DTV can stop that credit when ever they feel like it (and probablly will.)

BTW, this is worse than any cable company -- at least they don't make you pay for the box ("lease upgrade fee") and then rent the thing too.

Every single receiver beyond the first one is charged a $4.99 program mirror fee.

If the receiver is owned then it's called "additional receiver fee".
If the receiver is leased then it's called "lease fee".
That simple.

You are not paying an additional monthly lease fee. It's the same 4.99 mirror fee that's been there for 13+ years, just named differently if you own or lease the receiver.

Now if you live in a state that charges taxes on leased items then you may get charged the $4.99 "lease fee" also on your first receiver, then state tax gets applied, then you'll get a credit for the 4.99. They do this so that the state tax gets applied but you're still not actually paying the fee on that first receiver.

As for cable, yea, they just charge $15-25 a month to "lease" their HD DVR box. Over time you'll end up paying a lot more to cable for that box then you will to DirecTV or Dish with the up front fee. Either pay it up front with small monthly fee or forever monthly higher fee, take your pick.

[JimSpence]

Here's what my online account shows.

12/02/2007 XXXX Primary Leased Receiver - LeaseFee Free Rcvr ($4.99) ($0.40)
12/02/2007 XXXX Primary Leased Receiver - Charge $4.99 $0.40

I have the credit since this receiver is the primary on the account. The tax is also credited.
I also have two other DVRs on the account that I pay the $4.99 mirroring fee.

[stevel]

I have a mix of owned and leased receivers, with the "primary" being owned. All of my mirroring fees show as "additional receiver fee". Strange.

[JimSpence]

Not surprising. :)

I wonder if it makes a difference which receiver you have listed as the primary?

[stevel]

Maybe. An owned box (DSR704) is listed as primary.

Truth be told, there's nothing on my statement about a lease, though I have to assume that my HR20 is leased. (The HR21, though, I am told is mine to keep from the beta.)

[cramer]

Yours says "lease fee", specifically? Odd. The $4.99 is more likely to be the receiver mirroring fee. Perhaps it has been miscoded.
12/23/2007 Primary Leased Receiver - LeaseFee Free Rcvr ($4.99) ($0.34)
12/23/2007 Primary Leased Receiver - Charge $4.99 $0.34There's also a $4.99 mirror fee for the second receiver.

[boufa]

My bill says otherwise... there's $4.99 lease fee on there. It's currently comp'd, but DTV can stop that credit when ever they feel like it (and probablly will.)

BTW, this is worse than any cable company -- at least they don't make you pay for the box ("lease upgrade fee") and then rent the thing too.


No charges? My in-laws get charged for the box AND a seprate charge for a REMOTE!!!! there are no significant buttons for control on the box, but the remote is seperately charged. I wonder if anyone has ever refused the remote? And those fees are reoccuring monthly.

[RS4]

No charges? My in-laws get charged for the box AND a seprate charge for a REMOTE!!!! there are no significant buttons for control on the box, but the remote is seperately charged. I wonder if anyone has ever refused the remote? And those fees are reoccuring monthly.

How much is the charge for the remote?

[badmonkey]

No charges? My in-laws get charged for the box AND a seprate charge for a REMOTE!!!! there are no significant buttons for control on the box, but the remote is seperately charged. I wonder if anyone has ever refused the remote? And those fees are reoccuring monthly.

The remote is not purchased separately unless they bought a different one in addition to the standard remote that comes with the DVR.

[JimSpence]

12/23/2007 Primary Leased Receiver - LeaseFee Free Rcvr ($4.99) ($0.34)
12/23/2007 Primary Leased Receiver - Charge $4.99 $0.34There's also a $4.99 mirror fee for the second receiver.I believe I mentioned that.:)

[boufa]

The converter is $3.79 and the remote is an additional $0.20, at least in this market.

badmonkey- the remote charge I was refering to was for a CABLE box, someone earlier in the discussion mentioned that cable boxes were free, and I was pointing out how they nickle and dime their customers also. Yes, normal remotes come free with the D*tv boxes.

[badmonkey]

The converter is $3.79 and the remote is an additional $0.20, at least in this market.

badmonkey- the remote charge I was refering to was for a CABLE box, someone earlier in the discussion mentioned that cable boxes were free, and I was pointing out how they nickle and dime their customers also. Yes, normal remotes come free with the D*tv boxes.

Oops... Sorry. I missed that connection.

[incog-neato]

This is strictly a new way of billing changed by the D* beancounters in order to show that you are leasing that receiver but it is offset by a credit making it free since it is your primary. It's just being done for accounting purposes.
Here's what my online account shows.

12/02/2007 XXXX Primary Leased Receiver - LeaseFee Free Rcvr ($4.99) ($0.40)
12/02/2007 XXXX Primary Leased Receiver - Charge $4.99 $0.40

I have the credit since this receiver is the primary on the account. The tax is also credited.
I also have two other DVRs on the account that I pay the $4.99 mirroring fee.

[poppagene]

Maybe. An owned box (DSR704) is listed as primary.

Truth be told, there's nothing on my statement about a lease, though I have to assume that my HR20 is leased. (The HR21, though, I am told is mine to keep from the beta.)

You may be in their system as owned for your receivers.
Our primary is an owned receiver and the charges for 2 leased and one additional owned receiver show up as:

Fees

12/19 Additional Receiver 4.99

12/19 Leased Receiver 4.99

12/19 Leased Receiver 4.99

[tucsonbill]

Yours says "lease fee", specifically? Odd. The $4.99 is more likely to be the receiver mirroring fee. Perhaps it has been miscoded.Nope. My new HR21 is listed as "primary" lease fee is $4.99.
I've been trying to get them to explain why when they added the HR21 to my the owned boxes it suddenly became "primary". I just looked at the statement again -- to add insult to injury leases are taxable in Arizona, so really pay $5.40.