Home Tech Ripoff Alert

For all of you DirecTV fans / customers:

If you have a problem with your DirecTV dish, receiver, or (basically) anything, they will send out a technician. However, there will be a significant fee for the service call.

If your DirecTV receiver and/or DVR malfunctions and has to be replaced, DirecTV will be happy to ship you a replacement. You have to pay the freight. The freight is around $25.

You can avoid all of the above unexpected fees by purchasing the DirecTV “Protection Plan,” which will add around $6 to your monthly bill. Whether you need / use it or not. If you use it (in our experience, anyway) it will take about 5 business days to convince customer service to either (1) dispatch a technician or (2) ship a replacement DVR. The replacement will be older than your original equipment, may very well lack functionality you have become used to, and may or may not work.

If you cancel your DirecTV service and have had your DirecTV “Protection Plan” for less than one year, DirecTV will charge you a $10 Early Termination Fee because you are canceling your “Protection Plan” as well as your DirecTV service.

Other fees and/or charges may apply. Read the (extremely small) fine print on your contract for details.

Just FYI.