DIRECTV SERVUCE

My Directv receiver has been turning off automatically/sporadically for over a week. 4 times just today! I called the cust. service #, spoke to a man named Vin...he seemed helpful until he said he would need to send a technician to my home to fix or replace my receiver...at a cost of $99.!! ...or $8.00/mo for a protection plan. ARE THEY NUTS? This is not my equip, I've been a cust for over 20 yrs, he had the nerve to say I was a valued customer... wonder how they treat their customers who aren't yet valued??