protection plan question

This is what the DTV website says. Not sure why they want to send a tech to replace a faulty receiver when they can ship you 1 for $19.95, tech calls are $99

By checking this box, you agree to our Terms & Conditions for this order.

My equipment is the HS17-500. I was deemed to have a faulty hard drive because it was freezing on fast forward and rewind, and could not exit. We would either have to wait minutes before it would resume, or turn the mini off.

Since the employee assured me that there would be no charge, I set up the appt. and the unit was changed at no cost. This tells me that they waived the 30 day wait period.

That being the case, can I still cancel at anytime without penalty? Or have I been tricked by an unethical employee?

Second comment. After the service was completed, I received an email from Directv. I showed that the protection plan was upgraded to the 20.00 a month plan instead of the 9.00 plan. I gave no such authorization for this, and did not talk to the service tech about an upgrade. He did not have me sign anything concerning the visit. I've since read that this is an ongoing practice. Very frustrating! And since directv is aware of this practice, why are they still using the same service contractors.

Sure you did as he doesn't get paid if you didn't do something to the hand held. 

I did not see or sign any handheld device or paperwork. I asked him if I needed to sign anything and he said no.

Evidently, he signed it himself. That would allow him to upgrade my protection plan without me challenging it.

Thank You so much for your help. I was the only one who had any interaction with the technician.

Do you also have an answer for my first question?

Since the employee assured me that there would be no charge, I set up the appt. and the unit was changed at no cost. This tells me that they waived the 30 day wait period.

That being the case, can I still cancel at anytime without penalty? Or have I been tricked by an unethical employee?

The website doesn't say anything about any penalty for canceling.

This tells me that they waived the 30 day wait period.

That being the case, can I still cancel at anytime without penalty? Or have I been tricked by an unethical employee?

The agent didn't waive the 30 day grace period because they can't. What happened was the service call will initiate the protection plan charge immediately instead of waiting 30 days. Essentially your 30 day no claim period is null and void 

Well, My conversation with Directv should be quite interesting.

I am also going to take your advice about reporting the company that the tech works for to the BBB. I assume he is contracted and isn't a directv employee.

Again, thank all of you for your help in this matter. I will keep you posted.

Update: I called directv today and talked to the retention dept. about my situation. They corrected all my issues and took me off the protection plan completely. One thing that they told me is that they do not require a signature at the end of the service visit. They said that verbally giving them approval to come and fix equipment is all they require. I know it doesn't make sense, but that's how they explained it. I even talked to a Home Service Manager and he said the same thing. I told them that this opens the door to allow them to add anything to the invoice that they want without customer review (exactly what happened to me). They agreed that this type of practice happens often, and don't know if anything will change at the present time.

The home service manager did take done the service techs name and said he would investigate further.

One other thing that may be worth noting is that on the Service Summary that I received by email, it stated that I agreed to a 24 month contract, which I didn't. The retention dept person said that this clause is placed in there for new or upgrade equipment. I told her that mine was replacement not new or upgrade. She made a note and assured me that I was not placed under contract.

Anyway, thanks again for all your help. The next time I will just have them ship my equipment.

That's basically what she told me, but you explained it better. She attached a note to my account, and gave me her attu id number if there were any problems.