# Multiple HR34's on one account?



## franklin_planner (Oct 12, 2011)

Will DirecTV activate more than one HR34 on my account? Would like to add a 2nd one by purchasing a new one from Soild Signal. :money:


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

The general consensus here is no more than one.


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## say-what (Dec 14, 2006)

franklin_planner said:


> Will DirecTV activate more than one HR34 on my account? Would like to add a 2nd one by purchasing a new one from Soild Signal. :money:


First, you wouldn't be buying from Solid Signal, it's still a leased unit.

Second, even Solid Signal says one per account:

DIRECTV Only authorizes one HR34 per account 
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.as...Server-for-Whole-Home-HD-DVR-(HR34)-&more=yes


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## dettxw (Nov 21, 2007)

Ask the guys who have two on their accounts.
TBlazer07, fluffybear, Sixto, and azarby come immediately to mind without doing any research.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

dettxw said:


> Ask the guys who have two on their accounts.
> TBlazer07, fluffybear, Sixto, and azarby come immediately to mind without doing any research.


While there are a few isolated cases where people have two, it is currently DirecTV policy to only permit one on an account. You won't be able to activate a second one even if you get ahold of one.

There are technical and logistical reasons behind this policy. It is possible it will change at some future time, but nobody knows for sure if or when.


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## raromr (Jun 24, 2010)

And even if you are able to get it activated, I have been told by DTV customer adovocate center that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s - whether that is true or not, I do not know, but it may be a risk if you buy a $399 receiver and suddenly find it bricked.


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## wingrider01 (Sep 9, 2005)

raromr said:


> And even if you are able to get it activated, I have been told by DTV customer adovocate center that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s - whether that is true or not, I do not know, but it may be a risk if you buy a $399 receiver and suddenly find it bricked.


bricked and buy are the wrong terms, the leased unit would be de-authorized from the account, it still would function perfectly on a different account that can get it authorized on


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

wingrider01 said:


> the leased unit would be de-authorized from the account, it still would function perfectly on a different account that can get it authorized on


Which, for the end user who dropped $399, there would be no distinction. It's useless, can't use it and can't sell it and get hit with a return fee if it's not sent back (it other words D* is making a ton of money off it, $399 up front and then several hundred for the non-return).

Terrible policy that would likely cause most customers hit with it to drop D* altogether.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

raromr said:


> And even if you are able to get it activated, I have been told by DTV customer adovocate center that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s - whether that is true or not, I do not know, but it may be a risk if you buy a $399 receiver and suddenly find it bricked.


 That sounds like "if you open your receiver when you eventually send it back they will charge you $14,354 and call the FBI" rule.  I don't believe the "we'll shut it down if we find you" theory to be true or my wife would be quite angry at me.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

TBlazer07 said:


> That sounds like "if you open your receiver when you eventually send it back they will charge you $14,354 and call the FBI" rule.  I don't believe the "we'll shut it down if we find you" theory to be true or my wife would be quite angry at me.


It is true regardless if it has impacted you, or not, at this time to tell others that it's not is just setting them up for a bad experience.

It's clearly stated on any dealers websites for a reason.


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

Shades228 said:


> It is true regardless if it has impacted you, or not, at this time to tell others that it's not is just setting them up for a bad experience.
> 
> It's clearly stated on any dealers websites for a reason.


 You sentence structure had me a bit confused but I got the jist of it. Had you understood my comment you'd see I wasn't questioning whether more than 1 is permitted (because I know that limitation of 1 to be a fact).

My comment referred to the quoted poster's statement _"that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s." _ Since DirecTV would more than likely have been the entity that supplied it and DirecTV without any doubt would have been the entity to actually activate it in the first place taking that action would be kind of dumb and antagonistic to the customer.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

TBlazer07 said:


> My comment referred to the quoted poster's statement _"that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s." _ Since DirecTV would more than likely have been the entity that supplied it and DirecTV without any doubt would have been the entity to actually activate it in the first place taking that action would be kind of dumb and antagonistic to the customer.


Shades228 works for DirecTV. He is telling you that what raromr posted is true. DirecTVs system does look for accounts with more than one HR34 on it and deactivates one of them. That deactivated HR34 has to be returned to DirecTV or else the account owner gets charged with a non-return fee just like with any other deactivated leased receiver. The people who have this happen to them do not get their $400 lease fee back either. The people this is happening are people who tried to go around the system like others here are posting and ordering 2 HR34s from 2 different vendors. He saying that people shouldn't be telling anyone to try ordering HR34s from 2 different vendors because their is a good possibility they will end up having wasted $400.


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## raromr (Jun 24, 2010)

And that is all I meant when I used the term "bricked." Obviously the receiver would still work, but if it cannot be activated by the intended user it is effectively a metaphorical brick. Picky, picky.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

raromr said:


> And that is all I meant when I used the term "bricked." Obviously the receiver would still work, but if it cannot be activated by the intended user it is effectively a metaphorical brick. Picky, picky.


Yeah, I once got blasted for being inaccurate for leaving out the W in a DirecTV orbital slot, like they actually have satellites at both W and E.

To the user, the fact that they can't do anything with it and are out the money, it's essentially bricked for them.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

TBlazer07 said:


> You sentence structure had me a bit confused but I got the jist of it. Had you understood my comment you'd see I wasn't questioning whether more than 1 is permitted (because I know that limitation of 1 to be a fact).
> 
> My comment referred to the quoted poster's statement _"that DTV runs a program that looks for accounts with more than one HR34 and when found deactivates one of the HR34s." _Since DirecTV would more than likely have been the entity that supplied it and DirecTV without any doubt would have been the entity to actually activate it in the first place taking that action would be kind of dumb and antagonistic to the customer.


DIRECTV CSR's cannot order a second HMC for an account that has one active on it. So without willfully doing something to bypass the systems it wouldn't happen ordering them through DIRECTV.

I have seen instances where people who have had 2 leased HMC's on the account get one pulled off and there isn't a refund.


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Shades228 said:


> DIRECTV CSR's cannot order a second HMC for an account that has one active on it. So without willfully doing something to bypass the systems it wouldn't happen ordering them through DIRECTV.
> 
> I have seen instances where people who have had 2 leased HMC's on the account get one pulled off and there isn't a refund.


There's a clear lesson learned in that information, and an answer to the OP as well.


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## mfryd (Jan 1, 2010)

Beerstalker said:


> ...
> The people this is happening are people who tried to go around the system like others here are posting and ordering 2 HR34s from 2 different vendors.
> ...


To be fair, there are lots of legitimate reasons to around the DirecTV ordering system.

Perhaps the most common reason to "go around the system" is to get a particular model of DVR. The DirecTV system will not let you order any particular model. You may think you have ordered a brand new HR24, but you might get a refurbished HR21 instead. "Going around" the DirecTV system in order to get a specific model of DVR is something regularly recommended on this site.

You also need to "Go around" the system if you want a particular model of remote control, or want your system wired to your specifications. Perhaps you want the small wired CCK, (good luck trying to order that from DirecTV; you'll end up with the much larger wireless CCK).

There are lots of possible reasons why DirecTV will only ship one HR34 per customer. Perhaps they are in short supply and this is how they ration them? Perhaps the documentation only mentions the single HR34 case, and they don't want to confuse people? Perhaps they don't want to train installers how to configure the HR34 with fewer active tuners (If you have multiple HR34s, you may not need to have all 5 tuners active in each HR34).

And what about the people who routinely get their receivers from Solid Signal? How are they to know about the prohibition? I got my HR34 from solid signal as it was cheaper than from DirecTV. DirecTV wanted me to pay for a truck roll for an installer. With Solid Signal, I opened the box, unplugged the old DVR, plugged in the HR34, and was on my way. I already had a SWM-16 and was prepared for the HR34 from my initial installation.

There is no reason to suspect that getting another HR34 from Solid Signal is any different then getting another HR24 for Solid Signal.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

mfryd said:


> There is no reason to suspect that getting another HR34 from Solid Signal is any different then getting another HR24 for Solid Signal.


Except for the fact that once you contact DirecTV to activate your 2nd HR34 they will deny your request.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

Shades228 said:


> DIRECTV CSR's cannot order a second HMC for an account that has one active on it. So without willfully doing something to bypass the systems it wouldn't happen ordering them through DIRECTV.
> 
> I have seen instances where people who have had 2 leased HMC's on the account get one pulled off and there isn't a refund.


You immediately assume a customer is willfully doing something wrong. D*'s history in communicating isn't exactly stellar. There are still vendors who "sell" HR34s and their is zero notice about the rule.

D* allowing distributors to "sell" an unsuspecting customer an HR34 for $399 only to then not allow it to be activated, force the customer to return it or get hit with a fee seems like a great way to get the type of notice you wouldn't want from a state attorney general.


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## SolidSignal (Oct 3, 2007)

For the record, receivers sold by Solid Signal are leased and we do our best to communicate that ahead of time. To protect your privacy, our online ordering system does not ask for your DIRECTV account number, so we can't tell whether or not you already have an HR34 on your account. 

I know there are those who have a second HR34 on the account but we tell our customers that only one HR34 can be active on the account. Unfortunately DIRECTV places restrictions on our ability to accept returns on receivers once you have gone through the activation process. It's not up to us. 

We are happy to help any way we can.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

SolidSignal said:


> I know there are those who have a second HR34 on the account but we tell our customers that only one HR34 can be active on the account. Unfortunately DIRECTV places restrictions on our ability to accept returns on receivers once you have gone through the activation process. It's not up to us. We are happy to help any way we can.


Question: if DirecTV doesn't allow a second 34 to be activated on an account, is there a problem with someone returning that mistakenly purchased non-activated 34 to your store?


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

raott said:


> You immediately assume a customer is willfully doing something wrong. D*'s history in communicating isn't exactly stellar. There are still vendors who "sell" HR34s and their is zero notice about the rule.
> 
> D* allowing distributors to "sell" an unsuspecting customer an HR34 for $399 only to then not allow it to be activated, force the customer to return it or get hit with a fee seems like a great way to get the type of notice you wouldn't want from a state attorney general.


DIRECTV requires dealers to put the requirements on the page. If you look at Solidsignal's listing you'll see they clearly state you can only have 1 per account. If there is a retailer who is non-authorized, or who doesn't list the requirements then you would definitely have legit complaint about the dealer. If you see dealers who don't have a warning and feel that passionate about it you could email them and DIRECTV to let them know they don't have the requirements listed.

If the same thing happened with the HMC that happened with big box stores, where it wasn't made clear, then DIRECTV would take action and not allow them to be sold through those chains. However I think the instances of this happening are going to be small enough it's not a concern. This whole thread deals with a bunch of what if's so until someone actually has it happen to them the situation is educational as is.

There are procedures in place that would stop it from being activated if followed properly so I would say the chance of this actually happening to an "unsuspecting" customer is greater than winning a Powerball. It can happen so it's not impossible but for most people they'd call DIRECTV first and get told they can't have 2. Then they could possibly check online and see the warning stating that they can't have 2. Then if they were really passionate about it they could find DBSTalk and ask here and find out as well.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

trh said:


> Question: if DirecTV doesn't allow a second 34 to be activated on an account, is there a problem with someone returning that mistakenly purchased non-activated 34 to your store?


This is taken from their website under returns & warranties located at:

http://www.solidsignal.com/p/?p=2555&d=returns-warranties



> *DIRECTV Satellite Receivers
> 
> *DIRECTV satellite receivers come with either a 90-Day or 1-Year parts and labor manufacturers warranty. Solid Signal will accept inactivated* satellite receivers for up to 30 days from the date of purchase. Customers with receivers that have been activated with DIRECTV must contact the manufacturer for service and repair. This includes DIRECTV high definition DVR receivers. Please check your owners manual for manufacturer contact information.
> 
> * Activated satellite receivers have been logged with DIRECTV as a useable device for receiving and watching DIRECTV signal broadcasts.


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## Joe Spears (Dec 24, 2010)

Iceman5000 has 3 HR34's on there account.... 



Iceman5000 said:


> In December I purchased 3 HR34's from USDigitalHD.com for 394.99 ea. Installed them myself. Today after reading about the credits people were receiving I called D*TV retentions. I didn't threaten to leave or anything. The CSR was very polite and in less then 5 minutes gave my account an instant credit for $300.00 X 2 = $600.00. I am very happy, I did not think I would be able to get it done. I do agree that D*TV has a serious inconsistency problem in the Customer Service Dept with the wide differences customers are experiencing. I have been a customer since 2000.


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

Shades228, can you please explain why they don't allow for two or more HR34's?

Thanks


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## TBlazer07 (Feb 5, 2009)

raott said:


> You immediately assume a customer is willfully doing something wrong. D*'s history in communicating isn't exactly stellar. There are still vendors who "sell" HR34s and their is zero notice about the rule.
> 
> D* allowing distributors to "sell" an unsuspecting customer an HR34 for $399 only to then not allow it to be activated, force the customer to return it or get hit with a fee seems like a great way to get the type of notice you wouldn't want from a state attorney general.


Basically the point I was trying to make but if they say "we can't activate it, return it to dealer for a refund" that is fine but once they activate it the customer is stuck. It is THEIR responsibility to NOT activate it because it is against the rule. Once they do, they should not be allowed to DEactivate it and screw the customer.



SolidSignal said:


> For the record, receivers sold by Solid Signal are leased and we do our best to communicate that ahead of time. To protect your privacy, our online ordering system does not ask for your DIRECTV account number, so we can't tell whether or not you already have an HR34 on your account.
> 
> I know there are those who have a second HR34 on the account but we tell our customers that only one HR34 can be active on the account. Unfortunately DIRECTV places restrictions on our ability to accept returns on receivers once you have gone through the activation process. It's not up to us.
> 
> We are happy to help any way we can.


Exactly, and since DIRECTV MUST be the one to activate it (thereby "accepting" it) I cannot see how they could suddenly DEactivate it and screw the customer for $400 by removing it.

It's a training issue, (and their training is the epitome of "trickle down," I experienced it on the training side for almost 3 years). If the CSR errors and activates it, it should remain activated. It should be THEIR responsibility to NOT activate it and tell the customer to return it for a refund to the dealer.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

TheRatPatrol said:


> Shades228, can you please explain why they don't allow for two or more HR34's?
> 
> Thanks


I could give you a ton of speculation but I'm sure it basically comes down to cost to support and the fact that if you allow 2 then you have to ensure that all of the functions also support having 2 on the account. Given that you can still use HR series with the HMC there's still tons of flexibility, more so actually, than having 2 of these.

Now that is just my guess but I'm probably close to the reasons. Ultimately though it's because it's their rules and this is what they've chosen for this model. For people who want multiple there will never be a good reason and they'll never be happy with it, unless it changes at some point, but there's really nothing to be done about it either at this point.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

I think it may also have something to do with the RVU server/client side of things. As far as I know nobody has figured out how to register a client with more than one server yet. So that means if you have two HR34s on your account and some RVU clients (Samsung Smart TVs) they RVU client can only see one RVU server at a time. In order to switch between servers I believe you have to delete the client from one server and then add it to the other server. You have to keep doing that if you want to go back and forth. Not exactly a simple setup that DirecTV would want to have to support.


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