# Hd Access Fee



## jason williams (Jan 24, 2007)

Has the $10 HD access fee that was waived for 2 years started yet? Is there any way to get out of paying it? I will have to downgrade my service to make up for this if it starts again. Is the $54.99 entertainment package available?


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Asking blanket questions probably won't help you get the answers you need.

There are some promotions out there for HD Access however most of them revolve around new customer offers now.


You would have to get SD equipment to replace your HD equipment. This will probably be more expensive then keeping HD service for the term of your agreement. 

Entertainment has been available since February.

With all of that said it doesn't mean that any of these are an option to you depending on your account. Unless you might be willing to forgo discounts or promotions you might currently have.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Why ask us when you could call Directv and get an answer from them???


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Richierich said:


> Why ask us when you could call Directv and get an answer from them???


And possibly receive more discounts. I called the other day to downgrade packages due to financial reasons and received $50 off for 6 months.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

Shades228 said:


> You would have to get SD equipment to replace your HD equipment.


Does NOT apply if he's in an MPEG4 market...


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## jason williams (Jan 24, 2007)

I think I will switch to comcast or dish because they don't rip you off for this fee to pad your bill..Even directv does not charge new customers for life for this..It is a way of ripping off their most loyal and long time customers.


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

jason williams said:


> Has the $10 HD access fee that was waived for 2 years started yet? Is there any way to get out of paying it? I will have to downgrade my service to make up for this if it starts again. Is the $54.99 entertainment package available?


It depends on when you started. Mine will run out soon. I have seen reports of some being able to renew it.

The entertainment package has been available for a few months now (I have it).

To be fair, many companies charge extra for HD. DirecTV always has. They only waived it to compete with Dish's HD Free For Life a few years ago. My cable company (Charter) also charges for HD.

If it makes you feel any better, you can get the HD Extra pack for free in perpetuity if you add and drop it every 3 months.

If you keep DirecTV, please let us know if you are successful in getting the HD fee waived again.

Good luck


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

"jason williams" said:


> I think I will switch to comcast or dish because they don't rip you off for this fee to pad your bill..Even directv does not charge new customers for life for this..It is a way of ripping off their most loyal and long time customers.


At one point there was an HD Technology fee. I saw references to this in 2011.You might not actually see it on the bill, but unless something changed, they charge $17 per HD DVR.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

jason williams said:


> I think I will switch to comcast or dish because they don't rip you off for this fee to pad your bill..Even directv does not charge new customers for life for this..It is a way of ripping off their most loyal and long time customers.


You may not see it as a separate line item on a comcast or dish bill, but you're still paying it.....


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

I pay a $20 fee I think that covers HD, DVR service and Whole Home Dvr service but I get a $10 AUTOPAY credit, so I think everyone can get the autopay credit.


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## jimbop99 (Sep 4, 2008)

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to let everyone know that I just received an email automaticly renewing my 2 years of free HD. Wow!


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

jimbop99 said:


> I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to let everyone know that I just received an email automaticly renewing my 2 years of free HD. Wow!


Me too. It looks like those who got it when it was first offered (2 years ago), as long as they maintain the same conditions, should receive an email confirmation soon with a 2 year "renewal" of the hd access fee being free.

Nice to see!

We got our email this morning at 9:16 a.m.


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## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

Ditto, that was a pleasant surprise.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Scott Kocourek said:


> Ditto, that was a pleasant surprise.


I just got that too, but not sure it is a renewal of the free HD. I believe a few months ago, someone else posted about this and received word that it was just a marketing e-mail stating that we have the 2 year free HD promo. It turned out that the marketing department was a little behind the times in getting the e-mails out.

- Merg


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

CCarncross said:


> You may not see it as a separate line item on a comcast or dish bill, but you're still paying it.....


With respect to DISH, you pay the same monthly fees whether you have HD or SD.


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

harsh said:


> With respect to DISH, you pay the same monthly fees whether you have HD or SD.


That's because the "HD Fee" is spread out so that all DISH customers pay for it with higher monthly prices, higher DVR/Receiver fees, etc. It's in there, you just don't see it.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

harsh said:


> With respect to DISH, you pay the same monthly fees whether you have HD or SD.


Not in every situation.


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## rene_hernandez88 (Jun 3, 2012)

If you didn't get it, you get it for free with automatic payment. =]


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

Shades228 said:


> Not in every situation.


There are a _very few_ exceptions.


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## jappleboy (Apr 2, 2010)

I you hate sports get dish. All company's are going to get the same out of you, higher dvr fees, less than good PQ, part time HD.


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## jimbop99 (Sep 4, 2008)

After I got the email indicating I would get free HD access, I just got a post card saying if I didn't sign up for Auto Bill Pay I would have to pay for HD. I checked the website to confirm I was still signed up and then called to get a verbal confirmation. I can almost guaranty that this will get botched by them somehow.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

jimbop99 said:


> After I got the email indicating I would get free HD access, I just got a post card saying if I didn't sign up for Auto Bill Pay I would have to pay for HD. I checked the website to confirm I was still signed up and then called to get a verbal confirmation. I can almost guaranty that this will get botched by them somehow.


Oh, it has been botched, perhaps the worst corporate screw up I've seen in a long time. After my nice words in this thread, see what actually happened:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=178605

Many, many people have had major issues with the "Free HD Access" email, followed by a completely bogus postcard saying we've been dropped from the Free HD Access program because we no longer had AutoPay (which all of us still did).

I'll make no more comments here, but anyone interested in this fiasco should read the other thread.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

Please continue any further discussion in the thread linked by hasan above.

Mike


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