# Can you transfer a DirecTV account?



## athakur999 (Jun 11, 2007)

I just moved into a new house and have decided to go with FIOS for both my Internet and TV. I still have a few months left on my DirecTV contract however. Does anyone know if I can transfer the remainder of my DirecTV contract to someone else or is my only option to pay the early termination fee? I've tried searching Google and couldn't find any mention of this and my email to DirecTV via their web form has gone unanswered for several days...


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

You would have to call them.

I don't think you can transfer it to another account.


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## Spazzman (Oct 8, 2006)

athakur999 said:


> I just moved into a new house and have decided to go with FIOS for both my Internet and TV. I still have a few months left on my DirecTV contract however. Does anyone know if I can transfer the remainder of my DirecTV contract to someone else or is my only option to pay the early termination fee? I've tried searching Google and couldn't find any mention of this and my email to DirecTV via their web form has gone unanswered for several days...


Tell DTV your new house is deep in the forest or your apt is facing north. Or just explain that you have moved and want to switch to cable.. Or ask them to pro rate the remainder of your contract and pay a much smaller termination fee.


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## Bob Coxner (Dec 28, 2005)

It's been a couple of years ago but my brother was able to transfer his account to a roommate. It's worth a phone call to try. The termination fee is always pro-rated, unlike cell phone companies. If you quit 1 day before your 2 years of Sprint you pay the full Early Termination Fee. With DirecTV it's pro-rated at $12.50 per month. If you have 6 months left on your 2-year commitment, then the termination fee would be $75.

At least that's the way it was a few months ago. Things could have changed in the meantime.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Not usually as least anymore. A transfer would require credit approval and everything that a new acct goes through. If its cheaper to pay the ETF than to pay for the few remaining months left on your commitment, just pay the ETF fee.


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## rbpeirce (Feb 24, 2006)

You could do it informally. Who would know? You would still be responsible for paying the bill but the other person could pay you. It would be sort of like a sub-let. Without an agreement in front of me I don't know if this is allowed, but it is certainly possible. The other person would need a dish.


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## wallyjar (Aug 11, 2006)

You could just "suspend" your account. Tis is allowed for several months and may get you to end of contract


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## Michael D'Angelo (Oct 21, 2006)

wallyjar said:


> You could just "suspend" your account. Tis is allowed for several months and may get you to end of contract


You can suspend your account up to 9 months but the remaining months on your account stop. When you start your account again you still have the same amount of remaining months left.


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## jpl (Jul 9, 2006)

athakur999 said:


> I just moved into a new house and have decided to go with FIOS for both my Internet and TV. I still have a few months left on my DirecTV contract however. Does anyone know if I can transfer the remainder of my DirecTV contract to someone else or is my only option to pay the early termination fee? I've tried searching Google and couldn't find any mention of this and my email to DirecTV via their web form has gone unanswered for several days...


I've posted this elsewhere, but I'll include it here as well. I was a 5 year DirecTV customer, and in April I switched to FiOS too. I ended up suspending my DirecTV account - you can do that for up to 9 months - after I got fios installed. Since Verizon gives you 30 days before their 1-year commitment kicks in, I was able to test out their service before deciding for sure that I wanted to switch (two notes on this: 1) you don't have to take Verizon's commitment - but if you do, you get $5 off per month for the year; 2) that 30-day trial doesn't apply to most of their triple-play arrangements - triple play details vary by state. Initially triple play wasn't available to me, so I just went with their 1 year commitment. Two weeks in they offered a triple play, which I jumped on - but one downside was that the remainder of that 30-day trial period would be lost - the triple play commitment started right away).

After about a week I was pretty convinced that I was going to stay with fios - I held onto my directv account a little longer for a couple reasons - the main one being that I wanted to see what Verizon's new integrated media guide (the s/w on their box) looked like. After I saw the demo online (someone in one of the HR20 threads posted a link to it) I was convinced - I cancelled my DirecTV service the next day.

As someone said, they prorate your early termination fee. I had 14 months left on my contract, so I basically paid out the remainder of the contract. As for transferring your account - very interesting idea. I doubt they'll let you do it, but I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

Edit - One thing I JUST noticed... you said you're moving into a new house. That would make it more difficult to do what I recommended. If you suspend your DirecTV account and then decide you want it reactivated, well you no longer have the dish on your house. You would need to either install a new one yourself, or get DirecTV's mover's connection... which would increase your commitment period. Still, you may want to consider it.


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## athakur999 (Jun 11, 2007)

Thanks for the replies everyone!

I'm moved from an apartment so my dish was just mounted in a 2x4 stuck into a bucket of concrete  If I did continue with DirecTV, I'd have justed moved that bucket into my backyard and run the wiring myself and not dealt with the contract extension.

I was hoping to offer up my upgraded SD-DVR40 and a regular STB for free as incentive for someone to take over the remaining 8 or 9 months or so of my contract. From all the comments above though it looks I'm just going to end up paying the ETF and then sell my equipment off to recoup part of that money. 

In any case if anyone is interested, the picture quality of FIOS (SD always, I don't have an HDTV so I can't compare that) is noticably better than DirecTV. The DVR is a step back though. Simple tasks like deleting a recording and changing recording options for a series take alot more button clicking than it did with the DirecTivo. Two steps forward, one step back I guess but overall I think it's a good move.


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