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To Charge or Not to Charge: Did You Roll a Truck for DirecTV Update?
DirecTV's software update initiated the Energy Saver mode in some of its HD satellite receivers. It meant a truck roll for integrators with technophobe clients. Can you charge them for pressing a button?
"To charge or not to charge... that is the question."
Last week DirecTV gave a reason for every integration company to have a responsive service department, but the bigger question is how many dealers charged for a service call caused by the satellite receiver software update?
Here’s the story… just like several years ago when DirecTV changed its channel lineup overnight, last weekend the company did a software upgrade for certain HD satellite receivers that turned on the Energy Saver mode. According to industry forum posts, the updates occurred on the HR24-500 units but not on the HR21 units.
The Energy Saver mode automatically puts the receiver into standby to save energy after so many hours of idleness. The result is a loss of picture and sound until the receiver is turned back on or any one of the following buttons is pressed:
The question for integrators is: can you charge the client for such a simple service call fix like this? Clients of CE Pro 100 integrator DSI Entertainment Systems in Los Angeles who had blacked-out TVs were concerned about hosting Grammy Awards-watching parties. The company’s service department was fielding requests all weekend.
What do you think... charge or no charge?
Last week DirecTV gave a reason for every integration company to have a responsive service department, but the bigger question is how many dealers charged for a service call caused by the satellite receiver software update?
Here’s the story… just like several years ago when DirecTV changed its channel lineup overnight, last weekend the company did a software upgrade for certain HD satellite receivers that turned on the Energy Saver mode. According to industry forum posts, the updates occurred on the HR24-500 units but not on the HR21 units.
The Energy Saver mode automatically puts the receiver into standby to save energy after so many hours of idleness. The result is a loss of picture and sound until the receiver is turned back on or any one of the following buttons is pressed:
- GUIDE
- LIST
- MENU
- INFO
- CHANNEL UP
- CHANNEL DOWN
The question for integrators is: can you charge the client for such a simple service call fix like this? Clients of CE Pro 100 integrator DSI Entertainment Systems in Los Angeles who had blacked-out TVs were concerned about hosting Grammy Awards-watching parties. The company’s service department was fielding requests all weekend.
What do you think... charge or no charge?
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About the Author
Jason Knott, Editor, CE Pro
Jason has covered low-voltage electronics as an editor since 1990. He joined EH Publishing in 2000, and before that served as publisher and editor of Security Sales, a leading magazine for the security industry. He served as chairman of the Security Industry Association’s Education Committee from 2000-2004 and sat on the board of that association from 1998-2002. He is also a former board member of the Alarm Industry Research and Educational Foundation. He is currently a member of the CEDIA Education Action Team for Electronic Systems Business. Jason graduated from the University of Southern California.
2 Comments (displayed in order by date/time)
If the system was programmed correctly in the first place this not a issue. The recent DirecTV problem that really caused problems was the IP control bug in the previous release.
Page 1 of 1 comment pages
It was pretty simple solution for us. We sent out an email alerting our clients that this DirecTV update was coming or has already made it to their receivers. The email asked if they would prefer to use the energy saving feature or not. And, if they needed our assistance to make the change. If they would like us to come out and fix it, then yes, it is a billable service call. For some, this type of service is covered under our “maintenance agreement.” This is also a non issue for most of our homes. As, the control system discretely hits the on and off button when the source is selected - which is good practice for all integrators to have in place on every project. It would have saved the headache and fear of missing the awards show.
On a side note - DirecTV receivers lead to about 80% of the trouble calls we recieve. I hope they start making better boxes. Our clients hate having to re-setup all of their records and losing the episodes they haven’t watched because their box crashed.