2 months ago I upgraded to a new dvr hd and they said I had to take a two year contract. I just got my february bill with all price increases. How can they raise my prices when I have a 2 year contract? So they can raise my prices where I can't afford it and I'm stuck because if I cancel I have to pay for the upgrade. I'm stuck with them for 2 years and they can just raise my prices whenever they want? An they told me when I asked for the upgrade that my bill would actually be going down. It never did.
2 yr contract only on my side, not Dish?
- Thread starter Annie2005
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I think you have a two-year contract confused with a two-year price lock. A contract prevents you from canceling your service unless you pay a fee while a price-lock keeps your bill fixed at a certain price for those two years.
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Rule # 3: READ "All prices, packages and programming subject to change without notice." also "IF YOU CHANGE YOUR RESIDENCE, YOU ARE STILL BOUND TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CHANGE PRICES, PACKAGES, AND PROGRAMMING AT ANY TIME, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, DURING ANY TERM AGREEMENT PERIOD TO WHICH YOU HAVE AGREED."
Note i did not put it in caps lock it was already that way
Note i did not put it in caps lock it was already that way
Your 2 year commitment is in exchange for Dish greatly subsidizing--providing you with a HUGE discount compared with what the full retail price is for all equipment and labor--the cost of your upgrade. It is not a price guarantee. The price guarantee is a separate offer and many do have it, but it eventually expires and only delays (albeit by over a year) the inevitable price increase to the true package price.
Please research the MSRP of your leased boxes and calculate all fees for a technician to show up at your residence, add all labor costs and fees for each connection and cost of Dishes, LNBF's and any necessary external switches, and you will see that for a 2 year commitment, paying the upgrades all out your own pocket as some people choose to do, you got a steal of a deal. Dish's average cost to gain a sub and sometimes to keep them with upgrades is close to $600. Wall Street doesn't like this (Direct's cost is about the same), further evidence that you are getting a big discount. But Dish wants to get the money back by having you around for the 2 years. Seems fair to me. Otherwise, pay for it yourself and be free of any commitment.
Please research the MSRP of your leased boxes and calculate all fees for a technician to show up at your residence, add all labor costs and fees for each connection and cost of Dishes, LNBF's and any necessary external switches, and you will see that for a 2 year commitment, paying the upgrades all out your own pocket as some people choose to do, you got a steal of a deal. Dish's average cost to gain a sub and sometimes to keep them with upgrades is close to $600. Wall Street doesn't like this (Direct's cost is about the same), further evidence that you are getting a big discount. But Dish wants to get the money back by having you around for the 2 years. Seems fair to me. Otherwise, pay for it yourself and be free of any commitment.
I am not sure about the actual retail prices, but I would say $600 is about right (totally new install, equipment and labor). That means that they subsidize you for $25 per month during the life of the contract. If you bail out early, I believe the penalty is actually less than $25 per month.
It just goes to show you, how much their profit margin must be. They can waste $600 in upgrades for a 24 month contract. What is the average subs monthly bill. Mine is around $80 a month. 24 months at $80 is $1,920. $1,920 minus $600 (upgrades etc) = $1,320. 1320/24 months is approx $55 net per month prior to programing fees. Those fees they claim that are so outrageous must be pretty reasonable; because they are obviously making a profit on me each month.
It just goes to show you, how much their profit margin must be. They can waste $600 in upgrades for a 24 month contract. What is the average subs monthly bill. Mine is around $80 a month. 24 months at $80 is $1,920. $1,920 minus $600 (upgrades etc) = $1,320. 1320/24 months is approx $55 net per month prior to programing fees. Those fees they claim that are so outrageous must be pretty reasonable; because they are obviously making a profit on me each month.
Charlie would be a gazillionaire if all he had to pay was for programming fees (after the hardware, installation, etc); how about his overhead expenses, ie, payroll, insurance, computers, office space, warehouse, benefits, etc. Oh wait, the biggest expense of all, legal
Maybe someone on the board has a handle on what the average profit margin is for sat tv, I would guess around 6 to 8 %.
Charlie would be a gazillionaire if all he had to pay was for programming fees (after the hardware, installation, etc); how about his overhead expenses, ie, payroll, insurance, computers, office space, warehouse, benefits, etc. Oh wait, the biggest expense of all, legal
If we count the legal expenses then Dish Network would be in red by now. They probably pay them with free programming (trade out).
Dish is committed in the contract to provide you some service at some price. Just no specific service (channels) or price is set in the contract, it is up to Dish!
read WHAT contract? I upgraded on the phone, all they said was I was committed to another 2 years. I didn't have anything to read and nothing to sign. Guy came and installed the new DVR and didn't give me anything to sign either. AND they are charging me 12.00 per month to lease the new machine. I'm sure if I bought one they would call it some other fee. They also didn't need to send out an installer, I've hooked them up before without any problem, they could have just mailed it. This wasn't a new install, just one upgraded box. Did anyone elses fees go up in February? They probably only raised my prices BECAUSE I had a new contract and they new I was stuck.
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well they should have told me last month when I got the upgraded dvr that the annual increases were coming out the next month instead of telling me that my charge was actually going down with the upgrade. Very sneaky.
I really doubt they would have said that unless you down graded your programming. Did you??
I dont know why people here are going out of their way to justify the 2 year contract itself. All the OP asked was why the contract is not bound on the price. I guess we could just answer saying that contracts terms allows the change in price and programming thats all is required. We all know that Dish is a for-profit org and they have a business model to make money now or in future. As a consumer why should we care how they do it?
Lot of posters questions are valid because the other significant contract we sign, i.e: wireless phones, there the price is locked up on the contract, so people expect the same here. It is quite baffling that Dish wants to keep the price increase secret even on till the last day. I guess it'd be fair for dish to just announce that price is guaranteed till monxx-yearyy, I remember they used to do it quite explicitly few years back. Even if the what Dish is doing according to contract, it is just sneaky IMO!
Lot of posters questions are valid because the other significant contract we sign, i.e: wireless phones, there the price is locked up on the contract, so people expect the same here. It is quite baffling that Dish wants to keep the price increase secret even on till the last day. I guess it'd be fair for dish to just announce that price is guaranteed till monxx-yearyy, I remember they used to do it quite explicitly few years back. Even if the what Dish is doing according to contract, it is just sneaky IMO!
I've had pay tv, either satellite or cable, for 30 years or so. "disclaimer" I'm not a rocket scientist, however I know that about once a year, I'm gonna see a price change, and it's typically not gonna decrease
(unless I drop programming)I don't understand why folks want to compare a pay tv contract to a cell phone contract, it's not the same critter.
What usually happens when your auto, health, homeowners, renters, etc., insurance is up for renewal? Mine usually goes up
I do get a heads-up on the price increase from the insurance co, however that's probably only because the laws concerning insurance contracts are different than the laws concerning pay tv. (And they wanna make sure I budget enough for the increase
)Is Dish being sneaky? You have to decide that and vote your entertainment dollars accordingly.
They haven't exactly kept the price increase a secret. And you'd have to be blind not to have seen the discussions about it on this forum. And the fact they raise prices EVERY February.
And you signed a contract when you first started service.
My wireless phone contract certainly does not lock in prices- not for the business, not for the personal phones.
And you signed a contract when you first started service.
My wireless phone contract certainly does not lock in prices- not for the business, not for the personal phones.
Heh! not many people come and read these forums. You must be clueless to think that every potential dish customer comes and reads the forums before they sign. Even those who know about these forums dont read these forums.
It is just tiring to see the fanboy responses here. All I am saying is that if the price increase was 'discussed' in forums, why not dish just tell people who are signing in the month of dec and jan that price may go up in Feb. Is that too much to ask?
Personally I dont care for the price increase and I am with dish for many years and I know how they operate, I am talking about people coming in. Dont talk as if all the dish subscribers are the forum users and vice versa!
