942 Obsolete: Dish Network Ripoff?

[Bluntskull]

Greetings. I am new here. I am not a techie, nor do I know much about satellites or HD. I am just a consumer. I joined this forum for one reason and only one reason: To find out why Dish Network is screwing me over.

I'll try to be brief: My wife and I upgraded to HD though Dish Network last December. When we upgraded, we asked them "what is the best receiver for HD?" They said, get the 942, because it is the most current model. We asked about how many channels we'd get in HD. The Dish Network (DN) people said we'd get 5, but that "channels are being added all the time, so you'll be getting more as each channel converts over to HD." [Note: since we asked them about what HD channels we'd get with the 942, we assumed that their answer was that the 942 would get more HD channels, and that is our understanding of the converstaion. We'd swear as much in court as a matter of fact.] So, we signed up and got a 942.

All was well for quite awhile. We we're blown away by the performance. Then suddenly the 942 failed, I called a tech person, and he concluded that the unit was defective...no big deal. They'd send us a replacement (no doubt the use of cheap labor to build them in Malaysia has something to do with it...but I digress.)

While I had the tech guy on the phone I learned that the 622 is actually the newest unit, and it provides a lot more HD channels. All these new HD channels are NOT available on the 942 because it is OBSOLETE.

Wonderful. We just spent $700 on an obsolete unit that doesn't give us more than 5 HD channels.

Here is the main point: We were told by the D.N. rep that the 942 would carry all the new HD channels that become available. We have no misunderstanding on that point at all.

We've complained to D.N. that what they've done is, frankly, FRAUDULENT. We contacted their corporate HQ and we've demanded a refund. They sold us a piece of equipment that doesn't perform as they promised.

After all, would you buy a 2005 car, if the dealer told you, that we should wait for a 2005 model to come out, because the 2005 model can't drive on the new roads they will be building in the future? No, you wouldn't. You'd be nuts.

D.N. basically said "Your claim is denied. If you want the new HD channels you'll have to buy the 622."

Does anyone have a similar experience? Is this just the norm for a satellite provider? Should I just bend over and let them screw me in the assssss?

We are on the verge of taking them to court over this. We are that upset!

 

[Tom Bombadil]

If you searched the archives, you would find dozens of threads on this topic. We even conducted a poll of 921 and 942 owners and the overwhelming majority voted that they were dissatisfied with Dish's upgrade path.

In particular it is bad for recent purchasers of the 942, like yourself. The only announced upgrade is to trade in your $700 receiver and then pay another $99 to get a leased 622. Obviously this is a terrible ripoff. The best upgrade path is to sell your 942 on eBay and then either buy or lease a 622. It is possible that you might only take a loss of around $200.

As to how many channels you can get on your 942, you could get another 10 channels from VOOM, as well as HBO & Showtime HD if you sub to those premium packs. So it is possible to receive up to 17 HD channels, plus any OTA HD locals in your area. At present the 622 can receive 7 more channels than a 942, with this number expected to grow in the near future.

So we do understand your frustration. Many of us are in the same boat. When I first heard Dish's upgrade plans for the 942 I didn't believe them. I never thought they would actually screw their customers over so badly. However they did exactly what they said they were going to do.

And welcome to Satellite Guys

 

[DVDDAD]

First, Welcome to SatelliteGuys! Second, I know it won't make you feel much better, but you aren't alone. You have a few options. First you can lease the new receiver for $299 and sell your used 942 on eBay and put some money in your pocket. If you wait until April 1st to lease, you can get a $200 rebate from Dish, but they will require that you send your 942 back to them in exchange. Lastly, you can try writing to ceo@echostar.com. Maybe since it was just December they might be able to work something out for you. Good luck and once again, welcome.

 

[sunfire01]

just cause the csr told you you would get all the new HD channels with the 942 gives you no reason to go to any legal matters as CSR's are stupid to begin with and you didnt have that in writting or any contract. But on your defense I think anyone who purchased a 942 in the past say 6 months should get a free trade in on a 622, I suggest you take this to corporate as others have suggested and get what you can, I would be angry too.

Jason

 

[iceshark]

email Ceo and talk to Matt or Natelie Winters. I am SURE they will take care of you!

 

[Bluntskull]

email Ceo and talk to Matt or Natelie Winters. I am SURE they will take care of you!

Hah! I'm taking that as sarcasm. My wife, who went ballistic over this and is now on a mission, has sent a letter addressed to the CEO of D.N. to blast him for this deceitful practice.

Oh...and she also cc'd the CEOs of Comcast, DirecTV, and one or two other competitors.

They all probably play golf together and they'll have a good chuckly over this. Haha.

 

[Bluntskull]

Thanks guys for the info. What an amazing world we live in! You can talk til you are blue in the face with people who sell you a product or service and get nowhere; yet, if you just join an internet forum with a few knowledgable strangers, suddenly you find out what is really going on.

THANK YOU!

 

[Widescreen]

I actually just bought a new 942 last week although I didn't pay $700 for it. I'm seriously considering dropping their previous HD pack and going with OTA HD only. So if you have the ability to get local channels in HD, you might consider that too.

 

[tooz72]

I bought my 942 in november and was told that when hd locals came out I would have to upgrade to dish 1000. and thay would come out and do the upgrade for $99.00. what thay did not tell me was the 942 would not work with the hd locals.

 

[Weezknight]

It also comes down to the people installing and setting up your system. I got my 811 in December for HD, and at the time I asked about the 942. Basically the installer told me not to spend the money to purchase or lease ($250) it because he didn't think it was worth it. Only a few weeks later I found out the 622 was on the way, and I really think the installer knew this and was helping me steer clear.

Now I can honestly say I wish I could've gotten a free upgrade to the 211 for the new HD, but I also knew I'd be spending more on programming costs, so I'm quite pleased with my 811 right now as I get the 5 HD channel package plus I get all major networks and PBS-HD OTA for a total of 12 HD channels.

A lot of people are in the same boat, but given the number of people who've upgraded from that same boat, I doubt E* is going to be hurt by all of this.

 

[downriver]

Welcome to the "I've been screwed by Charlie" club. If you live on the west coast, you're in for even more fun if they install a D1000!

 

[Bluntskull]

Welcome to the "I've been screwed by Charlie" club. If you live on the west coast, you're in for even more fun if they install a D1000!

Ugh. Well, you have a very cool avatar. Good doggie.

 

[BrettTRay]

Dish needs a special channel that is available to everyone with a dish receiver that lets people know of all the changes being made so that people are aware of stuff like this. It would solve alot of confusion.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Maybe a video /sound loop on the Dish 101 information channel .

Nah! lets keep rerunning the same old loops about the remote control , etc. That way people can learn for themselves : the HARD WAY .

 

[BrettTRay]

Maybe a video /sound loop on the Dish 101 information channel .

Nah! lets keep rerunning the same old loops about the remote control , etc. That way people can learn for themselves : the HARD WAY .

Never understood why they have so many channels of the same thing about remotes and sh*t like that but they can't launch a channel that has important info like upgrades/price changes/new equipment/new channels or channel changes/etc. Doesn't make sense.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Never understood why they have so many channels of the same thing about remotes and sh*t like that but they can't launch a channel that has important info like upgrades/price changes/new equipment/new channels or channel changes/etc. Doesn't make sense.

They actually use to have a channel like this... it was channel 100 Dish News Network.

I really miss this channel.

 

[stone phillips420]

My wife and I upgraded to HD though Dish Network last December. When we upgraded, we asked them "what is the best receiver for HD?" They said, get the 942, because it is the most current model. We asked about how many channels we'd get in HD

welcome to the club i also bought a 942 last december only to find out less than 30 days later it was junk ie charlie chat jan 9th

 

[jsanders]

Bluntskull, you are not going to like to hear this, but you are to blame for this one too!

This is your first visit to SatelliteGuys?

Wouldn't it have been better if you had visited here *before* you purchased your 942 in December?

If you would have visited here, or DBSTalk, you would have seen many threads that go along the line of, "Should I buy a 942 now, or wait for the new receiver". In December, the basic consensus was, "No, wait for CES in January - Dish will announce the new 962 then". We thought the 622 was going to be called a 962 at that time. In December, we weren't sure about the name, but we knew it was coming, and we could have told you to wait.

Dish was still selling the 942 back then, however, it was not a secret that the new receiver was coming! Sorry to say it, but you were not an informed customer. It is better to visit this site before the purchase, than after the purchase.

 

[riffjim4069]

The SatelliteGuys forums have been invaluable in helping people troubleshoot equipment/setup problems and providing them with a cornucopia of technical and non-technical information. Having said that, it is not a requirement for any Dish Network sub to visit this or any other forum in order to get avoid the Big Green Dish Weenie...or at least they shouldn't have to as part of good business practice. 942 purchasers should have been notified the 942 was being replaced (E* knew they were shafting the buyer) and/or upgrade those having an "under warranty" 942 with a $99 replacement 622 where the customer maintains ownership of the equipment...none of this lease garbage.

 

[BobMurdoch]

Everyone who has been on this site for more than 9 months KNEW the 942 was suffering from Osborne syndrome (being DOA as a product becasue everyone knows that the NEXT generation will blow away the current one). Once we all found out that the 942 was Mpeg2 only and that it could NOT be upgraded, we KNEW it dead to us.

Many of us ignored the warnings and got sick of the 921's headaches and bought one anyway. I felt the pull back in November on a Chat when he hinted that Mpeg4 was not ready for prime time yet. I resisted though since we knew that they would go this route (everyone remember the 6000 upgrade modules?) by making us HAVE to upgrade if we wanted the new channels.

If you are totally new to the hobby, then you may be partially excused. Long timers should have known better as you didn't have to call Dionne Warwick's "friends" to figure this was coming.....

As for a lawsuit, you can try, but you can still receive all of the channels that were available when you bought the unit. In a year they will probably swap your box for free when they try and reclaim the Mpeg2 bandwidth for other uses. For now, they know that people will help supplement the switch.

Plus, in two weeks it will only cost $100 to swap your 942 for a 622. How many of us have $5000+ HDTVs with only analog inputs that may be obsolete in a year or two as the new HD DVDs won't always play on them without a downrezzed picture?

I feel ya but I just can't reach ya...... Flame me back if you think I am offbase here, but good luck with your fight either way.....