We switched to DirecTV today and got a $20 a month discount for 24 months. I called SA and cancelled as of today and they are not going to charge me for this past week's viewing. She again confirmed that as of April 1st SA DBS will be no longer. Hope everyone else has a good transition to whatever they decide on after SA DBS is gone.
Bye
- Thread starter jashobeam
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We almost bit on that Direct TV deal too but we didn't want to get stuck with another 18 month contract so we will stay with Dish for now. If Dish doesn't come up with a decent Christian programming package soon, we are considering going to FTA (Glorystar) with an OTA antenna and dumping Dish.
Dish may. We just didnt' want to wait, then the deal be more expensive than we could budget. We are stuck with a 2 year contract, but with such a good deal, I don't feel so bad about it. Before we were figuring it would cost more and I didn't want to be stuck even with a year contract for that amount each month. I figure no one else is going to have a $39.99 DVR 210 channel package in the next 2 years anyway.
Yea, but aren't about 1/3 of them barker channels?
That doesn't matter to me. We don't do FTA, and won't in the future. A few of the channels might be FTA, but w/out Dish or DirecTV we wouldn't be getting them, so they would be unavailible to us.
congrats on making the switch Hope you enjoy DirecTV. If you need any help, we have a DirecTV forum
Hope you enjoy DirecTV. If you need any help, we have a DirecTV forum
Wow, $20 off for 2 years? I think a LOT of Dish Network customers would switch to DirecTv if they knew about this deal. If they offer me this deal then it will be very hard to pass up. That is $500 in savings in a two year period plus all new hardware. I also wouldn't have to pay a DVR fee on each DVR that I have. I just wouldn't save money by paying a year in advance but $20 more than makes up for that.
For those wanting christian programming, it would be much cheaper to purchase the GloryStar hardware than to purchase the programming seperately from Dish Network unless they will offer it for like $5 per month or make it free included in the packages.
For those wanting christian programming, it would be much cheaper to purchase the GloryStar hardware than to purchase the programming seperately from Dish Network unless they will offer it for like $5 per month or make it free included in the packages.
because Directv has channels in their Family pack that cost a lot (ie: Disney) so they have to charge more.
also here is something interesting...I had this in the hopper for a while
When you sub to an international channel (chinese, russian, carribean, etc) you have to have a "DirecTV basics" package for 9.99...I attached the pdf I had for a while now. Some int'l channels when added to the 9.99 pack are pretty inexpensive..I wonder if you can get just the directv basics?
The Directv basic pack is the barker, shopping and religious channels but it throws in your locals too
When you sub to an international channel (chinese, russian, carribean, etc) you have to have a "DirecTV basics" package for 9.99...I attached the pdf I had for a while now. Some int'l channels when added to the 9.99 pack are pretty inexpensive..I wonder if you can get just the directv basics?
The Directv basic pack is the barker, shopping and religious channels but it throws in your locals too
Well that is changing on the cable side. I recently read a CNET article where the big guy at Comcast was touting new technology that makes the cable box obsolete.
Link: Comcast introduces open-cable platform | CNET News.com
I am troubled by DBS companies both charging you to buy a box and then requiring you to return it when you upgrade or cancel service. I understand some of the reasoning behind it but I still don't like it.
Link: Comcast introduces open-cable platform | CNET News.com
I am troubled by DBS companies both charging you to buy a box and then requiring you to return it when you upgrade or cancel service. I understand some of the reasoning behind it but I still don't like it.
congrats on making the switch
Thanks!
I think I get the one DVR w/out a DVR lease fee, but the other regular receiver I pay around $4 a month to lease. If you buy a receiver off ebay, you still have to pay the lease fee.
Looks like the cheapest direct tv package is $10 more than dish family though
Dish Family did not have the channels we liked. We don't do Disney for varioius reasons, so that leaves a lot off. With this package we still get a lot of family channels (Noggin, Sprout, HGTV, Millitary Channel, FoodNetwork, Cartoon Channel, Discover set, plus several Christian channels), plus other special interest channels we are interested in.
Yes, I asked Dish if we had to return the box after paying around $200 for it and they said, "yes." To me that's nuts. You pay for it, PLUS you pay a lease, and it's still theirs! With DirecTV we pay the lease on one basic receiver and in 2 years if we don't want to continue with them, we cancel the contract and mail back both receivers. I looked at ebay, but they were expensive on there.
Our local cable companies have not used a cable box in over 15 years. The last one we had was the early 1990s.
Yes, unless you purchase one outside of the Dish packages. Ebay and other sites have them, but I found the prices to be close to the price Dish charges anyway. Yes, you get to keep your receiver if you buy it on ebay, but you still have to pay the lease, and if the box gives out you have to buy another. DirecTV you can get a basic DVR or basic receiver with no charge other than the monthly lease in some packages. If you want a better receiver, you can "purchase" it from them, pay the monthly lease and they still get it back when you no longer are paying for the subscription. So, DirecTV is cheaper to start up with than Dish if you use their recommended receivers.
The fact that the new deals is for only leased receivers and them wanting us to pay $200 for the priveledge to lease a box that has to be returned to them when you cancel their service is why I never went with their HD DVR receiver. If it is going to be leased then can waive any fee that they want. I can see paying maybe $50-100 especially if it requires an upgrade every 2-4 years, then that seems like a bargain.
Both Dish & Direct lease the units now so when you cancel they send you boxes and you ship them back.
Unless the reciever is totally trashed, they'll take them back
Unless the reciever is totally trashed, they'll take them back
Dirty little secret about DirectTV. It was so at least about a year ago that whether intentional or not even if you activate a fully purchased receiver, even one previously used, the system treats it as a lease unless you have an on the ball rep who knows how to enter it into the system correctly. Sometimes you have to keep contacting them until you can find someone who will change it from a lease to owned in their records. In short, read your bill carefully!
I've heard it rumored that they are even hesitant to make the correction at all on new subs.
Just a word to the wise!
This issue used to come up a lot more often when D* was about the only place you could get Sunday Ticket and people would only subscribe for the season, and occasionally was also an issue to folks who would spend the much of the winter at a 2nd home, like in FL. In both cases it's just plain silly to have to keep mailing back receivers and just plain wrong if you purchased outright. Although I'm not sure you can buy a new D* unit outright anymore.
I've heard it rumored that they are even hesitant to make the correction at all on new subs.
Just a word to the wise!
This issue used to come up a lot more often when D* was about the only place you could get Sunday Ticket and people would only subscribe for the season, and occasionally was also an issue to folks who would spend the much of the winter at a 2nd home, like in FL. In both cases it's just plain silly to have to keep mailing back receivers and just plain wrong if you purchased outright. Although I'm not sure you can buy a new D* unit outright anymore.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Dish Network is moving to a 24 month commitment as of Feb 1. I'm interested in the rumored HD-only package for $30 ($35 w/locals). Now that I am past my contract period I will need to carefully consider this new package. In another post I stated that I would jump all over such a package - even with a new contract. I may have spoken too soon...
Also, the Dish Network Family package does not qualify for adding HD packages (requires one of the America's Top ### packages).
I don't know the length of DirecTV contracts but expect them to match Dish's 24 month requirement soon if they are not already there (the above post suggests they are). Likewise, I don't know if DirecTV will let you add HD to their Family package.
Even though the math supports leasing over buying at the current rate of technological advances, it still irks me that DirecTV is lease-only. I don't know why.
Hopefully both companies will soon offer a Christian package at a low price.
Also, the Dish Network Family package does not qualify for adding HD packages (requires one of the America's Top ### packages).
I don't know the length of DirecTV contracts but expect them to match Dish's 24 month requirement soon if they are not already there (the above post suggests they are). Likewise, I don't know if DirecTV will let you add HD to their Family package.
Even though the math supports leasing over buying at the current rate of technological advances, it still irks me that DirecTV is lease-only. I don't know why.
Hopefully both companies will soon offer a Christian package at a low price.
After reading the other thread when a poster discussed hesitation in making the 18 month IPTV commitment I would not be so fast to sign up under a commitment. The first thing that comes to mind is the possibility of satellite failures, and we all know that can happen!
But you have to wonder just why they feel a need for a longer commitment. Do they have higher turnovers, or do they perhaps know something we don't about new technologies available? I do know that cable has generally moved away from commitments and that some new DVRs are cable friendly and DBS excluded, like the Series 3 Tivos.
Two worst things about expensive commitments with hefty contract termination penalties is you never know when the service may experience unacceptable technical issues and also you never know when you suddenly may become income strapped with little warning. It's becoming all to too easy for that to happen these days even to the most financially prudent person.
Besides that, as another example of the perils of contract commitments in general, I read the fine print on a 2 year "lifetime" commitment for Verizon DSL (which they defined lifetime as being 2 years). It said they could impose early termination fees even if THEY closed your account, with the exception being if they eliminated that tier of service. Sound familiar?
I've not read their FIOS contract, as it's not yet available to me but is getting nearer by the day. But I'll certainly polish up my magnified glass when it does.
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As a side note, when I hit submit for this post I discovered that my internet connection had suddenly stopped working. Took me about a half hour to get it back. So just a little reminder for me personally how nice it is to have as many options as possible available.
But you have to wonder just why they feel a need for a longer commitment. Do they have higher turnovers, or do they perhaps know something we don't about new technologies available? I do know that cable has generally moved away from commitments and that some new DVRs are cable friendly and DBS excluded, like the Series 3 Tivos.
Two worst things about expensive commitments with hefty contract termination penalties is you never know when the service may experience unacceptable technical issues and also you never know when you suddenly may become income strapped with little warning. It's becoming all to too easy for that to happen these days even to the most financially prudent person.
Besides that, as another example of the perils of contract commitments in general, I read the fine print on a 2 year "lifetime" commitment for Verizon DSL (which they defined lifetime as being 2 years). It said they could impose early termination fees even if THEY closed your account, with the exception being if they eliminated that tier of service. Sound familiar?
I've not read their FIOS contract, as it's not yet available to me but is getting nearer by the day. But I'll certainly polish up my magnified glass when it does.
--------------------------------------
As a side note, when I hit submit for this post I discovered that my internet connection had suddenly stopped working. Took me about a half hour to get it back. So just a little reminder for me personally how nice it is to have as many options as possible available.
