Contract required to add receiver?

[alanand]

Is a contract required to add a receiver?
My 24 month commitment ended last March. I have two 612s now. I am renting a room out and want to add another 612 or 211 for the renter. I planned on buying one from ebay. I called last night and the CSR told me it would be $12 or $7 per month which is fine. I was then told that I would have to make a 24 month commitment. Is a 24 month contract really required for equipment that I own? I want to be able to turn it off if he leaves. Or do I need to spin the CSR wheel and find a more cooperative one?

 

[Scherrman]

If you purchase the receiver you do not have to renew a 24 month contract.

 

[Darrell S]

You can buy one of those models at dishdepot.com for 89.00 if you don't want a contract or find one on ebay as you stated in your post.

 

[mike123abc]

Be careful buying a used receiver, make sure the receiver was not leased from Dish or has a balance. You should be able to get the receiver number from the seller and check with Dish first.

 

[Tampa8]

To be clear, he won't have that problem buying from Dish Depot.

 

[Scherrman]

To be clear, he won't have that problem buying from Dish Depot.

Or buying from any authorized retailer for that matter.

 

[alanand]

Great. Thanks. Was checking out Dish Depot and also saw the Hopper. Would the same apply if I buy my own Hopper and Joeys? I am not opposed to doing an upgrade and going back on contract for my other two rooms. The deal breaker for me is going to the AT120 plan. I'm on Dish America now. I saw on the Dish website for an upgrade, the minimum plan is AT120. For me AT120 is $15/mo more than I am spending. 24 mo x $15 = $360 extra. The decision is not so clear. For decision info, would Dish authorized a owned Hopper with Dish America programming?

 

[JM42]

Great. Thanks. Was checking out Dish Depot and also saw the Hopper. Would the same apply if I buy my own Hopper and Joeys? I am not opposed to doing an upgrade and going back on contract for my other two rooms. The deal breaker for me is going to the AT120 plan. I'm on Dish America now. I saw on the Dish website for an upgrade, the minimum plan is AT120. For me AT120 is $15/mo more than I am spending. 24 mo x $15 = $360 extra. The decision is not so clear. For decision info, would Dish authorized a owned Hopper with Dish America programming?

For Hopper costs, you're probably better off with the contract. The ETF fee for an upgrade is $10 per month for the remaining months. So even if you had it installed today and cancelled tomorrow the ETF would only be $240 - about the same as the retail cost of an HWS alone.

You could sell the owned HWS and recoup some of your purchase cost if you cancelled, but how likely are you to cancel in the next six months or even one year? With the ETF being reduced by $10 each month, the window for coming out ahead with purchased HWS/Joey equipment is very, very small.

The only reason to purchase would be the programming issue, not sure if DIRT can help with that or not.

 

[Tampa8]

I may not be understanding, (or just wrong lol) however I thought current customers could be in the America packages and upgrade if they are signing a two year contract. It may be new customers that to get the discounts must start with Top 120....

 

[navychop]

Don't forget, if buying a Hopper, you need to buy a node too. And have 3GHz coax.


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[Bobby]

and 2-3GHz coaxes from the dish to that node....

 

[3HaloODST]

and 2-3GHz coaxes from the dish to that node....

Coax from dish to node doesn't have to support 3GHz. Just 2.2.

 

[JayStil]

Great. Thanks. Was checking out Dish Depot and also saw the Hopper. Would the same apply if I buy my own Hopper and Joeys? I am not opposed to doing an upgrade and going back on contract for my other two rooms. The deal breaker for me is going to the AT120 plan. I'm on Dish America now. I saw on the Dish website for an upgrade, the minimum plan is AT120. For me AT120 is $15/mo more than I am spending. 24 mo x $15 = $360 extra. The decision is not so clear. For decision info, would Dish authorized a owned Hopper with Dish America programming?

Do you have a grandfathered version of DISH America? (not sure if there even is such a thing) If so, you might lose it when adding a receiver. Happened to me when I had a "no locals" version of AT250. Cost me another $5 a month for channels I didn't need.

 

[jerryez]

I have Dish America and upgraded from a 722K to a Hopper including installation. I did have to agree to a two year contract, but upgrade and installation were free.

 

[ChadT41]

Dish brought the dish America packages back as retention saves. So they are no longer "grandfathered"

 

[MikeD-C05]

Dish brought the dish America packages back as retention saves. So they are no longer "grandfathered"

You mean the hd only versions of top 200 and top 250 as well as just DISH America?

 

[SomeDishGuy]

You mean the hd only versions of top 200 and top 250 as well as just DISH America?

Pretty much. Dish America, Dish America Silver, and Dish America Gold. They are roughly the same thing as the AT120, AT200, and AT250.


As a Dish employee, my opinions are my own, and do not represent my employer in any way.

 

[ChadT41]

Very roughly. Better selections for that specific niche. It's a great choice for some, but I have a feeling the satellite guys clientele would not be impressed by it.

 

[TheKrell]

Is there a chart somewhere that shows which channels we lose by going from 250 to Gold, etc?

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think if you go online and check DISH HD only packs they give you option to see what channels are in those other two DISH America packs. I know that hasn't changed even when they didn't offer the other two packs.