Currently with DirecTV, but have ?'s about Dish

[whatchel1]

Brother just switched

My bro just switched from D* to E*. The reasons were:
1. D* wanted something over $300 for him to upgrade to HD.
2. D* equipment was limited to recording 2 things at once E* 2 sat & 2 OTA at same time.
3. He felt that customer service was awful w/ D*.

 

[Slamminc11]

i would suggest you stay with direct if you are switching because of customer service, dish is real bad there. i do not know how people are getting US based customer service, almost every time i call i get the dreaded foriegn customer service who are of no help at all.

The few times I have had to call, I have connected with US CSR's. They do have like 10-12 centers across the country.

 

[Arkapigdiesel]

I'm starting to think customer service with both companies sucks nads, at least from what I can gather from the responses. I guess that's why most of us are on this forum seeking knowledge.

I do have one more question for those of you familiar with D* SWM technology. I converted my Slimline 5 w/Zinwell multiswitch over to the new Slimline 5 SWM setup and it's flippin' great.

Here's how the SWM setup works....one line is run from the LNB head on the dish into a power inverter, then a line is run from the power inverter into a splitter. Lines are then run from the splitter outputs to each receiver. With SWM technology, only one line is needed to run a dual tuner (can record two programs at once even with one line). Is Dish the same way? Can I just run one line to each receiver to power both tuners, or do I need two lines?

 

[digiblur]

One line from the LNB or switch to the dual tuner boxes.

 

[MikeD-C05]

One line from the LNB or switch to the dual tuner boxes.

And from the one line you can use a dishpro separator to split one coax into two lines for the dual tuner dvrs. So one 1000.2 sat dish for western arc /1000.4 sat dish for eastern arc ,can run three coaxes into your house and they can each be split into two more lines for three dvrs if needed.

 

[kluken]

call centers have actually been more often routed to the states lately!

Oh yeah and that is a huge improvment, NOT! Seems they musy be staffing the Texas center with over the borader aliens as they are only a tad better than the horrible call centers in India and they seem to be nastier and just as useless. Ironically they have Executive Esclations in Texas as well now, good luck getting back to the same person you talk to originally, they'll give you an extension, but never return your call.

 

[harshness]

Also in regards to HD, Fox sports Regionals are not 24/7 on Dish, so sometimes your local team might be in HD,(as posted right before my post) but Dish may not be showing it in HD, its not a huge deal for me.

The other side of the coin is that if DIRECTV makes a game available as part of an extra cost "ticket" package that you don't subscribe to, they quite often black them out.

 

[Arkapigdiesel]

One more question....does Dish charge $5 lease fee per receiver in household?

 

[harshness]

Lease fees are charged for each device greater than one. The fee for HD receivers is $7 and the fee for SD receivers is $5.

 

[rad]

And IIRC, if you don't have the Everything progamming package (which really isn't everything) they also charge a per DVR fee beside the lease fee.

 

[KAB]

And IIRC, if you don't have the Everything progamming package (which really isn't everything) they also charge a per DVR fee beside the lease fee.

Not if you have DVR Advantage, for one receiver.

 

[NotMe546]

4. How is Dish's customer service?

I only have to call them once in a blue moon, but when I do I absolutely want to pull my hair out. Is Dish any better in that respect?

I agree, customers sucks. The last few times I've call I've gotten American call centers. Good they have the best HD DVR's so I don't need to call them, if I due it's billing related.

 

[STL]

I haven't had issues with Dish's customer service, per se; but the overall treatment of the customers I would say is terrible. I have an awful taste in my mouth about the way Dish has handled me as a Turbo customer. I would have left had it not been for my contractual obligation.

I totally agee with this statement. I was baited into switching from DirecTV earlier this year with (now broken) promises about the TurboHD packages -- now I wish I had not made the switch. With the rate Dish Network is bleeding customers (while DirecTV is adding them) I fear Dish Network is going to have to really start "squeezing" their remaining customers to continue to turn a profit. If I were you, I'd really think twice about switching to Dish Network.

Dish has far superior equipment.

I think that statement is a bit of a far-fetched. Despite the fact that some people around here have a love affair with the 722 unit, coming from DirecTV I don't think it is anything special at all.

 

[STL]

My bro just switched from D* to E*. The reasons were:
1. D* wanted something over $300 for him to upgrade to HD.

Evidently he didn't try very hard at all -- DirecTV will give you free HD equipment.

2. D* equipment was limited to recording 2 things at once E* 2 sat & 2 OTA at same time.

That's after you spend extra $$ to buy an OTA tuner unit for the 722K since it doesn't have any built-in OTA tuners. And doesn't the 722K have an upgrade charge just to get one over a regular 722 (non-K)? The regular 722 units can only record 3 things at once too. And speaking of additonal charges, E* charges you $40 to be able to hook up an external hard drive (to give your DVR more recording room) while that feature is free with D*.

3. He felt that customer service was awful w/ D*.

It doesn't seem any better with E*.

 

[KAB]

Evidently he didn't try very hard at all -- DirecTV will give you free HD equipment.

You don't know what equipment he got. D* has limits on what you get for free.

 

[darrencp22]

For the sake of argument, let's assume both companies suck at customer service (my recent experiences were good). Dish has far superior equipment. So, if you are not into sports all that much, go Dish.

At this point, the difference is sports. Based on that it's an easy decision who to subscribe to.

 

[STL]

You don't know what equipment he got. D* has limits on what you get for free.

From what I saw, D* was more than willing to give you free equipment unless you were wanting more than four rec'rs -- and in that case I don't think E* is any more accommodating.

 

[harshness]

Evidently he didn't try very hard at all -- DirecTV will give you free HD equipment.

This depends on how many receivers you think you need. They don't give you all you want for free.

That's after you spend extra $$ to buy an OTA tuner unit for the 722K since it doesn't have any built-in OTA tuners.

Neither do any of the current D* DVRs. As I recall, the external AM21 retails for $50.

The regular 722 units can only record 3 things at once too.

This is versus the D* DVRs that can only record two?

And speaking of additonal charges, E* charges you $40 to be able to hook up an external hard drive (to give your DVR more recording room) while that feature is free with D*.

The D* external drive implementation is decidedly flawed and clearly not what everyone was hoping for. D* has done very little to support their EHD solution short of the very recent list of four supported drive mechanisms (but still no recommendations for enclosures).

 

[STL]

harshness,
E* doesn't give you all you want for free either. From what I've read here, it cost $75 for new customers to upgrade from a 722 to a 722k; so for the latter to get the ability to record four things at once it would cost over $100 extra. True, D* charges for their OTA tuner. That said, from what I have seen it seems fairly easy to get D* to throw in their OTA tuner for free whereas I've never read where E* was willing to throw in their OTA tuner for free. Yes, my 722 can record three shows at one time, but in all the years I've owned a DVR I have never had the need to record more than two at a time -- so IMO it's a niche feature. Maybe D* external drive implemenation isn't perfect, but it seems a lot of people are okay with it. And for the price, I'd take D* implementation over the $40 E* charges to activate their USB port (and they won't waive or discount that fee either).

 

[DodgerKing]

I think that statement is a bit of a far-fetched. Despite the fact that some people around here have a love affair with the 722 unit, coming from DirecTV I don't think it is anything special at all.

Dish has better equipment, but not far superior.