I received an e-mail from dish about this on 7/1. I received a postcard in the Mail from them either yesterday or today. I got the mail today. Below is what the postcard looked like.
Since I was home from work early today due to the holiday, I decided to call the number on the card. The first person I spoke to did not give me their rep number like I had received in the past when calling dish. They seemed to be wondering what I wanted, so I mentioned I received a post card that said to call them because they had an offer for me to get my favorite AMC shows. The customer service person asked if I had internet, check, wifi, check, credit card, check, no ps3 or xbox, check ;-). The CSR said then that I could connect to Amazon, order the shows, and Dish would credit me back. I asked how this would get these shows on my tv, since what I was paying for with dish was TV service. The CSR stated that I could watch them on my computer. I indicated that wouldn't be sufficient, as well as wonder how Dish would credit me for stuff I buy. The CSR stated I could call them when I buy an episode and they would give me a credit. I sighed and said that didn't seem like much of an offer, since I was effectively paying twice for something I'm already paying for. And yes, I am aware Dish can change their channel line up at any time and I have to pound sand because of it, but I was playing along here. So the CSR said he could connect me to a department that could provide a better offer. And I asked him why I was talking to him if I could get a better offer from someone else.
He transferred me to what turned out to be the loyalty department. The CSR asked me who I was, and if dish could do something to keep me from quitting. I pointed out that I never threatened to quit, I was simply calling because a postcard suggested Dish had an offer for me, and when I spoke to the previous CSR they mentioned that another department could offer a better deal. Thus I'm now talking to you in hopes of a better deal, whatya, got. That got me the Roku offer, with no particular credit automatically, I need to call them whenever I buy an episode and they "claim" they will issue me a credit. Something I'll be sure to do, since The Walking Dead and Hell on Wheels are two shows I want to watch. I agreed to the Roku and the woman I was speaking too transferred me to her supervisor to validate the order of the Roku, verify the shipping address, and e-mail address. I received the instructions for setting up the Roku in my e-mail just moments after hanging up the phone.
Why they make this offer to some and why not to others, I'm not sure. I think it's a fair deal, even if you don't get a roku. If they are willing to pay for you to rent the episodes on itunes or Amazon, that's a pretty good deal. The contract we all have is pretty clear in that they can change their lineup anytime they want and there is nothing we can do about it.
