1. Nothing for existing customers. Would be nice if we got a chance to "re-up" (new one or two year contract) in exchange for an ipad, wouldn't it? Or as a loyalty bonus (For being a customer x number of years)? Guess everyone should follow the incentives and do the churn thing. By the time we get back to Dish, maybe they'll be offering free cars.
2. Nothing for people with less than perfect, or unestablished credit, I imagine. The rich get richer, while the less well off finance new ipads for said better off people by paying the same rate without getting the ipad. Yet, I'm sure the ads will make it sound like it's for everyone. You call in to order it and- bait and switch, you're offered some other thing without an ipad. Just like the ad a few years ago with free install with no startup costs and free HD for life got me to call, and I wound up paying for install plus a month upfront, and getting stuck with SD-only equipment. I think if they advertise an ipad for new customers, all new customers should be eligible, but I doubt they will be.
3. To those who complain about complaints about a "free item", let me just pre-empt you by saying, it's not a complaint about a free item if we aren't getting the item for free.
Most of the people you'll find on this thread are not prospective new customers. They are existing customers who aren't being offered a free ipad at all. A few might be prospective customers who won't get offered the new ipad due to credit. You wouldn't hear me complain that it's an ipad 2 instead of an ipad 4 if Dish called to tell me they were shipping it the mail for free and I'd get it in a few days.
We're not getting it.
Also, anything that requires a contract that requires you to pay a certain amount money for x number of months or years isn't really free free. It's quasi-free. You don't pay money upfront, but you're paying for it in a roundabout way. It's like putting something on a credit card or getting a loan that you have to pay back with interest.
4. Having said all that, I'd be thrilled if Comcast or Directv would offer me a free ipad for signing up, and not base it on a credit check or anything, just flat out "Agree to stick with us for a year or two, and it's your's". I'd call and switch tomorrow. I'd also strongly consider signing a new 1-2 year contract with Dish for a free ipad (They might also have to include the HD equipment they didn't give me the first time around- that combined with an ipad and I'd definitely do it). I'm a prospective churner if I see an offer I like elsewhere, or when my cable Internet goes to full price this summer and it might make financial sense to bundle it with television from the cable company. But I'd gladly stay for the right offer.
