Really? There is a channel that you "need". No one "needs" TV - cable, sat, or over the air. And, no provider "owes" you any kind of break.
Dish has serious intergrity issues....i would not trust them
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Really? There is a channel that you "need". No one "needs" TV - cable, sat, or over the air. And, no provider "owes" you any kind of break.
:rant:
It's called Pay (subscription) TV for a reason. Pay Tv and Internet are not a god given right that everyone is entitled too. The government has provided bandwidth for FREE over the air tv nationwide. I realize some have problems getting reliable OTA, but it is free.
I went 8 years without pay tv or a phone while paying off student loans and generally trying to get by. It's only been in the last 5-6 years that I have actually paid for internet. If you want free internet go to the library or there are other places that provide free access, in addition you can also get books, magazines and dvd's for free at the library too. There are many things to do for little or no cost, if one just tries. Believe me I know.
Everyone thinks their favorite channel should be in the basic tier, personally they should just dump all the cable channels into a single package and everyone can pay the same $80-$90 bucks a month or do without. It would definitely make billing easy for everyone. We probably wouldn't have this problem if every entertainment group didn't have 2 dozen niche channels too.
Have you ever considered dropping down to the Welcome Pack? It does not have much on Sports but does have MSNBC and I get my locals in HD.
I'm new to Dish - Welcome Pack with no contract (setup my own equipment) and I'm very happy with Dish. I think one of the reasons I'm happy is because my monthly bill is only $15.74; which to me is a great deal for all the TV I get.
I'm new to Dish - Welcome Pack with no contract (setup my own equipment) and I'm very happy with Dish. I think one of the reasons I'm happy is because my monthly bill is only $15.74; which to me is a great deal for all the TV I get.
Now, if I want to go to just AT120+, losing NBC Sports Network and my favorite news channel, MSNBC, then that's a little cheaper than the competition, but I'm getting a lot less. And a lot more stupid advertising channels to filter through (At least relative to cable, I don't know if Directv does that kind of stuff).And, if I went to cable, I'd get a bundling discount on my Internet when my Internet deal expires. Of course, cable is missing an RSN alternate that's important to me, locally anyhow.
osu1991 said:
I agree. Also, I'm not buying the unsafe streets excuse anymore. Pay tv, xbox, internet, etc have only made it easier to hide in our homes and let the criminals run rampant in the streets. People are too busy with their vices to not want to go outside and gather to fix the situation.
You could not get it cheaper with Directv. Directv would require you to get the sports pack, if I have it correct. You'll be paying around $85 plus for it. This was why I switched to Dish initially. You could get Versus and FSC, and the Encore channels via Top 250, where it was costing more via Directv.
MSNBC is about as much a "news channel" as ESPN is. Turn on NPR if you want actual news.
You don't have to have those in your channel selection guide.And a lot more stupid advertising channels to filter through (At least relative to cable, I don't know if Directv does that kind of stuff).
But how much cheaper would cable be? Because Cable companies had to conspire with State Governments to make Sat TV taxable, but not cable... in order to be competitive. Whenever I've looked, Cable has never been competitive with Dish or Directv.
Yeah... that jive again. People seem to have this impression that they are entitled to programming.
Dish Network provides great TV service. When I needed a rework on my dish, there wasn't a problem at all with Dish assisting with that. Their customer support is very hit and miss (their billing department is seemingly run on a TRS-80 by a rhino), though their DIRT program is beyond awesome. I never had a problem with service at Directv.
A DVR fee and extra receiver fees seem quite reasonable. Some may argue they are too much, but the fees (not the amount necessarily) make sense. The DVR is one of the most incredibly useful things a HTS can have. We take it very much for granted.
That's odd, because they gave me... and plenty of others a free upgrade to a 722k... and I was an existing customer. Directv upgraded my receiver for free and gave me a discount when I asked for one. So clearly most of your complaints really amount to, "I don't want to pay anything at all for stuff I want."
And you'll never be satisfied... though if you dropped Dish, I think a few here would be.
Sure, reality doesn't necessarily have to make you change your mind. As far as your quip about me being the customer that providers like... yeah... I shopped around, found the price that I wanted to pay and have stuck with it. When the bill got too high, I didn't whine about it, I just looked at my options all around (switching provider or switching package), and I switched to a lower package that provided most of what I wanted. That's life. Dish or Directv doesn't owe me any particular level of package... they just owe making the channels I pay for available to watch. They do, and I'm happy.
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"Evil" might be putting it a little bit too strongly. I just think the companies charge too much for too little, while not putting enough money into avoiding costly (for the customer) mistakes and hassles (for the customer). That pretty much describes all of them. They also tend to make huge profits and then get into channel disputes crying poverty where the customer is the ultimate loser (Dish is the worst offender for this part, but they all do it).
I think that's often what happens when dealing with something almost everyone feels like is pretty basic to their lifestyle (We can discuss want versus need versus whatever, but like 95% or more of people have tv and wouldn't do without it unless absolutely necessary), but where there are limited options to pick from. If someone is lucky somewhere they might have 4 options (cable, fios, dish, direct), but a lot of people only have three, and a good number have only one or two (say, only having access to cable because there's no line of site for satellites and no fios buildout, or living in an area where the only options are satellites). So companies feel they kind of have you by the you know what and don't really compete the way they should.
Yeah, yeah, I know television isn't oxygen or water, but it's sure tough to live without for certain people.
People in general like to use the word "entitlement" a lot like it's a slur. They talk about a culture of entitlement and all that. But, really, why shouldn't we want a decent shake out of life and some small pleasures? We've all only got one life to live.
And, unfortunately, in that life, a lot of us get hassled by what I like to call the "screw you" crowd. That crowd essentially says if you can't afford stuff, screw you, even when it comes to things like food and health care sometimes! I'd much rather live in an "entitlement society" than a "screw you society", personally.
I'm just saying, the two channels I mentioned are in the regular tier on cable.
Considered it, but if if I can't get my local sports, I don't know that I want to pay a television bill. I'm unhappy enough with the situation as it is, I can't imagine writing a check (or doing the online equivalent) and not getting to see my local teams play in return for my money. There's a point beneath which I wouldn't pay a dime for television, if the package is something that's not going to carry enough worthwhile stuff. When I was a kid and we first subscribed to cable, my family did it to watch more Orioles games. In practice, maybe I watch more news or old sitcoms or whatever, but I still feel like the reason I'm paying is to have access to my favorite sports teams and the rest are mainly extras.
Last I checked their website, I think Choice Xtra would have done it. Could be wrong, though. I don't know a whole lot about Directv.
It all depends on wants and means of payment. I love my pay tv, but I won't die without it. You really want to save money. Listen to the news and games on the radio while you do some hobby. All it costs is a one time fee of the equipment you need to get reception. And, you complete an extra curricular activity that you weren't doing while you were glued to your couch with your eyes entranced on the tv. We forget, tv is a commodity, not a necessity.
It sounds like you have been dealt a bad hand. And your anger is completely understandable.
The thing is, this place isn't somewhere your going to find many folks in your situation and feeling like you do. You are finding folk who disagree with you but are not personally involved like you are but want to show you how wrong you are. But it's not personal for them. Just for you. Nothing you can say will hurt them but I don't believe the reverse is true.
Accidentally or maybe on purpose you are being baited for some posters enjoyment. You are definitely doing a lot of baiting too though I can't see want is in it for you.
Think about writing a nice short "telling us all off" post and find another thread where you can have fun. This place can be a lot of fun. And once in a while you can rant, I sure do
, but just shooting the sh** here is one of those free things that can help make a bad day a little better.
It sounds like you have been dealt a bad hand. And your anger is completely understandable.
The thing is, this place isn't somewhere your going to find many folks in your situation and feeling like you do. You are finding folk who disagree with you but are not personally involved like you are but want to show you how wrong you are. But it's not personal for them. Just for you. Nothing you can say will hurt them but I don't believe the reverse is true.
Accidentally or maybe on purpose you are being baited for some posters enjoyment. You are definitely doing a lot of baiting too though I can't see want is in it for you.
Think about writing a nice short "telling us all off" post and find another thread where you can have fun. This place can be a lot of fun. And once in a while you can rant, I sure do
There is nothing I can add to this that could possibly say it any better. THIS is the type of eloquence I was speaking of in another thread. Good post, Steve!
I see no reason why we can't just all get along!
It sounds like you have been dealt a bad hand. And your anger is completely understandable.
The thing is, this place isn't somewhere your going to find many folks in your situation and feeling like you do. You are finding folk who disagree with you but are not personally involved like you are but want to show you how wrong you are. But it's not personal for them. Just for you. Nothing you can say will hurt them but I don't believe the reverse is true.
Accidentally or maybe on purpose you are being baited for some posters enjoyment. You are definitely doing a lot of baiting too though I can't see want is in it for you.
Think about writing a nice short "telling us all off" post and find another thread where you can have fun. This place can be a lot of fun. And once in a while you can rant, I sure do
You make a good point. I honestly do find I wind up in a lot of these Internet forum battles where it is personal to me and I find people's views frustrating or even hurtful. It's not just a thing here, it's been a thing in various Internet fora over the years on various topics. I'm in a situation in life that isn't particularly common, at least not in certain circles, and so what I'm living and how I see things are not going to be stuff a lot of people immediately identify with or understand.
I'd probably be better off using the Internet more for basic stuff less interactive stuff- articles, banking, music, ebooks, that kind of stuff. And I've often taken time off from forums to do just that. But at some level I like relating to people online and being involved in communities, so I keep sort of getting drawn back in.
It's the common paradox I think a lot of people who are a little different have in life in general-- how to keep interactions positive and uplifting, but still have those interactions, and not turn into the "get off my lawn" guy who's totally isolated. In real life, I generally accomplish that by sticking to family and a few close friends- and if they're irritating me, just hanging out with my dog for a while. I don't know what the Internet equivalent of that would be -- e-mail? IM? But when it comes to specialized interests, it's really only forums where people are going to have the knowledge and the interest in talking about certain things.
Don't sweat these guys, Pretzel. The fact is, when the cost of basic necessities are as inflated as pay tv prices, these folks will be whining like children. Seriously, Steve... you're going to take the stance that only those who can afford a product are entitled to it? If Dish, tomorrow, asks $300 per month for the Everything Pak you'll be okay with that? If gasoline hits $12 per gallon this summer, you'll just say fine, cool by me? When food prices soar and your salary remains stagnant, you won't bitch one bit? When your home is worth half of what you paid for it, you'll just shrug it off?
Gimme a break. The fact is, pay tv prices are too high for many and, more importantly, the package options are rigged in such a way that only the very top one can meet the viewing demands of most consumers. They spend millions on lobbyists to ensure that a la carte never happens and millions more on creating draconian laws set to destroy a free and open internet.
So, pretty please, keep being a good little boy defending the very companies that absolutely own and control your elected representatives. What's funny is, it's usually conservatives and smart, free-enterprise types who fall into this trap that big corporations are playing by the same rules as you and I. They are not.
Thank goodness for those who are willing to resist, hack, steal, cheat or MAYBE JUST BITCH A LITTLE BIT, lest faceless corporations control the general public as well as they do our politicians.
Gimme a break. The fact is, pay tv prices are too high for many and, more importantly, the package options are rigged in such a way that only the very top one can meet the viewing demands of most consumers. They spend millions on lobbyists to ensure that a la carte never happens and millions more on creating draconian laws set to destroy a free and open internet.
So, pretty please, keep being a good little boy defending the very companies that absolutely own and control your elected representatives. What's funny is, it's usually conservatives and smart, free-enterprise types who fall into this trap that big corporations are playing by the same rules as you and I. They are not.
Thank goodness for those who are willing to resist, hack, steal, cheat or MAYBE JUST BITCH A LITTLE BIT, lest faceless corporations control the general public as well as they do our politicians.
I THINK it was OSU who offered the remarkable insight that satellite television wasn't an inalienable right. Kinda hard to follow. Go Ducks.
Um, yeah. That's kinda how the world works.
I'd like a Lamborghini, but since I can't afford it...perhaps someone can convince them that I'm "entitled" to it anyway. It's just not fair! :rant:It's amazing how efficient our economy actually is...when someone prices themselves too high, they lose business to a competitor who has more reasonable pricing on the same or similar product.
I'd be more likely to agree to the "entitlement" argument as it relates to basic health care, food, shelter...you know...the things you have to have to actually live. No matter how you argue it, no matter the sob story, TV isn't a basic need or a basic "right" for anyone. Geez, it wasn't all that long ago in human history there weren't even electronics at all. No TV, no radio, and guess what? We did just fine. People not only survived, they thrived.
Um, yeah. That's kinda how the world works.
It's amazing how efficient our economy actually is...when someone prices themselves too high, they lose business to a competitor who has more reasonable pricing on the same or similar product.
I'd be more likely to agree to the "entitlement" argument as it relates to basic health care, food, shelter...you know...the things you have to have to actually live. No matter how you argue it, no matter the sob story, TV isn't a basic need or a basic "right" for anyone. Geez, it wasn't all that long ago in human history there weren't even electronics at all. No TV, no radio, and guess what? We did just fine. People not only survived, they thrived.
Read my post again and learn something. Stop with the lame and tired facepalm, it's almost as annoying as your inability to address my entire post.
Sorry. osu. You are correct. TV is not an inalienable right. Complaining about it's service and price, and the system used to achieve said price...... is.
