Dish Network Or Directv?
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I personally think they're both good services.
Something I preach to my customers but haven't actually done yet myself is switching back & forth every couple of years to save money on new customer promos & stay on top of the latest/greatest equipment.
I may be a hypocrite for saying this, but have my own reasons for staying with dish. Mostly business.
Both are expensive & if saving money is important there is no better price than the new customer promo. At least for the 1st year with either it is going to be a good deal, 2nd year with both goes way up. Beginning the 3rd year cancel your current provider, switch to other & do it all over again.
Doing this will give you a decent price on programming every other year & you will always have the latest equipment. Some will consider this taking advantage of the system. My take on it is, give the sat companies a g$$d reason to make you stay. As long as you have a good picture, decent price & a system that is reliable. I say go for the least expensive at the time.
Something I preach to my customers but haven't actually done yet myself is switching back & forth every couple of years to save money on new customer promos & stay on top of the latest/greatest equipment.
I may be a hypocrite for saying this, but have my own reasons for staying with dish. Mostly business.
Both are expensive & if saving money is important there is no better price than the new customer promo. At least for the 1st year with either it is going to be a good deal, 2nd year with both goes way up. Beginning the 3rd year cancel your current provider, switch to other & do it all over again.
Doing this will give you a decent price on programming every other year & you will always have the latest equipment. Some will consider this taking advantage of the system. My take on it is, give the sat companies a g$$d reason to make you stay. As long as you have a good picture, decent price & a system that is reliable. I say go for the least expensive at the time.
You mean other than already being cheaper than Cable and having the best reliability of service and equipment (for both Dish and Directv), free previews or content, good deals for premium content (penny a month Cinemax, HBO for half off), and some pretty good access online?
What do they have to do? If something isn't free, many people will whine about the price.
then perhaps they should do away with promo pricing. I've never done the switching every two years to get new customer deals but know a few that do and I don't criticize them. Both dish and directv will do what's necessary to put money in their pockets,subscribers have the right to do the same. While the system exists then customers should take advantage of it if they need to do so. If you can pay full price for the next 10 years well that's great. For now I am able to do the same but if the time comes where I need to save a few bucks, I'll do what I gotta do.
In reality a person can stay with their current sat provider & get a better price than any "new customer promo" without calling, threatening to cancel or any of that.
"Refer a friend" both sat companies offer it & it's an easy program to participate in.
With Directv the limit is 10 referrals a year. That is $1000 is bill credits. Their best new customer promotion doesn't even come close to that. All your referred friend needs is your account #, provide it when placing the order & you both get a $10 credit for 10 months. When a new customer provides Directv an email they send a confirmation with the account details & it clearly shows the referring friends account #.
Dish also has a limit of 10 referrals a year. For the existing customer who is doing the referring each 1 is worth a $5 credit for 10 months, up to $500 a year. It's not as good as Directv's program but none the less it's not to shabby either. Your referred friend gets a $50 instant credit on their 1st bill. You can go to your account in "mydish", click on refer a friend. You can then either email your friend directly with a referral or have 2 sent to your home, also under my referrals you can copy or write down the referral #. On Dish's paperwork the referral shows up beside the certificate#.
I personally have 4 dish referrals on my account right now & fully intend on maxing it out in the near future. I also have a directv customer who maxes out his referrals yearly. Referrals do cost sales people & retailers money. A former customer returning to dish with a referral doesn't cost anything, it's a wash.
The best way to make sure a referral gets added to a new account is to tell the sales person upfront you have a refer a friend & if for any reason it does not get added you will cancel the account before it ever even gets installed.
"Refer a friend" both sat companies offer it & it's an easy program to participate in.
With Directv the limit is 10 referrals a year. That is $1000 is bill credits. Their best new customer promotion doesn't even come close to that. All your referred friend needs is your account #, provide it when placing the order & you both get a $10 credit for 10 months. When a new customer provides Directv an email they send a confirmation with the account details & it clearly shows the referring friends account #.
Dish also has a limit of 10 referrals a year. For the existing customer who is doing the referring each 1 is worth a $5 credit for 10 months, up to $500 a year. It's not as good as Directv's program but none the less it's not to shabby either. Your referred friend gets a $50 instant credit on their 1st bill. You can go to your account in "mydish", click on refer a friend. You can then either email your friend directly with a referral or have 2 sent to your home, also under my referrals you can copy or write down the referral #. On Dish's paperwork the referral shows up beside the certificate#.
I personally have 4 dish referrals on my account right now & fully intend on maxing it out in the near future. I also have a directv customer who maxes out his referrals yearly. Referrals do cost sales people & retailers money. A former customer returning to dish with a referral doesn't cost anything, it's a wash.
The best way to make sure a referral gets added to a new account is to tell the sales person upfront you have a refer a friend & if for any reason it does not get added you will cancel the account before it ever even gets installed.
You also get other perhaps more subtle things. I don't post every time I see it, but I see people being charged for things I do not pay for, among them the whole shipping a receiver thing, (Not talking about after cancelling) or working with me to get channels that need you to subscribe to something else first. There's more, but it adds up.
Based on my experience (as a customer and an EE) with both providers... If saving money is not an object, then get Dish with 1, 2 or 3 Hoppers + Joeys (based on your needs). If saving money is an object and you can save money with Directv then get Directv.
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dish is better for movies and directv is better for sports. I think the hopper is better than genie.
That isn't what I was responding to.
"My take on it is, give the sat companies a g$$d reason to make you stay."
The Dish companies already do give people a reason a to stay. I saved $64 with the HBO half off deal. Got Starz for free for a year, that'd be a $157 savings. If people want to play that new subscriber game, fine. But I don't like hearing how the Sat companies don't try to keep customers. I've gotten good deals, as many others have, most likely from both Directv and Dish.
I’m switching to D* tomorrow. For the past 3 months, E* has messed my bill up with offers they promised but they never stay in the system and I have to call back every time and work through it. I will also save almost $500 the first year. Even after year two, I will still save money. If I’m not happy I’ll revisit the situation in two years.
From what I have been reading, I think I will opt to have them install 2 HR24’s rather than a Genie. I need more than a 90-minute guide. What were they thinking? I’ve also read that the HR24 is a very good piece of equipment. I have a VIP 622 and a 722 and love them. I hope the HR24 will live up to those two.
From what I have been reading, I think I will opt to have them install 2 HR24’s rather than a Genie. I need more than a 90-minute guide. What were they thinking? I’ve also read that the HR24 is a very good piece of equipment. I have a VIP 622 and a 722 and love them. I hope the HR24 will live up to those two.
I switched from D* to E* 18 months ago and gave up an HR24 for a VIP722K. They're very similar in performance. I don't think you'll be disappointed. My HR24 guide was 90 minutes.
I am doing the reverse . . I will trade in my HR24 for a new Hopper. The HR24 was good when it came out 3 years ago, but is getting old. Also 500gb isn't enough storage. I would go for the Genie instead.
Is there any significant difference between the line of sight required for each service? We previously had Dish, but were unhappy with the satellite dish placement (right at the peak of our roof on the front of our house, which faces north). I tried to get them to move it later on, but was met with resistance (and it is my understanding that the dish can only be placed at a point around the perimeter of the roof?). I've contacted DirecTV about a new install and noted my opposition to having a dish mounted on the front of our house, so I'll need to confirm that placement on the rear of our home is possible (there is some tree cover, although less than a few years ago--and I'm still not quite sure on the angle of unobstructed view that is required). However, threads such as this one are making me lean towards returning to Dish...
One of my favorite things to do every morning is to program what I will watch every night (not referring to recurring timers). With a 90-minute guide, how are you supposed to program for that evening or several days down the road? I guess vacations are out if I want to program for the future.
If I can get a HR44 I may go that route, especially if the HR24 only has a 90-minute guide. My understanding is they are much better than the HR34.
The HR 44 is in test stage, you likely won't be able to get one at this point. I don't think you will be happy with the HR24 a year from now, and you are signing a two year contract.
One of my favorite things to do every morning is to program what I will watch every night (not referring to recurring timers). With a 90-minute guide, how are you supposed to program for that evening or several days down the road? I guess vacations are out if I want to program for the future.
If I can get a HR44 I may go that route, especially if the HR24 only has a 90-minute guide. My understanding is they are much better than the HR34.
90 minute guide means it will only show 90 minutes on screen at a time doesn't it? Their guides will still show programming that is out a couple days I believe.
That makes me feel better, and makes sense. Honestly, I could live with the 622 or 722 for several years to come (I don't record nearly as much as most here do), so I don't think I'll have a problem with the HR24. But I've never used it so I'll have to see.
I see so much negativity about the HR34 that it makes me hesitant. And with the HR44 coming soon, it does make me wonder about the reliability of the HR34.
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