Dish network retention offers?

[MikeD-C05]

There's a lot of complaining in this thread about how much Dish charges in fees (DVR, additional receiver, etc), and how much they charge for premium channels. Just curious, does anybody have good comparison numbers for other providers?

My impression is the complaints about the cost of the premium channels and the fees are futile, that other companies charge more for these. Numbers?

When you have been with DISH for as long as I have , 17 years next January and have 3 DISH accounts, you can see how the prices have gone through the roof. Not only for premium content ,but for the never ending DISH FEES that they continue to create to make even more revenue.

When DISH first came on to the market their hook was "Low priced leader" . There were NO real fees other than the $4.99 additional receiver fees. Then there were no DVR fees when they came out with the webtv/dishplayer ,then the 501/721/921 pvrs. There were perks like No dvr fees for extra dvrs on your account if you subbed to AEP. AEP was $69.99 just in 2000. Now it would cost you over $119.99 for the same content before the DISH additional fees are applied. Premium channel packs were like $8.00- $9.00 per pack back even ten years ago. Now you pay $18.00 a month for HBO and $13.00 for the other packs a month. DISH has tried just about every combination of FEEs that they could come up with : tv 2 fee $5.00 a month. Additional receiver fee for VIP receiver $17.00 a month and now the new increased hopper DVR fee for new subs at $12.00 a month. Luckily old subs are grandfathered in at $10.00 a month ,unless they upgrade to the new hopper with built in sling.

The only thing consistent is that DISH continues to come up with new FEES and the programming keeps going up each year,sometimes like this year twice a year, with increased programming in February and new increased DISH FEES last May. DISH and the tv channel companies have that much in common ,but as a customer I have to say that my pay has NOT kept up with the inflationary rates that both of them charge and I am sure that I am not alone here.

 

[dare2be]

When you have been with DISH for as long as I have , 17 years next January and have 3 DISH accounts, you can see how the prices have gone through the roof. Not only for premium content ,but for the never ending DISH FEES that they continue to create to make even more revenue.

When DISH first came on to the market their hook was "Low priced leader" . There were NO real fees other than the $4.99 additional receiver fees. Then there were no DVR fees when they came out with the webtv/dishplayer ,then the 501/721/921 pvrs. There were perks like No dvr fees for extra dvrs on your account if you subbed to AEP. AEP was $69.99 just in 2000. Now it would cost you over $119.99 for the same content before the DISH additional fees are applied. Premium channel packs were like $8.00- $9.00 per pack back even ten years ago. Now you pay $18.00 a month for HBO and $13.00 for the other packs a month. DISH has tried just about every combination of FEEs that they could come up with : tv 2 fee $5.00 a month. Additional receiver fee for VIP receiver $17.00 a month and now the new increased hopper DVR fee for new subs at $12.00 a month. Luckily old subs are grandfathered in at $10.00 a month ,unless they upgrade to the new hopper with built in sling.

?The only thing consistent is that DISH continues to come up with new FEES and the programming keeps going up each year,sometimes like this year twice a year, with increased programming in February and new increased DISH FEES last May. DISH and the tv channel companies have that much in common ,but as a customer I have to say that my pay has NOT kept up with the inflationary rates that both of them charge and I am sure that I am not alone here.

Yep, and if you were a long-time sub with Direct or cable, you would be saying the same thing. It isn't just isolated to Dish as you make it out to be. Cable does have one distinct advantage in fees in that the FCC regulates a cheap CableCard alternative to avoid higher fees. Why there is no Satellite equivalent to CableCard is beyond me.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Yep, and if you were a long-time sub with Direct or cable, you would be saying the same thing. It isn't just isolated to Dish as you make it out to be. Cable does have one distinct advantage in fees in that the FCC regulates a cheap CableCard alternative to avoid higher fees. Why there is no Satellite equivalent to CableCard is beyond me.

Well let me say it now. I think ALL of the tv providers have gone up on programming -due to the ever increasing asking price the tv channel providers(Espn/Disney , Cbs) keep asking for , but DISH has a persistent love of creating and raising their very own DISH fees. I have seen them do individual fees , combined and rolled up into one Additional receiver fees, DVR fees PER DVR receiver to one per account ,but half of the dvr fee hidden in the additional receiver fee, you name it they have done it. When you look at where they started in 96 with no real fees and where they are in expanded by category , class of receiver fees of today, you can see that the only reason that DISH has continued to hike them is because they can. All of this continues to add to the ever increasing cord cutting and quarterly churn that all companies are seeing now, not just DISH, but also including DIRECTV and as always Cable tv. This is one of the reasons why DISH continues to offer freebies , $10.00 to $15.00 off a month for 6 - 12 months and on programming and 1/2 price premiums. Anything to soften the price a bit and keep the existing sub from jumping ship.

 

[dwarren2]

Mike, all I have ever seen is you doing is bashing Dish, but you still subscribe to Dish. If you are that unhappy, why don't you go to another provider and see if they are better.

 

[Gobucks]

Guys its only TV. If it pisses you off that much I say cancel all together. Why let it get you that worked up? Yea lots of fees and new fees suck. We all know that but if it really bothers you let it go. No one has to have pay TV to live.

 

[acostapimps]

As you all know a lot of those fees is because content providers are charging way too damn much for their channels, and with bundles, Just look at Directv's sport fees went up from $2 to $3 on some markets that have several local RSN's, of course a good chunk of it of why is going up is because of ESPN, but some can't live without their sports so they demand it.

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[acostapimps]

And if sports channels prices continue to go up, then pretty soon they will charge sport fees to every market.

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[MikeD-C05]

Mike, all I have ever seen is you doing is bashing Dish, but you still subscribe to Dish. If you are that unhappy, why don't you go to another provider and see if they are better.

I am not bashing DISH except for their FEE structure. I have ALWAYS disagreed with their FEEs and the amount of them that they charge. They are contributing to the price of pay tv and the cord cutting that is resulting , just as much as the tv channel providers like ESPN and CBS are doing with their greedy contract increases. This is causing DISH to offer these retention offers and freebies on a ever increasing basis to retain the subs that they do have. I love DISH as a service , their receivers are the greatest. I do not like the greedy way that the FEES have not only gone up but have proliferated at such a great pace. And let me remind you that their recent FEE increase on the Hopper for a second receiver was grandfathered for current subs ,because we all disagreed on this web board with the increase. So the squeaky wheel does get the grease. We do make a difference on this web board with our complaints and critical observations.

When you consider DISH's history of low prices and you look at their present fee stucture, is it any wonder that they are still losing subs at a great rate each quarter , even with the addition of the great hopper/joey system. I can love a company and still criticize it's more unfavorable ways. After 16 years, going on 17 years next January , three DISH accounts and all the years of software bugs I have endured, channel provider disputes, lawsuits over Tivo & distant networks , etc, I have earned the right to criticize them don't you think?

 

[satjay]

I think all companies need constructive criticism, I would like to think "our voices" made a impact on the grandfathered Hopper fees a while back

 

[MikeD-C05]

I think all companies need constructive criticism, I would like to think "our voices" made a impact on the grandfathered Hopper fees a while back

EXACTLY! Like my old Nigerian captain at the Prison I worked at for over 17 years, used to say: "They can only ride you if you bend over...DON'T bend over!" Which means we don't have to continue to bend over for all the FEES that DISH continues to come up with with out a little squawking . Sometimes they back off their fee increases, like they did in May for current hopper subs.

 

[navychop]

The rule of thumb is the more subs, the lower fee... Being that dish is (second?) biggest provider, we should be paying second lowest MRC.

You have a really strange thumb.


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[Tampa8]

Mike, all I have ever seen is you doing is bashing Dish, but you still subscribe to Dish. If you are that unhappy, why don't you go to another provider and see if they are better.

I see it as constructive criticism. I don't agree with some of what he has to say. Don't tell him, but some of it I do.

 

[Blackhawks]

I might add, the bad customer service was mostly with off shore call centers. I had almost zero issues with US based call centers.

The problem is that almost all US Businesses outsource overseas. Ugh!


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[costanzas_wallet]

You have a really strange thumb.


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I don't really expect dish to charge less lol, but I'm willing to bet they make quite a bit more per sub then your average cable company simply because they have more bargaining power.