Dish Pricing Update

[TheForce]

I also plan to drop Playboy to offset. I have two DVR's on my account with AEP and HD. Admit that I don't really watch it much anyway. It is not that good, not like the old Voom HD Playboy. I have a stack of DVD's I recorded off that channel before Voom went off the air so if I feel the need for a few minutes of porn, I've got plenty in the library. Good thing about porn is it doesn't get dated for decades!

In addition, I plan to drop multi sports package when NFL season is over. Just had it for the NFL Red Zone anyway.

I'm sure with my latest "free" upgrade I'm on a 24 month new contract so can I downgrade my AEP to the 250 pack plus HBO and Showtime? I still watch those channels but really haven't watched starz nor Cinemax in months. Just don't have the time.

Comment-- I think Dish is making a big mistake in billing for all the DVR's on the AEP. That was the main incentive for it, at least for me.

My monthly bill is $145 before taxes. We pay 12.75% I think for satellite tax and sales tax.


What Dish is doing with this year's price increase is forcing all it's customers to learn how to add and cancel more often. Then again, they may raise the cancellation fees.

 

[dvrexpander]

I tried Chat support to find out about the equipment fees increase, she said they have no information about it. I guess it only works through email.

I tried that as well...same thing. They advised me to check back after Jan 1st. But I can say this again. If my bill goes up anymore than 3$ more a month I'll have to really argue and get something offset like putting me on a promotional deal for a few more months and so on. I'm paying way too much now for what little I even watch.

I already can stream games off ESPN360 to my TV just not in full HD glory but once I figure out a way to do that then I'll really drop a bunch of stuff cause football is just about all I watch anymore.

 

[vjkaty]

I got my February rate quote by sending an e-mail to ceo@echostar.com and bcc to ceo@dishnetwork.com.

The return e-mail address was from: care@customermail.dishnetwork.com

 

[bobvick]

Today I bundled my Dish Network account with my phone company CenturyLink. I will get a $5.00 per month discount, so that will offset some of the fee increase.

 

[dodger72]

i have two 311's are they still going to charge for these i also have a 612

 

[TheKrell]

I have 4 personally-purchased 622/722's on AEP.

Does that mean my bill would go up at least $25 a month? That's unbelievable!

p.s. All 4 dvr's are hooked up to single HDTV. I don't even use the 2nd-tv feature at all.

Looks like you should swap out those 722's for 4 612's at $7/ea. At least that's what Scott's Multichannel News article stated the tab would be for Solo-class receivers, and the 612 is a Solo DVR.

If that's not a valid interpretation of the new pricing, I saw no contradiction in the first 35 pages of this thread!

 

[dlsnyder]

I have Classic Silver with DVR Advantage and two 622 receivers. I just looked at my current statement and found that they are already lumping all the charges for the second receiver together, charging me a flat $12. I assume that after the price increase the first receiver will still be no charge but the second one will go up to $17 if I understand it correctly. For internet service I have DSL with Verizon. Today I checked out the current pricing for Time Warner Cable in my area. Their internet and digital cable package (including comparable equipment and franchise fees) is within a dollar of the combined price of what my Dish and Verizon dry loop DSL are going to be next year. If I choose to get Tivo instead of two TWC DVRs the deal is even better. To top it off, TWC includes the HD versions of their basic digital channels at no additional charge, so that's a savings of $10/mo. I have been a loyal customer of Dish Network for almost 10 years, and have been with them all this time due to the value they have always provided. As of now that value proposition has turned in favor of cable. Dish is treading on very thin ice with this price increase, at least with me. I would be willing to bet that I am not alone here.

 

[Stargazer]

I think E has got the message

Ideally just make it ONE DVR FEE PER ACCOUNT, waive fee for AEP, have a single extra receiver fee that combines extra receiver fee and no phone in fee, give 5 buck discount for all being connected all the time.

501 and 508s where they are the only DVRs on the account would remain fee free.......

this would be fair, cost E some bucks but help sales, call lost revenue a promo cost

offer a lifetime of account DVR fee one shot cost, like 80 bucks...

bet the final announcement ends up like this.

I bet they dont announce something like that. I bet they will go forward with this to try and see how much money they gain (or lose) to see what the result is.

 

[Frank Jr.]

Dish is treading on very thin ice with this price increase, at least with me. I would be willing to bet that I am not alone here.

No you are not alone I have my home phone service and my dsl through at&t because at the time that was my only option other than dial up. Now I can get TWC or U-Verse soon. I can as a new customer bundle and save. Not to mention cut my Dish account to the bare bones and use my OTA again.........Dish is a luxury, not a necessity!

 

[Stargazer]

I got rid of AEP about three or so years ago down to AT250. Then I dropped some receivers. Now I am looking at what else I can drop. AT250 is about as low as I want to go along with HD DVR.

I am wondering if you have a waived fee on a 522 due to 721 swapout if they are going to put that as your first DVR on your account so that you still have to pay the DVR fee on the second DVR? As far as I am concerned they owe that DVR fee to me since I paid $550 for that 721 and was promised lifetime DVR on that box. Other customers will be paying the same as me and I have no advantage if they waive the fee on the first DVR on the account.

 

[dlsnyder]

Dish is a luxury, not a necessity!

Agreed as far as I am concerned. My wife however has a slightly different point of view

I got one of those Magic Jack things and have wired it to serve the whole house. It has worked well enough that I am going to dump my landline, trading off between that and the cellphone. If it were just me I wouldn't even need cable or satellite, as everything I watch now is either OTA or found easily on Hulu or elsewhere on the internet. Heck, I barely watch half as much TV as I used to even two years ago. My family though would be hard pressed to do without a DVR now. It is all my fault though. I should never have purchased that first 508 four years ago, then they would never have known what they were missing. :

 

[Frank Jr.]

I still have AEP or what ever they are calling it now. I realize that the cost of doing business goes up but..... 2 or 3 bucks is one thing but what has been rumored is another thing entirely. I really like Dish and their programming but I'm like other posters, I don't watch tv all the time and those premium channels get silly with the oldies and another thing, isn't it nice to put people under a commitment (aka a contract) but the price isn't restricted in that commitment? Heck I need to start a business like that. Sucker people into a contract or commitment and then jack the monthly bill up. Then threaten to charge them a substantial penalty for early termination. Heck with my cell phone they stay with the same price until the end of the contract.......

 

[Frank Jr.]

Agreed as far as I am concerned. My wife however has a slightly different point of view

My wife is my accountant. She writes the checks. She loves the DVR's and HD television but has voiced her complaints over the cost. We can go back to just locals. Heck I have a Sony DVD recorder that has a hard drive that can record shows just like we did with VCR's. Times are not great. Many of us feel the pinch. I will continue to pay my major bills like my house payment, electric bill, and the other things I have to have. I will not call my electric company and tell them I am short just so I can pay my Dish bill!

 

[Frank Jr.]

Let me put it in this respective. My Dish bill equates to more than half of what my electric bill is. My power company heats, cools and lights up my house, powers everything in it. Charlie are you listening?

 

[whatchel1]

SD ONLY

Agreed as far as I am concerned. My wife however has a slightly different point of view

My wife is my accountant. She writes the checks. She loves the DVR's and HD television but has voiced her complaints over the cost. We can go back to just locals. Heck I have a Sony DVD recorder that has a hard drive that can record shows just like we did with VCR's. Times are not great. Many of us feel the pinch. I will continue to pay my major bills like my house payment, electric bill, and the other things I have to have. I will not call my electric company and tell them I am short just so I can pay my Dish bill!

You will be recording SD only w/that set up. You could get the Pal DVR from E* and record HD to the HDD from OTA.

 

[Frank Jr.]

You will be recording SD only w/that set up. You could get the Pal DVR from E* and record HD to the HDD from OTA.

I can record in SD So long as I can get my locals HD I am not worried. My wife just said Dish is good but not that good!

 

[dlsnyder]

That DVR Pal would be a great deal if it could do clear QAM cable, or even Netflix streaming. What would be really cool would be something like a Roku box with a digital OTA tuner. I have not had the chance to really play with a Tivo, but the series 3 units seem to offer the most choice and flexibility of any receiver out there. The 922 looks like it may get close, but it seems to me that place shifting has a somewhat limited appeal. With all the other options out there right now, this is really not a good time for Charlie to be raising prices and limiting subscriber choice.

 

[Stargazer]

E should move to DVR receivers that use ALL EXTERNAL hard drives.

Since hard drives have moving parts they fail pretty often. Let the customer swap them out!

saves returning boxes, and better software, way too many boxes suddenly fail when the latest software hoses the box.

although this is far better than it had been.

boxes should be designed to avoid failures.

bad receivers cost subs

I agree with this. This would eliminate need for a 722 and 922 receiver. Only 211 and 222 receiver would be needed at this point. If you want slingloaded DVR like 922 then add the sling to it like the EHD. This saves Dish money because they didn't have to provide hard drive and fewer failures, cheaper equipment cost. Saves customers hassles because they can use several hard drives, more flexibility, no DVR fee. If Dish went this route though I am sure they would charge a DVR fee even if you used your own EHD but maybe give you discount if you did or require the use of their own EHD. All they need is a good software release for 222 to make this possible.

 

[Stargazer]

Will a 322 be charged the TV2 fee when all of this takes place if it is the only dual tuner receiver on the account?

 

[whatchel1]

Most are equipment challenged

I agree with this. This would eliminate need for a 722 and 922 receiver. Only 211 and 222 receiver would be needed at this point. If you want slingloaded DVR like 922 then add the sling to it like the EHD. This saves Dish money because they didn't have to provide hard drive and fewer failures, cheaper equipment cost. Saves customers hassles because they can use several hard drives, more flexibility, no DVR fee. If Dish went this route though I am sure they would charge a DVR fee even if you used your own EHD but maybe give you discount if you did or require the use of their own EHD. All they need is a good software release for 222 to make this possible.

It's a nice idea for people that come here alot. But less face it there are way to many out there that are electronics/IT challenged. Too many would not be able to attach an ext HDD others would F' up the hook up of the USB connection.