DISH takes away HD Free for Life if you go off AutoPay

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bellevuecoug

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Aug 14, 2013
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So, for various reasons, I'm not comfortable with the automatic charges and called to go on to a monthly bill that I pay as it arrives ~ I was told by Dish that I would lose my 'HD Free for Life' if I went off of AutoPay.

So, the gist is this - 5-year customer, never a problem, multiple upgrades, HWS, 2 Joeys, and a Super - I have my credit card held hostage by Charlie - if I go off the AutoPay, I get $ 10 / month added to my bill.

We all know the 'HD Free' deal is a load of crap. That being said, I know other Dish subs not on AutoPay who have HDFFL. So, what's the deal? AutoPay or pay extra? Is this a new development?
 
I do know they tell you up front "HD for life" now is IF you use autopay. Not sure how Dish's Hopper fee is off hand monthly, but the Directv genie fee for me is $25, and part of that excuse is "HD Fee".
 
We pay $36 per month in equipment fees for the five tuners (four TVs). That would then jump to $ 46 if we go off AutoPay. I believe $12 of that is for the Hopper DVR.

I realize Dish isn't the only provider gouging customers on these (ahem) 'equipment fees', but another $10 if we change our form of payment? Is any other provider doing this?
 
Directv will give you a rebate for auto pay as well, but that expires (mine was 24 months $10 off). I think you can get back on it if you bug them about it. I think Dish allows you to stay on it forever as long as you do not drop it.
 
For as long as they've had the Free HD promo the rule has been the same, must have paperless billing and autopay. It doesn't have to be a credit card. You can use a debit card or have it withdrawn from your checking or savings account.
 
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As mentioned above, you can put a prepaid credit card on the account. It doesnt even have to be reloaded regularly, if you make the payment ahead of time using your choice of payment method. The Autopay is their assurance the money is going to come in, so if you take their assurance away, they no longer give you the discount. There are many people without Autopay and paperless billing, but there could be varying reasons. One, it is not automatic. The account has to be physically audited. Two, when the promotion first began, you had the choice of Paperless billing and autopay, OR a one time $90 payment for HDFFL if you did not want to do the autopay. Anyone that did that would be grandfathered in.
 
ggw2000 said:
Interesting- I have HDFFL but only have paperless billing. My checking info is on "mydish" but I go online and pay it myself when I want to.
Gerry
Click to expand...
That way you still have autopay, because it is still registered on your account. Even though you pay is manually, you do so prior to the autopay takes effect, so when autopay does go, it removes "$0" from your account as an autopayment. It's very similar to how bundled customers do it, since their payments are made through their phone company. They just have to have a payment on record, but because the charges are sent to the phone company, $0 is charged to their autopay method through Dish.
 
A lot of people are like that, but if an account gets audited and it's not on there, it will remove HD off all together, or will start charging a $10 Hd fee. Not sure which route they go, and these audits happen even less than the account stacking audits.
 
ChadT41 said:
A lot of people are like that, but if an account gets audited and it's not on there, it will remove HD off all together, or will start charging a $10 Hd fee. Not sure which route they go, and these audits happen even less than the account stacking audits.
Click to expand...
no they are grandfathered..it was available without "autopay" many moons ago
 
The original HD Free For Life promotion did require auto pay, however the current re-release of that promotion that started on the 6th of November doesn't require it anymore. We do recommend it being setup, but it being removed should not remove the Free for Life promotion.

Whoever is being affected by this, send me a PM with the account information so I can see what's going on.
 
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gadgtfreek said:
Directv will give you a rebate for auto pay as well, but that expires (mine was 24 months $10 off). I think you can get back on it if you bug them about it. I think Dish allows you to stay on it forever as long as you do not drop it.
Click to expand...

With Dish, nothing is forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
bellevuecoug said:
So, for various reasons, I'm not comfortable with the automatic charges and called to go on to a monthly bill that I pay as it arrives ~ I was told by Dish that I would lose my 'HD Free for Life' if I went off of AutoPay.

So, the gist is this - 5-year customer, never a problem, multiple upgrades, HWS, 2 Joeys, and a Super - I have my credit card held hostage by Charlie - if I go off the AutoPay, I get $ 10 / month added to my bill.

We all know the 'HD Free' deal is a load of crap. That being said, I know other Dish subs not on AutoPay who have HDFFL. So, what's the deal? AutoPay or pay extra? Is this a new development?
Click to expand...

You have a choice....either honor the terms and conditions, or don't. Or choose the third option - whine about it.
 
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dvrexpander said:
HD should be free no matter what and as a matter of fact should be the ONLY thing they are promoting since they are only pushing out VIP's and Hoppers now.
Click to expand...
There are still plenty of PIA accounts getting setup with SD equipment to this day. Also, these legacy changeovers, are pushing out 311's. Ask Iceberg, said his old man got a 311, and I believe he had another family member get a 311. So they are not only pushing out VIP, although it is more likely you will get a VIP or XiP receiver.
 
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