DVR fee credited for another 12 months

[RoyalB]

Just learned by checking my bill that Dish apparently is waiving the $7 DVR fee for another 12 months for those who had a 501 or 508 receiver with free DVR.

They added the DVR fee for these receivers 4 years ago, but offered a credit for two years even if you retired the receiver and upgraded to HD. 2 years ago they sent out a card announcing they were extending it for another 2 years. My first bill after this expiration did not have the credit, but my autopay didn't take the extra $7. This month's bill now has 2 $7 credits and indication that the credit will run to 60 months, or another year.

Does this mean they still haven't retired all of the 501 or 508 receivers? Any guess how many are still getting this credit? Can we hope for any more extensions?

 

[MikeD-C05]

The way I see it , DISH should NEVER charge a dvr fee for the 501 or 508 or 510 receivers. They were advertised as NO PVR fees and back then if you subscribed to one you got to keep it when your promotion was up. You owned it. Now if DISH doesn't want anymore of these receivers out there ,they need to pay to upgrade them to the 211k or Z models tell the subs to add an external hard drive and NOT charge them the one time $40.00 dvr software download that lets them turn the receiver into a dvr and let the customers have a NO FEE dvr once again. That would be fair to both sides and it would end the credits they keep having to extend for 12 months. These 501/508/510 pvrs came out at the beginning of the last decade. It is time to solve this problem once and for all.

 

[osu1991]

Just looked at my bill and the credit has been extended to 60 months

 

[Bob Haller]

Maybe they got too many cancellations when attepting to charge the fees?

i got so mad at the fees doubling on my receivers that i owned i dropped dish forever. i always had my phone lines connected.

i wonder how many canceled over that dumb move.

 

[Tampa8]

So DISH has NEVER, again NEVER charged a fee for those receivers and yet complaints. It gets old people. Bob you don't appear too savvy if you dropped DISH over fees you were never charged, and you could have a newer receiver and STILL not be paying fees. So the answer is .... Almost no one dropped DISH over fees they were never charged other than you.

 

[Tampa8]

The way I see it , DISH should NEVER charge a dvr fee for the 501 or 508 or 510 receivers. They were advertised as NO PVR fees and back then if you subscribed to one you got to keep it when your promotion was up. You owned it. Now if DISH doesn't want anymore of these receivers out there ,they need to pay to upgrade them to the 211k or Z models tell the subs to add an external hard drive and NOT charge them the one time $40.00 dvr software download that lets them turn the receiver into a dvr and let the customers have a NO FEE dvr once again. That would be fair to both sides and it would end the credits they keep having to extend for 12 months. These 501/508/510 pvrs came out at the beginning of the last decade. It is time to solve this problem once and for all.

The way I see it the no PVR fee was for the life of the receiver, not the life of the people. By now this would certainly be the end of life for most 501/508 receivers around, and with the changing technology certain death. I see that DISH should just have started charging the fee and let the chips fall where they may because if you try to do right it bites you in the end because people want free, then more free.

 

[RoyalB]

Agreed that the no fee pledge was for the life of the receiver, which means no fee ever for that particular receiver.

Dish made a business decision when it decided to purge these receivers and granted the DVR credit for two years so a new fee wouldn't discourage people from upgrading and getting rid of these old receivers. I upgraded to HD during that period and expected to lose the credit, only to see it extended for 2 years and now another year.

I feel they're going beyond what is required, but they are generating goodwill and again making a business decision. I'm guessing they still have enough people running these receivers that they don't want to shut them down, and they find it too difficult to turn off the credit for those who retired their receivers while keeping it for these others. They can't like it that the transition is taking so long, but ultimately they are deciding what best serves the company.

 

[Tampa8]

Yes, this is a time where DISH is doing the right thing, I think it's great for those who upgraded to still get no DVR fee. To me it's a matter of DISH was not getting a fee from those customers before, so in a way they are not losing by not getting that fee yet. But it likely keeps many who feel they are getting a good break and don't switch. The difference in fees of VIP (None whole home) type receivers with Direct is already huge, much more expensive, think of how much more difference there is if you are paying no fees or less than you would with DISH.

 

[MikeD-C05]

The way I see it the no PVR fee was for the life of the receiver, not the life of the people. By now this would certainly be the end of life for most 501/508 receivers around, and with the changing technology certain death. I see that DISH should just have started charging the fee and let the chips fall where they may because if you try to do right it bites you in the end because people want free, then more free.

At the time they were advertised : "At DISH we never charge a fee to tape less record tv like the other guys." Meaning DIRECTV ,that back then charged like $9.50 a month for their dvr fee. That DISH advertising promo forced Directv to lower their dvr fee down to like $4.99 a month in response. That same campaign helped make DISH like 2 million subs in short order. Now they probably couldn't duplicate that today because of the price of programming being what it is today, but I would sure like to see them try. Oh , that's right, they are doing that right now in their latest two year promo. No dvr fee , No hd fee and No fee for locals and $49.99 for two years. I guess maybe DISH is going back to the past to help themselves in the present. If they tried this no dvr fee with current subs, they just might find themselves with less churn.

 

[Tampa8]

And at the time they were telling the truth, they never did charge a PVR fee, then they charged a DVR fee. Very common verbiage for companies. And when they did start charging on the newer DVR receivers they did not start charging those who were told there would not be a fee on the 508/501.
A car service from/to the airport I use advertised no gas surcharge like the other guys charge you. Their cost was competitive, and less because of that. Then they did charge it.
Our Bank advertises never an ATM fee when you bank with us if you withdraw from your checking account even if you use another bank's ATM. It still advertises that but yet I was charged it. Why? They changed the terms of how often you can use another bank's ATM. How do they still advertise the same way? Because now, as they pointed out to me, there is an asterisk at the end that explains what never actually means.
The point is "We never" means right now, it does not mean "We will never."

 

[MikeD-C05]

The point is "We never" means right now, it does not mean "We will never."

So you mean it is all in the fine print that nobody ever reads.

 

[Tampa8]

Lol, yes and that includes DISH! You boiled it down well......

 

[pattykay]

I am not complaining about the additional year of credits. I just wish there had been some advance notice that the credits were being extended. Two years ago, I got a postcard, but there was no such notice this time. Last month's bill listed the DVR credit as "48 of 48" so I fully expected to lose the credit. Therefore, I went ahead and switched from a ViP722k to a ViP211, only to be pleasantly surprised by this month's bill listing DVR credit "49 of 60." Now, I am considering going back to the ViP722k. If I had known the credits were being extended, I wouldn't have switched receivers in the first place.

 

[osu1991]

I just a got a new house last week and was planning on doing same thing when I moved everything. Will keep the 722 now.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[dishrich]

I actually noticed this credit on my last couple bills - for $10 though - that also says "x60". I'm guessing it's because I had upgraded to Ho's, & at the time I did, it was right before they raised all the Ho receiver fees from when they first came out. ($10 1st Ho, $7 each added Ho) It's the same amount I've been credited for up until a couple bills ago, for the 2 years previous; I got one of those "DVR fee waived for 2 years" postcards back then as well. I hadn't had a chance to call E* about it, so glad others are mentioning it here, too. A very nice surprise indeed...& didn't even have to make any calls to get it!

 

[pattykay]

I actually noticed this credit on my last couple bills - for $10 though - that also says "x60". I'm guessing it's because I had upgraded to Ho's, & at the time I did, it was right before they raised all the Ho receiver fees from when they first came out. ($10 1st Ho, $7 each added Ho) It's the same amount I've been credited for up until a couple bills ago, for the 2 years previous; I got one of those "DVR fee waived for 2 years" postcards back then as well. I hadn't had a chance to call E* about it, so glad others are mentioning it here, too. A very nice surprise indeed...& didn't even have to make any calls to get it!

I had been wondering if anybody with these credits had upgraded to Hopper and successfully gotten the Hopper DVR fee waived, or if the credit would only cover the ViP DVR fee. Thanks for posting.

 

[dishrich]

I had been wondering if anybody with these credits had upgraded to Hopper and successfully gotten the Hopper DVR fee waived, or if the credit would only cover the ViP DVR fee.

Well, I'm still having to pay $2 of the ($12) Ho DVR fee...but I can live with that.
Also, keep in mind that when they jacked up the Ho fees, they also were giving my credits on my other 2 Ho's, so that I was only paying the $7 added Ho fees...unfortunately those credits recently stopped as well.

 

[Tampa8]

Well, I'm still having to pay $2 of the ($12) Ho DVR fee...but I can live with that.
Also, keep in mind that when they jacked up the Ho fees, they also were giving my credits on my other 2 Ho's, so that I was only paying the $7 added Ho fees...unfortunately those credits recently stopped as well.

Was thinking that's quite low for Ho's, then realized you were talking about the Hopper..

 

[Bob Haller]

So DISH has NEVER, again NEVER charged a fee for those receivers and yet complaints. It gets old people. Bob you don't appear too savvy if you dropped DISH over fees you were never charged, and you could have a newer receiver and STILL not be paying fees. So the answer is .... Almost no one dropped DISH over fees they were never charged other than you.

my 722 fees doubled overnight.

from 6 or 7 bucks a month to 14. i owened my receiivers.

there was the dvr fee, the phone line fee, and extra receiver fee.

now i always kept my phone lines connected.

the 7 buck to 14 bucks a month fee ticked me off big time. they didnt lose me as a customer they drove me away.

so i went to comcast, cable card fee last time i checked was 4 bucks a month

dish decided to gouge and rip off its customers

 

[KAB]

my 722 fees doubled overnight.

from 6 or 7 bucks a month to 14. i owened my receiivers.

there was the dvr fee, the phone line fee, and extra receiver fee.

now i always kept my phone lines connected.

the 7 buck to 14 bucks a month fee ticked me off big time. they didnt lose me as a customer they drove me away.

so i went to comcast, cable card fee last time i checked was 4 bucks a month

dish decided to gouge and rip off its customers

How many times are you going to cut and paste this, Bob? (Or you might as well, save typing time, over and over).