I work for an HSP and I have a company van and eye/dental/health/life/etc...benefits which they just raised on us
We still have techs in our company using personal vehicles also.
Here come the price increases
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I work for an HSP and I have a company van and eye/dental/health/life/etc...benefits which they just raised on us
We still have techs in our company using personal vehicles also.
I find the price increase annoying because according to the Feds Consumer Price Index, there has been no inflation over the past year. Energy prices are lower than last year. Wages are down. The economy is suffering. Yet D* hits us with what is roughly a 5% price increase.
Across their subscriber base, this is an increase of several hundred million dollars.
I don't mind an increase when its around the inflation rate. But in this case, it looks like they are stiffing us.
Across their subscriber base, this is an increase of several hundred million dollars.
I don't mind an increase when its around the inflation rate. But in this case, it looks like they are stiffing us.
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Out of all the post's about the price increase this is the best one by far!! Great post by a real class act! Thank you very much!:up
DirecTV has stated several times they are going to increase rates between 3% and 6% every year. DirecTV has one primary goal increase revenues and margin.
It will be interesting to see if the price increase is a setup for additional MRV fees 2nd quarter when MRV is released nationally. The price increase seems significant enough that MRV should be included within the price increase, but I doubt it.
Don
Don
BlackHitachi and Tom B. or anyone, do you think Directv or any other company always hit a consumer/customer with the increase they see in that time frame? I work for a chemical company that during 2008 we took increase on raw materials of 25-35% depending on the caustic material in a six month period. Can you imagine if we hit a customer with a 25% increase? They would cancel. You need to stage the recapture of expense in these scenarios. In the case of D*, they have a new satellite to pay for an increase costs on current channels that have been negotiated not to mention benefits(beyond installers).
While the CPI can be gauge it can not always be the driving factor for a rate change. Most companies don't increase the rate just to irritate customers.
The CPI is actually IMO a lousy indicator of "inflation". The commonly used CPI-U measures the change in cost for an urban living renter who works full time and doesnt pay for their own health care, but receives it as a free benefit from their job.
It uses a number of adjustments and 'basket substitutions'. For example, if steak becomes too expensive, the index substitutes hamburger, with the argument that this is what a regular person would do. In my opinion, thats pricing behavioral changes, not true cost of living.
We had a huge spike in the CPI a couple of years ago, principally from the jump in oil and gasoline prices and when those plunged, it weighed down the other increases in the CPI.
So if you're an urban worker and renter, chances are the CPI-U is somewhat representative of your experienced rate of inflation, although if you tend to drive a little or a lot, eat certain foods frequently or otherwise step out of the 'norm' then the index wont track your spending changes very well.
I suspect quite a few of us arent young and live in an apartment in the city, and many may be retired or working part time and may be paying for some or all of our own health care. That means we're experiencing a lot more inflation than the CPI would let on.
It uses a number of adjustments and 'basket substitutions'. For example, if steak becomes too expensive, the index substitutes hamburger, with the argument that this is what a regular person would do. In my opinion, thats pricing behavioral changes, not true cost of living.
We had a huge spike in the CPI a couple of years ago, principally from the jump in oil and gasoline prices and when those plunged, it weighed down the other increases in the CPI.
So if you're an urban worker and renter, chances are the CPI-U is somewhat representative of your experienced rate of inflation, although if you tend to drive a little or a lot, eat certain foods frequently or otherwise step out of the 'norm' then the index wont track your spending changes very well.
I suspect quite a few of us arent young and live in an apartment in the city, and many may be retired or working part time and may be paying for some or all of our own health care. That means we're experiencing a lot more inflation than the CPI would let on.
You guys that say there is no inflation need to look at stuff like the Versus deal, stuff like that is partly why prices increase regularly, the cost of providing programming increases (it's just regularly a newsmaker and turns into a dispute like it did with Versus). Add in R&D, other costs most of us don't even realize/comprehend, and the need to be a profitable company, and I am happy to pay a couple more dollars per month for a service I get more than my money's worth out of.
It's not about inflation, it's about the cost of doing business. I
It's not about inflation, it's about the cost of doing business. I
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I know all companies raise prices, but we've just gone through a period where the consumer price index FELL for 2009. It would be one thing to increase prices after giving us more content, but to be so far behind with national HD channels and after removing Versus, it thinks it's a little crazy to jack up the prices now. I've had it with this company.
I know price increases suck but I would like to hear their side of the story too. It's not always the sat company faults for the price hikes. The companies that own the channels always want more money.
It also makes me wonder how people can argue about paying for things they want. I want HD, DVR, multiple TVs hooked up, over a hundred channels and I don't want to pay very much for it. Lets cheer up people.
It also makes me wonder how people can argue about paying for things they want. I want HD, DVR, multiple TVs hooked up, over a hundred channels and I don't want to pay very much for it. Lets cheer up people.
I'm not sure how much you pay but my bill is $137/mo! That is not cheap at all. I don't mind paying for something as long as it's worth it.
I have 1 HD-DVR for the living room and 1 Standard Def DVR for the bedroom. I live alone, so I only watch one at a time. I have the Premier package plus the HD and HD Extra pack. I pay for the protection plan because I had TONS of issues early on.
I'd estimate 95% of the TV I watch has commercial on it. Also, I ONLY watch HD, so out of like 500 channels, I only watch 60. Out of the movie channels, it seems like most of the movies I want to see are on channels that DTV doesn't carry in HD (yet I pay $15/mo for this pitiful offering)
Bottom line is I want all the national HD channels, couldn't care about any SD channels, nor PPV, nor foreign language, nor shopping. Taking into consideration all the commercials, I feel $100-120/mo is a fair price for that. But instead I'm going to be up to $143 and STILL have crappy HD content.
I was hoping to avoid getting locked into another long-term contract, but I think I am finally going to be making the switch to FiOS.
95% of your TV has commercials in it, but you subscribe to premiere, for the 5% of the time you want to watch the movie channels and the sports pack? Sounds like you'd be better off just backing off your package a bit, sub to 1-2 movie packages a month, and change it up every other month or so. Would be money more wisely spent.
We have a similar setup at home, just not Premier, and have 1-2 movie channels and switch them up every month or so, and also sub to Sunday Ticket.
We have a similar setup at home, just not Premier, and have 1-2 movie channels and switch them up every month or so, and also sub to Sunday Ticket.
If you think the movie channels you pay $15/month for are so pitiful why do you pay the extra $15/month for them ? Seems like that's your problem, not DIRECTV's problem.
The price per HD premium channel is way too high already. BTW premeire that includes them went up 5 bucks.
Then you change packages, or dont sub to the premium channels? Again, premiums are optional, if you're using the lack of premium hd channels as a reason to disagree with a price increase to the core packages, you're just trolling or looking to argue.
I am referring to the $15/mo in HD access fees, not movie channel packages. I'm paying extra for HD when all I want is HD. I could care less about the 500 SD channels.If you think the movie channels you pay $15/month for are so pitiful why do you pay the extra $15/month for them ? Seems like that's your problem, not DIRECTV's problem.
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