Here's my solution to the Turbo HD problem...

[Remote1]

Wow ! You guys are serious about your TV. Here are my newbie observations:

1. Charlie's responsibility is to his shareholders, not the customers. Ultimately, that guides his decisions.

2. Whether or not if you think he is "cheap", "deceiving", or "misleading", the man is a self-made BILLIONAIRE. Regardless of what happens with the lawsuits or this company, he has done well for himself. I'd venture to say he is smarter than the average bear.

 

[STL]

Remote,
#1 - So makes it okay to mislead his customers? Have you noticed the rate DISH is loosing customers? And at the same time DirecTV is adding them. Eventually the shareholders are going to notice as the customer base continues to dwindle -- so maybe we do matter.

#2 - The same can be said for Bernie Madoff.

 

[UnSat]

Remote,
#1 - So makes it okay to mislead his customers? Have you noticed the rate DISH is loosing customers? And at the same time DirecTV is adding them. Eventually the shareholders are going to notice as the customer base continues to dwindle -- so maybe we do matter.

#2 - The same can be said for Bernie Madoff.

Why do you care? Are you a Dish customer? If so, why?

 

[STL]

I don't like being told one thing -- at several levels (even arguably the highest level) -- then finding out later, after I've locked myself into a long term agreement, that it is not true. I am still a DISH customer because it is just too costly to break the contract.

 

[Remote1]

Yes, I am a dish customer, turboHD silver package with 722k. I am fairly new with this but have spent much time researching. I've been watching OTA tv now for about 3 years and decided to get something else. I do love movies and have quite a collection. Also I'm hooked on Dexter.

What I've noticed is at the same time dish has been losing customers, charlie has cut his operating cost and improved margins. This makes you leaner and ready to rebound. I'm even thinking of buying some stock. Yes, some of these promotional deals may have fallen through and what not, but that does not warrant personnal name calling. You vote with your dollars.

He may be a shrewd businessman but to compare him to Bernie ? Give me a break.

 

[STL]

I will vote with my dollars in the future, but as I said before it's simply too expensive for me to leave DISH right now because I'm under contact. The improved margins are not all from cutting costs -- he is also sticking it to the remaining customers he has (and that will only get worse as they continue to bleed customers). As it stands now, I and many others were flat out mislead. The fact DISH has done nothing to correct the issue suggests it very well could have been intentional. All I was saying in my comparison is that being "smarter than the average bear" doesn't mean one couldn't be deceitful -- so the fact you brought it up was pointless.

 

[Pen15head]

yes, charlie lost customers. but with the att fandango there was expected to be a loss. charlie also lost a lot of the deadweight customers with the new disconnect policy. once your account goes so many days past due, you have to pay the full current balance, including any recent charges, even if they are in the 10 day grace period. in the past, people could float on by on making minimum payments here and there, and pay the amount that was only 30 days past due. as a result, many customers unable to come up with full funds probably left. but good riddance.

and even with his smaller cust base, he still made a profit. directv with their large and increasing cust base, is still not making a profit. maybe charlie wouldnt mind tapering back down to a smaller size, like the old days when it was easier to run a company and he was able to easily satisfy customers and keep services more personalized.

 

[Remote1]

I do not think that establishing the fact that this CEO is a shrewd business man is pointless. He even makes himself available to his customer base. How may other CEO's do that ? In this industry ? My point is that I think he will right this ship and keep Dish has a viable company. Yes, he has to appease his customer base, and shareholders. But he also has to deal with media companies in bed with Fox.

Overall, I'm pleased with this service and hope it will improve. If it does not I'll look elsewhere. If nothing else, I'll just go fishing. The graphics outside are great.

 

[MikeD-C05]

I read in the DIRECTV forums that Directv will be launching a new sat next year that will allow that company to have 200 hd channels. I wonder if DISH will be able to compete on this scale next year?

 

[Pen15head]

really, what more is available in hd? i know i would like to have AMC-hd by time the next season of breaking bad starts. are they counting every rsp, every ppv, every national, and every sportts sub channels like nfl and mib?

 

[MikeD-C05]

They didn't specify what channels that they would add in hd in the 200 count, just that they would have capacity for 200 hd channels. I think there are like 50 Sd channels left in my top 250 programming pack. So anyone of those, are all of those could go hd in the future. I saw last night BBC America in hd was coming 7/20/09. I wish DISH would add this one like they plan on Msnbc on 7/08/09. DISH needs to get more competitive with full time hd rsns . I don't care about sports, but it is a big attraction for many.