Is Flex Pack a rip off????

[dare2be]

You can't disregard those fees DISH still makes quite a bit of money off them

I disregarded them because they vary. Also the fees are the same whether I have Flex or AT200, which is where I was showing the $40 savings over a sacrifice of 4 channels.

My fees are only $7 total, which still keeps me below $50 before taxes (which also vary).

Your attempt at a strawman argument has failed.

 

[JSheridan]

Why shouldn't I be here? I've been here posting years longer than you have, I was a Dish subscriber for 10 years, and I've never yet had Scott tell me I couldn't post anywhere I'd like that I have access to.

EVERY post has good information, to help people make decisions, or get corrected if they are wrong or whatever.

I'd go back to Dish if they'd back off their phony fee scams. I keep checking my options, so I'll continue to look and post. If you don't like it, feel free to block me.

Good for you. I just thought that most people who quit something like DISH would have better things to do than to troll their forums and bash the product they no longer have. And your opinion of 'good information' and mine are very different. You lost credibility when you started the relentless bashing.

 

[DWS44]

Okay. When I read your first post, I thought you meant $129.99 per month. The activation fee, and the fact that the total includes two months of service, makes that total make a little more sense.

Agreed. I interpreted the OP the same way you did. If the OP doesn't like the activation fees and startup costs (i.e. paying first two months), that's fine, even understandable to a point; however, that doesn't make the flex pack itself a "rip off" when you consider those same fees would have likely applied to any programming package Dish offered. As it is, the thread title is more click bait, than what the OP apparently was actually upset over.

 

[JSheridan]

Agreed. I interpreted the OP the same way you did. If the OP doesn't like the activation fees and startup costs (i.e. paying first two months), that's fine, even understandable to a point; however, that doesn't make the flex pack itself a "rip off" when you consider those same fees would have likely applied to any programming package Dish offered. As it is, the thread title is more click bait, than what the OP apparently was actually upset over.

I think a lot of the confusion is that DISH insists on naming too many things 'Flex'. There's the Flex Pack for programming and then there's the Flex and Flex24 plans for people with less than stellar credit or who want to have pay as you go. Too many 'Flexes', and too many 'Slings' too.

 

[brejust]

welcome pack was good. had that for like 1 year.
this package is good. flex package, with heartland, and that 6 dollar variety pack.
i only want a few channels. that is good price for two tvs. although, been only watching on 1 tv for this past 15 days.

btw can someone confirm that freeform use to be abcfamily? i dunno.
they have some good movies on, shrek then later despicable me.

i had the kids pack, but to many other channels to watch, got rid of it.
latino bonus lots of channels, but to many channels i can watch with flex pack already so got rid of it.

this is a perfect pack for me.
i love basketball though. but i will pass, because flex has tnt and tbs.
glad this package is here.
if i want science related stuff, i will go to youtube
archive.org
other sites
for music pandora
accuradio.com
even iheartradio etc
or youtube.
.......................
lots of channels with flex pack.
i use to have that everything pack paying 150 a month and only watched a few channels. had that everything pack for 8 plus years.
...................
dish america is 54.99 that could be something i might choose in future. but everything i want is via flex pack
peace

 

[Gobucks]

Why shouldn't I be here? I've been here posting years longer than you have, I was a Dish subscriber for 10 years, and I've never yet had Scott tell me I couldn't post anywhere I'd like that I have access to.

EVERY post has good information, to help people make decisions, or get corrected if they are wrong or whatever.

I'd go back to Dish if they'd back off their phony fee scams. I keep checking my options, so I'll continue to look and post. If you don't like it, feel free to block me.

Its posts like the one you responded to that make people want to leave this site.

It's like if your not kissing Dishes ass they want you to leave.

It's only TV guys. Some here take it way to seriously.

Sent from my SM-G935T using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[robstudio]

I don't see that being critical of the receiver fees as bashing dish.. I own my equipment and have always installed myself as well. 10 year dish customer formally top 250, then 200.. tried the flex pack for a bit. The package itself is a decent value if you limit the add ons. However with 2 or three receivers, the equipment cost's vs programming seem out of whack. I've gone back to top 120+ as I didn't like being without MTV live and NBCsports. Perhaps if more people complained about the receiver fees.. and limited # of receivers due to the cost, Dish would look at reducing the fees. Uh huh.. or not..

 

[Troch77]

I save $40 and sacrificed only 4 channels (NBCSN, Science, NFL, NHL). I have the base pack plus the Heartland pack as permanent selections and add/remove locals, regional, national, variety and kids packs when needed. Still keeps my bill below $50 (before fees) every month.

And for what you get for that $50 I'd rather have Sling Blue and Orange for $40, and add or remove just as easily Especially if I lived by myself.
Also for $10 you can add 4 extra packs with another 30 channels.
And if DVR was that much of an issue it would still be $45
Its not like a 722 has more than 50 Hours of HD with that Huge 500GB hard drive.
But thats just me.

If my budget called for $50 a month, I wouldn't subscribe to Flex .



Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[brejust]

IMO
FLEX is a decent package for $30.
If thats all you need its Great.

But I've done so many combinations to try and make Flex and option, and never can I justify losing hundreds of channel option, that I may or may not watch to save maybe $150 a year.
There are so many Key channels not available at all, or require multiple add-on packs.
$121.02 includes Top200 with Free HBO Hopper3, 3Joey2s ,211z $5 movie pack, and $5 Starz.

$86 with Just locals for Flex...
But No
MLB,
NFL,
Velocity,
Hallmark,
Nick,
MTV,
TeenNick,
Gettv,
BBC America,
Science,
Disney,
Disney XD,
RSNs,
FS1,
Big Ten,
Animal planet,
Weather Channel,
ID,
NHL,

And some aren't even available.
And the ones you could get, would yield in virtually no savings with 30 dollars or more with Add on Packs.

If you can live with Flex and maybe 2 add ons, its a good deal.
But IMO only if Streaming Sling Orange and Blue, PS Vue, or Directv Now aren't an option.


Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

what about dish america? they are showing that in my dish

 

[dare2be]

And for what you get for that $50 I'd rather have Sling Blue and Orange for $40, and add or remove just as easily Especially if I lived by myself.
Also for $10 you can add 4 extra packs with another 30 channels.
And if DVR was that much of an issue it would still be $45
Its not like a 722 has more than 50 Hours of HD with that Huge 500GB hard drive.
But thats just me.

If my budget called for $50 a month, I wouldn't subscribe to Flex .



Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

So much to debunk here, don't know where to begin.

The 50 hours (actually 55) is based on the storage required for MPEG2 recordings (like recording OTA channels). My real world storage capacity of MPEG4 titles is at least a 3:1 ratio, so it actually over 150 hours...that doesn't even take into account the unlimited number of EHDs I can use for archive.

So yes, DVR is that much of an issue due to stated reasons above. Also Sling Blue and Orange and Vue do not have certain channels I want, I would end up sacrificing more than 4 channels like I am now. I have access to all the Flex and add-on channels without paying for them full time.

 

[Troch77]

There is no way 500 GBs equal 150 HD,
SD maybe.
Its not 3-1, it is 30% more efficient than Mpeg2.
Meaning more like 65-75 hours of HD
And thats if you have 500 free GBs, My guess the 722 Doesn't have 500 GB for just recording.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[stardust3]

Wish they would bring back absolute. For the money it was the best package IMO.

 

[JSheridan]

Its posts like the one you responded to that make people want to leave this site.

It's like if your not kissing Dishes ass they want you to leave.

It's only TV guys. Some here take it way to seriously.

Sent from my SM-G935T using the SatelliteGuys app!

It's more like if you've got nothing better to do than to troll a site and continue a hate campaign long after you sever ties with the company then you must have another agenda or something else is definitely wrong. I guess haters are gonna hate no matter what logic might otherwise dictate.

 

[Troch77]

Honestly why does the topic have to turn personal?
We all have a right to listen to each others opinion.
This would be an extremely boring site , if we agreed with every member, and everything Dish or Directv does.




Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[Troch77]

what about dish america? they are showing that in my dish

Dish America is just like all the rest of the packages.
Charlie Picked them lineups.

Really the same old standard practice thats been used for decades.
Flex pack is no more flexible than any Latino or America packs.
Both can add and remove Add-on packs with no penalty.
Only problem Flex isn't at all flexible because you can't add a number of channels to it.



Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[Tampa8]

I went to the Flex Pack web site and was greeted with an option to choose $39.99 or base service at $29.99.

I was looking for the cheapest offer so I chose $29.99. By the time I reached the bottom of the pages the price had climbed to $129.99.
Are they really trying to get monthly subscribers, it seems like "bait and switch" advertising. www.dish.com/build-a-package

The first two responses probably said most of it. The Flex pack costs $29.99, period. No scam. The Top 200 package costs $84.99, no rip off. I'm not getting the point of your complaint. If you add all kinds of packs what did you think would happen? When you add a DVR there is a DVR for Flex, Top 200, whatever. Again where is the rip off related to Flex?

You can't get all the channels in Flex in either Top 120 or Top 120+ and each costs more. Flex includes channels that you otherwise have to pay the Top 200 cost to get. (And I have not checked but perhaps a channel or two in Top 250) That is the appeal of Flex. If I didn't get the existing customer deal freezing me for two years at $64.99 for Top 200 I might have gone to Flex it has nearly all the channels we watch with any regularity - except the locals and I would have added that.

I then would have taken advantage of the Flex plan by only getting channels from other packs when there were shows I wanted. For instance instead of paying for my RSN year round I would only get it during baseball season, a savings not possible with the other packages. There are a couple of channels in packs that I would get only for the weeks a show or shows we watch are on, then drop it. How this is a rip off is not understandable.

 

[Troch77]

Again where is the rip off related to Flex?

.

Directv is a Rip off...

Samsung Galaxy S6 Active

 

[dennispap]

welcome pack was good. had that for like 1 year.
this package is good. flex package, with heartland, and that 6 dollar variety pack.
i only want a few channels. that is good price for two tvs. although, been only watching on 1 tv for this past 15 days.

btw can someone confirm that freeform use to be abcfamily? i dunno.
they have some good movies on, shrek then later despicable me.

i had the kids pack, but to many other channels to watch, got rid of it.
latino bonus lots of channels, but to many channels i can watch with flex pack already so got rid of it.

this is a perfect pack for me.
i love basketball though. but i will pass, because flex has tnt and tbs.
glad this package is here.
if i want science related stuff, i will go to youtube
archive.org
other sites
for music pandora
accuradio.com
even iheartradio etc
or youtube.
.......................
lots of channels with flex pack.
i use to have that everything pack paying 150 a month and only watched a few channels. had that everything pack for 8 plus years.
...................
dish america is 54.99 that could be something i might choose in future. but everything i want is via flex pack
peace

Yes free form used to be abc family

 

[Claude Greiner]

I miss the days when Dish was actually a good value and we would have Charlie Chats every month with the CEO himself telling us about all the new and exciting stuff coming.

Today Dish is no different and possibly worse than any other provider out there

 

[EarDemon]

Yes, Charlie Chats. I miss 'em too. I miss Charlie and Jim looking at each other cluelessly when fielding questions about channels. I miss how Charlie would refer to DirecTV by name when he was looking to buy them, and then after the merger talk stopped they were again 'the other satellite company'. I miss when Tony's email was read on air showing his displeasure with the Dish Player situation.

Most of all what I miss about the old days, when you could post something on the internet, of a differing opinion and you wen't immediately labeled a 'troll'. Which for all intents and purposes is now a meaningless word because of how often it is thrown around.