So .... if you bounce back and forth from one provider to another, you obviously don't care that Both have issues.I am NOT new to satellite TV. For the past 10 years I had Dish and Direct, and switched back and forth. Every time I switched I got each company's new generation hardware (which was my main reason for switching). As a very experience Hardware and Software Design EE I have no doubt that the Dish hardware and software is superior and probably I will never again switch to Direct. Both companies have Hardware and software problems but Direct problems seems to be endless. Every time they "fix" one problem they introduce several new problems. BTW, this problem with skipping to the beginning or end of recording existed for many years and they never even attempted to fix it.
You are going back to Dish because your time is up with D* and your bill will be going up (you basically just said that) ...
Go get your great deal for the Dish that they are offering you ... when that one ends and thier bill goes up and thier channels are off the air during contract disputes, remember how happy you are with them.
It's obvious that you like DISH better, so why do you change ?
I never understand people jumping ship if they like the service ...