Not sure what Echostar will do for hurricane relief

[chukee]

Might I remind you that we are still less than 72 hours since the storm passed, and that is in the most heavily hit areas. This storm came ashore Monday morning, and unless I overslept at some point, this is Thursday morning, that means that in places that Van and you are asking for service to be restored, at this time Monday morning, they hadn't even gotten hit yet. Indiana got rained on what yesterday morning? Again, it took FEMA a couple of days to start getting people into place to begin to help people, why would you think that Dish (or direct for that matter) would be any different? I will give you that in my opinion both Dish and Direct are run my what I would consider mostly competent people, unlike our government (I'm pretty sure that Charlie and Rup didn't spend the last month at their ranch's hiding from a mom whose son was needlessly killed in our Vietnam, but then again I don't keep track of where they are all the time, so I could be wrong).
You people are making it sound like Dish should have forecasted where this storm was going to go and had people there waiting so that the second the winds subsided they would have things fixed. If this were next Thursday and Dish (or direct) hadn't started helping where they could on getting people's service up then yeah, maybe I would say you all have a point, but until then...

Indiana?.....I never said indiana. (louisiana.Mississippi and Alabama.) Those are the places that got hit by hurricane Katrina. That storm now is nonething more than a tropical wave now at best. Most dishes will hold up to that. If not. Then you more than likely will be charged a serivice call if you dont already pay for the monthly service call fee.

 

[Slamminc11]

Indiana?.....I never said indiana. (louisiana.Mississippi and Alabama.) Those are the places that got hit by hurricane Katrina. That storm now is nonething more than a tropical wave now at best. Most dishes will hold up to that. If not. Then you more than likely will be charged a serivice call if you dont already pay for the monthly service call fee.

chuckee, you didn't bring up Indiana, van did in his original post stating that there had been some flooding in Indiana and asking why Dish hadn't come out and given the world their plan for fixing Dishes. Whether Dish announces plans yesterday, tomorrow, or next week sometime, I am sure it will be as fair as possible not only to the people that need there tv but also fair to their stockholders and everyone involved. My guess is that there will be some kind of waiver for those in the most devastated areas and for those who have power or will have it soon, maybe some kind of amnesty for a month or so.

 

[SatinKzo]

Right now they're using their dish antennas as boats.

Based on what I see and hear, they might be better as shields.

 

[jergenf]

Based on what I see and hear, they might be better as shields.

Why not, even better.

 

[Stargazer]

This would be a great opportunity to help out one of the cities down in the south by renaming it Dish and one less bill for them to worry about after the city would be rebuilt.

 

[David Dietzel]

Some folks waaaaay overreacted to Van's original post -- it was innocent enough.

All service providers will re-establish service as soon as local authorities allow them into the various areas to do the work.

And, based on Dish's past history, they will treat their subs in the area with respect and offer them a good deal to get back up and running.

Everyone needs to chill and send off a donation to the victims (the Red Cross will take as little as $5).

 

[Purogamer]

I wouldn't want to use a dish as a shield, something tells me it's not stopping ANYTHING...

Might use the 510 though...

I'm sure DISH will NOT offer a price reduction in a few months for people in the area, which is both sad and not sad. I'm sure people would complain if they had to pay hundreds for a reciever that others got for free...

 

[Stargazer]

A lot of us remember how they treated them at first before offering to do anything.

 

[gpflepsen]

This would be a great opportunity to help out one of the cities down in the south by renaming it Dish and one less bill for them to worry about after the city would be rebuilt.

That's kind of a humorous thought in the midst of a still unfolding tragedy.

Change New Orleans to Dish, Louisiana. Not only would that extend some sense of monetary relief, it would remove one hell of a line item from Dish's balance sheet.

Having said the above, it's wrenching to watch this unfold on such a wide scope. We can commiserate on their plight but I don't think we really understand the whole picture and impact this is having. It's one of those "you have to walk in their shoes" type of things.

 

[Van]

Eh, I wouldnt have to worry about a service call fee, I work for E, have for the last 5 years or so. Ive had to turn off the news channels, dvd's are making the rounds again and Im watching stuff on my dvr to clear it out and Im playing a few new and some old games on the comp to clear my thoughts out.

Can you imagine the financial cost of converting every home and business in NOLA to dish? Figure that maybe %15 of the current houses and business's have dish, thats roughly 225,000 ( estimated mobile evacuee's was 1 - 1.5 mil ) your looking at maybe another 750,000 probable with the average home having 3 tv's the cost is pretty significant. Still its not a bad idea.

 

[gpflepsen]

http://www.corporate-ir.net/ireye/ir_site.zhtml?ticker=dish&script=410&layout=-6&item_id=752457


DISH Network to Aid Disaster Victims

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 2, 2005--DISH Network has begun efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina by raising money and providing satellite television service to shelters across Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

As of today, DISH Network had set up TV service in nine shelters, including Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio, which will receive about 25,000 refugees. DISH Network is in the process of establishing service in dozens of other Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency shelters.

DISH Network has also reinforced its Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi installation crews with a fleet of hundreds of vans and technicians from around the country to support the needs of DISH Network subscribers and retailers during extremely difficult circumstances. And DISH Network has found ways to make local channels available to customers in affected areas so those customers can continue to receive local news and weather reports.

"We're focused on helping ensure that DISH Network customers as well as hurricane refugees get the critical news and information they need during this devastating period," said Michael Neuman, president of EchoStar and DISH Network.

DISH Network employees across the nation have responded to the disaster by helping the Red Cross, donating time to shelters, and raising funds.

EchoStar Communications Corporation, the company that operates the DISH Network satellite TV service, has implemented a fund-raising drive for its 20,000 employees. EchoStar will match all contributions made by its employees, a program that could generate as much as $1 million if every employee donates just $25.

"We hope to raise as much money as possible for people who have been affected by this terrible tragedy. We will match every dollar that is donated by our employees in an effort to help these communities get back on their feet," said Michael Neuman, president of EchoStar.

About DISH Network

EchoStar Communications Corporation (NasdaqISH) serves more than 11.4 million satellite TV customers through its DISH Network(TM), the fastest-growing U.S. provider of advanced digital television services in the last five years. DISH Network offers hundreds of video and audio channels, Interactive TV, HDTV, sports and international programming, together with professional installation and 24-hour customer service. Visit EchoStar's DISH Network at www.dishnetwork.com or call 800-333-DISH (3474).

 

[Van]

I suspect that my office will be tapped to help out with the effort.

 

[cali_installer]

well i work for dish and i am one of the first groups we should be in al. or miss sunday evening this being the first trip of 4 from the torrance,ca office that i know of each group is set to stay a min. of 2 week but ususally ends up being a month

 

[Van]

Detroit office here, our sister office has a group headed down on 9 - 11, my office is sending us down sometime in the next 2 weeks. Similiar situation, have heard 3 weeks then rotate off, not sure as to what state yet either. Im going to try to stick it out for 6 weeks if I can. Houston is supposed to have a group in florida right now dealing with the 2500 trouble calls for that area that popped in one day is what Ive heard for that state.

 

[Claude Greiner]

All I can say is that Dish or Directv is going to be very luckey if they manage to keep any subscribers in the New Orleans area. The fact is that people are moving out of the area and at the same time, the last thing on their mind is their DISH service which will more than likely be left behind!

I got a handfull of subscribers in the New Orleans area right now, it wouldn't surprise me if every single one of them disconnects due to Non-Payment.

Other than that, I did get a Call from Echostar's commercial department saying they where looking for technicians to go down there to repair commercial installs. Help, yes I'll be donating money, but there is no way im hell im even considering going down there till things start to settle down.

 

[Van]

Our relief efforts are not going to be focused on locations where all there is is foundations, there is a misconception that storm damage was only limited to locations within 30 miles of the ocean front when infact storm damage has went inland as far as 150 miles with winds sustained at over 100mph. A recent word is that jackson ms is a location we are headed to, any possibility of dish and direct techs and subs seeing nola or biloxi any time within the next 4 - 8 months is minimal at best.

 

[cali_installer]

well our trip dowm to al.or miss(from los angeles) has been pushed back for 2 weeks echo./dish.. from my understanding can't provide hotels for us to stay in not are they sure if we get down there how long we will be able to work because the shortage of gas/water and other needs -our general manager is telling us that we may have to sleep in mobile homes for the trip and they are trying to have supplies down for when we arrive---are they any dns offices already there

 

[Van]

None that I can think of, the Auburn hills dns was supposed to leave on the 11th as well, our group is rumoured to leave on 22nd. A local news station drove down to baton rouge and had trouble finding gas once they hit mobile al, so I can see that there will be issues with gas definitely and that hotels are an issue to. What concerns me is that theyr talking about water wich means that they seem to have plans to send crews pretty deep into the disaster zone wich doesnt make much sense considering that there are no homes in these zones that can be serviced.

I wonder to about these mobile homes, from what Ive heard the mobile homes that are headed down there along with rvs and fifth wheel trailers are being purchased by fema for evacuee's and to house aid workers, I wonder if we are being labeled as aid workers now.