'Owned' vs 'Leased' Equipment Fees ~ Is it real?

[tedb3rd]

Dish's site has a page (https://my.dish.com/infocenter) where it has if you have purchased your receiver then the monthly equipment fee is less ~ specifically for me the Hopper 3 drops to $5/month. I got on Dish Customer Support chat and asked about how I can go about purchasing my Hoppper 3 and for how much. He fired back that it only applied to Dish Wally. So.. I sent him the above link and told him to click 'Hopper 3' in the section 'Do you own your DISH equipment?' ...After several minutes he comes back with this:

"Thank you for the information, I'm afraid that it seems like it's not accurate. No worries, I'll submit a feedback to our home office regarding this, that you for bringing this up
but to properly set your expectation, although you purchase main receivers there still be a $15 monthly equipment service fee
Also, that's what I can see here on my end after further checking"

Can anyone confirm (or deny) that there is a fee reduction for owned equipment? And if there IS a reduction, how did you go about purchasing your receiver to get the discounted price? Thanks in advance!

 

[NYDutch]

There is a fee reduction for owned additional receivers, not for the primary receiver. I own both my Hopper w/Sling receivers for example, and I pay the full $12 (grandfathered) primary fee for one of them, and $5 for the second one. My Joey is also $5.

My receivers were not purchased from Dish...

 

[Tvland1]

I believe what you're not understanding is the fee charges for hoppers.. This has been discussed several times in the past.. There's a $15 DVR fee on your hopper 3 leased or owned... Like NYDutch stated the $5 is for each additional receiver you own and you can't lease more than one hopper from dish

 

[Altitudinous]

I think the reason tedb3rd is "not understanding" the fee charges is because the website says
"We also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new lower service fee for access on those TVs."

So a reasonable person would read that part about "own, if any" and believe that "any" means any and that those owned receivers would be subject to the "new lower service fee" on those receivers which shows in the chart on the web page.

Probably don't need to rehash "DVR fee" versus "equipment fee" versus "service fee". The infocenter page is poorly worded and they've left it that way since January 2021 which results in customers calling and chatting in about it. All they would have to do is put in a statement such as
"DVR-capable receivers such as Hoppers will have the first receiver subject to a DVR Fee of $15 whether that receiver is leased or owned. Additional receivers, if owned would be subject to the new lower service fee of $5."

 

[tedb3rd]

I think the reason tedb3rd is "not understanding" the fee charges is because the website says
"We also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new lower service fee for access on those TVs."

So a reasonable person would read that part about "own, if any" and believe that "any" means any and that those owned receivers would be subject to the "new lower service fee" on those receivers which shows in the chart on the web page.

Probably don't need to rehash "DVR fee" versus "equipment fee" versus "service fee". The infocenter page is poorly worded and they've left it that way since January 2021 which results in customers calling and chatting in about it. All they would have to do is put in a statement such as
"DVR-capable receivers such as Hoppers will have the first receiver subject to a DVR Fee of $15 whether that receiver is leased or owned. Additional receivers, if owned would be subject to the new lower service fee of $5."

Thanks for the clarification. You're correct the way it's written on the website is misleading (albeit probably not intentional). It also sounds like the CSR wasn't sure on it either because he was suggesting it didn't have anything to do with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (whatever) receiver. He was suggesting the only way you could get any kind of discount was with a Wally.

 

[dweber]

Several of us who have two Hopper3 receivers with one leased and one purchased have not been able to get the purchased Hopper3 fee reduced from $15 to $5. The Dish customer support and even the advanced support have tried multiple times to reduce the fee.
On the other hand my purchased Joey3 does have the $5 fee.


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[pattykay]

For much more in-depth discussion about this topic, see the following thread:

2021 Dish Prices

Dish has posted their updated prices for 2021 - $5 per package. The locals core package goes up $3. https://my.dish.com/infocenter They are also reducing equipment fees. "In addition to the core package changes, we also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if...

www.satelliteguys.us

After many, many pages of us debating the meaning of that infocenter wording and chart, and pointing out all of the various problems with it and ways that it could be misunderstood, Dish finally made some slight changes to the wording. The "clarified" version is still nowhere near clear enough in my opinion. Dish's clarification regarding the DVR fee was tacked on as very small fine print at the bottom of the page: "Other fees may apply, including DVR access." (The original version did not even have this note, nor any mention of the DVR fee at all.)

All they would have to do is put in a statement such as
"DVR-capable receivers such as Hoppers will have the first receiver subject to a DVR Fee of $15 whether that receiver is leased or owned. Additional receivers, if owned would be subject to the new lower service fee of $5."

The problem with your proposed wording is that it may cause those who still have the grandfathered DVR fee to panic and think that Dish is raising their DVR fee to $15. While I still think that the DVR fee should have been included in the chart itself (or at least noted directly below that chart, instead of in the fine print) I can understand Dish's reluctance to itemize the DVR fee in any chart, due to all of the variables involved. Customers with different models of DVR who signed up at different times may have different DVR rates ranging from $7 to $10 to $12, or the regular rate of $15. A couple of models (922 and Hopper Duo) still have the regular DVR rate as only $10. While the simplest solution would be to eliminate all grandfathering and special DVR fee promos (some customers get a promo rate of only $5 or $10 for their DVR fee, depending on receiver model) and just charge everyone the same rate for DVR functionality, that would inevitably get many customers here angry and up in arms about their bill going up.

It also sounds like the CSR wasn't sure on it either because he was suggesting it didn't have anything to do with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, (whatever) receiver. He was suggesting the only way you could get any kind of discount was with a Wally.

Technically, this is partially correct, as the only way to get a discount on the fee for the first receiver is if it is a Wally. All other DVR receivers have no equipment fee for the first receiver, since that receiver is subject to the DVR fee instead. Wally receivers have a $7 fee for the first receiver if it is leased, $5 if it is owned. Even here, grandfathering can be involved, as customers who have been with Dish long enough still have no fee at all on the first Wally receiver, regardless if it is leased or owned. The plus side of a Wally is that you can add an external hard drive to have DVR functionality for no additional monthly fee at all. (There may be a one-time $40 fee to activate that DVR functionality, but many of us here have gotten that one-time fee waived.)

 

[Jim5506]

My observation of this fiasco is that Dish considers the possession of two H3's, one owned and the other leased, then the owned receiver is the primary and the leased receiver is the second receiver and thus not eligible for the discount receiver fee.

 

[pattykay]

My observation of this fiasco is that Dish considers the possession of two H3's, one owned and the other leased, then the owned receiver is the primary and the leased receiver is the second receiver and thus not eligible for the discount receiver fee.

Sad, but true. The dual Hopper 3 users in the other thread who successfully got the $5 rate for the second one seem to be only those who purchased both Hopper 3's. Has anyone with one owned and one leased tried purchasing another one to replace the leased one, to see what happens to the bill at that point? Someone had a Hopper 3 for sale in the Classifieds section for only $100 recently, although that one finally sold. With a savings of $10 per month every month that you still use two Hopper 3's, I think the one-time expense would be worth it.

 

[dweber]

The last customer support told me that the problem with receiving the reduction of $10 for my owned Hopper3 receiver is that I already get a $5 reduction for the Hopper DVR fee as a preferred customer 2 year offer. I also get $5 reduction for autopay. I have asked this before but no one answered.
Is anyone with 2 Hopper3 receivers that have at least 1 owned and also getting the preferred customer 2 year offer of Hopper Savings $5 able to get the second Hopper3 receiver cost of $5?
Until I learn that I am not willing to buy a second Hopper3 to replace my leased Hopper3 since the savings may not occur.


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[pattykay]

...I am not willing to buy a second Hopper3 to replace my leased Hopper3 since the savings may not occur.

That is simple. Just hold onto the leased one (deactivated and unhooked) until you see whether you get the monthly savings with the second owned one. Dish will let you hold onto a leased receiver for at least 60 days before they charge a non-returned equipment fee. If you do not get the bill reduction, simply resell the second purchased one (to get your money, or at least most of your money, back) and reactivate the leased one. If the second purchased one does allow you to get the bill discount, then simply return the leased one to Dish.

This is a mystery that has been plaguing many of us here for this entire year so far. (Just look at the large number of posts in the other thread I linked.) I would really like to see someone do some experimenting with this, so that we can finally get some answers one way or another. Until then, all we can do is speculate and/or simply believe (or not believe, as the case may be) whatever the CSR happened to say in the latest round of CSR roulette.

 

[ChadT41]

That is simple. Just hold onto the leased one (deactivated and unhooked) until you see whether you get the monthly savings with the second owned one. Dish will let you hold onto a leased receiver for at least 60 days before they charge a non-returned equipment fee. If you do not get the bill reduction, simply resell the second purchased one (to get your money, or at least most of your money, back) and reactivate the leased one. If the second purchased one does allow you to get the bill discount, then simply return the leased one to Dish.

This is a mystery that has been plaguing many of us here for this entire year so far. (Just look at the large number of posts in the other thread I linked.) I would really like to see someone do some experimenting with this, so that we can finally get some answers one way or another. Until then, all we can do is speculate and/or simply believe (or not believe, as the case may be) whatever the CSR happened to say in the latest round of CSR roulette.

30 days for unreturned equipment fees. Usually applies on the 30th day.

 

[SandFarmer]

I think the reason tedb3rd is "not understanding" the fee charges is because the website says
"We also will be removing receiver fees on equipment you've purchased and own, if any. If you own your equipment, you will see a new lower service fee for access on those TVs."

So a reasonable person would read that part about "own, if any" and believe that "any" means any and that those owned receivers would be subject to the "new lower service fee" on those receivers which shows in the chart on the web page.

Probably don't need to rehash "DVR fee" versus "equipment fee" versus "service fee". The infocenter page is poorly worded and they've left it that way since January 2021 which results in customers calling and chatting in about it. All they would have to do is put in a statement such as
"DVR-capable receivers such as Hoppers will have the first receiver subject to a DVR Fee of $15 whether that receiver is leased or owned. Additional receivers, if owned would be subject to the new lower service fee of $5."

That page has been wrong since I got my two H3's installed a couple of years ago. I was told then that it was wrong and in the process of being fixed. It would take nothing to fix the text there. Then why don't they do it?

I inquired alternatively about it and never followed up. But that information has been wrong for a long time. "If it is?" I'm paying $10 on my owned H3.