Reply from DN concerning VOOM

[M Sparks]

I checked my bill and did not see it double when they added the new channels. Did yours go up?

My bill contains many different items.

One of them costs $10- the upgrade cost from Essentials to Ultimate.

THAT $10 now buys 7 channels instead of 19.

This is really the only legitimate issue to complain about. Everything else is personal opinion and just plain whining.

Of course I have the option to drop that $10 and I might. The question is, how can DISH justify this package's price? They need to add exclusive things to it, which seems unlikely, or cut the price.

I know I keep saying the same thing, but as long as people keep missing the point...

 

[DAVEGTESTR]

Exactly, that is why E* needed something different. Now they are nothing but DirectvJr. Why would anyone want E* over D* now. Why? D* has more locals/sports/hd channels/ more capacity/ better marketing/ more popular. E* has WFN.

D* has more movie channels (West Coast HBO, Starz, Show in better resolution), and for some more LiL HD. Still waiting for both. And full-time sports HD channels. E*'s advantage is just the DVR....

 

[airphotos]

D* has more movie channels (West Coast HBO, Starz, Show in better resolution), and for some more LiL HD. Still waiting for both. And full-time sports HD channels. E*'s advantage is just the DVR....

Seriously, what this whole aversion about D*'s DVR? Granted, I only know a few people with D*, but they never have problems with theirs.

 

[kvnfl]

Seriously, what this whole aversion about D*'s DVR? Granted, I only know a few people with D*, but they never have problems with theirs.

I was first kid on the block with TiVo. The biggest draw back to jumping on the HDTV bandwagon was loosing TiVo. My first HD DVR was a D* HR20. I tried to get the thing to work and concluded it was user error. Thought this was odd because I am very technically inclined. I called D* Tech Support and after 1.5 hours the tech rep agreed that the unit was not ready for prime time. Broken/not working features include Auto record, Search function and the inability to pair down a usable list of the channels you receive or the channels you watch. That is a pretty vague list. If you want more, check the user ratings on cnet.com.

 

[fordpre]

The only big issue that I have is in their form letter that they give the premium movie channels as an option... Waitaminute here, I am paying a premium for HD services, they take away the movie portion and tell me to purchase another premium service?

 

[dangue]

Dish Just insulted me by sending me the form letter even though my original email told them not to insult me with one of those. So I had to fire off this reply:

Dear Dish,

Thank you for not taking the time to read my initial email. I specifically asked you NOT to INSULT me by replying with a form letter. The pertinent language in my original email is: “And please don’t belittle me with a form response that only tangentially addresses what I’ve written about. That would only make me angrier.“ The fact that you didn’t even take the time to substitute my name for the generic “Dear Customer” is infuriating.

Also, thank you for not addressing my concerns regarding the paucity of value in the Dish HD Ultimate Package or Dish’s failure to communicate with customers regarding the removal of Voom. That is very reassuring to me as a customer.

Your form reply is also insulting for several reasons. Chiller in SD is in no way shape of form a comparable channel to Monsters HD (It would not be comparable even if it was offered in HD; besides, to receive it I would have to upgrade my programming package). Your alternatives to Rush and Voom movie channels in HD are Universal HD and HD Net (two channels that we already had- and so they cannot be argued to have been recently added as substitutes) and Premium Movie HD channels (again suggesting that I should pay you more to substitute what you have removed from my current subscription package

Do you see the problem I see with the argument that you have comparable programming to offer me, that I just have to alter my programming package and PAY YOU MORE than I currently am to receive it? Clearly my business is not appreciated by Dish. The funniest part about all this is that I didn’t even watch Voom all that frequently. I was just angry at the way your company handled the removal and the resulting significant reduction in value of the HD Ultimate package. I wrote in to make those two points and requested that you address them and not send me a form letter. Your response is to reply with a form letter regarding Voom that does not address my complaints and suggests that I can alleviate the lack of comparable content by paying Dish more to receive other channels that Dish deems to be comparable. Such a suggestion insults me as an individual and especially as a customer who’s business is appreciated.

If you take the time to respond to this letter, please do not use another form letter. I will await the announcements at Team Summit before making any programming changes; but at this point it appears that I will be dropping the HD Ultimate package and looking for service elsewhere.

The way they are handling all this is really annoying...

 

[grb]

Now I see VOOM is dark. There is now no reason for me to remain a Dish customer. It's a
shame, you do realize that down the line when Dish, Direct, Fios, Cable have all the same
channels VOOM would have been the suite of channels to set Dish apart.

Charlie had already conceded the sports lead to D* (NFL Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, NHL CI in HD while mostly SD on E*). But Dish had a high quality 24/7 commercial-free full HD set of unique channels not available anywhere else. This set Dish apart and I feel gave them an edge.

Now E* is sucking the hind teat in both sports and HD...

 

[Hall]

Dish Just insulted me by sending me the form letter even though my original email told them not to insult me with one of those.

You want more insulted ? No one at Dish read your letter !

 

[dangue]

You want more insulted ? No one at Dish read your letter !

I'm well aware.
My response email thanked them for not reading it. But I'm not sure they'll pick up on the sarcasm.

 

[EmpireState]

I'm well aware.
My response email thanked them for not reading it. But I'm not sure they'll pick up on the sarcasm.

Call them. I did this evening. The person I talked to was supposedly filing forms from callers who request VOOM be saved. Where the forms go, who knows. Worth a shot.

 

[Sammy033]

Where the forms go, who knows. Worth a shot.

Im sure there is a big furnace in the basement of the building working 24/7.