Retailer Chat Recap: January 14, 2010

[davec111]

Called DISH Customer Service around 2:30 pm today asking what my February bill would total. I was given three answers. First, it was increasing, then remaining the same and lastly going down for six months? Absolutely ridiculous. This has made up my mind for me. Calling FIOS. (They've lost a 10 year DISH customer)

 

[dont24]

6 receivers here...

3) 622's 1) 722 1) 722K 1) 922

I am told my bill will go up about $30 a month on AEP. I don't know how they figure that out... but thats what I am told.

Please keep us informed. My bill is going up $27, based on the info here. I have 3) 722s and 1) 510 with AEP. If your bill is only going up $30 w/ 6 boxes, we're missing something.

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

call me slow... but all these fees for equipment we (well some of us) don't own...

if said equipment breaks, or is faulty, we have to pay on top of that to have said equipment fixed?

Wait what?

I mean I have the option to pay for insurance on my cell phone because I OWN it... but if equipment I'm RENTING goes bad I have to pay to fix THEIR equipment?


on a second note... if I pay the 40 to turn a 211 to a 211 DVR... do I now pay the extra 3 dollar charge (10 instead of 7) because it's a solo hd dvr? Or no, because it's MY HARD DRIVE.

(but then again, that doesnt appear to matter, because that fee schedule applies to people who own their own stuff)

again.. head hurts

 

[riffjim4069]

You're lucky my increase is 38 percent.

John

AEP with Locals 100.00
HD Fee $10.00
DVR Fee $6.00
722 My Primary receiver $0.00
625 17.00
522 17.00
625 17.00
625 17.00
$184

Edited see below, I'm very HOT...

Previously my Bill was 132.98

So Dish starts Charging me a Account DVR Fee plus an additional $12.00 for each extra receiver for a total of an extra 51.02 per month, Wow Thanks for Simplifying my Bill Dish. The Thing that really burns me is all my Additional SD Dual Tuner DVR's were purchased by me at retail price and wholly owned by me, so Now I will have to pay $17.00 per month to use them. Secondly if one dies I would have to add the DHPP plan to replace it, really. I can't believe Dish is going to charge me $17 per month and not warranty them for that same $17.00 per month.

I've been a Dish Sub since 1997, always with the highest available package and this is how Dish treats their best customers. If DirecTV does sign a new agreement with Versus before the NHL playoffs, I'm LONG GONE, unless I escalate my concerns and get some consideration to lower these pricing increases. I can then sell off my additional Dish hardware for cash in my pocket.

John

$184 is about what I am paying for all the FiOS TV channels (130+ HD channels), phone and 25/15 Internet combined. Additionally, while FiOS and Cable may charge $15-$20 to lease their HD DVR...if it breaks, the customer just returns it and gets another one - no bling or "service plan" involved.

I still have three owned ViP622s sitting in the closet. Even if E* were to stop their HD-Lite practice...there is no way in heck I would ever pay them $17 per month per device to use the HD DVRs I purchased.

You were F'ed JohnL. To be honest, based on your account history E* will probably waive some or your fees or provide you various discounts (e.g., $20 off for 12-months), but this will be done on a case-by-case basis...you and other loyal customer will have to call-in...and the discounts will mysteriously disappear every few months.

Hey Dish Network...customer who PURCHASED their receivers should not be paying these SIMPLIFIED fees. Piss poor!!!

 

[dewzan]

Charging for an owned receiver is an abomination and whoever thought of it should be exiled from the civilized world.

their already in Colorado where would they go?

 

[Laddyboy]

6 receivers here...

3) 622's 1) 722 1) 722K 1) 922

I am told my bill will go up about $30 a month on AEP. I don't know how they figure that out... but thats what I am told.

I don't see how $30 can be correct. The additional Duo HD DVRs beyond the first only cost you $7 each under the old AEP, correct? Now they'll cost you $17 each. That's a $50 difference right there. Did you have any connection fees before for receivers not connected? The decrease in AEP programming will only save $3. Under nonAEP, $30 would seem pretty close since the added cost under the new rate structure is about $5 per Duo HD DVR. Aren't there also supposed to be some different rates with a 922 for both the account level DVR fee and the lease fee?

 

[mhowie]

...Now the pricing gives people a big incentive to send back their 722 and get lesser receivers.

Which is exactly what I have done...and I will drop AEP in three months after my free HBO/Showtime credits conclude. Hello Netflix/Roku HD... and about $40/month less revenue for Dish from me. I hope many others follow suit and vote with their wallets in protest of this poorly rationalized move.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Called DISH Customer Service around 2:30 pm today asking what my February bill would total. I was given three answers. First, it was increasing, then remaining the same and lastly going down for six months? Absolutely ridiculous. This has made up my mind for me. Calling FIOS. (They've lost a 10 year DISH customer)

 

[riffjim4069]

Dish has just moved to the cable company system of pricing. DVRs cost more, HD costs more, etc. A cable HD DVR for the 2 cable systems I interact with around here is $15-17/month. Now the 722 is the same. An SD cable box is $7. But cable has the advantage of cable ready TVs not needing an SD receiver box.

With cable though they do not include the first DVR in the package price, but they do not have a $10 HD fee.

The AEP users with more than one DVR are the ones that are really going to feel this change. The $6 DVR fee plus the huge receiver fees are going to add up fast.

The problem with the "cable pricing model" is it overlooks the many long-time loyal customers who purchased their receivers over the years. Why should a loyal customer who purchased his aging 622 HD DVR (for several hundreds of dollars) pay the same $17 monthly DUO DVR fee as new customer "leasing" a brand new 922? He should not.

 

[Scherrman]

You're lucky my increase is 38 percent.

John

AEP with Locals 100.00
HD Fee $10.00
DVR Fee $6.00
722 My Primary receiver $0.00
625 17.00
522 17.00
625 17.00
625 17.00
$184

Edited see below, I'm very HOT...

Previously my Bill was 132.98

So Dish starts Charging me a Account DVR Fee plus an additional $12.00 for each extra receiver for a total of an extra 51.02 per month, Wow Thanks for Simplifying my Bill Dish. The Thing that really burns me is all my Additional SD Dual Tuner DVR's were purchased by me at retail price and wholly owned by me, so Now I will have to pay $17.00 per month to use them. Secondly if one dies I would have to add the DHPP plan to replace it, really. I can't believe Dish is going to charge me $17 per month and not warranty them for that same $17.00 per month.

I've been a Dish Sub since 1997, always with the highest available package and this is how Dish treats their best customers. If DirecTV does sign a new agreement with Versus before the NHL playoffs, I'm LONG GONE, unless I escalate my concerns and get some consideration to lower these pricing increases. I can then sell off my additional Dish hardware for cash in my pocket.

John

John, do you have 1 or 2 separate bills from Dish. From my knowledge, a customer needs to have 2 separate accounts for that many tuners. You have a pretty extreme case here.

 

[dolmar]

7 bucks for a TV2 output in freeking SD that most people don't use because it's in SD...

I don't think I've ever used TV2 on my 722 or 622, as they've always been in single mode.

Time to sell the 622, and just lease a 612 instead. The $84/year I'd save would more than make up any charges from them shipping me a 612.

I tried that, they insisted on me signing a new 2 year contract and charging me a $100 upgrade fee for going from a 222 to 211. I bet you money they will do the same thing to you. That is why I called the CA AG office, I am getting a credit equal to the increase equipment charges between old price for 222 to new price till my contract is over then I will cancel and goto either TWC or U-Verse as I refer to pay to downgrade what I already paid to upgrade when I signed up because Dish chooses to double the equipment charges.

 

[Laddyboy]

I tried that, they insisted on me signing a new 2 year contract and charging me a $100 upgrade fee for going from a 222 to 211. I bet you money they will do the same thing to you. That is why I called the CA AG office, I am getting a credit equal to the increase equipment charges between old price for 222 to new price till my contract is over then I will cancel and goto either TWC or U-Verse as I refer to pay to downgrade what I already paid to upgrade when I signed up because Dish chooses to double the equipment charges.

Wow if they are going to ding people right and left for turning in and trading down receivers, they'll lose even more customers. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the next quarter's subscriber counts.

 

[hoophead]

I have now 4 tv's with one receiver and one dvr.
So, what you are saying I can replace said receiver with another dvr for a $6/mo fee?

 

[Laddyboy]

I have now 4 tv's with one receiver and one dvr.
So, what you are saying I can replace said receiver with another dvr for a $6/mo fee?

Any account with a DVR on it pays $6 per month no matter the number of DVRs in use. The first receiver on an account is included in the programming package price. Subsequent receivers cost according to the new price structure announced today.

 

[riffjim4069]

Called DISH Customer Service around 2:30 pm today asking what my February bill would total. I was given three answers. First, it was increasing, then remaining the same and lastly going down for six months? Absolutely ridiculous. This has made up my mind for me. Calling FIOS. (They've lost a 10 year DISH customer)

Excellent Choice...just make sure you get a TivoHD or MoxiHD since the FiOS HD DVR is less-than-stellar! For the past 2-years (in our home) FiOS has been far superior in quality than any other pay TV service we've tried, less expensive than the alternatives thanks to Triple Play savings, and rock-solid 100% reliable - two years without one-second of Internet, phone or TV outage. To be honest, I used to feel almost as strongly about out Dish Network service...but those days are long-gone and a quickly fading memory. Perhaps I will finally sell our 622s since I cannot imagine returning to Dish Network anytime soon. It's pretty bad when the local Comcast and Time-Warner offer better pricing than Dish Network...and a customer can simply drop-in a TivoHD/MoxiHD and have a compariable HD DVR experience for the same price as a DUO DVR.

 

[n0qcu]

Don't forget 1st receiver is free.

I didn't forget that. That is why I only have fees listed for five receivers. I have six

 

[Jonhern]

Same thing here. We would only need one HD receiver, the other TVs in the house would be fine with analog channels. HD DVR with Cox is $17.24. The big plus on that $17 of the Cox cable receiver? If the receiver dies, Cox will replace it with no charge to the customer.

Many cable companies are changing their signals from analog to digital to save bandwidth and add more hd. I think comcast was the first to start doing this, they did it last year during the dtv conversion even though that mandate was for only broadcast channels. So cable ready tvs will not get most of the channels, depending on what you want to watch on those secondary tvs you might still need an sd box.

 

[digiblur]

Many cable companies are changing their signals from analog to digital to save bandwidth and add more hd. I think comcast was the first to start doing this, they did it last year during the dtv conversion even though that mandate was for only broadcast channels. So cable ready tvs will not get most of the channels, depending on what you want to watch on those secondary tvs you might still need an sd box.

Yes I know about this, but they still have quite 60 or so analog channels. All of this just doesn't make it worth it anymore, eh? We could go to internet streaming services, Netflix, and OTA and be more than happy. I see more and more people doing stuff like this. I know a friend that just canceled his $100+ a month cable bill, for $9 a month Netflix bill and threw in a dual tuner OTA tuner in his HTPC for watching TV. Now that's a huge savings a year.

 

[space86]

They are wrapping up the chat now by talking about Team Summit...


TMP65 is testing EPIX HD (Looks like SD only is getting launched this week)

And there you have it.

Next Retailer Chat February 17th, and Charlie Chat on March 8th.

So EPIX is coming to Dish Network this week

Source?

 

[riffjim4069]

...We could go to internet streaming services, Netflix, and OTA and be more than happy. I see more and more people doing stuff like this. I know a friend that just canceled his $100+ a month cable bill, for $9 a month Netflix bill and threw in a dual tuner OTA tuner in his HTPC for watching TV. Now that's a huge savings a year.

Yep, as much as we love FiOS TV two-thirds of our viewing is OTA and we could certainly survive with the OTA and $9 Netflix account on our TivoHD. Our only concerns would be my hockey and MMA and her show "The Closer".