Turbo HD gold customers get hosed!!

[Borgie]

I had a 10.00 increase in February (turbo gold). So the people that paid no price increase (hd absolute) get the same new channels as me, The people that paid a 5 buck and a 7 buck increase (turbo bronze and silver), get the same new channels as me. The people that that paid a 3 buck increase (classic gold plus the HD addon) get the same new 3 channels as me plus three additional channels.

I just don't understand.

 

[RandallA]

IMO if Turbo Bronze and Silver are getting the channels, Turbo Gold will get them too. They just need to authorize them and fix the problem.

 

[Borgie]

IMO if Turbo Bronze and Silver are getting the channels, Turbo Gold will get them too. They just need to authorize them and fix the problem.

So you are saying that Turbo Bronze and Silver are right now getting MTV, VH1, and Nick?

 

[Laddyboy]

IMO if Turbo Bronze and Silver are getting the channels, Turbo Gold will get them too. They just need to authorize them and fix the problem.

He's saying he got the three channels that all the Turbo subs received (COM, CMT, Spike). He's irritated because his package had the highest rate increase yet he got fewer channels than the Classic subs who received all the channels with a minimum increase and the same number as the Absolute subs who had no increase at all. I understand the irritation. Jim DeFranco said the rate increases would be worth it with the new HD to be added. That hasn't really been true for any of the Turbo packages with the exclusion of Fox News, Fox Business, MTV, VH1 and Nick. I think the Turbo Silver and Turbo Gold subs might get BET when it's added, not that many will care. It seems to me that this is a deliberate attempt to keep as many subs tied up in the Classic packages as possible. They must be the real moneymakers for E*. They are still charging $10 for the HD add-on, yet the Turbo subs had 20% rate increases. It's as if the Turbo subs are subsidizing the Classic HD subs to some extent, especially as most subscribers don't have any HD in their packages at all.

 

[gadgtfreek]

No need to wonder why dish's sub count keeps moving backwards.....

 

[brian_tr]

I was paying $10 for the silver along with $10 for the gold. The only channels on the 250 I really watched was the Western Channel so I dropped the 250 back to 200 and carried Encore.

 

[RandallA]

He's saying he got the three channels that all the Turbo subs received (COM, CMT, Spike). He's irritated because his package had the highest rate increase yet he got fewer channels than the Classic subs who received all the channels with a minimum increase and the same number as the Absolute subs who had no increase at all. I understand the irritation. Jim DeFranco said the rate increases would be worth it with the new HD to be added. That hasn't really been true for any of the Turbo packages with the exclusion of Fox News, Fox Business, MTV, VH1 and Nick. I think the Turbo Silver and Turbo Gold subs might get BET when it's added, not that many will care. It seems to me that this is a deliberate attempt to keep as many subs tied up in the Classic packages as possible. They must be the real moneymakers for E*. They are still charging $10 for the HD add-on, yet the Turbo subs had 20% rate increases. It's as if the Turbo subs are subsidizing the Classic HD subs to some extent, especially as most subscribers don't have any HD in their packages at all.

Got it.

 

[bdresch]

I sent an nastygram last night. If this isn't rectified I will be switching!!

 

[jdmacor]

I am disgusted right now; I just don't know what to do about it. Dish's own Channel Lineup Card (PDF link) clearly states that the Turbo HD packages correspond to the classic packages of the same metal type; yet here we are. I have been over all the facts; Turbo subs care only about HD, because we chose the HD only package; we pay by far the highest rate per channel of any subscriber; we had the reasonable expectation that as HD only customers, somehow all the HD should be available to us (through the various packages, including platinum and whatever else); as it stands now, it is impossible to get these missing Viacoms and Fox channels without changing out of the Turbo package, thereby eliminating the reason I chose Dish in the first place. They have turned this fantastic offering into a joke and I am just irrate about it.

That's all I can stomach of this for now...

 

[johnch]

in the same boat

I have HD platinum and I didn't get but three of the six channels! This is getting old. I don't get it I will switch if I don't get the three other channels. When I switched to HD only I was told that I would definitely get any new HD and yet now the promise has been broken twice!

JC

 

[tsanders3]

Let's face it, the TurboHD packages do not get all the HD channels. This is they way it will be. I am disappointed that Dish decided to make TurboHD less than what it could have been.

 

[theoak]

I posted this in the Viacom thread, but it is probably more appropriate here.

I find it puzzling that they keep adding channels to the Absolute package. The only reason that I can think of as to why is that Dish is losing customers so they want to try to keep as many as they can with carrots here and there.

I was DDA TurboHD Gold until the Fox News HD fiasco, I then switched to DDA Classic Bronze and BronzeHD more out of principle. Technically I am paying less. That was my, albeit small, way of "sticking it" to Dish. At the time of the switch I was getting less HD; however, after all is said and done, if Dish continues the practice of adding more HD to BronzeHD versus TurboHD I am getting a better deal with BronzeHD and will eventually end up with more HD on the BronzeHD package than the TurboHD Gold folks will get and I will be paying less! Dish is not making any sense to me.

 

[8bitbytes]

Absolute SHOULD get new channels. We were willing to go all HD early on and do it without our RSN.

 

[jdmacor]

Absolute SHOULD get new channels. We were willing to go all HD early on and do it without our RSN.

I personally have no problem with Absolute people getting new channels; I am just enraged that Turbo subscribers are getting bent over.

 

[theoak]

Absolute SHOULD get new channels. We were willing to go all HD early on and do it without our RSN.

Other than Dish has officially stated that the package is no longer offered and as of the first of 2009 no longer supported.

 

[Laserich]

Let's face it, the TurboHD packages do not get all the HD channels. This is they way it will be. I am disappointed that Dish decided to make TurboHD less than what it could have been.

Exactly as I predicted and, what's more, their being offered as a loss leader to get 24 months from new subs is probably the main reason the Turbo paks are being so neglected.

Beyond that, the transition to all HD is going to be through the Classic paks. If you look at the eventual scenario when HD is the only game in town, when SD channels are a novelty, the road to that end has a fork in it. Early on, it looked as if Dish were taking the left fork that transitioned subscribers to the HD-only paks.

The TurboHD-only paks were a great idea for subs, pay only for HD channels, and ride the transition with price increases to match the new HD content as it arrived. The other fork in the road travels through the Classic paks.

Subscribers to the more expensive Classic paks get the HD as it arrives, with of course the prices increases that will go with it, and they get the SD channels until they convert themselves. Dish Network is the winner here with a larger revenue stream during the transition.

Without exact figures, I only know the TurboHD-only subs are not even 20% of the total number of Dish subscribers. Not only does that road from the left fork have far fewer travelers than the right, but now Dish has put barricades in the way by excluding the very HD content that steered Turbo subs to the left fork in the first place. If this were the correct road for Dish, there would be no obstacles.

Whether it's a temporary situation, because of the promo pricing for TurboHD-onlys, in which case it will be at least until they stop offering the special pricing and add another six months to that for that pricing to end (and the writing is on the wall that the Turbo-HD only paks are NOT guaranteed to offer the every existing HD channel), or if at some point Dish has decided that the right fork in the road to all HD programming is the most profitable strategy, OR, whether the HD-only paks were just a gimmick all along, and this may just be the clincher if the now-obsolete HD Absolute pak is any clue that HD-only is a short-term marketing ploy, (whew! I'm out of breath), the bottom line is that Turbo HD-Only paks are not what they seem, or what we thought they were.

Get out while you can!

 

[Laddyboy]

Let's face it, the TurboHD packages do not get all the HD channels. This is they way it will be. I am disappointed that Dish decided to make TurboHD less than what it could have been.

All-HD Turbo packages and there is no way to get all the HD offered by E* with them. Who could have ever masterminded this? If they don't want all-HD subs why have the packages in the first place? Jim DeFranco is certainly a less than a forthright operator in this case. To justify large rate increases by saying the HD additions would be worth it and then not deliver to the subs with the largest rate increases smacks of shadiness as far as I'm concerned. This is the type of thing one expects from a ShamWow provider, not a satellite provider.

 

[GaryPen]

...as it stands now, it is impossible to get these missing Viacoms and Fox channels without changing out of the Turbo package...

Perhaps there is a method to Charlie's madness.

They are now realizing that if they keep on adding the HD versions of SD channels to the TurboHD packages, there will no longer be any reason for subs to subscribe to the more expensive "classic" packages, and they will begin to see, if they haven't already been seeing, large scale "downgrades" to TurboHD, losing $10, $20, or more per sub.

 

[GaryPen]

This is the type of thing one expects from a ShamWow provider, not a satellite provider.

Actually, when you order Sham-Wow, you at least get all the stuff they say you will.

 

[Laddyboy]

Perhaps there is a method to Charlie's madness.

They are now realizing that if they keep on adding the HD versions of SD channels to the TurboHD packages, there will no longer be any reason for subs to subscribe to the more expensive "classic" packages, and they will begin to see, if they haven't already been seeing, large scale "downgrades" to TurboHD, losing $10, $20, or more per sub.

After the Fox escapades, we should have all known this is how they would operate. I don't think they're losing money on the Turbo packages or they wouldn't offer them. I'm sure they make even more on the Classic with HD with the higher rates. This approach is likely angering some Turbo subs though and may boomerang on E* in the future. I've been with E* since 1998 and when this commitment is up, I'll be looking at the competition instead of blindly continuing my monthly payment to E*. It also means I won't be getting sucked into anything that would extend my commitment. Maybe D* will have some all-HD offerings by then. They've used up any goodwill they had with me. All they had to do was state upfront that Turbo packages may not contain the same HD content as Classic HD packages, but they've never done that. In my case I don't watch any of the Viacom stuff anyway nor does the better half. The kiddos like them some MTV for the reality shows and Nick. However, nearly everything they watch is available at the MTV or Nick site for viewing on demand, so we're fine and will be sticking with Turbo for the present unless they discontinue it. I'm not mad or angry at not getting the programming content, but being a business owner it angers me to see another business operate in less than a forthright manner.