DISH says Give Customers What They Want

[MikeD-C05]

Yes, price increases make everybody scream and shout. BUT, Dish's biggest mistake was not charging more for a second Hopper in the first place.

They wouldn't of got that many 24 month commitments without advertising the low, low price of $7.00 for the second hopper or the new hopper with Sling. This way they just lassoed a whole lot of new subs with two year commitments that can't leave without a high pay out break up fee. Now they can extort more FEE money from those same saps that are locked in. Oh yes there will be some churn , but this hasn't been about growth, It is about generating more revenue, so they can finance their merger and pay off their ever growing and never ending lawsuits. With out more FEE revenue , old Charlie will have to pay more in finance fees and borrow more too. He is desperate to get Sprint any way he can. Unfortunately for us , we are the source of his new revenue ,even if we are the only subs left after all the churn from this latest FEE HIKE.

 

[fhsucade07]

As an advocate for a la carte (or at least bundling smaller packages of channels), I find it crazy that Charlie won't let a person with, say, Smart Pack, add the Multi-Sport package or making a certain tier package required to add Epix (I know they can't on WP).

I also find it bizarre that he can acknowledge the number of people that are moving over to Netfix or similar services but continue to raise rates on hardware fees. Bottom line: it hasn't gone so far to hurt his bottom line yet.

 

[Mochuf]

They wouldn't of got that many 24 month commitments without advertising the low, low price of $7.00 for the second hopper or the new hopper with Sling. This way they just lassoed a whole lot of new subs with two year commitments that can't leave without a high pay out break up fee. Now they can extort more FEE money from those same saps that are locked in. Oh yes there will be some churn , but this hasn't been about growth, It is about generating more revenue, so they can finance their merger and pay off their ever growing and never ending lawsuits. With out more FEE revenue , old Charlie will have to pay more in finance fees and borrow more too. He is desperate to get Sprint any way he can. Unfortunately for us , we are the source of his new revenue ,even if we are the only subs left after all the churn from this latest FEE HIKE.

As much as I don't believe in conspiracy theories, I have a feeling that you are correct with your post. When you compare the growth of pay-tv subscriptions to growth of total US households, pay-tv providers are having problems. Subscriber growth is flat, but companies still want higher revenues. So of course the best alternative (well the one that costs companies the least) is to get more money from your current customers. Also a growing number of people would rather pay $100 per month on cell service than on tv service. Add this all up and naturally this is where Charlie wants to go.

 

[truckracer]

I want sodium fluoride removed from my tap water.

 

[dare2be]

I want sodium fluoride removed from my tap water.

Yeah, they might as well...no one drinks tap water anymore anyway...too many pollutants in it.

 

[GaryPen]

Yes, price increases make everybody scream and shout. BUT, Dish's biggest mistake was not charging more for a second Hopper in the first place.

The oil companies made the same mistake. If only they charged $5/gallon to start with, we wouldn't complain when the price of gas goes over $4. I wish all these companies would just start out charging more money, because then they would never ever ever raise their prices. Ever.

 

[3HaloODST]

The oil companies made the same mistake. If only they charged $5/gallon to start with, we wouldn't complain when the price of gas goes over $4. I wish all these companies would just start out charging more money, because then they would never ever ever raise their prices. Ever.

Sarcasm?

Sent from my iPad 2 using Forum Runner

 

[dare2be]

Yes, price increases make everybody scream and shout. BUT, Dish's biggest mistake was not charging more for a second Hopper in the first place.

The oil companies made the same mistake. If only they charged $5/gallon to start with, we wouldn't complain when the price of gas goes over $4. I wish all these companies would just start out charging more money, because then they would never ever ever raise their prices. Ever.

Rephrase time. "Dish's biggest mistake was charging the same price for a second Hopper as a Joey." The Joey fee should have been lower than the 2nd Hopper fee.

 

[empiretc]

The oil companies made the same mistake. If only they charged $5/gallon to start with, we wouldn't complain when the price of gas goes over $4. I wish all these companies would just start out charging more money, because then they would never ever ever raise their prices. Ever.

"we will never see $1 gasoline!" - Nixon

 

[Laddyboy]

There was a shell game with Platinum HD package a few years ago. I think it was through that that I started getting HD for free.

TheKrell posted back in 2010, "Those of us who discovered (via this forum) that Platinum became free a while back when it had only 7 mostly worthless channels, we added it. So, for the same $10 HD add-on fee, we got HD + Platinum. Then, when HD went "Free for Life", we got it automatically. Then, if we wanted, we could jettison Platinum and save $10/mo."

Yep, that's what we did.

 

[catnap1972]

How about some honest commercials for a change? Constantly bashing Directv for insidious fees and awful customer service is becoming a joke considering they're moulding themselves into the same model.

 

[dvrexpander]

lolz this is funny, I'm a customer - I WANT ESPNU in HD!!! But I'm an installer too and YOU CAN NOT GIVE ALL CUSTOMERS WHAT THEY WANT!!! Customers lie, flat out LIE to get everything and anything they want and FREE even if that is the CSR's throwing the Techs under a bus and it happens everyday.

I lol at this idea...what a foolish notion.

 

[dare2be]

The only thing I've ever lied about to Dish is my address.

 

[KAB]

The only thing I've ever lied about to Dish is my address.

Goody two shoes!!!
Seriously, I'm with you. Honesty is not just the best policy, it makes us who we are!!! (or the flip-side).

 

[catnap1972]

Why won't Directv talk about their "real prices" and "hidden fees" like Dish does.

OH....right....

 

[jrbdmb]

Give the customers what they want ... two price/fee increases within three months!!! Oh wait ...

 

[Zero327]

Customers aren't complicated at large. The vast majority can be summed up quite easily:

1. What do they want? Everything for free, or if not free, for as cheap as they can possibly get it (0% profit margin for a publically traded company) and free upgrades, credits, movie packages, PPVs depending on their mood that day.

2. How much are they willing to pay? Take the minimum cost to keep the lights on, and subtract $15 per customer.

3. What is the minimum price increase a customer will accept? They'll accept anything we tell them and damned well will like it. But they would prefer something with a negative sign, which will never happen.

4. When will they switch to DirecTV? Whenever Direct has something better; but every other time they'll just threaten to do it hoping for free sh*t. See point 1.

5. What does a customer consider "fair"? Getting everything they want, when and how they want it, at zero cost to themselves, no matter how unrealistic it is.

See, simple. And fits the vast majority of 14M people.

 

[randyoh]

All I "want" are 2 things. My HD locals back and never to be call a "liar" by a CSR again. That's what I want.

 

[the mack]

^your avatar is pretty f'ed up...

 

[jrbdmb]

Customers aren't complicated at large. The vast majority can be summed up quite easily:

1. What do they want? Everything for free, or if not free, for as cheap as they can possibly get it (0% profit margin for a publically traded company) and free upgrades, credits, movie packages, PPVs depending on their mood that day.

2. How much are they willing to pay? Take the minimum cost to keep the lights on, and subtract $15 per customer.

3. What is the minimum price increase a customer will accept? They'll accept anything we tell them and damned well will like it. But they would prefer something with a negative sign, which will never happen.

4. When will they switch to DirecTV? Whenever Direct has something better; but every other time they'll just threaten to do it hoping for free sh*t. See point 1.

5. What does a customer consider "fair"? Getting everything they want, when and how they want it, at zero cost to themselves, no matter how unrealistic it is.

See, simple. And fits the vast majority of 14M people.

How about *not* selling me on the Hopper at a $7 monthly fee, getting me to commit for 24 months based on that fee, and then doubling the Hopper fee to $14?

How about *not* selling me an annual programming package in January, then telling me in April that Dish has changed it's mind and is reneging on its commitment and will begin billing me month-to-month at a higher rate?

How about *not* making up totally bogus fees like "whole house DVR fee" and "leased receiver fee" for owned receivers?

How about *not* going around giving speeches about "giving the customer what they want" when they are unwilling to even negotiate for ESPNU-HD, Disney HD, ABC Family HD, YES Network, Sportsnet NY, MLB Extra Innings, etc. etc.?

That's what I want. I do not expect free programming, but I do expect not to be subject to bait-and-switch tactics or sleazy gimmicks to squeeze more dollars out of my wallet. As for your rant, you are full of it.