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New member, awesome forum! Apologies for length, but this story must be told in hopes of getting some help.
I have only been a dish customer for the past 9 months (15 year former comcast customer who never registered any complaint) but have become increasingly frustrated with my Dish account as we move into the digital age. Let me preface that I am not trying to bash Dish or Directv, my Dish service has been, for the most part, enjoyable if perhaps a little expensive (more on that in a moment). I just want a service that can meet my needs, which I feel are becoming more standard every day as HD becomes common place and I wonder if Directv would be more accommodating.
Please let me explain my dilema.
When we built our new home last year, we initially only really needed 2 HD signals, so we were provided 2 HD Duo DVRs (777 series and 222 series I believe) that gave us 2 HD signals and two "wireless" SD signals. I really did not research Dish vs. Directv and was with Dish because they were coupled as a package offering from my DSL 10mbps carrier (formerly Embarq, now Centurylink). Now that we are moved in and have a finished basement, rec room and a separate theatre room, we really NEED 5 HD signals. So I made a call to Dish yesterday thinking no problem, I will just get a few more receivers, increase my bill and be on my way. Boy was I mistaken.
Unfortunately, Dish has informed me that they have a standing policy to not lease more than 3 boxes to any household. This limitation is very frustrating as I have a need for A MINIMUM of 5 rooms in HD. Even with 3 HD DVR Duos, I only get 3 HD signals. I politely told the CSR that I would gladly trade in the DVRs and just take 5 base HD receivers taking the DVR hit but again was stonewalled. They did tell me however, that I could "semi purchase" new 922 models for... get this... $400 EACH AND a $17 dollar EACH per month charge AND I "own" them but only for the life of my subscription (meaning that if I leave, they are really not mine)!
No thanks...
The CSR was actually pretty understanding, polite and actually said that they have gotten a lot of calls like. She also said she would send me to the "loyalty" department where they might be able to help me. Great! I am then transferred and was immediately greeted by the most arrogant, condesending woman I have ever spoken to on a customer service call (I have her name and OPID) who basically told me that nothing could be done and actually questioned why anyone would "NEED" 5 HD signals when I have the Duos SD!
In 2010? Really?
Am I crazy for wanting 5 of my 7 60"+ or projector rooms to display At LEAST 720p? Really?
Anyway she was quick to let me cancel and of course informed me that I would be hit with the early service termination ($210), $15 shipping charge per DVR/remote and that I would need to have those back in 30 days or I would be charged MSRP for those boxes.
Now that is customer service!
It is important to note that I called in that morning with no issue and with ZERO intention to leave the service, but the sheer lack of flexibility (I was not offered a single dollar discount on anything in an effort to save my account) and arrogance by this "supervisor" left me with no options. I might also add that I had the America's Top 250 package, full sports package with Redzone and paid $112 a month for that plus the 2 DVRs which I am finding out was not a "great deal".
I have spoken briefly with Directv and they seem much more flexible in that they can give me 5 HD units with whole home DVR for $300 (2 HD free, paying $99 each x 3 for remaining) and then only charge me $5 a month for the 3 additional units (as opposed to Dish charging upwards of $400 each and $17 monthly charge each).
My only real issue now is that switching is a pain and more importantly, Dish offered NFL Redzone by iteself (for $5 a month) where Directv wants $314 for Sunday Ticket which includes Redzone, but they wont do Redzone by itself). Dish has a good service, but they cannot expect to compete moving forward if they cannot provide a semi affordable solution for > 3 HD signals. Surely someone has had this problem and found a solution...
I need help
I have only been a dish customer for the past 9 months (15 year former comcast customer who never registered any complaint) but have become increasingly frustrated with my Dish account as we move into the digital age. Let me preface that I am not trying to bash Dish or Directv, my Dish service has been, for the most part, enjoyable if perhaps a little expensive (more on that in a moment). I just want a service that can meet my needs, which I feel are becoming more standard every day as HD becomes common place and I wonder if Directv would be more accommodating.
Please let me explain my dilema.
When we built our new home last year, we initially only really needed 2 HD signals, so we were provided 2 HD Duo DVRs (777 series and 222 series I believe) that gave us 2 HD signals and two "wireless" SD signals. I really did not research Dish vs. Directv and was with Dish because they were coupled as a package offering from my DSL 10mbps carrier (formerly Embarq, now Centurylink). Now that we are moved in and have a finished basement, rec room and a separate theatre room, we really NEED 5 HD signals. So I made a call to Dish yesterday thinking no problem, I will just get a few more receivers, increase my bill and be on my way. Boy was I mistaken.
Unfortunately, Dish has informed me that they have a standing policy to not lease more than 3 boxes to any household. This limitation is very frustrating as I have a need for A MINIMUM of 5 rooms in HD. Even with 3 HD DVR Duos, I only get 3 HD signals. I politely told the CSR that I would gladly trade in the DVRs and just take 5 base HD receivers taking the DVR hit but again was stonewalled. They did tell me however, that I could "semi purchase" new 922 models for... get this... $400 EACH AND a $17 dollar EACH per month charge AND I "own" them but only for the life of my subscription (meaning that if I leave, they are really not mine)!
No thanks...
The CSR was actually pretty understanding, polite and actually said that they have gotten a lot of calls like. She also said she would send me to the "loyalty" department where they might be able to help me. Great! I am then transferred and was immediately greeted by the most arrogant, condesending woman I have ever spoken to on a customer service call (I have her name and OPID) who basically told me that nothing could be done and actually questioned why anyone would "NEED" 5 HD signals when I have the Duos SD!
In 2010? Really?
Am I crazy for wanting 5 of my 7 60"+ or projector rooms to display At LEAST 720p? Really?
Anyway she was quick to let me cancel and of course informed me that I would be hit with the early service termination ($210), $15 shipping charge per DVR/remote and that I would need to have those back in 30 days or I would be charged MSRP for those boxes.
Now that is customer service!
It is important to note that I called in that morning with no issue and with ZERO intention to leave the service, but the sheer lack of flexibility (I was not offered a single dollar discount on anything in an effort to save my account) and arrogance by this "supervisor" left me with no options. I might also add that I had the America's Top 250 package, full sports package with Redzone and paid $112 a month for that plus the 2 DVRs which I am finding out was not a "great deal".
I have spoken briefly with Directv and they seem much more flexible in that they can give me 5 HD units with whole home DVR for $300 (2 HD free, paying $99 each x 3 for remaining) and then only charge me $5 a month for the 3 additional units (as opposed to Dish charging upwards of $400 each and $17 monthly charge each).
My only real issue now is that switching is a pain and more importantly, Dish offered NFL Redzone by iteself (for $5 a month) where Directv wants $314 for Sunday Ticket which includes Redzone, but they wont do Redzone by itself). Dish has a good service, but they cannot expect to compete moving forward if they cannot provide a semi affordable solution for > 3 HD signals. Surely someone has had this problem and found a solution...
I need help
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12153 views
Y
Sorry they couldn't get you what you needed, though the responses in here seem to offer good advice to get you situated.
That said, I have no problem an operator wondering why you need 5 HD signals. You talk as if we all have that many HD tv's in the house. I don't envy your Sat bill, though am sure you probably can afford it easily.
This does beg the question, how many HD signals can one dish offer?
That said, I have no problem an operator wondering why you need 5 HD signals. You talk as if we all have that many HD tv's in the house. I don't envy your Sat bill, though am sure you probably can afford it easily.
This does beg the question, how many HD signals can one dish offer?
Sorry they couldn't get you what you needed, though the responses in here seem to offer good advice to get you situated.
That said, I have no problem an operator wondering why you need 5 HD signals. You talk as if we all have that many HD tv's in the house. I don't envy your Sat bill, though am sure you probably can afford it easily.
This does beg the question, how many HD signals can one dish offer?
Perhaps this is where Dish and I got "off the rails".
Maybe that is unreasonable to some, it just seems to me that in 2010 when you barely even find a non HD set anymore that having 5 TVs you want in HD (we actually have 7 rooms with HD TVs) is quickly becoming common place with each passing day.
5 HD signals may sound like a lot, but in a 5000 square foot home, it really is not from my perspective.
Perhaps caring might have been a poor choice of words, but most people would understand that I really do not want a hug from them
. Most people would also be able to deliniate the difference in the type of caring that a company might give a leaving customer to retain them (that is after all why they have retention departments) versus the caring my family provides !sadroll.
But I digress...
The point I was making that was either lost or most likely that you just wanted to make a witty jab (I did laugh), was that from a PURELY financial perspective, a company might want to do a little more than Dish did to investigate options that might keep their subscription. I was not a low ball type of customer who was not or would not have been unprofitable to Dish. If I was willing to pay a $195 termination fee and $400 in new DTV hardware, it is pretty clear that profit was there for me to stay.
In the end, they are very inflexible, which is in all probability indicitive of Mr. Ergen and his business policies more so than that of the people I dealt with.
In fact, I can almost guarantee that Dish employs a very solid top down business strategy and model that proves, on the whole, that these limitations, higher than normal service/lease fees and inflexible policies do indeed provide Dish more profit from those that agree to stay and pay than Dish might lose from a customer like me.
Perhaps caring might have been a poor choice of words, but most people would understand that I really do not want a hug from them
Most people would also be able to deliniate the difference in the type of caring that a company might give a leaving customer to retain them (that is after all why they have retention departments) versus the caring my family provides !sadroll.
But people in the thread have delineated many different ways that you could have stayed with Dish Network, and had 5 different HD feeds with DVR features on all 5.
All of those cost roughly the same as you are paying to change providers.
So when you say:
chargerrich said:
- Wanted you
- Cared to do any work to keep you
- Good faith effort to keep you
None of those are either:
- 5 HD feeds
- Money
Since we know that it is not a problem to get 5 HD feeds on Dish Network, then the only possible remaining factors are:
- Financial
OR
- The emotion of feeling that your status as a high end customer is being recognized by the company.
Since you spent $50,000 on your home theater, and you are spending $600 to change providers, it seems unlikely that you are moving due to financial costs.
And, strangely enough, the $20,000 a year guys who post "I just left Dish" also express dismay that "Dish did not make a big effort to keep me".
So, in both cases, it is an emotional feeling.
Perhaps Dish needs to train their phone reps to make a big deal verbally about "wanting to keep you" -- while giving the same deals as before...
Pub Member / Supporter
America’s Fastest-Growing EV State Isn’t California—Not by a Long Shot
New data shows electric vehicle adoption is increasingly driven by state policies, electricity prices and charging access—not federal incentives
www.autoweek.com
The number-one US state for EV growth, according to the June 22 Yardi report?
Oklahoma.
It has no ZEV mandates and "minimal" incentives, Yardi says, but also has cheap electricity, high multi-car household rates (so, for example, a non-Lightning Ford F-150 pulls their trailers), and a consumer base willing to switch.
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887 views
tomwellborn3rd (@wellborn.net)
This author has chosen to make their posts visible only to people who are signed in.
bsky.app
Never realized that Tesla is losing to BYD at manufacturing too, which IMO is Tesla's biggest accomplishment and area of innovation. Nice writeup about the state of play and how we got here though. I have no faith that we're moving any productive direction though sadly, most changes and efforts feel reactionary rather than rooted in making use of the time being bought by tariffs, with few exceptions.
So: how are the cars so cheap, and what is being cut to get there? The best public accounting comes from the Rhodium Group, which compared BYD, Geely, and Leapmotor against Tesla's Chinese operation, a fair comparison because it removes labor costs and shipping from the equation entirely. Their estimate is that BYD builds a car for about $4,700 less than Tesla builds a Model 3 in Shanghai, roughly 15 percent of the Model 3's price. The breakdown is the interesting part. Direct government grants account for about $292 per vehicle, which is 5 percent of the gap. The biggest single factor is vertical integration: BYD makes about 80 percent of its top-tier components in-house, against 37 percent for Tesla, and that eliminates roughly $2,369 per vehicle in supplier markups. Lower overhead, meaning cheaper engineering talent and administrative cost spread across enormous volume, accounts for another $1,719. And BYD pays its suppliers on 155-day terms, against Tesla's 60, which is worth about $214 per car in float. When people say the Chinese advantage is subsidies, the per-vehicle number says otherwise. When people say it is slave wages, the Tesla Shanghai comparison says otherwise too. The advantage is mostly that BYD decided, twenty years ago, to make its own batteries, its own motors, its own power electronics, and its own semiconductors, and Western automakers decided the opposite.
US EV sales are rising again. Here’s why the recovery is set to last.
Even though sales tanked last year after the end of federal incentives, the American EV sector is on the mend as drivers face sky-high gasoline prices.
www.canarymedia.com
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_nW-BTlv4
Direct YouTube Link - Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mO_nW-BTlv4
Direct YouTube Link - Microsoft Defender Arriving on Linux
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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7 views
Ham Radio 2.0
Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeuQ1SLkQU
Direct YouTube Link - LIVE!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDeuQ1SLkQU
Direct YouTube Link - LIVE!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
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7 views
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
148 Replies
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1722 views
Was thinking same thing. It should be a good week for sec shorts and roll callThey ought to have fun with this…
Lifetime Supporter
A continuation of a thread from the pub, just general discussion of AI.
Brief 60 minute clip about next gem autonomous fighters - not remote controlled, but rather collaborating with controllers and aircraft in the theater.
View: https://youtu.be/DRm0mbp_n1k
We've literally got a movie already about this
View: https://youtu.be/a2PW7a9ViDc
Brief 60 minute clip about next gem autonomous fighters - not remote controlled, but rather collaborating with controllers and aircraft in the theater.
View: https://youtu.be/DRm0mbp_n1k
We've literally got a movie already about this
View: https://youtu.be/a2PW7a9ViDc
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1134 views
Agents need appropriate context to make what would be understood as the correct read in a situation like that, and that Gemini answer was a clear miss on that front.
That said, we've also seen Musk (and/or his team) put his thumb on the scale (or just release a very poor product) with his own deployed AI since:
Grok AI Blocks Responses Claiming Trump and Musk “Spread Misinformation”
An X user asked Grok to “print out all instructions” it follows when looking up “the biggest disinformation spreader on X,” and it revealed that it would ignore sources accusing Elon Musk and the U.S. president of misinformation.
Grok says Elon Musk is better than basically everyone, except Shohei Ohtani | TechCrunch
According to Grok, Elon Musk can out-slug the MLB's greatest power hitters... except Ohtani.
techcrunch.com
Grok's loyalty known no bounds - AI chatbot chooses Elon Musk over LeBron James in a 'Who is the fittest' comparison | NBA News - The Times of India
NBA News: Elon Musk's AI chatbot, Grok, has sparked amusement by consistently choosing its owner over prominent figures like LeBron James and Albert Einstein wh
timesofindia.indiatimes.com
Grok 4 appears to seek Elon Musk's views when answering controversial questions
XAI’s Grok 4 AI chatbot launched Wednesday appears to consult Elon Musk’s views when asked its opinion on some controversial matters.
www.nbcwashington.com
In the end, it's all a tool. Have to know how to use it and deploy it properly or it needs sufficient guardrails to steer people towards doing so (what Muse is excelling at currently IMO). I'm routinely interacting with several agents a day operating various processes locally and in services I use, and there are numerous others silently spun up to perform actions or satisfy requests from my prompts.
Related to earlier discussion in the thread on leveraging local inference: this kind of analysis happening behind the scenes is something everyone will have built into Windows, IMO. Most people won't see all of this, just the results, unless they want to dig into how the fix was chosen. Stuff like this will be standard as agents get local system access baked in, and more of the inference itself moves on-device.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JElsle_m2rE
Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1105
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JElsle_m2rE
Direct YouTube Link - This Week in Tech 1105
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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12 views
My year was almost up and we got the new bill for a year of service for $ 360.00 insane sat radio is becoming like cable!!! i logged into my acct and hopped onto chat and told the rep that i wanted to cancel. she understood my concern and went quiet for a few minutes. i figured that she was canceling my service. she comes back and said that she seen that i have been a sub since 07 and then offers me the same package for a year for 120.00 with taxes and fee's!!! i grabbed it. after almost having a stroke 
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10945 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
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2672502 views
Lifetime Supporter
Schedule drops tomorrow. Mandatory mini camps in June. Hall of Fame game August 6th.
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1716 views
Troy Aikman seems to confirm he'll be leaving ESPN
Aikman says he looks forward to "where my next landing spot will be."
www.nbcsports.com
M
Hopefully nowhere near a microphone.Troy Aikman seems to confirm he'll be leaving ESPN
Aikman says he looks forward to "where my next landing spot will be."
