921 OTA Guide Information

[gboot]

There has been a great deal of discussion over at the DBSTalk 921 forum regarding the bug/requirement that one need to subscribe to the Dish locals package to get OTA Guide data.
Most of us who have purchased the 921 did so because of it's claim to integrate OTA locals and Satellite channels in to a single receiver with an integrated Program Guide. Most of us have no need for the Dish locals which are SD, since we purchased the 921 in order to get HD locals OTA. The December 211 release of the software fixed the bug which enabled OTA information to be displayed in the guide , but in order to get the OTA local guide information imposed the need to subscribe to the Dish locals package. We were already paying a DVR fee of $5/month to get the Guide data, now there is an additional fee of $6/month to get 5 channels of OTA Guide data.
I would like an official answer from Dish is this a bug, or are they intentionally increasing the monthly fees for 921 users?

 

[jsanders]

In addition to that, those with distant locals don't get OTA guide data, even with a subscription.

In addition to that, we don't have any subchannel guide data.

In addition to that, the 811 does have OTA guide data, with sub channel data, and it is all free.

The 811 and 921 came out at roughly the same time, with the same promises. The 811 is technically two months older, however, it is not in a class that somehow grandfathered it from a fee which the 921 is subject to. VOD fees are waived for grandfathered DVRs, however, that isn't the case for the 921 and the 811. In the case of VOD fees, they said publically that all DVRs from after the 501, 508, and 721 will have VOD fees. No such statement has been made about over the air guide data. They did it right on the 811, and they gave 921 users the shaft.

How many times do we have to pay for this stuff anyway? The 811 has no VOD fee does it? It still gets guide data, even without a fee like that. However, there is a $5/mo fee that is bult into the SD packages. I dropped AT60, and I am still charged that $5 fee. It seems to me that we 921 users are being charged this $5/mo service fee + $5/mo VOD fee + $6/mo for a local subscription fee. $16/mo for a buggy piece of rubbish is not a good way to treat customers. It isn't the way to charge for SUB-STANDARD guide data!

I personally harassed dish for a few weeks on the phone. I called them many times. They finally gave me a two month credit for locals. When that two months is up, I will start callling them again.

 

[slanted]

I see that Dish has dropped the price of the 921 to $549. I don't know if there is a catch, but after hearing that I need the locals package to get the OTA guide I'm thinking I'll pass.

I don't need SD locals, but I figure most of the HD material I would like to timeshift is OTA.

 

[styxfix]

I can't add locals to my programming from DISH without dropping one of my distant stations. I already get two distant networks and since my LA CBS-HD is not one of my distant network cities, DISH claims they cannot legally provide network programming to more than three different cities. If I want to sub to my SD local network stations, this would be more than three different network cities and I must be willing to drop one of my distant stations or my LA CBS-HD station that I get at no extra cost.

I'm not willing to drop any of distant networks just to pay extra for locals every month for which I really won't watch through DISH just to get the OTA program guide on the 921 but works fine on my 811 receiver.

How many people are going to sub or re-sub to their locals just to get the program guide on the 921?

What is the $4.98 DVR fee for if you can't get the OTA program guide or record the current program on your OTA digital station and watch/record another sat station at the same time?

Is this DISH letting us know how much they care for their high-end customers?