Anyone else "leasing" an 811??

mattyro

SatelliteGuys Guru
Original poster
Apr 19, 2004
142
0
Just recently I noticed a lease fee on my bill-$5. I know I never agreed to a lease, heres the story: Remember back in August the word was an 811 could be had for $99? I remember it clearly cuz I read it here or on DBSTalk.. Surer enough I sold my 6000 and called Dish TO PURCHASE an 811. The csr says "good news- we can send that to you for just the cost of shipping". No mention of a lease or a lease fee OR THE FACT THAT I WASNT EVEN GOING TO OWN THIS BOX!!!!!. I was gonna put my 811 on ebay in the hopes of fimding a cheap 921!!! The csr I spoke to said this is not the first time shes heard of this happening but she could do nothing to help me.
 
I recently leased an 811 on the Dish'n It Up promo for $50. I had to agree to the terms and conditions on the phone before they would ship it to me. They were pretty clear that this was a lease deal.
 
Dude...if you didnt pay ANYTHING for the box, how can you expect to own it????
 
5 bucks a month and nothing up front...the lease eliminates the extra receiver fee(if that applies).
 
yup, in terms of monthly fees leasing and owning is the same.

the only thing you get out of owning, is getting stuff without the at packages, or seeling your receiver.
 
The way I looked at it, I just bought an HDTV and wanted to see what it was capable of now. Knowing that MPEG-4 was a year or so away and no current E* model can support it, I figured a lease was currently my lowest cost option. When the MPEG-4 capable units start showing up in a year or so THEN I will probably buy one. That whole-house HDTV package looks tempting, though. If it works well I could be persuaded to continue leasing, if that is the only option to get it.
 
I must be missing something. Some of you guys are saying that the cost is the same whether you lease or own an 811. It is my understanding that a lease involves a $5 per month charge. I own an 811 and there is no monthly charge.
 
unless it's your only receiver you are paying a monthly $5 extra receiver charge, the lease customers don't pay that, they pay $5 to lease the box.
 
You also have a commitment to subscribe to at least AT60 and the HD pack. The HD pack is discounted to $5.00/mo for the whole year of the commitment which seems fair to me given their limited content. The only downside I could see was the fine print which, to me anyway, looks like you are liable for an early termination fee for any downgrade during the term of the lease. In my reading of it it looked like if I downgraded from AT120 to AT60 any time in the next year I would have to pay E* $200! I don't know if they can enforce this since AT60 is still a valid package for the terms of the agreement though.
 
I just got off the phone with Dish concerning a lease exchange. I can swap one of my rcvr's for the 811 via mail or installer visit. Price is $99 for the upgrade and a $25 rebate is offered for a $74 total, add the $10 month HD programming package with the first 6 months free, add $5 month 'extra rcvr' fee as I have a total of 3 units.