Seriously, what's their deal? I spoke to a rep and told him I would cancel my E* service and go with D* if they gave me a free HD dvr (like everyone else gives) and in return I would stay on their $70 a month plan. No go! I said my other option would be to keep E* and just hook up D* for September, October, and November on the basic package with a free basic receiver and then suspend service the other 9 months. They said the cheapo way was the best way for them to meet my needs. Can anyone honestly say that they would run their business this way? After hearing how ridiculous this sounded, I decided that this fall I will go over to a friends house to watch the games.
D* would rather have $150 than $840?
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So you want D* to give you a $800 receiver for free in exchange for your verbal promise to keep a $70/month programming package? Seriously, your word is not a binding contract, so what's to stop you from changing your programming package the day after your install?
Do the math. $800 receiver, initial lease is generally $299 (so you're already saving $500 over owning it).
The cost difference between the 185 channel package with HD/DVR service and the 140 channel package with HD/DVR service is only $5/month. D* is only gaining $120 over two years. Given your basic 140 channel package with standard receiver, the cost difference is $20/month.
Since you've already stated that you're going to place your account on hold several months of the year, D* has no motivation to provide you with the HD/DVR.
Also keep this in mind. As the projected light off date of D10 draws nearer, D* is doing a lot more HD and HD/DVR installs. There is going to be equipment shortages for a while as the initial surge of customers switching/upgrading passes. Some of these customers will be willing to pay the price for the HD/DVR unit, and others will not. Who do you think D* is going to want as a customer?
Do the math. $800 receiver, initial lease is generally $299 (so you're already saving $500 over owning it).
The cost difference between the 185 channel package with HD/DVR service and the 140 channel package with HD/DVR service is only $5/month. D* is only gaining $120 over two years. Given your basic 140 channel package with standard receiver, the cost difference is $20/month.
Since you've already stated that you're going to place your account on hold several months of the year, D* has no motivation to provide you with the HD/DVR.
Also keep this in mind. As the projected light off date of D10 draws nearer, D* is doing a lot more HD and HD/DVR installs. There is going to be equipment shortages for a while as the initial surge of customers switching/upgrading passes. Some of these customers will be willing to pay the price for the HD/DVR unit, and others will not. Who do you think D* is going to want as a customer?
Yup heisman, you didn't think this one through. I hope your bringing the beer over to your friends.
Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, E*, ATT, etc, etc, all offer their HD dvr's for free. Do you really think their is any difference in manufacturing costs? They make those things in Korea for pennies on the dollar. You are wrong about the difference in price as well. If I had an HD Dvr, then obviously I would use D* as my year round provider and the cheapest package they have for hd and dvr service is $70 a month. So, I would obviously be spending it. I'm only going to suspend service for 9 months if they will only give me a free basic receiver and then the lowest package for BTN. That's also only a 1 year contract that way as opposed to 2 with HD dvr. So, the difference is a little less than $700 a year, plus I would have 2 years guaranteed as opposed to only a 1 year contract with standard receiver. So, that's a difference of around $1400 over that period of time. You must have went to the same school of business as the D* CSR's.
Yeah, but my friend likes Kalik. It's tough to find unless you're hanging out in the Bahamas.
Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, E*, ATT, etc, etc, all offer their HD dvr's for free. Do you really think their is any difference in manufacturing costs? They make those things in Korea for pennies on the dollar. You are wrong about the difference in price as well. If I had an HD Dvr, then obviously I would use D* as my year round provider and the cheapest package they have for hd and dvr service is $70 a month. So, I would obviously be spending it. I'm only going to suspend service for 9 months if they will only give me a free basic receiver and then the lowest package for BTN. That's also only a 1 year contract that way as opposed to 2 with HD dvr. So, the difference is a little less than $700 a year, plus I would have 2 years guaranteed as opposed to only a 1 year contract with standard receiver. So, that's a difference of around $1400 over that period of time. You must have went to the same school of business as the D* CSR's.
Then you are free to choose any of those service providers to get your free HD/DVR. I never said there was any difference in mfg. costs, I was talking about the retail price to purchase the receiver to own it.
You're wrong about the minimum programming package...you can do HD and DVR service with the 140 channel package. Also, I was not talking about the total cost spent over the term of the contract, but a difference in monthly payments. With ATT and the others you listed, they may give you the HD/DVR for free but don't be surprised if you see a charge on your first bill for the equipment. In addition, take a look at the monthly costs for those providers. Don't believe me, check out this forum and others on the billing practices for these companies.
You might want to double check the amount of time you can put an account on suspension. I believe it's 6 months a year maximum, and not 9 months.
As far as the business school goes, I just realize that D* is in this business to make money and not to provide you with free TV.
Ok, thats ridiculous...
who is the knucklehead saying the HD dvr is an 800 dollar piece of equptment when you can get is for 200 at any store. Plus Directv offers customer service, and they are not providing that with the current person who originally posted this thread. If they were smart they would do everything possible to sign on as many people they can, so they can pay the NFL the 500 million they paid for the Sunday Ticket. Oh wait, they already made that the first year charging as much as they do.
who is the knucklehead saying the HD dvr is an 800 dollar piece of equptment when you can get is for 200 at any store. Plus Directv offers customer service, and they are not providing that with the current person who originally posted this thread. If they were smart they would do everything possible to sign on as many people they can, so they can pay the NFL the 500 million they paid for the Sunday Ticket. Oh wait, they already made that the first year charging as much as they do.
It is $800 to own, $299 to lease. Check out some of the other threads here about the cost. Buying a HD/DVR at any store does not mean you own it, you are paying the lease fee.
If you read my many posts you will see I was a 10 year Dish guy and tried the same angle as you. I called and even went to esculations. They bottom line will not budge on the free HDdvr or even a second free SD DVR if you choose the free basic HD reciever. However I found it funny and refreshing that when I had all the install nighmare issues and was called to see if the install happened. I let them know I was not happy and they offered a free HDdvr and Sportsfan without me even asking. So it is what it is! By the way, Costco just dropped the price to 248.00 for the HD dvr lease.
Just wondering, when baseball season is over I can suspend my Direct account until the following April? I only have Direct for basball and don't use it for anything else because I am very happy with my Dish and the HD it provides. 6 months you say?
As a dealer I get this same line day in and day out "I spend over $100/mo with the cable company, what kind of special deal are you going to give me, I could get service with so and so and they would give me this this this and this..." and I almost want to scream at them and tell them "The same promotion everyone else is getting"
Its like a guy calls me last week and tells me he has Directv, and I guess for the last 3 years he has been threating to cancel so every year they give him starz for Free for 1 year.
So the Free Starz runs out. his bill goes up like $12 and then he calls Directv and they give it to him for Free again.
So he calls me up wanting the same deal, because apparenrly he tried to call customer retention again and they would not budge this tim. I work the numbers and with Dish it would be like $5 more per month, and he kept on saying it was $5 more than what he was paying with Directv.
Then the customer says that Directv still has a better deal, but he doesn't seem to get the fact that the reason why he is calling me is because his bill is going up $12 next month where switching to Dish it would only go up 5.
But seriously, when you sign up for new service we could all care less if you take the $30 package of the $130 package, or your payment history with your previous provider.
Get the service, pay the bill ontime every month and then after you fulfilled your contract then we can talk about how good of customer you are and discuss upgrades and what we are going to do to keep your business!
For people who don't pay their bills ontime, or like to go on seasonal disconnect every few months there is very little if anything we can do for them sometimes.
Also, calling in to complain about every little non-issue will not help also. Everytime you call in and cause a stink over something its notated on your account. For example, many times credits are issued on accounts due to billing disputes that are actually not errors but more of a customer not understanding their bill. The credit is issued to make the customer happy so they don't feel they where ripped off and decide to cancel.
You might not think anything of it, but 3 years down the line you want to cancel service they might not offer you anything to stay because they simply do not want your business as much as they do with the customer who has had very little account issues!
Its just like when I do retailer upgrades. A customer walks in that I installed 5 years ago, and I never saw them or spoke with them since we installed their system. We take care of them do the upgrade with no problem!
Customer walks in that has called so many times I know them by name, I might refer them to Dish because I know If I go to their home and change something its going to create several un-necessary service calls because something won't be "perfect" like the new remote not being programmed to control the DVD player, or we will have to go back to show them how to program the receivers IR blaster to control their VCR.
Don't mean to rant on, but you would have to be in this business to see my point of view on this.
Its like a guy calls me last week and tells me he has Directv, and I guess for the last 3 years he has been threating to cancel so every year they give him starz for Free for 1 year.
So the Free Starz runs out. his bill goes up like $12 and then he calls Directv and they give it to him for Free again.
So he calls me up wanting the same deal, because apparenrly he tried to call customer retention again and they would not budge this tim. I work the numbers and with Dish it would be like $5 more per month, and he kept on saying it was $5 more than what he was paying with Directv.
Then the customer says that Directv still has a better deal, but he doesn't seem to get the fact that the reason why he is calling me is because his bill is going up $12 next month where switching to Dish it would only go up 5.
But seriously, when you sign up for new service we could all care less if you take the $30 package of the $130 package, or your payment history with your previous provider.
Get the service, pay the bill ontime every month and then after you fulfilled your contract then we can talk about how good of customer you are and discuss upgrades and what we are going to do to keep your business!
For people who don't pay their bills ontime, or like to go on seasonal disconnect every few months there is very little if anything we can do for them sometimes.
Also, calling in to complain about every little non-issue will not help also. Everytime you call in and cause a stink over something its notated on your account. For example, many times credits are issued on accounts due to billing disputes that are actually not errors but more of a customer not understanding their bill. The credit is issued to make the customer happy so they don't feel they where ripped off and decide to cancel.
You might not think anything of it, but 3 years down the line you want to cancel service they might not offer you anything to stay because they simply do not want your business as much as they do with the customer who has had very little account issues!
Its just like when I do retailer upgrades. A customer walks in that I installed 5 years ago, and I never saw them or spoke with them since we installed their system. We take care of them do the upgrade with no problem!
Customer walks in that has called so many times I know them by name, I might refer them to Dish because I know If I go to their home and change something its going to create several un-necessary service calls because something won't be "perfect" like the new remote not being programmed to control the DVD player, or we will have to go back to show them how to program the receivers IR blaster to control their VCR.
Don't mean to rant on, but you would have to be in this business to see my point of view on this.
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Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, E*, ATT, etc, etc, all offer their HD dvr's for free. Do you really think their is any difference in manufacturing costs? They make those things in Korea for pennies on the dollar. You are wrong about the difference in price as well. If I had an HD Dvr, then obviously I would use D* as my year round provider and the cheapest package they have for hd and dvr service is $70 a month. So, I would obviously be spending it. I'm only going to suspend service for 9 months if they will only give me a free basic receiver and then the lowest package for BTN. That's also only a 1 year contract that way as opposed to 2 with HD dvr. So, the difference is a little less than $700 a year, plus I would have 2 years guaranteed as opposed to only a 1 year contract with standard receiver. So, that's a difference of around $1400 over that period of time. You must have went to the same school of business as the D* CSR's.
Thats NOT what you said.
Thats funny my CSR told me it was $600 to own. ANyway they gave it to me on a lease for the cost of shipping, 20 bucks.
But you are a long time customer (and such a happy one at that) like I am. And of course you have a reputation in the SAT industry that makes them cringe.
Vurbano certainly does have a reputation for pointing out service deficiencies...like D*'s HD-Extra_Lite. Thanks to Vurbano, and a handful of upstanding citizens currently involved with pending litigation against D*, there is renewed hope that D* will discontinue the fraudulent practice of stealing 33% of HD subscribers horizontal resolution.But you are a long time customer (and such a happy one at that) like I am. And of course you have a reputation in the SAT industry that makes them cringe.
All I can add to this is that D* out does every provider I have available to me.
When I compare the package I have now with what TWC has to offer, my monthly bill would be at least $30.00/month more.
And Dish, well ok, maybe it would only be $5.00 more, but I have talked with friends of mine who have Dish, and quite frankly, they can keep it.
They don't get treated as nicely as I do with D*, nor do they ANY of the freebees D* has been extremely generous with. I called one time just with a question, and because it was my 1st "Anniversary" I was offered HBO free 6 months, SHO STARZfor $3.00 @ 6 months, all because I stayed with them and paid my bill on time (A-list customer). It was offered to me without asking. TWC NEVER offered me JACK in 10 years.
In fact I called Dish before D* when I wasn't sure which to choose. And after speaking to a Dish rep., I called D*, and was surprised at the difference of kindness right off the bat.
Consider the rates, then consider the customer service, and D* wins everytime.
So look around, I doubt you'll find any provider that will give you what D* has in customer service, nor will you get it as cheap.
I would at least give them a try for 2 years, you don't like them then bail.
But as for my experiences with D*, the BEST yet!!
When I compare the package I have now with what TWC has to offer, my monthly bill would be at least $30.00/month more.
And Dish, well ok, maybe it would only be $5.00 more, but I have talked with friends of mine who have Dish, and quite frankly, they can keep it.
They don't get treated as nicely as I do with D*, nor do they ANY of the freebees D* has been extremely generous with. I called one time just with a question, and because it was my 1st "Anniversary" I was offered HBO free 6 months, SHO STARZfor $3.00 @ 6 months, all because I stayed with them and paid my bill on time (A-list customer). It was offered to me without asking. TWC NEVER offered me JACK in 10 years.
In fact I called Dish before D* when I wasn't sure which to choose. And after speaking to a Dish rep., I called D*, and was surprised at the difference of kindness right off the bat.
Consider the rates, then consider the customer service, and D* wins everytime.
So look around, I doubt you'll find any provider that will give you what D* has in customer service, nor will you get it as cheap.
I would at least give them a try for 2 years, you don't like them then bail.
But as for my experiences with D*, the BEST yet!!
Comcast, Verizon, Time Warner, E*, ATT, etc, etc, all offer their HD dvr's for free. Do you really think their is any difference in manufacturing costs? They make those things in Korea for pennies on the dollar. You are wrong about the difference in price as well. If I had an HD Dvr, then obviously I would use D* as my year round provider and the cheapest package they have for hd and dvr service is $70 a month. So, I would obviously be spending it. I'm only going to suspend service for 9 months if they will only give me a free basic receiver and then the lowest package for BTN. That's also only a 1 year contract that way as opposed to 2 with HD dvr. So, the difference is a little less than $700 a year, plus I would have 2 years guaranteed as opposed to only a 1 year contract with standard receiver. So, that's a difference of around $1400 over that period of time. You must have went to the same school of business as the D* CSR's.
but how much money a month are they paying to rent that free hddvr? people forget about the 20 dollars a month or so that you pay for rental fee. add that up over 24 months and you get $480 as opposed to the $199 lease you pay up front for directv. its like aarons says.....do the math!!
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