External Hard Drive Activation Fee

[panache70]

Here's a tech question still related to the EHD fee.

Assuming someone has both the Canadian and Dish sat services, if they paid the Dish EHD activation fee for the 211k, could they then interchange the EHD with the Canadian 6131 (which is the 211k equivalent)?

The Canadian 6131 does not have an activation fee, it is ready to go out of the box.

I guess I am just wondering if the EHD gets formatted for a "211k or equivalent" or is it formatted to work only with a specific provider?

 

[Awohar]

All the numbers on page 51 of the 2009 Annual Report are in thousands. In a nut shell total equity (how much of your money they made in profit) $ 2,091,688,000. I think they should waived the usb disk charge.

This is my first post Hi everyone.

So just because they made a lot of money that should somehow mean they should be charitable to people who want things free? I don't care if that figure is ten times that, if DISH can make money activating EHD functionality for $40, then so be it. It's called supply and demand. Now, if no one was willing to pay the $40, then perhaps DISH would re-evaluate their price points. So far, they are content with that fee being right at $40.

I do realize there is such a thing as opportunity costs. That concept is why DISH will give free installations and equipment leases as well as programming discounts to get someone to switch to them. They know that with the right level of enticement, they can get another long-term subscriber who will keep writing checks to them every month. However, what are the opportunity costs of activating free EHD service? They have to provide support for that feature so it is a service that does represent a financial burden. Lots of people call for help with that feature when it doesn't work. Will DISH make additional money down the road with it? Can anyone here explain how free EHD activation would make them spend more money with DISH? Even if it were free to new customers, what percentage of new customer sales could be attributed to that feature?

Bottom line is: How does your use of EHD contribute to DISH's profitability. (They are in it for the money, that's why any business is in business)

 

[yaz96]

Considering Canadians come to the US to get healthcare on a timely basis let's not use that as an example to say why it is better than the US

You sure have a way of dropping (off-topic) politics into these threads quite a bit, don't you?

 

[peano]

Here's a tech question still related to the EHD fee.

Assuming someone has both the Canadian and Dish sat services, if they paid the Dish EHD activation fee for the 211k, could they then interchange the EHD with the Canadian 6131 (which is the 211k equivalent)?

The Canadian 6131 does not have an activation fee, it is ready to go out of the box.

I guess I am just wondering if the EHD gets formatted for a "211k or equivalent" or is it formatted to work only with a specific provider?

It is tied to the subscription account. If you transferred the EHD from Dish to Bell or vice versa, it would format the drive.

 

[Derwin0]

It is tied to the subscription account. If you transferred the EHD from Dish to Bell or vice versa, it would format the drive.

Ironically the internal HDD isn't. I purchased a 9200 (Bell version of 942) with a bad HDD, and swapped in the HDD from my old 942 (was replaced with a 722 in the MPEG 4 swapout), and all my old recordings were still there, fully playable by the the 9200.

 

[Derwin0]

I do believe bell charges CANADIAN dollars which were worth .75 in american money..not sure what the exchange rate is now tho

The Canadian dollar hasn't been that low for several years. They've been pretty much at parity since the 9242 came out.

Bell has always charged a lot more for receivers, even when accounting for exchange rates.

 

[Juan]

The Canadian dollar hasn't been that low for several years. They've been pretty much at parity since the 9242 came out.

Bell has always charged a lot more for receivers, even when accounting for exchange rates.

and it looks like u get more features too

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Ironically the internal HDD isn't. I purchased a 9200 (Bell version of 942) with a bad HDD, and swapped in the HDD from my old 942 (was replaced with a 722 in the MPEG 4 swapout), and all my old recordings were still there, fully playable by the the 9200.

That is interesting. Shows you how they weren't thinking about the encryption issues back then; but when they moved forward with external HDDs they were were under all sorts of pressure to encrypt and lock down stuff from the content providers.

 

[panache70]

So just because they made a lot of money that should somehow mean they should be charitable to people who want things free? I don't care if that figure is ten times that, if DISH can make money activating EHD functionality for $40, then so be it. It's called supply and demand. Now, if no one was willing to pay the $40, then perhaps DISH would re-evaluate their price points. So far, they are content with that fee being right at $40.

I do realize there is such a thing as opportunity costs. That concept is why DISH will give free installations and equipment leases as well as programming discounts to get someone to switch to them. They know that with the right level of enticement, they can get another long-term subscriber who will keep writing checks to them every month. However, what are the opportunity costs of activating free EHD service? They have to provide support for that feature so it is a service that does represent a financial burden. Lots of people call for help with that feature when it doesn't work. Will DISH make additional money down the road with it? Can anyone here explain how free EHD activation would make them spend more money with DISH? Even if it were free to new customers, what percentage of new customer sales could be attributed to that feature?

Bottom line is: How does your use of EHD contribute to DISH's profitability. (They are in it for the money, that's why any business is in business)

It's very simple. If I had EHD functionality I would definitely beef up my programming. If I knew I could watch HBO movies and shows on my timetable, I would definitely sub to HBO. I would probably buy more PPV also if I knew I could record it and watch at a later time. Let's try to stop justifying the 40$ fee... it is a cash grab. No two ways about it.

 

[Mr Tony]

Another thread that has degenerated and long finished it's purpose. All pertinent issues have been addressed over and over. TEN PAGES over a THREE YEAR OLD fee you either pay (that most of us have and long forgotten about it) or don't, LIKE IT OR NOT!!!

what's your point?

sorry hoss but we don't close threads "for the fun of it" like other sites do. If it bothers you that much, don't read it

 

[inazsully]

Another thread that has degenerated and long finished it's purpose. All pertinent issues have been addressed over and over. TEN PAGES over a THREE YEAR OLD fee you either pay (that most of us have and long forgotten about it) or don't, LIKE IT OR NOT!!!

Funny. In post #41 you said this post was dead and should be closed my the monitors. Here in post #100 you again want the topic closed. If people were not interested in the topic then it would fade away on it's own. In another thread you wondered why you were referred to as a grump sic. Now you know.

 

[lakebum431]

what's your point?

sorry hoss but we don't close threads "for the fun of it" like other sites do. If it bothers you that much, don't read it

Good reply Ice! I don't understand why people get upset about this. If they want a "tightly moderated" site then go to the other guys site. The whole point of satelliteguys is open dialogue. Those that don't like it need to get over it or leave.

 

[TNGTony]

what's your point?

sorry hoss but we don't close threads "for the fun of it" like other sites do. If it bothers you that much, don't read it

I thought I said the same thing about two pages ago.

 

[panache70]

Well, after playing CSR roulette I finally landed on a CSR who basically told me they could not eliminate the EHD charge. He strongly hinted that he was only able to apply credits for technical issues. He than asked if I experienced any technical issues lately.

I sensed that he was leading me in the direction I wanted to go, which was finding a reason to apply a credit that would offset the EHD charge. I told him I experienced quite a bit of rain fade over the past month. He did not ask if I ever reported rain fade to Dish in the past. I also mentioned that until the E15 switch for 61.5, certain transponders were very weak but that they are now greatly improved.

It took all of 10 seconds for him to apply a 39.99 (1 month) credit on my account for my AT120 package, which offset the 40$ charge he made for the EHD activation.

This may be underhanded, but given he fully understood I was ticked about paying for such a blatant cash grab (and actually led me down the path of saying what needed to be said to obtain a credit), I do not feel guilty one bit.

I hope Dish eliminates this charge for all soon, and realizes that you can't just charge to activate an external EHD on a machine that is owned by the customer. I joked about charging 5$ for activating the SKIP BACK button on the remote, but that is how ridiculous the EHD charge is.

 

[whatchel1]

reasonable

Well, after playing CSR roulette I finally landed on a CSR who basically told me they could not eliminate the EHD charge. He strongly hinted that he was only able to apply credits for technical issues. He than asked if I experienced any technical issues lately.

I sensed that he was leading me in the direction I wanted to go, which was finding a reason to apply a credit that would offset the EHD charge. I told him I experienced quite a bit of rain fade over the past month. He did not ask if I ever reported rain fade to Dish in the past. I also mentioned that until the E15 switch for 61.5, certain transponders were very weak but that they are now greatly improved.

It took all of 10 seconds for him to apply a 39.99 (1 month) credit on my account for my AT120 package, which offset the 40$ charge he made for the EHD activation.

This may be underhanded, but given he fully understood I was ticked about paying for such a blatant cash grab (and actually led me down the path of saying what needed to be said to obtain a credit), I do not feel guilty one bit.

I hope Dish eliminates this charge for all soon, and realizes that you can't just charge to activate an external EHD on a machine that is owned by the customer. I joked about charging 5$ for activating the SKIP BACK button on the remote, but that is how ridiculous the EHD charge is.

You got luck & I sure wouldn't list the guys name. I don't think it is an unreasonable fee since it is an option to add to the unit.