I'll be charged $25 for taking off the Protection Plan, within the first 5 months of having it?

[sjvirchow]

I have the Protection Plan currently, but am thinking of canceling it. A Dish CSR said if I added it again, I wouldn't be able to cancel it without a $25 charge, unless I cancel it after 5 months of having it...I thought it was within 30 days... and since my receiver is leased (even though I'm not charged for it since it's my only receiver), wouldn't Dish just replace it for free anyway? (They leave the shipping charge to me.) Whatever happened to "if something goes wrong, add it, then after the 30 days is up, take it off, no penalty"?

 

[MattG@DISH]

The protection plan covers shipping and handling charges for a replacement receiver (normally $15). Since the receiver is leased, without the protection plan we would still cover the equipment if it needed to be replaced (but not S&H). Also, when the protection plan is added, if it is removed within 150 days, there is a $25 charge to remove it. After the 150 days, it is free to remove.

There is a $5 fee applied to programming changes within 30 days

 

[sjvirchow]

Ah, I see. I've never had a problem with Dish, and I've had it since January. Do many 722's fail just out of the blue? I've never had a problem with mine, as I've got into the habit of hard resetting it every two weeks.

 

[MattG@DISH]

Some people need a replacement every month, some have been using the same receiver for 10+ years.

722's are a pretty solid machine IMO

 

[sjvirchow]

Does unplugging it for an hour every two weeks like I do help at all?

 

[MattG@DISH]

It does any necessary updates every night

 

[boba]

The protection plan covers all DISH branded equipment not just your receiver.

 

[sjvirchow]

Right, I know. I'm just trying to figure out if it's actually worth it, when I've had absolutely not problems whatsoever since I got Dish in January.

 

[3HaloODST]

I canceled my protection plan months ago. What I plan on doing, is only using it if I need a tech visit. If a receiver fails, I'm still better off paying the $15. $6 * 12 = $72 a year. So that would cover nearly 5 receiver replacements. So if your receivers are failing more than 5 times in a year, then maybe you are better off keeping the plan. As for the installer visit, it's $95 without the plan, or, add the plan when needed, and pay $15 + $6 + either $25 cancellation, or $29 over the next 5 months. So that's $21 + $25 = $46 for one visit, or, $21 + $24 = $50, which covers 5 months, and if I were to need another visit, another $15, which would then total $65. So if you need more than 4 tech visits a year, the protection plan is for you. If you need receiver replacements as well as tech visits, then things get more complicated, and I'll just leave that out for simplicity's sake. So it's basically a gamble if you choose not to keep it. You can either bet on not needing another visit for the next 5 months, and pay $1 more to pay off and immediately the protection plan, or just pay the extra $6 for the next 4 more months, save a buck, and potentially save on tech visits in the near future. Overall though, if you need so many tech visits and receiver replacements, then something is not right, or you have extremely bad luck.

So, anyway, what I'd do, is just don't use the protection plan until I need a visit, then pay the extra $6 a month for 4 more months, and cancel. Overall that will save money over just paying for the protection plan even if you don't need it.

 

[pabeader]

or the short version. keep it for a few more months. drop it. add it back at that time if you need it later.

 

[Tampa8]

Does unplugging it for an hour every two weeks like I do help at all?

I find it does. I have all my receivers on a timer so that they reboot by "unplugging" every night after the automatic update. I started doing this with my 508 receivers and all problems were fixed by doing it. I know the newer receivers do an update, but I see some differences between that and what I call a hard reset, unplugging it. I realize we are talking two completly different receivers and systems, but my brother in law found unplugging his Charter receiver nightly ended the freezing problem it was doing.

 

[Jim5506]

Sometimes a "soft" reboot especially on a computer does not clear all the garbage that has accumilated in memory, etc. It is a good idea to turn your computer off totally at least once a week.

 

[sjvirchow]

I turn my computers off every single night. Helps them last a lot longer.

 

[Frank Jr.]

I turn my computers off every single night. Helps them last a lot longer.

You can't really turn off a Dish receiver unless you unplug it from the wall........

 

[sjvirchow]

Yeah, I know that. The receiver never really turns off, so that stuff can get recorded and so you don't have to wait for the hard drive to spin up, or to acquire a signal every single time you hit Power. My friend has cable (Crap Warner Cable) and ever since he started rebooting his DVR every two weeks or so, his freezing problem went away too. He's had 4 DVR replacements this year, and one tech he got said if he unplugs it every two weeks or so and manually reboots it that way, it'll help the problems to go away.

Whatever problems I have had with my 722, have been fixed by software updates.

 

[Jim5506]

The daily startup shock is rumored to be more detrimental to a computer than leaving it running 24/7.

We have nearly 600 computers, many of which run 24/7/365 and have an extremely low failure rate (mostly file corruption), some are 7years old.

We gave our older ones to faculty and staff and they were still running - some 10 years old and older.

 

[Super Dave]

I have computers that I built over 10 years ago that we turn on and off every day without any issue. This laptop I am typing on gets turned on and off daily and has been fine since purchased in 2005.

 

[3HaloODST]

The daily startup shock is rumored to be more detrimental to a computer than leaving it running 24/7.

That may have been true years ago when disk drives would park their heads on the disk platters, but these days most drives have a designated location for the heads to park that doesn't touch the platter and reduces wear.

Now, if your ambient temperature is lower than ~45F then it would be beneficial to leave the computer running as the HDD(s) have oil in them which gets thicker as the temperature drops. Keeping the HDD(s) powered should provide sufficient warmth to keep the oil in a state that provides lubrication. Otherwise, >45F, it doesn't really matter.

The general consensus these days is to do whatever you want. Leave it on day and night or power it off every night. Excessive power cycling may create extra unnecessary wear but as to how much it will affect the computer's lifespan is generally unknown.

 

[JM42]

So, anyway, what I'd do, is just don't use the protection plan until I need a visit, then pay the extra $6 a month for 4 more months, and cancel. Overall that will save money over just paying for the protection plan even if you don't need it.

I would have to agree, but maybe I've been lucky. I've never had the service plan. In 10 years or so I've had 2 receivers go bad, Dish has shipped them free both ways. However they measure things, I would assume I'm a top tier customer - never late even before auto pay, 250 package, etc (but no premiums). They must have some allowance for that.

 

[Mike_H]

I recently deactivated my 501 and it was the same unit I first bought a month after they came out. The 508 I deactivated was #2 over a period of about 4 years. My 622 that I'm running right now is #4. What is the difference between them all? I dunno why the newer ones had more trouble than the older ones. I know my pre DVR units, the 4xxx? and 2xxx? never were replaced until I deactivated them.