Is STARS free or not!!!

[Nova]

Is STARS free or not!!!


First of all I have only been with Dish for three months.

I notice my third bill went up $5.00. (Guess its not REALLY lock in for 12 months after all) What a surprise.

I was concerned that I might have been charge a late fee since they did not take my auto payment out on FEBRUARY 24th.
FEBRUARY payment came out MARCH 1st

So I chatted DISH on line and I was informed that they did not charge me a late fee, it was a cost factor and they are raising everyone price.
and that they may raise prices from $4.00 to $8.00.

They did offer to give me a $5.00 credit to remove the FREE STARS for 12 months.
So is the STARS a freebie or just a sales gimmick.

 

[Laddyboy]

Is STARS free or not!!!


First of all I have only been with Dish for three months.

I notice my third bill went up $5.00. (Guess its not REALLY lock in for 12 months after all) What a surprise.

I was concerned that I might have been charge a late fee since they did not take my auto payment out on FEBRUARY 24th.
FEBRUARY payment came out MARCH 1st

So I chatted DISH on line and I was informed that they did not charge me a late fee, it was a cost factor and they are raising everyone price.
and that they may raise prices from $4.00 to $8.00.

They did offer to give me a $5.00 credit to remove the FREE STARS for 12 months.
So is the STARS a freebie or just a sales gimmick.

Everyone saw a rate increase as of February 1st. Starz is free for a year. Your online statement should show: Starz - Free 12 mo. I have heard they were offering a $5 discount for people who didn't want Starz so maybe that is the case.

 

[TommyF@DISH Network]

I'm sorry your bill went up so shortly after starting services with us. While it does seem like a funny coincidence the two are actually separate. On 2/1 we did have the annual price increase as all companies have which reflects the change in the amount providers charge for the channels, costs of equipment/services/etc..

On 2/1/2011 however also coincided with our 30th anniversary of being in business in which we offered all of our customers a free gift of STARZ 12 mo/Encore 12 mo/HD Platinum 12 mo/6 PPV coupons depending on what services they subscribed to. With this most recent price change we did introduce a first ever actual price freeze where we will not raise our prices on our America's Top/DISH America programming (AEP excluded) for 2 years or until 2013.

I have heard they were offering a $5 discount for people who didn't want Starz so maybe that is the case.

:up

 

[Tampa8]

Is STARS free or not!!!
First of all I have only been with Dish for three months.
I notice my third bill went up $5.00. (Guess its not REALLY lock in for 12 months after all) What a surprise.

From where did you get the information that the price, prior to the increase was locked in for 12 months? I ask because many think singing up for a year or two years prevents price increases, it does not. Dish does now have a freeze after the recent increases, but generally they do not.

 

[jerryez]

Yeah, they will not increase prices for two years, but they raised prices this year twice as much, so will will make the cost of next years increase in this year as a bonus for themselves.

 

[mdram]

no rice increases, but i bet a fee increase next year

 

[Dishman1978]

Legal mumbo jumbo. I say, if you dont like paying for tv. Don't watch it. Lol.

Actually, there is plenty of 'free tv' out there. May not be what you want to watch, but its 'free' none the less. Just have to invest in the equipment.

 

[Dishman1978]

no rice increases, but i bet a fee increase next year

Oh no!! A RICE increase. J/k you missed a P. Lol must fat finger keyboards like i do.

 

[mdram]

Oh no!! A RICE increase. J/k you missed a P. Lol must fat finger keyboards like i do.

yeah i never did learn to type properly

 

[Jimmerinwi]

I'm sorry your bill went up so shortly after starting services with us. While it does seem like a funny coincidence the two are actually separate. On 2/1 we did have the annual price increase as all companies have which reflects the change in the amount providers charge for the channels, costs of equipment/services/etc..

On 2/1/2011 however also coincided with our 30th anniversary of being in business in which we offered all of our customers a free gift of STARZ 12 mo/Encore 12 mo/HD Platinum 12 mo/6 PPV coupons depending on what services they subscribed to. With this most recent price change we did introduce a first ever actual price freeze where we will not raise our prices on our America's Top/DISH America programming (AEP excluded) for 2 years or until 2013.

:up

Is there any way to get Platinum instead of Starz during this promo?? I sub to 250 with HD and would really rather have the Platinum.

 

[csmith5111]

I notice my third bill went up $5.00. (Guess its not REALLY lock in for 12 months after all) What a surprise.

For the first twelve mths it is $15 off a month for ur bill

 

[Stargazer]

If you take the $5 off instead of the free Starz for a year then one can say that they will not have had a price increase for two years from last year at this time until a year from now and for it to have been another year delayed before seeing the $5 price increase. So instead of $2 this year and $3 next year its all in one whack costing us a few bucks more for having Starz probably. I am sure that Dish Network made a deal with Starz to pay them a few bucks per subscriber if pretty well everyone took it which gives them a better deal. If the same was done with all the movie packs then I am sure a better deal could be had on them too. Might be an experiment to see if free Starz prevents churn and/or helps add additional Starz customers as a result of the promotion.

 

[sundude90]

Is there any way to get Platinum instead of Starz during this promo?? I sub to 250 with HD and would really rather have the Platinum.

I would PM Tony G or Tommy F from Dish & see if they can help you. That is your best bet.

 

[TommyF@DISH Network]

Is there any way to get Platinum instead of Starz during this promo?? I sub to 250 with HD and would really rather have the Platinum.

I can check it out and see what can be done, could you pm me the account # or phone #?

 

[pendragon]

Might be an experiment to see if free Starz prevents churn and/or helps add additional Starz customers as a result of the promotion.

Getting STARZ for "free" actually has motivated me to consider dropping Dish Network altogether. I'm tired of being dictated to about what channels I have to pay for regardless of whether I want them or not. Perhaps many people see the STARZ channels as a good deal for the price increase, but with all of their disgusting logos, bugs, self-advertising pitches during movies and the trashing of the credits at the end, these are simply not premium movie channels any more. For me STARZ crosses the line from worthless channels into repulsive channels. Just my opinion, but when Dish arbitrarily decides what we want to watch, some of us are not buying it.

 

[Bobby]

Well, they could have, and would have, raised your rate anyway. They didn't decide anything other than to raise your rate. All the rest is a gimme....

 

[Slamminc11]

Getting STARZ for "free" actually has motivated me to consider dropping Dish Network altogether. I'm tired of being dictated to about what channels I have to pay for regardless of whether I want them or not. Perhaps many people see the STARZ channels as a good deal for the price increase, but with all of their disgusting logos, bugs, self-advertising pitches during movies and the trashing of the credits at the end, these are simply not premium movie channels any more. For me STARZ crosses the line from worthless channels into repulsive channels. Just my opinion, but when Dish arbitrarily decides what we want to watch, some of us are not buying it.

So don't watch it. Geez, more proof that people will bitch about anything...

 

[Tampa8]

Getting STARZ for "free" actually has motivated me to consider dropping Dish Network altogether. I'm tired of being dictated to about what channels I have to pay for regardless of whether I want them or not. Perhaps many people see the STARZ channels as a good deal for the price increase, but with all of their disgusting logos, bugs, self-advertising pitches during movies and the trashing of the credits at the end, these are simply not premium movie channels any more. For me STARZ crosses the line from worthless channels into repulsive channels. Just my opinion, but when Dish arbitrarily decides what we want to watch, some of us are not buying it.

Congratulations!! This just may be the most ridicules post on this site. And believe me, that is saying something. Dish (and everyone) raises their rates most every year. To associate getting Starz as being the reason for the price increase is ludicrous. Far more likely Starz gave Dish a deal, and Dish is absorbing some of the cost..... I'm sure a CSR here can have them removed from your account.

 

[pendragon]

So don't watch it. Geez, more proof that people will bitch about anything...

Of course I won't watch them, along with the nearly 300 other channels we pay for but don't watch. I am of course delighted to contribute to the common cause and help keep the subscription costs lower for those who have the time and desire to watch most, if not all of them.

Perhaps Dish could simplify their packages even further by rolling every channel, including the premiums, adults and internationals, into a single package for everyone. Then they could sweeten the deal by allowing up to four DVRs per account for free. All for the low price of $300/month, which they would guarantee until 2015.

Congratulations!! This just may be the most ridicules post on this site. And believe me, that is saying something. Dish (and everyone) raises their rates most every year. To associate getting Starz as being the reason for the price increase is ludicrous. Far more likely Starz gave Dish a deal, and Dish is absorbing some of the cost..... I'm sure a CSR here can have them removed from your account.

Thanks for your kind thoughts. It might be even more ridiculous to presume Dish is absorbing some/all of the STARZ cost so we can have these channels for "free". It would seem far more likely that STARZ is content to take a very low fee per subscriber and get that for all of us, as opposed to a much higher per subscriber fee for a small fraction. After all, STARZ incurs no incremental operating costs per subscriber. What STARZ is getting and how Dish is rolling up this cost is not for us to know. But I did find it interesting the OP stated Dish offered a $5 credit to remove STARZ.

The DBS strategy of loading lots of channels into a few packages makes their life easier, but many end up paying more than the actual value they derive. I'm concerned the Internet can/will provide a very fine-grain selection of which channels people are directly willing to pay for. If the DBS companies keep bundling fewer and bigger packages, their subscriber bases will continue to fall, further driving up prices to the point of extinction. Is that what you want?

 

[Tampa8]

How about thinking about other reasons for the $5 credit ??.
The Poster says he is a customer for three months. He says he wants to drop Starz. The system will charge him $5 to drop Starz, because he is 1. A customer for over three months, and 2. Is dropping a premium within the first month of it being added. So my conclusion, is he will receive a ONE TIME $5 credit that the system is going to charge. I am betting he will not be receiving any credit beyond that for dropping the FREE Starz promo...