Leaving DirecTV after 7 years. Will not pay for equipment I can't own.

[TheTechGuru]

There are 2 Sat companies and what 20 cell phone cmpanies ?

Um no, there are only 4 major real tower/network owning cell phone companies. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile. The rest are virtual cell phone companies reselling services on these providers.
The only exception is the few smaller local cell network providers like CellularOne, US Cellular, and MetroPCS.

So that brings a new thought. Why not allow virtual companies to resell DirecTV? I remember when Pegasus sold DirecTV and did billing for certain areas.

 

[raoul5788]

Way more people have cell phones than satellite service. There is power in numbers!

There are 2 Sat companies and what 20 cell phone cmpanies ?
The Sat companies don't need to go that route to entice customers, cell phone did.

D* is actually Saving money by doing it the way they are, they send out 1 truck, in most cases and have the sub set up correctly ...
They use to allow the DIY set ups, and you still can, but you need to buy online, with D* settng everything up, they don't roll a truck every time someone can't get the dish fine tuned,
Or a different prt need to be replaced .

With the way they are going now, there more and more variable parts to go wrong. Back in the day, you had a dish, coax, ground block and recvr, that's it.

Sent from my Samsung Epic using SatelliteGuys

Um no, there are only 4 major real tower/network owning cell phone companies. Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile. The rest are virtual cell phone companies reselling services on these providers.
The only exception is the few smaller local cell network providers like CellularOne, US Cellular, and MetroPCS.

So that brings a new thought. Why not allow virtual companies to resell DirecTV? I remember when Pegasus sold DirecTV and did billing for certain areas.

Jimbo's point, and mine, is that there are many more customers with cell phones than there are customers of satellite tv.

 

[TheTechGuru]

Jimbo's point, and mine, is that there are many more customers with cell phones than there are customers of satellite tv.

and mine is if satellite providers would be more open to different subscription options like cell phone providers have maybe they would have a higher number of subscribers.

 

[Jimbo]

and mine is if satellite providers would be more open to different subscription options like cell phone providers have maybe they would have a higher number of subscribers.

Thing is, D* is not hurting at all for customers.

 

[Joe The Dragon]

Canadian systems let buy the box and then no rent, outlet, or mirroring fees.

 

[Jimbo]

Canadian systems let buy the box and then no rent, outlet, or mirroring fees.

Expand please, lets you buy WHAT exactly ?

 

[Mr Tony]

some of the cable co's in Canada allow you to buy the receiver instead of renting it. Then there is no extra receiver fee

 

[bbixler]

Canadian systems let buy the box and then no rent, outlet, or mirroring fees.

How much and what exactly are you purchasing? What happens when said box fails?

 

[Mr Tony]

you buy the cable box. You have that option to buy or lease

if it fails I guess thats up to the cable company if they replace it or not

 

[Jimbo]

some of the cable co's in Canada allow you to buy the receiver instead of renting it. Then there is no extra receiver fee

But, I thought we were talking about Cell phones and D* plans.

 

[coinmaster32]

Back in the early 90s DRECTV was buy-only. A typical system cost about $700 when it 1st came out.

It came with a video, allowing you to install it yourself.

BOTH satellite TV providers went up after they started giving you the system.

There is no such thing as a free satellite tv system, your bill partly pays for that new system cost, whether or not you already have your own paid system.

I noticed the same thing with cell phone companies, plans went up when they started giving away phones.

If I ran DIRECTV, I would have a "owned system" programming price, add $15 a month to the monthly bill for new systems, which would roll off after 1 year.

That way people who bought and paid for their system can enjoy lower bills.

4DTV Satellite is cheaper than dish or directv, because they never handed out systems or receivers. Directv, Dish Network, and every cell phone company would be cheaper if they never gave stuff away.

 

[Jimbo]

Back in the early 90s DRECTV was buy-only. A typical system cost about $700 when it 1st came out.

It came with a video, allowing you to install it yourself.

BOTH satellite TV providers went up after they started giving you the system.

There is no such thing as a free satellite tv system, your bill partly pays for that new system cost, whether or not you already have your own paid system.

I noticed the same thing with cell phone companies, plans went up when they started giving away phones.

If I ran DIRECTV, I would have a "owned system" programming price, add $15 a month to the monthly bill for new systems, which would roll off after 1 year.

That way people who bought and paid for their system can enjoy lower bills.

4DTV Satellite is cheaper than dish or directv, because they never handed out systems or receivers. Directv, Dish Network, and every cell phone company would be cheaper if they never gave stuff away.

Except that requires a BUD dish, which MANY are unable to use or have room for.
Also, I would not want to be doing that again, programming got to flaky when many providers closed doors, limiting choices and prices went up because of it.

 

[peano]

Canadian systems let buy the box and then no rent, outlet, or mirroring fees.

Indeed. Canadian systems allow you to buy the box with no commitment and no mirroring fees.

Dish allows you to buy the box and no commitment, but you pay for extra receivers.

DIRECTV makes you pay $200 for a leased box, forces you into a 24 month deal and you could end up getting a refurb. And you pay mirroring fees.

 

[Jimbo]

Indeed. Canadian systems allow you to buy the box with no commitment and no mirroring fees.

Dish allows you to buy the box and no commitment, but you pay for extra receivers.

DIRECTV makes you pay $200 for a leased box, forces you into a 24 month deal and you could end up getting a refurb. And you pay mirroring fees.

You don't pay mirroring fees with DISH ?
I'm sure your paying for it somewhere.

then you have to look at the service your getting.
If Canada has the programming you want, great, most don't think so,which is why they look to DISH or D*.

Then it comes down to which Sat provider gives you the programming you NEED.

Always go by the one that gives you the programming you want/need, after all, it's watching TV that this is all about in the first place.

 

[Tampa8]

Always go by the one that gives you the programming you want/need, after all, it's watching TV that this is all about in the first place.

Yes, but...... Unless Charter (for instance) had an unbelievable channel lineup at a fantastic price, I would not pick them over Dish. Maybe even not then. I could not live with their horrible receiver after having Dish. Add to that Cable in general goes out more here in a year than Satellite does ever, and I have to consider all that with what channels are offered.

 

[Jimbo]

Yes, but...... Unless Charter (for instance) had an unbelievable channel lineup at a fantastic price, I would not pick them over Dish. Maybe even not then. I could not live with their horrible receiver after having Dish. Add to that Cable in general goes out more here in a year than Satellite does ever, and I have to consider all that with what channels are offered.

If thats the case then Charter would not be in your choices of options.
My point was with the options your considering.

 

[Rey]

You don't pay mirroring fees with DISH ?
I'm sure your paying for it somewhere.

then you have to look at the service your getting.
If Canada has the programming you want, great, most don't think so,which is why they look to DISH or D*.

Then it comes down to which Sat provider gives you the programming you NEED.

Always go by the one that gives you the programming you want/need, after all, it's watching TV that this is all about in the first place.

trust me. coming from dish they got fees for everything you can think of.

 

[JerseyMatt]

Back in the early 90s DRECTV was buy-only. A typical system cost about $700 when it 1st came out.

It came with a video, allowing you to install it yourself.

BOTH satellite TV providers went up after they started giving you the system.

There is no such thing as a free satellite tv system, your bill partly pays for that new system cost, whether or not you already have your own paid system.

I noticed the same thing with cell phone companies, plans went up when they started giving away phones.

If I ran DIRECTV, I would have a "owned system" programming price, add $15 a month to the monthly bill for new systems, which would roll off after 1 year.

That way people who bought and paid for their system can enjoy lower bills.

4DTV Satellite is cheaper than dish or directv, because they never handed out systems or receivers. Directv, Dish Network, and every cell phone company would be cheaper if they never gave stuff away.

Where to start..

Ok, first of all, 4DTV is NOT cheaper all told. Their programming packs are strategically built just like any other provider, which forces you to take channels that you wouldn't ever watch or pay exorbitant a la carte prices. Plus, HD is nowhere to be found.

Second, cell phones have ALWAYS been subsidized. You ALWAYS got $200-300 off the phone for signing a contract, all the way back to the Motorola Brick, the bag phone, and the car phone. I know because I used to sell them. The only change was somewhere around 7-8 years ago they changed from a 1 year to a 2 year contract. And all things considered, the price of a cell phone plan has DROPPED drastically over the past 15 years. You get more minutes, texts, and add-on crap now than ever before. I remember when plans used to be $1 a minute and more. Now for $100 a month you get unlimited everything.

The price increases in all industries across the board are mostly accounting for simple inflation. Total Choice Platinum used to be $80 a month in 2000. Now we have Premiere, which is $115 and actually includes more than Platinum. Adjusted for inflation, Platinum would cost $106 a month today, meaning in 12 years the price has actually only increased $9.

As for your $15 a month for a year "rent to own" plan.. You might want to grab a calculator and rethink that. $15x12=$180. That won't even cover the cost of one receiver. HD receivers cost several hundred dollars each. Average install is 3 or 4 receivers. Plus the cost of the dish, cable/parts, and installation. $180 < $1000+

 

[TheTechGuru]

You don't pay mirroring fees with DISH ?
I'm sure your paying for it somewhere.

then you have to look at the service your getting.
If Canada has the programming you want, great, most don't think so,which is why they look to DISH or D*.

Then it comes down to which Sat provider gives you the programming you NEED.

Always go by the one that gives you the programming you want/need, after all, it's watching TV that this is all about in the first place.

As far as I know (not knowing much about Dish*) you only don't pay a mirroring fee if you're using a dual tuner box, which the 2nd TV would not be in HD with one last I saw. So if you want two HDTVs to watch different channels, you will have to pay a mirroring fee.

Most of us that have gone HD, have gone HD on every TV in the house and totally removed all tube TV's from the house.

 

[Mr Tony]

If you have one dual tuner receiver then yes there is "mirror" fee...but god forbid you add another one..then it depends on the receiver
single tuner $7
dual tuner single output (think D* receiver) $10
dual tuner dual output non DVR $14
dual tuner dual output DVR $17