For what it's worth, I got the same letter and approached it a little differently. I can certainly relate to the concerns about swapping out owned equipment, all though they told me I would still own the new receiver (probably a 522 or 625). But the benefit behind owning receiver isn't all that great. True, you don't have the $5 lease fee, but if you look closely at your bill, they hit you with a $5 extra receiver fee! So what's the benefit? Bottom line, soon the receiver won't work, so it's going to be completely worthless soon anyway.
My problem is I don't want to replace it with a standard def. box. I would rather have the VIP 612, as my 721 was only operating a single TV, and this would make it easy for me to upgrade that TV to HD whenever I want. So when I called, I asked if I could do this, and they said, sure but it would be an extra 50 bucks. However, if you return the 721, they will give you 10 dollars for that, so now it's only $40. I then reminded the guy that I never received my $100 rebate from way more than a year ago when they ran that promotion to upgrade HD service. So then he agreed to cover the $50 dollar fee, and then give me a $10 a month credit for five months. I know, I know, I shouldn't have to leverage it this way, and what's the deal with never getting the rebate, but I was finally able to get something out of it. I think they readily recognize that many people did not get their rebates. He didn't even hesitate or try to look it up. Just an idea for those of you that might try to get something more out of this.
So now I'm replacing my 721 with a high def. 612 and getting $10/month off my bill. Oh yeah . . . it is a lease receiver now at $7/month, but I drop the $5 month extra receiver fee; so I guess it's $8 less for 5 months.
My problem is I don't want to replace it with a standard def. box. I would rather have the VIP 612, as my 721 was only operating a single TV, and this would make it easy for me to upgrade that TV to HD whenever I want. So when I called, I asked if I could do this, and they said, sure but it would be an extra 50 bucks. However, if you return the 721, they will give you 10 dollars for that, so now it's only $40. I then reminded the guy that I never received my $100 rebate from way more than a year ago when they ran that promotion to upgrade HD service. So then he agreed to cover the $50 dollar fee, and then give me a $10 a month credit for five months. I know, I know, I shouldn't have to leverage it this way, and what's the deal with never getting the rebate, but I was finally able to get something out of it. I think they readily recognize that many people did not get their rebates. He didn't even hesitate or try to look it up. Just an idea for those of you that might try to get something more out of this.
So now I'm replacing my 721 with a high def. 612 and getting $10/month off my bill. Oh yeah . . . it is a lease receiver now at $7/month, but I drop the $5 month extra receiver fee; so I guess it's $8 less for 5 months.
( I would guess that all "four digit" receivers are being discontinued)
