Losing HD Absolute. Any suggestions?

[hifigramps]

I received my letter last week and a phone call on Friday. The call was from the retention dept. We worked out a replacement package within a couple dollars of the HD Absolute package.
Top 120
Free HD for life
HD Platinum free for 1 year
$15 a month reduction for 12 months
Free Starz for 6 months
3 free movie coupons (up to $6.99 each)
My bill for the first year is several dollars a month less than what I pay currently (1-622 rec HD Absolute with locals)
At the end of the 12 months, my bill with the price increase and the loss of $15 a month credit will be approx. $2 dollars more than my HD Absolute bill.
I have been with Dish for 14 years. The guy from retention was very knowledgeable about the switch and couldn't do enough for me.

 

[yaz96]

I received my letter last week and a phone call on Friday. The call was from the retention dept. We worked out a replacement package within a couple dollars of the HD Absolute package.
Top 120
Free HD for life
HD Platinum free for 1 year
$15 a month reduction for 12 months
Free Starz for 6 months
3 free movie coupons (up to $6.99 each)
My bill for the first year is several dollars a month less than what I pay currently (1-622 rec HD Absolute with locals)
At the end of the 12 months, my bill with the price increase and the loss of $15 a month credit will be approx. $2 dollars more than my HD Absolute bill.
I have been with Dish for 14 years. The guy from retention was very knowledgeable about the switch and couldn't do enough for me.

Would be nice if all Absolute subs could talk to this guy.

 

[zim2dive]

This is the best comparison for the America packs: DISH America - DISH Network

no AMC? in hte DA paks? sigh. Wife wanted that.. not sure I can ju$tify switching to AT200. We're not getting new customer pricing or anything are we? Just _maybe_ a $10 credit?

Yin and Yang.. .Dish's programming selections are like swiss cheese. Direct's are simple and very complete, even at the bottom pkg. But Direct's fees seem excessive.. especially coming from having a single 622 driving 2 TVs.

Ok, so here is my spreadsheet.. please look for any corrections. Note my HW configuration is *2* TVs. I have *1* 622 and am perfectly happy with it. Our 2nd TV _is_ HD, but we're more than fine using the SD TV2 out on the 622 b/c the set is smallish and large enough viewing distance.

The prices listed are what I got by going thru both the Dish and Direct websites. So unless I'm ordering some piece of equipment I don't need, they should be right.

Also did one price comparison where I drop Platinum after the free year. I did not include Dish America b/c the wife is a big fan of BravoTV and $%^$%^ if I can find their full length episodes anywhere online other than iTunes/Amazon.

Tax is assumed 7.5% (NC)

 

[hifigramps]

Just to add to my last post, don't talk to a CSR. Talk to the retention dept. If you have been a sub in good standing, they will work out something for you.
Going through my new guide, I noticed that I didn't lose any channels that I had with HD Absolute. I actually gained several channels with the top 120 and HD Platinum.
You don't need to go to the top 200 or 250 and pay all that extra money.

 

[hifigramps]

Would be nice if all Absolute subs could talk to this guy.

I hope I don't get him in trouble, but his name is John and his operator # is QWQ. He is in the Thorton call center.
I spent a good 1/2 hour on the phone with him, exploring all the choices and trying to keep the price down. It was actually the best Customer Service experience I have ever had.
If Dish had more people like him they would have a lot more happy subs.

 

[getstuff4less]

I have been a customer for over 14 yrs. But loosing Absolute and not being able to get a straight answer from Dish reps about what is available(incentives to stay) and the upcoming price increase was enough. I switched to Directv today, install on the 22nd. Was going to wait till Feb, but Directv also has a price increase on Feb1 so I wanted to lock in the price before then. Used the Costco site, hope I get the $180 card. Got the referral rebate according to the website. Good luck to all of you that decide to stay with Dish. Hope you get a good deal, I just decided it was time for a change. May be back in 2 years.

What did you get? Can somebody with time make a comparison chart Dish vs. DirecTV when one includes the $280 I posted about? I would assume the 2nd yr is a raised price.

 

[Jim5506]

I don't see how you can switch from HD Absolute ($29.99) to AT120 ($44.99) and after your $15/mo. credit expires you are paying only $2 more per month.

It looks like you will be paying $15 a month more.

 

[getstuff4less]

Just to add to my last post, don't talk to a CSR. Talk to the retention dept. If you have been a sub in good standing, they will work out something for you.
Going through my new guide, I noticed that I didn't lose any channels that I had with HD Absolute. I actually gained several channels with the top 120 and HD Platinum.
You don't need to go to the top 200 or 250 and pay all that extra money.

I can assume you gained several channels, but lost a lot too. Do you have NatGEO or Science HD? Can't we all get the same deal according to the letter if we pick AT120? Problem is we want channels in higher packages.

 

[yaz96]

Just to add to my last post, don't talk to a CSR. Talk to the retention dept. If you have been a sub in good standing, they will work out something for you.
Going through my new guide, I noticed that I didn't lose any channels that I had with HD Absolute. I actually gained several channels with the top 120 and HD Platinum.
You don't need to go to the top 200 or 250 and pay all that extra money.

You LOST HD channels, I guarantee it. You had HD Platinum built in to Absolute, so you gained nothing there. You may have gained SD channels.

 

[Jim5506]

Absolute to AT 120 you lose:

Animal Planet HD
Biography HD
Bravo HD
CBS College Sports HD
Golf Channel HD
National Geographic HD
NBA TV HD
NHL Network HD
Planet Green HD
Science Channel HD
Tennis Channel HD
Versus HD
WGN America HD

Absolute to 120 you gain:

CNBC HD
E! Network HD
Fox New Channel HD
HLN HD
MTV HD
Nickelodeon (E) HD
VH! HD

Hardly seems to be a fair trade.

 

[SpaceCase]

Don't forget NFL Network!

Oh...and Absolute gets CNBC currently

-Space

Absolute to AT 120 you lose:

Animal Planet HD
Biography HD
Bravo HD
CBS College Sports HD
Golf Channel HD
National Geographic HD
NBA TV HD
NHL Network HD
Planet Green HD
Science Channel HD
Tennis Channel HD
Versus HD
WGN America HD

Absolute to 120 you gain:

CNBC HD
E! Network HD
Fox New Channel HD
HLN HD
MTV HD
Nickelodeon (E) HD
VH! HD

Hardly seems to be a fair trade.

 

[Mr Zulu]

If you place your account on pause, can you still watch the recorded events on the DVR? Will likely make the switch to DirecTV because I like the whole house DVR setup but don't want to just cut myself off of what I already have on my vip722.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Don't forget NFL Network!

Oh...and Absolute gets CNBC currently

-Space

What about top 200?

I know its quite an increase, But what would you lose with the Top 200?

 

[SpaceCase]

What about top 200?

I know its quite an increase, But what would you lose with the Top 200?

Loss:
Bio
Hallmark Movie
National Geo
Tennis
Versus
Science
Planet Green

Gain:
BBC America
BET HD
E!
Fox News
FX
G4
HLN
MSNBC HD
MTV
Nickelodeon
Speed
Turner Classic
VH1

 

[Hemi 6.1]

Loss:
Bio
Hallmark Movie
National Geo
Tennis
Versus
Science
Planet Green

Gain:
BBC America
BET HD
E! Encore HD
Fox News
FX
G4
HLN
MSNBC HD
MTV
Nickelodeon
Speed
Turner Classic
VH1

Encore HD is the Top 250.

 

[Hemi 6.1]

You guys are going to take a big price increase no matter what you do or where you go.

You will have to settle for less, or pay more.

 

[SpaceCase]

Encore HD is the Top 250.

Oops, good catch! Fixed above.

 

[Kb Cool]

They should have left the package as is. Instead of adding a bunch of platinum channels to it. Meanwhile Dish America got nothing. WTF was that about? It doesn't make sense.

 

[zexel8888]

What did you get? Can somebody with time make a comparison chart Dish vs. DirecTV when one includes the $280 I posted about? I would assume the 2nd yr is a raised price.

I got the Choice + package with 2 hd dvr`s and mrv. With a $10.00 a month referral my bill is 39.99 for 10 months then 49.99 for two then then 64.99 for the next 12 months. Of course the 2nd hd dvr cost me 99.00 + tax, but with the 180.00 costco card ( I hope) I figure that makes the xtr dvr free + 70.00

 

[SpaceCase]

I got the Choice + package with 2 hd dvr`s and mrv. With a $10.00 a month referral my bill is 39.99 for 10 months then 49.99 for two then then 64.99 for the next 12 months. Of course the 2nd hd dvr cost me 99.00 + tax, but with the 180.00 costco card ( I hope) I figure that makes the xtr dvr free + 70.00

I ran the numbers for that package over two years and even with the $180 Costco card Dish was still $24 cheaper over the two years (assuming the top 120 deal posted earlier is honored). Add to that I might get 6000 (yea right) streaming shows, but I would lose my sling adapter. If Dish will honor a similar 120 deal for me, I think I'll stay...at least for one more year!

-Space