Lowering My Monthly Bill

[propilot5000]

Ok so I currently got the everything pak and one regular reciever which is an extra 5 bucks a month making it 87.99 I think, most of the channels that are my favorites are of course my premium movie channels and as for the regular channels that I enjoy they are included in the america's top 60 so time to make some changes and this is what I've thought out:

America's Top 60 without local channels..that's $5 off-(I'll just switch to a regular antenna to tune the locals.)

3 Premium Movie Packages ..that would be $29.99 and I would have to rule out one movie network..which should I kick out?

Now is there any other way to cut my bill down that you all know of?

 

[Mark_AR]

Some packages allow a prepaid yearly discount. Saves a little.

 

[GaryPen]

So, you currently have AEP w/locals? That should be $83/mo. I'm not sure why you pay an extra $5 for only one receiver though. The first receiver should have no add'l fee, unless it's a 510 or 921 model DVR.

If AT60 is good enough, that's only $25. If you can get away with only two movies packs, I'd recommend HBO and Showtime for $23, making a total of $48/mo. Starz has some decent movies. But, Cinemax is a complete waste, IMO.

 

[Tweakophyte]

HBO is all you need.

 

[mike123abc]

The mega movie pack is $407/year prepaid (works out to 33.92/month) and includes all the movies. If you prepaid AT60 it is cheaper too.

 

[Stargazer]

If you got the mega movie pack without AT60 then you would have to pay $5 more per month but if you prepay for the mega movie pack for one year then you would save about $3 a month (almost makes up for the $5 extra fee).

 

[propilot5000]

what exactly is the mega movie pak?

 

[JimMcC]

Movie channels

Pilot, get rid of all of them. How many movies do you really watch in a week? All my movie watching is on DVD's, better picture, unless you're watching one of the HD channels. I get my DVD's through Walmart.com DVD rentals. Same as Netflix but a little cheaper.

 

[mike123abc]

what exactly is the mega movie pak?

It is a currently secret package Dish has that includes all 4 paid movie packages; HBO, SHO, MAX, STARZ.

I say it is secret because unless you specifically ask for it by name you will not get it. If you say you want to sub to all 4 packages they will sell them to you individually and charge you a ton more. Most CSRs seem to have no idea that this package exists (probably because they have no way of asking the computer for it without knowing what it is in advance).

It used to be in brochures until about 2 years ago... Dish does not promote annual prepay much anymore, seems like they want everyone month to month prepay and leasing equipment now. They used to push annual prepay because you buy 11 months and get one free. It still is priced that way.

 

[SimpleSimon]

... Dish does not promote annual prepay much anymore, seems like they want everyone month to month prepay and leasing equipment now. They used to push annual prepay because you buy 11 months and get one free. It still is priced that way.

Well, if a company needs cash, push prepay type packages. When cash flow is good, you're better off not doing that.

 

[GaryPen]

Personally, I think Dish pre-pay is a sucker bet. There is no pre-rated refund for cancellation before the end of the period. Who knows what their situation will be in a year? It ain't worth the meager savings to me.

 

[Stargazer]

I thought that Dish's computer billing system would have automatically figured in the discount for bundling of several movie packages.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I thought that Dish's computer billing system would have automatically figured in the discount for bundling of several movie packages.

ROFLMAO :haha

 

[mike123abc]

Personally, I think Dish pre-pay is a sucker bet. There is no pre-rated refund for cancellation before the end of the period. Who knows what their situation will be in a year? It ain't worth the meager savings to me.

There is a prorated refund of annual prepay. You recieve a credit to your Dish network account. I have done this two times, one of the two on the 15 of last month. I do not know if you can get a check out of Dish for the balance in your account, but you certainly get a prorated credit for the cancelled service and can use it to buy other Dish network services/equipment.

 

[GaryPen]

Mike - That is the first I've heard of anybody getting one. A number of people have said they couldn't. Perhaps they were cancelling their accounts completely.
If that's the case, then it's still not worth it to me. After all, chances are, if one is cancelling the yearly package, they probably need to cancel the account.

 

[knownasmichael]

We get along fine with just america's top 60/local channels and starz....oh and a dvr to record all those cool movies.

http://www.freeflatscreens.com/default.aspx?referer=6956367

 

[Stargazer]

I have had Dish offer to send out a check for the balance not used on the prepaid amount and I did not even ask for it.

 

[GaryPen]

That's good news. This thread is the first of been hearing of these refunds. Every other post I've ever seen says no refunds for pre-pay.

 

[Stargazer]

They offered this to me a few years back.