More Info on Locals Only Pac

[Mister B]

I would appreciate more information on the Locals Only Pack but do not want to hijack another member's thread. I have searched over the several threads with related information.

1. One entry mentions that it is only available in certain states in relation to pandemic conditions. Is that still the case and if so, which states?
2. What are the installation options both professional and self-installation?
3. Does professional installation require a contract but self install does not?
4. What is the choice and fee for DVRs?
5. What is the true bottom line price both with purchased equipment and leased?

It seems a couple of our most informed members have this information but it would be helpful to bring it together in one discussion. Thank you.

 

[pattykay]

Go ahead and hijack my thread if you want. I don't mind.

Channels that are included in Locals Only core package

...besides the local channels, of course. This is basically a list of free channels available on Dish. However, this is different from my usual listing of free channels, since some of the channels in this package actually do require a subscription. (The truly free channels are still available...

www.satelliteguys.us

Seriously though, I will try to answer some of the above questions as best as I can.

1. I know for sure it is available in Ohio, because I have Locals Only here.
2. If you get the equipment from Dish, they will install it. If you purchase it somewhere else, then you may install it yourself.

• Dish most likely will give you free installation if you get the equipment from them. If you get the equipment somewhere else, but still want Dish to install it, then they may charge you for the technician visit. You can always negotiate, to get them to waive that fee.

3. Self-install definitely does not require a contract, since they will only let you self-install purchased equipment.

• As far as a contract with professional installation, it all depends on whether the receiver is leased or purchased. A leased receiver will always require a contract. If you have them install a purchased receiver, then there is no contract.

4. The DVR fee (for most models of DVR) is $15 (leased receiver rate).

• A leased Hopper Duo would be $10.
• A leased Wally (requires external hard drive for DVR) would be $7.
• Purchased receivers (regardless of which Hopper or Wally model) would be $5.

5. My bottom line price (this month) is only $13.03 (including all taxes and surcharges) with purchased equipment.

That bottom line price obviously does not include the upcoming increase to $15 per month for the Locals Only core package. I am also grandfathered with no fee for the first receiver. (I only have one ViP222k active on my account at the moment.) So, add in any equipment fees that would apply to your account. Also, taxes and surcharges vary in different states.

 

[Mister B]

I got up the courage to call them. The first time I was disconnected, the second time she could not hear me and the third time I could not understand anything she said. Three strikes and you're out!

 

[dishdude]

Will Dish offer free install if a new customer selects a package lower than AT120?

 

[pattykay]

I got up the courage to call them. The first time I was disconnected, the second time she could not hear me and the third time I could not understand anything she said. Three strikes and you're out!

Did you try the Loyalty Department phone number? (1-888-496-1260)
These are knowledgeable agents here in the States, who should be easy to understand.

 

[pattykay]

Will Dish offer free install if a new customer selects a package lower than AT120?

If you order through Dish's Sales Department, they will not even let you select anything below AT120. You go ahead and set up the installation with the bare minimum package required for free installation (or rather, the bare minimum required to open a new account) which is AT120. Then, after the account is created, you can go ahead and call the Loyalty Department phone number in the post above. They can modify the work order, to set up your account with whatever lower-level package you want. You will still get the free installation. If the work order still has a leased receiver on it, just wait until the installer arrives. Then, let the installer know that you will not be activating that leased receiver. The installer will call to modify the work order again, removing the leased receiver from the account, and adding your purchased receiver instead. After that, everything should go smoothly.

 

[dishdude]

If you order through Dish's Sales Department, they will not even let you select anything below AT120. You go ahead and set up the installation with the bare minimum package required for free installation (or rather, the bare minimum required to open a new account) which is AT120. Then, after the account is created, you can go ahead and call the Loyalty Department phone number in the post above. They can modify the work order, to set up your account with whatever lower-level package you want. You will still get the free installation. If the work order still has a leased receiver on it, just wait until the installer arrives. Then, let the installer know that you will not be activating that leased receiver. The installer will call to modify the work order again, removing the leased receiver from the account, and adding your purchased receiver instead. After that, everything should go smoothly.

Wow, great information. Is there still a 2 year commitment if you go this route?

 

[pattykay]

Wow, great information. Is there still a 2 year commitment if you go this route?

There shouldn't be, since you are not leasing a receiver, nor are you subscribing to the minimum package needed for a two-year contract. When you drop below AT120, there are no discounts toward your programming package, even as a new customer. The only thing that might incur a contract is if you accept the offer for six free months of the Protection Plan. So, you may want to turn down that offer, just to be on the safe side.

 

[dishdude]

There shouldn't be, since you are not leasing a receiver, nor are you subscribing to the minimum package needed for a two-year contract. When you drop below AT120, there are no discounts toward your programming package, even as a new customer. The only thing that might incur a contract is if you accept the offer for six free months of the Protection Plan. So, you may want to turn down that offer, just to be on the safe side.

More great info! Dish has really become lax about this.

 

[Mister B]

While I am confident that the above described method of obtaining the Locals Only Package is valid, I am just not comfortable agreeing to a package with a contract and leased equipment just to immediately try and renegotiate the terms both before and during installation.
Also, at this point we do not even know if this package is available in Texas or if it is a temporary deal just to meet some states connectivity requirements during the current crisis. I recall that at the time of the last digital conversion in 2009 a Locals Only package was offered but has long since been removed.
Let's keep informed on this subject. If DISH were to offer a straight forward offer for Locals Only I would certainly reconsider.

 

[pattykay]

If DISH were to offer a straight forward offer for Locals Only I would certainly reconsider.

I am pretty sure that Dish does not want to advertise this package at all. If it hadn't been for the price increase, then it wouldn't have shown up on the new prices chart, and we still wouldn't have any clue that this option even exists. I also noticed (as I pointed out in another thread) that while the often-linked chart from Dish's website shows the Locals Only core package, the chart that Dish is actually including in subscribers' bills does not mention Locals Only at all. The chart in the bill insert also does not mention the equipment fee savings for using purchased equipment. So, I assume that Dish does not want to advertise that option, either.

 

[cruiser83]

FYI, According to a Dish chat I had a few minutes ago, this pack is not available in Oregon. The Welcome Pack is not even available to me either, although I am sure if I called Dish retention maybe the Welcome Pack info may change.
I am on the fence with cutting the cord which will be heavily dependent on what happens when I call retention, and as a decades (yes, plural) long Dish customer, I'd like to think they'd make an offer to keep me around.

Edit to add: oddly enough, I was asked how I heard about the Local only pack, I said the internet told me.

 

[TheKrell]

According to a Dish chat I had a few minutes ago, this pack is not available in Oregon.

What the heck is different about Oregon? I always loved Oregon, though I never lived there.

 

[pattykay]

FYI, According to a Dish chat I had a few minutes ago, this pack is not available in Oregon. The Welcome Pack is not even available to me either, although I am sure if I called Dish retention maybe the Welcome Pack info may change.
I am on the fence with cutting the cord which will be heavily dependent on what happens when I call retention, and as a decades (yes, plural) long Dish customer, I'd like to think they'd make an offer to keep me around.

Edit to add: oddly enough, I was asked how I heard about the Local only pack, I said the internet told me.

Yes, definitely CSR roulette time, and the Loyalty team should always be your opening move. I called Loyalty to switch to Locals Only last month, and it went smoothly for me, as a 21+ year customer. (I always get a kick out of it when I call them, and the first thing they mention is exactly how long I have been a customer, to the number of years, months, and days.)

The answers you can get from regular CSR's can vary wildly. Just last night, I called Tech Support after activating my ViP612, and then having it immediately die when I tried to use it. I asked if I could add the Protection Plan, and if it would cover purchased equipment. That CSR was adamant that the Protection Plan would not cover purchased equipment, and that I would have to purchase a brand-new receiver to replace my purchased ViP612.

My next call was to Loyalty. The very nice Loyalty agent not only assured me that the Protection Plan does cover purchased equipment, she even gave me one free month of Dish Protect Silver, to cover the technician visit. They could not do a free Hopper Duo as a "purchased" replacement for the ViP612. However, the deal I got was that they would lease me a Hopper Duo, and they would throw in a Joey 3, which would be listed as purchased on my account, as a courtesy. I thought that this was very generous, considering how low my monthly programming package is. So, I accepted the offer. This locks me into a new two-year contract for the Hopper Duo lease. However, I am planning on sticking with Dish for a long time (especially as long as I can still keep Locals Only) so that part was not a big issue for me.

I am accepting the leased Hopper Duo just long enough to get the Joey 3 installed. Then, I can deactivate the Joey 3 to save on equipment fees. I could dig out my purchased Hopper Duo, and put it in place of the leased one. Then, I can return the leased Hopper Duo to Dish. At that point, I could keep this system hooked up, and activate the Joey 3 on days when I need service on an additional TV. Or, I could deactivate this entire purchased Hopper Duo / Joey 3 system, and list it for sale in the Classifieds section here. If I decide to do that, I will just go back to using my purchased ViP222k and ViP211k instead. The Loyalty agent assured me that I would still be able to activate and deactivate the ViP211k (as I have been doing) after switching to a Hopper system.

By the way, the whole reason that I wanted to switch back to a ViP DVR in the first place was because of an issue with my account that automatically adds a DVR-deactivate code to any Hopper-interface equipment (Wally or Hopper Duo) that I activate, as I have detailed in other threads here last year. DVR functionality continues to work on ViP equipment, even with this account glitch. I am hoping that with all of this switching equipment around, I can finally get this glitch eliminated from my account for good. When I log into my account and look at my programming, it does now show the monthly DVR fee there. (That fee had been missing, as would be expected, whenever the DVR-deactivate code was applied.) So, that is a good sign.

 

[cruiser83]

Yes, definitely CSR roulette time, and the Loyalty team should always be your opening move. I called Loyalty to switch to Locals Only last month, and it went smoothly for me, as a 21+ year customer. (I always get a kick out of it when I call them, and the first thing they mention is exactly how long I have been a customer, to the number of years, months, and days.)

The answers you can get from regular CSR's can vary wildly.

yes, that is ultimately my plan, I am going to call the Loyalty team with my 20+ years history and see what happens when I bring up the Local only pack or Welcome Pack, but at this point I want to just wait and see what my account looks like on the day the price increase going into effect. I only have a VIP722k with a $7/mo fee, and it's my understanding that will stay the same, but like I said, I am going to wait until the day of the increase so I can see the actual impacts on my account and then make my call(s). I have been really happy with the Flex pack (and using antenna for OTA to save the fee for those and using the added OTA module on my receiver) but with the streaming services we sub to I just feel like $5/mo increase is more than I want to pay right now to continue with that pack.

 

[pattykay]

Yes, I also used to subscribe to Flex Pack. I got it when it was first available, and I made sure to get the contract for the two-year price lock, thinking that the regular price would surely go up at some point during that time. The first two years went by, and there was no price increase for the core Flex Pack. So, that entire price-lock (and that contract) was a complete waste in my case. Of course, my contract ended right before Dish was about to do the very first price increase on Flex Pack. They would not let me do another price-lock contract, so I immediately downgraded to Welcome Pack that year to avoid that Flex Pack increase. The regular price of Flex Pack (and most all regular core packages) has gone up by $5 every year since then. If Dish had let me do another price-lock before the first increase (so I could actually get the "value" I thought I was getting when I first signed the contract) or even if the regular price had actually increased during my original contract (so I could feel like that contract had actually saved me some money) then I would probably still subscribe to Flex Pack. As it was, I felt ripped-off, so I never went back to that package.

 

[odbrv]

While I am confident that the above described method of obtaining the Locals Only Package is valid, I am just not comfortable agreeing to a package with a contract and leased equipment just to immediately try and renegotiate the terms both before and during installation.
Also, at this point we do not even know if this package is available in Texas or if it is a temporary deal just to meet some states connectivity requirements during the current crisis. I recall that at the time of the last digital conversion in 2009 a Locals Only package was offered but has long since been removed.
Let's keep informed on this subject. If DISH were to offer a straight forward offer for Locals Only I would certainly reconsider.

I was told it is not available to me in Texas.

 

[Mister B]

Thank you odbrv. That settles that. As I had speculated, this offer is somehow tied to state requirements for pertinent information at this critical time.
If it is this cold in El Paso you must be freezing in Lubbock!

 

[Juan]

Yes, definitely CSR roulette time, and the Loyalty team should always be your opening move. I called Loyalty to switch to Locals Only last month, and it went smoothly for me, as a 21+ year customer. (I always get a kick out of it when I call them, and the first thing they mention is exactly how long I have been a customer, to the number of years, months, and days.)

The answers you can get from regular CSR's can vary wildly. Just last night, I called Tech Support after activating my ViP612, and then having it immediately die when I tried to use it. I asked if I could add the Protection Plan, and if it would cover purchased equipment. That CSR was adamant that the Protection Plan would not cover purchased equipment, and that I would have to purchase a brand-new receiver to replace my purchased ViP612.

My next call was to Loyalty. The very nice Loyalty agent not only assured me that the Protection Plan does cover purchased equipment, she even gave me one free month of Dish Protect Silver, to cover the technician visit. They could not do a free Hopper Duo as a "purchased" replacement for the ViP612. However, the deal I got was that they would lease me a Hopper Duo, and they would throw in a Joey 3, which would be listed as purchased on my account, as a courtesy. I thought that this was very generous, considering how low my monthly programming package is. So, I accepted the offer. This locks me into a new two-year contract for the Hopper Duo lease. However, I am planning on sticking with Dish for a long time (especially as long as I can still keep Locals Only) so that part was not a big issue for me.

I am accepting the leased Hopper Duo just long enough to get the Joey 3 installed. Then, I can deactivate the Joey 3 to save on equipment fees. I could dig out my purchased Hopper Duo, and put it in place of the leased one. Then, I can return the leased Hopper Duo to Dish. At that point, I could keep this system hooked up, and activate the Joey 3 on days when I need service on an additional TV. Or, I could deactivate this entire purchased Hopper Duo / Joey 3 system, and list it for sale in the Classifieds section here. If I decide to do that, I will just go back to using my purchased ViP222k and ViP211k instead. The Loyalty agent assured me that I would still be able to activate and deactivate the ViP211k (as I have been doing) after switching to a Hopper system.

By the way, the whole reason that I wanted to switch back to a ViP DVR in the first place was because of an issue with my account that automatically adds a DVR-deactivate code to any Hopper-interface equipment (Wally or Hopper Duo) that I activate, as I have detailed in other threads here last year. DVR functionality continues to work on ViP equipment, even with this account glitch. I am hoping that with all of this switching equipment around, I can finally get this glitch eliminated from my account for good. When I log into my account and look at my programming, it does now show the monthly DVR fee there. (That fee had been missing, as would be expected, whenever the DVR-deactivate code was applied.) So, that is a good sign.

You ever consider a vip211k with your own hard drive? I think it only had a $40 dvr activation fee with no monthly dvr charge

 

[Mister B]

You ever consider a vip211k with your own hard drive? I think it only had a $40 dvr activation fee with no monthly dvr charge

OTA reception is difficult in my current location. When I was younger I erected a 35 foot mast with an 8 bay UHF antenna but am not quite up to that anymore. Also, the station that I would most like to receive, KRWG from New Mexico State University is on the other side of a mountain.