No difference in 942 monthly fees lease vs. purchase?!?

[robo45h]

Just hung up the phone with Dish Sales and I'm baffled. According to the rep I was talking to, there is no difference in the monthly charges for a leased 942 vs. a purchased 942.

That's pretty odd! Ever hear of leasing a car with no monthly payment? Or buying a car and having to make a monthly lease payment?

I tried searching the forum here for information, but couldn't find a discussion of this.

Another related thing I'm confused about: Dish Home Protection Plan. The description of the plan states that it applies to both purchased and leased equipment. Why the heck should I pay for a protection plan for leased equipment? Isn't that covered by the lease program (aka Digital Home Advantage)?

Any help sorting out Dish's confusing pricing is much appreciated.

 

[BigShowJoe]

From what I have seen on the Dish website, the 942 has what they call a stand alone price of $699 but if you add it to a package (lease) its only $299. Maybe thats just for new customers though.

 

[robo45h]

From what I have seen on the Dish website, the 942 has what they call a stand alone price of $699 but if you add it to a package (lease) its only $299. Maybe thats just for new customers though.

Yes, that I understand. But I'm not talking about up-front costs. I'm talking about monthly costs. And the up-front difference makes my point all the more clear. Why does a lease cost less up-front than a purchase? Because you're not buying the thing outright. Instead, you're basically buying the use of it for a certain amount of time. Then you pay a reocurring fee (usually monthly) for that use for the duration of the lease -- and beyond if you continue to use it.

But if you buy something outright, you have no recurring fees on the thing you've bought. So where does the "gray area" come in? There are always going to be monthly service fees for satellite service. But in theory, there should be additional fees for those people on a lease agreement compared to those who own their equipment. I was specifically told with the 942 this is not the case (of course, what one customer service representative says is not the final word). But I have yet to have anyone tell me that monthly fees for a purchased 942 would be less than for a leased one.

Plus, Dish is inconsistent in how they refer to equipment fees -- sometimes they refer to leased equipment, and other times they refer to rental fees (vs. lease payments). I'm not a lawyer or accountant, so I'll have to defer to others on the technicalities of the differences between lease and rental agreements.

And, as I mentioned before, the fact that Dish sells the warranty program on leased equipment is baffling as well. I think they get around this by "including" the warranty fee for free for the durantion of any contract you commit to. Beyond that, to continue the service, you apparently have to buy the DHP thing -- even though it's THEIR equipment you're protecting. Nice business plan! Lease stuff to people and then make them pay your insurance premium against failure. Sweet.

This is such a mess that I can almost see them possibly getting into legal troubles. The Attorney General of NY loves to make noise about such things (I'm not in NY, by the way).

 

[bhchan]

if you own your 942, i think you skip the $5 receiver lease but still have to pay the $5 'tivo-lite' fee.

 

[robo45h]

if you own your 942, i think you skip the $5 receiver lease but still have to pay the $5 'tivo-lite' fee.

Again, Dish is very, very confusing about things like this. The "$5 receiver lease" fee should be called, as far as I can tell, the "Digital Home Advantage fee" -- and I have never been told such a fee is required for th 942 lease. In fact, you can go to the Dish website, pretend to be a new customer signing up, and you will not get this fee added into your total.

Instead, however, what you get is the $5.99 Digital Home Protection (maintenance / ext. warranty) charge. This charge is waived for the duration of the contract you sign (12 or 24 month), but it will kick in automatically afterwards. And, as I've said, it makes no sense to me that you're required to pay maintenance on equipment they own and lease to you. But hey -- they're not charging a lease fee I guess. EXCEPT -- it's not clear what charges you will get if you purchase the 942 for $699. Will you still be required to get the DHP? I was never required to get that on my 501 or 301 units that I purchased.

That's an interesting question: what are the fees being paid by 942 purchasers (who bought it from a reseller for $699 or whatever)? Here are the monthly fees quoted by the website for the lease package:

AT60 Valu Pak Locals         31.99 (I'm just using this as an example)
Dish Home Protection          0.00 (for duration of contract; $5.99 afterwards)
HD PAK                        9.99
Dish DVR Service Fee          4.98

So, the question for 942 purchasers: how do your monthly fees vary? Were you required to get DHP or is that optional? It's a requirement for leases and waived initially.

 

[Mark S.]

Maybe this will help

This is directly from the DISH website.

Digital Home Advantage Terms and Conditions

Monthly Fees and Payments. You agree to make a monthly payment to DISH Network by the payment due date for the programming you select and for the following fees as applicable depending on the equipment you select: Equipment Rental Fee: A $5.00 equipment rental fee for the first receiver activated is included in the promotional base programming package price. An additional equipment rental fee of $5.00 per month will be charged to your account for each receiver activated beyond the first; DISH Network DVR Service Fee: A $4.98 per month DISH Network DVR service fee will be charged to your account for each model 510, 522, 625, or 942 receiver activated. This fee will be waived if you subscribe to America ’s “Everything” Pak or the Latino “Everything” Pak; Additional Outlet Programming Access Fee: A $4.99 per month additional outlet programming access fee will be charged to your account for each dual tuner receiver (models 322, 522, and 942) activated. This fee will be waived on a monthly basis for each such receiver that DISH Network confirms has been continuously connected to your same land-based phone line. DISH Network’s confirmation process shall be the sole method utilized to determine if your additional outlet programming access fee(s) will be waived. The $250 lease upgrade fee for the model 942 receiver and the $19.99 lease upgrade fee for the model 625 receiver are not deposits and are non-refundable. The $49.99 activation fee (if applicable) is non-refundable but will be credited on your first account billing statement. Other fees may apply as set forth in the Residential Customer Agreement.

It is always an additional $5 a month on every receiver other than your first one if you lease or own it.

If it is leased they call it a $5 lease fee.

If you own it they call it a $5 additional outlet fee.

You always pay the $5 extra per receiver every month.

As for a $5 DVR fee, I have never been charged for that because I subscribe to AEP. The $5 DVR supposedly does not apply to any of the 50X series DVR's nor to the 721's. I suppose that if I did not have AEP, I would be charged an additional $5 DVR fee on both my 921 and 942.

 

[datwell]

In my case, the 942 lease vs. buy was a no-brainer. It would take 90 months (7.5 years) at $5/mo. to make up the difference between $250 & $700. The unit will be replaced by an MPEG-4 unit long before then. I will look at lease vs. buy when these become available.

--Doug

 

[waltinvt]

What are recent 942 lease subs seeing on their bills ?

To add more confusion:

I did the $249 lease deal over a month ago and have yet to get a bill from Dish. When I check my account online, it shows they took the $250 from my credit card ok but applied it as a credit on my account. Since there's been no "charge" listed for the 942, the $250 was more than enough to cover my normal monthly bill and there's still a credit balance toward next month.

They didn't send me a statement this month either but an online review still shows a credit balance, no actual charge for the 942 and no monthly lease charges.

The only thing I can think of (and someone else mentioned this) is maybe part of the $250 really does go toward installation and since I installed it myself the day I got it and called canceled the scheduled install, it's got them all confused.

 

[GaryPen]

Hey Walt - Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

 

[datwell]

waltinvt\: They did the same thing to my bill for a while, but not to worry - old Charlie was soon billing me again! And they didn't even screw up my bill to boot!! (Yes, I was surprised!)
--Doug

 

[Pepper]

How, legally can they get by with treating one "class" of customers different? Maybe a "class" action is needed?

Lease customers are required to pay a "lease fee". That part I understand.

There is an "additional receiver" for each active receiver beyond the first. This part I also understand.

For some reason, lease customers are magically exempt from the additional receiver fees. This is the part I do not understand.

Yes, I do think that those who own should have a lower monthly bill than those who lease. That's why I bought my house and my car, instead of leasing them. And I'd be quite ticked-off if I had to pay an additional fee every time I bought gas because I'm NOT paying a lease on the car.

 

[markusian]

As I remember from previous threads:

- Lease fees and Extra Receiver fees are "equivalent."
- One thing that is not clear, those fees for the FIRST receiver or if you have only one receiver. There is no Extra Receiver fee if it is purchased. What about if it is leased?
Someone mentioned that the lease fee is waived for the first receiver.

Is this true? If it is, then, they are really equivalent.

 

[robo45h]

As I remember from previous threads:

- Lease fees and Extra Receiver fees are "equivalent."
- One thing that is not clear, those fees for the FIRST receiver or if you have only one receiver. There is no Extra Receiver fee if it is purchased. What about if it is leased?
Someone mentioned that the lease fee is waived for the first receiver.

Is this true? If it is, then, they are really equivalent.

There's an extra receiver fee for purchased units.

 

[markusian]

There's an extra receiver fee for purchased units.

Not true, first purchased receiver does not have an extra receiver fee.

I have two purchased receivers and I do not get charged for the first one. I just get charged extra for the second receiver.

 

[fishman]

the first reciever is not an "extra reciever"

 

[grumpy1]

To add more confusion:

I did the $249 lease deal over a month ago and have yet to get a bill from Dish. When I check my account online, it shows they took the $250 from my credit card ok but applied it as a credit on my account. Since there's been no "charge" listed for the 942, the $250 was more than enough to cover my normal monthly bill and there's still a credit balance toward next month.

They didn't send me a statement this month either but an online review still shows a credit balance, no actual charge for the 942 and no monthly lease charges.

The only thing I can think of (and someone else mentioned this) is maybe part of the $250 really does go toward installation and since I installed it myself the day I got it and called canceled the scheduled install, it's got them all confused.

The same exact situation happened to me. I am probably a half month ahead of you and the $250 just now appeared as a charge and I have a huge autopay coming up for July.

 

[Hall]

The DHP covers more than just the receiver. It includes the LNB(s) and multiswitch too. Then again, you lease those too 'cause when you cancel, you have to return them.

What the DHP does get you is reduced service call fees and either reduced or free shipping on returns. If your receiver or LNB or switch dies, they want to charge around $25 to ship you a replacement; with the service plan, it's waived, I believe.

 

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Just hung up the phone with Dish Sales and I'm baffled. According to the rep I was talking to, there is no difference in the monthly charges for a leased 942 vs. a purchased 942.

That's pretty odd! Ever hear of leasing a car with no monthly payment? Or buying a car and having to make a monthly lease payment?

One thing about the leasing program that I haven't heard mentioned in this thread is the requirement for a minimum amount of programming. When I got tired of paying ~$90/month for ugly SD and decided to cancel everything but the HD packages, I was no longer eligible for the lease program. I believe the stipulation is that you must subscribe to one of the America's Top Whatever packages to be eligible to lease a receiver. I bought an 811 on eBay for ~$200 and am now paying $20-something a month AND I don't have to look at any more SD .

Edgar in Indy