Opinions/Advice re: Switching

[SpencerCat]

I would like some opinions and advice, and I'm not a troll; I just want some advice.

I’ve been a Dish subscriber for 2+ years, and this month my monthly Dish bill jumped about $60 per month to $160; I had been receiving reduced/free rates for the movie premium channels, and I suppose I lost some subscriber discounts after 2 years.

I’m thinking about switching back to DirecTV to save money, so I created a spreadsheet comparing what it would cost to stay with Dish for 24 months and what it would cost to switch to DirecTV.

With the $300 DirecTV Visa card, DirecTV would cost about $2,900 for the next 24 months, and Dish would cost about $3,800.

I’m beyond the Dish 24-month ETF requirement, so is there any reason I should not return to DirecTV? Saving approximately $900 is a significant amount of money.

Comments? Advice?

Thanks.

 

[comfortably_numb]

I would like some opinions and advice, and I'm not a troll; I just want some advice.

I’ve been a Dish subscriber for 2+ years, and this month my monthly Dish bill jumped about $60 per month to $160; I had been receiving reduced/free rates for the movie premium channels, and I suppose I lost some subscriber discounts after 2 years.

I’m thinking about switching back to DirecTV to save money, so I created a spreadsheet comparing what it would cost to stay with Dish for 24 months and what it would cost to switch to DirecTV.

With the $300 DirecTV Visa card, DirecTV would cost about $2,900 for the next 24 months, and Dish would cost about $3,800.

I’m beyond the Dish 24-month ETF requirement, so is there any reason I should not return to DirecTV? Saving approximately $900 is a significant amount of money.

Comments? Advice?

Thanks.

What packages do you have that are costing you $160 per month? Have you tried to call the Loyalty Team to renegotiate for better rates? I would do that before you switch.

 

[HipKat]

There are other things to think about. Equipment. Online access to DVR. Customer Service and DTV's now much posted about Billing and the fine print regarding that 2 year deal

 

[hahler2]

It's your money, ultimately only you can decide. I have bounced around between the two companies. I usually switch every 2 years so I can stay in the cheaper pricing. I will say that I'm switching back to Dish after having Directv for over 2 years and it's highly possible that I will be staying with Dish long term this time. I like Directv, and have always been a bigger fan of them then Dish, but their customer service is horrible now with the ATT merger. I have ATT for cell service also, which is part of the reason I went back to Directv. The bundle price was amazing. Have no complaints with their cell service other than how expensive it's getting. But Directv, anytime I've had to call in or chat the service has been very bad. Usually get CSR's that are hard to understand as English is not their native language. And to make matters worse, none of them have a clue about the equipment or how it works. It's really been bad. Worse than I thought it would be.

 

[ncted]

It's your money, ultimately only you can decide. I have bounced around between the two companies. I usually switch every 2 years so I can stay in the cheaper pricing. I will say that I'm switching back to Dish after having Directv for over 2 years and it's highly possible that I will be staying with Dish long term this time. I like Directv, and have always been a bigger fan of them then Dish, but their customer service is horrible now with the ATT merger. I have ATT for cell service also, which is part of the reason I went back to Directv. The bundle price was amazing. Have no complaints with their cell service other than how expensive it's getting. But Directv, anytime I've had to call in or chat the service has been very bad. Usually get CSR's that are hard to understand as English is not their native language. And to make matters worse, none of them have a clue about the equipment or how it works. It's really been bad. Worse than I thought it would be.

My parents got their DirecTV DVR replaced to fix what amounted to an interface problem with their new UI (missing recordings). They still had the problem after the new DVR, and then they figured out that changing how things were sorted on the Recordings screen fixed their problem. New DVR totally unnecessary. New CSRs totally necessary.

 

[ncted]

I would like some opinions and advice, and I'm not a troll; I just want some advice.

I’ve been a Dish subscriber for 2+ years, and this month my monthly Dish bill jumped about $60 per month to $160; I had been receiving reduced/free rates for the movie premium channels, and I suppose I lost some subscriber discounts after 2 years.

I’m thinking about switching back to DirecTV to save money, so I created a spreadsheet comparing what it would cost to stay with Dish for 24 months and what it would cost to switch to DirecTV.

With the $300 DirecTV Visa card, DirecTV would cost about $2,900 for the next 24 months, and Dish would cost about $3,800.

I’m beyond the Dish 24-month ETF requirement, so is there any reason I should not return to DirecTV? Saving approximately $900 is a significant amount of money.

Comments? Advice?

Thanks.

The only comment I have is switching back to Dish in 2 years will likely be more expensive than a typical new customer would get. They have started cracking down on people who switch every couple of years. You'll still probably save money in the long run, but you'll probably have to pay a bit at install time with Dish. I'd call retention beforehand to see if you can get a better deal.

 

[Kirk1233]

It's your money, ultimately only you can decide. I have bounced around between the two companies. I usually switch every 2 years so I can stay in the cheaper pricing. I will say that I'm switching back to Dish after having Directv for over 2 years and it's highly possible that I will be staying with Dish long term this time. I like Directv, and have always been a bigger fan of them then Dish, but their customer service is horrible now with the ATT merger. I have ATT for cell service also, which is part of the reason I went back to Directv. The bundle price was amazing. Have no complaints with their cell service other than how expensive it's getting. But Directv, anytime I've had to call in or chat the service has been very bad. Usually get CSR's that are hard to understand as English is not their native language. And to make matters worse, none of them have a clue about the equipment or how it works. It's really been bad. Worse than I thought it would be.

This is why after two years with DTV and now two years with Dish I’m considering giving the local cable company a shot. I have Internet through them and their customer service is local and a good experience comparatively. They lack a few HD channels and I’m not a fan of the TiVo interface they use for multi-room DVR but I could save money and get better customer service.

 

[SpencerCat]

What packages do you have that are costing you $160 per month? Have you tried to call the Loyalty Team to renegotiate for better rates? I would do that before you switch.

I have called the Loyalty Team several times, and they have reduced my bill by giving me free or reduced HBO, Showtime, and Starz for either 3 or 6 months, but I have to call them every 3 or 6 months and ask them to continue the reduction. With the DTV package, I would have the premium movie packages for 2 years.

I could downgrade my Dish package, but if I can get the same channels from DTV for $900 less, why should I downgrade?

Thanks for responding.

 

[SpencerCat]

There are other things to think about. Equipment. Online access to DVR. Customer Service and DTV's now much posted about Billing and the fine print regarding that 2 year deal

Dish's customer service is good, they seem to want to work with me, and they seem to be native English speakers.

Would you please explain your comment about "DTV's now much posted about Billing and the fine print regarding that 2 year deal"? Now you have me concerned.

Thanks for responding.

 

[ncted]

I have called the Loyalty Team several times, and they have reduced my bill by giving me free or reduced HBO, Showtime, and Starz for either 3 or 6 months, but I have to call them every 3 or 6 months and ask them to continue the reduction. With the DTV package, I would have the premium movie packages for 2 years.

I could downgrade my Dish package, but if I can get the same channels from DTV for $900 less, why should I downgrade?

Thanks for responding.

If it is worth your time and effort to switch to save the money, and you expect to be satisfied with the service, there is no reason not to switch. I've done it a number of times over the years. I've always found DirecTV to be an adequate solution and better than cable. I've always been happy to switch back to Dish though, mostly because I've had better customer experience and the hardware and software is better. I realize the bottom line counts though. Luckily, we can get by with the Flex or Welcome Packs for our base programming. We have HBO and/or Starz at times, but not continuously. It is very reasonable for us, and it is still more programming than we have time to watch. Let us know what you decide.

 

[SpencerCat]

The only comment I have is switching back to Dish in 2 years will likely be more expensive than a typical new customer would get. They have started cracking down on people who switch every couple of years. I'd call retention beforehand to see if you can get a better deal.

I might call retention before switching, but $900 in savings is a lot of money for them to offer me to stay with them. But as I tell people, "if you don't ask, then you've already told yourself 'No'".

I'm also quite annoyed by Dish's HBO p*****g contest with ATT. I've signed up for streaming HBO, but I much prefer having the channels listed in the online guide, rather than having to poke around the HBO site, looking for movies and series.

Regarding switching back to Dish in 2 years, I'm 75 years old, and I have a heart condition, so I might not even be around in 2 years ... or even next week.

Thanks for responding.

 

[HipKat]

Dish's customer service is good, they seem to want to work with me, and they seem to be native English speakers.

Would you please explain your comment about "DTV's now much posted about Billing and the fine print regarding that 2 year deal"? Now you have me concerned.

Thanks for responding.

I replace a LOT of DTV systems with Dish and one of the complaints I hear is that after the 1st year, in lieu of the supposed 2 year guarantee, the price went up quite a bit. Almost doubled in some cases. Someone posted last week, a copy of a DTV offer and showed something in small print something about 12 months and pricing. I'll try to find it. I think it was in the Cancelled My Dish today thread

 

[HipKat]

Found it

 

[charlesrshell]

Found it

View attachment 135906

I will never change to Direct TV.

 

[KAB]

I will never change to Direct TV.

I will never be tied to AT&T...on TOP of that!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Have you considered Comcast or spectrum? There are some considerable savings in a bundle

 

[HipKat]

Have you considered Comcast or spectrum? There are some considerable savings in a bundle

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!

Good one, Claude

 

[ewindowman]

At least he isn’t bashing Dish yet . Wait for it


Sent from my iPhone using the SatelliteGuys app!

 

[ncted]

Have you considered Comcast or spectrum? There are some considerable savings in a bundle

I hear X1 is pretty nice, but Spectrum is like going back the stone age technologically speaking. I realize you don't like Dish, but I don't see how anyone can recommend Spectrum these days. Everyone where my parents live in Upstate NY (former TWC territory) just had their bills jump from $20-$100/month (depending on bundle) with no explanation from Spectrum at the same time the local office shortened their hours. People are livid, but there are no other realistic options for Internet.

 

[SpencerCat]

Have you considered Comcast or spectrum? There are some considerable savings in a bundle

We live in a rural area north of Tucson, and most of the TV station antennas are on the other side of 9,000 foot Mt. Lemmon, so our TV choices are Dish, DirecTV, or the local cable company, which has limited channels, and apparently the system crashes occasionally. So realistically, our TV choices are either Dish or DTV.