Protection Plan

mfoster711

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Jul 8, 2010
357
22
College Station, Tx
Why am I paying $6/month for a protection plan? I was reading this page and every benefit it listed seems like something I would expect to get even without a service plan.

I lease my receiver and if it breaks won't Dish replace it for free even without the protection plan? If my service stops working for some unknown reason and Dish has to send somebody out to fix it, won't they cover this cost?
 
DISH Network does lease our equipment to our subscribers. We will replace the equipment itself at no charge to the customer but technician fees and shipping on replacement equipment is not covered under the leasing agreement. Customer would be charged $95.00 for technician visits and currently $15.00 for shipping. The Service Plan discounts the technician visit to $15.00 and free shipping on replacement equipment. Certain items such as remotes are only warrantied for 1 year after which replacement would cost $20.00 + shipping but with the service plan there is no charge.
 
Thanks for the info Mary. That clears it up.

Now, I am really curious, why do people ever need technician visits? I have been with Dish for 10 years and the only time I ever needed a technician to come out was for installs and upgrade to HD. Sure, the reciever could break but that just requires shipping it back, not a visit from the tech.
 
You are welcome! Personally I had a tech out twice to my home and the second time I was able to determine that the damage was being caused by my neighbors dog. The dish, lnbf, switches, lines and splitters can go bad as they are all parts and sometimes weather can move the dish itself. These would all require a technician to correct. We do try to do as much as possible to correct issue with having to schedule a technician visit but sometimes it is the only thing that will fix an issue! I am glad you have not needed one!
 
Here is my advise when it comes to the protection plan. The Free shipping isn't doing you any good, because unless you have a defective box every 3 months its not worth it.

The real value is that the technician visits are discounted to $15. If you know what your doing, you can generally service the system yourself and the protection plan is literally worthless.

If your the type of person who needs a technician everytime they get a new TV, then your probably better off with the protection plan.
 
With an $80 difference for a tech visit, you'd have to average 1 tech visit per year for the protection plan to pay off. In 13 years with Dish, I have had 1 tech visit that wasn't for an install and that was to properly remount my dish after a roofing job. I don't have the protection plan.
 
Living in south Florida my power has gone
Out more times then I can mention.
Plus Florida power and light has power
Go on and off several times a week.
Happens regardless of time of year. It's aweful.
I've used my protection plan to replace bad units and also dishes that have been damaged in hurricanes and storms.

In my case they have paid for themselves.
 
Protection plan is also great when you own equipment. In the last few years I know I've gone through 3 722s and the protection not only covers leased it covers owned receivers. Yea it's always a crapshoot with any protection plan. Odds are good that you'll not make out with them. Think about it if Dish or any other company that was selling protection plans was loosing money on them they wouldn't keep selling them. Kind of like the Casinos they aren't there so that people can win. :D I for one though will continue to pay the $6 per month. I spend far more than that each month on more silly things, and having had already used it to replace 3 722s I think I'm going to stay ahead of the game for awhile yet.
 
The thing about the protection plan is that it can be instated immediately before you need it's benefits, therefore there is no point in paying the monthly protection plan fee unless you have more than 1 tech visit per year.

Even if you pay the $25 early cancellation fee it still comes out cheaper than paying $6 a month for a year.
 
There are some people that just have problems all the time. We have customers like that. If I were them I would get the service plan.
 
Every time I hear the term "protection plan", my mind jumps to store owners being shaken down by the mafia. I picture some muscular Italian guy saying "You wouldn't want something to happen to that there satellite dish, would ya?". Even the cable company was trying to get into the act when last I had cable television -- though most of their service calls were free even if you didn't have the plan, it just covered the sort of things that were really unlikely to happen.

These are the sort of things Dish Network has gotten away with because it has traditionally kept it's core prices low and gone after "low market" folks who either can't afford the competition, could really use to save the money, or are kind of thrifty by nature. So, when the storm knocks out the signal and it takes 5 minutes for the thing to reacquire the signal or there's a carriage dispute and a channel is lost or Dish wanted to charge $95 for a tech visit that should be free (You pay for the service, if the service stops working, you expect it to be fixed without paying any extra, because if it's not Dish isn't delivering what you're paying for), people grumbled a little and ultimately said "It's all I can afford monthly (or I need to save the money)" and put up with it.

Now Dish Network is raising it's prices and trying to target people who are willing or able to pay more on a monthly basis. But guess what? Those are the sort of customers who are not going to put up with stuff that inconveniences them. The reason those people aren't with Dish in the first place is because they were willing to pay more to not experience a storm knocking out their signal and not experience not having access to channels they like and to experience having techs come out free and so on and so forth. They're the type of people who won't stand for a hassle because they don't have to. If Dish wants those customers and their fatter wallets paying more month to month, they're going to need to provide a more consistent service with better channel selection and stop nickling and diming people for things that should be free.

It's just like when you go to McDonalds, you walk up to the counter and then go to an uncomfortable table and don't expect much because it's cheap. If you go to a 5-star restaurant, you expect 5-star food and 5-star service, and no hassles.
 
To determine whether you should keep it or not, you have to ask yourself if you can swap the receiver out yourself and if you think you need a technician visit more than once a year. If the answer is yes to either of these then you should keep the protection plan. Otherwise cancel it unless you own a 722/922 receiver.
 
Does the protection plan help in reducing costs when you go to upgrade? (to HD, switch arcs, etc.)
 
Does the protection plan help in reducing costs when you go to upgrade? (to HD, switch arcs, etc.)


When I upgraded to HD because I subscribe to Dish Network's Protection Service Plan the cost for Dish Network to come out and install a new 1K.2WA HD dish costs me $15..;):)

If for some reason you need a realignment that is also covered under The Service Plan for $15..
 
Last edited:
When I upgraded to HD because I subscribe to Dish Network's Protection Service Plan the cost for Dish Network to come out and install a new 1K.2WA HD dish costs me $15..;):)

If for some reason you need a realignment that is also covered under The Service Plan for $15..

Good point. As far as the dish installation/alignment/replacement it will help, but it doesn't do anything for upgrade fees and whatnot.
 
***

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Total: 1, Members: 0, Guests: 1)

Who Read This Thread (Total Members: 1)