question about paying past due bill

[mikedz4]

When I get my income tax here soon I am planning on paying either directv or dish network off. Probably directv because I still have the dish on my roof.
If I pay what I owe, what will it take to get my service turned back on? I know I will need new receivers because the ones I wasn't leasing I gave to a friend who needed them.
I won't require a deposit will I?
Is dish network any different if I pay them off?

thank you

ps: I know there are those who frequent dbstalk also but I was wanting to see everyones' opinion on whether dish or direct is the best choice. I know I have to pay both of them eventually but with my rebate I want to go for the best bang for the money and the one least likely to require a deposit.

 

[convem24]

I would say look at your credit score and any other outstanding red flags on your credit. Based on experience Directv is less forgiving in regards to credit. Dish I heard is not as hard on credit scoring.

 

[Joe Diamond]

This is only TV!
It is a luxury. Aside from a one time pile of cash to repay past obligations...is there an income stream that will cover your bill each future month? You will screw yourself in the long run if you get turned off again. You have probably had your FREE installation and can expect some kind of deposit arrangement.

Joe

 

[stonecold]

Basically policy is to get you to pay what ever you owe on the account then get you to our reconnection department who will setup the service back up for you.

 

[Jimbo]

When I get my income tax here soon I am planning on paying either directv or dish network off. Probably directv because I still have the dish on my roof.
If I pay what I owe, what will it take to get my service turned back on? I know I will need new receivers because the ones I wasn't leasing I gave to a friend who needed them.
I won't require a deposit will I?
Is dish network any different if I pay them off?

thank you

ps: I know there are those who frequent dbstalk also but I was wanting to see everyones' opinion on whether dish or direct is the best choice. I know I have to pay both of them eventually but with my rebate I want to go for the best bang for the money and the one least likely to require a deposit.

As for "Which one do I keep ?"

Keep the one that has the Programming you need.
Pay them both off , but if your going to pay off to turn back on, pay off the one that you decide you want to keep.

 

[raoul5788]

When I get my income tax here soon I am planning on paying either directv or dish network off. Probably directv because I still have the dish on my roof.
If I pay what I owe, what will it take to get my service turned back on? I know I will need new receivers because the ones I wasn't leasing I gave to a friend who needed them.
I won't require a deposit will I?
Is dish network any different if I pay them off?

thank you

ps: I know there are those who frequent dbstalk also but I was wanting to see everyones' opinion on whether dish or direct is the best choice. I know I have to pay both of them eventually but with my rebate I want to go for the best bang for the money and the one least likely to require a deposit.

Has Directv asked for the receivers back that you were leasing, but gave to your friend? Was he able to use them on his account?

 

[mikedz4]

the receiver I was leasing I returned. The ones I gave away I had owned from before they started leasing receivers.

 

[Ronnie-]

This is only TV!
It is a luxury. Aside from a one time pile of cash to repay past obligations...is there an income stream that will cover your bill each future month? You will screw yourself in the long run if you get turned off again. You have probably had your FREE installation and can expect some kind of deposit arrangement.

Joe

I would say listen to this, and I am not trying to be mean in any way, my past posting history will back this up. I would totally pay the bills that you owe, that is the right thing to do, but I would also make sure that I was in a position to pay both off and had a steady stream of income available to support a pay tv contract from here on out before I got reconnected. You may very well have that situated, and if so, thats great. If that is the case, and as to which is the best choice, well it depends. What are you interested in when t comes to tv?
Both are pretty good and offer alot of the same things. Directv offers more sports, Dish offers more movie channels.

 

[mikedz4]

I want sports but I also need to keep my sports packages in check because I tend to go hog wild and order every package i see and then can't pay the bill.
Sad thing is I called directv to turn off the ability to order sports packages before and they told me they couldn't

 

[patrick80639]

Dish charges a $20-25 reconnect fee. You would definitely not be able to lease any equipment from them. Their receivers are more expensive to buy than directv's as well, either used or new. You might be able to get HD free for life with a 2 year commitment, though. Expect to pay about $200 for a dish and hd receiver if you shop around on craigslist. You'd probably also be put on a prepaid account, so you'd have to pay the first month up front as well. If they make you pay for the install (which I really think they will), it's $99. My guess is directv will cost you less to set up if you owe both companies about the same.

 

[mikedz4]

well i owe dish $575 and directv $1050. I would like to start service back up but I can't afford to pay for new equipment.

 

[patrick80639]

well i owe dish $575 and directv $1050. I would like to start service back up but I can't afford to pay for new equipment.

By my calculations, it'll cost about $900-950 total for you to get dish up and running, which is still less than what you owe alone to directv.

 

[mikedz4]

but i can't get alot of channels with dish prepaid.

 

[patrick80639]

That's no longer the case, flex tv (prepaid) subscribers have the same choices as regular postpaid customers. You could even do PPV. There are no restrictions as to what channels you could sign up for. You just have to bay your bill each month in advance.

 

[mikedz4]

What about installation? I have the directv dish on my roof but still have the 2nd tripod for dish network from before up. Decided to leave it up instead of messing the roof up.

 

[mikedz4]

The DishNOW/DishYA Pre-Paid program has ended. Existing customers please call 1-888-347-4132 to continue DISH Network service.

 

[patrick80639]

You'd either have to install it yourself or probably pay $99. You wouldn't be able to use your directv dish as it is to receive dish network signals. They're pretty cheap on craigslist, usually $25-30 for a dish 500 and $60-100 for a dish 1000 (which will let you receive all the hd channels). Dishnow indeed ended a while ago, the new prepaid program is called flex tv.

 

[mikedz4]

there isn't a site for flex tv which is odd.

I guess I will call tomorrow morning or friday and see what directv and dish say.

 

[patrick80639]

there isn't a site for flex tv which is odd.

I guess I will call tomorrow morning or friday and see what directv and dish say.

Yeah, if you do end up going with dish you'll quickly notice their site is pretty bad when it comes to precise and up-to-date info. Here's a site I found when I googled it, it sums up flex tv pretty well:

http://www.dishmyhome.com/flextv.html

 

[Joe Diamond]

Men,
The ship is sinking! I want the coal shovelers down in the engine room fired. All they do is complain about the water coming into the boilers when they should be shoveling faster. Then I want the deck chairs lined up. We may well sink but we will go down looking good!

And about those outstanding bills; call another company. The old company just wanted to be paid all the time. What I want is service.

Joe