Questions about purchasing a Hopper 3

[pattykay]

Really? They put 10-12 year old drives in a new line of receivers?

Yes, this is why (even in early 2018 when the Hopper Duo was first released) every Hopper Duo is listed as remanufactured, and why I put "new" in quotes in my post. Even if all of the other parts were new at the time, all of the hard drives are refurbished. So, there are no truly new Hopper Duos anywhere.

 

[pattykay]

Or Dish will just clam that they own your owner receiver. Just went through that when I cancelled Dish. Luckily I still had the receipt and had to get the president's office involved to get it straightened out.

Sad, but true. I have had to go through that with more than one purchased receiver in the past. Fortunately, I caught the mistake in the ownership status when I logged into my account, before it ever got to the point where Dish would have asked for the receiver back or try to charge me for it. I have been watching the ownership status of my receivers listed on mydish like a hawk ever since then. Now, with the new fees for purchased equipment, it should be a lot easier for customers to tell if they are being billed properly at a glance, without actually needing to log into My Equipment on the mydish account to check the ownership status.

 

[Altitudinous]

I've now asked via chat and via phone call about buying an H3. After much referring to their supervisors etc., it seems that there is no price for me to buy my existing leased H3. (just as crodrules stated) I had to hear it for myself from them, and register my miniscule opinion that it should be possible for me to do that. I think they said that "their system" couldn't handle changing the coding of a receiver from leased to owned. That pesky software again.

They've quoted $350 for an H3, and stated that it would be "new". Thinking about it, considering the 35 month break-even vs. continuing to lease. I don't really like leases.

I don't know how much to trust a refurb that might have high mileage on it to save 100 bucks.

Of course, if the H4 came out with its 256 tuners, customer-installable apps, guide data 3 months in advance, and on-demand movies that aren't even released yet, I might feel like I was missing out.

 

[pattykay]

Personally, I think that all leased receivers should change to "purchased" status, once you have paid enough total in lease fees to have actually purchased the equipment. It reminds me of a story that I saw on the news awhile back. A woman had been paying her landline phone company a monthly lease fee on a rotary phone (!) for several decades. Over the years, that lease fee added up to well over a thousand dollars (maybe even thousands of dollars) for a phone that she could have bought at any store at the time for about $50. Of course, the price to buy a new phone dropped much lower than that in the years afterward. One of her relatives finally saw the charge on her phone bill and asked about it, and they finally got the phone company to remove that monthly charge. After the publicity, the phone company also gave her a sizable refund of some of the fees that they had collected (but still not a full refund). This is why it never really pays (from the customer's perspective) to continue leasing your equipment, in the long run.

 

[Altitudinous]

paying her landline phone company a monthly lease fee on a rotary phone (!) for several decades.

Good story.

Of course, those rotary phones had that quality true bell ring, and placing a call was more of an experience, listening to and watching the dial. Plus, she had the peace of mind that a trained technician would "come out" to fix her phone if she wore out the rotary dial or something. How can you place a value on that?

See, those "system limitations" precluding the conversion of a lease to a purchase predated Dish's. Maybe Dish bought some system software from The Bell System.

 

[HobbyTalk]

They've quoted $350 for an H3, and stated that it would be "new". Thinking about it, considering the 35 month break-even vs. continuing to lease. I don't really like leases.

Solid Signals has them for $230

 

[pattykay]

Solid Signals has them for $230

Not a bad price for an upside-down receiver.

DISH Hopper 3 Receiver With DVR Receiver and 16 Tuners (ESHOPPER3)

Experience the DISH Hopper 3 DVR System from DISH Network. With 16 tuners, ESHOPPER3 offers unmatched TV viewing. Discover more. Shop now!

www.solidsignal.com

(Some browsers may actually show the picture right side up. Most people who have posted here agree with me, though, that they see the picture as upside-down.)

 

[Altitudinous]

Solid Signals has them for $230

Yes, I know, and they can't seem to tell me whether they are selling remans or new, but they think they're probably remans. I don't know if I want to buy one with an apparently unknown amount of use on it already. I kinda turns me upside down to consider it.

 

[eddie willers]

Yes, I know, and they can't seem to tell me whether they are selling remans or new, but they think they're probably remans. I don't know if I want to buy one with an apparently unknown amount of use on it already. I kinda turns me upside down to consider it.

I haven't been a dealer since 2010, but back then, refurb units had a serial number (or whatever number you called to activate) that began with a W. Not sure if that stills holds true.

 

[rvvaquero]

Yes, I know, and they can't seem to tell me whether they are selling remans or new, but they think they're probably remans. I don't know if I want to buy one with an apparently unknown amount of use on it already. I kinda turns me upside down to consider it.

I don't think you'll be able to buy a DISH receiver and know whether it is new or refurbished..............from anyone. Call DISH CSR's enough times and one of them will tell you what you want to hear.

 

[TheKrell]

I don't know if I want to buy one with an apparently unknown amount of use on it already.

I agree. Which is why I asked about the length of the warranty. If it's 1yr, then I'd go for it. If it's 90 days, you can be sure it's a refurb and anybody who buys one is taking a risk.

 

[Altitudinous]

Which is why I asked about the length of the warranty.

The Dish rep on the phone said the unit they'd sell has a 1 yr warranty, and then blah-Dish Protect-blah-something. And they did say "new", both on chat and on the phone.

On the Solid Signal units, I can't remember if I asked about the warranty, and I was focused on just asking about new vs refurb, with the answer being "not sure."
I will ask them tomorrow when they're open.

 

[dishdude]

I agree. Which is why I asked about the length of the warranty. If it's 1yr, then I'd go for it. If it's 90 days, you can be sure it's a refurb and anybody who buys one is taking a risk.

Dish never made a distinction between new or reman receivers when it came to warranty - or pretty much anything else for that matter. I would expect any warranty claim on a purchased receiver to be a nightmare.

 

[Altitudinous]

I would expect any warranty claim on a purchased receiver to be a nightmare.

But aren't you the same dishdude that said this:

The last receiver I had fail earlier this year was an old ViP, they just sent me a replacement for the cost of $15 shipping and didn't make me enroll in the protection plan.

and you clarified that the VIP was customer-owned by you. That doesn't strike me as nightmarish.

 

[dishdude]

But aren't you the same dishdude that said this:



and you clarified that the VIP was customer-owned by you. That doesn't strike me as nightmarish.

The old ViP was out of warranty. Everything is a roll of the dice with Dish especially if you do anything out of the norm like owning your own equipment.