I can understand them having to check your credit if you are AGREEING to become a customer. They shouldn't however have to run a credit check to give you a PRICE. It would be like going to a car dealer and them having to run your credit before you can agree on a price. I do not have bad credit, it is not an issue for me, my FICO score is about 780. I don't care if they check it if I am agreeing to become a customer, but they shouldn't have to run it to give you a price. Do you people not know that running credit checks just to run them makes your score go down?
Wrong. In order to give you a price, they have to know what plan you qualify for. In order to know what plan you qualify for...well...do you get it? Yes, the cost for service and equipment does vary based on what plan you are in.
That is why they have to qualify you first. If you want generic answers, go to the website and look. If you need specific answers, you have to...wait for it...get qualified for a plan first. That is just the way it works. No work-around.
Disclaimer: As a Dish employee, my opinions are my own and do not represent my employer in any way.