They told me $200 for the 2nd dish? for a long time customer

[gandhrav]

Hi, I am a newbei and this is my first post here.

I have had dishnetwork for more than 5 years.

I get international program package, with 2 receivers and pay around $60 a month. As I have mentioned above I am a old customer and have dishnet for 5 years. But I also have comcast for the American channels for the past 5 years.

2 week ago I was thinking about switching to dish for the american channels. So I called dish and talked with their representative. He first told me to try to go to a specific channel, I don't remember which it was. But my dish receiver couldn't go to that channel, It used to go to a blue screen before I could have puched the last number (total 3 numbers) on my remote. I think he asked me that to determine which satalite I am on. but I am really not sure.

So the dish guy starts to tell me about different program packages they have for american channels such as americas top 60s, 120s etc. But he didn't tell me anything about whether I need a another dish or not, so I asked him myself.

He told me that I would need a second dish installed. I asked him how much is it gonna cost me? He asked for my zipcode and than gave me 3 different number of private satalite dish intstallers in my area and told me to call them. He told me that first I would have to buy a new dish and have it installed by a local installer. He told me that local installers might charge me $99 for the dish plus installation, he doesn't know how much total its gonna charge me since each of those instalers might charge me different.

So the next day I called all those 3 numbers. And I foundout that all 3 of them had the same price and I would have to pay $99 dollars for the equipments (only dish) and $99 dollars for the installation, total = almost $200 + tax.

I am totaly surprised by this. I am a long time dish customer. Beside that, I had to buy ALL of my original dish network equipments 5 years ago, I didn't get them free as now days dish is giving away free quipment to all new customers with free installation.

I had to pay $300 dollars for my dish and first receiver when I bought it from sams club and then I paid $60 for it installation. Then I paid $100 dollars extra next year for my second receiver (bought from sams club) plus another $100dollars for installation the second receiver. Both times installation was arranged by dishnetwork, they didn't give me a third party phone number to call like they did this time.

Since my last conversation with the Dishnetwork representative. I am starting to think that the dish had been ripping me. I shouldn't have paid that much for at all. And as for now, I shouldn't have to pay $200 dollars again just for a 2nd dish even after being a LOYAL CUSTOMER for 5 YEARS.

Somehow between all this, I found that comcast gives you a discount if you switch from dish. But dish on the other had been overcharging me and still keep doing it.

I have called dish again second time to see if they would give me any discount at all for switching from comcast. But they said NO! And told me that I would have to buy a second dish froma store and have it installed, than call them back.

So now I am thinking about switching to DirectTV, I called them and they would not even install a New dish form FREE but would also give me a free HD or DVR receiver too. They said that they would install upto 4 rooms with 4 receivers for FREE. I think this is because I am a new customer.

So but the problem is that directtv does not have alot of international programming. And I don't want to have 2 different companies satalite dish on my roof and pay them separately (dishnet for international channels and direct tv for the american channels).

I was also thinking about getting a third receiver from dishnet but now I am scared on what they migh charge me for it. I have bought both of my receivers myself (not leased) but still I pay $5 dolars for the second receiver, plus some Service Access Fee $6. I don't know if they would again charge me again for third receiver even if I buy it.

Also now I know (thanks to this forum) that my dish must be pointing at 61.5 since thats where all the internatinal packages are. I remember 2 years ago receving a unusual high bill from dish network. Upon calling, they told me they charged my extra $50 dollars for the american programing package, but now I know *(again thanks to this forum) that its impossible since I would need a another dish pointing at 110 and 119 to even receive american channels programming. BTW, they took off those charges and right after taking them off the dish guy said "Do you want to have your credit card in the autobilling so they would automatically charge me every month and I wouldn't have to mail them my check" lol

After some research I found this site and learned a few things I didn't know before. I read some old post here and It seems I shouldn't pay that much at all for an upgrade from dish. Since you guys know more about dishnet than I do, please give me your views and any advise would be apprecaited. Do you guys think that I have been ripped in the past by dishnet and still am? Or is thats what they normally charge?

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

You can start by telling us where you live to determine what dish you'll need for locals and what not. And you should qualify for 2nd dish antenna upgrade option, which is $59.99 which you can arrange with the original retailer (Sam's don't do installs, however) or DISH Network directly. So call and ask for a 2nd dish antenna upgrade to get you the visibility for 110/119 for AT60 and such.

 

[Van]

Again another thread about someone wanting something for nothing, honestly I would love to get my next car for free, get my groceries for free, never have to pay my gas or electric bill.

Summit that is what he did and he was told $99 for the dish and $99 for the installation by the local guys in his area.

5 years ago thats what you would have paid if you decided to buy your system outright, there was an option to go with the lease deal at that time as well as the digital home plan agreament came out in early 01. But youshould consider yourself lucky as a short period before that you could easily find people who were getting charged and paying upwards of $2,000 for a system of 2 receivers and a dish 300.

 

[Mr Tony]

if all you have is 2 receivers, I'd buy the Dish on Ebay. People are practicvally giving them away. You would need a Dish 500 and a switch (depending on your setup...you didnt mention what model of receivers you have)

 

[mwgiii]

Van, I think you need to re-read gandhrav's post.

He is paying $60 for international channels and wants to add the American channels (America's Top). I do not think he is asking too much to get a D500 installed for free. All new customers get that service.

gandhrav welcome to SatGuys!

Couple of things I would try:

1) email ceo@echostar.com and explain what you are trying to do.

If that doesn't work then try this link for a D550 upgrade for $60:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/customerCare/offers/dish_500_upgrade/index.shtml

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

If that doesn't work then try this link for a D550 upgrade for $60:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/customerCare/offers/dish_500_upgrade/index.shtml

That's it! That's how he gets the D500 upgrade for $59.95 by signing up for a year of Dish Family or higher. If you don't want a commitment, then you'll have to fork over $200 or so as they quoted you earlier.

 

[bhelms]

I assume gandhrav does not have any kind of commitment. In that case I would suggest checking with DirecTV to see what kind of deals they have that would include the programming he wants. Might be able to replace completely with D* or add-on to E*. In either case, then call E* with a cancellation request and let them "buy" him back...

 

[gandhrav]

Van, I think you need to re-read gandhrav's post.

He is paying $60 for international channels and wants to add the American channels (America's Top). I do not think he is asking too much to get a D500 installed for free. All new customers get that service.

gandhrav welcome to SatGuys!

Couple of things I would try:

1) email ceo@echostar.com and explain what you are trying to do.

If that doesn't work then try this link for a D550 upgrade for $60:
http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/customerCare/offers/dish_500_upgrade/index.shtml

Thanks mwgiii, you are right, it looks like Van didn't read my post carefully and posted negative comments. It kinda hurt since this is my first post. Beside there is nothing wrong when you are a 5 year old customer who has been paying $60 a month and want to do a upgrade and I don't want to pay additional $200 dollars and get no discount at all, when new customers are basically getting the same stuff free. This was totally ridiculous

Anyway, thanks for the link, And I called dishnet again but this time after I went stragight to the international package department, this new representaive told me that everything told to me by last 2 representative is crap and appolozed. He said since I allready have dish for 5 years and paying $60 dollars a month, I am eligible for a upgrade for $59.95, just as mentioned on the link you gave me. This would included both dish and installation. Many thanks man. feeling ok now

I was really going to switch to directv next month because of those fools whom I talked too originaly.

By the way. This is what I found out. I have a 18 inch dishnet dish pointing at 61.5. I am going to have a dish 500 installed now for 110, and 119. And I am located in Maryland, zipcode 20743.

 

[Van]

I read it, and your not a new customer and honestly I dont feel that existing customers should get the same deals as new customers regardless of wether its with dish or any other company for that matter. I fully expect to pay for any future upgrades that I may request through dish or through comcast or through my cell phone provider.

There is a legitimate albeit somewhat scandalous way to get the dish 500 for free but I will leave that to you to do the homework on. Dont get me wrong I can understand balking at having to spend $200 to get a dish if you dont have the money and cant justify the expenditure, Im just not a fan of this whole idea that everything should be free that so many people have as it is taking money away from the people who come out and do the work to install the additional equipment such as the subcontractors and retailers who are on these boards telling everyone that they are seeing less and less work come into theyr offices each day.

 

[gandhrav]

I wasn't asking or saying that everything should be free. But since the satalite company has a program for $59.95 dish upgrade for current customer and free installation and equipment for the new customers, than why should I pay $200 dollars for the install? when they have a upgrade program for me for $59.95. They were charging me wrong. Its simple as that.

I agree with you when you say that that existing customers should not get the same deals as new customers. But I certainly don't agree that you should fully expect to pay for any future upgrades that you may request through dish or through comcast or through my cell phone provider. Since all these companies including cell phone providers have a upgrade program for the existing members. This way people won't cancel their service and move onto another provider.


There is a big difference between $59.95 and $200 and I certainly do not have free money for dish either. I knew somthing was fishy and thats why I came to this forum to find out since I am a average guy but people here on this forum are experts or have more knowledge than me. And thanks mwgiii, you link was really helpful

BTW, I also have found the other way to get dish 500 for free but I am not gonna use it, I am staisfied with $59.95. My original question was not whether how to get dish free but my question was that I sensed somthing was wrong when they asked me $200 for just an upgrade. I am glad I posted here and this forum really was able to help me.

They scheduled my installation 2 weeks later. Anyway no hard feelings Van. And you guys were great.

(I noticed that under my name it says Junior Member, lol I am a junior

 

[TTS]

Hate to break it to you, but that 59.95 upgrade offer is just to upgrade your dish 300 to a 500. I assume you still want to keep your 300 dish. They created the w/o wrong, they should of did a second dish install and it would be 99.95. So when the tech gets out there, he will just replace your dish you already have. The difference between a 500 upgrade and a second dish install, is the equipment that the tech will have when he gets to your home. Just because the last agent told you something you wanted to hear and was a better deal for you does not make him/her right, and the previous 2 agents you spoke to wrong. And if you don't believe me, call back and verify the work order. Tell them to go to the account activity tab and look at what is stated on the work order.

 

[mdonnelly]

Hopefully, your Dish 500 will come with a DPP Twin, so you can feed the 61.5 coax into it, and you won't need an external switch.

 

[gandhrav]

TTS

I don't think thats the case because if they replace my 300 with 500, then I won't be getting any international channels at all. Dish 500 has to be pointed at 110 and 119 and my current dish is at 61.5. If you take one out then I won't be getting either american channels or international channels, so I doubt they gonna take my old dish. But you had a good point and I hope what I am assuming is the case.

Tell them to go to the account activity tab and look at what is stated on the work order.

Thanks man, I don't know what does it mean but I would sure call them and ask to tab my account activity and look at the work order.

Hey mdonnelly
Hopefully, your Dish 500 will come with a DPP Twin, so you can feed the 61.5 coax into it, and you won't need an external switch.

I have no idea which switch to have which to not. So I am assuming DPP Twin is good? where do they install this external switch and why is it not better?

All I know is that Dishnet guy told me that I will be able to use my same single receiver for both dish, so I assumed since there is only one satellite input in the back of my receiver, thats where the switch comes in,

 

[bhelms]

Tell them to go to the account activity tab and look at what is stated on the work order.
Thanks man, I don't know what does it mean but I would sure call them and ask to tab my account activity and look at the work order.

The E* CSR/Tech can tell you what the planned system is, what equipment, etc. Generally the installer will do only what's on the W.O.

Hopefully, your Dish 500 will come with a DPP Twin, so you can feed the 61.5 coax into it, and you won't need an external switch.

I have no idea which switch to have which to not. So I am assuming DPP Twin is good? where do they install this external switch and why is it not better?

All I know is that Dishnet guy told me that I will be able to use my same single receiver for both dish, so I assumed since there is only one satellite input in the back of my receiver, thats where the switch comes in...

It all depends on your overall system requirements. For a single receiver, what mdonnelly said is the simplest solution. If you have more than one receiver you might need an "external" switch (best to have it installed internal to your house) like DP34 or DPP44 to input multiple antennas and output to multiple receivers. Good luck with it - report back with your results!

 

[mdonnelly]

...
It all depends on your overall system requirements. For a single receiver, what mdonnelly said is the simplest solution. If you have more than one receiver you might need an "external" switch (best to have it installed internal to your house) like DP34 or DPP44 to input multiple antennas and output to multiple receivers. Good luck with it - report back with your results!

Actually, the DPP Twin is good for up to two receivers, either of which could be dual-tuners, but it also works for single tuners.

The external switch isn't "bad" per se, but it's another piece of electronics, with cables, connectors, etc. to fail. If you don't need it, why install it?

 

[bhelms]

Actually, the DPP Twin is good for up to two receivers, either of which could be dual-tuners, but it also works for single tuners....

Tks for clarifying my statement. I still have trouble keeping this all sorted out...

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

The Dish 500 upgrade program and 2nd dish antenna program are both $59.95 each, though I'm not sure if you can qualify for both upgrades back to back. Usually, you do one upgrade then call back and order another upgrade. DISH Network doesn't allow 2 open work orders for a single customer account.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

I read it, and your not a new customer and honestly I dont feel that existing customers should get the same deals as new customers regardless of wether its with dish or any other company for that matter. I fully expect to pay for any future upgrades that I may request through dish or through comcast or through my cell phone provider.

There is a legitimate albeit somewhat scandalous way to get the dish 500 for free but I will leave that to you to do the homework on. Dont get me wrong I can understand balking at having to spend $200 to get a dish if you dont have the money and cant justify the expenditure, Im just not a fan of this whole idea that everything should be free that so many people have as it is taking money away from the people who come out and do the work to install the additional equipment such as the subcontractors and retailers who are on these boards telling everyone that they are seeing less and less work come into theyr offices each day.

You must not be a retailer. New customers pay $99 for 2nd dish and existing customers pay $59.95 for 2nd dish, so the existing customer wins out in this scenario. That's DISH's policy so if they want to charge more for existing customer, so be it! Also, this is called an UPGRADE, with a term commitment, though DISH does not tack on an additional commitment term to whatever term commitment you have. The new term commitment dictated by the upgrade runs concurrent to any other term commitment the customer may have at the moment.

Let's stop the disinformation!!! Give some credit to DISH. They have good upgrade policies, though I don't entirely agree with them on the 1 MPEG4 receiver upgrade deal (probably for inventory sake) at the moment, though that's another story.

 

[opsraja]

This is completely absolutely offtopic - but if it makes you feel any better - i bought a brand new car less than a year ago with a $2000 Navigation system option. Now, in order for me to update my navigation system to the latest maps, i have to pay $190 for them to send me a brand spanking new DVD (yes you read it right - $190 for a DVD that costs how much to mass produce?). I was hoping the $2000 I paid would at least entitle me to 2 or 3 years worth of maps for free instead of paying $200 a year for it...but then again...what do i know?

 

[kenny911]

This is clearly strange. I had another dish installed for $60 back in january. Why are they giving you 3rd party phone numbers? They should be able to take the order themselves.