Thinking About Returning to Dish - Comments?

[SpencerCat]

I’m thinking about returning to Dish, and I’m asking for comments and suggestions.

I was with Dish for 14 years, but for financial reasons, I switched to DirecTV 2 years ago to get the new subscriber savings. My 2 years are up, and my DirecTV bill has gone way up, so I’m thinking about returning to Dish to get the new subscriber savings.

Here’s my main issue. Recently, my wife and I have noticed that the DirecTV picture looks stunning on our 60-inch TV, better than it had looked a month ago, so now I’m a little hesitant about going back to Dish. I’ve read many anecdotal comments (on the DirecTV forum) that DirecTV has a better picture than Dish, and I would like to read some CONSTRUCTIVE comments regarding that issue.

Thanks for any comments and suggestions.
Richard

 

[Deadlocked]

As far as I know the picture should be the same quality give or take for both.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[MikeD-C05]

No matter what service you use, you will need to adjust the picture for either service to give you the best picture. I know when I had Directv in addition to DISH for about 6months , the SD picture sucked b*lls and it had to be adjusted for the best way to hide the artifacts in the background. On HD picture it looked about the same to me for either service. But you will have to decide what is more important to you . The best hd picture and a higher price for service , or the best low price and best equipment with DISH and a maybe different hd picture than Directv. I really see no difference in hd picture between the two. I also have my sat service run to my google revue unit that converts everything to 1080p. I leave my DISH hopper on 720p output and the google revue unit makes it all look 1080p. To me this makes the HD picture and the SD picture look great.

 

[navychop]

Does Momma have other reasons for preferring D*?

If Momma ain't happy........

 

[KAB]

I do not have D*, but when at a relative's that did, and the same, identical TV, I could see no difference.

 

[Tampa8]

You seem to be switching mostly because of the money savings, would you stay with Direct if it cost less? Everyone is different, for me the thought of switching, having to have the installer come etc etc isn't appealing. When you add that the picture is "stunning" I see trouble ahead when you switch. From all these years I see that the two provide a very good - but different picture.

I would suggest seeing if Direct TV will give you a discount to stay. It won't be a new customer discount but that is my advice. If the money is the #1 thing above all else, than switching is the answer, every two years.

 

[ncted]

I can say that DirecTV does look slightly better to me, but not enough to justify a big price difference.

 

[SpencerCat]

You seem to be switching mostly because of the money savings, would you stay with Direct if it cost less? Everyone is different, for me the thought of switching, having to have the installer come etc etc isn't appealing. When you add that the picture is "stunning" I see trouble ahead when you switch. From all these years I see that the two provide a very good - but different picture.

I would suggest seeing if Direct TV will give you a discount to stay. It won't be a new customer discount but that is my advice. If the money is the #1 thing above all else, than switching is the answer, every two years.

Three months ago, I called DirecTV and asked what they could do to lower my bill. The CSR said that since I'm a good customer, they would lower my bill by $40 per month for 12 months, so I said "Great", and stayed with them. The $40 discount turned out to be $30, but I decided that was OK, and now, 3 months later, the 12-month $40 discount is only $10. I HATE being lied to and manipulated, so I'm going to call DirecTV, ask them what happened to my $40 discount, and then probably switch back to Dish.

Thanks to everyone for responding.
Richard

 

[MikeD-C05]

Three months ago, I called DirecTV and asked what they could do to lower my bill. The CSR said that since I'm a good customer, they would lower my bill by $40 per month for 12 months, so I said "Great", and stayed with them. The $40 discount turned out to be $30, but I decided that was OK, and now, 3 months later, the 12-month $40 discount is only $10. I HATE being lied to and manipulated, so I'm going to call DirecTV, ask them what happened to my $40 discount, and then probably switch back to Dish.

Thanks to everyone for responding.
Richard

Sounds like my break up fee with DIRECTV after I had them for 6 months. First I was quoted $240.00 if I cancelled ,so I did and then the bill was $420.00. I had the call center csr Name and badge # but the executive department said there was no Carlos # what ever. So yes, they lie like rugs. I will NEVER,EVER,EVER sub to DIRECTV again ,even if they are the only sat service left in town. Good luck with DISH and the hopper. I have had them for 18 years come January 18, 2015.

 

[dvrexpander]

If you left Dish and will return now with the Hoppers being the main receiver then you will be 100% happy and so will the wife. The equipment to me is just much better and the picture quality is better from all those that I've seen and I've seen many many from doing installs. I'd walk in and look at the Direct picture and then install the Hopper... day and night on the majority of TV's I saw the two on. Now as I say that it really depends on TV's...they help make up the difference. LED's are the better choice of TV's and not those damn cheap walmart specials, such junk you get from the big box stores anymore with low amount of inputs and other features.

TV's = you get what you pay for.

 

[navychop]

Maybe. You certainly won't get MORE than you paid for. But you might get LESS.

 

[ncted]

Sounds like my break up fee with DIRECTV after I had them for 6 months. First I was quoted $240.00 if I cancelled ,so I did and then the bill was $420.00. I had the call center csr Name and badge # but the executive department said there was no Carlos # what ever. So yes, they lie like rugs. I will NEVER,EVER,EVER sub to DIRECTV again ,even if they are the only sat service left in town. Good luck with DISH and the hopper. I have had them for 18 years come January 18, 2015.

Yeah. DirecTV customer service in my experience, while better than cable, is not as helpful or accurate as Dish (obviously YMMV). When I called to cancel after the HR20 came out, and I couldn't get new HD channels on my HR10-250, they told me I'd have to pay a ETF when it clearly stated in my contract that I could return the HR10 and pay no fee. I emailed them a scan of my contract, and it still took like a month of regular calls with retention to get them to agree and send me a box to return the HR10. I imagine they knew the thing was a brick and didn't want it back. I won't say I'll never use them again, but they are not at the top of my list. That said, I did just sign my folks up for D* since they have no LOS for Dish.