Upgrading from Hopper Duo to Hopper 3

[N6BY]

I am on month 11 of a 2 year contract. I have a Hopper Duo and am considering upgrading to a Hopper 3. I am watching on only 1 TV.

WIll Dish let me do this? If so, would they mail me a Hopper 3 and include a mailer to send back the Hopper Duo? Or would it require an installer visit. And what would the one time charge and the extra recurring charges be? I am currently paying $5 DVR fee for the Hopper Duo.

Would it affect my existing 2 year contract?

Also, during the original install they gave me a Dish Plus Pro LNBF. Would I have to swap that out to a Dish Pro Hybrid LNBF?

Below is a copy of my current bill:

 

[HipKat]

Well, for one, you'd need to sign a new 23 yr agreement. Secondly, you might need an installer because the Hopper Duo -work orders call for a DPP LNBF, although a lot of techs, like me, use DPH just incase this situation comes, making it easier to do the upgrade.

Pricing would go up, as well, since the Hopper 3 has a higher lease fee than a Duo

 

[Jim5506]

23 yr agreement!

 

[pattykay]

23 yr agreement!

Most of the posters in the Loyal Dish Customer Longevity thread have not even been with Dish that long!

Secondly, you might need an installer because the Hopper Duo -work orders call for a DPP LNBF, although a lot of techs, like me, use DPH just incase this situation comes, making it easier to do the upgrade.

I was wondering why the techs seemed to insist on using DPH LNB's for a Hopper Duo install, even though the Duo doesn't technically require that. Considering the possibility of a future upgrade is a good idea. I had just assumed that the techs were being trained to think that a DPH LNB was required for all Hoppers, whether the specific Hopper model actually needs one or not.

Answering the OP's questions:

You would need to sign a new two-year agreement, which would extend your current commitment by 11 months, since the new contract replaces the old one, in terms of commitment length.

The installer visit would be required. At least, I would be very surprised if Dish would agree to do this swap by mail.

The one-time charge for my upgrade to a Hopper Duo was $25. I have no idea what the fee would be for upgrading from a Hopper Duo to a Hopper 3, but I imagine it would be higher than that.

Your DVR fee will increase by $5 monthly, at least for the remainder of your current commitment. I am not sure that Dish would agree to give you the $5 DVR fee discount for the entire new two-year contract. That is something you may need to renegotiate when your programming package discounts expire at the end of your current contract.

If you want to do the swap yourself, I know someone in the Classifieds section who has a DPH LNB for sale. I already bought the Hopper 3 listed in that ad, but the LNB should still be available:

https://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/threads/hopper-3.392642/

 

[MikeD-C05]

23 yr agreement!

Well I feel like I'm on my 25 year agreement. Come January of 2022 I will have 25 years of service with DISH.

 

[N6BY]

If I did a new 24 month agreement, would I still get $30 off AT120 at $47.99 instead of $77.99 ?

If I would get 24 months of discount starting now it would actually save me money in the future because it would delay the $30 price increase an extra 11 months.

 

[Jim5506]

If you're in the middle of a 24 month price freeze, Dish will not let you do another price freeze until the current one expires. If you upgrade equipment or similar, they can and will start a fresh 24 month commitment by you to stay with Dish.

 

[pattykay]

If I did a new 24 month agreement, would I still get $30 off AT120 at $47.99 instead of $77.99 ?

If I would get 24 months of discount starting now it would actually save me money in the future because it would delay the $30 price increase an extra 11 months.

That's what I was saying about the two contracts earlier. The new 24-month agreement would be for the equipment lease only, not the discount on package pricing. Your package discounts would still expire at the same time when they are scheduled to expire now. As Jim5506 just said (posted while I was typing this) Dish will not renegotiate the price freeze and discounts in the middle of that contract. So, you would still be stuck with 11 months left in your equipment upgrade contract, and no guarantee of being able to get another price freeze or any other discounts for the remainder of that contract. You could call around a month before your discounts are set to expire, and see if Dish is willing to extend that offer. They absolutely will not make any changes to your programming package discounts any earlier than that point.

If you want to avoid the risk of being locked into a longer contract without being able to get the package price discounts for those remaining 11 months, then you may want to consider purchasing the Hopper 3 instead, and doing the upgrade yourself.

 

[N6BY]

...

If you want to avoid the risk of being locked into a longer contract without being able to get the package price discounts for those remaining 11 months, then you may want to consider purchasing the Hopper 3 instead, and doing the upgrade yourself.

About 15 years ago when I bought my own Dish receiver, Dish decided that they owned it, not me. At least that's the way they had it in their records. I called to complain and I had to prove to them that I owned it by sending them a receipt. It was a hassle that I don't want to go through again. And I would have to return the Hopper Duo. As I recall, last time they never sent me a return box or shipping label and I had to figure out how to get it back to them myself.

So if I understand correctly, if I upgraded to a Hopper 3 I would still get the price break for AT120 for another 13 months, but I would have a new 24 month commitment for the Hopper 3.

The problem with that is when my AT120 term expires, I would have no leverage in negotiating a lower rate for AT120, since I would still be stuck leasing the Hopper 3 for 11 months.

 

[TheKrell]

So if I understand correctly, if I upgraded to a Hopper 3 I would still get the price break for AT120 for another 13 months, but I would have a new 24 month commitment for the Hopper 3.

That's why crodrules suggested buying one. I understand your reluctance on having Dish surreptitiously switching your owned receiver to leased. But you are justifiably cautious and with your foreknowledge you can keep your receipt handy if that ever happens again.

For the record, I owned a 4900, a 301, a 311, a 625, and a 722 until my upgrade to a leased H3. Dish never converted my owned receivers to leased. I think you should go for the owned and then you will have leverage when your 13 months is up.

 

[pattykay]

About 15 years ago when I bought my own Dish receiver, Dish decided that they owned it, not me. At least that's the way they had it in their records. I called to complain and I had to prove to them that I owned it by sending them a receipt. It was a hassle that I don't want to go through again. And I would have to return the Hopper Duo. As I recall, last time they never sent me a return box or shipping label and I had to figure out how to get it back to them myself.

So if I understand correctly, if I upgraded to a Hopper 3 I would still get the price break for AT120 for another 13 months, but I would have a new 24 month commitment for the Hopper 3.

The problem with that is when my AT120 term expires, I would have no leverage in negotiating a lower rate for AT120, since I would still be stuck leasing the Hopper 3 for 11 months.

I actually have had Dish try to claim that at least one of my owned receivers was actually leased. Having said that, it was not that much hassle for me to get them to correct their mistake, and change it back to Purchased. I have had much more difficulty getting them to reinstate recurring monthly credits that suddenly and mysteriously dropped off my bill ahead of schedule without any warning. As far as the receiver ownership status, it is not that hard to log into mydish periodically, go to the My Equipment section, and watch that listing like a hawk.

As far as returning the Hopper Duo, I found your earlier post where the various addresses for returning Dish equipment were listed:

DIRT - Trying to cancel service

I haven't seen many posts where DISH didn't follow through on a cancellation but no doubt it happens. As for recording, I'm missing the big deal here, tell them you are recording before you start, then repeat that you told them you are recording when you start. In some states once one person...

www.satelliteguys.us

I know for a fact that the one in El Paso, TX still works, since that is where I returned my leased Hopper Duo earlier this year.

 

[N6BY]

I actually have had Dish try to claim that at least one of my owned receivers was actually leased. Having said that, it was not that much hassle for me to get them to correct their mistake, and change it back to Purchased. I have had much more difficulty getting them to reinstate recurring monthly credits that suddenly and mysteriously dropped off my bill ahead of schedule without any warning. As far as the receiver ownership status, it is not that hard to log into mydish periodically, go to the My Equipment section, and watch that listing like a hawk.

As far as returning the Hopper Duo, I found your earlier post where the various addresses for returning Dish equipment were listed:

DIRT - Trying to cancel service

I haven't seen many posts where DISH didn't follow through on a cancellation but no doubt it happens. As for recording, I'm missing the big deal here, tell them you are recording before you start, then repeat that you told them you are recording when you start. In some states once one person...

www.satelliteguys.us

I know for a fact that the one in El Paso, TX still works, since that is where I returned my leased Hopper Duo earlier this year.

I forgot that experience in 2014 where it took me 16 days and three attempts to get Dish to cancel my service. And Dish DID charge me for the LNB that time! I just paid it to avoid them sending me to collections.

And they did finally send me a return box near the end of August.

But when dish claimed they owned the receiver -- that was from a previous period when I subscribed to dish.

This is the third time I have been a Dish subscriber. So far I have only had one problem:
When I subscribed it was under a special deal with two free premium channel packs and the DIsh Movie Pack for a few months . But when I got service I didn't get the Dish Movie Pack. When I called to complain they said "We no longer offer the Movie Pack to new subscribers". Yet it was still listed on their website as free to new subscribers for a few months. As a consolation they offered me some Western channel.

Other than that I am happy because its still less than $50 a month. I only had to call customer service once in 11 months.

Anyway, I am having second thoughts about transitioning to a Hopper 3. It could go smoothly or it could be a hassle. Not sure I want to risk another hassle right now. Maybe I should wait a year till my current contract is up, renogotiate the price, and then switch to a Hopper 3?

Has Dish customer service improved since my previous bad experience in 2014 trying to cancel service?

 

[HipKat]

23 yr agreement!

Stupid typos....

 

[HipKat]

Most of the posters in the Loyal Dish Customer Longevity thread have not even been with Dish that long!


I was wondering why the techs seemed to insist on using DPH LNB's for a Hopper Duo install, even though the Duo doesn't technically require that. Considering the possibility of a future upgrade is a good idea. I had just assumed that the techs were being trained to think that a DPH LNB was required for all Hoppers, whether the specific Hopper model actually needs one or not.

That and in the beginning, Western Arc installs were not passing Check Switches on certain Series of WA DPP LNB's. Using a DPH solved the problem. That's why I started and it just became a habit to use DPH LNB's on all Duo installs

 

[TheKrell]

Stupid typos....

We all need a good laugh.