Where to buy DTVPALPLUS?

jahost

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Feb 2, 2006
186
0
Des Moines, IA
Is there a major retailer that sells the DTVPALPLUS? The Dishstore doesn't accept the coupons. I went to the Dishnetwork site and after typing in all the information I got a message that they couldn't accept my order because my address has had Dishnetwork in the past (I still do) and I should call. That pissed me off so I want to get them somewhere else. I called Sears and they only have the DTVPAL not the DTVPALPLUS. "John"
 
The reason Dish wants me to call is because they think I don't have their service and they want to sell it to me. I am POed because the first time I typed in all the information it timed out and I had to start over. The second time I got their stupid message. And yes, I don't want it that bad. "John"
 
Dish's policy makes no sense at all to me. I needed to order three DTVPro Plus converters with coupons (two for me and one for my mother.) The website said I can't use it because I have Dish service so I called Dish. After ordering my two, the rep said that I couldn't order one for my mother through them because she doesn't have Dish service. I had to go back to the website to order hers. If you have Dish service you have to talk to a SR. If you don't have Dish service you have to use the web and cannot talk to a SR. Stupid!!

When looking for a DTVPal, I called DishStore and they said they don't plan on ordering any DTVPal Plus converters because they have too many DTVPal converters left and they don't make enough money on them. They also don't take coupons because they might fill out the paperwork wrong, and if they did, they wouldn't get reimbursed. Again, I don't get it. The reason they have so many DTVPal converters left is that they don't take coupons. A customer with a coupon would be charged $40 for one through them. If they charged $55, the customer with the coupons would only have to pay $15 instead of $40 and they would make $15 more and probably not have so many left. Stupid!!

Off my soapbox.

Jim
 
Thanks Kensoren. I did order them from SolidSignal. The shipping was about $6.00 less than DishNetwork also. "John"
 
Kmart has them and takes the gov coupon.
This may be on a store by store basis. I made a special trip over there today and they did not have the Plus model. Wish I'd called first as it was a 28 mile round trip.

Of course there were hardly any employees, so I don't know if the phone would be answered or if anyone would even know. This service economy we have going doesn't seem to employ a lot of people.

So then I headed over to Best Buy to get the Zenith DTT901 which they have under their in-house Insignia brand. Got to the register to be told that the coupon wouldn't go through and to "call the government". Riiiiight!
 
Are you getting any ideas why Claude decided against taking coupons. 1 bad sale can offset the profit of 10 good sales dealers just don't have a profit margin in these things.
 
Okay, so I order 2 of the TR-40s directly from Dish using the coupons. When I tried to do it on the website, it said I had to call as I am an existing customer. At that point, I was thinking, "Oh %^#, Lats thing I want to do is talk to their CSRs." Surprisingly enough, I spoke with a gal that spoke clear English, I told her what I wanted to do and that I had coupons, etc. and she took care of my without a hitch. Told me they would take 5 days to ship, I got them in 3. I was actually very impressed with my experience as it was not what I was expecting.

I think they force current customers to call because the Coupons are non-refundable and they want to make sure that they CYA (and possibly sell a few addl. receivers instead) by telling you that if you already have service, that you do not need them unless the TVs are not hooked to your Dish System. I just told the gal that I had 2 analog tvs, one which would be in my daughters room and that I did not want the TV to have anything other than the OTA signals. She said okay, and took my information and chargesd me $25 for tax and S&H. I just wish things could go so easy when I have issues with my E* account......
 
Is there a major retailer that sells the DTVPALPLUS? The Dishstore doesn't accept the coupons. I went to the Dishnetwork site and after typing in all the information I got a message that they couldn't accept my order because my address has had Dishnetwork in the past (I still do) and I should call. That pissed me off so I want to get them somewhere else. I called Sears and they only have the DTVPAL not the DTVPALPLUS. "John"


I got that message too and called and ordered it. I finally got it ordered. They told me they were selling me the TR40 or whatever which I wanted. I got one DTV Pal Plus and one TR40 whatever. Then they told me with shipping and tax it was $69.99. After lots of arguing that it was way cheaper online and going back and forth for a few minutes she finally put me on hold then came back saying it was $59.99 plus tax and shipping online. I then pointed out that was the DTV Pal and finally she agreed and told me I could have it for close to the correct price. Sales tax is 5% here and with shipping $8.95 as said online and by here she charged me more than 5% tax or added something to the price or something but it was only a dollar or so more. Oh well, it was a pretty annoying thing to have to go through though. They would probably sell more if they would just fix the website to allow current Dish customers to use it.
 
As I live in Michigan where solid signal is based...actually about 20 miles from their warehouse...I have to pay sales tax through them. When i went to order from Dish Network, it did not include tax, though it did include a line for tax, until after I submitted my credit card number. This made their price more than Solid Signal's, so I ultimately ordered from Solid Signal. I think charging tax on the rebate is a bit dubious to begin with.

The lack of profit margin is really not a valid argument, though its probably the manufacturers who are taking more than their share. Its not like it just happens it costs $40 to manufacture and distribute a box, it is arrived at as a result of the rebate program. This could be remedied by putting the actual redemption on the manufacturer rather than the distributer, the distributer gets paid regardless if it is a valid coupon number, then the manufacturer would have to redeem the coupon from the government, taking the hit on duplicates and such.

Someone could really clean up if they could negotiate a lot from dish network such that they could sell them for under $40 and offer flat rate shipping that brings the total up to $40. You could mail this thing through USPS for under $5 to anywhere in the country.

Another note..no one seems to be mentioning the channel remap in their atsc transition advertising nor do they seem to advertise what channel they are actually broadcasting on (I'm not sure if it is even in their legal station ID?). Without understanding this and knowing what frequencies stations are actually broadcasting on, you aren't going to be able to find many stations and you won't be able to design antenna or distribution systems or otherwise properly set up your system.

Matt

Thanks Kensoren. I did order them from SolidSignal. The shipping was about $6.00 less than DishNetwork also. "John"