why complain about price increases ?

[JH1949]

Would someone please explain to me why you complain about E* price increases ?

I try to limit complaints to keep my frustration and my blood pressure down.

If I cannot afford a price increase (E* or phone or insurance or internet), then I:

(a) stay with the service but go to a lower tier or

(b) stay with the service but lower the cost on one of the other services or

(c) go to another service at a lower cost

TIA

 

[tsc]

I, like others, expected price increases. When the price increases were still technically a rumor, the word was that the increase would be $3/month for base packages (except for Dish Family and AT60). I was perfectly fine with that. Pretty much on-par with TWC in my area.

However, after the retailer chat recap, learning that HD Platinum subs will have a $10/month increase, I was NOT happy. It seems we lose the $5/month savings we currently get for the HD package ($15/month more vs $20/month more) as well as the $5/month increase for America's Everything Pak.

I understand raising the prices for AEP $5/month rather than $3/month -- the prices of premium channels went up, so it makes sense that AEP (which includes all premiums) would go up too. I was still fine with the $5/month increase for AEP. However, the loss of the $5/month savings for the HD package stinks. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad if we didn't currently get that, but we DO. Oh well, that's life I guess.

I'll still pay the $10/month more most likely (may possibly downgrade to a lower package).. but, my only gripe is this; I guess the mentality at E* of 'get the most and save the most' is no longer valid (as far as HD is concerned).

 

[MikeD-C05]

IF you downgrade to a lower pack you will be hit with either the DVR FEES or the HD ENABELING FEES PER HD RECIEVER or BOTH FEES . Either way you will end up saving very little money. I have never ,never ,never had a $10.00 increase in my sat bill and I have been with Dish for 10 years. I never had a $10.00 increase in my cable bill and I had them for well over 15 years. THAt is why people are complaining with about a price increase with Dish . If Dish ever says CAble is a " pig" again I hope that cable sues the Sh*t out of them.

Dish has managed to box you in with either paying fees or paying for more programming. I origionaly went with Dish ten years ago because they offered more programming than cable. Dish has the best cutting edge technology right now, never thought I would say that , but they are pricing themselves right out of the market for most people who want HD. IF they want more people to upgrade to hd then this $10.00 increase for the AEP + hd pack or Plat pack is not the way to go.

If I sub to AEP with two 622 dvrs ,I will escape the dvr fees for $11.96 but I will be hit with the hd enabeling fees for $12.00 instead. I will lose all my hd channels except Hbo , Showtime and Starz. I will only save $8.00 but lose 27 hd channels. IF I downgrade to the gold pack or lower , I will get hit with the dvr fees and lose all my other premium channels and have to sub to Blockbuster or Netflix to supplement my movie channels I will lose. THis will bump up my total back to what I was paying before or very little savings. I lose either way. THe only people with Dish that can afford the price increase are the sd subs who don't get hit with the extra hd enabeling fees.

THis is a giant step backwards for people who want to upgrade to hd and watch more hd. THe upgrade price is $199.99 and then a $6.00 lease fee followed by a $10.00 increase in the programming. I don't think this will help Dish's hd cause. I no it won't help mine.

 

[DISH_NC]

We called and downgraded the DSL tier and re-upd for another year, saving $20 per month. After losing DNS and getting stung with the $6/month Superstations, they will be going as well. If my wife wasn't addicted to Style TV, the now AT250 would become AT200.

With the exception of the $10 AEP increase (which most likely should have been $6 tops), this increase appears to be Content Provider driven since other Cable/IPTV providers like Comcast and Verizon FIOS appear to be increasing their prices by around the same % at around the same time.

Here we are blaming DISH and it sounds like content providers increasing their rates.

With the premiums going up $3 total each month (for all of them combined) and the AT packs going up $3, I think the AEP should have been a $6 increase, not $10. Not sure how they justified that....

 

[tsc]

We called and downgraded the DSL tier and re-upd for another year, saving $20 per month. After losing DNS and getting stung with the $6/month Superstations, they will be going as well. If my wife wasn't addicted to Style TV, the now AT250 would become AT200.

With the exception of the $10 AEP increase (which most likely should have been $6 tops), this increase appears to be Content Provider driven since other Cable/IPTV providers like Comcast and Verizon FIOS appear to be increasing their prices by around the same % at around the same time.

Here we are blaming DISH and it sounds like content providers increasing their rates.

With the premiums going up $3 total each month (for all of them combined) and the AT packs going up $3, I think the AEP should have been a $6 increase, not $10. Not sure how they justified that....

Just for clarification, AEP by itself is going up $5/month. To add HD on top of it (the equivalent of the current "HD Platinum") you get the $5/month more for AEP and $20/more a month for HD (vs $15/month more for HD w/ "HD Platinum").

Again, AEP by itseslf I don't have a huge problem with the $5/month increase -- its adding HD on top of it without the $5 discount that I have a problem with. So, again, for HD Platinum subs, we will see a $10/month increase according to the retailer chat slides.

 

[MikeD-C05]

Another thing to consider for all who say: Why complain about a price increase? THIs is the 7th price increase in 7 years. THe price of AEP went from 69.99 in 2000 or 2001 to 89.99 in February. That is a $3.33 increase per year . THe hd pack went from 9.99 -15.99 with Plat pack to 20.00 in Feb. That make the price for hd go up by 5.00 twice since I started with Hd in 2003. A 10.00 increase in 3 years again makes it about 3.33 per year since I went with hd . Makes me wish I never upgraded to hd now.

 

[JH1949]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[dail24]

F-em!! I'm dropping them and going with Direct.

 

[Buzzdar]

i know i wont pay a 5.00 increase been with E only 18 months not worth the 5.00 increase since i lost the DNS

 

[Mr.Pinkeye]

I personally complain about price increases because they cost me more money. Why do you complain about people complaining about price increases? You don't have to read them if you don't want to.

 

[RandallA]

F-em!! I'm dropping them and going with Direct.

Directv will also increase their prices, it's just a matter of time. They usually follow Dish Network's increase. But, Directv is beginning to look a lot better for my needs.

 

[KwestJones]

We called and downgraded the DSL tier and re-upd for another year, saving $20 per month. After losing DNS and getting stung with the $6/month Superstations, they will be going as well. If my wife wasn't addicted to Style TV, the now AT250 would become AT200.

With the exception of the $10 AEP increase (which most likely should have been $6 tops), this increase appears to be Content Provider driven since other Cable/IPTV providers like Comcast and Verizon FIOS appear to be increasing their prices by around the same % at around the same time.

Here we are blaming DISH and it sounds like content providers increasing their rates.

With the premiums going up $3 total each month (for all of them combined) and the AT packs going up $3, I think the AEP should have been a $6 increase, not $10. Not sure how they justified that....

The reason I went with DISH was because the cable company had once AGAIN upped there rates and I was tired of it. The sales guy told me that DISH rates had been steady for YEARS and it would remain the same. This is the second rate hike since I've been with Dish and its only been 18 months....if that.

Honestly, I liked Comcast better because of the On Demand and if the prices are comparable I might go back. Especially since the prices are coming down due to FIOS coming in.

The only thing DISH has that I'd miss would be WorldSportHD for La Liga....

 

[JH1949]

I personally complain about price increases because they cost me more money. Why do you complain about people complaining about price increases? You don't have to read them if you don't want to.

Apologies to Mr Pinkeye if it seemed like I was complaining. I wasn't.

I look at the world kinda simply. If something no longer meets my needs, then I change.

I asked the question to find out why other people complain but don't change.

Again, thanks to the people who clearly explained that they are between a rock and hard place: if they lower their tier, they get charged with extra fees.

 

[navychop]

Yes, D* tends to be a bit higher than E*. And PQ is worse. And fewer national HD channels. But they offer the Sunday Ticket for about $200, if that's what you want. Saying you're angry with E* and moving to D* does nothing- D* will increase rates also. They seem to have a policy of being slightly more expensive than E*, in general. And as I just noted, you'll get less for your money, IMO.

How often does fuel go up? Milk? Doesn't your rent go up every year? Does your cable company hold to only one increase a year? Not all do.

Inflation is a fact of life. Why do we think it shouldn't apply to satellite TV?

 

[TNGTony]

The sales guy told me that DISH rates had been steady for YEARS and it would remain the same.

never believe the salesguys about future promises. See the HISTORY OF DISH PRICE INCREASES HERE.

See ya
Tony

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I sit back and laugh at many of these folks who say they are leaving and going to another provider.

While I don't like price increases, what are the alternatives?

Fios? Its only available in very limted areas, and they just announced an 8% price increase.

DirecTV? As I posted yesterday its rumored DirecTV will be soon announcing a price increase which will take effect in March.

Cable? Here in our area cable went up 12%

What is Dish going up? Nothing if you have the Family Package or the AT60 (Now AT100 package) and $3 if you have AT120 or AT180 package. The Everypackage is going up $5 because the cost of premiums are going up (HBO and Cinemax)

I find $3 or even $5 reasonable when you look at how much everything else is going up. Look when gas was near $4 a gallon, people said oh my god gas is so expensive, yet no one stopped using gas and in fact in some areas gas sales went UP when the price was high.

If you want satellite prices to stay the same call ESPN and tell them to stop spending millions and millions of dollars for these sports packages. Call HBO and tell them to stop spending millions on making great shows like the Sorpranos. Someone pays those costs and unfortunately its us.

Thiink about it for a moment, what could you buy for $3? A coffee from Starbucks? (Might be a few cents short) a happy meal at McDonnalds? (That might be more then $3 too... You can't even buy a pack of smokes for $3. So whats $3 for entertainment that you enjoy?

Think about it, yes we are not happy there is another price increase but is it really that bad? And if it really is then what are the alternatives?

Just something to make you think.

 

[Robert NTSC Archivist]

Having service with both DirecTV and Dish Network I can honestly tell you that at least in the SD range Dish Network is far lower in price than DirecTV simply because Dish Network does not have the "Pay any Price menatality" that DirecTV does.

An example Dish Network still does not offer MASN (The home of the Washington Nationals) or YES (The home of the New York Yankees). DirecTV has these but these sports pack costs a lot more.

The only reason I dont cancel my secondary acount with DircecTV is that they qualify me for all the New York and Los Angeles stations that I lost from Dish. Besides I got that equipment free from DirecTV back in the day so I am using it to my advantage.

Dish Network in my opinion i the better value price wise. I am upset but the sudden increase just immediatly after the loss of DNS. Its kind of obvious that Dish Needs to try and replace the lost income as quickly as possible and I do under stand that comleatly.

When I was on my one year guaranteed price contract with DirecTV about six months into the contract and a few weeks after re signing an exclusive contract with NFL Sunday Ticket I got a letter saying that we must regreatably increase prices for all customers across the board.

In short DirecTV may get the programing faster than Dish Network but they pass the price of stuff like NFL Sunday ticket onto the people who dont subscribe t it.

 

[ronjohn]

I find $3 or even $5 reasonable when you look at how much everything else is going up.

I think that $5 for the AEP/Platinum is reasonable with the programming price increases. What irks me is:

10 months ago they re-branded their HD marketing strategy to the metal packs. They pretty much required an 18 month commitment to get the packages. Because of the DVR fee being waived, and the $5 HD discount, I went with the Platinum package. Now they are just dropping the metal packages and HD will be and addon the same as it was 11 months ago. It seems to me that the way they are announcing it sounds like a used car salesman. "OK so lets sign the papers thats a green AEP pack with $20 HD", "I used to get the HD for $15", "Right, AEP plus HD ..... $20 more", "What there used to be a $5 discount". "No the $5 discount was for watching shopping channels, they don't want to pay that anymore". It just seems like rebranding , again, with the intent of getting rid of that AEP discount.

 

[riffjim4069]

No DISHrespect. I think most reasonable people understand modest price increases, but many are extremely frustrated because they feel there are few choices; no choice of video provider: sole cable company is overpriced, D* and E* keep prices are on-par with cable; no choice of programming choices: paying $$ for DishHD when they don't even watch the 15 VOOM HD channels, folks paying $$ for the ESPNs when they don't even watch sports, etc., etc. Let people pay for programming they watch and stop paying to subsidize 85% of the programming they do not want in any form, or in any fashion.

In our case, we have enjoyed E* service, and especially the 942/622, but the DishHD-Lite turns my stomach sour, their programming choices could be much better (more al a carte and specialty group packages), I cringe at paying multiple DVR fees each month, and the lack of expected features like USB storage, etc. are quite annoying. Although FiOS is still 3 miles down the road from my subdivision, the folks at Adelphia/Comcast are offering incredible deals to retain existing customers and obtain satellite customers...so we are reaping the benefits of competition. Likewise, although FiOS is raising their prices for new customers overall their prices are still less expensive than satellite and cable when doing an apples to apples comparison, and their broadband speed, picture quality, and reliability are hard to beat.

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I look at the world kinda simply. If something no longer meets my needs, then I change.

Another factor is that it is a royal pain in the butt to change/switch. We have Dish satellites dishes on our houses, Dish receivers in multiple rooms, know how all of the equipment works, have integrated the gear into our A/V racks, have trained our families how to use it, know where all of the channels are, etc..

Switching out to a different provider is a big disruption. So when a big rate increase (refering to the $10 increase for HD-Platinum subs) comes along, it is very frustrating as one is caught between allowing them to gouge us, or dealing with all of the hassle to switch. It isn't a simple matter of buying a different brand of beans while at the store.