Will we get to keep HD + plat pack for one year?

Then it will go back up to $20.00 a month and all of us that took the HD + plat pack will be screwed paying the extra $10.00 again like when we had Voom pack added to the original hd pack in 2005. Since there is no way to opt out of the plat pack- since it is part of the HD pack now. Talk about BAIT AND SWITCH. :(
Time to chill out, Mike. Now you are making up stuff and we don't need any more conjecture to get upset about.
 
Time to chill out, Mike. Now you are making up stuff and we don't need any more conjecture to get upset about.

Not conjecture , just talking from experience and history with DISH ,going on 13 years in January. They never do anything for the sub for free. There is always an ulterior motive at work here. Look at the history of the hd pack. IN 2005 we paid 9.99 till May of that year when VOOM was added and you could add it for 5.00 more . Then more hd Voom channels were added in 2006 and the price went up to $20.00 a month. Then in 2007 DISH offered us the option to go with just hd channels of the programming packs for 10.00 or hd essentials pack and Voom was in the extra hd pack or ultimate pack. Then later that year the Echostar/ Voom relationship went sour and Voom was dumped and other hd channels were added to that pack. Now we are offered HD + plat pack for the same low price of $10.00. Was that to lure all existing subs to the new pack with the offer of more hd channels so they could lower the boom on us next year during price hike time and we all have to pay 20.00 again? After all DISH is only losing money on the Plat pack for 6 months . Look how much they gain by getting all of us to go to the new pack. We can't opt out since the Plat pack won't be a separate pack anymore. I just don't expect DISH to give me something for nothing. I am sure the other shoe will drop soon enough.
 
Called Dish CSR, requested free platinum, asked if I needed to cancel HD , then call back to sign up for HD again. She said no, I'm taking care of it now. My bill will be reduced from 123.00 a month to 113.00, she said. She also offered me 3 months free HBO, but since I just dropped HBO, I was not authorized to receive the HBO offer. I need to wait 3 months, then can receive the offer of 3 month free HBO.
Odd.. I cancelled HBO last week. They gave me HBO and Showtime free for 3 months when I called about HD+Plat.
 
Then it will go back up to $20.00 a month and all of us that took the HD + plat pack will be screwed paying the extra $10.00 again like when we had Voom pack added to the original hd pack in 2005. Since there is no way to opt out of the plat pack- since it is part of the HD pack now. Talk about BAIT AND SWITCH. :(
No one has shown any proof of that! Where are you getting this from? Please provide links.
If not, please quit making up what WILL happen next Feb. You have no proof of what will happen next Feb. You are just adding more guesses, lies and misinformation to an already confusing situation.
 
How bout we we worry and whine and moan about it IF and when the time comes.
 
No one has shown any proof of that! Where are you getting this from? Please provide links.
If not, please quit making up what WILL happen next Feb. You have no proof of what will happen next Feb. You are just adding more guesses, lies and misinformation to an already confusing situation.

RELAX Dennis . I am only speculating on what the motive was for this confusing HD + Plat promotion. If it bothers you so much don't read it. My God you people really seem to lose your minds over this don't you?:(
 
How bout we we worry and whine and moan about it IF and when the time comes.

Fair enough. But don't be surprised if it happens just like I outlined above. This is DISH we are talking about. Charlie isn't known for his alturistic tendencies. Can you say $5.98 PER DVR receiver? ;) After all didn't DISH remove any reference to the FREE bonus pack of hd Plat channels added to any Hd pack and make it only for new subs in like two days. Blame DISH for the confusion here and their lack of clarification.
 
I keep talking myself into requesting the HD + Platinum package from Dish chat because it is new and exciting but then I look at the programming and realize I don't want it.
 
I keep talking myself into requesting the HD + Platinum package from Dish chat because it is new and exciting but then I look at the programming and realize I don't want it.
It's worth it for MGM and occasionally Universal. Also, HDMovie...some good Connery Bond movies. I've already recorded three movies since Sunday. Get it. Don't cost you nuttin'.
 
It does cost more though. Switching to HD + Platinum takes Gold Bonus Pack and HD out of the premium bundles so my HBO and Showtime would cost more.

If it really was free then I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
Then it will go back up to $20.00 a month and all of us that took the HD + plat pack will be screwed paying the extra $10.00 again like when we had Voom pack added to the original hd pack in 2005. Since there is no way to opt out of the plat pack- since it is part of the HD pack now. Talk about BAIT AND SWITCH. :(

I've been saying this since the beginning, except I'm betting it only goes to $12.99 or $15 at the most. Nobody would pay any attention.

First of all, Bait and Switch is when you advertise an item at a super low price, but you don't have any to sell (or maybe you only have 1 or 2). When people come in, you say "Oh, we're out of that, but look at this more profitable item over here!"

In this case, it would be "This package is a better deal than the one you have"...that all. You're switching packages and losing your grandfathering. No one ever said that the two packages would stay the same price forever. No one is forcing you. You make the choice...which is a good thing. Yet people are complaining that it isn't being done automatically. Those same people are going to complain when the price goes up. (Or in your case, long before.)

Here's what I think happened. There should have never been a separate Platinum package to begin with. But DISH was locked into an expensive deal with Voom. Yet $20 was seen as a barrier price point to add HD, especially at the time when there wasn't much available. So the package was split in two...a VERY profitable HD add-on fee, and a semi- profitable Platinum package (or whatever it was called at the time...I think it was "Ultimate".)

Whether or not it was their intention, this wound up killing off Voom. Which made the Platinum package go from semi-profitable to obscenely profitable.

But no matter how high the margins are, there's no profits if no one is buying it. I would imagine there was some pressure from the program providers too...I know Mark Cuban was unhappy about HDNet Movies being in the package nobody wanted.

So, the solution was to merge the packages back together, which is how it should have been all along. But if they did that with an instant price increase, there would be a huge backlash. So...free"platinum" channels. They will sacrifice a small amount of revenue now, and then make typical sized increases down the line to make it up. I guarantee they can make more money next year charging every HD subscriber an extra $2.99 than they would charging a few of them an extra $10. Not to mention better relations with the program providers, and probably the strength to negotiate better deals.

If you want to switch, do! It's really a good deal, even if it goes up a couple of bucks. But you shouldn't complain that you didn't have it done automatically, then turn around and complain when the price goes up later. Of course, half of you will do exactly that.
 
Sparks I agree that is exactly what they have been doing with this new HD + plat pack. I forsee it going up in February and there won't be anything we that took the new deal ,can do. Especially if it stays in the HD pack like it is today. The only thing I can't forsee is how much will DISH hike it ? Directv charges only $4.99 for the extra hd pack and it is comparable to the Hd plat pack. So I guess we will see a $5.00 increase come next year. God forbid Charlie tries to hike it back to $20.00 like it was with VOom. It could be a big backlash if he tries to go that high.
 
It does cost more though. Switching to HD + Platinum takes Gold Bonus Pack and HD out of the premium bundles so my HBO and Showtime would cost more.

If it really was free then I would do it in a heartbeat.

I believe you are wrong about that, but I'm too tired to mess with it. No on second thought I will, IF and when you change your premiums, yes. But adding Plat does not. I confirmed my "pack" today. No change.
 
I believe you are wrong about that, but I'm too tired to mess with it. No on second thought I will, IF and when you change your premiums, yes. But adding Plat does not. I confirmed my "pack" today. No change.


Really? I've had a couple of other people confirm for me that when they changed from "HD" to "HD + Platinum", their base package was changed from Classic Silver 200 with Gold 250 Bonus Pack to a new line item called Classic Gold 250.

From what I have been told, this transition removes the Bonus Pack and HD from the bundling of premiums thereby switching me from 4 premiums billed at $10 each to 2 premiums totaling $22.

$2 does not seem like much but if I nonchalantly spend $2 here and there on things that are not of value to me, it will start to add up.
 
Since DISH changed their website to reflect only NEW SUBS for this HD + plat pack, how long is this pack supposed to last? Most promotions for new subs are time limited. Surely DISH doesn't intend on this pack to be ONLY for new subs and not for existing subs. How can you have a two price teired system for hd channels. So my question to DISH and CHarlie is will you ever define the terms of this promotion or will you clarify your new policy to show it on your website? I am really interested in what was the original plan here that DISH was supposed to follow or will follow from here out.

CHARLIE/DISH any answers?
 
As idiotic as it sounds, it really does sound like it's forever.

I didn't want to deal with a human to get Platinum, so I went to the package selection web page and de-selected my existing HD package. Then I hit the review order button. On the page that came up, the old HD packages were gone and the new HD + Platinum package for $10 was the option.
 

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