Dish Network Cancellation

[olds]

Originally posted by: WTT0001
I'll answer a bunch of various questions in no particular order (I skimmed the thread):

(1) Dish network only wants the equipment back if you "lease" it (most of the installs done in the last 3 years (give or take) ). Most installs done before that, you "own" the equipment and they don't care what you do with it. They only way to know for sure is to call them or to check the original contract you signed (you "should" have been given a copy).

(2) If they want the equipment back, they want: All Receivers (the box), all dish network remote controls, Any switch (you may have one, you may not, most are a large silver box (6x6x2?) that all cables hook up to, generally at the dish, in the basement, or near where the cables come in the house), and last but not least, the LNB if possible (also known as the eye(s) of the dish, the thing on the end of the dish, etc. Can be as easy as 1 phillips screw, or as complicated as 4 phillips screws + 2 10mm bolts depending on the dish and assuming just 1.

(3) Phone Lines: Any single tuner does not need one unless you want to be able to order PPV (or use the interactive stuff I think). Examples would be: 311, 301, Legacy equipment (4 digit model #s), etc. Any dual tuner does not "need" one BUT if it doesn't have one hooked up at all times then Dish Network charges you a $5 a month fee for the "2nd room" (whether you use it/have it hooked up or not). Examples would be: 322, 522/625, 722, etc.

(4) Activation/Deactivation: Everything is computerized and controlled from their end, they use the receiver # and smart card # to enable/disable what you can/cannot see. The smart card is "Married" to the receiver and then given "permission" to access the channels you pay for. Cancel the account, they send the command throught the sat to the receiver to deactivate itself (rumer has is, Immediately, then every 24 hours for a bit, and then every 3 - 7 days just to make sure they got it)

I think that covers everything I saw, LMK if you have any more ???s I might have answers for ya

WTT

I have a question.
Why do those fuckheads want me to pay to upgrade my 3 year old DVR to the new one?
$100+ bucks a month isn't good enough for them?

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: WTT0001
... Any dual tuner does not "need" one BUT if it doesn't have one hooked up at all times then Dish Network charges you a $5 a month fee for the "2nd room" (whether you use it/have it hooked up or not)....

This $5 month charge was the one thing that irritated me. It implied that updating the schedule was more costly to dish doing it from the satellite as opposed to the phone lines. This makes no sense but I suppose it's one more opportunity to get nickel and dimed. iirc, I had the highest level package the last year and the charge was waived.

There was no smart card in the dvr I had - at least not user accessible.

 

[BoomerD]

Originally posted by: Summit
why wouldn't you plug in your phoneline, thats an additional 4.99 a month.

What additional $4.99/month? We've had dish for several years, and the ONLY time the phone line is plugged in is when we order a PPV movie.

 

[WTT0001]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
I have a question.
Why do those fuckheads want me to pay to upgrade my 3 year old DVR to the new one?
$100+ bucks a month isn't good enough for them?

The real answer to this is that you are already a customer, tough, now if you were a new customer then it would be free (or if you were a new OR existing DTV customer, they get a free DVR upgrade too). I would call and tell them that since DTV is giving out free DVR upgrades to existing customers and that since you have been a great customer for x number of years would they consider doing an upgrade for you for free.

Originally posted by: seemingly random
This $5 month charge was the one thing that irritated me. It implied that updating the schedule was more costly to dish doing it from the satellite as opposed to the phone lines. This makes no sense but I suppose it's one more opportunity to get nickel and dimed. iirc, I had the highest level package the last year and the charge was waived.

There was no smart card in the dvr I had - at least not user accessible.

Nothing to do with the "schedule", everything to do with you ordering more PPV and making them more money, if the phone line is hooked up you are 100 times more likely to order a PPV movie than if it isn't hooked up and you had to get up, hook it up, order the movie, unhook the phone line and put it away.

And yes, the smart cards in any modern Dish network receiver are built in so it isn't user accessible, can't pull them out to hack them that way

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: WTT0001
...everything to do with you ordering more PPV and making them more money...

I have never ordered PPV so this didn't even enter into consideration - kind of disappointing that they pull this. The stuff on PPV will be on hbo, etc in six months anyway so I could wait.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat


I have a question.
Why do those fuckheads want me to pay to upgrade my 3 year old DVR to the new one?
$100+ bucks a month isn't good enough for them?

Its all about drawing in new customers.
I got a similar thing going on with me and internet service.
New customers get it at 25.00 a month for 6 months , I get to pay 80.00 per month.
So I canceled.
I figure if 80.00 a month for over two years isn't a good enough customer to get some kind of price break, then screw them.


I do understand why they don't just hand out new receivers to current customers.
The vip722 is said to cost dish over 300.00 to produce.

 

[FoBoT]

that is why we switched, it seemed that we'd get a better deal as a new customer at directv than an existing customer at DIsh

it is almost like they only care about new customers, not keeping old customers

 

[SlickSnake]

I'm fixing to be Dish Dumping. Shows the billing period beginning on 3/25 so on 3/24 they will get a cancel call. 3 years of 200 channels of which 99% of I never watch. I'm broke from paying nearly $70 a month and mostly watching only 5 of them.

I will have to rent Battlestar Galactica on my BlockBuster online sub when season 3 comes out, heh. Really the only thing I'm going to miss on the Dish.

Even the basic "family" package of crap for $20 a month don't even offer Sci-Fi channel, so screw 'em.

They need to offer improved programming packages that don't turn into paid programming junk after midnite or so until 7 or 8 in the morning. Even the home shopping ones turn into paid programming for Enzyte half the time, WTF?

I thought about getting DirectTV, but then, the same problem applies. Getting mostly channels of crap I will NEVER watch, plus then being locked into another long term contract.