PSA: The Hopper is NOT free.

[Fritzo]

Is that like the Hopper, where they tell you it's free, but they won't let you have one unless you agree to pay a monthly fee for it?

Nope---it's free AND they give you a $10 credit on your account. Be sure to call if you're a dish customer. Hot deal!

 

[theprodigalrebel]

Nope---it's free AND they give you a $10 credit on your account. Be sure to call if you're a dish customer. Hot deal!

Yeah, but this only works if you had a package that included AMC (like America's Top 200) as of June 30th (AMC went dark on July 1st).

Thousands of people tried this trick as soon as word got out you could get a free Roku 2 XS by calling and complaining about the AMC Takedown. If your account shows you didn't actually have AMC as of June 30th, no Roku for you!

 

[Fritzo]

Yeah, but this only works if you had a package that included AMC (like America's Top 200) as of June 30th (AMC went dark on July 1st).

Thousands of people tried this trick as soon as word got out you could get a free Roku 2 XS by calling and complaining about the AMC Takedown. If your account shows you didn't actually have AMC as of June 30th, no Roku for you!

So, you're saying if nothing was taken away from you, they won't compensate you for it? THOSE BASTARDS!!!!!!

 

[sixone]

Doesn't matter anyway. I only really want six channels, but not bad enough to pay $70 a month for them.

Especially to a company that uses deceptive advertising.

 

[MikeL DISH]

sixone,

Our advertised price reflects that of the programming package. It doesn't include other aspects that are factored in, such as additional receiver fees and the Protection Plan service, because customers are going to have various different items and services on their accounts. Not all accounts are going to look the same and have the same equipment. The advertised price is for the opening promotional period and is based on current pricing.

 

[MikeL DISH]

Zargon,

I'd like to provide some clarification to your post. The primary receiver, which is the most advanced and expensive of all the receivers, on an account is always provided at no monthly cost. It's only any receiver in addition to the primary that incurs a monthly fee.

 

[Pr0d1gy]

Why do you pay insurance? Do you own the receiver?

New technology is almost never 100% reliable, and I'm not a cheap bastard.

 

[Fritzo]

Why would you have to pay if their equipment needs to be repaired? Unless your kid fills it with oatmeal, it's their responsibility to maintain their equipment.

If I'm paying $10 a month for a receiver, that receiver better work. If it doesn't, it's going back. If they want me to pay for their service, they'll send me a new one. Another $7 for insurance is nothing but a ripoff.

Nope. The equipment is in your care and they don't maintain it after you get it. Nearly all cable/sat companies are like this. If you're not paying a monthly lease fee, you have to pay for repairs.

 

[MikeL DISH]

lxskllr,

To clear up any confusion with that, it's the initial installation of the equipment that's free of charge. Also, one of the Hoppers would be at no cost each month, being the primary receiver on the account.

 

[MikeL DISH]

OutHouse,

I would be more than happy to help you with any questions you have about your billing if you have our service! Please let me know and I'll enjoy the opportunity to assist you further!

 

[sixone]

Nope. The equipment is in your care and they don't maintain it after you get it. Nearly all cable/sat companies are like this. If you're not paying a monthly lease fee, you have to pay for repairs.

That's why I'm not paying a monthly lease fee, or anything else.

There are a couple of shows I miss, but they're not worth $60/month.

 

[MikeL DISH]

Fritzo,

That's awesome to hear that you're finding the billing service effective! We love to hear that! If you have any questions for us, I encourage you to let me know so I can take a look and help you further!

 

[BrokenVisage]

The Haw-pah?

 

[MikeL DISH]

Corporate Thug,

I would love to help you with any concerns you have with the service if you could let me know how I can be of assistance!

 

[MikeL DISH]

BoomerD,

I came across your post and wanted to ask about more of the details of the service you found enjoyable or concerning. Please let me know as I'm very interested in assisting you in getting it sorted out and hope to hear from you!

 

[MikeL DISH]

hclarkjr,

It would be my pleasure to hear from you to get some of the details of your concerns with the service if you could fill me in! I'll enjoy the opportunity to assist you!

 

[CZroe]

MikeL DISH,

You realize you can actually quote those posts within your own reply, right? There's a button for that on each post.

 

[MikeL DISH]

CZroe,

Please understand that in order to enjoy DVR functionality, which includes the ability to watch Video on Demand, as well as to watch and record two separate programs at the same time, an account must have both a DVR Service fee and a higher cost receiver that has DVR capability.

 

[MikeL DISH]

I wanted to welcome you to the DISH family! We're very happy to have you with us and hope you've been enjoying the service. I'm always here to help if you have any questions, so please let me know and I'll look forward to assisting you!

Nice. Who's your provider. The only cable around here is Comcast. Their boxes are shit, expensive, lack whole-home HDDVR without paying considerably more than Hopper/Joey and the insurance costs extra.

It's one of the reasons we bailed and went with Dish.

 

[CZroe]

How did charging for DVR become the industry norm?! I know: Because people let their providers force it on them, even when TiVo and Media Center were fully-functional and there was no reason to pay a monthly fee (high cost for TiVo lifetime or MCE PC though).

I always objected to the very idea. It was like paying my cable co to let me use my VCR.

CZroe,

Please understand that in order to enjoy DVR functionality, which includes the ability to watch Video on Demand, as well as to watch and record two separate programs at the same time, an account must have both a DVR Service fee and a higher cost receiver that has DVR capability.

No. That's my point. An account "must" have DVR service for that only because the industry made it that way and we stupidly allowed it to.

People could watch and record separate TV programs with a VCR. Requiring a rented DVR to do the same thing with satellite service is a limitation created by your service for the express purpose of renting out the DVR a customer should have been able to purchase from the store. Also, this happened long before dual-tuner was the selling point. I'd rent a DiSH module to put into a DVR or my own choosing just like a cable card, but it would not be any more expensive than two standard boxes capable of tuning a single channel each with no ability to record (I brought that ability to the table myself).

 

[CZroe]

I wanted to welcome you to the DISH family! We're very happy to have you with us and hope you've been enjoying the service. I'm always here to help if you have any questions, so please let me know and I'll look forward to assisting you!

Now he's getting it!

Good job using the quote function.

For what it is worth, we do appreciate hearing from companies and reps directly. It also helps us vent and get our opinions to the ears of those who need to hear it.

Here's some useful feedback: The Hopper radio commercials confused me for months. They never said what it was or what it did and the discussion only made it worse! I had no idea it was a DVR. That's a complete failure from a marketing viewpoint. Someone should have caught that much sooner.

 

[MikeL DISH]

That's awesome to hear that you've been happy with your billing and most of your equipment's working well! How are you liking your programming package? In regards to requiring the receiver back, we would require it only if it's leased. If you had purchased it, it's yours to keep. Were you considering cancelling your service? Let me know so I may assist you further and I hope to hear from you!

It sounds like you have to pay extra for the DVR. I have a regular receiver for dish that I pay nothing for. I'm pretty sure they'd want it back if I canceled but even that I'm not sure of.

My bill is $15 for Welcome Pack + $16 for HBO + $7 for the protection plan. I could drop the protection plan and might. I've never had a problem with the receiver but I did need to have a cable replaced once. I live in a pretty windy area.

The protection may have been required during the initial contract period though, I can't remember.

I'm not sure how it works where you are though. I've never heard of a hopper but I don't even on a HD receiver.