Dish Network, Echostar Copr. ripoff on hd equipment Littleton Colorado

I live off Lake Erie, our Average snowfall is 105 inches a year. My question to you Mattfast1 is why when I call in to Dish they always give me the everything is a-ok... check the dish for snow or ice or obstructions. Thus negating what you've said.

By the way, i'm very biased against Dish Network and I'm what i call a trapped subscriber since DirectV is much like Dish only it's owned by Rupert Murdoch and i can't stand him no more than i can Dish. Cable is the next step for me and it's on it's way to my area. i live out in the country and i can't wait.

I'm also, as you could say, biased against people like mattfast1 who think that Dish does absolutely nothing wrong and if you read his posts, you'll see what i mean!

Thank you all and good luck with Dish. I, myself am seeking participants to sign a petitions both electronic and physical and sending it off to Mr. Charlie Ergen and the Board of Directors. It's time someone did what others talk about!!

When computer technologies change, do you go call Dell and ask for your computer to be upgraded for free too? Because that's about what this is. In this case, when Dish Network first started making HD receivers, the MPEG-4 standard was not available; therefore, receivers could not be built to work with the current HD standard. If your satellite system is properly installed, you shouldn't have any problems with any kind of weather - I've watched satellite TV when there's 3 feet of snow on the ground and the dish is completely covered with snow.

Cable companies have HD boxes now - but how many HD cable boxes did you see before the MPEG-4 standard was released? Not many. Echostar was one of the first companies to play around with HD, and now is the leader in HD technologies.

That should be (should not have to pay)

I didn;t realize I was being so bias on my postings until going back and reading them , I was not just trying to give them a single solution for thier problem, But anyway the fact that I was trying to make was that they should have to pay to be ugraded to be able to keep receiving ther HD servive because that is what they pay dish for , or so I thought. Well anyway hope to hear what happens with your situation, Thanks

First of all, I'm a former Dish Network customer, a current Cable customer, and my husband is an installation supervisor in our local cable system. I've basically 'been there done that' all the way around.

Troy, after reading several of your posts, it's quite obvious that you're making the rounds trying for points. There are advantages to having cable, but also disadvantages in certain areas, making satelite a better choice. Different systems have different things available, including non upgrade areas, no reverse areas etc. In this case, satelite still makes sense. I admire your moxie, but understand that every cable system/company is different, and goes with what the market will bear. There's never one answer to every problem.

In the case of Dish, the OP is correct. You are charged not only for your equipment, but also any upgrades. I was a customer for several years, moving from C-band to satelite, because cable wasn't available in our area. I asked over a period of nearly 2 years for upgraded equipment only to be told 'NO', I would be charged for it. Funny, as soon as my husband made arrangements to have cable run in our area, the story changed. Dish jumped to, ready to upgrade whatever we wanted for $0 cost. Hmmm, too little, too late. We've now been hooked up to cable for 1 1/2 years with none of the hassles that we had with Dish (no picture on snow/rain days, difficulty ordering PPV, paying ala carte for anything that wasn't a shopping/news/public access channel, and NO local channels available!).

Every system is different, and the customer is held hostage by the choices available to him/her. The more choices available, the better the service and prices available.

To the OP, be aware that Dish has 'contractors' that do their work for them. It is not Dish itself. This is how they avoid the controversy and responsibility attached to same. Contact the company that installed your Dish, explain that they 'hi-jacked' your cable lines and that this is unacceptable. Tell them that you EXPECT an adjustment for the shoddy work performed by their technician. Disregarding any resolution that you may receive from the contractor, contact Dish and inform them of your decision to go back to your cable company for all services. Stand your ground and watch them scramble with offers. (Expect this phone conversation to be lengthy, you'll be sent up the line to several different people.) Best case scenario, Dish will step up and provide you with what you want, and throw in a few incentives as well. Worse case scenario, Dish will disconnect your service and ask you to return the equipment that you received in place of the 'early termination' fee. Since the equipment is useless to you without the service, you're still farther ahead.

Before you lock in, check out the promotions available, talk to your local cable office in regards to 'the best deal' that they're willing to lock you in at, then go from there. In regards to Dish, you're correct in thinking that you have the right to expect more than what you've received.

Good Luck, and keep us updated on your report!

And this person shouldn't have to pay anyhting to have a new box put in or to have his dish switched out, this is one of the advantages of having cable over a satillite. If you had cable and you needed to have a new box or the old one was not working properly we would come out and 1 fix it or 2 change the box out with the new one that you needed to get the programing you wanted for no charge. The Sat companies let people but their equipment because when the customer box that they bought from the SAT co. goes bad they have to spend a couple hundred dollars on a new one. To avoid this problem cable companies do not sell their boexes to there customers for that very reason, anything that would go wrong with the cable box the cable co. would fix or change out for free. Anyway our HD boxes are already capable of handeling any new HD programing that would be made available, I have never had to change out a cable HD box because it would work with the new HD channels. So in my personal opinion I thing the SAT's companies ploy to the OP is farfeched and just another way to make him shell out more money for something he dosn't really need in the first place.

I am a lead service tech and what I have just read here makes no sence at all. Dish network is receiveing a monthly payment from this person it is not his job to make sure his dish network equipment is upgraded. It is dish networks job he shouldn't have to pay anything to have a new box put in his home or to have the dish changed out, these contracts and letting customers buy there own receivers is just another way for the dish companies to get more money out of the consumer. In cable we do not let people purchase our digital or HD boxes for that reason, if somehting is wrong and the box needs changed out or upgraded the customer dosn't have to pay anything, besides the HD boxes that we put out are able to handle any new HD channels that would be made available so there would be no upgrading to do at all. And to say to lease the equipment so they would only have to pay 99 dollars is outlandish. Like I said before Dish Network sould incure the cost of the upgrade because they will obviously make there money back within 2 or 3 months.

While I dont completely disagree with your complaint, I also have to support the fact that as technology changes, there are fees to upgrade. If you were to upgrade today it will cost you 299 to upgrade. However I watched Charlie Chat last month and on April 1st, (I believe) there will be another promotion for customers like yourself that currently have an HD DVR such as the 921 or 942 that can upgrade for $99. The cost is basically for the change out of your dish. To get the new channels, it will require an upgrade to your dish since any new channels will be in MPEG4 format. While you may have to wait for two months to get the better promotion. It will be financially worth the wait. I just took part in the $299 promotion yesterday since I dont have an HD reciever yet for my HD Television. It made more sense to lease the reciever than to buy it with the speed at which technology changes. That way when technology changes again, I wont have to shell out $700 or $800 to upgrade my receivers by purchasing them outright.

I have been a long time customer of Dish Network and have found them to be a great company when it comes to Satellite TV. I have never had a bad experience as their customer.

I am also an ex-employee who thinks that Dish Network is a great product but a poor company to work for.

While I dont completely disagree with your complaint, I also have to support the fact that as technology changes, there are fees to upgrade. If you were to upgrade today it will cost you 299 to upgrade. However I watched Charlie Chat last month and on April 1st, (I believe) there will be another promotion for customers like yourself that currently have an HD DVR such as the 921 or 942 that can upgrade for $99. The cost is basically for the change out of your dish. To get the new channels, it will require an upgrade to your dish since any new channels will be in MPEG4 format. While you may have to wait for two months to get the better promotion. It will be financially worth the wait. I just took part in the $299 promotion yesterday since I dont have an HD reciever yet for my HD Television. It made more sense to lease the reciever than to buy it with the speed at which technology changes. That way when technology changes again, I wont have to shell out $700 or $800 to upgrade my receivers by purchasing them outright.

I have been a long time customer of Dish Network and have found them to be a great company when it comes to Satellite TV. I have never had a bad experience as their customer.

I am also an ex-employee who thinks that Dish Network is a great product but a poor company to work for.

While I dont completely disagree with your complaint, I also have to support the fact that as technology changes, there are fees to upgrade. If you were to upgrade today it will cost you 299 to upgrade. However I watched Charlie Chat last month and on April 1st, (I believe) there will be another promotion for customers like yourself that currently have an HD DVR such as the 921 or 942 that can upgrade for $99. The cost is basically for the change out of your dish. To get the new channels, it will require an upgrade to your dish since any new channels will be in MPEG4 format. While you may have to wait for two months to get the better promotion. It will be financially worth the wait. I just took part in the $299 promotion yesterday since I dont have an HD reciever yet for my HD Television. It made more sense to lease the reciever than to buy it with the speed at which technology changes. That way when technology changes again, I wont have to shell out $700 or $800 to upgrade my receivers by purchasing them outright.

I have been a long time customer of Dish Network and have found them to be a great company when it comes to Satellite TV. I have never had a bad experience as their customer.

I am also an ex-employee who thinks that Dish Network is a great product but a poor company to work for.

While I dont completely disagree with your complaint, I also have to support the fact that as technology changes, there are fees to upgrade. If you were to upgrade today it will cost you 299 to upgrade. However I watched Charlie Chat last month and on April 1st, (I believe) there will be another promotion for customers like yourself that currently have an HD DVR such as the 921 or 942 that can upgrade for $99. The cost is basically for the change out of your dish. To get the new channels, it will require an upgrade to your dish since any new channels will be in MPEG4 format. While you may have to wait for two months to get the better promotion. It will be financially worth the wait. I just took part in the $299 promotion yesterday since I dont have an HD reciever yet for my HD Television. It made more sense to lease the reciever than to buy it with the speed at which technology changes. That way when technology changes again, I wont have to shell out $700 or $800 to upgrade my receivers by purchasing them outright.

I have been a long time customer of Dish Network and have found them to be a great company when it comes to Satellite TV. I have never had a bad experience as their customer.

I am also an ex-employee who thinks that Dish Network is a great product but a poor company to work for.