Charlie Chat.....total disgrace!

[rolou21]

Why doesn't cheap charlie take off this rediculous dumb ass of a show period...stupid jokes....stupid lead ins....asking questions to the peanut galley who has no clues but I don't know answers!
Cheap Charlie...do yourself a favor and sell your sinking ship to someone who knows how to sell a viable product....receivers that never craash...constant DP software updates which makes the units more worse that it was before. Cheap Charlie you should get more involved with your staff.....I couldn't believe when that moron defranco asked about added ppv channels in which cheap charlie had no clue.......I predict many more outages to come.

WHY ARE THERE 2 OUTAGES AND NO EXPLANATION!!!!
WHY ARE YOU STILL MARKETING THE DYING DP!!!
WHY NO YES NETWORK!!!!
WHY SO MANY BUGGY RECEIVERS!!!!
WHY SUCH POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
WHY IS THE 721 TAKING SOOO LONG FOR INTERACTIVE FEATURES!!
WHY DIRECTV WILL EMERGE AS THE LEADING DIRECT TO HOME PROVIDER!!!
Doesn't that concern you Cheap Charlie........

[DCSholtis]

Hey Rolou.....why you getting so pissed at good ole Charlie....:D .....I mean look at the bright side he DID manage to land some exclusive cricket match thing didnt he?!! For that you should give the dude credit..:rolling: ....so while you guys are watching that I will be busy watching the Yankees Spring Training on YES over on D*.......Uhhhhhh have fun...:rotfl:

[Darkman]

some unhappy campers - looks like ........

[Jersey_man]

rolou21

What can I say? You are absolutely right on the Money!

I hate the way cheap Charlie can look right into the camera and bullsh*t about why he can't do this or that...Give me a freaking break! Charlie please do us all a favor and just admit that you are too cheap to provide the quality service or programming that your customers deserve... I'm getting tired of Dish Network...

Uh DTV is on Jet Blue... What airline is Dish Network in?

[Keith4USC]

I switched in December to Directv (total accident) and it looks like I made the right choice..... I get my MLB package for 139.00..... That sounds like a decent price for a year of baseball.... I was very happy they renewed the NFL Ticket...... All I kept hearing was Directv has to go up on prices after the NFL Ticket renewed (they probably will......) and who goes up on their rates 1st..... I guess Charlie is helping Directv pay for the Sunday Ticket.....

[boba]

Yesterdays chat was so bad I'm glad I had a PVR. Charlie was so boring I fell asleep about the time he started on more locals. At least I was Able to fast forward through the part I slept through to see if I missed anything. It really is amazing how he ignores the problems his network has.

[Bob Haller]

My 721 didnt tape the chat. The outage hosed the timers E said delete all 50 and start over:(

I wonder if ChaRLIE S EVEN AWARE OF HOW BAD THINGS ARE GETTING?

[dbronstein]

If you guys are so fed up with Charlie, then why don't you just switch already?

Dennis

[boba]

dbronstein I am in the process of getting a contract to sell Directv and I just renewed my contract to sell DISH for two more years I just wish he would wake up to the problems he has.

[Scott Greczkowski]

If I had the money and if I could get new customer pricing on DirecTV stuff I would switch, my wife is VERY upset with Dish at the moment, she was upset over the outtages and was very upset there was no mention last night of the problems.

My problem is I use to be a DirecTV customer (I still do have my old receiver a RCA 720RE) But to switch from Dish to DirecTV I will need a HD Receiver to replace my 6000, I will need 3 DirecTivo's to replace my Dishplayers and 721.

Because I had DirecTV (and canceled over a year ago) my cost to buy all this stuff would be $700 more then if I was a new subscriber.

I wish DirecTV had a WINBACK team.

It is clear to me that Charlie has no idea of whats happening with his company or with broadcasting in a whole. Last night someone asked if local HD Channels would be carried by Dish, Charlie answered no and he also said Cable wont carry them eaither. (There are NOW MANY cable system now providing Local HD Channels!) Then charlie made a comment that he would help people get antennas so they can better pick up their off air signals.

Does Dish Network have a business plan? When the CEO of the company says something to the effect of "Im not sure what we will do in the future" does not show me that they do.

It's kind of scarry, if I was a shareholder I would be very concerned.

[Tim]

Scott- why don't you sell your receivers on ebay... you'd probably come out ahead in the deal.

Here's an idea for all you guys who can't stand the chats- DON'T WATCH THEM!! I'd feel bad for you if they had you strapped in a chair a'la A Clockwork Orange, but for God's sake you have a remote- Use it!

And if the servive is so bad vote with your feet/wallet/dish!

[jeffwtux]

Do you want to know the most amazing thing about the state of Dish and Echostar is???

THERE STOCK IS SKY HIGH???
It's doubled from their 52 week low in July. Iff you put $1500 in DIsh in July, you'd have enough profit to pay for 1 year of America's Everying and buy a 721.

[sampatterson]

I liked that they are adding some new cinemax channels, that they are in negotiations for more HD, etc, but overall the chat was lame.

[Mike123abc]

You have to wonder what Charlie is working on if he does not seem to have a clue about all the issues raised. He has to have people working for him that know what is going on, and you know they have a sick feeling in the stomach when they see this.

Most dish customers of course are only unhappy when there is a service interruption. They really could care less about most of the issues raised on the boards. The service interruption has to be the most critical thing on Charlie's stack of stuff to do.

This is why I am glad the 921 has moved off to middle/late year. I do not want to spend a penny on Dish equipment until I am comfortable again with what dish's plans are. I still have the option of pointing my dish at 101 if needed, or change back to cable.

People get so passionate about Dish's failings because they tend to have serious $$ tied up in Dish equipment and do not want to abandon their investment.

[dbronstein]

Scott, the pricing for new customers versus existing or returning customers does make no sense at all. Granted you're probably an exception in the number and type of receivers you want, but even so, you'd think they'd cut a break to returning customers.

I can understand why they don't want to give existing customers a break on upgrading receivers since they already have the monthly revenue, but you'd think they'd want to reward loyal customers as well. Maybe cut the prices on the boxes in return for signing/extending your contract.

Why did you leave DirecTV in the first place?

Dennis

[Scott Greczkowski]

I got DirecTV for NFL as my Dad was sick and is a football fan. Once NFL was done I canceled as the rest of my house has Dish Equipment no need to duplicate programming between to two.

[Mark Holtz]

Scott: Right now, my contract is locked at the AT-150, and I will not have a rate increase until May, 2003. At that time, my rates will increase $3 per month. (Remember last years $1 increase).

Now, mind you, I have a dish that is out of alignment, so I have no usable signal at 110/13 & 29. Dish did attempt to schedule an appointment earlier than tomorrow to re-peak the dish, but both my mom and I were out of town. (I want my 9 day guide back).

[Rayser]

Charlie just needs to stop having Charlie Chats. If he gives you a heads up on TNT & NESN negotiations, then you all switching to D. If says nothing about a couple half hour outages on some receivers, again you are leaving . If rates go up a couple of percent annually, Charlie ruining my life. Charlie says no to HD Locals, whoever thought that was possible. Stop the Charlie Chats! Ignorance is BLISS!

[Darkman]

Keep the Chats!

Love 'em - be they Good or Bad :)

[Richard King]

If the typical customer has the attitudes expressed here or on the dbstalk live chat (which I am sure he/she doesn't) I would cancel them myself if I were Charlie. Try to find ANY other company that even ATTEMPTS to communicate with the customer this way (including the great, never makes a mistake DirecTv).

[Darkman]

RKing401 - i am with you 100 %!

[cnsf]

Originally posted by dbronstein
If you guys are so fed up with Charlie, then why don't you just switch already?

Dennis

Unfortunately, I am. But a bad chat is better than no chat. Kudos to Charlie for sticking it out even through these rocky times.

He's doing his job well, I just need the YES Network. I gave them a year to come through.

[SParker]

The only way I would switch is if the UPN network went under and E* really went in the tank. So far I am satisfied with E*.

[spanishannouncetable]

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski
If I had the money and if I could get new customer pricing on DirecTV stuff I would switch, my wife is VERY upset with Dish at the moment, she was upset over the outtages and was very upset there was no mention last night of the problems.

My problem is I use to be a DirecTV customer (I still do have my old receiver a RCA 720RE) But to switch from Dish to DirecTV I will need a HD Receiver to replace my 6000, I will need 3 DirecTivo's to replace my Dishplayers and 721.

Because I had DirecTV (and canceled over a year ago) my cost to buy all this stuff would be $700 more then if I was a new subscriber.

I wish DirecTV had a WINBACK team.

Why do you assume it would cost you an extra $700 ?

Directv only offers discounts on very basic receivers, not the stuff you want. Does Dish Network hand out 6000's and 721's for next-to-nothing to a new sub ? Of course not.

Like E*, Directv does not offer new sub discounts on HD receivers anywhere, but HDVR2 units are $199 every day to both new & existing subs at Tweeter stores (there's one near you in CT).

A Hughes HD receiver goes for $550 at orbitsat (similar prices at Best Buy & Circuit City)
3 HDVR2's would be $600 at Tweeter
A couple of standard LNBs, a SatC kit and a 5x8 switch should be obtainable for ~$250
I will assume you have a couple of Dish 500's laying around you could use :)

$550 + $600 + $250 = $1400, installed by you with no discount necessary from Directv

Sell your 6000, 721 and DP's on ebay and you may break even, or be out-of pocket very little.

So what are you waiting for ? :D

[Bob Haller]

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski
If I had the money and if I could get new customer pricing on DirecTV stuff I would switch, my wife is VERY upset with Dish at the moment, she was upset over the outtages and was very upset there was no mention last night of the problems.

My problem is I use to be a DirecTV customer (I still do have my old receiver a RCA 720RE) But to switch from Dish to DirecTV I will need a HD Receiver to replace my 6000, I will need 3 DirecTivo's to replace my Dishplayers and 721.

Because I had DirecTV (and canceled over a year ago) my cost to buy all this stuff would be $700 more then if I was a new subscriber.

I wish DirecTV had a WINBACK team.

It is clear to me that Charlie has no idea of whats happening with his company or with broadcasting in a whole. Last night someone asked if local HD Channels would be carried by Dish, Charlie answered no and he also said Cable wont carry them eaither. (There are NOW MANY cable system now providing Local HD Channels!) Then charlie made a comment that he would help people get antennas so they can better pick up their off air signals.

Does Dish Network have a business plan? When the CEO of the company says something to the effect of "Im not sure what we will do in the future" does not show me that they do.

It's kind of scarry, if I was a shareholder I would be very concerned.

Scott why you you state this yet suggest I am too negative. I honestly have the same concerns you do. Charlie appears out of touch. Charlie was the driving force behind the company, now his workers dont appear to care, all these problems. All issues I am concerned with too.

Thats why I am negatve....

[Turbohawk]

Originally posted by Tim
Scott- why don't you sell your receivers on ebay... you'd probably come out ahead in the deal...


Hehe, not going to get much for any Dishnet item after those prospective buyers read this thread!!!

Seems that modern TV is not without it's myriad of probs.

I'm happy with my PVR508. I guess I'm just easy to please. Time will tell on the rest.

[Bob Haller]

My 508 is my ONLY stable receiver. Its working fine and HOPEFULLY it will stay that way!

[Turbohawk]

Originally posted by Mike123abc
The service interruption has to be the...

When did this service interruption take place? I must have missed it.

[Steve Mehs]

There was one last week Thursday, at around 9PM EST and one yesterday around 4:30 PM EST that lasted for 30-45 minutes and from what Scott reported there was a brief outage today at the 110 location this afternoon.

[wrate]

Maybe the no merger thing hit the guy harder than he thought, yet, he does look confused. But surely he must have known that the odds of this going through were small.

[Richard King]

Obviously, any outages that did occur were not as wide spread as some would have you believe. If it were a total blackout the subject would have come up. They have never shirked from discussing blackouts in the past if they were widespread. I have had no blackouts here at all recently, but, then again, I am not glued to my television 24 hours a day, so I could have missed something. As the old saying goes, "It's only television".

By the way, when the 921 comes out, I will probably bump up to that. If anyone wants my D-VHS unit let me know. It has been very stable from day one, but the guide is so slow as to be mostly useless for anything beyond 1 hour or so. With the manual timers I never use the guide anyway.

[Bob Haller]

Therev were DEFINETELY MAJOR OUTAGES. Someone repoirted Jim De Franco was asked during a dealer chat and he wasnt aware of them.

I am seriously concerned that the shoip is eaderless right now, and if I owned stock sell it now. Theres a serious problem. Wonder if charlie is ready to retire a very rich man?

With his wealthy he could have fun the rest of his life and never work again.

[bunkers]

My wild guess based on the emotions shown by charlie and the way DISH stock price is acting ... is that he may have a deal almost done to sell the company (his baby) to a competitor (other than DTV) and its only a matter of time before we find out who its gonna be. This is only wild speculation, of course.

[FTA Michael]

It's weird. I was also thinking that on some Charlie Chat soon, he's gonna drop The Big One -- that he's stepping down and cashing in at least some of his chips.

After beating every obstacle, Charlie saw a real defeat when the merger was slapped down. Maybe that's why I had that crazy thought.

[normang]

I think some people need here to get a life, no one here I beleive has a clue what its like inside Dish, good, bad, or indifferent.

Many of you seem to be make assumptions that things are really bad. Dish has had a couple outages, how many cable companies come on and tell you about all their latest downtimes on the air or anywhere else. Hi, this is Time_Warner, (or AT&T Broadband) your recent cable outage only lasted 24 hours, but its back up now, have a Good day, and don't call us, or we'll raise your rates some more..

I personally like the chats, do they provide me with good info, sometimes yes, sometime no. But I am glad they are there.

Many of you seem to think the grass is greener on the other side, I seriously doubt it myself, if and when GM finally does something with Direct, I doubt if anything good will come from it for a long time. Its even possible that GM may eventually decide to close Direct and sell off the assets to re-coup the losses. Then what will you do?

[Richard King]

I am seriously concerned that the shoip is eaderless right now, and if I owned stock sell it now. Theres a serious problem. Wonder if charlie is ready to retire a very rich man?Charlie retiring a "very rich man" would drive the stock down very quickly. The reason that Dish is selling at a premium to GMH is because of better management and this will be confirmed by nearly any analyst out there. Take a look at the recent performance of the two companies also. The merger is turned down and DISH goes up while GMH flounders. Charlie and others on the managment team now will have the time to pay attention to the business rather than chasing a merger.

[Bob Haller]

Well a insider told me he expected a long drawn out litigation over the mergers death. Surprise, just ok its over.

Does Charlie realy believe a merger was necessary for survival?

Were still waiting for merger died heres our fantastic killer future plan. Heck that plan should of been designed while the merger was getting investigated to death...

All this does not add up. Something is wrong in E ville. Charlie or close family member ill? Selling out so I dont care? Depressed? His management team protecting him from problem info?

Hey E didnt even let the dealers know if they would still be dealers with the new contract till Metro clled a dealer chat and dropped the bomb. Charlie immediately said get back to all ofthem.

Stuff like that is not a goo sign, those under charlie arent keeping him well informed for whatever reason. The ship has no captain.....

[Dennis]

Who other than DTV is a competitor?

[DevoDave]

I have to agree with normang a bit here, at least Dish cares enough to give us a clue every once in a while about what is going on regarding their company that some of us believe in enough to be subscribers.

No, not all is perfect in E*ville, and they do not bend over backward to upgrade existing customers, but I have yet to regret buying Dish hardware. I am eager for the 921, but I want it to function properly and be affordable, and believe Dish does too.

I didn't think much of the recent Charlie chat either, prefer the tech chat myself, but am glad they offer chats at all.

Frankly, it would be nice if they contributed to this forum, or kept a current website.

[toomuchtv]

A current website would be a shocker. I don't think I have ever seen such a major company (especially a technology based one) with such a lousy, bland, site . It is always such a long time before it is updated. They should be bringing the news about NBA TV, CNBC World, the new package bundles, etc. to the readers' attention with graphics, links & all the hype. I did see one apology for a recent service outage on there a week or so ago & was surprised to find it there. Gone now, though. Recent activity does seem strange.

[DevoDave]

I actually pecked a note to them via email about the lameness of their site just after they modified it to its current form. The previous site seemed to have more info and detail, and the new one has very little. Unbecoming of a growth-oriented company, eh? Web presence is important these days, especially for info hungry folks like us.

[bunkers]

How about the possibility of DISH aquiring sirius and getting into that business to complete against XM? I'm not saying it makes sense, but SIRI needs cash and DISH has got some right now.

Maybe they have a new plan for delivering internet access which involves some kind of merger or major joint venture.

I think his mood reflects things going on which we'll find out about in the coming 12 months.

Normang, people here enjoy talking about all things DBS -- so its not about "getting a life". If your participating, then this must be part of your life as well.

[DaYooper]

Originally posted by Dennis
Who other than DTV is a competitor?

If you believe our Government, Direct TV is their only competitor.

On the other hand, if you look at the the last 5+ years it's really obvious that Dish Network's (and Direct TV's too) real competitors are the cable TV giants.

[Richard King]

Heck that plan should of been designed while the merger was getting investigated to death...I am sure they would run any plan they had in mind past you so that you would be aware of it.

[Mike123abc]

Even though the Charlie Chat disscussions have been lame lately, Charlie has been running the business well. His profits keep going up while DirecTV keeps pumping out the red ink (yes they got a profitable quarter, made 115mill after E* gave them 600mil, i.e. net loss of $485). That is why DirectTV gave up so quick and took the 600million instead of trying to force E* to buy PanAmSat.

[Jacob S]

It is better to have the Charlie Chat than none at all and there is not always going to be some exciting news or much going on. It is sure nice to have a Charlie Chat for when new things do happen. They are nice to have and at least he does what he can do to keep people informed, he has done this since he started running the company.

Also I think Dish does need to diversify, they tried with the internet by satellite with a joint venture but got out of that (Starband) but going in it with SIRUS and starting up some other things by satellite could help them as well and give them a push as well because as they sell one service they could advertise the other and bundle things together.

[raj2001]

Originally posted by Dennis
Who other than DTV is a competitor?

Exactly. Which is why I did not want the merger to go through. Who would you run to in the bad times? At least you still have a choice to switch providers. I have D* and I have had a few bad experiences but overall they have been pretty good. If Charlie had taken them over and now this lack of service had happened, what was I to do? I couldn't go back to cable, now could I?

To all who are dissatisfied with DISH, do yourself a favor and switch. Don't whine and complain, and have sympathy for poor old Charlie. Charlie spends more money in a year than most of us would make in our lifetimes. When he sees subs fleeing then he would wake up and do something.

It's really strange that DISH has all this cash now and they're dragging their feet, while GMH is in the hole and they're getting aggressive. Something just doesn't compute!!

If you want a good DBS provider then you have to stand up and make your voices heard. Tell Charlie you don't want any more of this nonsense and he has to do something now or else he loses your business to the competitor.

[Phil T]

I think that now a days we all have a very short attention span!!

Charlie goes out in front of his customers and tells them "some of the goings on" but we all know better, and are disappointed when we don't hear what we want to hear.

I had cable for 15 years before coming to Dish and did the owner ever tell me what was going on?

Televents was bought by Jones Intercable, who was bought by TCI who was bought by AT&T who was bought by Comcast. The only way you ever knew what was going on is when you had to write your check to a different company!!!

Charlie chats used to be interesting when AT 50 became AT 60 - AT 100-AT 150 . We had new channels every month!!

Now if a couple of months go by and we don't have any great news, the sky is falling!!

I upgraded from a 3000 to a Dishplayer (real cool in 1999) to a 501 and a 6000. Nobody held a gun to my head to make me upgrade.

I considered selling off my Dish equipment and going to DirecTivo, but after siting down and talking it through with my wife, It just doesn't make any sense.

My Dishplayer is reliable (most of the time). I have never had a problem with my 501, and after watching the AFC playoff's in HDTV on my 6000 this weekend (WOW) it is staying right where it is.

Yes, I get frustrated. I don't want to pay for PVR service on my Dishplayer in June!! A DirecTivo sounds cool, but so does a 721 or a 921. I like my superstations!

I give Charlie credit for facing the masses! His customers, investors, employees and competitors. I hope he continues, even if the Charlie Chat chat is more interesting.

All I know for sure is that all things will change!!!!