Retailer Charlie Chat [Archive]

jeffwtux

07-12-02, 09:33 PM

What about ClubDish and the ClubDish promotions? They must of said something about ClubDish. They didn't on the last retailer chat. All current ClubDish promotions have a July 31 expiration date. Are they all extended? There's been no mention of that thus far. If they have been extended, then ClubDish Free Dish is essentially the only promotion for 2 receivers. I mean right now on Dish's website, if you say you have 2 TVs they will point you 123 Free which expires on July 31. What will they suggest on August 1?? You say they don't care about us independent retailers. I agree, but I'll do you 1 further. They don't even care about new customers.

kck

07-12-02, 09:42 PM

The reason they call it a RETAILER chat and lock it out from customers is so we know what is going on before you the customer does. I'm sorry to be a stick in the mud but I would hope other dealers keep mum about what was said. For various reasons, a lot of dealers don't watch the chat for a few days. If any dealer is stupid enough to talk about prices I would hope a moderator will block it out.

DishDude1

07-12-02, 11:30 PM

agreed kck...there is a more appropriate forum for this type of discussion.

Darkman

07-13-02, 12:09 AM

for any dealers that care - i ve been told that Retailer Chat
rebroadcasts will begin July 16th at 12:00 noon, Eastern....

Was any New non-confidential info revealed during this Retailer chat on any new Channels/Locals/Tech info?

Thanks

Kagato

07-13-02, 12:09 AM

Having worked retail electronics many years ago I don't see the big deal. Anything said in those meetings always hit the news pubs for the channel in a matter of weeks if not days. The only thing we ever kept quiet was the accomindations programs direct from most electronics makers (Basically brands like Sony, Infinity, etc. will directly sell sales people stuff at their cost .)

jeffwtux

07-13-02, 05:16 AM

Originally posted by kck
The reason they call it a RETAILER chat and lock it out from customers is so we know what is going on before you the customer does. I'm sorry to be a stick in the mud but I would hope other dealers keep mum about what was said. For various reasons, a lot of dealers don't watch the chat for a few days. If any dealer is stupid enough to talk about prices I would hope a moderator will block it out.

Lighten up man, we're not talking about national security here, or even critical classified company info. I AM A RETAILER, my company name is Grand River Networks, my retailer # is 798233. Even if I wasn't so what. All I was asking for is the general description of any promotions, not the exact details. That will be public days later anyways. Spaz out man. Not only will I discuss this, I have no problem critizing the company when their promotions suck. You obviously will defend the promotions and the actions whether you believe in them or not. You'll say they're a good deal when they're not. I'm not that type. I just tell it like it is. .

jeffwtux

07-13-02, 05:57 AM

Sorry kck, but I already found the info on the new promotion. The Fax blast isn't out yet, but the brochure in the form of an Adobe PDF file is in the promotions section of the Retailer's website. The new promotion is awesome. They do care about independent retailers, because this promotion is BETTER THAN I LIKE 9 was for 2 receivers when you factor in equipment costs, no kidding. Plus it doesn't expire until January 12, 2003. The rest of the year will be good for me. Thanks, Chuck.

Scott Greczkowski

07-13-02, 06:53 AM

My feeling is that any information from the retailers chat is welcome here. I get tapes of the chats from a local dealer friend of mine and I will report on anything that has not already been mentioned.

I don't get the point of the retailer chats though as lately they have been publishing full chat transcripts so that the public at large can read everything anyways.

jrjcd

07-13-02, 08:54 AM

am not sure what kck is talking about-the retailer charlie chat NEVER has any "secret" dealer related information anymore and seldom actually springs ANYTHING on us anymore prior to the general public-certainly no insider information of any worth...

since dealers have to purchase their equipment at MSRP or pretty close to it(heck-with most of the promos, it initially costs us MORE than the customer these days, and on many of the promos, we don't even get full reimbursement anymore), there is no secret pricing that a dealer can share with you from the chat-certainly nothing that if we did share it with you, you're first thought would be"why are you in this business then", so i can understand why kck wouldn't want this known-kinda makes us dealers look a bit chumpish-lol...

from the last chat, there are a couple of new promos starting(one somewhat similar to 9), but since most people here are already customers, the promos don't relate to them at all...

understand, the retailer chats are primarily exercises in prevarication-questions are not answered straight and they have call screeners that keep any real dealer concerns off the air-they even have a list of dealers they don't want asking live questions on the air!!!

as far as new channels, you got that information on the customer chat before we did-and generally, annoucements for new channels are usually about new locals that most of us have no interest in...

this isn't skull and bones-in the past(say, up to a couple of years ago), the retailer chats were a source of confidential information, but not these days-these days, it's pretty much a joke(scott can attest to dealer thinking on that, i think)

Kagato

07-13-02, 09:37 AM

The biggest concern I think the local dealers would have is Radio Shack (and any other large national electonics chain they may sign up.) I heard from a buddy of mine that manages a store that Last month the VP of sales/marketing was making the rounds to all the big markets. Basically he said that The Shack would be getting some exclusive deals and sales programs. Of course in the end you can take just about anything a Sales and Marketing person says with a grain of salt.

DRJDAN

07-13-02, 10:51 AM

Scott,

Where are the retailer full chat transcripts published?

Steve Mehs

07-13-02, 12:31 PM

The biggest concern I think the local dealers would have is Radio Shack (and any other large national electronics chain they may sign up.)

Speaking of that, anymore news on Walmart and E*. All WalMarts around here have taken down they D* displays and have more for D* STBs on the shelfs.

And, for the dealers how do you view Radio Shack? Is it going to be major competition? It doesn't seem to be since they're not actually selling, more like renting with the DHP. And the employees know next to nothing about E*. I was worried with RS being in almost every shopping plaza in the US, independent retailers might feel some heat but it look like that wont be the case :)

Darkman

07-13-02, 04:52 PM

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski
My feeling is that any information from the retailers chat is welcome here. I get tapes of the chats from a local dealer friend of mine and I will report on anything that has not already been mentioned.

I don't get the point of the retailer chats though as lately they have been publishing full chat transcripts so that the public at large can read everything anyways.

Hey Scott - your'da man!

Please report whatever you desire from the last Retailer Chat here ( or any future ones also :) )

and if you feel like - post Entire Summary also...lol

And last but not list - where are those transcripts from Retailer Chats? (so one can go there and read em or something)

thanx again

Darkman

07-13-02, 04:58 PM

jrjcd, you said: "as far as new channels, you got that information on the customer chat before we did-and generally, annoucements for new channels are usually about new locals that most of us have no interest in...

Lots of us would have a great Interest in "new locals annoucements"...if not for anything else, then just for Statistical purposes only..

Example: take TNGTony and his great Channel list...i can bet - he d have a great interest in "new locals coming up"...

So would i for that matter..cuz i am great fan of TNGTony and his channel list...
and i Also try to keep my own simplified channel list...(and TNGTony's one is a great resource source for me :)

jeffwtux

07-13-02, 05:03 PM

I don't see Radio Shack actually offering anything that enticing. They won't give away 30% of their commission like I will. People who choose DishNetwork only do so for the cheapest best deal, not quality, not customer service, and not the most programming(that's DirecTV until the merger which won't happen). As far as I'm concerned nobody can match the amount of commission that I give away. As for the new promotion, I will charge $90 instead of $199. That means I'm giving away $110 of my $365 commission

jrjcd

07-13-02, 10:38 PM

radio shack is now on the board of directors of SBCA...

when i refered to "us", i meant dealers, who tend to look at things that will enhance their ability to sell product in their area-example-let's say charlie adds locals in walla walla-this is of interest to walla walla dealers only, the rest of the dealers in the country wouldn't care because having walla walla locals is meaningless to them...

Kagato

07-14-02, 12:57 PM

I use Dish because it's the most effective HD Offering. But I'm sure I'm a small part of the customer base.

What I can say about the shack is they are extremely effective. They are the largest Sprint PCS reseller, and I'm told they are on DirecTVs Top reseller list every quarter (Dispite the fact that Cicuit City, Best Buy, Audio King, etc. typcially have better STB selection and price.)

Strength in numbers I would assume. The most interesting part is they extract huge ammounts of money from major brands that sell in their stores. RCA, Sprint, MSN all picked up 100% of the store remodel costs to add their sections in the store. MSN allow pays for the high speed connections to the store which are used for both POS and internet activities. They also pay the shack huge sums of Ad Co-op to be in those annoying "Hey Howie" ads.

On the onther hand it's not like Radio Shack has (in my opinion) preditory marketing practices like Wal-Mart. And even Wal Mart doesn't seem to do much with Dish. At least in my market.

Steve Mehs

07-14-02, 07:30 PM

For nonretailers, if you wanna see a retailer chat, go to Sears and casually turn the demo 301 or 501 on to whatever channel the retailer chat is on. Once when I went to sears they had the showroom promotion channel on and there was a red slate saying Retailer Chat Rebroadcast in a few minutes, just as the chart started to begin my mom made me leave as were were running late for my eye exam :mad:

Scott Greczkowski

07-14-02, 07:50 PM

Steve, it's channel 999 :D

Steve Mehs

07-14-02, 07:59 PM

Cool! I know what channel Im checking out next time I'm at Sears :)

kck

07-14-02, 08:20 PM

As I said some dealers won't see the chat for a few days, and I for one would like to know what the h--- the customer is talking about when they start asking questions. BTW, I am FAR from being pro E* as my old user name should prove (Unhappy DISH dealer). Scott, I think you should talk to Metro about your statement. If he has no problem with you talking about what you see over at his site, more power to you.

Scott Greczkowski

07-14-02, 08:27 PM

kck this has nothing to do with Metros site, I have been watching dealer chats for over a year.

jrjcd is one of the admin there and he just posted the above recap for us. :)

I personally could care less what a dealer is getting paid or what they are paying for equipment. The only thing I report on are things such as technology news, new channels, and software updates. Of course some things that were not supposed to be advertised such as the 6 month free Cinemax deal I kept quiet out of respect to the dealers out there who were using this to "seal the deal" :D

kck

07-14-02, 08:35 PM

Scott, and for that we thank you.

Darkman

07-14-02, 09:27 PM

Scott, how about those Retailer Chat transcipts?

Can you give out on where they are?

thanks

Jacob S

07-15-02, 01:05 AM

Well, being a retailer, it would be of GREAT CONCERN for MOST consumers that are NOT in the Dish hobby to view the retailer chat because they would see the commissions and certain info that were not meant for consumers to be heard and they will spread the word of the commissions and [try to talk] the retailers [down] when it comes to sales such as 'you get x for this and x for that you can get me a better deal' and I know how customers are, if they know you are making a lot, they will [try to talk you down] you every way they can, and they dont want you to make very much.

Now if it is for a hobby I dont see the harm in it if it is a real devoted hobbiest. What a lot of customers dont realize is the cost of business and risk in those profits.

- Edited for language

jrjcd

07-15-02, 06:53 AM

er, jacob-MOST of the promos are either free or top out at $49....how can anyone [talk] down the price on free???? the new promo requires an out right purchase, but the programming credits put that money back in the consumer's pocket over twelve months...and if someone DOESN'T like the price you sell it at, then you show him the door and sell to the next customer-NO ONE is forced to sell to ANYONE they don't want to...

- Edited for language

jeffwtux

07-15-02, 07:52 AM

Originally posted by Kagato
I use Dish because it's the most effective HD Offering. But I'm sure I'm a small part of the customer base.

What I can say about the shack is they are extremely effective. They are the largest Sprint PCS reseller, and I'm told they are on DirecTVs Top reseller list every quarter (Dispite the fact that Cicuit City, Best Buy, Audio King, etc. typcially have better STB selection and price.)

Strength in numbers I would assume. The most interesting part is they extract huge ammounts of money from major brands that sell in their stores. RCA, Sprint, MSN all picked up 100% of the store remodel costs to add their sections in the store. MSN allow pays for the high speed connections to the store which are used for both POS and internet activities. They also pay the shack huge sums of Ad Co-op to be in those annoying "Hey Howie" ads.

On the onther hand it's not like Radio Shack has (in my opinion) preditory marketing practices like Wal-Mart. And even Wal Mart doesn't seem to do much with Dish. At least in my market.

For Sprint PCS, Radio Shack is a great deal. I got my first Sprint PCS phone at Radio Shack. They had this increadible deal in August of 2000. If you got a phone at Radio Shack and made a new activationon, you got the 500 anytime minutes plan for $45/month. I know have 500 anytime/1500 nights and weekends starting at 8pm. I have tyet to see a better deal.

Randy_B

07-15-02, 08:07 AM

kck, you get more mileage out of sites like these that put out info from a reatiler chat THAN any other method! Especially for selling a company like E* that is 99% word of mouth. YOU could not possibly spread the word of promotions in a more cost effective and timely manner. Instead of criticizing people for wanting to know, you should be promoting it.

Satellite sites are an AWESOME tool, IF you use them as such.

Jacob S

07-15-02, 01:03 PM

I have nothing against satellite sites, I love the message boards and am a member of three satellite message boards, the thing I am getting at is that some customers that would not have [tried to talk] you down before on pricing of the satellite systems would end up [trying to talk] you down after seeing those commission structures where they would not do that before which could cost retailers some money or sales. Also the customers would want the system for next to nothing or for free even if they were getting the programming credits, they just see that as a bonus for signing up and some feel as if they should not have to pay for a satellite system if they have to pay for programming that the systems should be included in the programming price. I know thats what DHP is for.

There are customers getting Charter cable anywhere service that uses a primestar dish that they spray painted over with a skew and two lnbf's using a medium power satellite to get a lot of channels without having a credit card and no money up front, how can I compete against that? Thats just like what Primestar used to offer, its Primestar all over again.

Customer dont want you to make a lot of money from them, bc if they found out how much you made from them, they would not buy from you unless you gave them a deal.

- Edited for language

Mark Lamutt

07-15-02, 02:33 PM

Moderator Hat On:

Guys, we've had some complaints about the use of the terms "jew" and "jewed" in this thread. Some people find it racially offensive. I would ask you to chose different language as this thread continues. I will be editing all of the posts that contain the language, and replacing it with "try to talk" or "trying to talk". Thanks for your understanding and cooporation.

Moderator Hat Off

Nick

07-15-02, 02:40 PM

Admins & mods:

When deleting/editing/modifying someone's comments, please identify the changes as such. I hope you never have to edit one of my posts, but if you do, I would want everyone to know which words are mine and which are not.

Mark Lamutt

07-15-02, 02:41 PM

No worries, Nick. You'll notice that everything that I changed in those messages is inside of brackets - i.e. [this text was changed].

Darkman

07-15-02, 02:46 PM

Originally posted by Mark Lamutt
Moderator Hat On:

Guys, we've had some complaints about the use of the terms "jew" and "jewed" in this thread. Some people find it racially offensive. I would ask you to chose different language as this thread continues. I will be editing all of the posts that contain the language, and replacing it with "try to talk" or "trying to talk". Thanks for your understanding and cooporation.

Moderator Hat Off

Exelent!

it caught my eye earlier too, but being "Nobody" i didn't dare to open my mouth about that...
Good thing - someone else noticed....

bryan27

07-15-02, 05:08 PM

Good thing I was away for a few days so that I didn't see it :)

I've seen a few retailer chats and they are just as borring as the consumer ones. The information on both chats are basically the same. One of the retailer chats I saw spent a lot of time on where to get decals for your truck or van and there wasn't much information on it that I wasn't already aware of.

It would be much different if we wanted transcripts from the EchoStar Training Channel which has sensitive information on it.

Scott Greczkowski

07-15-02, 05:21 PM

For those interested in whats said on the retailer chats here is a full transcript of one of the retailer chats.

http://ccbn.tenkwizard.com/filing.php?repo=tenk&ipage=1742123&doc=1&total=&attach=ON&TK=DISH&CK=1001082&SC=ON&TC=FFFFFF&LK=0000FF&AL=cc0033&VL=cc0033

Darkman

07-15-02, 05:42 PM

Scott - any links for the newest transcript(s)?
where the newest one and any future ones might be made public?

kck

07-15-02, 07:37 PM

Scott, with that said you may now take me off you list as a user, Thank you and goodbye all.

jrjcd

07-15-02, 07:42 PM

well, on occassion a few people have tried to protestant me down on the price, but i immediately krishnaed them right back up to the price i sell at, as i don't like to wicca around with anyone considering my profit margin is too low to begin with-however, in special circumcisms..er..circumstances, i do try to work with people accordingly, as long as they are straight with me and not try to overly ecumenicalize my good nature...

btw-i don't understand what kck is all in an uproar about anyway.,,-he's kinda overreacting, i think...

second btw-when i used the "j" word, i put parenthesises around it as i found the phrase a bit distasteful also-it's not a word i use in commen speech...

Scott Greczkowski

07-15-02, 07:56 PM

kck, that transcript was posted all over the place a few months ago, no harm and no foul. (It was posted to here, DBSforums, DishRetailer and the newsgroups.)

If they don't want that information out there they should not publish a complete transcript which is available to the public.

Darkman

07-15-02, 08:22 PM

Originally posted by kck
Scott, with that said you may now take me off you list as a user, Thank you and goodbye all.

Gee...What a......???!!! Lighten up, dude...and come back...

It was posted public anyhow...what's the big deal anyhow
about some ch 999's lame chat...

I requested some info - like dates, etc..and then transcripts ( when was mentioned that they were made public anyhow ) mostly for Statistical purposes...No need to blow a gasket like that...

Come back...i / we like you as "kck" :)

i would not want to see you now as some other "nick" :rolleyes:

peace...

Scott Greczkowski

07-15-02, 08:36 PM

kck,

I do hope you stay as well, because of the merger these things are all part of the public record. Its nothing that we are doing wrong by posting links to this information, again it is all part of the public record.

Check out http://ir.ccbn.com/ir.zhtml?t=DISH&s=800 if you want to see all the stuff thats available, again all part of the public record.

I am not releasing this data, Echostar and Hughes are the parties making this data available to the public. Please don't get upset at us because this info is out there again we are not the ones who posted it for public consumption.

We hope you will stick around you have an interesting slant on things which I appreciate, as do many of our members. (For those who don't know, KCK was once known as Unhappy Dish Dealer (which he made mention of earlier in this thread.)

DRJDAN

07-15-02, 10:51 PM

Originally posted by Darkman
Scott, how about those Retailer Chat transcipts?

Can you give out on where they are?

thanks

Scott,

What is location of the transcipts?

Darkman

07-15-02, 10:59 PM

hehe - couple of posts above :)
those are old ones though...
No current one there ( not to my knowledge anyhow )
it is from May 2002 there i think...

Jacob S

07-16-02, 12:02 AM

I remember using the 'j' word on dbsforums and getting an email about it and saw someone else use it on here and it got me to using it again and forgot about the fact that I should not use it.

I am at times an unhappy Dish Retailer myself but I am still in the business hoping to find some good in it as well but it dont matter what kind of business you are in, you are going to have problems. I think most of my problems are the customers as a result of the a higher poverty level here.

Darkman

07-16-02, 12:43 PM

Well - i got the tape of Retailer Chat recording...
still didn't see it all...
Kinda long chat this time - went for about 1H, 20 mins...

Lots of exiting promotions, etc.. - i will not even mention them...
that is for dealers, etc - even though nothing secret..cuz customers do not lose anything ever from knowing the promos..

But chat is actually quite nice...lots of humor etc..with Charlie cracking jokes ( as usual : ) )
Jim and Charlie were wearing green shorts - color of Dollar...lol

anyhow - some info i guess:

French radio - RFI - ch 660 - coming to 148 Satellite - July 31
i think ..it will be 1 dollar a month
Makes sense actually (now that TV5 on 148 already ( 9.99 a month or something ))

301, 501 will be Open Home compatible within next few weeks, or
end of Next month at the latest...they had to do 3900, 4900 first
cuz they were selling them as "Open" first...

Local/Local upgrade - 3900, 4900, 301, 501, 508, 721 - should be done by End of July...
Locals and info will remain at 8000s, etc for a while anyhow, with
info what to do to get them, etc

does anyone knows what is up with that Fox Sports West 2? - Charlie said it is there or coming or something.....when is it coming do you know? - and what channel will be on?

again locals:
Oklahoma - july 2
Birlington - july 24 ( i think )
Tulsa, - july 21 ( i think )
Tusan, Az - july 31 ( no NBC yet )

if you can get tape from some1 or see it somehow (Sears as was mentioned, etc :) - do so - this
one was pretty good - lots of humour, dealers promos, etc..
Charlie said - they should quit as CEOs, etc - he and jim..and go
be dish dealer - that is how much money is in there...every one just laughed at the studio...hehe - OMG
also - something didn't seem right to charlie - some thing - about
40 dollars goes to dealers or something like that - if ppl's IRD got struck by Lightning (forgot how it goes - if they have 2 receivers or something and replacing the struck one)...he said that it will
remain like this ..cuz it has been few years now already, i think 6 years...but who knows about the future he said..his concern was - sudden Flood of Receivers struck by lightning..hehe....every one just laughed...but Jim said something that People would have to buy a Receiver anyhow - for dealers to get those 40 dollars..
So it is not that simple or something..

Sorry - i was just watching it fast...
still didn't see the whole thing..
Sorry for messy typing... - typing fast and in a hurry...

later

Marcus S

07-16-02, 03:08 PM

Any update on 700/800 channels are they going to stay or go. No update on the 6000, go figure. No mention to fix caller id on the 501/508 with the locals upgrade, sigh... No mention of Discovery HD rollout on 148 or adapter required by end of year to receive any HD channels and how to sell the 6000 after that. Many independent dealers now sub contracting for Sears, RS, and Costco.. not worth mention either. No mention to curtail adding subs by mis-leading *D customers about the merger, giving all a black eye. Lastly, no mention to restore rebates to retailers, but here have T-shirt. Oh well...