[RichardMcCarty]

Past experience has shown that CSRs don't always provide accurate information, so I need your help.

I called today to downgrade our service to the minimum required to receive just superstation channel 234, WPIX. I was told I cannot receive just that channel, and that I'd need to pay $19.99 for the lowest basic programming package DishFAMILY, plus $7 times 2 HD receivers (a "charge for not receiving HD programming"), plus I'm not sure what else until a new statement appears all this adding up to $54.99 plus tax per month.

Is this really the least expensive way I can receive just the one channel I want?

Thanks for any advice or insights you can offer.

 

[garys]

If you only want the one channel, why are you using two HD receivers?

 

[CABill]

As long as you aren't still in a commitment for XX months, you could PURCHASE a receiver and return the leased receivers and get WPIX for $1.50 (a guess, not sure they are still that price individually - all Superstations are $5.99/month) plus $6 for not subscribing to a minimum package. Add $5.98 for MOST DVR receivers and the quoted $7 if the receiver is a ViP (MPEG-4 HD).

That leaves a lot of choices for least expensive. Keeping two leased HD receivers will be a $7 HD Enable fee and a $7 lease fee on one and $5.98 for each one that is a DVR, maybe $5/month if not connected to a phone line. You should be able to see all the charges online in Recent Activity the day AFTER you downgrade.

 

[boba]

As long as you are leasing you must have a minimum package that qualifies which is Family at $19.99. So the first thing you need to do is buy how ever many receivers you need. If you are going to subscribe to only 1 channel one receiver with the processed signal split to all TVs in the house should do. On Ebay you should be able to buy a receiver for about $25 plus shipping as a starting point.

 

[RichardMcCarty]

Gary,

We just finalized our switch to DirecTV after being top premium Dish HD customers for 3 years. We wanted to keep WPIX, not available on D*, for the occasional Mets game broadcast there and not on Extra Innings.

If you only want the one channel, why are you using two HD receivers?

 

[garys]

Gary,

We just finalized our switch to DirecTV after being top premium Dish HD customers for 3 years. We wanted to keep WPIX, not available on D*, for the occasional Mets game broadcast there and not on Extra Innings.

You should get yourself an non HD receiver like the 301, you wouldn't have the enableing fee, any dvr fees, additional receiver fees would be $2 less than the HD receivers. That change may take the monthly bill down to around $22. Also, several of the Mets games would be made up on the MLB ticket by the other team's feed.

 

[jsk]

Also to save a little more $, you could remove all programming and just pay a small fee to keep your account active for months where you wouldn't need the channel. I'm not sure how much that fee is, but I'm sure it is cheaper than cancelling and reactivating. I don't think this would work if you were in a commitment.