Maybe moving to DISH

4780 Views 36 Replies 18 Participants Last post by BobaBird, Nov 30, 2012

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · Nov 14, 2012

Have DTV for 10 years but thinking of making the switch since we can save some bucks and our prized TIVO is dying. We have had it for years, maybe 5, and she has never had a problem but now reboots all the time.

So we might get an HDTV and move to dish.

I found this site and LOVE all the info, wow.

Anyway, I have a newbie question.

We just changed from ATT to Comcast for internet and phone. When we signed up they wanted a SSN for some reason per the web sign up. OK no problem I guess.

But DISH in their process flow to sign up shows they want a credit card with an "amount due now". Am I paying for something not even installed yet?

What am I missing. I have talked to a sles person there when I first started investigating other options. We like DISH, a lot. We would want the 722.

I told the guy call me back next (this) Friday after I complete my research of u-verse etc.

Well I get a call from a different guy at DISH and he offers $75 MORE in discounts if we sign up today or tomorrow, but he asked for all this info. But it does seem what he was asking for is the same as the website.

So my question is, need to learn to post shorter, is why do they need a CC and doesn't your billing cycle start AFTER you have service?

With Comcast we had it for a month before I paid a mailed bill to us and then we signed up for auto-pay, like all our other bills.

I guess they don't have a 30 day money back guarantee, I asked about that, if the jump from our tivo is too steep.

Anyway, found this forum and thought I would ask about the billing. I just called them but was on hold a long time so hung up and typed this out.

Sorry if it is a silly question.

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Ray [email protected] Network

· #2 · Nov 14, 2012

Our billing is in advance depending upon the type account you qualify for. The billing doesn't begin until the installation is completed. The cc is for qualification purposes. Please let me know if you have further questions. Thanks.

tdfxman said:
Have DTV for 10 years but thinking of making the switch since we can save some bucks and our prized TIVO is dying. We have had it for years, maybe 5, and she has never had a problem but now reboots all the time.

So we might get an HDTV and move to dish.

I found this site and LOVE all the info, wow.

Anyway, I have a newbie question.

We just changed from ATT to Comcast for internet and phone. When we signed up they wanted a SSN for some reason per the web sign up. OK no problem I guess.

But DISH in their process flow to sign up shows they want a credit card with an "amount due now". Am I paying for something not even installed yet?

What am I missing. I have talked to a sles person there when I first started investigating other options. We like DISH, a lot. We would want the 722.

I told the guy call me back next (this) Friday after I complete my research of u-verse etc.

Well I get a call from a different guy at DISH and he offers $75 MORE in discounts if we sign up today or tomorrow, but he asked for all this info. But it does seem what he was asking for is the same as the website.

So my question is, need to learn to post shorter, is why do they need a CC and doesn't your billing cycle start AFTER you have service?

With Comcast we had it for a month before I paid a mailed bill to us and then we signed up for auto-pay, like all our other bills.

I guess they don't have a 30 day money back guarantee, I asked about that, if the jump from our tivo is too steep.

Anyway, found this forum and thought I would ask about the billing. I just called them but was on hold a long time so hung up and typed this out.

Sorry if it is a silly question.

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 14, 2012

Thanks. So it is normal to take a CC but billing doesn't start right away.
This site is great, I love the thread about the eastern and western arcs.

thanks again.

boba

· #4 · Nov 14, 2012

tdfxman said:
Thanks. So it is normal to take a CC but billing doesn't start right away.
This site is great, I love the thread about the eastern and western arcs.

thanks again.

What DISH isn't telling you is your first bill is a 2 month bill. You are paying for the current month and the next month so that the programming DISH is providing is always paid for.

VDP07

· #5 · Nov 14, 2012

boba said:
What DISH isn't telling you is your first bill is a 2 month bill. You are paying for the current month and the next month so that the programming DISH is providing is always paid for.

It's been a loooooong time since the first bill was a 2 month bill. A new customers 1st bill is paid prior to activation with all following bills due prior to each subsequent service month.

tampa8

· #6 · Nov 14, 2012

boba said:
What DISH isn't telling you is your first bill is a 2 month bill. You are paying for the current month and the next month so that the programming DISH is providing is always paid for.

I don't think so, or at least not for everyone. In July I helped someone get Dish and it was the first month cc payment.

CCarncross

· #7 · Nov 14, 2012

Dont forget that Directv has a new Tivo model that is HD....you could kill 2 birds with one stone and keep what you're accustomed to.

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #8 · Nov 14, 2012

VDP07 said:
It's been a loooooong time since the first bill was a 2 month bill. A new customers 1st bill is paid prior to activation with all following bills due prior to each subsequent service month.

Yes I see his as happening. I signed up with DISH from DTV for 11 years.

I paid the first month but won't get installed until after Thanksgiving. But like you say, you are always watching paid for stuff, nice for their cash flow and a little interest free loan for DN.

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #9 · Nov 14, 2012

VDP07 said:
It's been a loooooong time since the first bill was a 2 month bill. A new customers 1st bill is paid prior to activation with all following bills due prior to each subsequent service month.

CCarncross said:
Dont forget that Directv has a new Tivo model that is HD....you could kill 2 birds with one stone and keep what you're accustomed to.

Cheap post to get over 5 here

Yes I called retention at DTV and the offer wasn't so good. So I made the change. My wife says the jump from dual buffer tivo might be large for we will see. We did want to try to get to that tivo HD like you said.

The BIG thing that has me worried, and I don't think the TIVO to 722 will be THAT bad, is I got a call from dish Wednesday, I talked to them the previous Firday, and they said if you sign up today or tomorrow I can give you an additional $75 credit. It would be applied as $44 the second month and $31 the 3d month. I could not pass that up. The agent said call back this # leave a message and I will call you back. Well I did, he remembered me, but then it was strange conversation and he was like you are all set welcome to dish network.

Also, I wanted to make sure I get the 722, NOT the hopper. It didn't give me a chance to pick a DVR. So the agent said "you will get a 722". I said yeah I won't let the installer install without a 722. I would prefer the 722k.

So my 2 Dish issues are a) the aditional $75 being applied, my wife will kill me if we don't get that and b) how can I ensure I get a 722.

When I look online it says my equipment due to come is a Hopper and 1 joey. We have a 2nd TV in the basement that is used like once a month, if that. So the 722 is perfect.

Anyway, thanks for the replies, this site is awesome. I love the whole eastern and western arc stuff on the satellites.

Maybe this note is more directed at the first reply in this thread.

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sregener

· #10 · Nov 15, 2012

tdfxman said:
We have a 2nd TV in the basement that is used like once a month, if that. So the 722 is perfect.

Dish really needs to make the Joeys available without a monthly fee. There is simply no reason for an outlet fee, other than wanting to extract every dollar they can from customers.

That said, are you using the 2nd TV at the same time as the 1st? If not, then the Hopper could serve two TVs just as well as the 722.

tsmacro

· #11 · Nov 15, 2012

sregener said:
Dish really needs to make the Joeys available without a monthly fee. There is simply no reason for an outlet fee, other than wanting to extract every dollar they can from customers.

Well they have to pay to have those Joeys manufactured for them somehow, it's not like they get them free, plus they have to pay techs for their labor when installing them and of course the more outlets the longer the install takes and the more they have to pay the tech to get the job done. So they've decided they way to do it is that anyone that wants to have them pay extra per month. Seems fair to me as the other obvious way to do it would be to just have a general programming price increase. Seems to me the people who want more equipment and a bigger install should pay more and not have those of us with only one tv pay more to subsidize people with 6 tv installs.

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #12 · Nov 15, 2012

sregener said:
Dish really needs to make the Joeys available without a monthly fee. There is simply no reason for an outlet fee, other than wanting to extract every dollar they can from customers.

That said, are you using the 2nd TV at the same time as the 1st? If not, then the Hopper could serve two TVs just as well as the 722.

For $11 more a month, it isn't worth it. We literally use the one downstairs once a month, max, maybe once every 2 months. So being able to record something upstairs and then watch it if needed is fine. Matt here on this site made the changes to get me the 722, when I could not pick it originally. I also understand the accounting of what happened, so all good. We will see how install goes. I hope to get the installer to remove old dish and install this one maybe at same site so no roof changes.

I read a thread that simply said "negotiate" with your installer to see if they can use the dtv support but it said not to remove the bottom plate. I will see what I can do on that when the time comes.

joshjr

· #13 · Nov 15, 2012

tdfxman said:
For $11 more a month, it isn't worth it. We literally use the one downstairs once a month, max, maybe once every 2 months. So being able to record something upstairs and then watch it if needed is fine. Matt here on this site made the changes to get me the 722, when I could not pick it originally. I also understand the accounting of what happened, so all good. We will see how install goes. I hope to get the installer to remove old dish and install this one maybe at same site so no roof changes.

I read a thread that simply said "negotiate" with your installer to see if they can use the dtv support but it said not to remove the bottom plate. I will see what I can do on that when the time comes.

Hope your not a sports lover switching to DISH. If so you will most likely be unhappy.

domingos35

· #14 · Nov 15, 2012

joshjr said:
Hope your not a sports lover switching to DISH. If so you will most likely be unhappy.

don't worry about it

tampa8

· #15 · Nov 15, 2012

joshjr said:
Hope your not a sports lover switching to DISH. If so you will most likely be unhappy.

I would have agreed but the lines on that are blurred now.(NY market excluded)
Dish has some sports Direct TV does not, neither has the new LA Lakers channel. While Direct TV does have full time RSN's, Dish this year was 90% better at getting the actual games in HD, what most people really want. And Dish has the Red Zone for $7, Direct TV does not offer it unless you get the full NFL Sunday package. (Yes there are some exceptions, some have managed to get it)

If Sports is the ONLY reason, then yes Direct TV still is the leader, including having the NFL package, full time HD RSN's, and most games on alternate channels in HD, with Dish Alternate is more hit and miss. For the majority of people who like sports but it's not the first priority, it's not as much a difference as it was.

sigma1914

· #16 · Nov 15, 2012

tampa8 said:
I would have agreed but the lines on that are blurred now.(NY market excluded)
Dish has some sports Direct TV does not, neither has the new LA Lakers channel. While Direct TV does have full time RSN's, Dish this year was 90% better at getting the actual games in HD, what most people really want. And Dish has the Red Zone for $7, Direct TV does not offer it unless you get the full NFL Sunday package. (Yes there are some exceptions, some have managed to get it)

If Sports is the ONLY reason, then yes Direct TV still is the leader, including having the NFL package, full time HD RSN's, and most games on alternate channels in HD, with Dish Alternate is more hit and miss. For the majority of people who like sports but it's not the first priority, it's not as much a difference as it was.

Lakers channel is coming any day/minute now.
Twitter - DIRECTV ‏@DIRECTV
We have an agreement to carry #TWCSportsNet on Ch: 691 in time for the next game (Friday 11/16).
LA Times - http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...rectv--lakers-channel-20121115,0,334249.story

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #17 · Nov 15, 2012

Yeah I had Center Ice for a few seasons but with this channel mix it has versus (now NBC sports) and NHL network.

So IF they play hockey again, I think I am fine. I don't have NHL network now on DTV. About a week to install date.

The one thing my wife asked me, and I like to cover all the bases, is how does the remote change the channel with no hardware on the 2nd tv, if we use it.

It is a sony trinitron from the early 2000's. So with the only "box" upstairs, I told her I asked when I called and they said a remote from dish. But the remote from dish tells the sony what to do? I didn't have a great answer on that one. But it's all good, looking forward to the change.

joshjr

· #18 · Nov 15, 2012

domingos35 said:
don't worry about it

Not worried about it. As a sports lover, no way I would go to DISH. Lack of Sunday Ticket, MLB Extra Innings, Mega March Madness, Full Time FSN's, etc. All of that is more then enough for me to say thanks but no thanks. Sunday Ticket is a deal breaker for me no matter what.

bobukcat

· #19 · Nov 15, 2012

tdfxman said:
Yeah I had Center Ice for a few seasons but with this channel mix it has versus (now NBC sports) and NHL network.

So IF they play hockey again, I think I am fine. I don't have NHL network now on DTV. About a week to install date.

The one thing my wife asked me, and I like to cover all the bases, is how does the remote change the channel with no hardware on the 2nd tv, if we use it.

It is a sony trinitron from the early 2000's. So with the only "box" upstairs, I told her I asked when I called and they said a remote from dish. But the remote from dish tells the sony what to do? I didn't have a great answer on that one. But it's all good, looking forward to the change.

It depends on how you connect the 2nd TV to the 722 and if you have the 722 in single or Dual mode. Most likely you will feed the TV2 UHF output from the 722 to the TV and then change the channels using the TV2 Remote (supplied) from Dish - it is RF so works pretty far away and can be extended with a splitter if you have spare coax installed. If you leave the 722 in Single mode so you have Dual Live Buffers I believe you flip the key over in the TV2 Remote to make it a TV1 UHF remote and it changes the channel. In single mode the same channel is shown on both TVs, in Dual you can watch different channels / recordings on both TVs but you lose dual live buffers.

tdfxman

Discussion Starter · #20 · Nov 15, 2012

Thanks. They could connect coax easily.

Most of the time we will be in single mode, so 2 live buffers on the main. I am assuming you can still watch a recorded show from downstairs in single mode.

We have a harmony 659 remote for the 722 and new hdtv upstairs. We will reprogram it when we get the new tv installed and the new 722.

I did look up in the database and the 722 and the tv ordered will work with it. Sorry if this is too much typing about my coming install.

Thanks for all the replies.

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