[CABill]

900,000 posts saying "I lost it" would be interesting but unneeded.

I lost it.

The interesting part is that I managed to not be charged more, but exactly the same amount, after they dropped 6 channels. I had the old grandfathered $11.99 for distants, supers, and locals. Apparently, if a change is made (distants go poof), you no longer qualify for $8.99 for locals and supers and they become $5.99 each. If I didn't have a separate $1.50 each month for KCBS (SD), I'd actually be charged more each month now that distants are gone. People should check their bills online.

Last bill:
NETWORK PACKAGE WITH PBS 11.99
CBS NETWORK-WESTERN FEED 1.5
CBS HIGH DEFINITION EAST 0.0

Current Activity:
11/30 11/30 NETWORK PACKAGE WITH PBS 11/30 TO 01/09 -16.22
11/30 11/30 SACRAMENTO CA LOCALS 11/30 TO 01/09 8.11
11/30 11/30 CBS NETWORK-WESTERN FEED 11/30 TO 01/09 -2.03
11/30 11/30 PBS NETWORK 11/30 TO 01/09 2.03
11/30 11/30 SUPERSTATION PACKAGE 11/30 TO 01/09 8.11

 

[CABill]

Not sure how CABill got by, just lucky I quess.

I didn't exactly "get by". I'm in the same boat as you in that DISH charges more for NOT having distants than I paid having them. In addition to the $11.99 for NY, Supers, and Locals, I paid another $1.50 for the LA CBS. It was good for Raider games for many years, and for whatever reason, the CBS owned local in Sacramento runs primetime as 7-10PM. The LA CBS is a normal 8-11PM and allowed timer conflict resolutions. The only reason I "broke even" to NOT get the canceled distants was I was already paying the $1.50 that is now suddenly being charged for PBS. National PBS had been included for free for all these years in the grandfathered package, but it isn't free now and DISH isn't notifying anybody about PBS or that their bill doesn't go down (a penny doesn't count to me) when distants are removed.

I was expecting to drop from $11.99 to $8.99 (what someone that has had Locals and Supers on the old package pays). Locals + Supers is now $11.98. If you cancel PBS, you will save a penny each and every month to no longer have distants. DISH could have REALLY handled this billing side a lot better.

 

[CABill]

Interesting, though, that I still get the national PBS feed...

If you had all 4 networks from a distant city and also weren't in a Grade B of PBS OTA, you got the National included. Lots of people couldn't get the National PBS but could get distants. You can continue to get the National PBS, but you are now paying $1.50/month. Under the old stuff, some people could pay the $1.50 all this time and won't be effected. But if you got it for free like I did, they started charging you for it. You can cancel it to save the $1.50, but you WON'T be able to add it back - at least I won't. For me, it was tightly coupled with distants and the coupling came loose.