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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV

On Jul 21, 7:10*pm, RonB wrote:
We live in a rural area in SE Kansas and our local, independent cable
provider just announced he will close shop at the end of July. *I
would be irritated but he guy is 72 years old and has provided
excellent service for years. *He can't find a buyer and is worn out.

We are comparing Dish vs Direct. *Quite frankly Dish seems to be
looking better, but:

What do you guys think?

RonB


I sent Dish an email and asked them why a new customer gets such great
deals and loyal customers of 12+ years get nothing. They gave me the
same offer and I had to act-on it in 90 days.
I don't think DirecTV would have paid any attention.
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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!

On Jul 23, 4:09*pm, Bob Villa wrote:
On Jul 21, 7:10*pm, RonB wrote:

We live in a rural area in SE Kansas and our local, independent cable
provider just announced he will close shop at the end of July. *I
would be irritated but he guy is 72 years old and has provided
excellent service for years. *He can't find a buyer and is worn out.


We are comparing Dish vs Direct. *Quite frankly Dish seems to be
looking better, but:


What do you guys think?


RonB


I sent Dish an email and asked them why a new customer gets such great
deals and loyal customers of 12+ years get nothing. They gave me the
same offer and I had to act-on it in 90 days.
I don't think DirecTV would have paid any attention.


We are starting with Dish. Two year contract with 120 channel package
includes free HD for life, free DVR, free installation for up to 6
rooms (Only need three). First year discount from $44.95 to $29.95.
However you have to pay a $6/mo "maintenance" fee for the DVR if you
get it. We decided to skip the DVR since our TV has a built in DVR
which we seldom use. We are adding a $3 bundle for three outdoor
sports channels. We also got a $50 referral discount from a
neighbor. Probably more TV than we will need.

A local Dish company set up shop in our grocery store and will have us
hooked up mid-week.

And if we want they will mount the #@%^!)& antenna on a POLE! )

RonB
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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!

On 7/23/2011 8:25 PM, RonB wrote:
On Jul 23, 4:09 pm, Bob wrote:
On Jul 21, 7:10 pm, wrote:

We live in a rural area in SE Kansas and our local, independent cable
provider just announced he will close shop at the end of July. I
would be irritated but he guy is 72 years old and has provided
excellent service for years. He can't find a buyer and is worn out.


We are comparing Dish vs Direct. Quite frankly Dish seems to be
looking better, but:


What do you guys think?


RonB


I sent Dish an email and asked them why a new customer gets such great
deals and loyal customers of 12+ years get nothing. They gave me the
same offer and I had to act-on it in 90 days.
I don't think DirecTV would have paid any attention.


We are starting with Dish. Two year contract with 120 channel package
includes free HD for life, free DVR, free installation for up to 6
rooms (Only need three). First year discount from $44.95 to $29.95.
However you have to pay a $6/mo "maintenance" fee for the DVR if you
get it. We decided to skip the DVR since our TV has a built in DVR
which we seldom use. We are adding a $3 bundle for three outdoor
sports channels. We also got a $50 referral discount from a
neighbor. Probably more TV than we will need.

A local Dish company set up shop in our grocery store and will have us
hooked up mid-week.

And if we want they will mount the #@%^!)& antenna on a POLE! )

RonB

I don't know all the particulars, but what if the subscribers buy out
the cable company and make it a co-op. There are many small co-op cable
companies in the country ... there used to be even a lot more, but Dish
and DirecTV have probably killed them. BTW, beware of the 722 Dish DVR.
It's a box full of software and hardware errors. I've had 3 of them
over 2 years and all three do the same identical dumb things. When
skipping, it's a crap shoot where they might skip to. They occasionally
get so goofed up, you have to re-boot the unit. Sometimes when it gets
really screwed up, it even reboots by itself.
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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!

On 7/23/2011 8:25 PM, RonB wrote:
On Jul 23, 4:09 pm, Bob wrote:
On Jul 21, 7:10 pm, wrote:

We live in a rural area in SE Kansas and our local, independent cable
provider just announced he will close shop at the end of July. I
would be irritated but he guy is 72 years old and has provided
excellent service for years. He can't find a buyer and is worn out.


We are comparing Dish vs Direct. Quite frankly Dish seems to be
looking better, but:


What do you guys think?


RonB


I sent Dish an email and asked them why a new customer gets such great
deals and loyal customers of 12+ years get nothing. They gave me the
same offer and I had to act-on it in 90 days.
I don't think DirecTV would have paid any attention.


We are starting with Dish. Two year contract with 120 channel package
includes free HD for life, free DVR, free installation for up to 6
rooms (Only need three). First year discount from $44.95 to $29.95.
However you have to pay a $6/mo "maintenance" fee for the DVR if you
get it. We decided to skip the DVR since our TV has a built in DVR
which we seldom use. We are adding a $3 bundle for three outdoor
sports channels. We also got a $50 referral discount from a
neighbor. Probably more TV than we will need.

A local Dish company set up shop in our grocery store and will have us
hooked up mid-week.

And if we want they will mount the #@%^!)& antenna on a POLE! )

RonB


Be aware that the 'free' installation is often worth what you pay for
it, done by subs that are paid on a per-job basis. SOP around the cities
I have spent time in, is to staple wire to outside of house and drill
through walls, versus running the cable properly. Unless your existing
wiring is old RG59 crap or something, your existing wiring may be fine
for them to use, and all they have to do is come from the dish to
wherever your main TV is, and tie into the old wiring from output side
of receiver. Insist that the tech do an eyeball inspection of existing
wiring before he gets out his Big Drill. Often, replacing some
substandard splitters and a few connectors is all it needs to work just
fine.

--
aem sends...
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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV


"Bob Villa" wrote

I sent Dish an email and asked them why a new customer gets such great
deals and loyal customers of 12+ years get nothing. They gave me the
same offer and I had to act-on it in 90 days.
I don't think DirecTV would have paid any attention.


From what I've heard from others, yes, they would have.
You can always ask about it on alt.dbs.directv

No matter what the product, new customers often get a good deal to sign up.
Cell phone, oil delivery, magazines; they all do it.



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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!


"Art Todesco" wrote
I don't know all the particulars, but what if the subscribers buy out the
cable company and make it a co-op. There are many small co-op cable
companies in the country ... there used to be even a lot more,


I don't think it is that easy. The cable company I had for 25 years sold
out to a bigger one because they could no longer compete technologically We
became a MetroCast subscriber be default. After a few years, I ditched them
for DirecTv because even after an upgrade (and higher prices) they could not
offer the HD cannels I wanted.


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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!


wrote
I've never used them, but know people who have. They'll constantly
find ways to get more money out of you, have lousy repair service, and
good luck trying to get a real person, particularly one who lives in
the US. And if you want to cancel their services, good luck getting
out of thir contract, they will continue to take money out of your
credit card even after you tell them to cancel..... and the list goes
on. Not only that, but they are intentionally killing all the smaller
local companies.



At one time you were probably right, but they have changed. I've been with
DirecTV for a year now. The few times I've called, I was surprised at how
fast I got a real person, in the US, on the phone. They spoke English and
wee very helpful.

I did need service once. They had someone out next day. They had a bad
component from a supplier and quickly replaced it. Both the original
installer and the service tech were courteous.

As for buying local, how many sat TV providers do you have in your town? Or
cable TV providers? They tend to be large companies that have franchises
for a town pr part of the state and no real choice. That is changing with
U-Verse and FIOS though. but they are huge non-local companies also.

There are few choices if you want to watch History, Science Channel, Travel
Channel, etc. They are not available OTA and can be a PITA with Hulu and
other web based sources. Meantime, I lay out a few bucks and have a DVR so
I can skip commercials, it records my favorite shows for me and I watch at a
time I choose. While I can always say no, I prefer to say yes and watch my
choices in TV when I want to watch them.



Shop locally, and support
locally....


While I agree most of the time, I bought a new Weber Summit grill (S-470 if
you want to do your own comparison) a couple of weeks ago. The price
locally was $500 more than what I paid from an internet supplier. I
probably would have paid $50 more, but $500 is just too much to support Mr.
Local.

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Default OT (kinda) Quick Pole Regarding Dish Network vs Direct TV - DONE!

On Sun, 24 Jul 2011 07:48:06 -0400, "Ed Pawlowski" wrote:


wrote
I've never used them, but know people who have. They'll constantly
find ways to get more money out of you, have lousy repair service, and
good luck trying to get a real person, particularly one who lives in
the US. And if you want to cancel their services, good luck getting
out of thir contract, they will continue to take money out of your
credit card even after you tell them to cancel..... and the list goes
on. Not only that, but they are intentionally killing all the smaller
local companies.



At one time you were probably right, but they have changed. I've been with
DirecTV for a year now. The few times I've called, I was surprised at how
fast I got a real person, in the US, on the phone. They spoke English and
wee very helpful.


I've got Dish and it's pretty much the same. Service is not the reason I
don't like Dish.

I did need service once. They had someone out next day. They had a bad
component from a supplier and quickly replaced it. Both the original
installer and the service tech were courteous.


We just had a remote control die. They shipped a replacement out to use
next-day.

As for buying local, how many sat TV providers do you have in your town? Or
cable TV providers? They tend to be large companies that have franchises
for a town pr part of the state and no real choice. That is changing with
U-Verse and FIOS though. but they are huge non-local companies also.


The only alternative here is Charter Cable (just ran the wires past our house
in the last month or two). The people I know who have them are extremely
unhappy with the service so we're not likely to change.

There are few choices if you want to watch History, Science Channel, Travel
Channel, etc. They are not available OTA and can be a PITA with Hulu and
other web based sources. Meantime, I lay out a few bucks and have a DVR so
I can skip commercials, it records my favorite shows for me and I watch at a
time I choose. While I can always say no, I prefer to say yes and watch my
choices in TV when I want to watch them.


Yup.

Shop locally, and support
locally....


While I agree most of the time, I bought a new Weber Summit grill (S-470 if
you want to do your own comparison) a couple of weeks ago. The price
locally was $500 more than what I paid from an internet supplier. I
probably would have paid $50 more, but $500 is just too much to support Mr.
Local.


Mr. Local is all but nonexistent here. Mr. Internet gets most of the
non-essential business.
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