Directv/Dish network alternatives?

[DieselPower]

I have had Dish Network for close to 6 years and the only thing I have ever go bad was the DVR/control unit. They shipped me a new one within 3 day's and I returned the old one at no cost. I pay for my subscription by the year and get a price discount that way. I love the service.

 

[Podunkadunk]

The guy asked if anyone knew of any alternatives and it turned into a customer service debate...thread hijacked.

Rogdan, do a Google search for "optional television programming" or "alternatives to Directv or Dish..."

I don't know of any myself, other than "rabbit ears", which you already mentioned. Good luck in your quest for the Encore Western Channel.

Good luck.

 

[MadReferee]

Once again Bob, close but no cigar. Most of the HD channels currently offered on Dish are not worth watching, in my opinion. However, DirecTv is the larger of the two companies and they will be flexing their muscle in mid-2007 and will be launching 2 new satellites, one this spring and the other this summer, which will up their National HD broadcasting capabilities to 150 channels. If industry hints are correct, the number of channels broadcasting at initial satellite turn-on will be in excess of 40.

Info was taken from a speech by David Hill, president of entertainment at DTV at the HD World Conference and Exposition in New York. You can read about it HERE.

Dish better get their butts in gear or they will be left behind even farther than they are now.

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

ALSO if u like to watch baseball and your team is not in your market, Direct TV will be the only company, satellite or cable that u will be able to watch baseball. FCC is looking into the deal, but unless they stop it, say good buy to watching baseball without paying to watch it.

I had Dish network and had to switch to Direct TV a few years ago when the Yankees started YES to broadcast all games. It is bad enough it cost big $$ to go to a game and now u will need to spend big $$ to watch baseball on TV. When I was a kid u could watch the Mets and Yankees for free on TV, channels 9 and 11. NOW unless your family is well off u can not watch baseball, what is wrong with this picture! 1st the baseball strike and now this!

 

[ducati996]

We've had DirecTV for 9+ years without any problems. I installed it myself and have never regretted the purchase. However, they are offering new customers so much I think they ought to offer their old customers something. When it warms up I will play them off of the Dish Network ads to either get some free stuff or dump them for Dish Network.

Call them up and tell them you found better pricing via their competitors - either by cable providers, another satellite service, etc...and they will (or ask them) to transfer you to the customer rentention group. The message you should deliver them - what will you give me to stay? You can get your bill lowered by up to $30 a month, free programming, DVR's and a a few other things....I have been doing this for 3 years, and then I still dumped them for a better deal with my cable provider

 

[ducati996]

Once again Bob, close but no cigar. Most of the HD channels currently offered on Dish are not worth watching, in my opinion. However, DirecTv is the larger of the two companies and they will be flexing their muscle in mid-2007 and will be launching 2 new satellites, one this spring and the other this summer, which will up their National HD broadcasting capabilities to 150 channels. If industry hints are correct, the number of channels broadcasting at initial satellite turn-on will be in excess of 40.

Info was taken from a speech by David Hill, president of entertainment at DTV at the HD World Conference and Exposition in New York. You can read about it HERE.

Dish better get their butts in gear or they will be left behind even farther than they are now.

This is misleading - you the customer of DirectV will not have access to all 150 channels broadcast in HD. It will be broken down by zip code & area. Its mostly local channels and such and you will never have access to all 150 channels. I do agree they will have a little more HD programming but its truly whats available or being broadcasted in HD as the deals are being worked out and who can carry them. My local cable provider and my telephone provider basically now offer either fiber opitic to the home or the nearest node. The bandwidth is already there, and they dont charge $$ more HD service. I hated paying $9.95 for a small hand full of channels, especially the ones I can receive over the air for free (local Affilate stations- ABC,NBC,Fox, CBS)....

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Bob, close but no cigar. Most of the HD channels currently offered on Dish are not worth watching, in my opinion.

Mad, you and I will simply have to respectfully disagree about this. But my family really enjoys the selection of HD channels on Dish like the National Geographic Channel, Discovery HD, Universal HD, FilmFestHD, MonstersHD, 2 ESPN channels in HD, HGTV HD and several others. People who are fans of the History Channel will also appreciate several of the old VOOM channels that are on DishNetwork.

I'm waiting to see what DirecTV has to offer later this year, it will be interesting to see 2 things.

1. What DirecTV actually offers later this year.
2. What Dish Network & the cable channels do in response.

I'm not brand loyal, but I also don't care to wait for promises from a company that are vague. One thing I know about cable & satellite TV is that the market is in a constant state of flux and you simply need to make the best choice you can based on what is available when you need it. Last summer when I signed my new contract with DishNetwork I had been hearing all sorts of rumors about DirecTV's new HD offereings. But now, roughly 7 or 8 months later there are still just a few channels of HD on DirecTV, and that situation won't change for another 3 or 4 more months. So why, when I have have multiple HDTVs would I have chosen to limit my choices to a handful of DirecTV offerings for at least a year? And then when they do offer more channels sometime in mid-2007, why would anyone presume that competitors won't react?

 

[MadReferee]

I'm waiting to see what DirecTV has to offer later this year, it will be interesting to see 2 things.

1. What DirecTV actually offers later this year.
2. What Dish Network & the cable channels do in response.

Me too. I have resisted my wife's urging to get a new wall mounted TV until prices come down a bit more and the whole HD situation sorts out. I've been with DirecTV since 1998 and don't plan on switching anytime soon. However, the satellite wars will be heating up this year so the best strategy seems to be to wait and see what the fallout is.

 

[mjarrels]

We have ABS/CBN aka TFC (the filipino channel) but you can only watch programs from Manila.

mark

 

[rogdan]

I don't mean to be come across this way, but I always here people complaining about the customer service for this or that. In this example the satellite companies. We've had DirecTV through Pegasus for a few years and now have had Dish Network for 3 years. I've called Customer Service 1 time when one of our Dish receivers went bad. It was handled rather quickly and painlessly. Our bill is paid online each month so no dealing with anyone there. I'm just curious how often people have to deal with customer service that it would make you want to switch?

BTW, the reason we switched from DirecTV to Dish was Pegasus charged us more than DirecTV for the same DirecTV and then Dish came out with the Dual Tuner units to allow reception on 4 TVs.

In short:
Direct promised local feeds but did not deliver, we agreed to national feeds at install but could never get NBC or Fox. Direct would cut service often for nonpayment although when reached they acknowledged my electronic transfers as on time. Bills were often inaccurate and with no explanation of additional charges and expected overpayment made until corrected on future bills.
I left Direct for the same reason as another poster the big charge to add an HDTV tuner and having to sign another 18 month contract.
Dish intall was and is the my ongoing issue (i know they contract this out) They would never show or bother to call and one of us would have to take work off each time. We loose local channel feed each evening (no local news) and have this noted numerous time with numerous Dish reps. They admit a install problem but buffaloed us into believing this would self correct with planetary movement. Now that our 90 day warranty is up they want a $50 service fee to fix this. I feel like I am being punished for having patience with them.