Question about going from Dish to Direct

[camperforlife]

Ok, this isn't RV related but I know you guys can answer my question. I have Dish out of contract and Costco has a promotion where I can get Direct TV, they will give me a $200 Costco gift card and service will be cheaper than Dish by $30 for a year. After that it is a wash. It will require a 2 year contract.

Right now I have a TV outside on the porch and do not need a box with my Dish VIP722K indoors. With Direct I will need a Genie mini outside. How much of a pain is it going to be to take the mini inside & out or should I get the service contract and leave the sucker outside? It won't get rained on but Indiana summers get pretty humid. It will save me about $600 for the 2 years but will I regret dealing with the Genie mini outside?

I have zero complaints with Dish but the difference in cash is hard to ignore. Thoughts??????

[Bill_Satellite]

There's always your kids, the spouse's sister and their kids......Trust me, it works and sometimes you don't even need to go there, you just need to get to the customer retention department, find a thinking human being and let them know you want to "come back" with a new contract and new free equipment. It does work.

[skipole]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Forget about any comments related to one service or the other being your provider for life. That's just silly. If you want to change providers, change. There's no reason to stay if you can save a bundle of cash. If you hate the service you can move back in 2 years and register the account in your wife name and you will be a new subscriber.

But that only works once. Unless you change your wife every two years too. 🙂

skipole

[Bill_Satellite]

Forget about any comments related to one service or the other being your provider for life. That's just silly. If you want to change providers, change. There's no reason to stay if you can save a bundle of cash. If you hate the service you can move back in 2 years and register the account in your wife name and you will be a new subscriber.

[johnrbd]

They offered me three $5.00/mo credit ($15.00), PLUS 1/2 price on HBO, Showtime, Starz (total of $23.50), PLUS $15.00 discount on 250-channel program.

Grand Total of credit/discounts = $53.50 - better than a kick in the head!:B

[camperforlife]

Skipole, that is good to know. johnrbd I did that and all they offered was $10 off for 6 months.

[johnrbd]

Before making the change I would call "customer retention" and tell them what you are planning and what it would take for Dish to keep you as a satisfied customer.

Last week, my internet provider, AT&T U-verse, were raising my internet charge to $51.00, from 28.00 per month for 18 Mbs. ( That was completing a 12-mo promotion from previous request.

I told AT&T I was thinking about changing to Comcast cable. They asked what it would take for us to stay with AT$T. I told them I was very happy with previous promotional prices of $28/mo for 12-mos. After checking with her supervisor, they offered price of $30.50 per mo, due to upgrades. By-the-way, my internet speedtest has been around 21.60 Mps, above the 18 I was paying for.

So for the next 12 mos I will stay a happy, appreciated customer. By the way, DW did the same with Dish when premium channel promotions ran out. She got another extension plus three $5.00 credits per month.

If you want to stay with Dish, just "massage" the "retention dept." and perhaps you can make a deal you will be happy with. If not, their is always directv.

[skipole]

camperforlife wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
remember that your sat provider is "for life" so immediate gratification is over and done with so don't be suckered in. the only reason I would consider going to direct would be to get the NFL stuff but certainly don't want to pay the extra money for that.
bumpy

I have found that the Sat provider is only for the 2 year contract not life. I'm not sure what kind of plan you are on. The only reason I'm considering Direct is because Dish will not compete with the Costco promo, they pretty much don't care about you once your contract is up. I'm not too concerned about customer service because going through Costco they will always back you up. $600 is pretty hard to ignore and I can always go back to Dish after the 2 years is up and get their new customer discounted price.

Don't count on going back as a "new customer" after 2 years. Once in their system (DirecTv or Dish) you will never be a new customer again. (I speak from experience for what it's worth.)

skipole

[Bumpyroad]

camperforlife wrote:

Bumpyroad wrote:
remember that your sat provider is "for life" so immediate gratification is over and done with so don't be suckered in. the only reason I would consider going to direct would be to get the NFL stuff but certainly don't want to pay the extra money for that.
bumpy

I have found that the Sat provider is only for the 2 year contract not life. I'm not sure what kind of plan you are on. The only reason I'm considering Direct is because Dish will not compete with the Costco promo, they pretty much don't care about you once your contract is up. I'm not too concerned about customer service because going through Costco they will always back you up. $600 is pretty hard to ignore and I can always go back to Dish after the 2 years is up and get their new customer discounted price.

I plan on keeping my sat service until I die. I guess that qualifies as for life. I've had my dish service for about 16 years as I recall.

bumpy

[camperforlife]

Bumpyroad wrote:
remember that your sat provider is "for life" so immediate gratification is over and done with so don't be suckered in. the only reason I would consider going to direct would be to get the NFL stuff but certainly don't want to pay the extra money for that.
bumpy

I have found that the Sat provider is only for the 2 year contract not life. I'm not sure what kind of plan you are on. The only reason I'm considering Direct is because Dish will not compete with the Costco promo, they pretty much don't care about you once your contract is up. I'm not too concerned about customer service because going through Costco they will always back you up. $600 is pretty hard to ignore and I can always go back to Dish after the 2 years is up and get their new customer discounted price.

[Bill_Satellite]

OK, so there is no reason at all not to switch. I have the Genie in my coach and it is terrific. The satellite coverage is better from only one set of satellites and the 3 required satellites are only 4 degrees apart in the sky so it's easier to get them when there is any tree cover around.
As to the mini-Genie, it can safely be left outside in a closed bay without any issues. As long as it's not going to be in an open space where rain or water could get to the unit.
I think you are on the right track since the unit is so good and the savings are even better. I have been fulltiming with DirecTV since 2000 without any issues. You can also sign up for the DNS Networks if you like since they are no longer available from Dish.

[lap527]

cdc wrote:
I wouldn't switch to DirectTV. Customer Service is terrible. I was a long time Direct TV subscriber and just wanted to upgrade my receiver as I hadn't upgraded in years. Made several calls to customer service, 1st time couldn't understand the clerk, 2nd time clerk said his computer went down and he would call back, waited two days and never received a call back, 3rd time I was basically told to switch to DISH. You guessed it, I'm now a DISH subscriber.

Same here....after switching to Dish, Direct kept calling and I told them if they tried as hard to keep a customer as they did to lose one, they would have Dish beat hands down.

[Gulfcoast]

I'd stay with Dish...

[Bumpyroad]

remember that your sat provider is "for life" so immediate gratification is over and done with so don't be suckered in. the only reason I would consider going to direct would be to get the NFL stuff but certainly don't want to pay the extra money for that.
bumpy

[cdc]

I wouldn't switch to DirectTV. Customer Service is terrible. I was a long time Direct TV subscriber and just wanted to upgrade my receiver as I hadn't upgraded in years. Made several calls to customer service, 1st time couldn't understand the clerk, 2nd time clerk said his computer went down and he would call back, waited two days and never received a call back, 3rd time I was basically told to switch to DISH. You guessed it, I'm now a DISH subscriber.