Stupid TV Companies

[jcarson83]

So I just got my new badass 40" flat panel hung on the wall and its beautiful. I call Dish Network and ask them how I can get HD and they tell me its easy, just give them $150 and they'll hook it up no problem. That's $150 to lease a receiver from them and pay them a $10 a month fee for the HD service, plus the rest of the programming fees. What a deal..

So I think I'm getting ripped and call the cable company. According to them the HD receiver comes with everything and you don't have to pay for jack. So I call Dish back, acting like a new customer, and they tell me its free just like cable is.

I guess tomorrow I'm going to call Dish and cancel and hook up the cable company. I'd rather have Dish for the programming but thats crap.

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Weird- I get hosed by the local cable company and Dish is much better

 

[Ize]

Don't know who your cable provider is in SW Mo, but I'm about to give mine the finger here in Central Il and go Dish or Direct... my cable co. BLOWS donkeys for free 7 days a week. I'll just call them "ScamCast" and leave it at that. Good luck man!

Ize

 

[Orfy]

I gave mine the big F years ago.

I am television free.

I do have a TV for DVD films only.

 

[chillHayze]

TV companies can charge whatever they want. Just be a dick and you can save like 50% on about anything. Most people can't be a dick to a total stranger over the phone tho.

 

[z987k]

Don't know who your cable provider is in SW Mo, but I'm about to give mine the finger here in Central Il and go Dish or Direct... my cable co. BLOWS donkeys for free 7 days a week. I'll just call them "ScamCast" and leave it at that. Good luck man!

Ize

what's sad is a few months ago we had one of the best cable companies in the country.
I'm glad we now have the hands down worst.

 

[srm775]

Call DirectTV ... when we got our HD tv we already had DirectTV for 5+ years and they started to give me a hassle that it would be a $100 upgrade fee for the HD receiver. I told them that they have a promo for a free HD receiver they are giving to new customers, but a loyal customer of 5+ years doesn't get anything? They shipped out the receiver that day free of charge.

Seriously, I've only had good experiences with DirectTV.

 

[Evan!]

Yeah, just wait and see what happens when you call them up and try to cancel. Man, I got the low-down from a Dish employee (a real one, not a contractor, who was at my house to do a repair) a few months back. He said they're all the same. Comcast, Dish, DirecTV. All the same. It's just a big ruse! He said don't change a goddamned thing until February of 09, when the digital act takes effect. Then everything will have to be digital and it'll all change.

The fact is, if you change anything now, you'll have to sign probably a 2-year contract...so, come February, if there's a better deal somewhere else once everything goes digital, you'll have to pay a hefty fee to break your contract.

And this is coming from a Dish Network employee WHO HAS COMCAST IN HIS HOUSE, even though he could probably get Dish for almost free, but he likes his baseball games, so, because of where he lives, he had to get comsuck. That guy told me that there's a place up on Afton Mountain where the local programming "rights" switch from Dish to DirectTv in the MIDDLE OF A STREET, and DirecTV didn't have the same stuff as Dish, and so the neighbors on opposinig sides hated each other. He said, one time, he was out installing a dish on the Dish Network side of the street and some crazy ******* on the other side came out of his house with a shotgun after him. He told the guy, look, I'm a f*ckin ex marine and I've shot more people than you care to know. So you're either gonna have to shoot me dead right here, or you're gonna go the hell back in your house and pretend this never happened. Hehe, the guy just acted like he wasn't actually coming after him. ******.

But that's the real deal, this guy was no BS'er. Do not change anything until February 09! Just call Dish up, tell them you want to cancel your service, and tell them EXACTLY why. I'd bet good money that they'll give you pretty much whatever you want.

 

[Bobby_M]

Ok, PSA time. I haven't paid the retail price of any TV or internet service since I've been paying for such services. So far, there's always been a competitive alternative and that means discounts for anyone with enough balls to threaten leaving and mean it.

I've converted between Dishnetwork and the local cable competition for TV programming a couple times but most of the time I don't have to. I do the same with internet with the cable company and the local DSL.

Whenever your introductory rate runs out, call them and ask to talk to the customer retention department. Tell them exactly what you're willing to pay and when they refuse, tell them to cancel service. What? Oh, so you CAN offer me that deal afterall? Interesting.

The price you're going to ask for is the one that you know you can get with the competition and you know this because you called and asked what they would offer you to steal you from your current provider.

I've had dish for about 9 years. However, the cable company made me an offer 3 years ago that dish could not/would not meet. Trust me, they tried about 5 times. Cable offered me a 2-tuner, HD DVR box with the silver package + HBO for $50 a month for two years. That's a $40 discount per month. I took that service for the 2 years and when the price went up I played the same game. If found out what dish would offer me, called cable back, they ALMOST met the new price but not quite so I switched back to dish again.

Another trick to find out what your current provider's bottom line deal is would be to call them up on your wife's or a friend's line and tell them that you current have [the competitor's] service. What can you offer me to switch? Oh, ok....well actually I am your customer and want that new price.

The reason this works is that there are plenty of schucks out there that think switching is too much of a hassle and will continue taking it up the rear. Thanks.

 

[MrFebtober]

The Feb 2009 switch only applies to over-the-air TV transmission elliminating the analog band. The cable and dish companies have devised their own switch from analog to digital, but it not directly linked with the FCC's DTV switch in Feb.

I gave up paying for TV long ago. I couldn't justify paying money to have commercials and mostly crappy programs piped into my home and the hassles of dealing with the providers. Most of the programs I watch are on PBS anyway, and now I happily get digital tv broadcasts for free OTA.

 

[jcarson83]

Thanks guys, the fee is very negotiable. I called the cable company to get pricing again and this time I was sure to tell them I was a dish customer and was thinking about changing. All the sudden a special offer was available that made it easier for me to switch to cable if it came down to that. So with my new confidence I called Dish back and told them to cancel me. When they asked why and I told them they said they could reduce the price to $100. I said no, why would I do that when cable will do it for free? I then got transfered to another lady that waved the entire fee as long as I locked it for two years, which I have no problem with.

Thanks for the valuable advice and to the rest of you who think your getting screwed remember to play the competition against each other.

 

[PapaWood]

The cable company I work for, we gladly pay off your contract with dish. Its hit and miss though. Sometimes some people have all sorts of issues and some have none. Its a very technical world.

 

[jcarson83]

The cable company I work for, we gladly pay off your contract with dish. Its hit and miss though. Sometimes some people have all sorts of issues and some have none. Its a very technical world.

Good to know. If I for some reason want to switch to cable I guess I'm not really locked in for two years.

 

[Fusorfodder]

I worked for Comcast for a while, and while I'm not going to go on and on about them, I will say that you should never pay for a basic installation. If you need like, wall fishing and stuff that's different. But to get you up and running from the tap to your tv you can get for free. That goes for new installs or upgrades if you're adding another box or something. Now, being a business, they would love to collect an install fee from you, but in truth, their money really comes from the subscription.

 

[PapaWood]

Yeah its actually expensive, Time Warner does service calls for free, while some people ***** all day about having there tv off of channel 3 or hooking up there box wrong when they move it to a differnt room, were losing about 78 dollars for that truck to come to your house for free. Its going to be hit and miss with every company, cable or sat. You'll always have people with bad luck and great luck, ive never had any problem with my services, directv or with tw. i perfer Timewarner because of the free hd, and no contract. i perfer directv because it was nice with some of the sports, but NO local channels killllllllled me, then i got hired at TW and learned to love cable. I saw my grandparents bill, its like 70 for directv, 70-90 for phone, and i think there aol is close to 30. thats alot! I like how TW bundles, im sure comcast does too, but having it all set to one bill around 150 is a life saver. Before i got my promotion i would be the lower guy on the poll, id give someone a days credit for like a buck 37 and theyd ***** so much. Im glad to work and fix commercial accounts now. anyhoot its cool working for cable or sat. comp. the technologie is sooo cool!