Frackin' Dish Network

[MicaelS]

So my Dish satellite tv had been acting up. One tuner of my two tuner receiver had been pixelating and freezing. I called Dish and they sent a tech out. I TOLD them I had already troubleshot the problem and the receiver was at fault, and to bring a replacement. They arrived 45 minutes AFTER the end of the period. They were supposed to be there between 800am and 1200pm, they showed up at 1245pm, WITHOUT the replacement receiver. They re-aligned the dish, and claimed the signal strength was low. So did that solve the problem? Of coursed not. I had to schedule a new appointment, made sure to emphasize to bring a NEW RECEIVER. The tech did, installed it and problem went away.

So today I go to their 'site to pay my bill and they have the audacity to charge me $31.40 for a service call! The level one clerk refused to take the charge off. Their SUPERVISOR refused to take the charge off. HE had nerve to claim I was getting a good deal because I had the $5 a month maintenance contract, otherwise the charge would have been $100. I told him I was not paying the charge, to turn off my service right then and come get the equipment. Told hime I didn't give a damn about my contract or any fees. So he sends me over to a upper level agent and finally she agrees to waive the charge after talking to her boss.

Their equipment, which I'm RENTING malfunctions, and they want me to pay to fix it. I wonder how many people they have actually been able to sucker into paying. The day after my contract is up in a few months, I'm going back to cable. Either that or I'm moving to Keller, just so I can get everything via FIOS.

:nuke: :rant:

[ileus]

1. They sent me a free remote....FWIW

[redqueen]

2. Damn.

Compared to that situation, I've got DirecTV kissing my metaphorical ass.

[Common Sense Party]

3. Do you watch that much TV? Is it worth the cost and hassle?

[MicaelS]

4. What do you mean?

Are you referring to the part about moving? No, not TV, but the 'net, hell yes. Verizon offers up to 50 megs / 20 megs service.

[Common Sense Party]

6. I mean is it worth it to continue to pay for satellite or cable?

We've had just bunny ears for years, and I don't mind not paying $50 a month for cable.

Of course, come next February, we won't even have the basic stations.

[MicaelS]

7. The few shows I watch

Are all on non-broadcast channels. So yes, it's worth it.

[mwooldri]

9. Have you got a digital TV set or DTV converter box?

If not, go get one. You might be surprised as to what you get.

Admittedly I'm near a major urban area, not in a rural area like you, and looks mountainous to me.

General rule of thumb: if you get UHF stations now that are "watchable" in analog you're 95% likely to get them in digital. If you get VHF stations now that are going to stay or switch back to VHF then you're likely to get them still. VHF stations moving to UHF might not be receivable.

In SLC the vast majority of the VHF stations are moving to UHF. However there are a couple of stations that will be signing on VHF digital only (having never been on before) - brand new stations.

Also be wary of antennaweb.org: it's too conservative as to what you're going to get. It's better if you enter a full address though, but it lists a slew of channels on there that it thinks I should get using an outdoor highly directional antenna equipped with pre-amplifier. I get all but one of the channels they list on an indoor amplified antenna - in crystal clear digital - plus others that they just don't list.

So give it a try!

Mark.

[MicaelS]

10. Agreed

Go to https://www.dtv2009.gov/ and get your free coupon. A co-worker did that, got her coupon and box. She was stunned at the picture quality.

[Joe Fields]

5. I have Direct T.V. and couldn't be happier.

We tried Dish first, had the same problems you had with billing and hidden charges, cancelled our service and went with Direct. More channels for less money, and after two years, not one single problem. Just sayin' you may want to look into it.

[NV Whino]

8. Wow, do you have my same DISH techs in Texas?

Only it took three sets of techs and over a month to put the DISH where we wanted it in the first place, where, in fact, we finally get excellent reception.