Fees increasing?

[Dah-Henny]

Black Hoppers...YIKES!

 

[Stargazer]

Two 722's = $7 + $17 = $24 - Two HD tvs, two SD tvs, four tuners
Two Hoppers = $14 + $14 = $28 - Two HD tvs, zero SD tvs, six tuners
One Hopper & One Joey = $14 + $7 = $21 - Two HD tvs, zero SD tvs, three tuners

You pay $4 more for two additional tuners and no SD television outputs. Either that or for $3 less you have the same HD tv's at two but no SD television outputs and one less tuner. Comparing this with the 722's with my math above I think they needed at least a fourth tuner in a Hopper to at least match the tuner count for HD tv's and the HD tv outputs. The additional tuner is not an advantage when they are sticking two Joey's on it compared to having two 722's. They are considering the autohop, primetime anytime, and nicer GUI worth the additional cost and trying to throw sling in as well. Next think you know they will try to charge a monthly fee for the sling type service.

 

[dare2be]

Two 722's = $7 + $14 = $21 - Two HD tvs, two SD tvs, four tuners

That would be $7 + $17 = $24, so you would only pay $4 more for two additional tuners and no SD outputs, or $3 less for one less tuner with 1H/1J

 

[Stargazer]

It would be worth $4 more per month in my opinion for the two additional tuners but that should at least compensate for the loss of SD outputs. It is going to fewer televisions. It's like a premium for HD getting built into the system when it is pretty much standard these days.

 

[dare2be]

Still, I can't justify going from 1 722 to any Hopper system. $7 to $14 for 1 tv, or $7 to $21 for 2 tvs.

 

[Dah-Henny]

Prolly going to be considerable churn over this, but I don't think a catastrophic tipping point has been reached, unless they raise VIP fees, which would be MY tipping point.

 

[stardust3]

Still, I can't justify going from 1 722 to any Hopper system. $7 to $14 for 1 tv, or $7 to $21 for 2 tvs.

I have to agree with this.

I was going to replace a 722 feeding 3 tvs with a hws & 2 joeys. Had a hard time convincing myself $17 extra would be worth it, but was going to do it. Definitely not now, I'll just be happy with what I have.

 

[dare2be]

Dish could take the sting out of these Hopper hikes by making the 1st Joey free, like I thought they should have done from the beginning.

 

[gadgtfreek]

Dish could take the sting out of these Hopper hikes by making the 1st Joey free, like I thought they should have done from the beginning.

Thats not a bad idea.

 

[thechaz05]

Dish could take the sting out of these Hopper hikes by making the 1st Joey free, like I thought they should have done from the beginning.

If that happens I will eat my hat. Lol That would be great, and it should be that way, but not gonna happen.

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[jagowar]

I went through this about a year ago, dropping Dish, not over fees but programming (AMC dispute). Going back to cable went very well for me. I got more HD, and since I use my own cable-card DVR, I'm immune to equipment fees. My multi-room system is only $2/month (that's the fee for the cable card). Additional rooms are absolutely free. I've got no DVR fees, no additional receiver fees, no lease fees, no mirror fees, no HD fees. My subscription (equivalent to AT250) is $49/month, for 2 years, then $69 when it goes back to regular price. So I'm saving a huge amount of money and don't have to use a crappy cable DVR. My Windows Media Center DVR is on par with Hopper in most respects. I highly recommend it to anyone who is sick of the endless fees from satellite providers and has access to a good cable service.

This is now what I am leaning towards doing as well after my contract is up. I run both concurrently but only OTA in media center right now. The 3 big features that got me to choose dish before was autohop, ptat and slingbox, however the equipment costs have really started to add up and I don't need that stuff anymore. When I can get the same system in media center for $2 vs the $30 my 1H/2J setup costs you make up the upfront cost very quickly.

I do worry about the long term ramifications of no real updating but with it being a computer I am sure somebody will rig up some kind of a guide solution if ms ever stops giving it away for free. The auto commercial skip too has gotten good enough recently for me that the autohop is not a feature of dish anymore (and the media center one works on any channel that is not copy protected).

I am going to be paying attention over the next few months to see what the next xbox has.... all kinds of rumors about it having some kind of a tv service as well (basically the next gen of media center) but I am already on the lookout for a deal on the ceton infinitv cable card tuner.

Dish could take the sting out of these Hopper hikes by making the 1st Joey free, like I thought they should have done from the beginning.

That would be a good idea... never understood why joey's are even $7 when they don't do anything. Should be $5 at most for each additional tv and they really should allow us to pay a one time fee of $99 and no lease after.

 

[dangue]

The pricing would be fine if every Hopper's price included a free Joey.

1 Hopper ? $14.
1 Hopper + 1 Joey ? $14.
2 Hoppers + 1 Joey ? $28.
2 Hoppers + 2 Joeys ? $28.

That would make the pricing more reasonable and bring it in line with the VIPs. The only explanation for what they are doing with the MRV and Hopper & Joey fees is corporate greed. The price increase that Dish has implemented already combined with this upcoming one are foolish given the fragility of the economy and consumers' vulnerability. It will just drive people away.

 

[teachsac]

WOW, The Directv Genie is looking better every day.

I thought going from a $7 to a $10 DVR fee on the Hopper was bad.

Unfortunately, Dish fees on receivers is one reason why I left Dish. They're as bad as cable.

S~

 

[gadgtfreek]

Unfortunately, Dish fees on receivers is one reason why I left Dish. They're as bad as cable.

S~

I get the tech and R&D is costly, but it seems the SOP nowadays is to use the equipment as a large profit center. I love the Hoppers and would not trade them, but the whole deal has been handled poorly IMO.

 

[Dah-Henny]

They should at least have zero, or greatly reduced fees for owned boxes.

 

[lparsons21]

Unfortunately, Dish fees on receivers is one reason why I left Dish. They're as bad as cable.

S~

While I agree with your sentiment, in practicality there isn't a lot of difference in the most current tech from both.

Yeah, Hopper invoked a $10 DVR fee, but that was actually $7 DVR+$3 for MRV which is exactly what D* charged at the time

Now that goes to $14 for DVR+MRV for E* and D* is now $15 for that same thing IF you can get the $10 HD fee off the $25 Adv Rcvr fee.

For lease, Joeys are $7, Cxx are $6.

Very minor differences and frankly both D* and E* are really looking at going to all Genie/Cxx, Hopper/Joey combos and move away from the classic DVRs imo.
Right now if you want more DVRs in the mix, then D* is a deal, otherwise the differential is minor.

 

[dare2be]

^ I can't stress that post enough. The fees on all providers are now in line with each other (well, cable is still a bit higher).

I also can't stress enough that the fees on all providers are way too high.

 

[harshness]

I never imagined a reality where they would double the monthly cost just for the sake of collecting money on equipment we paid an upfront upgrade fee.

Did you ever imagine a reality where a server with multiple satellite tuners would have the same cost as a dumb client?

 

[harshness]

Prolly going to be considerable churn over this, but I don't think a catastrophic tipping point has been reached, unless they raise VIP fees, which would be MY tipping point.

That's the magic of the ETF. Churn is delayed several months when the cost to switch is high.

 

[3HaloODST]

I just asked on the online chat with dish about the fee increase. He transferred me to a supervisor who wasn't sure about it so he transferred me to his supervisor who explained to me the fee increase is only for new customers and that current customers have nothing to worry about. I can only hope this is true.

I call BS.