Versus Lack of Availability on Dish Network Lower Tiers Hits Home

[larryf]

Does ANYONE still watch MSNBC and if so, what for?

 

[eurosport]

Does ANYONE still watch MSNBC and if so, what for?

Me. Every day. ...Or sometimes CNN. Because those are the only U.S. news choices for me.

 

[RandallA]

When I was with Dish Network that's what I had to do when the NHL playoffs were on. I had to go up one level and then cancel the package later on.

 

[SoonerSteve]

I realize this is a TV centric forum, but what is wrong with listening to the games on the radio. Before the proliferation of cable networks and ubiquitous sports coverage radio was your only option. I remember listening to St. Louis Blues and Cards games as a kid (Dan Kelly and Jack Buck made that so much easier) and never felt cheated in anyway.

Plus, terrestrial radio is still ad supported and, therefore, free.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

I realize this is a TV centric forum, but what is wrong with listening to the games on the radio. Before the proliferation of cable networks and ubiquitous sports coverage radio was your only option. I remember listening to St. Louis Blues and Cards games as a kid (Dan Kelly and Jack Buck made that so much easier) and never felt cheated in anyway.

Plus, terrestrial radio is still ad supported and, therefore, free.

Radio is alright with a slower game like baseball. A lot of people have trouble following something with a quicker pace like hockey or basketball over the radio, though. It's also not an option for a lot of folks' on the fringes of a team's region that don't have local radio affiliates. While the Orioles (baseball) have a large network of radio affiliates including one nearby, the Capitals (hockey) don't have anything that I could tune in to from where I live.

I guess I'll just watch the O's game instead tomorrow. I'm watching tonight's O's game as I'm typing. It's just sort of grating that we fans don't have the options we once did. It seems like as technology advances, we should have more viewing options for less money. Instead, prices keep going up, and they ask for a premium even beyond that for things that were once included on more basic tiers (i.e. NHL playoff games).

 

[Rangers484]

How about bumping up your package for a month, spending the $10 to watch your team? After they are eliminated, bump it back down and pay the $5 downgrade fee.

edit: whoops, did not realize this was already suggested....

 

[empiretc]

or if you have a decent internet connection:

Predators at Canucks - 04/28/2011 - NHL.com - GameCenter

 

[HanoverPretzel]

or if you have a decent internet connection

Alas, I do not. Virgin Mobile is reminiscent of AOL circa 1996- slow (Too slow to live stream even when it's operating optimally -- which is almost never), randomly boots you off-line every few minutes, pages don't load for no apparent reason, sometimes the net is down for hours at a time with no explanation, and so on and so forth. I'm fed up with it. Once I've been away from cable 6 months, I'm going to try to go back to it Internet-only if I can get a good promotional rate (After 6 months, I'll be a new customer, so I should qualify, if the Internet rumors about how Comcast operates are correct), and not be assessed a fee for not having television service with them (Not sure if I can get this or not -- they have always charged a no-tv fee, but I hear some of the NBC-Comcast merger conditions may have forced them to change this practice under some circumstances), assuming they can wire the place correctly without assessing some sort of a fee (The Dish guy hijacked the interior line for the Dish, meaning a new wire is going to have to be run somewhere to get Dish tv combined with Comcast Internet -- maybe I can do it myself if worst comes to worse, though I'm not terribly handy). In the meantime, I'd just trying not tear all my hair out. VM is really, really the pits -- I honestly hadn't imagined Internet could be this horrible in 2011. I've a little over two months left I need to wait out, I think.

 

[Juan]

so why doesnt the OP just do that? Unless he is on some weird package

Well he saw how successfully Whining on these forums worked for Babyfirst tv and MSNBC perhaps he thought that whining was the proper approach to take with Dish network but alas he must be a newby because all the veterans on this board know that charlie does not give a rats a$$ about sports

 

[larryf]

Me. Every day. ...Or sometimes CNN. Because those are the only U.S. news choices for me.

So, your the ONE that still watches these networks. Invite someone over and double their numbers.

 

[empiretc]

Alas, I do not. Virgin Mobile is reminiscent of AOL circa 1996- slow (Too slow to live stream even when it's operating optimally -- which is almost never), randomly boots you off-line every few minutes, pages don't load for no apparent reason, sometimes the net is down for hours at a time with no explanation, and so on and so forth. I'm fed up with it. Once I've been away from cable 6 months, I'm going to try to go back to it Internet-only if I can get a good promotional rate (After 6 months, I'll be a new customer, so I should qualify, if the Internet rumors about how Comcast operates are correct), and not be assessed a fee for not having television service with them (Not sure if I can get this or not -- they have always charged a no-tv fee, but I hear some of the NBC-Comcast merger conditions may have forced them to change this practice under some circumstances), assuming they can wire the place correctly without assessing some sort of a fee (The Dish guy hijacked the interior line for the Dish, meaning a new wire is going to have to be run somewhere to get Dish tv combined with Comcast Internet -- maybe I can do it myself if worst comes to worse, though I'm not terribly handy). In the meantime, I'd just trying not tear all my hair out. VM is really, really the pits -- I honestly hadn't imagined Internet could be this horrible in 2011. I've a little over two months left I need to wait out, I think.

Can you get DSL or a Lite package from your cable company? It won't stream in HD, but it would still be watchable. At the current price of $4.99 for the remainder of the NHL season, it is definitely cheap enough.

Having a decent internet connection is as essential as running water these days.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Can you get DSL or a Lite package from your cable company? It won't stream in HD, but it would still be watchable. At the current price of $4.99 for the remainder of the NHL season, it is definitely cheap enough.

Having a decent internet connection is as essential as running water these days.

At the time I left cable, a regular Internet connection would have been around $60 (regular price plus modem rental plus "no TV" fee). Their slow economy package would have been $40-$45 using the same formula. Probably now that would be plus a reactivation and/or install fee, and paying them to run an extra wire or trying to get the materials and do it myself. So, it's a bit much right now.

However, if I wait a couple more months, my understanding is that Comcast would treat me as a new Internet customer and I'd get a discounted rate, no reactivation fee, possibly free install and/or or wire running, etc.. So while it's not viable to switch now, it will definitely be worth a call in to them once I've "run out the clock" and would be considered a new customer again.

DSL is something I looked into four months ago and it was a mess. I knew the line in to my apartment was garbled somewhere a few years back when I used to have home phone service and they couldn't fix it, so I was wary to begin with. I called and signed up for their promo anyway because they had a 30 day guarantee and I figured I could cancel if the issue hadn't been resolved in the intervening years. They (CenturyLink) demanded that I fill out a bunch of forms to prove who I was, and wouldn't set an install date until I got them and sent them back (They said they'd go out with the mail the next day). Then they failed to send them at all, so I called a week later and they told me (Without Internet at the time) that I needed to now go online and print them out myself (Even though they said they'd mail them to me), and that I'd also need a copy machine (Which I don't have) because they wanted a bunch of personal documents from me, and then I'd need a fax machine (Don't have that either) to fax it all in. I told them it was invasive and time consuming and that I'd give them a credit card over the phone they could charge immediately if they wanted, plus my SSN or whatever they need, and the guy very snarkily went on a rant implying I was too lazy to jump through his hoops and it was all for my own good. I told him not to bother with any of it, I wouldn't sign up for a service from a company like that. Honestly, I felt like I was about to have an irritation-induced heart attack just dealing with their BS, and I hadn't even gotten a modem or anything sent to me yet -- I didn't want a year or two or more of being on contract with a company like that. I think the words "I'm just trying to get set up with Internet, not applying for a job with the CIA" may have come out of my lips at some point. I felt like I was willing to give them a credit card number to charge in advance, so they'd get their money and know they were getting it before sending anything, and that should have been enough for them.

Somewhere deep in the bowels of the CenturyLink computer system, there is apparently a file with my name on it saying I cancelled the sign up because it was too much of a hassle. Their obnoxious CSR actually made a point of telling me that and reading the notation slowly word for word. I guess he thought I'd be aghast at the possibility of being in trouble with the phone company. They clearly still think it's 1975 and they don't have competitors and can basically do whatever the *&^# they want. Fortunately, though, these days most people don't need a land line phone and can get their Internet elsewhere if necessary.

By the way, one positive thing I can say about Dish is that they made it very easy to sign up. I called their number, they gave me a few times for installation I could pick from, and then the guy showed up on the date and time he said he would. I had it all done in three days without any paperwork or hoop jumping. That's the way you get new customers signed up. Even Virgin Mobile, with it's bad Internet service, made the sign up process easy. To me it's just business 101 -- if someone wants to sign up for your service, you make the sign-up as easy and as quick as possible before they change their mind. If you hassle them the way CenturyLink hassled me, they are likely to just say "Forget it" and be glad they dodged the bullet of dealing with a company like that.