Is DishHD Ultimate worth $10.00?

[Dugout Doug]

$5 yes, $10 no.

 

[rogerpl]

$5 yes, $10 no.

I think double D has this right- $10.00 I' wont keep it- $5.00 a chance

 

[fatty]

Does anyone know when Dish made the two separate HD Plans (Essential and Ultimate)? I changed packages when they introduced the DVR Advantage program and at the time they only offered one HD package for $20. I would have been all over the Essential package, even before the Voom channels were deleted.

 

[RandallA]

Does anyone know when Dish made the two separate HD Plans (Essential and Ultimate)? I changed packages when they introduced the DVR Advantage program and at the time they only offered one HD package for $20. I would have been all over the Essential package, even before the Voom channels were deleted.

Feb. 1st 2008.

 

[fatty]

Feb. 1st 2008.

Thanks! Darn, I wish I would have paid attention more. I'll be switching tonight but I could have saved about $40. But as long as I can still keep the current Dish Advantage deal I'll be happy.

 

[CRFTony]

I just dropped down to HD Essentials. I never watched a single channel in Ultimate aside from the Voom channels. Dish charged me $5 for downgrading my "service", despite me expressing my displeasure with their move. They simply don't care about their customers. I can't wait to dump Dish when my contract is up.

 

[royrose]

I just dropped down to HD Essentials. I never watched a single channel in Ultimate aside from the Voom channels. Dish charged me $5 for downgrading my "service", despite me expressing my displeasure with their move. They simply don't care about their customers. I can't wait to dump Dish when my contract is up.

You should have hung up and called back to get a different rep. I went to Dish HD Essentials via on line chat and the rep waived the $5.00 fee "because you are such a good Dish Network customer" without my even asking.

Roy

 

[RandallA]

I dropped to HD Essentials on Tuesday night and the CSR never mentioned the $5.00 downgrade fee. I was ready to argue with him about it but he never mentioned it.

 

[M Sparks]

I would assume that anyone paying for Starz and encore would get any HD encore channels. Of course I should not assume so much.

Actually, this is the one case where that is NOT true. The Encore channels are all priced separately. (For the provider, not for us.

People paying for Starz DO get Encore East.

People paying for AT250 get Encore West AND all the other Encore channels.

If Encore HD was added (not that it even exists anymore), it would likely be the East feed only, and would only be included in the Starz package.

When they created AT250 (I think it was called 150 back then), there was much less to add to it, so the Encore theme channels and The Movie Channel were added to make it a better value. They differentiated by adding only the west coast feeds. So basically, those of us who subscribe to AT250, Showtime, and Starz pay twice for Encore and The Movie Channel.

I suppose it would be possible to add The Movie Channel HD to HD Ultimate which would help. However, then I would be paying for it THREE times.

 

[M Sparks]

I think double D has this right- $10.00 I' wont keep it- $5.00 a chance

$5 is totally fair. HDNet Movies is really great. Everything else is decent, though I never watch NBA.

 

[CRFTony]

I dropped to HD Essentials on Tuesday night and the CSR never mentioned the $5.00 downgrade fee. I was ready to argue with him about it but he never mentioned it.

Wow, you guys are lucky. I called this morning and said I wanted to drop my HD Ultimate package because Dish was no longer carrying the Voom channels. She said "I'm sorry for the inconvenience, please hold while I make the changes to your account". When she came back on, she told me what my new monthly statement would be and that there would be a $5 charge for downgrading my service. I said I couldn't believe I was being charged when Dish dropped nearly half the channels in the package. She said again, "I'm sorry for your inconvenience, is there anything else I can assist you with". I said yeah, don't charge me $5 after dropping channels from my package. She said "The $5 charge is the standard fee for downgrading service. Is there anything else I can assist you with". I told he she'd already done more than enough and hung up.

 

[theoak]

When I signed up for dishHD, I got 6 months of $20 credits. I have one credit left. If they do not change that package in the next month or two, I will be dropping to the essentials too.

 

[azdevil]

If you're an NHL Fan like me, you need AT250 for VS and HD ultimate to get NHL net. It can get a little pricey for the sake of 2 channels. Is it worth $10? No...maybe $5.

That's why I downgraded 2 days ago to HD standalone pack and got all those channels at half of what I was paying. Of course I sacrificed a couple of SD sports channels I watched soccer on but the savings feels great.

What I'd like to know is this......I get 45 HD channels and a recent Dish Network press release says they now have 95 HD channels.

So....how do I get the other 50 HD channels??

 

[airphotos]

If you're an NHL Fan like me, you need AT250 for VS and HD ultimate to get NHL net. It can get a little pricey for the sake of 2 channels. Is it worth $10? No...maybe $5.

That's why I downgraded 2 days ago to HD standalone pack and got all those channels at half of what I was paying. Of course I sacrificed a couple of SD sports channels I watched soccer on but the savings feels great.

What I'd like to know is this......I get 45 HD channels and a recent Dish Network press release says they now have 95 HD channels.

So....how do I get the other 50 HD channels??

PPV and a bunch of empty NBA channels. Twisted marketing.

 

[azdevil]

PPV and a bunch of empty NBA channels. Twisted marketing.

According to dish website, the 45 HD channels includes the 5 PPV channels. There's 50 empty NBA channels? Something doesnt add up.

Ok, they removed VOOM so the 95 they claimed on Monday became 80 on Tuesday. I still don't think there are 35 empty NBA channels.

I guess they count the RSN's which are not available with HD only pack. With regular HD packs, can you sign up for multi-sports pack and get 35 RSN's in HD? How much non-pro sports content is in HD on these channels though?

 

[kvnfl]

Let's see...

Smithsonian: I'm worried that the constant orange logo is going to burn my screen. They seem to repeat a lot of stuff. Sound familiar?

Conclusion: study the EPG for a week or two, then drop if nothing "compelling"

Follow the EPG for Smithsonian to the end, make note of the Original Air Date and repetition. It makes VOOM's programming seem fresh.

 

[fbbonline]

Lol dropped down yesterday to the essentials...

+1

 

[teamerickson]

Stop being so cheap. Charley needs the money to pay tivo.

Remember when there was just one HD package? It was $20. Even without the voom channels there's still more and better content.

 

[kstuart]

You should have hung up and called back to get a different rep. I went to Dish HD Essentials via on line chat and the rep waived the $5.00 fee "because you are such a good Dish Network customer" without my even asking.

I'd be willing to bet that the guy you responded to is not a "good Dish Network customer".

You've been on this site 2 1/2 years longer, he has only been here 6 months, and so it seems likely that he has been a customer less than a year - which means that Dish has yet to even break even on his account.

Given that he was rude to the CS rep over $5, I'm thinking it is even more appropriate that they didn't waive it.

 

[CRFTony]

I'd be willing to bet that the guy you responded to is not a "good Dish Network customer".

You've been on this site 2 1/2 years longer, he has only been here 6 months, and so it seems likely that he has been a customer less than a year - which means that Dish has yet to even break even on his account.

Given that he was rude to the CS rep over $5, I'm thinking it is even more appropriate that they didn't waive it.

Wow, you're accusing me of being a rude and bad customer? Thanks for that.

I've been a Dish customer since July 2006.

I pay (before changing my service today) $110.32 per month for my service.

I was not rude at all. I called Dish and here's close to a verbatim transcript of what I said:

"Because Dish dropped the Voom channels, I'm calling to cancel my HD ultimate service and to change to HD Essentials"

I was then told to hold while they made the changes. She came back on, gave me my new monthly total and said I'd be charged $5 for downgrading my service. I said:

"I can't believe I'm being charged $5 to change my package after Dish dropped several of the channels I watched."

She said she was sorry for the inconvenience and asked if there was anything else she could assist me with. I said:

"Yes, you could not charge me $5 when Dish is the one that changed my programming."

She said the $5 fee was their standard charge and again asked me if there was anything she could assist me with. I said:

"No, you've already done more than enough." and turned off the phone.

I was not rude. I did not raise my voice. I did not use foul language or even harsh language. I guess feeling like I got ripped off makes me a bad customer.