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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI dropped Dish Network today.
My new service (Directv) was literally being installed at the moment I read about them signing Glenn Beck on Monday. My actual reason for leaving was crappy service and horrible customer support. I was quite delighted to tell them the little white lie that the only reason I was leaving them was because of Glenn Beck. I read his deal will earn him 5-10 cents per subscriber. So thrilled he won't get my nickel.
skeewee08
(1,983 posts)RKP5637
(67,112 posts)were selling some converter boxes. I won't go into the details, but it was absolutely incredible. I don't think I've ever experienced such horrible customer service and endless telephone loops.
Good going on taking a few cents from Beck-Hole.
Beaverhausen
(24,472 posts)I plan to tell them I'm not happy about Beck - or losing AMC, but I like them overall.
I like them but they are gonna hear from me.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)They keep dropping channels like AMC, Sundance, ESPN Classic that I originally signed up for. Instead of passing the savings on to customers they keep increasing rates. My bill went up $1 dollar the month they dropped AMC when they didn't want to renew the deal with AMC's contract. Plus I have nothing but problems with reception. Several times a week my tv crashes and it also crashes every time a jet airplane goes over my house (I live near a flight path). If I were alone and it were up to me, I'd dump them in an instant.
freshwest
(53,661 posts)He's now making $20 million a year:
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/10/beck-renews-his-radio-deal/
IggleDoer
(1,186 posts)n/t
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)owns Direct TV. It doesn't matter, they'll get your last few pennies anyway they can.
FATNED
(113 posts)are essentially evil. You really do just pick your poison. But in the interest of fairness, Murdoch no longer owns Directv.
http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2010/10/no-rupert-murdoch-and-news-cor.html
Also directv has both Current and Free Speech TV. I'm happy about that!
xxqqqzme
(14,887 posts)n/t
uwep
(108 posts)Dish has Free Speech, Link TV, and Current TV. The nice thing is that I have
a plan that I can get Link, Free Speech and MSNBC without getting any FOX
News stations. I also get HD as part of the package.
I had to pay extra for HD with Direct TV and overall their packages were more
expensive.
I despise TRAIN WRECK (Glen Beck) also, but I know I have a choice. He is not in my package.
The man is a total "TRAIN WRECK"
tabasco
(22,974 posts)for quite awhile.
Ccarmona
(1,180 posts)Rup sold his interests in DirecTV in 2008 to Liberty
bahrbearian
(13,466 posts)I'm going with over the air and Roku, I'll save about $80 a month.
Blanks
(4,835 posts)No regrets. Make sure you get the TED talks channel. Always interesting.
The wife doesn't get as many football games as she would like, but there are always sacrifices.
Warpy
(111,339 posts)The channel lineup is better (which is why I went with them), the teaser rate lasts a little longer, and the boxes are more stable. The customer service is also stellar. When I told them about my power line shorting out a few years ago and the boxes literally going up in smoke, they laughed and sent me new ones at no charge. Can't argue with that.
However, if they put Beck into the lineup, I might just have to go back to listening to good music and watching stuff on the net.
avebury
(10,952 posts)hated it. We lost reception every time you turned around. We also had problems with the receiver. I went back to Cox Cable because it provides a more reliable service.
Casandia
(656 posts)I called Dish last night and told them I was through...no more money from me if they put Beck on their lineup.
Egnever
(21,506 posts)Glad you voiced your opinion on the beck.
Whiskeytide
(4,462 posts)... what are DU's thoughts on U-Verse? I'm fed up with Comcast, and already have AT&T cell service and home internet. They could bundle me nicely for a decent monthly savings, and even when it went to regular costs, it would still be a little cheaper than what I pay now for all of it.
I like the basic line-up offered, and can watch the Crimson Tide and the Steelers play, and get MSNBC and Comedy Central (for the Daily Show). That's really all I watch. Kids channels are what they see now on Comcast plus a few additional ones. And - I am told I can watch on my phone and the wife's I-Pad (she's getting for her B'day in two weeks - its a surprise so don't tell her)
But I see the commercials portraying U-Verse as the old bundle of 60's entertainment, and think they're hysterical. But a little worrisome.
What's DUs take?
caraher
(6,279 posts)I had AT&T cell service and my DSL was through AT&T and signed up for U-Verse, with pretty similar viewing habits to yours. My problems came when we moved. I shipped their equipment back in the boxes they provided, and I had confirmation from the shipper (I think it was UPS) that they'd received it. They billed me repeatedly for allegedly not returning the equipment, despite my spending hours and hours on the phone with them in efforts to clear it up. (I got a lot of "I'm sorrys" and assurances it was all taken care of, followed by more bills.)
Eventually they sent a letter that included a threat to trash my credit rating with their false claim that I was refusing to pay them money I owed (I owed nothing because I in fact had returned the gear, and could prove it). At this point I filed a complaint with my state's consumer protection agency. Magically, they figured out that maybe I really had returned the box and they'd simply lost track of it themselves.
After 6 months and the equivalent of several working days on the phone I have no interest in ever doing business with them again.
LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)I will never allow them in our house. I fired Comcast before that for similiar reasons. and since I cancelled comcast about a week after the 30 day guarantee, I lost the initial fees to boot. I just wanted out.
Booster
(10,021 posts)service. I'm in Pasadena, CA, not exactly a rural area. First the tv would go out followed immediately by the internet and phone. My tv screen would say "if you're having problems please call us (yeah, right) or go to our website (yeah, right).
They sent out SEVEN techs and by the tech's estimation my service was going out at least 100 times a day and all they could say was "the lines are dirty and there's nothing we can do about it". I said "well, there's something I can do about it" and changed to Dish tv. I read about things that would be obsolete in the next couple of years and tv as we know it was on that list. As someone else posted here, soon we all be hooking our computers up to our monitors and watching what we want when we want so I'm going to wait to get rid of AT&T altogether, but now my internet & phone goes out about 6 or 7 times a week but the tech said just to reset it (a pain) and it does come back up about a minute later. Doubt that you would have the same problems but just wanted to let you know. The strange thing is my next door neighbor has At&T bundled and he has no problems with anything. You would think we would be on the same dirty lines.
bagimin
(1,334 posts)and are generally very pleased. With Direct you have to keep your land line...not so with Uverse even though your DVR is technically hooked up to a phone line I believe. SO there is nearly $500 saved on land line. We use Ooma (Costco) for home phone.
WE have the 350 plan which includes Showtime and Starz and Current and their slowest and cheapest internet bundle but it's 4 times as fast as the DSL we used to have. The DVR is excellent BUT there is a FOUR video stream limit! Best of all ...no reception loss during afternoon storms.
Whiskeytide
(4,462 posts)I may try it as long as they'll agree to let me out of it if i have those problems.
southernyankeebelle
(11,304 posts)What a difference night and day. They will be calling you a couple of times to get you back. They did me. Even a supervisor called and I said no. You will love Direct TV better. Any time I call no matter what time of day, night or even in the middle of the night someone is there to help you. I like their service and I have been with them over 15 yrs. You really will be pleased with them. Plus you get alot more stations with them. Had I had Dish I was have cancelled because I dislike Beck that even a penny is to much.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)we really like our DISH. We've had them for YEARS...no problems, no issues...guess we've gotten lucky.
SO...I saw this article about Blecky a couple of days ago. What are the odds that he will make an arrangement with Direct?
*cringe*
jethro_troll
(14 posts)And meanwhile you didn't tell them the REAL reason so they could possibly, oh I dunno...IMPROVE?
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)Great Caesars Ghost
(532 posts)Lebam in LA
(1,345 posts)sakabatou
(42,174 posts)We went to AT&T. We got a lower rate and a DVR plus more channels that my family likes.
madrchsod
(58,162 posts)i like direct a lot better. the only thing i don`t like is the channel grouping and the remote.
Pamelajaynn
(60 posts)Im a happy customer never had any problems. But he'll to the NO will I b watching glen beck biggest racist yet!
freshwest
(53,661 posts)Glenn Beck likes to style himself a sort of latter-day Revolutionary War hero, rallying the forces of freedom to rise up against oppression. Whatever you think of his politics, the analogy is apt in at least one regard: The deal he just made to put his fledgling internet news channel on Dish Network may be remembered as the Shot Heard round the World in the battle to break cable distributors stranglehold on network content.
Starting at 5 p.m. Eastern time today, Becks channel, The Blaze, will be channel 212 in Dish Networks 14 million households. It will be included as part of a 250-channel package, or available as a premium channel, for $5 a month, to those who receive a more basic package.
In sheer dollar terms, the deal is big but not gigantic for Becks company. Dish will reportedly pay a small per-subscriber carriage fee, which likely means 5 cents to 10 cents per month per household. In its first year, then, the agreement will yield subscription revenues of less than $16 million. Thats not earth-shattering for a man whose multi-media empire was already closing in on revenues of $100 million even before he signed a new five-year, $100 million radio contract.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2012/09/12/glenn-beck-and-dish-network-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-pay-tv-tyranny/?commentId=comment_blogAndPostId/blog/comment/1165-9526-8158
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I was having problems with reception whenever it rained or became overcast. I had to go to Comcast, and I am very happy with it. My phone, cable and Internet are all Comcast, but I heard on TV that Comcast will be raising its rates in October, so I may have to find an alternative or cut back on some services. But I will not go back to satellite.
savalez
(3,517 posts)and will cancel soon. Guess what? No MSNBC on the tier I moved to. Sus-za-na-vitch.
LittleGirl
(8,291 posts)and dumped direct tv after our contract expired. Saved ourselves 100 bucks a month. We bought a HD antenna online for 100 bucks. One month later, it paid for itself. We watch over the air local news that we record with Windows Media Player along with any other shows shown on local tv like NBC, CBS and ABC through windows too. That way we can skip the commercials. We watch MSNBC and Comedy Central (for Jon Stewart) and many others through the internet. Hulu offers most shows free but you have to suffer through some commercials. It's been 6 months so we've saved 600 dollars.
Indpndnt
(2,391 posts)But satellite TV has left me so underwhelmed whenever we've watched it while out of town in hotels. It never fails. It rains out and TV goes pffffffffffffffft.
I wish we had had an alternative to TWC these last few years, but we're slowly migrating to online shows instead. If only we could get the sports we want to see, too.....
allan01
(1,950 posts)good for you ! i will be dumping comast soon. oh your rates will never go up. yah right !!!! i cant afford them. movies and hulu for me
NJCher
(35,731 posts)of the posters on this thread. I have decided to dump Comcast tomorrow
I have Netflix and I live in an area where the libraries are well stocked with DVDs. I think this will just be a slight adjustment and I'll probably be able to view a higher quality of content.
Cher
patricia92243
(12,601 posts)about Beck - is he doing ads for them or what?????
savalez
(3,517 posts)cascadiance
(19,537 posts)This will be one more reason for me to do so.
They've already dropped AMC and shows like Portlandia.
Now they still haven't confirmed that they will cover sports programming of my alma mater. I guess if you are a Pac 12 fan though, for some reason Dish likes getting their programming and Direct TV doesn't. The satellite television thing is nuts.
Now they spend my money on "The Blaze" (which I did see on my channel guide last night)? It's bad enough that I have one of my former co-workers who I still talk to work for them...
Have Dish demand that the Blaze offer Randi Rhodes (since she also works for Premiere Radio Networks that Beck works for now). Then maybe that channel might be worth a fraction of a cent of my bill.
Though for you all to say that DirectTV is innocent, they are now owned a lot by Liberty Communications, which is also making a play to have a satellite monopoly like News Corp used to be doing since they are trying to control Sirius/XM satellite radio now. If they were able to push Dish Network out of business and have Direct TV be the remaining entity they would completely own a satellite monopoly. And Liberty has some bad PR on the political front (though not as visible as Rupert Murdoch and News Corp).