Dish or direct tv

bonnielu · ‎03-11-2010

Comcast pulled a fast one on me and then backtracked after I caught them and complained. Had to do with pricing. Looks like I need an extra college degree to keep up with them. However I walked through Costco today and was offered a good deal from Direct TV. Last time around because I am in the woods with trees (big ones) I had to discontinue Direct TV and switch to Comcast. They are telling me they are MUCH BETTER NOW and I would be happy with the reception. I need Internet, TV and phone, not sure they would provide phone as I have a land line, a Sprint smartphone. SO CONFUSING. They are now linked to ATT and I prefer Sprint. Any suggestions, experiences to help me out would be appreciated. It would be over $40 a month in my pocket if I could swing it.

In-x-s · ‎03-09-2010

read the fine print and find out what it will be after the promo offer or what you have to agree to in order to get the special pricing. Often it is auto pay and lock in a 2 yr contract but the low price is only for the first year and then the price goes wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy up!!

DoneTryin · ‎03-09-2010

I'll second that suggestion about reading the fine print. I've always had Comcast though I have grown to dislike them over time. About 3 years ago, Direct TV was heavily promoting "we'll never change your rate" with tv commercials & print ads. When I received one of their flyers in the mail, I thought it might be my chance to dump Comcast. There were so many if' s, and' s & but' s involved that I trashed both the flyer & the idea. I'm retiring soon & will first try to negotiate a lower bundle rate them by pleading "poor me, the senior citizen living on a lower income than I had." If they're still overpriced for me, Plan B is to dump cable & landline, & will go smart tv route & get most of what I want from internet.

Good luck to you! It's hard to fight Goliath, especially when you have limited options.

bonnielu · ‎03-11-2010

Limited options in my area and Comcast knows it. I am a long time customer. My contract was about to expire. I called them, dumped HBO etc, sports channels. Kept phone and Internet and my X1 boxes. Thought I was going to save money. Well got a letter that I had to pay individually for boxes, adaptors, etc. (It was part of the OTHER more expensive package). The result, more money and I lost all the extras. Really bad situation and I was duped. So I called and explained HOW I SAW IT. After finding someone who would listen they removed the extra charges and my bill ended up 2 dollars less than before. But you have to remember I know longer have the movie channels and sports.

I walked into Costco, and Direct TV offered me a system which would have been less, however no phone. So in any case nothing will save me except going to smoke signals and perhaps some sort of Amazon stick which I really don't understand. I am a prime member but that is all I know at this point.

Need competition but our county has a closed system of sorts and only Comcast can get in and the rest, Dish and Direct TV are a possibility.

DoneTryin · ‎03-09-2010

Sorry you're stuck like that! Every time I think I'll just go without tv, I have to slap my face & get real.

The Amazon Firestick is for accessing programs through the internet. Call them for more details! Their CS is very helpful. Also, with your Prime membership, you can stream some tv shows & movies from the internet; many are free. Again, get help from their CS.

Nuttmeg · ‎03-09-2010

@bonnielu wrote:
Limited options in my area and Comcast knows it. I am a long time customer. My contract was about to expire. I called them, dumped HBO etc, sports channels. Kept phone and Internet and my X1 boxes. Thought I was going to save money. Well got a letter that I had to pay individually for boxes, adaptors, etc. (It was part of the OTHER more expensive package). The result, more money and I lost all the extras. Really bad situation and I was duped. So I called and explained HOW I SAW IT. After finding someone who would listen they removed the extra charges and my bill ended up 2 dollars less than before. But you have to remember I know longer have the movie channels and sports.

I walked into Costco, and Direct TV offered me a system which would have been less, however no phone. So in any case nothing will save me except going to smoke signals and perhaps some sort of Amazon stick which I really don't understand. I am a prime member but that is all I know at this point.

Need competition but our county has a closed system of sorts and only Comcast can get in and the rest, Dish and Direct TV are a possibility.

I have Comcast and bundles are always the best deal. This is the site where I get my information about Comcast. http://www.dslreports.com/forum/comcast

Nightowlz · ‎03-11-2010

We have had Dish for 17 yrs. if I were you I would compare the packages on each to see how much it is. For the channels we wanted when we signed up with Dish they had the better price for the package with the channels we wanted. I did hear AT&T owns Direct. You also have to keep in mind fees for Dvr's etc.

Lilysmom · ‎03-09-2010

I feel your pain. I'm in Canada and we have the same issue with our service providers. I am starting to see Internet ads for an 'X' box which is supposed to provide free internet content. I don't know anyone who has it. Has anyone here heard anything? I have a smart TV which I don't really use as a smart TV and Apple TV. Would love to hear of something new to break the cable wars! LM

ValuSkr · ‎03-15-2014

Have you considered dropping TV altogether? If you have an HD TV, you can add an HD indoor antenna (starting at $20) and get TV over-the-air for free (like the old days). I can get 50+ channels here in suburban Philly, and, yes, QVC Over-The-Air is one of them. It was wonderful to get rid of the cable and set-top boxes. Later I may add a Sling TV package, which streams twenty or so of the:most popular cable channels (CNN, ESPN, ESPN2, Food, History, etc) to your TV for only $20 per month.

GCR18 · ‎07-03-2013

I've had dish almost ten years. I have basic dish no frills, no dvrs, etc. I signed up at $49 and now it's $62. I think the price is still fair. My only complaint with dish is they won't come out for a service call unless you pay $100 or have their service plan.

Two years ago my dish wasn't acting right. I knew it was the dish itself, there was something loose on it. They charged $100 service charge. Then they said as long as we're coming, we'll upgrade your dish. The service man said they would have to replace the dish shortly anyway. I called and they wouldn't budge on the charge. I chalked it up to a dollar a month for maintenance since it was the only maintenance charge I had.