Dish Network

[hebroncougar]

Anyone in the Cincinnati area on here have Dish Network? I am considering switching from Direct to Dish to save some money, and get Fox Soccer, but I've read that sometimes Reds games are not in HD on FSN Cincinnati. Can anyone give me the rundown on this? If it's just like 5-6 games per year I'm ok with that, but if it's a couple times a week, that might bother me. Now that I've got MLB TV for my other baseball needs, I'm not tied to Direct with the MLB Extra Innings package.

[redsfanmia]

Originally Posted by hebroncougar

Anyone in the Cincinnati area on here have Dish Network? I am considering switching from Direct to Dish to save some money, and get Fox Soccer, but I've read that sometimes Reds games are not in HD on FSN Cincinnati. Can anyone give me the rundown on this? If it's just like 5-6 games per year I'm ok with that, but if it's a couple times a week, that might bother me. Now that I've got MLB TV for my other baseball needs, I'm not tied to Direct with the MLB Extra Innings package.

I have Dish and it seems most of the Reds games are in HD, I am old school though and honestly don't care if the games are in HD or not.

[reds1869]

I had Dish Network in the past. They routinely hiked my rates despite promising a lower price than the other company. "Oh, we didn't raise the price of your programming package, we raised the price of your receiver and increased you service fees." My cost of programming rose over $30 in one year even as they shed channels I loved. I can honestly say that I've been with the cable company the past several years and received better service (and it isn't because the service is so spectacular). My parents had similar issues with Dish.

Edit: I see one of the reasons you are switching is for Fox Soccer. Be very careful as Dish jerks their soccer/international sports programming options around frequently.

[Razor Shines]

Originally Posted by redsfanmia

I have Dish and it seems most of the Reds games are in HD, I am old school though and honestly don't care if the games are in HD or not.

Gross

[redsfanmia]

Originally Posted by Razor Shines

Gross

I honestly don't see much of a difference, i just don't care about it.

[Joseph]

Originally Posted by reds1869

I had Dish Network in the past. They routinely hiked my rates despite promising a lower price than the other company. "Oh, we didn't raise the price of your programming package, we raised the price of your receiver and increased you service fees." My cost of programming rose over $30 in one year even as they shed channels I loved. I can honestly say that I've been with the cable company the past several years and received better service (and it isn't because the service is so spectacular). My parents had similar issues with Dish.

Edit: I see one of the reasons you are switching is for Fox Soccer. Be very careful as Dish jerks their soccer/international sports programming options around frequently.

Sounds very similar to my experience. They talk a big game, but just don't really deliver that.

[lidspinner]

I have had Directv for over 12 years and so have my parents....they recently switched to Dish to save a few bucks and because Dish offered them free HD DVR's for the entire house, kind of like the whole home DVR service that direct offers....direct would not match the deal because my parents had just re-upped their agreement with Direct and got a free HD DVR about 6 months earlier.......fast forward 4 months and my parents are almost willing to pay the penalty to get out of dish and go back to Direct....its going to cost them a lot of money but they are almost ready to bit the bullet just to get direct back..........I cannot give you an exact reason but there are several little factors that is causing their hatred towards dish....

*they were having issues with the dish receiving a signal during the smallest of storms passing by....called customer service and CS told them they cannot send a guy out for that reason alone.....so they called back and made up a problem and dish sent a tech guy over and parents told him about the signal deal, he did a test and said all was fine....next night a small storm, no rain, just thunder and clouds came by and lost signal...
*Dish charges extra for some of the boxes and DVR, it was given to them on a 4 month free and now the charges are starting and the cost is $45 more than the estimated cost...now, I understand it was an estimated cost, but still 45 dollars higher is a ton more than what they estimated at.....
*Dish gave my parents the movie channels for free for 6 months, my dad never watched them so he went online and cancelled them now just so he would not forget to when his 6 months were up....this last bill that showed up last week, they charged him for cancelling the movie package early....$50..yeah....he called and complained and they said it was a mistake and they credited his account but still had to call and go through the hassle...

I am sure you could come up with arguments for either and if you had dish for 12 years I am sure you would love them more than direct....its more of a what are you comfortable with....and I am comfortable with Directtv, they constantly give me great deals on almost anything I call and ask for within reason....they send me free movie passes almost monthly, give me the NFL ticket for liek $100 each and every year....they just seem to never lose signal and they always send someone out within a few days if I call and have an issue, if I have no service, which has only been once in 12 years, they sent someone out the very next morning at 7am....they value customer service and i like that.

[LoganBuck]

I hate calling India, so I refuse to so business with Dish Network anymore, stick with directv.

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by LoganBuck

I hate calling India, so I refuse to so business with Dish Network anymore, stick with directv.

In my book that's a huge advantage for DTV. Everytime I have called DTV I have spoken to someone that can at least speak English well. It was hit or miss with DISH. Most of the time you get someone from India or Pakistan.
We all have our own war stories with the provider you choose. It's a lot about who DISH or DTV contracts with to install or do mainteance on your system. DISH was horrible in the Northern Virginia area. I would never go back with them. DTV was the complete opposite. Excellent and very professional service when they hooked me up and when they had to come out to check a receiver. You may want to find out who the contracter is your area that the two have and compare them just as much as the actual provider.

[redsfanmia]

It is funny how every one's experiences are different, I have never had any issues with Dish, every time I call I get someone who speaks my language and they have not raised prices on me and I still have signal when it rains.

I had DirectTV and my signal was lost on a daily basis, I had problems when I called them and they raised my bill constantly. Funny

[cinredsfan2000]

I'll weigh in on this subject .I was a direct TV Tech for almost 4 years and have seen and heard everything thats been mentioned here . A couple of things ive seen and can tell you about 1. Dish network If you like sports i would avoid No NFL sunday ticket although they do have red zone channnel .
They didnt up to august of 2011 have the Yes network or MSG (i only mention this as i live in New York cant speak for the rest of the country) In fact they really had a limited amount Of sports programing which was a common complaint .

#2 Programing Another common complaint about dish was they would drop certain channels or move them to diffrent /morwe expensive packages with out explanation .

#3 Not just having to have 1 ugly dish on your house but 2 dishes.Was yet another common gripe although it also depended on were you live and line of sight also played into needing the 2nd dish .

Now some have mentioned above about there losing signal during rain storms or on a daily basis .If this is the case chances are you need your dish re peaked/realigned or it's possible you have a line of sight issue ? Either way if you call either provider and if your in contract usually they will allow you 1 service call if your a long time customer or carry a protection plan .Im not sure if dish provides one or not? But i know direct tv will generally allow you 1 free service call a year. Again as somebody else mentioned if its within reason they will generally give you what your looking for

[LoganBuck]

One thing for the minor annoyance stuff. Sign up for the protection plan, wait 30 days, call and tell them that you are having problems. Wait two months cancel protection plan. You will spend $18 to fix the problem, instead of the $50 fee+parts and labor.