Switch from Direct TV to Dish?

[Kenneth in Texas]

At the end of the day they both pretty much the same, different channels here and there but overall they are both satellite providers, go with whats cheaper for you. Currently im on DISH and am somewhat happy, of course need to call them every other month and threaten to move to direct and they cut my bill in half, currently for the middle package its $35 and change each month

 

[RedNeckGeek]

Just went through this the other way around. I had DirecTV with Tivo many years ago, but their service quality went down as fast as their rates went up when Murdoch bought 'em. Switched to Dish four years ago when I moved, and it's pretty much the same deal. When I got a new flat panel a month or two ago I wanted to add another room to the package, and called Dish. Told 'em I was gonna switch if they didn't match a DirecTV offer for new free equipment, 50% off monthly fee, and $100 prepaid credit card. It took a couple of calls, but eventually they came around and matched the DirecTV offer. Almost had to send the installer home though, as he wanted a fee to run cable to the new room. That was taken care of with a call back to the mother ship, and I'm happy with the new setup. But at the end of the year I'll call Dish up again and play the same game with the latest DirecTV offer (they come every month). Same if anything breaks (I always decline any warranty). I didn't know Fox News was off the air, but I've had problems losing my favorite local news channel for about six months, and CNN only recently returned after a month or two absence. Apparently it's a problem across all the media industries, and a large part of what is used to excuse the rate increases.

 

[LD1]

I will say this, on thing that really irritated be about BOTH companies:

Trying to pressure you to sign up immediately, AND nothing but badmouthing the competition.

I had called dish first when needing to sign up for something. I politely explained my purpose for the call was only to gather pricing information for AFTER all the promo BS wears off and would be doing the same with Direct TV before making a decision. They do a good job of advertising the crap out of the promos. But thats only good for 1 year of the 2 year contract. What good is free TV for the first year if you are suckered into paying $300/month for the second year.

Anyway, They immediately started telling me that Direct TV had terrible customer service, and that they are normally $20/mo cheaper for similar packages, yada yada yada. So instead of answering my questions about THEIR pricing, they only tell me how bad direct TV is and how much cheaper they are.

So after numerous times asking for their "normal" rates and then continuing to tell me how good their specials are, they finally gave me their prices. When I told them "Thank you. That is all I need to know for now", They tried to pressure me to sign up right then. Like "What can we do to get you to sign up today" etc.

IT was an almost identical phone call with Direct TV:confused2:

As far as pricing, They were nearly the same. For 4 TV's, pricing with and without DVR, total cost was within a few bucks each way I priced it. I opted for Direct TV for 2 reasons. Wireless. And Centurylink (for my internet) bundles with Direct to save $5/month and only get 1 bill instead of 2.

I have a serious dislike for both of their sales strategies. Badmouthing the competition, and high pressure. Luck for them, they are really the only 2 big players in the market and thats probably the only reason they stay in business