DirecTV rate increase!

[Tom N]

Read the enclosed NEW rates fine print notice in your current or next DirecTV paper bill or check DirecTV's website.

My Total Choice Plus is going up $3 a month and my Distant Network Service (I do not have DNS PBS) is going to $14, which is a $2 increase.

Total increase for me is $5 a month.

-Tom

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

Protest!. I removed HBO and Starz to protest the rate increase and told them why I was doing it. Most of the movies were re-runs of re-runs anyway. I took $25.00 off my bill.

[Bill Adams]

I haven't called them yet, but maybe I should just to thank them for providing a service I can't get any other way.
I wonder how many people have posted to the car manufacturers web forum that there was another price increase this year and last year and the year before?
The price of everything goes up even when the economy is down. That hasn't changed in the past and I don't expect it to change in the future.

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

I don't believe that things have to go up in a down economy. If everyone would give up a little, we would all gain a lot. If we all cut off our movie programming in protest of rate increases, they wouldn't have rate increases. I shut off HBO and Starz and saved $25.00 a month.
My contact with Sirius is up next month. They want to raise the rate $2.00 a month. That's about a 23% increase. Howard stern is still getting way to much of my money so I stopped service on one of my receivers. Now my rate has dropped by 50%. I win, they loose. VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET. It does work if everyone gets in on the protest.

[NLOVNIT]

I have no problem discontinuing or switching services to whomever provides the best value for me. MH Magazine has become more ads & inserts than informative content to me, so I'm not renewing when my current subscription runs out. My landline phone carrier was charging me 25% more for less service than another carrier - I switched. My bank was paying me a pittance for my savings account so I shopped until I found one with a better rate & moved the funds. Next I'm targetting my cell phone carrier & car insurance - both of which I've had for well over a decade & I don't want them to have become complaicent with my business.

I figure it's MY money & I have full say in where I choose to spend (or save) it. I'm in Rick's "VOTE WITH YOUR WALLET" ranks.

Lori-

[Max Hubrich]

I'm with you Bill Adams.

The quality and programming is exceptional on DirecTv. My only complaint is still the voice/picture sync problem on some networks. I understand it's not a DitecTv issue.

We're all entitled to our opinions and our choices-- otherwise all us guys might be married to the same woman--- Wouldn't that be a mess

[Tom N]

Originally posted by Bill Adams:
The price of everything goes up even when the economy is down. That hasn't changed in the past and I don't expect it to change in the future.

The same day that I received DTV across the board price increases I also received a "Notice of Proposed Rate Changes" from T W Phillips Gas and Oil Co. T W Phillips is my natural gas supplier for my home back in PA.

Before reading I expect a price increase but upon reading I found that my gas company had applied for a pricing decrease!!

100 Mcf of gas would decrease from $127 to $110 or by 14%!

BTW, the print was much larger than DTVs.

Originally posted by Bill Adams:
I wonder how many people have posted to the car manufacturers web forum that there was another price increase this year and last year and the year before?

Secondly, I've been buying new Honda cars since 1979. When I purchased a new 1979 Honda Accord I had a tough time negotiating $50 off MSRP. In 2008 I purchased a new Honda Odyssey for $4210 off MSRP! No trade involved in either deal and same dealer.

Bill, your reply really surprised me. All I can think of is that you have a financial interest in a negative comment about DTV.

I'm ready for both barrels.

-Tom

[TXiceman]

We are on Dish and got notice that thay are going up as well...

ken

[Bill Adams]

Bill, your reply really surprised me. All I can think of is that you have a financial interest in a negative comment about DTV.

Yeah, that's it! Secretly I am the President of DTV and I want a raise!

Secondly, I've been buying new Honda cars since 1979. When I purchased a new 1979 Honda Accord I had a tough time negotiating $50 off MSRP. In 2008 I purchased a new Honda Odyssey for $4210 off MSRP! No trade involved in either deal and same dealer.

So are you saying that you paid LESS for that Honda today than you did for that Honda you bought in 1979? Now that would be some trick!
Does anyone think that the cost of keeping satellites in orbit and saving up to launch the next (limited life span, you know) is going DOWN in price? The satellites don't know that this economy is in the toilets, the folks working there want to keep their jobs and might even need a raise every couple of years. I think DTV has raised their price 3-4 times since we started service with them in 2000 and I don't find that to be particularly offensive considering how the price of everything has gone up. Gas and oil is an entirely different topic since that pricing is driven by speculators and not any particular supply and demand.
We all make choices with our wallets everyday. Stop at this restaurant or go to the other we like better, where we like to buy gas and groceries (just look at the price of groceries!), who changes our oil and how often. The list goes on and on.
However, DTV has provided me (me is the active word here) with excellent uninterrupted service for almost 9 years and I have no bones to pick with them. I believe that Dish Network, other than their little DNS disaster a few years back, has done the same for their customers. Being in Space is VERY expensive and not everyone is able to take that expense and provide a great service at a reasonable price. Look at Sirius and XM. 2 players is too many? That's tough. What about all those Iridium satellites. Big bucks, no subscribers.
I don't LIKE the price increase but I know that increasing prices are a way of life. Just as people (used to) expect the price of their houses to rise and their salaries to rise it's a bit naive to think that the price of everything else should come down.
As an aside, I agree with everyone who is dropping things like HBO and Cinemax. There have been several free weekend offers on a few of these services and I wouldn't pay you a dime for any of them! It seems like you only get about 5 shows a day and they run them over and over again. I use their pay-per-view programming and watch what I want to watch when I want to watch it and I only pay for the ones I want to see. If you want to save even more then just stop by a Redbox at your local McDonald's and rent that movie for a buck!

[wagonmaster2]

Only curious. Does anyone actually gain during rising prices and inflation? Raw material prices go up so the companies can make a profit, the companies using the raw materials must then raise their prices for the products they make, then unions demand a raise salaries so workers can afford the products they buy, then the raw material companies must again raise prices because their employees have demanded a raise in salaries. What came first, the chicken or the egg?
I was never very good in economics classes so I've never understood inflation. I've read that a good economy must have inflation. But who gains?

Wagonmaster2

[BookIIRoadtrash]

I have had both Dish and Direct. The reason I left dish was they raised the rates $3 a month but gave us three Hispanic and two religious stations and I told them the reason for leaving was “We speak English in our household and did not need influenced by other cultures.” So I went to Direct, but just the basic package I had was $48 when I started and has risen to $55. It seems most cgrds have basic cable so I let Direct go too. It is too bad that they have us as customers they keep trying to pick our pockets for a little more every time they can …….Book2

[Rick 2005 Dolphin 5376]

Stockholders. That's who gains. This isn't the time or place for this conversation. Think profit, think stockholders.

[Techie]

It was a great way of having us re-evaluate our package -- we found that we rarely watched anything on Starz and so dropped that...so I guess I have to thank DTV for raising their prices and getting us to save some money in the process

[GaryKD]

I'm also re-evaluating our DTV package. If the wife agrees (so far she has not) we can get rid of HBO.