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IP: Echostar (Dish) / DirecTV merger vs. the public interest
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 14:19:38 -0500
Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 10:15:01 -0800 (PST) From: Lauren Weinstein <lauren () vortex com> To: dave () farber net Subject: Echostar (Dish) / DirecTV merger vs. the public interest Cc: lauren () pfir org Dave, In the course of an e-mail exchange on technical satellite issues, I received a note from a very disgruntled Echostar (Dish Network) subscriber. He gave me permission to anonymously excerpt from his message, which I have done below. He gives a good "ordinary user" perspective on concerns regarding the Echostar / DirecTV merger. As it happens, I also am an Echostar customer (in fact, since the earliest days of Dish Network). I too have become increasingly dissatisfied with Echostar, and I'm currently in the process of switching to DirecTV. --- Forwarded Message Begins --- From: [ ] Date: Sat, 29 Dec 2001 To: "Lauren Weinstein" <lauren () vortex com> Dear Lauren, Dish Network seems to have a policy that prohibits making existing customers happy. It's almost as if they would rather have new customers than keep their loyal existing customers. I am, at this point, losing my grip as a Dish Network customer. They continually hit me with one thing after another. As it stands right now, I am planning on canceling my Dish Network service as soon as my pre-paid service is up. ... their new customer promotions are not fair to existing customers. They are discriminating against their old customers, and their price-gouging policies which are in place help new customers, while they hurt older customers (Dish Network transfers the new customers savings to the old customers pricing. Effectively raising the cost of our (old customers) equipment even more). I'm getting very disgusted with how Dish Network has changed over the years... They used to be such a nice company.. Now I'm just sick of em... Their constant "Credit Card Autopay" nagging is also one of my pet peeves, along with forced professional installation ... What I'm really worried about is this. DirecTV doesn't maintain a monopoly on their receiver hardware, as Dish Network does. Therefore, if you subscribe to DirecTV, you can have a Hughes, RCA, Sony, DirecTivo etc., receiver. With Dish Network (Echostar), you can only use Dish Network (Echostar) receivers. If Dish Networks proposed buyout (takeover) of DirecTV is a success, it will give Dish Network a total monopoly over the digital satellite television market. I wouldn't be upset over this if Dish Network was the company they once were. However, Dish Network has changed. They are no longer easy to deal with -- unless you're a new customer. It's terrible how they don't listen to their (old) customers. I'm in a bind because I can't get cable in my area. If I could get cable, I would have already dumped Dish Network. I am thinking about switching to DirecTV. I haven't done this yet because of the proposed merger (takeover) ... --- Forwarded Message Ends --- As you can see from the above, he is not a happy camper. --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein lauren () pfir org or lauren () vortex com or lauren () privacyforum org Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR - People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, Fact Squad - http://www.factsquad.org Co-Founder, URIICA - Union for Representative International Internet Cooperation and Analysis - http://www.uriica.org Moderator, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
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- IP: Echostar (Dish) / DirecTV merger vs. the public interest David Farber (Dec 30)