Dish Network - VISA promotion: $100 gift card for new customer/installation

Found this while scouring the web for the best current Dish Network promotion: VISA $100 gift card This would be a less restrictive signup bonus than the Amazon $100 card that I found on this site. I just signed on by phone using the code (02VISA) after the Customer Service rep put me on hold for a couple of minutes to check it out... he was unaware of it. Satellite TV haters please refrain yourselves. There are many of us out here with no DSL, no over-the-air broadcast TV signals (thanks to the switch to digital a few years back), and of course no cable, so satellite TV is one of few options, if not the only option. Besides reading, of course. I had Dish Network from 2007 to 2011, and at signup in 2007 the only DVR choice was the VIP722, which had 2 tuners but was not very flexible when used as designed with a second (SD) TV accessing its recordings. Now they have the Hopper/Joey system, with a 2TB hard drive and 3 tuners... it's not as hot as Directv's new HR34, but you won't have to pay an extra $99 fee to get it installed, either. Dish Network is not for the avid sports fan, Directv has them beat, but for general programming Dish has a few more channels, especially in HD.

They'll make it up as soon as you hit the 6 month by jacking the price on you, and they'll give you a lame excuse on why they did it when you call.

thanks I saw this when I was checking out the different offers

$100 Amazon works for me --- but $100 visa is good alnerative

lousygolfer said:   Go with DirecTV, regardless of Dish's discounts. Dish's DVRs are horrible - bad remotes and controls, difficult menus, poor reliability, frequent (10-15% for me) failures to record part or all of the scheduled programming when there are no schedule conflicts, power outages, or other explanations, etc.... I got pissed off that DirecTV was screwing me around so much with rates and constantly expiring promotional prices and after three attempts to get their retention department to give me a fair rate failed, I cancelled and switched to Dish. Huge mistake. I really hate the Dish DVRs and their tech support people are clueless. It would be worth an extra $25 a month, easy, not to have to deal with Dish's awful DVRs.

Speak of the devil...

My history: big ugly dish in the '90s, Directv 2000-2007, Dish Network 2007-2011, Dish Network again as of yesterday.

I tried for nearly two weeks to become a Directv customer again recently. I have a freeze on my credit, so I asked which credit reporting agency they currently used when signing up. Thawed my Experian account, and for almost 3 days I repeatedly tried to set up an account, but was told that I needed to post a $280 deposit, pay for my DVR and receivers, and I would get no monthly credit offer because of bad credit. I even had both Directv and Experian on the phone at the same time trying to resolve this. Finally a supervisor intervened and corrected the CS reps, and I was told that Directv uses Equifax... and I was given no apology for my troubles.

With that problem resolved, I set up my account with their whole house DVR and two HD receivers, and I specified that I wanted a roof mounted dish. I called back twice to try to get Directv to have the installer contact me, and I found that this just doesn't happen... you only get to talk to the installer beforehand if he is finished with his previous job and needs directions to your house.

Sure enough, the installer arrived and informed me that Directv has a policy of mounting dishes on asphalt or fiberglass shingles, but not metal roofs. With the increasing prevalence of steel roofing, I was surprised that no one would bother to mention that fact before installation day. I unhappily chose a spot on in my yard for the ground pole install with his help. He produced the pole from his van, it couldn't have been much longer than 3 feet, meaning that by the time it was in the ground, it would only put the dish a foot or so above ground level. That's a long way from getting it out of my way. He also suggested mounting it on a 4x4" wood clothesline post that hadn't been used for well over 10 years, and I didn't agree with that. I really didn't want a new 4x4" timber in my yard, either. He gave me a mounting assembly and left that part of the job up to me, cancelled the install with his supervisor, and happily left for home(I was his last job, and he had been on the road for several days). I also learned you only get their newest DVR (the HR34) if you pay an additional $99, otherwise you get whatever reconditioned receiver (usually an HR23 or older) is on the truck at the time of the install.

I spent a couple of days and discovered that he was right about how tough it would be to find a metal pole exactly 2" outside diameter.

I rethought my position in this. Not only was I not getting this dish where I wanted it, I was going well out of my way to find a way to put it where I didn't want it. So I contacted Dish. It had been over a year since I cancelled with them, so they gladly took me back into their fold. The installer put the dish on my deck roof, on the corner, and if it would happen to leak, I'll know immediately and I won't care anyway. I also got their newest DVR, laughably called the Hopper and Joey system, which has some bugs but so far seems to be much better than the VIP722 I had up to last year when I cancelled because of my economic situation. I was more impressed with the Dish installer, he was an actual Dish Network employee instead of a subcontractor like Directv sent.

Yes, the prices suck, but to get TV service where cable is absent, and a quality DVR, it isn't such a bad way to go. Anyone thinking about new service, make sure you get a referral from whichever service you choose. I had a referral set up with my Directv account that I didn't activate, but hadn't heard of Dish's referral program until the day of installation, and with Dish you need to set up the referral before the install, or so I was told yesterday.

There was the $200 Amazon offer, anyone know, if that is still running and the offer code for the same?

I believe that the $200 Amazon card promotion has been dead for a few months. The current code is only for a $100 gift card. After reading how some people were having difficulty getting their $200 gift card from the first promotion, I decided that the $100 VISA card might be the better way to go.

I am going to switch back to Dish when my DTV contract is up. What exactly is the referral discount? Can you get that on top of the $100 visa card?

Just spoke to a rep at Dish. The Amazon promo actually does still work. However, to make our deal, we need reliable internet service. They subcontract to Earthlink for the internet, with 3Mbps. I don't really know how that compares with our cable internet but, at the moment, it's slow as hell anyway. Walking away from them would be vindication for the crap they're pulling. Anyone had experience with Earthlink internet service before?

JVEC said:   Just signed up this evening. Got the Hopper and two Joey's and the Top 200 package for $61/mo for the first year. To top it off, I also got the Amazon $200 gift card. The sales lady I had was absolutely STELLAR! It's what customer service should be. Thanks for the post OP! Without your post, I wouldn't have gotten anything. Green for you!!!

How is it different? 2 years contract on both..Amazon GC is $100 now..You can not double dip promotions.

i had to call dish customer service 3 times for various reasons and i only had the service for 3 hours...customer service so far is 2/3 and a decent installer..i feel pretty strongly im going to have to call again in 2 months and say wtf happened to my gift card

Just signed up today. Thanks!

I've used Dish, Direct and Comcast this year. The worst DVR is Comcast's, next is Direct's. The Hopper from Dishnetwork clearly beats the others. More HD space and true whole house capability.

lousygolfer said:   Go with DirecTV, regardless of Dish's discounts. Dish's DVRs are horrible - bad remotes and controls, difficult menus, poor reliability, frequent (10-15% for me) failures to record part or all of the scheduled programming when there are no schedule conflicts, power outages, or other explanations, etc.... I got pissed off that DirecTV was screwing me around so much with rates and constantly expiring promotional prices and after three attempts to get their retention department to give me a fair rate failed, I cancelled and switched to Dish. Huge mistake. I really hate the Dish DVRs and their tech support people are clueless. It would be worth an extra $25 a month, easy, not to have to deal with Dish's awful DVRs.

JVEC said:   kiteguru said:   JVEC said:   To top it off, I also got the Amazon $200 gift card.

How is it different? 2 years contract on both..Amazon GC is $100 now..You can not double dip promotions.

I'm sorry, perhaps your translator isn't conveying my words properly. To start, how is what different?? Next, I believe we've covered the fact that it IS a two-year contract. Third, yes the $200 Amazon gift card IS STILL AVAILABLE, as was very clearly pointed out in my post. That is of course at the time of posting. And lastly, WHERE DO YOU SEE ANYTHING ABOUT DOUBLE DIPPING? It's one or the other.

I bet if it were written in a childrens book along with big, bright pictures, you would understand it.

Take a chill pill. It was just a question..This is VISA gift card deal and you said "I also got.". You spent more bytes /resources in silly statements rather than a short answer.We are all here to save more /spend less money not to get into personal conflicts..

Had Dish installed this weekend. Any ideas/experiences on when the Visa card comes?

I am looking into getting dish or direct tv installed because my Husband is very ill and he wants more channels to watch other than the converter box. Is there any suggestions of what is a deal right now or if any of them offer one? I live in TX and out in the country so we can not get cable.