Product - Dish TV DTH.
Before Buying the Product - So one fine day I get up to a beautiful morning and find out I cannot hear my daily dose of morning Music because there’s no Electricity at my Cable wala’s place. This happens more than 2-3 times in a Week and Hence I start looking for options. I stumble upon various choices.
- Dish TV : Oldest, Hence I thought Modest.
STB + Installation (Rs.1750 Total in my case)
Lots of Channels - 188 (In the month of June 09)
Many Negative comments and Reviews on the Internet.
Remote Setup and User Interface not very user friendly(3/5)
Picture Quality - Average
Annual All Channels Package (3617+Tax=4000)
- Tata Sky : Relatively new and with a Strong Marketing Strategy.
STB + Installation (Rs.2000 Total)
Lesser Channels - About 144 something.
Negative Comments and Reviews on the Internet, But not as much as Dish TV.
User Interface Good (4/5)
Picture Quality - Good
Annual All Channels Package (5000)
- Big TV : New Product. Am not a Reliance Fan.
STB + Installation (Rs.1850 Total)
Not sure about the Number of Channels.
Negative comments and Reviews.
User Interface: Not friendly (2/5)
Picture Quality - Very Good.
- Airtel : MPEG4 has got nothing to benefit to the viewer. And not a Fan of Airtel either.
Negative comments on the Internet for this as well. But picture quality is Great.
So after Reviewing the above products, It was clear I had to choose between Dish TV and Tata Sky.
Both have Negative Reviews - Dish TV has more, But maybe because it has more Subscribers.
But is there a Single Product in India which has doesn’t have Unsatisfied Customers ? I don’t think So.
Dish TV is Cheaper and has more Channels.I do not a great fan of Quality. Everything will look the same
on my 21 inch juke box. I can manage with the Slightly Unfriendly User Interface.
Next I call up my Dish TV and Tata Sky using Friends / Colleagues and every one I possibly could.
Again mixed response and moreover, Both Dish and Tata Subscribers were unhappy to some extent.
So I decide, If I have to be Unhappy, Why not Pay less and Be unhappy ?
And Hence I go to the Dealer and Express my Wish !
Process of Buying :
I order in the Morning by visiting the Dealer.
The Installation Guy is done with his work by 4 PM. I can watch all Channels by 5PM!
Could It get any better ?
I pay Rs.5800 in Total(1750 + 4000 + 50 for extra cable). The dish is on the Terrace of my Building,
which is the tallest in a radius of about 5 Km’s. So no Obstruction Issues. I get 94% Signal Strength.
Using the Service :
Now I have access to all the Channels I wanted and my Cable wala could never provide. Including a Full Time
French channel.
For the next 7 days, The service is aces. No flaw at all. But a few things are happening Side by Side.
- I am unable to Enter any Characters in the "Username" Field on the Dish TV website to register myself.
I think its a technical glitch and will be fixed soon. But later I find it has been like that for a long time.
But never mind.
My STB gets too hot after 2-3 hours of continuous viewing. But no issues so far.
The time required to Change Channels is a lot. But its Bearable.
Test of Time :
Good things do not last very long. And my Dish TV was no different.
On the 8th Day, The TV beams a Conditional Access Logo for all the Channels. And soon it Changes to the
permanent display which says "Call Customer Care on 18601803474".
I call. The computer asks for my VC number or my Cell phone Number. I try entering both, It rejects both as
Incorrect. I make several attempts, but no Avail.
I contact my Dealer and tell him the problem. He says It will be fixed soon. Tune Channel 855 and keep the
STB power ON.
The same continues for next 3-4 days.
I have started missing on the T20 World Cup now. I try to analize the situation and I understand if Dish TV
doesn’t have my VC number in their record, its because my dealer has not sent my documents yet.
I get back to the dealer and tell him to straighten out.
Am not sure if it was my threatening or just usual, The service finally starts on the 7th Day.
So I understand that it is the Dealers and the Distributors who are not working upto the mark. But why would
they do that ? I do not see them profit from it in any way.
And eventually it is Dish TV that has to take care of its Dealers and Distributors Network and efficiency.
Am Back to the Colorful World for now.
Good Bye !
PS : All the above are my observations and may not necessarily be true for everyone.
Please do not kill me for it.