Dish Network ventures from satellite TV to iPhone repair with new fixit service

AppleInsider

In a surprise move, Dish -- known for its satellite television business -- on Tuesday announced an iPhone repair service, allowing people in the U.S. to have a technician come out to their location and fix their phone's screen or battery.

The company is charging a minimum $35 "Drive to Me" fee, after which costs vary between about $40 and $190 depending the iPhone model and exact services needed. While a battery replacement costs a flat $74.99 -- Drive to Me included -- total costs can rise as high as $224.98 for someone getting both the screen and battery fixed on an iPhone 6 Plus.

Currently, only the iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, and 6 Plus are supported, not SE or 6s models. More devices are due to be supported sometime in "coming months," Dish said.

Dish's fees may be higher than some other repair options, but they can potentially be cheaper than what Apple charges, particularly without AppleCare+ accident coverage.

It's not clear why Dish would venture into smartphone repairs. The smartphone industry is a lucrative one however, whereas cable and satellite TV are on the decline, precipitated by people choosing internet services like Netflix, Sling, and/or HBO Now.

kent909

Bizarre

mknelson

Have they somehow become Apple authorized for service work or are they installing counterfeit/black market parts?

Very strange.

stantheman

DISH should also have their representatives sell and install AppleTV to customers. That would boost Internet use, and most customers would maintain DISH-TV service to continue receiving content that's not on AppleTV.

suddenly newton

Sounds desperate to me.

king editor the grate

Makes sense. Dish has installers/service people everywhere. Might as well utilize them to boost revenue.

ireland

Hope their batteries are better than the crap third parties are installing where I live.

jwbl33

king editor the grate said:

Makes sense. Dish has installers/service people everywhere. Might as well utilize them to boost revenue.

Actually they don't. In most places dish contracts other companies to do their install and service work.  Next time you see a "dish" van look closely at the logo on the door. Chances are it will say something like dish by... Here in NY and VT it's dish by Intertech.  I get the pleasure of working with installers from xfinity, dish, dtv, and many other local companies and I must say I normally don't look forward to working with the dish guys. They generally have terrible attitudes and seem like there almost looking for a fight. Oh and they go out of their way to find a reason to not do the install or to do as little as they can get away with. When my customers ask my opinion, dish is always the last I'll recommend. Unless they are cord cutters then I will recommend their sling service. 

teaearlegreyhot

Sounds like a good option for folks in remote or rural areas.  I recently drove 5 hr round trip just to get to an Apple Store, to have my swollen and bulging iPhone 5 battery replaced.  Cost was $79 (plus fuel and time off work).  If it could be done locally, that would have been great.  On the other hand, the Apple Store swapped my old phone for a (seemingly) new one of the same model, so that was a bonus.

edited May 2016

king editor the grate

jwbl33 said:

king editor the grate said:

Makes sense. Dish has installers/service people everywhere. Might as well utilize them to boost revenue.

Actually they don't. In most places dish contracts other companies to do their install and service work.  Next time you see a "dish" van look closely at the logo on the door. Chances are it will say something like dish by... Here in NY and VT it's dish by Intertech.  I get the pleasure of working with installers from xfinity, dish, dtv, and many other local companies and I must say I normally don't look forward to working with the dish guys. They generally have terrible attitudes and seem like there almost looking for a fight. Oh and they go out of their way to find a reason to not do the install or to do as little as they can get away with. When my customers ask my opinion, dish is always the last I'll recommend. Unless they are cord cutters then I will recommend their sling service. 

Interesting!

In southern Illinois, most of them are Dish-owned rather than contractors. I've had a few that were not the best, but I've had a genuine peach as well.

Much better than when I dropped DSL and had a cable guy out to install a big tube to teh Interwebs. He gave surliness a new name.

no99

jwbl33 said:

king editor the grate said:

Makes sense. Dish has installers/service people everywhere. Might as well utilize them to boost revenue.

Actually they don't. In most places dish contracts other companies to do their install and service work.  Next time you see a "dish" van look closely at the logo on the door. Chances are it will say something like dish by... Here in NY and VT it's dish by Intertech.  I get the pleasure of working with installers from xfinity, dish, dtv, and many other local companies and I must say I normally don't look forward to working with the dish guys. They generally have terrible attitudes and seem like there almost looking for a fight. Oh and they go out of their way to find a reason to not do the install or to do as little as they can get away with. When my customers ask my opinion, dish is always the last I'll recommend. Unless they are cord cutters then I will recommend their sling service. 

It's been a long while since I was in the know but Dish ran it both ways.  If there were contractors in the area, they'd use them, otherwise they'd run their own trucks.   Servicing a satellite business like theirs mean you have to have a presence everywhere.

I suspect this is another gimmick by Dish,  in ways, it makes sense,  put their installers to work doing other things to bring in some cash.  I can't imagine that they'd stick with it long term.  Perhaps it does show some desperation with cord cutting.

the_martini_cat

DUDE!  I am so stoked to have Dish come and fix my phone, I almost wish it was wearing down but ... it's still going great guns!  

cali

Weird.

can they come fix my microwave as well??

lordjohnwhorfin

If it's as cheap and crappy as their satellite service, I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to replace your broken iPhone with an android POS.

wood1208

Dish, better not start iphone repair service. First, your prices for repair of screen or battery replacement for 4S/5/5S is closer to the prices of similar refurbished iPhone. Second, where you going to get Apple OEM parts like screen or battery ? Apple won't sell to you and their suppliers probably are tied with contract to not sell outside of Apple. Dish, you are in contents delivery business so take your SLING App and port to run natively on Apple-TV so you can pickup additional customers/revenue.

edited May 2016

baconstang

Been a Dish customer for 12+ years.  They've been the best utility I've ever had to deal with.  Absolutely no comparison to Comcast or AT&T.  From installation to billing and everything in between.
I've often wondered what Dish will do in the future, the writing's on the wall.   Apple may be looking at the vast amount of bandwidth Dish has.  That's something Apple might use in the future.

bestkeptsecret

Doesn't the current AI Podcast sponsor do something similar? I forgot what it's called.

linkman

Assuming the parts are similar, I would still rather have iPhone repairs made by someone in a mall kiosk or strip mall. Typically those people have a lot of experience working with iPhones. The Dish installer/repairer? He is probably more used to running coax, aligning dishes, swapping out receivers, climbing on roofs, etc.