Good intentions gone bad...

[SteveinDanville]

My dad just got a new Sony 34" LCD flatscreen HDTV, and he had an old 301 that Dish upgraded to an 811 (due to my coaching). The install people from The Good Guys said that they could install the 811, so my dad declined the $25 install charge from Dish. Well, now the fun begins. I go over to his house yesterday to help him load all the component information into his new Home Theater Master MX600 that they sold him--they didn't program anything into it; they just flat handed it to him. After a couple of hours, I walked him through the satellite options, screen stretch modes, did a cursory calibration of his screen, showed him how to watch a DVD. Before leaving, I said, hey, let's watch some HDTV. He hadn't seen any yet, so I get on the Guide, and can't find any HD stations. So, I phone Dish, and after running some tests, we find out that his Dish 500 setup is only seeing one of three birds, and is not getting any HD. I asked them if they could send somebody out and fix it, and they said the charge would be $119 (they read to me off the computer that he had declined the Dish setup, so this was the response). When they referred me to a local authorized Dish rep. in the area, who they said would probably be cheaper, when I phoned this company they said that they only did installs of their own hardware. Okay, so now it's back to The Good Guys. They tried to install the 811, my dad said, but didn't know how to do it (!), so they sub'd it out to an outside company. They came, "installed it", and left, with no receipt, work order, name of company, or anything. I asked my dad who these guys were, and he said "Carl and some other guy". Oh boy. His other three receivers (510 and two 301's) are getting all the channels that they're supposed to, so I don't think it's the LBNF. For a recap here: Dish won't help except for $119; The Good Guys has said that they will have their manager of custom installations call my dad, since I advised my dad to run it up the chain at The Good Guys, since it was their sub-contractor that f'd it up. Does all this sound reasonable? I just want the old guy to get his HD. Oh, by the way, they also sold him a Monster Cable Power Conditioner component that everything plugs into before going out again! And they only hooked up his component outs from the 811 to the Sony, not a DVI to HDMI hookup.

[Pils]

I am sure you tried this, but will suggest anyways, checkswitch. Other than that, is this a new line or was it an existing line that a 301 was on? Or if it was some other line, make sure the line runs directly to the lnb, no splitters or anything in its way, this will cause problems like you describe.

[ajmcd64]

I had a problem recently and the Dish Tech told me they offered a "service plan". It was $5.90/month and you could cancel at any time. Service calls were $29. I was going to go with this (just sign up, get my service call, and then cancel), but I found the problem.

[korsjs]

alot of people are reporting your problem with the 811 only seeing satellite 119. some have gotten it to work by unplugging for a few minutes then doing a check switch. if that does not work you might need a new 811.

[juan]

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[SteveinDanville]

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Yes, the first thing we did was a checkswitch (after holding the power button down for 10 seconds for a reboot). Yes, it replaced an existing 301, and finally, yes, the HD package was ordered. Thanks for your thoughts, everybody; I appreciate your help.