This is why I avoid calling Dish at all costs

TNGTony

Unashamed Bengal Fan
Original poster
Sep 7, 2003
10,041
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Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
First post in a while, and of course it's strictly to vent about CSRs at Dish.
For those that don't know me I have been a Dish subscriber since April 1997.

My 622 went into an endless reboot cycle two weeks ago. I tried unplugging for a day twice, removing and replacing card, and then just letting it reboot itself for days. The unit needed replacing. The hard drive was going bad after many years of service (it's my second unit, the first was replaced for the same reason years ago). So, as every time I am faced with having to call Dish for ANYTHING, I consider cancelling service before the dreaded call to Dish.

I decide to call Dish rather than poke myself in the eye with a chop stick. The call is answered quickly and I jump through the necessary flaming hoops for the CSR. To my relief, it was a good call. The CSR was great and I had a replacement receiver sent. Being an old model, I knew I wouldn't be getting a new one, and the CSR was good enough to remind me of this. After the call I thought that maybe Dish had things straightened out at their call centers.

The replacement receiver arrived yesterday. Since I work late shift, I didn't get a chance to install it until about 12:30am this morning. The replacement receiver has a bad hard drive. How do I know? Because it TELLS me it has a bad hard drive.
1) I get a 024 error when the receiver starts up telling me I can only watch live TV
2) I get a 44 hour guide, not the 9 day guide
3) In the diagnostic/Analysis (Menu 6-3-) the hard drive test is grayed out.
4) In the System Info screen (Menu 6-1-3) the hard drive icon is X-ed out and in red.
And when you do a receiver reboot (either by plug pull or holding down the power button) the receiver will come on to a point, then do a second reboot (not normal) before it comes up with the 024 error and comes on as a non-DVR receiver.

So.... I once again weigh my options and call Dish again. The CSR I get is apologetic and has me jump thought a couple of necessary flaming hoops. Finally she asks when I installed the receiver. I tell her at about 1:30 am this morning. She says, "It takes the receiver 24 hours to get the guide and those receivers will not record without all the guide info" and I should call back in 24 hours if the problem persists.

That is a verifiable falsehood. I tell her that her information is incorrect. She is unmoved.
I tell her that I've had this type of receiver for over a decade and know that this is untrue. She is unmoved
I tell her the problem is a bad hard drive. She tells me that the receivers need to go thought an overnight cycle.
I inform her that the DVR functionality does NOT need to go though an overnight cycle to work. I continue telling her I know about the overnight reboot cycle and the receiver went through that cycle at 5:30 am. She is unmoved.

Knowing I could not get anywhere with this call, I ended it. This is the reason I consider slitting my own wrists before I call Dish.

Full disclosure: I consider all sorts of self torture techniques before I call any customer service line thanks to experiences like this.
 
Full disclosure: I consider all sorts of self torture techniques before I call any customer service line thanks to experiences like this.

Agreed. I had a tech support experience recently with Amazon which literally caused me to change my login credentials about a dozen times because no one there actually knows how their software works. I know more about it than any of the multitude of people I talked to, and I don't even effing work there.
 
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First post in a while, and of course it's strictly to vent about CSRs at Dish.
Hi Tony. We 'talked" at alt.dbs etc. when I first got my original DishPlayer/WebTV. And you directed me to Claude's place once I became a Dish dealer. Good to see you again....but...

Why the heck don't you get a Hopper 3 instead of chugging along with a 622?!
 
If you must call Dish, best people to get things done are the "Loyalty Team." You get there by pressing 5 then 3 ("cancel service") option. Those folks are a tier just below the "Office of the President." I try not to use that office very much, as it's an avenue of last resort, but they have the power to do absolutely anything. Their email address is not hard to find with a simple Google search. They always respond within 24 hours.

PS- both these options get you to call centers in the US, not the dreaded off-shore ones in the Phillipines or Pakistan or wherever they are.

"Office of the President" reps are at the Corporate Office, I believe.
 
First post in a while, and of course it's strictly to vent about CSRs at Dish.
For those that don't know me I have been a Dish subscriber since April 1997.

My 622 went into an endless reboot cycle two weeks ago. I tried unplugging for a day twice, removing and replacing card, and then just letting it reboot itself for days. The unit needed replacing. The hard drive was going bad after many years of service (it's my second unit, the first was replaced for the same reason years ago). So, as every time I am faced with having to call Dish for ANYTHING, I consider cancelling service before the dreaded call to Dish.

I decide to call Dish rather than poke myself in the eye with a chop stick. The call is answered quickly and I jump through the necessary flaming hoops for the CSR. To my relief, it was a good call. The CSR was great and I had a replacement receiver sent. Being an old model, I knew I wouldn't be getting a new one, and the CSR was good enough to remind me of this. After the call I thought that maybe Dish had things straightened out at their call centers.

The replacement receiver arrived yesterday. Since I work late shift, I didn't get a chance to install it until about 12:30am this morning. The replacement receiver has a bad hard drive. How do I know? Because it TELLS me it has a bad hard drive.
1) I get a 024 error when the receiver starts up telling me I can only watch live TV
2) I get a 44 hour guide, not the 9 day guide
3) In the diagnostic/Analysis (Menu 6-3-) the hard drive test is grayed out.
4) In the System Info screen (Menu 6-1-3) the hard drive icon is X-ed out and in red.
And when you do a receiver reboot (either by plug pull or holding down the power button) the receiver will come on to a point, then do a second reboot (not normal) before it comes up with the 024 error and comes on as a non-DVR receiver.

So.... I once again weigh my options and call Dish again. The CSR I get is apologetic and has me jump thought a couple of necessary flaming hoops. Finally she asks when I installed the receiver. I tell her at about 1:30 am this morning. She says, "It takes the receiver 24 hours to get the guide and those receivers will not record without all the guide info" and I should call back in 24 hours if the problem persists.

That is a verifiable falsehood. I tell her that her information is incorrect. She is unmoved.
I tell her that I've had this type of receiver for over a decade and know that this is untrue. She is unmoved
I tell her the problem is a bad hard drive. She tells me that the receivers need to go thought an overnight cycle.
I inform her that the DVR functionality does NOT need to go though an overnight cycle to work. I continue telling her I know about the overnight reboot cycle and the receiver went through that cycle at 5:30 am. She is unmoved.

Knowing I could not get anywhere with this call, I ended it. This is the reason I consider slitting my own wrists before I call Dish.

Full disclosure: I consider all sorts of self torture techniques before I call any customer service line thanks to experiences like this.

That CSR was exactly correct. You couldn't possibly know more than she/he would.. Oh wait, never mind. As mentioned the answer is D I R T.
 
Why the heck don't you get a Hopper 3 instead of chugging along with a 622?!
Probably because he wants a DVR that actually works & doesn't have to be babysat &/or rebooted, AFTER the E* j-holes keep changing the menu/EPG software to do umpteen things that have NOTHING to do with the primary function of watching DISH TV. (I only wish I had stuck with what worked when I foolishly went to what is now these cluster-f*^k of Ho's...)
 
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Echoing what has already been said, you could have contacted Dirt, and spared us of your novella.
 
Probably because he wants a DVR that actually works & doesn't have to be babysat &/or rebooted, AFTER the E* j-holes keep changing the menu/EPG software to do umpteen things that have NOTHING to do with the primary function of watching DISH TV. (I only wish I had stuck with what worked when I foolishly went to what is now these cluster-f*^k of Ho's...)

You really need to come out of that shell and tell us how you feel. :poke
 
Dishrich, I agree to some extent. I was happy with two ViP722 units. But the HWS gave so much more. I could use the extra tuners. Setting a recording on another DVR when the first was full was great! The HWS was truly far superior, IMO, than the ViPs.

Was. The CGUI has ruined my HWSes. To the extent that I am actually weighing my options on greatly cutting back on Dish, and maybe leaving them.

The CGUI has been out so long, I seriously doubt we can expect Dish to fix its problems. And if I keep losing recordings due to being chopped into many, or only getting a very few minutes of the show- then what's the point. The decision will be made for me.

And I have read here about the H3. It has problems. Maybe not the same ones, maybe not as bad. Maybe. But the trade off surely isn't worth it, especially if I get tied into a two year commitment. I used to not mind that at all. But now, I feel Dish has mistreated me and all HWS customers. Not to mention what they've done to H2000 customers.

I'd go back to the old UI in a heartbeat. I'd even sign a two year commitment for it, if Dish would guarantee I'd have it for at least those two years.
 
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Echoing what has already been said, you could have contacted Dirt, and spared us of your novella.

Actually I appreciate the post, just a reminder to self I don't have to go through this, owning my own equipment. I even have a backup internal HD ready to go should it fail.
 
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She was both right and wrong. If she had said the Hopper has atleast 24 hours to work, she would have been correct. The fact that it is a 622, she is dead wrong.
 
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1) I get a 024 error when the receiver starts up telling me I can only watch live TV
3) In the diagnostic/Analysis (Menu 6-3-) the hard drive test is grayed out.
4) In the System Info screen (Menu 6-1-3) the hard drive icon is X-ed out and in red.

She was both right and wrong. If she had said the Hopper has at least 24 hours to work, she would have been correct.
That is incorrect. # 3 and 4 do not display that on an out-of-the-box Hopper. You also don't have to wait 24 hours, overnight, etc, etc in order to be able to pause live TV, rewind, record, etc.
 
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Hi Tony. We 'talked" at alt.dbs etc. when I first got my original DishPlayer/WebTV. And you directed me to Claude's place once I became a Dish dealer. Good to see you again....but...

Why the heck don't you get a Hopper 3 instead of chugging along with a 622?!
One word: FEES/ :)

More words:
Built-in OTA receiver to get and record 3 dozen channels, no fee or additional equipment to buy.
 
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She was both right and wrong. If she had said the Hopper has atleast 24 hours to work, she would have been correct. The fact that it is a 622, she is dead wrong.
No... she was incorrect totally and absolutely. She knew we were talking about the 622 and the DVR functionality INCLUDING being able to set manual timers is available out of the box without guide data. AND I had also explained to her I had the entire 44 hour guide since it finished updating seconds before we began our conversation. AND the two other 622 units I had worked right out of the box to set timers.

Anyway... since it's been more than 24 hours and I still get these errors on my receiver, and it's been 36 hours since I dropped off my original bad receiver in the UPS store, it's time to contact Dish again.
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Reboot--- wash, rinse, repeat.
 
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