Cost to upgrade from VIP 622 to VIP 722
- Thread starter JimK2
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If you have been a long time customer and sign a 24 month contract it may be around $100 if you get a good customer service person. Being a long time customer helps. I'm sure you will get different answers from different people.
Depends on how good of a customer that Dish considers you. Login to your account at Dish's website... Click "My Equipment", "Equipment Upgrades", then "Dish'n It Up".
I've been with E* for around 8 yrs. I'm enrolled in Dishn' it up and already in a 24 month comm., so I was quoted $549.00....No, seriously. I told 'em to shove it; in nicer words, of course.
$75 for me. I was turning in a ViP622 that developed an HDMI problem. When I called back, the rep wanted $150, which is what the web site told me. I said I was offered this for $75, check your records (I have no idea if they prev rep logged that in). Rep was nice about it and said OK, $75. And a two year commitment. No problem, I'm not going anywhere. I love the ViP series, and am getting pretty much all the TV I can handle.
So if they say $150, haggle. I think they'll usually go down to $75 pretty easily.
So if they say $150, haggle. I think they'll usually go down to $75 pretty easily.
I'm moving in a few weeks and I was hoping to be able to get some kind of discount with dish n' it up and dishmover now being sort of combined according to the retailer chat.
I'll still ask, but now I'm not so optimistic.
Is the 722 that much better than the 622? Besides the outside color and the size of the hard drive, what's the diff?
I'll still ask, but now I'm not so optimistic.
Is the 722 that much better than the 622? Besides the outside color and the size of the hard drive, what's the diff?
Over the phone ? If so, do the steps I listed above and see what cost it tells you. It would cost me $75 also and I'm a bottom-tier customer, only subscribing to HD Absolute ($30/mo).
It was a live chat. I was told it's because of the 24 month comm. with the 622. I'll give that a shot, though. Thanks!:up
That was bogus. If you qualify, they'll get you for another 24, so why would they not want to?
That was my thinking as well. You know how it goes playing CSR roulette...It's not a priority now, anyway. I was just curious. The purpose of the chat (a couple of weeks ago) was to inquire about HD upgrade . It'll become a priority when the Fall series' and NCAA basketball start. I have plenty of room on my DVR at the present time.
They told me $150 at first as well, but I had already looked on the site and saw it was $75 uninstalled. I believe that they don't tell u that getting it uninstalled is an option and just try to get u to spend $150 (including installation). I just got my 722 tonight, set it up all the connections, and activated it online with no issues.
If you don't mind me asking, what is the process for returning the old receiver to them? Do you have to send the old receiver in before you get the upgrade? Do they supply you the packaging to ship the old receiver to them?
In past
In the past they would you to send it back w/in 2 wks of receiving the new unit in the box sent.
In the past they would you to send it back w/in 2 wks of receiving the new unit in the box sent.
I got a letter offering to receive a new VIP series DVR because my 921 I have had will soon be unable to see any HD channels. I called the number and was offered a VIP622 FREE install. Surprised they offered me an install date two days later. I questioned the CSR about getting a 722 because it offered the latest in their technology. He said no way as the 722's are in short supply and the hard drive is too big to offer for free.
So, what shows up yesterday, much to my surprise? A New 722! For FREE. and the install to make it work.
Of course, as expected the install was a nightmare of incompetence. Let me explain- I had everything ready to go to simply plug in the DVR and activate it. While the installer was very nice and I cooperated with him all the way, he could not get the 722 to work. After an hjour of frustration, I decided to take a look and saw he had connected the separator block by just sticking the coax F connector against the fitting and didn't screw it down. Lazy? Well after I noticed this I screwed down all three connections and it started to sense the SW64 switch on my system. But then failed. Not sure why. Meanwhile I have my 622 working fine off the other two leads from the SW64 switch. Now the installer says that the 722 will not work with a SW64 switch because it only talks one way and needs to be swapped out. So he spends the next hour swapping out my dish's LNB's and the SW64 with a combiner block. Now my 622 doesn't work and the 722 doesn't work either. His next excuse is that the new satellites all use higher frequencies for HD and the wire RG6 I had on the dishes won't work for the 722. So he pulled out all my wiring from the Dish down to the SW64 and just threw together the connections, all dangling in a rat's nest of cables on the side of my house. OK, now it works! Both receivers, the 622 and the 722 come up correctly on a check switch. But something is still wrong! After he left I did a little snooping and discovered he made use of the extra cable I had now available at each receiver because of using the combiner and separator blocks. He tied in the Remote house distribution jacks with a splitter block and then coupled the two cables together from the 622 and the 722 out at where the SW64 switch used to be. If it would work, it would be like trying to set the 622 DVR up as a TV2 on the 722, and the 722 as a TV2 on the 622, but even that was wired wrong as he had this splitter shorting out the RF on the satellite feeds. I think all this did is reduce the effective signal level as most of my TP's were only at 20 signal strength. I had 50 to 75 and even 100 before with the SW64.
Well I pulled all that rat's nest of splitters and jumpers off both the 622 and the 722 and the signals jumped back to normal. Second, I saw he reset my 622 and set the 722 for Dual mode. Not having any house distribution, I moved the DVR's back to single mode.
Now I'll have to redo the wiring outside as the rat's nest has to go! Looks like that's my Saturday morning project.
Oh, one more thing, I don't use a phone line, rather have a broadband connection. I had difficulty in convincing the CSR during activation, that I should not have to pay the $5 a month fine for not connecting a phone line. Never had a problem with the 622. Then the CSR said the 722 is different in that if you disconnect the broadband, the receiver won't check switch????? I never had a 722 before but I'd bet this is just BS. Once the installer got the wiring 75% correct the check switch went through just fine. I then connected the Cat 5 cable to my nearest outlet with a 20 ft ethernet cable. I'll have to add a RJ45 jack at the 722 Saturday. I did that because the installer said he wasn't authoried to connect the 722 to my network, only to connect the phone line. I think the larger RJ45 confused him.
Frankly, I don't see how these guys make any money. The installs are indeed complicated and the cost seems high and time consuming. The skill levels these guys have is bare minimum. I don't think they get any training except maybe a few days with another installer who also has little training. The quality and neatness is pathetic. If it ever comes up, I would vote for the state governments to license the satellite installers and test them on competency.
My "FREE" Install was not so free. A simple plug in process ended up taking 7 hours and left me with a mess to redo! But, I did get a bunch of new hardware, separators, combiners, and new LNB's Dish Pluss Pro.
As the installer left he wanted my SW64. Something about having to turn in some hardware to show the reason why he spent all the time replacing my LNB's he took the old ones too. No big deal, as I doubt I'll ever need the SW64 again. My 921 will be scrapped for the hard drive and tossed. Same for my old TIVO as both are mpeg2 only. Of course both work as a DVR and both work as a digital tuner for Off air so I may give them away.
So, at the end of the day, that's how I got a free upgrade to 722 from a 921 and free new dish hardware. Now I just have to reinstall it neatly so it doesn't look embarrassing.
So, what shows up yesterday, much to my surprise? A New 722! For FREE. and the install to make it work.
Of course, as expected the install was a nightmare of incompetence. Let me explain- I had everything ready to go to simply plug in the DVR and activate it. While the installer was very nice and I cooperated with him all the way, he could not get the 722 to work. After an hjour of frustration, I decided to take a look and saw he had connected the separator block by just sticking the coax F connector against the fitting and didn't screw it down. Lazy? Well after I noticed this I screwed down all three connections and it started to sense the SW64 switch on my system. But then failed. Not sure why. Meanwhile I have my 622 working fine off the other two leads from the SW64 switch. Now the installer says that the 722 will not work with a SW64 switch because it only talks one way and needs to be swapped out. So he spends the next hour swapping out my dish's LNB's and the SW64 with a combiner block. Now my 622 doesn't work and the 722 doesn't work either. His next excuse is that the new satellites all use higher frequencies for HD and the wire RG6 I had on the dishes won't work for the 722. So he pulled out all my wiring from the Dish down to the SW64 and just threw together the connections, all dangling in a rat's nest of cables on the side of my house. OK, now it works! Both receivers, the 622 and the 722 come up correctly on a check switch. But something is still wrong! After he left I did a little snooping and discovered he made use of the extra cable I had now available at each receiver because of using the combiner and separator blocks. He tied in the Remote house distribution jacks with a splitter block and then coupled the two cables together from the 622 and the 722 out at where the SW64 switch used to be. If it would work, it would be like trying to set the 622 DVR up as a TV2 on the 722, and the 722 as a TV2 on the 622, but even that was wired wrong as he had this splitter shorting out the RF on the satellite feeds. I think all this did is reduce the effective signal level as most of my TP's were only at 20 signal strength. I had 50 to 75 and even 100 before with the SW64.
Well I pulled all that rat's nest of splitters and jumpers off both the 622 and the 722 and the signals jumped back to normal. Second, I saw he reset my 622 and set the 722 for Dual mode. Not having any house distribution, I moved the DVR's back to single mode.
Now I'll have to redo the wiring outside as the rat's nest has to go! Looks like that's my Saturday morning project.
Oh, one more thing, I don't use a phone line, rather have a broadband connection. I had difficulty in convincing the CSR during activation, that I should not have to pay the $5 a month fine for not connecting a phone line. Never had a problem with the 622. Then the CSR said the 722 is different in that if you disconnect the broadband, the receiver won't check switch????? I never had a 722 before but I'd bet this is just BS. Once the installer got the wiring 75% correct the check switch went through just fine. I then connected the Cat 5 cable to my nearest outlet with a 20 ft ethernet cable. I'll have to add a RJ45 jack at the 722 Saturday. I did that because the installer said he wasn't authoried to connect the 722 to my network, only to connect the phone line. I think the larger RJ45 confused him.
Frankly, I don't see how these guys make any money. The installs are indeed complicated and the cost seems high and time consuming. The skill levels these guys have is bare minimum. I don't think they get any training except maybe a few days with another installer who also has little training. The quality and neatness is pathetic. If it ever comes up, I would vote for the state governments to license the satellite installers and test them on competency.
My "FREE" Install was not so free. A simple plug in process ended up taking 7 hours and left me with a mess to redo! But, I did get a bunch of new hardware, separators, combiners, and new LNB's Dish Pluss Pro.
As the installer left he wanted my SW64. Something about having to turn in some hardware to show the reason why he spent all the time replacing my LNB's he took the old ones too. No big deal, as I doubt I'll ever need the SW64 again. My 921 will be scrapped for the hard drive and tossed. Same for my old TIVO as both are mpeg2 only. Of course both work as a DVR and both work as a digital tuner for Off air so I may give them away.
So, at the end of the day, that's how I got a free upgrade to 722 from a 921 and free new dish hardware. Now I just have to reinstall it neatly so it doesn't look embarrassing.
Hello Don,
No surprise about the installer. I'm an installer with the more professional company, InstallPro. Understand what's happened here; it's the Free Market in action. Customer doesn't want to pay more than the bare minimum for an install, so Dish cuts and cuts the price and service offered, and squeezes our pay until we pop. Most of the good techs leave for better opportunities, and you are left with the hardly-functional kids. It's just the end result of our capitalistic system in action. Have a nice day!
One thing he was right about though; the SW64 can not do DisEqC signalling, which is needed for the separator to work. I don't know how many tuners you have, but the SW64 would still serve if you'd run another co-ax to the 722. Sounds like you already have two lines to the 622.
These days we install a 34 switch, which still can't pass DisEqC, but it can be cascaded to 8, 12, or 16 outputs. The 33 switch can pass DisEqC, but has only just come out. And the 44 can, but is expensive, requires power, and is mainly used for internationals + HD. (4 inputs)
No surprise about the installer. I'm an installer with the more professional company, InstallPro. Understand what's happened here; it's the Free Market in action. Customer doesn't want to pay more than the bare minimum for an install, so Dish cuts and cuts the price and service offered, and squeezes our pay until we pop. Most of the good techs leave for better opportunities, and you are left with the hardly-functional kids. It's just the end result of our capitalistic system in action. Have a nice day!
One thing he was right about though; the SW64 can not do DisEqC signalling, which is needed for the separator to work. I don't know how many tuners you have, but the SW64 would still serve if you'd run another co-ax to the 722. Sounds like you already have two lines to the 622.
These days we install a 34 switch, which still can't pass DisEqC, but it can be cascaded to 8, 12, or 16 outputs. The 33 switch can pass DisEqC, but has only just come out. And the 44 can, but is expensive, requires power, and is mainly used for internationals + HD. (4 inputs)
FWIW - Call Dish and tell the CSR you need to speak with an Account Specialist, as they seem to be more accomodating. :up
Account Specialists will often be able to wave fees to upgrade equipment without additional cost. I was able to get a 2nd VIP722 without any upgrade charge by agreeing to a 24 month commitment.
Thanks for the advice! I just might give that a shot when the time comes...around late Oct. or early Nov.:upFWIW - Call Dish and tell the CSR you need to speak with an Account Specialist, as they seem to be more accomodating. :up
Account Specialists will often be able to wave fees to upgrade equipment without additional cost. I was able to get a 2nd VIP722 without any upgrade charge by agreeing to a 24 month commitment.
When I ordered my 622s a couple years ago, I asked for a higher level tech and paid $200 to upgrade each. Now it's cheaper. I told them I don't want the beginner installer. I've got some expensive whole house equipment I don't want messed up. I ended up getting a supervisor and I could tell he knew his stuff by the way he operated. In about an hour and a half, we had the receivers installed and activated. This included the new SW44 and the Dish 1000. I have six RG-6 to my dish back to my equipment closet where I keep all my receivers. If one goes bad, I have backups.
When I got the call to upgrade my 942 last month, I told them to send the new receiver to me and I'd hook it up and activate it. I had to go to escalations and ask, but that is how I got the upgrade. I only ended up with a 622 no a 722. So now I have three 622s and my old trusty 508. Escalations treated my case like a bad receiver swap and just sent a 622 out to replace my 942. The regular call center wouldn't do it.
When I got the call to upgrade my 942 last month, I told them to send the new receiver to me and I'd hook it up and activate it. I had to go to escalations and ask, but that is how I got the upgrade. I only ended up with a 622 no a 722. So now I have three 622s and my old trusty 508. Escalations treated my case like a bad receiver swap and just sent a 622 out to replace my 942. The regular call center wouldn't do it.
