A CSR informed me today that I would have to pay 60 bucks to upgrade my fresh move install in order to receive my locals in HD in Raleigh NC. It just amazes me that they would install two dish 500's at my prior address, and OTA for free but want to charge me 60 bucks in NC to get my locals in HD. Has anyone gotten around this? The money is not the issue its all about principal.
Dish 1000 to 1000+ for 60 bucks?????
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I'm in Raleigh and was having problems with my reception, and while fiddling around in the menus I saw a message about LNB drift. I looked around on the internet and saw that this usually means that one of the LNB's is about to go bad. I called tech support and told the girl about the LNB drift message. All the things I had read said to be prepared to read off all the numbers in the LNB drift message when calling in. The girl didn't seem interested at all in the LNB drift message. All she kept talking about was how her system was telling her that I didn't have the correct equipment to be receiving the packages that I was subscribed to. After a few minutes of that I finally said "well I do subscribe to the HD package and my locals but don't get my locals in HD, and you do carry my HD locals." She put me on hold for a minute, and when she came back she said she was going to have a technician come out and replace my dish. No mention of it costing anything.
The technicians came out and all they did was replace one of my LNB's. I'm not positive (because I'm no expert on this stuff), but I think they replaced the wrong one. I heard them say something about 110, and it was 129 that the message mentioned. They didn't look to see what the message said before they started the work. I said something to them about what the girl had said about me not having the right equipment and that she was going to have them replace the dish. They said that the dish could be replaced if I wanted to, and the only thing extra it would get me would be local HD's. They said they didn't have a dish with them because that wasn't in the work order. When they called in to report they had completed replacing the LNB they gave the phone to me. The girl said that I could upgrade from my 1000 to the 1000+ for $59.99 with an 18-month contract, or a much higher price (I think it was $199?) without a contract. I said OK, whatever and did it for the $59.99 because I just didn't feel like arguing with anyone about it and didn't want to pay the higher price. After the technicians left I checked and was still getting the same LNB drift message on 129, but I didn't call in about it since they were coming back in a week to replace the dish.
I have the 1000+ now and everything seems to be working OK. I think the guy that came to replace the dish was some kind of subcontractor or something. He showed up in a beat up old minivan, and he looked a little rough around the edges. He wasn't wearing a Dish Network "uniform" either. That's the first time I've ever had someone come to install or work on my dish that wasn't in a Dish Network vehicle and not wearing a Dish Network shirt/uniform.
The technicians came out and all they did was replace one of my LNB's. I'm not positive (because I'm no expert on this stuff), but I think they replaced the wrong one. I heard them say something about 110, and it was 129 that the message mentioned. They didn't look to see what the message said before they started the work. I said something to them about what the girl had said about me not having the right equipment and that she was going to have them replace the dish. They said that the dish could be replaced if I wanted to, and the only thing extra it would get me would be local HD's. They said they didn't have a dish with them because that wasn't in the work order. When they called in to report they had completed replacing the LNB they gave the phone to me. The girl said that I could upgrade from my 1000 to the 1000+ for $59.99 with an 18-month contract, or a much higher price (I think it was $199?) without a contract. I said OK, whatever and did it for the $59.99 because I just didn't feel like arguing with anyone about it and didn't want to pay the higher price. After the technicians left I checked and was still getting the same LNB drift message on 129, but I didn't call in about it since they were coming back in a week to replace the dish.
I have the 1000+ now and everything seems to be working OK. I think the guy that came to replace the dish was some kind of subcontractor or something. He showed up in a beat up old minivan, and he looked a little rough around the edges. He wasn't wearing a Dish Network "uniform" either. That's the first time I've ever had someone come to install or work on my dish that wasn't in a Dish Network vehicle and not wearing a Dish Network shirt/uniform.
If they just did a Dishmover for ya, and you had locals and HD on your account at the time of move they should have given you the 1000+
Other than that, if you had the account at the same address prior to them getting locals on 118.7, then the charge is justified.
The $60 is a hell of a deal considering just the fricken 1000+ Dish, DP44 Plus Switch and LNB Assembly costs us dealers well over $300, plus they are including an installation with that which is another $100 Value!
Its not like they are installing a Dish1000.2 where the cost to them is about what your paying to get them to come out.
Other than that, if you had the account at the same address prior to them getting locals on 118.7, then the charge is justified.
The $60 is a hell of a deal considering just the fricken 1000+ Dish, DP44 Plus Switch and LNB Assembly costs us dealers well over $300, plus they are including an installation with that which is another $100 Value!
Its not like they are installing a Dish1000.2 where the cost to them is about what your paying to get them to come out.
Thanks Guys I just wanted to make sure this wasnt some new revenue stream for dish and its and current normal so i guess 60 bucks it is. I have noticed that the dish 1000+ prices on ebay were 199.00 so i guess I cant really complain about 60 bucks. Especially with the wife in my ear every other night about why dont have locals anymore!
Here we go again..
Ok what is your complaint? Is it the fact that your service isn't working properly?. Is it a bias against contract workers?...Is it the cost of the upgrade( where this notion that customers should have to pay for nothing is a mystery to me)
The LNB drift message woil be there until the matrix is cleared. Would you like to know how to do that?.
Don't forget the $200 switch on top of that plus paying the (OH MY GOD ,YOU HAVE TO PAY THE WORKER?!!!!!!) technician...
Yep we eat, need shelter and clothing just lke everyone else.
If you were the real "Ijahman" I would be happy to pay it for you !
"Haile I Hymn" was worth more than that...
I apologize in advance if I took your post in the wrong way, but you seem to have a bit of an attitude problem. My service is working just fine. I believe I said in my previous post that it's been working fine since they replaced the dish. I wasn't complaining about anything. I was just stating what all had happened. Believe me, if I was complaining everyone would definitely know about it.
I didn't call in asking to have my dish replaced, and certainly wasn't expecting to get something for free. I had been having reception issues with HD channels, then found the LNB drift message which I assumed was the cause of the HD reception issues. All I was expecting was for someone to come out and replace the LNB, and I figured I would have to pay $25 (or whatever the service call fee is when one has the DHPP). The rep I spoke with in tech support said that she was going to send someone out to replace my dish because her system was showing that I didn't have the proper equipment to receive everything I was subscribed to. Those were her exact words, and all she seemed interested in was "replacing my dish." She wasn't interested at all in the LNB drift message, even though I mentioned several times that I was getting that message and that I believed it was the cause of my reception issues on the HD channels. She never asked for any information at all from the LNB drift message. I had the message up on the screen when I called in because I was expecting her to ask me to read off all the numbers to her. All she kept asking me were things like did I know which model dish I had, did I know which satellites I was receiving signal from, etc (all of which I did know). After she continually kept mentioning me "not having the proper equipment" I finally said "well, I do subscribe to both the HD package and my locals but don't get my locals in HD...and you do carry them." I did not at that time, or any other time during the call, ask for anything to be done about me not receiving my locals in HD. Like I said, I wasn't trying to get anything for free, but she didn't say that it would cost anything or possibly require an 18-month commitment to have the dish replaced. I just figured I had gotten a rep that was having a really good day or was exceptionally nice or something.
The guys that showed up for the appointment she had made were not contract workers, and were the usual Dish Network guys, in a Dish Network van and wearing Dish Network uniforms. They knew absolutely nothing about replacing the dish, didn't have a dish with them because it "wasn't in the work order" (which I can understand), and had no clue why the rep would have told me that she was going to have my dish replaced. They didn't check the LNB drift message before starting their work, and at some point I very clearly heard them mention something about the 110 LNB. There couldn't have been any information in their work order on which LNB to work on (unless the receiver reported it when it "phoned home"...again, I'm no expert), as the rep never took any info at all from me about the message. The LNB drift message was for 129, so I assumed that would be the LNB that should have been replaced/worked on. When they were done and made their call to Dish to report that they had finished the repair they gave the phone to me so the rep could explain about getting a new dish to me. I had no problem with the 18-month commitment, as I've had Dish for a while and have never really had any problems with the service. I also had no problem with paying the $59.99 for the dish (once again, I wasn't trying to get something for free), but it was a bit of a surprise. It would have been nice if the first rep would have said something about the fees and/or commitment rather than making it seem as if it would be done at no cost to me. I hadn't placed a service call since adding the DHPP, and figured the replacement dish was either covered under that or as I said earlier had just gotten the rep when she was in a really good mood or whatever when I was speaking with that first rep. I didn't feel it was worth questioning the work the LNB replacement that had been done since the dish was going to be replaced in a week.
Also, I have no bias against contract workers. I've been with Dish for several years now, and they've never used a contract worker in all the times they've been to my house before. I didn't even know they used contract workers in the Raleigh area. It was just a bit of a surprise is all...seeing this "rough" looking guy show up in a beat up minivan when it's always been really professional looking guys in Dish Network vehicles in the past. There was no indication who he was or what he was there for until he said "I'm here to replace your dish." I had no clue who he was when he pulled into my driveway because it wasn't what I was expecting. He was very pleasant, showed up 30 minutes early (which the "regular" Dish guys have never done), and did a decent job from what I can tell. He even called to let me know that he was running early, but I wasn't able to take the call at the time because I was in the dentist chair with a drill in one of my molars.
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