As a former SA subscriber I too made the switch to the Essentials Service yesterday (had signed up for Dish Family a few weeks ago) with locals & Cinemax all for $14.99 and was glad to see that I got to keep my free PI Pak which includes the Pentagon Channel on 61.5.
Save yourself a lot of grief and just ask for an account specialist to add the Essentials Service over the phone from the start, like someone else said.
It would be nice to have HD Essentials also in the future. But just a thought, even if they won't add it to your account with the Essentials Service couldn't you open a 2nd account with HD only? Maybe not a perfect solution, but seems like it should at least accomplish the goal.
And just a point of clarity I seem to have stumbled upon, if you say the Essentials package the reps tend to think you mean HD Essentials. If you say the Essentials service some will know you mean SD and others will either still think you mean HD or else will ask you what channels are included in that service. So again it seems like only the account specialists are all fully informed.
I figure it like this. They want their level I reps to push higher tier options and the Essentials service is more of a retention tool. The HD Essentials package is promoted to lure people in who have HD sets and are either fed up with cable or just have OTA service. My guess, anyway.