So if I got a receiver and got back into this it would work? My other one died and never got around to getting a new receiver thinking that it would be going on for a while, but it seems like its hard to find them now. The question is can a new user get this to work or is just for existing users?
Dish Network Prepaid Question
- Thread starter aarona1983
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 568
- Views 152K
- Status
My answer would be no. I am pretty sure when Dish set the deadline of August 1st, 2009, you had to have the receiver, new or bought of EBay, registered(receiver and smartcard #'s, your name/address/e-mail/etc...) before that date in order to have service.
At this point, if the receiver goes bad, or you want to add one now, it is too late. Dish no longer allows "new" prepaid customers.
Best you could do is too become a FLEXTV customer, but that forces the user to prepay by the month, not day. But it has some advantages over prepaid in that you can get a HD box if you wanted, plus you are eligible for local channels and local sportsnetworks which prepaid customers cannot get. But the ability to sign up for a day is gone with FLEXTV. Must prepay for 1 month in advance of service.
So DO NOT buy a Dish NOW! prepaid receiver at this point since there is no way to activate it at all.
If Dish Network would allow FlexTV customers to use their GDMP to buy programming by the day (as DishNow used to be), FlexTV would be a hot choice for many customers.
Regarding the question about the Smartcard info. Someone emailed me back that they ask for the Smartcard number, in addition to the rest, if there hasn't been any activity for 45 days or longer. After that they don't ask for it.
I think it might lure some of the older prepaid people into the FlexTV system if that option was available. That is what drew most of us into Dish Now. And until Dish shuts us off or down or I have a problem with my IRD, I'll stay with the Dish Now system. But I would consider switching down the road if the GDMC would become usable with the FlexTV. Have to admit the HD option, locals, and local sports along with GDMC would make me take a strong look.
Oh, yeah. That would be fantastic, but I think the FlexTV option was put into existence BECAUSE of the 1 day at a time ordering that Dish NOW! allows with the GDMP(Green Dot MoneyPak). Plus they get too throw all those additional fees at customers, that Dish NOW! customers avoid(this is another biggie)
But if they did allow it, then getting HD, local sports Networks, local channels, would make it worth while.
But I doubt it will happen.
But if it does Saudon, and you find a way to do it, keep us informed.
so if i have a dish 301, i could not get it activated for dish now service. current users can still get service by the day..................thanks
Yes. That would be correct. You would have had to have the DP301 that was refurbished for Dish NOW! prepaid service activated by August 1st, 2009.
No one knows if Dish prepaid will eventually go away altogether, or just keep it available for those of us who have had the service for a while, and certainly had their boxes activated before the August 1st, 2009 date. We may be grandfathered in, if you will.
But there seems to be a misconception, at this point, because no one TRULY KNOWS if Dish is going to do away with the prepaid system altogether or not.
People state in these forums that dish prepaid is being done away with, and their is NO PROOF to that statement. At least no one has provided any. It could happen, but at this point no one knows.
What can be proven is that Dish figured it would STOP ADDING NEW CUSTOMERS to the prepaid service after August 1st, 2009.
That much is certain, and I just want to make that clear. Nobody knows anything else at this point.
In September the pre paid system as we know it today will be going away, customers will be moving to the pay in advance system. But the good news is those customers will now be able to do things like order locals, have DVR service and even have more then one receiver in their house.
So when you call in September to activate your pre paid cards you will be tansfered to a rep who will convert your account to the new system. (This will happen sometime in September not on September 1st.)
So when you call in September to activate your pre paid cards you will be tansfered to a rep who will convert your account to the new system. (This will happen sometime in September not on September 1st.)
I can do all of this now via normal Dish monthly service and most of it with Dish Now! This new pay in advance is NOT a substitute for the Dish Now! prepay for all customers. It might help customers that can't get regular service for whatever reason, but that is not the case for all prepaid customers.
You can have DVR service now with prepay, you just buy an older TiVo with lifetime service. Maybe $200 on eBay. Locals are only an issue if you can't get them via OTA. Multiple receivers works already, you just have to pay for both.
In my opinion this is just an attempt to kill the "day at a time" prepaid service and convert the occasionally users to monthly revenue streams. Nobody can fault Dish for trying to make money. It is just sad they are willing to lose so many prepaid customers to gain a few pay in advance customers. Obviously it is their choice to make, it is their business to gain or to lose. I'm sure someone analyzed this and decided prepaid as we know it was no longer making Dish enough money.
I just don't agree with those of you saying this as a *good* thing for prepaid when in fact it completely eliminates the day at a time prepaid service most of us are talking about on this thread.
+1 for the above. This is just to get the revenue stream to go from day to day, to month to month, plus to add in all the additional fees that Dish NOW! customers are not paying.
Too bad it will be going away, but I have gotten my money's worth out of it for having it for over two and half years.
I will certainly not be changing to the newer FlexTV, that is for sure. The best thing about the Dish NOW! service was that you had little to no contact with Dish at all, which was nice.
Too bad it will be going away, but I have gotten my money's worth out of it for having it for over two and half years.
I will certainly not be changing to the newer FlexTV, that is for sure. The best thing about the Dish NOW! service was that you had little to no contact with Dish at all, which was nice.
If it's true that sometime in September they will not allow activation of additional days that's a real bummer. I've only had my system since May but from a purely financial standpoint I've achieved the payback of the initial cost of the system versus what I'd be paying my full-time provider. I've had directv for almost two years now and was considering switching to dish but given the lack of communication on this (dish website is still actively promoting the platform) and from what I've read about in other posts (e.g. lack of NBA league pass at the beginning of the season last year) I don't think I'll be switching. Certainly won't be doing the flextv option.
I added a couple days to my pre-paid account last week and it sounded like you could still activate a receiver based on the prompts. I hope they keep it past September. No FlexTV for me!
ihave 301prepaid 60days($40@family) was getting strange program list?called said system ok?started new gdmp orderd 1 day porn 1st /tried at200 1 day but system used all$ @gave me 11 days at200($20mp)the porn never came:?while troubleshooting DN said take back 2 Rshak?????of course rs wants nothing2do with it?my ?when smrtcard(g3) is in sys info=dishnow301?@when i pull card sysinfo=dp301 i get guide but no programs????????cani get new card 301@family+locals and also be able 2use current smrt 2 order 1da-2da movie/porn when needed>+rat shack and dish say 301 N/A?????????????
Are you saying it was working fine for 60 days already? Or that you tried to add 60 days and it hasn't worked?
If it has been off for some time you might just leave it plugged in for several days. Check if you're getting the free previews like FSC or Setanta etc. Do any of the shopping channels work like QVC? Or just NASA / ANGEL working?
I would suggest only turning on 1 day of programming at a time. That is the great benefit of the GDMP and if the receiver is acting up there is no reason to spend the whole amount if it is not working anyway.
If it has been off for some time you might just leave it plugged in for several days. Check if you're getting the free previews like FSC or Setanta etc. Do any of the shopping channels work like QVC? Or just NASA / ANGEL working?
I would suggest only turning on 1 day of programming at a time. That is the great benefit of the GDMP and if the receiver is acting up there is no reason to spend the whole amount if it is not working anyway.
any new updates(with details, lol) concerning the demise of prepaid?? my first gdmp was bought on 6/21 with $20 of programming. all my tv needs were met until 9/02. just over 2 months for 20 bucks.....i know i'll never find a value like ppd again. the family pack has everything i need & with by the day ordering, lasts a really looooonngg time. purchased a second gdmp on 9/03 for another $20 & applied the whole amount cause i'm afraid ordering daily will come to an end suddenly without recourse. guess i'll keep doing this until ppd dies or firm details from dish become public. still glad i found this forum & got on-board ppd & with a little luck hope ppd limps along for many, many months.
I put all my gdmp $$$ on it too. I don't use gdmp for anything else and don't want to get stuck with anything I can't use. If they really shut us down.
I have been running Family pack and showtime for a couple months now. Was considering having something on most of the time, but maybe switching to a different package when these run out. But if they turn it off, I'm not going to do it.
The adult channels are already gone, the channels don't show up when you look at "all channels" - Even though they still list them as a choice when you call in. Of course personally
: I woudnt know anything about that 
I have been running Family pack and showtime for a couple months now. Was considering having something on most of the time, but maybe switching to a different package when these run out. But if they turn it off, I'm not going to do it.
The adult channels are already gone, the channels don't show up when you look at "all channels" - Even though they still list them as a choice when you call in. Of course personally
: I woudnt know anything about that The adult channels are already gone, the channels don't show up when you look at "all channels" - Even though they still list them as a choice when you call in. Of course personally : I woudnt know anything about that [/QUOTE]
I still see the two adult channels in my channel listing. I thought I read somewhere that if you ever ordered dish family on the prepaid receivers the adult channels disappear and don't come back even after the subscription to dish family runs out.
: I woudnt know anything about that [/QUOTE]I still see the two adult channels in my channel listing. I thought I read somewhere that if you ever ordered dish family on the prepaid receivers the adult channels disappear and don't come back even after the subscription to dish family runs out.
- Status
