It is in the very nature of this type of forum for us subscribers to do nothing but moan and complain about all the stuff we see being done wrong. We wail at all the changes and anything that isn't just perfect. Those that have been around long enough know that when there is something wrong that affects me, I will complain loudly and often.
I wanted to start a new thread that I am sure will die quickly as most people accept great service as the norm (it isn't) and will not even comment when they are happy about something done to their satisfaction.
What inspired me to post this was a recent experience with a Dish CSR and an agent/installer.
As most of you already know, Dish is abandoning their original set-up for HD subscribers (61.5°/110°/119°) for the "Pure arc" set-ups: Western Arc (110/119/129) and Eastern Arc (61.5/72.7/77). Those of us with the original Dish Network set-ups were left out of the last two HD channel launches. (BBA America, TCM, Style, Epix, TruTV, Bio, etc). We were left with three options:
1) Live without the new channels and wait for Dish to contact us when the continued transition to pure arc set-ups would have us losing channels as they moved to 72.7,
2) Attempt to move one satellite dish from 61.5° to 129°
3) Call Dish and hope you reach a customer service rep that understands the problem and can schedule some one to come out to rectify the problem without charging you or some how messing it up.
Well, for me option 1 was not acceptable. When I found out about this I nearly burst a blood vessel. Scott G was the first to "see" my reaction in the chat room.
So, I am a handy sort of person. I figured option 2. Thanks to great instructions in the transition thread I was able to re-aim my 61.5° dish to 129° so I was pointed at western arc. But this was in early march. No leaves on trees. Once the leaves came out, I discovered I wasn't "shooting" over the tree, I was shooting through it. After several attempts to move the dish to different spots on the house I came to the conclusion that the look angle was too low on Western arc because of all the trees on the top of a hill. Trying to point to Eastern arc was going to be a real problem because of the row of trees mostly reaching up 40-50 feet up on a 15 foot hill in the line of sight. I am not that handy.
Those who have seen my posts about previous experiences calling Dish Network about anything know that this would be my last resort. I figured at this point I had nothing to lose. I called Dish yesterday evening. After navigating the voice prompts I was on the line with a very courteous CSR who immediately understood my problem and offered to have a technician at my house between noon and 5 today (Sunday) with no service call charge. Wow! Of course I accepted the appointment.
Anyone in this part of the country would know my skepticism that this appointment would be kept. It was raining all day and some heavy storms have been going through the area. At 3pm I get a call that the tech was on his way. Then a few minutes later I get a call from the tech confirming he is coming and asking what exactly I needed done. He was unaware of the new channels at 72.7° and informed me of a problem with the work order. But rather than telling me I was SOL, he told me he would contact Dish and verify the info I gave him and get the work order taken care of.
Fifteen minutes later the tech showed up and we discussed options. It was a discussion. This is new. The techs I'd dealt with before were closed to suggestions and really viewed me as a PITA. This man listened to my suggestions and concerns and came up with a great solution.
A little over an hour later, I had a new dish on my roof pointing at Eastern Arc. 20 minutes after that the 622 had done the check switch and loaded the new guide. Now, not only do I get the 18 new HD channels. I also get the Cincinnati locals in HD via satellite. Finally I can record THREE HD local programs while watching a fourth DVR program in HD.
The signal on 77 is low, but I understand that is normal, and I am sure this is going through a gap in the branches of a gigantic tree just on the other side of the fence from my back yard. But as the tree was waiving about in the stormy skies, I hope this is as bad as it gets.
As much as I complain when things go wrong, I want to make sure to share when Dish does it right from the time I pick up the phone to the time that the issue is resolved.
Thanks to the CSR, the dispatcher, and the technician who visited my house for a job well done!
Tony
I wanted to start a new thread that I am sure will die quickly as most people accept great service as the norm (it isn't) and will not even comment when they are happy about something done to their satisfaction.
What inspired me to post this was a recent experience with a Dish CSR and an agent/installer.
As most of you already know, Dish is abandoning their original set-up for HD subscribers (61.5°/110°/119°) for the "Pure arc" set-ups: Western Arc (110/119/129) and Eastern Arc (61.5/72.7/77). Those of us with the original Dish Network set-ups were left out of the last two HD channel launches. (BBA America, TCM, Style, Epix, TruTV, Bio, etc). We were left with three options:
1) Live without the new channels and wait for Dish to contact us when the continued transition to pure arc set-ups would have us losing channels as they moved to 72.7,
2) Attempt to move one satellite dish from 61.5° to 129°
3) Call Dish and hope you reach a customer service rep that understands the problem and can schedule some one to come out to rectify the problem without charging you or some how messing it up.
Well, for me option 1 was not acceptable. When I found out about this I nearly burst a blood vessel. Scott G was the first to "see" my reaction in the chat room.
So, I am a handy sort of person. I figured option 2. Thanks to great instructions in the transition thread I was able to re-aim my 61.5° dish to 129° so I was pointed at western arc. But this was in early march. No leaves on trees. Once the leaves came out, I discovered I wasn't "shooting" over the tree, I was shooting through it. After several attempts to move the dish to different spots on the house I came to the conclusion that the look angle was too low on Western arc because of all the trees on the top of a hill. Trying to point to Eastern arc was going to be a real problem because of the row of trees mostly reaching up 40-50 feet up on a 15 foot hill in the line of sight. I am not that handy.
Those who have seen my posts about previous experiences calling Dish Network about anything know that this would be my last resort. I figured at this point I had nothing to lose. I called Dish yesterday evening. After navigating the voice prompts I was on the line with a very courteous CSR who immediately understood my problem and offered to have a technician at my house between noon and 5 today (Sunday) with no service call charge. Wow! Of course I accepted the appointment.
Anyone in this part of the country would know my skepticism that this appointment would be kept. It was raining all day and some heavy storms have been going through the area. At 3pm I get a call that the tech was on his way. Then a few minutes later I get a call from the tech confirming he is coming and asking what exactly I needed done. He was unaware of the new channels at 72.7° and informed me of a problem with the work order. But rather than telling me I was SOL, he told me he would contact Dish and verify the info I gave him and get the work order taken care of.
Fifteen minutes later the tech showed up and we discussed options. It was a discussion. This is new. The techs I'd dealt with before were closed to suggestions and really viewed me as a PITA. This man listened to my suggestions and concerns and came up with a great solution.
A little over an hour later, I had a new dish on my roof pointing at Eastern Arc. 20 minutes after that the 622 had done the check switch and loaded the new guide. Now, not only do I get the 18 new HD channels. I also get the Cincinnati locals in HD via satellite. Finally I can record THREE HD local programs while watching a fourth DVR program in HD.
The signal on 77 is low, but I understand that is normal, and I am sure this is going through a gap in the branches of a gigantic tree just on the other side of the fence from my back yard. But as the tree was waiving about in the stormy skies, I hope this is as bad as it gets.
As much as I complain when things go wrong, I want to make sure to share when Dish does it right from the time I pick up the phone to the time that the issue is resolved.
Thanks to the CSR, the dispatcher, and the technician who visited my house for a job well done!
Tony
At least not yet. 
