Hopper 3 Not Available

Bala Maruthavanan

New Member
Original poster
Sep 10, 2016
4
7
Novi michigan
I wanted to upgrade to the hopper 3 for the past 6 months and every time I call the say it is not available in my area. They don't tell me what the specific issue is and only that it is not available in my area. I live in an urban area in Michigan. Is there anyway for them to install it here?
 
A technician came today and changed my hopper since I was having issues where my hopper would not play hd channels and would switch to sd. I still want the hopper 3 because of its 16 tuners versus the hopper 1's 3 tuners. I called dish and they told me they can upgrade me to the new hopper but after I give all of my info they tell me it's not available in my area again.
 
One would reckon that with all the built in diagnostics and telemetry, they would already have an accurate list of what satellites your box receives.
 
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Same problem I had, until I chatted with a DIRT rep a couple days ago (Friday, Sept. 9, 2016). Their system thought I was using sat #129, so my account was flagged for/with a ?conus? problem which meant no upgrade to the Hopper 3, and in truth I am on the Eastern arc (61.5 & 72) using a Hopper 2 with sling and a Joey 1.0.
I am now have an appointment scheduled for upgrade next week.

I had been lurking on the site for quite a while and joined so I could chat with a DIRT rep on this hiccup, and this is my first official post. Thank you all.
 
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So, as per the incorrect data Dish had as to which sats the OP was looking at, it would have required a multi-reflector install, which Dish is refusing to install for any H3 systems at this time. Once Dish realized a single reflector can do the job, the OP was approved for H3. As Arte Johnson's German solder would say whilst parting the branches of plants, "Very interesting." :).
 
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So, as per the incorrect data Dish had

With as many of these instances as we've heard about just on the board here, makes you wonder how many legit customer H3 install requests have been turned away and deemed not possible, just because Dish's records are incorrect and apparently the front line CSRs aren't verifying like DIRT is. In reality, you have to figure a majority of everyday subscribers would just stew and be upset, but probably not go online (or here) to try to straighten it out on their own.
 
With as many of these instances as we've heard about just on the board here, makes you wonder how many legit customer H3 install requests have been turned away and deemed not possible, just because Dish's records are incorrect and apparently the front line CSRs aren't verifying like DIRT is. In reality, you have to figure a majority of everyday subscribers would just stew and be upset, but probably not go online (or here) to try to straighten it out on their own.
Exactly. And remember the infamous instance in which a member of this forum got his H3, but his neighbor was denied because of "low beam" (BS)? Uh why wasn't the first guy denied for "low beam" as well. And then after repeated calls, Dish finds that its records showing the denied neighbor as having 118, turns out that was wrong. Then all of a sudden, that denied neighbor no longer is suffering from "low beam," and his is APPROVED and subsequently installed an H3.

I'm sure Dish has lost out on more than a few subs who were not allowed to upgrade to H3 because if INCORRECT info on their accounts. And let's also remember that more than a few on this forum who were denied said that they would be switching providers, usually DirecTV, because they really have a need for the H3 and the Genie brings them closer to that.

Bring back the Charlie Chats and Tech Forum, even in podcast form because it really was the ONLY place we could get reasonable answers to our concerns and questions. Charlie would sometimes cop to some things being too costly, but at least that as the TRUTH! I get it. They are a for profit business. However, we would get a really good Charlie or Mark tech answer as to why they aren't allowing some upgrades to H3's. They would even admit to confusion going on, and properly advise us to have CSR's take us through the steps to confirm what sats we are seeing (and send the word to CSR's) and would apologize for incorrect records and would do their best to fix them. And they often followed through. However, they (Charlie, Mark, et al.) would also tell us that they have a solution on they way (or not; at least they admitted that, as well), and ask us to please be patient. They will have multiple H3 installs coming Sooooon! But at least we knew the real reason and we were willing to give them time before making a move to another provider or just giving up. And as you said, I'm sure a lot of people just stewed over it or felt Dish was not willing to meet their needs or wants. How is that good for business? Especially with Dish LOSING subscribers for YEARS!

In other words, some form of DIRECT communication with its subscribers is good for the consumers and good for the company to avoid all sorts of negativity towards the brand and preventing churn due to misunderstandings. But, Dish has to be honest in its responses and trust that the vast majority of its subscribes will understand.
 
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Similar to Khemka and other Dish reps coming to this forum??
Yeah, I guess, and the model for that is TiVo Community Forum where Ira Bahr (former Dish exec) who answered questions LIVE submitted on-line for a set period (a few hours) with Q&A's posted on a thread, with a few answers delayed a bit as Ira would get details from other departments. Later TiVo's Ira Bahr diminished the last Q&A allowing only 20 questions he would answer from among many more submitted and culled and forwarded by those controlling the TCF. While that last Q&A provided some useful data, it was clearly designed to avoid certain subjects and a lot matters weren't addressed. I don't find that model necessarily superior.

What I would like to see is CHARLIE himself accessible once again: The word for the top dog. Charlie won't be hiding behind any fear of getting fired from, say, Charlie. He, generally, told it like it was and was upfront and clear if something was too costly, which is often the case in many decisions. Hearing Charlie answering live and being forthcoming without the delay of a typed response in a forum post was far more illuminating because he would provide more background and details and we could see his facial expression and the tone of his voice which at time could be pained (meaning "I wish we could do this, be we can't, at least not, yet--not enough people for it to make sense" sort of expression) or even if you could see in his posture and focus in talking about negotiations giving his side of the story. It would be the same for the Tech Forums. Perhaps both would be good, both on this forum, but certainly in a LIVE Q&A as before where there were some really good questions answered and we could see the humans who run Dish, not just an icon and name on a forum thread. Just my IMHO. It was also good to see apologies from Mark or Charlie made LIVE. They did seem sincere in those apologies, and even excited about what was coming down the pike.
 
I just called Dish and asked to upgrade to the Hopper 3. They told me that it wasn't compatible with my Super Joey (I said that was fine), and she asked me how many Joeys I wanted and if I wanted them to be wireless. After that, she came back to tell me that it wasn't available in my area due to it not being compatible to the "larger dish" that is required for my installation. This doesn't make sense to me. I probed a little deeper, and she wasn't any more help. I asked when it would be available, and she basically said that it wouldn't be. Can anyone help?
 
I just called Dish and asked to upgrade to the Hopper 3. They told me that it wasn't compatible with my Super Joey (I said that was fine), and she asked me how many Joeys I wanted and if I wanted them to be wireless. After that, she came back to tell me that it wasn't available in my area due to it not being compatible to the "larger dish" that is required for my installation. This doesn't make sense to me. I probed a little deeper, and she wasn't any more help. I asked when it would be available, and she basically said that it wouldn't be. Can anyone help?
You might want to have a conversation with DIRT. They may be able to help. If it is still a no go, wait for a little time. Dish has a new switch coming that should fix your issue.
 
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