How to get Olympics (or any other distant feed)

[shadow_keeper]

This will work for the olympics for anyone, and also works for getting distant locals of your choice from other sat companies. I've done it for over 5 years and actually was told (or suggested) to do it by a CSR on phone from Dish

1) Pull up a zipcode map of your state
2) Find a zipcode that you think is a "white" or unserved area.
3) Check this zipcode via the voom availability site, or any of the other website local-checks on Dish or DirecTV.
4) Once you find one that works and is eligible for distant feeds, write the zip code down and apply an old street address you lived at for years as a kid and will always remember.
5) Write all this down on a sticky and keep it on your fridge for safekeeping.
6) Call your provider and tell them you bought another place and moved your stuff since a dish was already there, but still have your old address and want to keep that address as your MAILING address for getting your bills.
7) They will update your PHYSICAL address on account, and you will be eligible to get anything you want (distant East/West feeds), and still get your bills at your real residence.

**If you have Dish** this makes football season SWEET, since you get so many football games on 2 different time zones and not have to pay the Sunday ticket price with Direct, lol. Too bad Voom doesn't have the East/West feeds.

 

[vurbano]

or use the old "summer home" excuse?

 

[CDH]

I realize I'm not from around here, and I'm not wanting to start a flame war, but wouldn't this be (gulp!)... fraud?

CDH.

 

[kawdog]

I don't know how well this would work with VOOM since moving your service would require a re-install by VOOM of your equipment. If you actually did move and they had to come out it would probably show up in your account notes. What I am saying is if you called and said you moved and it did not show up in your account as a service call they might not believe you. I suppose you could try it, I would be interested to see what they say, but my opinion is I really don't think it would work with VOOM.

kaw

 

[shadow_keeper]

No it's not fraud. You're just setting yourself up to be able to "BUY" channels. I did for over 5 years with Dish.

As far as service calls go, the installer will always call you at home to setup and appointment time. Then you tell them your real address. Most installers already know this type of deal, because most people want to be able to buy the networks and this is about the only way you can do it.

Works for Voom as well. Oh well, it's a sure way to get the networks you need anyway. I'm watching olympics in HD now Got an appointment next week to get a bigger dish for rain fade, and the installer already called me about where I lived, and I told him, and he laughed and said, "yea I do that to for DirectTV"

 

[shadow_keeper]

As far as the "Move" service call goes. You DON"T do it. Remember, you already moved into the other place and there was a dish network setup at the house pointed at 61.5. You simply plugged your receivers in and it works. No service call needed. I phoned my change of account in last night and got the olympics turned on immediately.

 

[CDH]

No it's not fraud. You're just setting yourself up to be able to "BUY" channels. I did for over 5 years with Dish.

I do understand the frustration of not being able to receive certain broadcasts due to licensing issues and network blackouts. Currently I'm only able to receive the 24-hour delayed HDTV olympic coverage (plus the Bravo, MSNBC, etc. feeds) as my local OTA digital station is only broadcasting the repeated HD feed.

However, the technique sounds like a deliberate mis-representation of facts to be able to receive a service to which you otherwise would not be entitled, but what do I know?

The only victim in these cases would be the local affiliates which would suffer a loss of viewership. A few people (probably even a few hundred) wouldn't make a difference, because it wouldn't/couldn't be measured by Nielsen, but that doesn't make it right.

Likewise a "wink wink" from local installers doesn't make it legal or ethical.

I'm a little surprised that other people haven't chimed in with an opinion on this, but this isn't an issue I'm going to lose any sleep over!

Back to my ivory tower!

CDH.

 

[andrzej]

You are not alone CDH. I wouldn't do it for the reasons that you stated. But, others may feel otherwise and actually be proud of their "trick".

 

[Dvlos]

CDH, good points, some people don't care, they steal software, music, movies, and it doesn't bother them anyway. What are you going to do? I have enough to watch on TV right now to keep my plate full. BTW, my account still shows that I'm supposed to get Fox RSN FL... wonder when this is going to become active?

 

[shadow_keeper]

Geez, just got tired of people complaining about not getting the channels. It's NOT stealing! You are covering your address so you can BUY/PURCHASE the networks from your provider.

 

[jagouar]

For those that have done it, how does it work with voom since they want to do the professional move thing? You just tell them to send a tech to move it and then just tell them not to come?

 

[shadow_keeper]

No...you already done it in advance. When I called Voom a couple of nights ago, I said something to this extent:

"Hi, I bought another place out in my state a couple of months ago but I still have my older address to and is where my bills still come. I didn't even think about changing my Voom account since my bills still come to the house. But now that I have tried to tune to the Olympics here lately it appears I'm blocked. And I just remembered about my address, because this new physical address should be qualified, but my box doesn't know it since I didn't call.

When I moved a lot of stuff a couple of months ago, a Dish Network setup was already there and had the dish pointed at 61.5 so all I had to do was plug in my receiver, and it all works good so don't worry about that"

Make up something to that extent

 

[kawdog]

No...you already done it in advance. When I called Voom a couple of nights ago, I said something to this extent:

"Hi, I bought another place out in my state a couple of months ago but I still have my older address to and is where my bills still come. I didn't even think about changing my Voom account since my bills still come to the house. But now that I have tried to tune to the Olympics here lately it appears I'm blocked. And I just remembered about my address, because this new physical address should be qualified, but my box doesn't know it since I didn't call.

When I moved a lot of stuff a couple of months ago, a Dish Network setup was already there and had the dish pointed at 61.5 so all I had to do was plug in my receiver, and it all works good so don't worry about that"

Make up something to that extent

If VOOM bought that story then they are dumber than I thought .

I guess it is a good way to get what you want but I think I would feel kinda bad making up a story like that. Anyway, I guess it is good to know it can be done, thanks for the info.

kaw

 

[dankgus]

It may not be that they are dumb, but they know the procedure and they know their ass is covered.

For example, I was in a Round Table Pizza restaurant a couple months ago. I made my order and the guy asked me if I had any coupons.

I told him "No, unless you have some coupons I can have".

He said "are you a student or a senior citizen?"

I said "No"

He said again "are you a student or a senior citizen?"

I said "oh yeah, I am a student", he then handed me a little student card with all sorts of good deals on it. I got $5 off my pizza. So, its not that he was dumb (well...), he just wasn't going to give me a deal-I had to play the game. Voom is probably the same way-they can't give you NBC in the wrong area, but if you tell them you moved, they are following procedure and their ass is covered.

Myself, I really don't like to decieve people, but if they know whats really going on, I don't mind lying (like the pizza guy).

--Dan

 

[kawdog]

Lets see who can come up with the best lie to tell VOOM.

How 'bout I call up and say "Hey, when I signed up I accidentally gave you my billing address instead of my physical address where my service was installed. Anyway, I realized today when it said that I could not receive the Olympics the mistake I had made, I actually live (insert made up address here that is eligible). Sorry about the confusion, you can turn the Olympics on now, thanks".

I am sure y'all can come up with some good ones

kaw

 

[Ilya]

I hope you guys realize, that if you succeed in remapping your zip-code, you will get a wrong OTA map and will loose the Program Guide info for all of your local channels!

 

[squicken]

Lets see who can come up with the best lie to tell VOOM.
. . .
I am sure y'all can come up with some good ones

kaw

Well, I called Voom to try to change my address. Here's my story:

Me: I signed up 5-6 months ago. I recently moved. Well, not totally. Let me explain. Last week I was driving around in the badlands of West Texas drinking a sixer.

CSR: You shouldn't drink and drive.

Me: What are you, my mother? Anyway. I was driving around, when suddenly my car completely died. Engine, electrical, everything. Then all of the sudden, a bunch of bright lights appeared. The next thing I know, I'm in a big grey room. I can't really see, but I remember being probed in a variety of places.

CSR: Sir. If I don't handle your call within 5 minutes, I get a frowny face on my personnel review. Could you skip to the point?

Me: I was about to. So after some time in the grey room, I wake up in the middle of the desert. Except I'm in someone else's body. I walk over to my car, only it's not my car. I look in the side mirrors, and it's not my face! I reach into my pocket and find some car keys and a wallet. The keys start the car, and the drivers license in the wallet matches my face.
So . . .

CSR: Are you high? This is the dumbest . . .

Me: It's rude to interrupt. That's bad customer service, and I go by the handle "squicken" on the SatelliteGuys forum. If you do your homework, you'll find I know a thing or two about bitching and moaning, and I'll sick Sean Mota on you.

CSR: squicken? Didn't you used to be cyuhnke?

Me: Yes.

CSR: Why the name change?

Me: Tax purposes. Now . . .

CSR: Tax purposes? That doesn't make sense! How . . .

Me: What'd I say about interrupting? Now shut it! So anyway, I see the license has an address on it. The car's got one of those GPS things, so I punch in the address. It's out in the middle of nowhere. But I'm thinking maybe I can get this straightened out at this guy who's body I got's house, so I decide to drive over there. So I go to this guys house, only it's like a compound. There are like 100 people there, and they all think I'm the guy who's body I've got. Then . . .

CSR: I'm sorry to interrupt, but can you please move it along?

Me: Fine. Anyway, it turns out this guy who's body I got is some sort of cult leader. It seems . . .

CSR: Cult! Why don't you go tell the cops? Wait, why am I even believing a word of . . .

Me: Can I finish? To answer your question: I was going to leave, but it turns out there are some really fine ladies in this cult. Also, as leader, it's "my" duty to mate with these women to help them on their spiritual path.

CSR: What is this "spiritual path"?

Me: I don't know. That's part of the problem. Apparently this cult doesn't really have an identity. "I" was supposed to go to the desert and meditate on our future. "I" was supposedly trying to figure out if we were going to be a cult that cuts off our nuts and kills ourselves, or a cult that collects guns and dies in a shootout with the Feds. I can see why "I" went to the desert. I'm certainly not going to cut off my nuts, and I don't like deadly shootouts. I think I'm going to go with "More sex with leader is key to happiness" as our philosophy.

CSR: Won't they be suspicious of the change in philosophy?

Me: It's not exactly a Mensa convention around here. They haven't caught on to me yet, despite the fact that I can't remember "my" name. But anyway, the purpose of this call is to get the NBC-HD channel though the satellite. We have no local affiliate, as I'm in what they call a white area.

CSR: You're worried about satellite service! What about your old job? Your old life? Don't you worry about this other person having your body? What about the aliens who switched your bodies?

Me: First off, apparently this guy who's body I got is a bit of a nutter. I doubt he'll have the wherewithal to know what's going on. Second, in this transaction I've gotten three inches (if you know what I mean), a washboard stomach, a nice tan, and a better hairline. As for the aliens, I'm guessing they'll keep their heads low until the whole Alien vs. Predator backlash subsides. Plus, "I'm" rich as hell.

CSR: Is your group taking new members?

Me: Not if you're ugly, and you sound ugly. Anyway, I went to "my" old place and moved the equipment to the compound, but I want the bills to keep going to my old address. I'm keeping that address because I don't want to have to explain to friends and family what's going on right now. I need to figure out a way to explain this to them, but I can't quite come up with a good explanation that they would believe. So anyway, can you authorize the channels?

CSR: Well, let me ask my supervisor. [Puts "me" on hold] OK, I talked to my supervisor. Apparently, and I'm reading straight from the lease agreement "in the event that the customer, through act of God, nuclear explosion, alien intervention, supervillian genetic tampering, or any other act or process by which customer's brain or spirit is transposed into a different body, the customer is said to be the person who's body initiated the lease." So technically, sir, you aren't even a Voom customer. But I can set you up right now with service. For $199, we will install . . .

Me: I'm aware of the current offer. But installation fees are against my religion. By my religion, of course, I mean my cult's philosophy.

CSR: I thought your cult's philosophy was "More sex with leader is key to happiness"?

Me: Well, our new philosophy is now "More sex with leader is key to happiness, and it is a sin to pay for installation of satellite television service!" So I guess I'll have to take "my" business elsewhere. Thank you.




I guess we can add "aliens stole my brain" to the list of stories that won't get Olympic channel.

 

[riffjim4069]

You made me laugh!!!

 

[1080iBeVuMin]

Love that approach! I'll call Voom right now...

By the way, I am definitely visiting this forum too often. Last night I saw a picture of the martian rover on a Discovery HD short subject, and the name "Ilya" pop into my brain. :yikes :yikes

 

[Ilya]

Last night I saw a picture of the martian rover on a Discovery HD short subject, and the name "Ilya" pop into my brain.

WOW! I guess I'd better keep this avatar then...