Post Your Upgrade Experience Here

I called at 8am ET and had a fairly smooth experience. She told me the earliest available install date was 2/22 from 8am to 12pm. Oh well, there goes the Olympics in HD (other than the stale 24 hr. old feed on the HD channel). I told her I was going to swap my 4900 for a 622. OK, she says (hmmm. no shortage so far, unless they bump my date at the last minute). It will cost me $299 and there was no choice on her computer to just ship it, so I have to wait for an installer. Oh well, I'll have him run an extra line to my bedroom and I'll move my 921 there, and move my 510 to the basement.

I commented that things must have been busy and she said that THAT was an understatement as they had been slammed since 6am with callers doing what I had done. I figured I'd have a good chance of getting through since the west coast hadn't woken up yet. I got through with no hold time, and was picked up by a CSR within 10 seconds after navigating the voice prompts menu (I went through the "Add Programming" section which rarely has a delay). The woman who had a voice that sounded like Nell Carter so no Indian CSRs today...... She seemed to be fairly on top of things and I couldn't fault anything she said (other than the fact she kept trying to call it a single tuner DVR - she also initially said it would be $49..... I told her that I didn't want the 211 I wanted the 622, and she quickly corrected herself... everything else seemed to be spot on the details we've been talking about).

She did try to charge me the $299 on my credit card TODAY which I balked at and told her that I had previously been able to add it to my account and been billed during my monthly cycle (that will buy me another month before it hits my card). She went away for a sec and then came back to say that would be OK because of my 5 years with E* and my excellent payment history (CC Auto Pay will do that). She did say that she needed my AMEX card for a $1 hold for three days (um, OK..... whatever) She also said that I would be agreeing to stay at AT60 or higher for 18 months or a $400 equipment fee would be charged. (OK, no Fios until at least 7/2007) She also said that I would be paying $6 month for a lease fee. I asked if that would be mostly offset by the elimination of the $5 additional receiver fee on my 4900 and she said yes. Big deal, an extra buck for more buttery HD goodness.

SO FAR, it looks like it won't be too bad other than the 3 week lead time for an installer. I'm gonna go the ceo@echostar.com route and see if I can improve on that date. We'll see though if things go south in a hurry if they run out of boxes by the time my install date shows up (which is a nagging fear at this point). She gave me an RA number for the 4900 just in case the installer doesn't ask for it during the install (she wasn't sure which way that would go). She then asked me if there was anything else. I said No and that was the end of the call.

She never asked me any questions about my switches (although that info was probably on my info screen in front of her). I'm ready to go and just need the box to be hooked up as I have a Dish 500 looking at 110/119 and a Dish 300 ooking at 61.5. I have 2 SW64s feeding a 921, a 510, 2 508s, and a 4900 currently. I'll be a 100% PVR household when this is done (and I'l keep my 921 for another year until they have to sweeten the deal to swap it out to be able to kill the old HD MPeg2 streams in 2007).

A better experience than I expected although the 3 week lead time is a bit of a letdown with the Olympics coming......
 
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Called the tech support line and got a friendly lady that spoke english right away. I upgraded my 311 to a 622 and kept my 811. Changed to the Bronze HD package plus the locals and upn/wb package.

Costs:
$299.99 on credit card right away which covers 622 and installation cost (new dish if needed)
622 will be leased at $6/month
there will be a $5/month charge if the receiver is not plugged into a phone
18 month signup with a $13.33/month charge for early cancel

Installation on February 21 which seems to be a popular day. She didn't mention anything about the 622 not being available. Total time on the phone was about 15 minutes. Now the waiting begins...
 
If I spoke Japanese, my call to customer service would have gone more smoothly! Cant they get it throught their thick skulls that they need reps who speak english very well? And...are educated about their promotions without having to look it up on their computer? Incompetence at its best at Dish Network!

Called back to supervisor to make sure they placed my ViP622 order correctly. Hope they have them in stock for my 2/27 install date!
 
Just Ordered my 622

On Hold for 12 minutes.

A guy names "John" with an indian accent helped me

I told him I wanted the HD DVR...

he said Single tuner..
I said no... HD DVR

finally he understood.

Put me on hold. .

I told him I wanted HD Silver + Locals.

Put on hold..

told me I had legacy HD package...

I said find keep it.

Took payment info..

I asked him if I needed HD Silver to get local HD

He said yes.

Told him to switch to HD Silver + Locals.


Put on hold.
Ok..

Then I asked for him to add a note for the technician to bring a DPP44 since I will have 4 satellite locations.

He added note.

gave me a confirm numbers.

Total time on the phone

31 minutes


I hope the tech shows up with a ViP622, Dish 1000 and a DPP 44... I'm gonna be pissed if he/she doesn't
 
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I attempted to upgrade a 301 to a 622 at approximately 3:30pm EDT. The wait was approximately 7 minutes. I was offered the $299 lease deal but the installation could not be scheduled until March 11. I opted not to upgrade at this time and will wait until April.
 
Called at 3pm EST to update 811 to 211 plus dish1000. Waited on hold 2 minutes. Talked with Karen in Pennsylvania, very nice, knew all upgrade details. Sounded tired. Spent 5 minutes taking my information, scheduled install for 8am to Noon tomorrow (!). Billed $49 to credit card, provided RA# to return 811 (told me that the return was optional since I owned my 811 and if I did return it I would receive a credit of $25), said Dish would mail me a box with UPS label to return the 811. The only odd thing was that when she tried to upgrade my programming to HDGold, the system rejected the update so she recommended I have the installer call in the programming update when the system is installed tomorrow. Call ended with a short Super Bowl discussion (She was from Pennsylvania after all). Hung up at 3:15. Very pleasant experience. Hope the installation is as smooth.
 
Upgrade easy as hell

Called 18003333474 at 1245 central time, on phone 10 mins dish is sending me a 211 via ups, and a return tag to return the old 811 and gave cc info and was done, no problems here....
 
dodge said:
Called 18003333474 at 1245 central time, on phone 10 mins dish is sending me a 211 via ups, and a return tag to return the old 811 and gave cc info and was done, no problems here....

I experienced the same today. My swap out fee was only $49.00.
 
I called around 11 and was immediately routed to a CSR who seemed to know what he was talking about. I am upgrading from Dish SD to HD. I have 1 HD set and an SD set in the bedroom so I got the VIP622 for $299 and a $6/month lease. I guess it is time to kiss Tivo goodbye in the living room. I was given a Feb 22 install date also. Signed up for DishHD Silver package + HBO + locals + International programming ($25). Seems like a decent deal to me.
 
Called at 11am PST. I went the Tech Support route. Got a girl in Pennsylvania who was taking her first upgrade call today. I was successfully able to talk her through the whole process, thanks to this site and all of the previous posts. She had to put me on hold 8 or 10 times while she checked on the disputed comments I made. The whole process took about 15 min. I have a 622 and dish 1000 scheduled for install on 2/23.

We should all thank Scott for all of the time and effort he has put in on this project.

Thanks, Scott!
 
Called around 1000PST, and after numerous attempts at navigating my way through the computer generated answering system, finally got through via tech support, and a very pleasant lady (with a real American accent), took my details, and order for a 622 to replace my 811. Scheduled for 2/23 0800-1200. All up the call minus my initial problems took somewhere in the region of 15 mins. Thanks Dishnetwork
 
12:15PM CST call to Dish Corp...

Was told that there was absolutely no shortage of 622's. CSR even went so far as to state, uninvited no less, that it would be pretty stupid of DN to NOT have enough receivers for this roll-out.

Started taking my order for a 622, $299.99 ($49.99 of which was installation fee), no mention of any commitment, 622 would be sent directly to me, blah blah blah...

Put me on hold and came back to say, "We don't have any 622's and won't have for at least 2 or 3 weeks." He was probably hoping that I would have now forgotten his, '...absolutely no shortage...' remark from earlier.

I took pity on him and ended the call. He was clueless about this new equipment and programming and it showed.

What I want to know is how you all got your orders in and do you actually expect your installation dates to hold???

Good luck all,
George -bub
 
Ha ha. Dumb CSR. Thinking that E* would be operating with common sense....

Um,.... no.

I'm still a little miffed that my NYC LILs and a half dozen new HD channels are being beamed at my house and I can't see them since they don't have the hardware ready to go, but since we thought we were looking at months of delay, 3 weeks doesn't seem so bad. ....

As long as they don't call me on 2/21 and tell me that, um, we didn't get the 622 so we have to cancel your appointment.......

I will be pleasantly surprised if they have them on the promised date, but of course will be with the torch carrying mob if they DO slip the date......
 
bub said:
What I want to know is how you all got your orders in and do you actually expect your installation dates to hold???

I just lucked out and got a CSR that knew what he was doing. To top it off he wasn't even from the US, but he did speak English very well.

I fully expect my install to be rescheduled.


NightRyder
 
Have spent a few hours trying to get everything fixed. First, their software would not do the upgrade to Platinum this morning. Then all the HD channels (except PPV) went red this afternoon. Third call needed to fix that. Then it seems that when they put the code in for Platinum HD, it "downgraded" the SD packages but only on the HD 211 receiver. Was told that it is a software bug that will take 24 to 48 hours to fix. They gave me the choice of either keeping the new HD channels with fewer SD channels or no new HD channels and the AEP. I went with the HD since my other SD receivers still get all the right SD channels. Hopefully, it will all clear up in a day or two!
 
Called to upgrade told to call the audit department. I was audited in May 05. They now and only now advised I failed the audit because I had 6 receivers and only gave them info on 5. At that time I advised I no longer used the 6th one and told them to drop it (due to move/had never activated the new card sent for it). They said fine and they got the info on the five. No problems at all after that. The audit department told me I can never have any kind of promotion because of the 6th receiver. Asked why. They said I told them I had it in another home. Never said that!!! They told me tuff. They dont think I should be a dish customer and threaten to terminate my service. Talked to three poeple very rude and sarcastic. Can get the reciever if I pay full price for it. I spend about $175.00 a month on service and this is rediculous. Lucky this time I recorded the call to back up my facts.
 
chrs526 said:
Called to upgrade told to call the audit department. I was audited in May 05. They now and only now advised I failed the audit because I had 6 receivers and only gave them info on 5. At that time I advised I no longer used the 6th one and told them to drop it (due to move/had never activated the new card sent for it). They said fine and they got the info on the five. No problems at all after that. The audit department told me I can never have any kind of promotion because of the 6th receiver. Asked why. They said I told them I had it in another home. Never said that!!! They told me tuff. They dont think I should be a dish customer and threaten to terminate my service. Talked to three poeple very rude and sarcastic. Can get the reciever if I pay full price for it. I spend about $175.00 a month on service and this is rediculous. Lucky this time I recorded the call to back up my facts.

Sounds like ceo@echostar.com time....... You're gonna get nowhere otherwise if the system has you blackballed.....
 
Called at 5pmish. Went to advanced tech department. Asked for 622, paid my 299.99, was advised it would be installed on 2/21 from 8-12. Tech gave disclosures. No problems.
 
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called around 12pm...was on hold for like 10 minutes ..got a csr who stated this was his first upgrade..went from a 811 to 622 .."a couple of hold sir..i need to check something"..but all in all good experience..got a install date of the 20th in the am. they do have to add a sat pointing at 61.5 because im all way down in south texas
 
Called DISH at 4:15 Mountain. Selected option 4 for people that are moving, then waited 8 minutes for a CS rep. Spent only 15 minutes total on the call.

Spoke with Brige, a man with a strong dialect that was working closely from a script. Told him I was calling to order an HD receiver upgrade. He said he needed to tell me that the HD receiver promotion required a 1-year commitment, a $1 credit card hold, and to cancel early would mean a fee of $240 or $13.33 per month. [Apparently he is under the impression that there are 18 months in a year. I know better but did not correct him.]

I asked to drop one of my two owned receivers and add a ViP622 and a ViP211. He said he could only offer one receiver. He did not understand or respond to my questions about why. I let him continue to enter an order for the 622 with a cc payment of $299.99. He told me installation was scheduled for Saturday between 12-5. [This Saturday? How many Saturdays do you think I’ll actually have to wait for the installer?] He was anxious to get off the call before discussing programming, but did confirm that my AT180+HBO would change to HD Gold+HBO. That’s all I wanted anyway. I’ll discuss dishes and switches with the local installer.

I was happy just to get my order for a 622 in with the promise of being contacted by an installer this week. Every area has different jobbers, so I figure anything is possible if any equipment is available. [I know, IF.] Maybe Albuquerque has some advantage. I’ll call back Friday to confirm the order. I’ll see about adding a 211 later.
__________________________

2/3/06: Called to verify that order was entered. Install is scheduled for Sat. 2/25. Found the actual upgrade offer on this site and can now see that it is limited to one HD receiver "per transaction". Have to look for another deal for a 211.
 
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Dish 1000 and VOOM

622 ordeal

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