Really pissed at Dish right now...

[ruefrex@sbcglobal.net]

I've been a Dish subscriber since March. Today, my 625 hard drive apparently crashed. While I was able to talk to a customer service tech pretty quickly, I'm seriously unhappy with the resolution -- no way to recover data (of course, but no harm in asking) and I won't get a new receiver for seven to ten days. So, no TV for 7 to 10 days and a rather vague assurance that I wold be compensated on my bill. I don't believe it.

And the robot on the phone had absolutely no response when I told him that wasn't satisfactory.

I switched to Dish because I hate TimeWarner but the rather sudden failure of this receiver has me concerned. I've lost a ton of recordings, including me on the frikkin NEWS, and other things I hadn't had a chance to dump to DVD yet.

I had TiVo and cable before, and I still think TiVo tops the Dish receiver. Especially now. Do these receivers fail a lot? Based on what's happened, I'm seriously ready to go back to stupid cable and my beloved TiVo. Just looking for some advice and perspective, if y'all can help me out.

 

[webbydude]

Sorry to hear about your 625 crashing. Generally speaking, I've found it to be a pretty solid receiver. Here's an idea. To expedite the return to television service, would it be possible to schedule a tech to come out and bring a receiver...versus Dish shipping one out?

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Contact ceo@echostar.com and explain your dis-satisfaction. Can't see why they could not rush a new receiver to you.

 

[markrubi]

Why doesn't Dish over night something like this? I would be will to eat the cost myself rather than go without TV for a week. Also I would get your user name changed ASAP. YOu do not want your email address out in the open like it is now. You might have to send a message to a moderator to get it changed.

 

[nuts4scuba]

Did they say why it was going to take so long? I called them last Saturday about my 622 and they had one at my door Wednesday at noon.

 

[ruefrex@sbcglobal.net]

Hey y'all,

I did call back and talk to a different guy. I asked if he could send a tech out. He wouldn't reply to THAT, but he did say the receiver should actually be here in three to five days.

So we'll see. Five days, and I'm going to complain. I also HATE UPS; I'm not home during the day and there's nobody to leave it with.

Must. Have. TV.

Any advice on keeping a receiver healthy? I didn't even do anything weird to it...

 

[wmi]

Hey y'all,

I did call back and talk to a different guy. I asked if he could send a tech out. He wouldn't reply to THAT, but he did say the receiver should actually be here in three to five days.

So we'll see. Five days, and I'm going to complain. I also HATE UPS; I'm not home during the day and there's nobody to leave it with.

Must. Have. TV.

Any advice on keeping a receiver healthy? I didn't even do anything weird to it...

625s are pretty reliable. Likely just unfortunate luck that you got one that went bad.

I had my original 625 replaced about a month ago. There was nothing wrong with it except it didn't want to upgrade to 150 hours with the new 462 software version. Otherwise it functioned perfectly and never gave me a problem.

I called Tech Support late on a Tuesday afternoon and UPS delivered it early Thursday afternoon.

As far as keeping your receiver healthy, give it plenty of room to breath so it doesn't run hot. It seems to me that a good number of the receivers that I've replaced were squeezed into the entertainment center.

 

[MLBurks]

So we'll see. Five days, and I'm going to complain. I also HATE UPS; I'm not home during the day and there's nobody to leave it with.

You don't need to be home. They will just leave it on your front porch.

 

[Voyager6]

Any advice on keeping a receiver healthy? I didn't even do anything weird to it...

Keep it cool. Definitely check it's temperature regularly.

 

[haertig]

Don't know about the 625 specifically, but I used to have a 522 that dumped on me once. Lost most all of it's recordings, except a few of them it was able to recover (but far from perfectly). It then performed flawlessly for a few years after that episode. So what I experienced was not a HD crash, but rather a software bug.

I double-record shows that I'm really interested in using a Linux computer and MythTV. Luckily I had that in place when my 522 dumped, so I really didn't lose any critical recordings ... I just had to watch them differently. My 522 is gone now, replaced with an HD 722, but I still run MythTV as a backup. Haven't had to use MythTV to view a show for years however.

Other than having a backup recording system, I don't know what you could do to protect things on your 625. Don't install it in such a way that it overheats. Run it off a battery backup UPS so the occassional short-lived power problem doesn't trigger a disaster.

 

[mattopia]

You might call your local retailer or contracter -- whoever did the install. I know that my installer suggests calling them first as they can usually get someone out within 1 day, and they keep equipment in stock.

Also, it's not just a DISH thing. When my cable modem last went out it took them about 4 days to get someone there to fix it. I rely on Internet access for work, so it's much more important than TV, but I could not get them there any faster no matter who I talked to. Also had a problem with a few HD channels dropping out occasionally. After two service calls I finally gave up, and switched to E* a few months later.

This of course was after walking through their automated system and waiting on hold for a total of almost an hour.

 

[ruefrex@sbcglobal.net]

Hey guys,

The receiver came today, and luckily I was home. So it got here in three days. And I finally figured out Single User mode, too, so that's a bonus. Had to call tech support a few times about issues, and they solved every one of them.

In regards to a healthy receiver, I don't have it inside a cabinet, so it should stay cool. Thanks for talking me down off the ledge! I was very frustrated at first but they did come through. So hopefully this receiver will be more reliable!

Thanks for this forum...

 

[Fear 2 Stop]

It takes 2-3 days to get a replacement rcvr (except UPS doesn't deliver on weekends. so expect a little longer if ordering Friday night - Sunday). We do overnight for $24.95. Again, since UPS doesn't work on the weekends, it'd be a waste to do it Friday-Sunday.

Glad to hear you got your replacement safe & sound.

 

[mattopia]

One of the downsides to DVRs is the hard drives. A hard drive will fail. It's not an if, but a when. Someday, a flash based "no moving parts" DVR will exist. Until then, expect drive failure in 3-5 years, possibly less. (Although, most flash memory has a limited number of writes)

Drive manufacturers get bad lots too. I had a RAID system with two drives, serial numbers about 10 apart. They failed within two weeks of each other -- about 6 months after purchase.

 

[Bob Haller]

I bough a spare 625 and a spare drive for instant repairs and swap out

 

[dishcomm]

I've been a Dish subscriber since March. Today, my 625 hard drive apparently crashed. While I was able to talk to a customer service tech pretty quickly, I'm seriously unhappy with the resolution -- no way to recover data (of course, but no harm in asking) and I won't get a new receiver for seven to ten days. So, no TV for 7 to 10 days and a rather vague assurance that I wold be compensated on my bill. I don't believe it.

And the robot on the phone had absolutely no response when I told him that wasn't satisfactory.

I switched to Dish because I hate TimeWarner but the rather sudden failure of this receiver has me concerned. I've lost a ton of recordings, including me on the frikkin NEWS, and other things I hadn't had a chance to dump to DVD yet.

I had TiVo and cable before, and I still think TiVo tops the Dish receiver. Especially now. Do these receivers fail a lot? Based on what's happened, I'm seriously ready to go back to stupid cable and my beloved TiVo. Just looking for some advice and perspective, if y'all can help me out.

I don't intend to offend you. However. There are several things you could have done or could do to alleviate your issues.
First ,if the recordings were all important, you should have put them either on tape, used a dvd recorder or subscribed to the service that allows Dish dvr users to transfer their recordings to another hard drive.
Second. I have never heard of a receiver taking more than a few days ,3 tops, to be received by the customer, 7-10 is unreal. Call and demand to speak to "escalations". Plus write an email to ceo@echostar.com.
Nexrt, do not blame UPS for their security policies. Would you rather them leave valuables at your door ,unprotected? You can arrange to have any package shipped to another site where is can be secured. Ship to your neighbor's home. Or a realtive. Anyone you trusr that is usually home.
There are more ways to skin a cat than you think. Be resourceful. Think outside the box.

 

[dishcomm]

Why doesn't Dish over night something like this? I would be will to eat the cost myself rather than go without TV for a week. Also I would get your user name changed ASAP. YOu do not want your email address out in the open like it is now. You might have to send a message to a moderator to get it changed.

because it is expensive. Plain and simple.