I guess not. (sorry if this is long)
Had to swap out a receiver for my dad. He had a 311 that went bad so I found a new 322 online. He wanted to use the 322 for his bedroom and the garage so the dual tuner seemed a better option.
Change out some of the wiring (added a DPP44+) and got the receiver to the point of activating it. Noticed the S# is S00 which is old embedded card. No biggie. Call dish and get "Victor" (uh yeah sure). I explain what I wanted to do. I explained that the one receiver is bad (signal goes form 0 to 65-66 then back to 0 back to 65 etc) and explained that I had bought another receiver to swap it out with.
First "Victor" wanted to send a tech out to test it. HUH? I already explained that I tried it at known spots in the house and it still did the same thing. Plus the receiver is owned
Then he wanted to sell me a new receiver. Uh dude I already have a replacement receiver
Then he says I cant activate it because that is a MPEG2 receiver and you need MPEG4 in my market.....I explained that Minneapolis is both and if you look at the account there are 311/301's on the account and all I want to do is activate it.
So I gave him the R# of the "bad" receiver and the info on the new one. I explained that the card is old and (tried this line) can I swap the card out from the old to the new? He says "let me check", puts me on hold, then comes back and says (no I'm not making this up)
THE CARD IN THE NEW RECEIVER IS GOOD AND CAN BE ACTIVATED (even though S00 is the old card version)
After arguing with him that the old card cannot be activated he attempts to activate it. He says "Its active. Do you have any more questions?". I checked the old receiver and yep programming gone but the new one isnt working yet. He says "oh wait 15 minutes and if it dont work call back. OK? Good bye" AND FRICKING HANGS UP ON ME :rant:
Call back and get a female who again has an accent. UGH! I asked if the receiver was on the account and she says yes. I explain I have no programming (screen is still on "call dish to activate") and the card I think is old. She tells me to wait 10 minutes or so and if programming doesnt work call back and disconnects the call.
I call a FOURTH time (I forgot the 2nd time I called back I got hung up on before anyone answered) and got a guy named "James" who probably goes by Jimbo with his buddies.
I patiently explain what I wanted to do and what has already happened. James said the receiver is active but I needed a new card and apologized numerous times for the way I had been treated by the previous reps. Asked me where I got the receiver and I told him a Dish retailer and it was new in the box. James was nice enough to send out a new card for no charge since the card in there wont work (gee why didnt the first 2 folks tell me that?) and he made sure there was no charge since it should have been in there to begin with (must have been some OLD new stock since it was from Dish originally with the "this is how you set up your replacement receiver" paperwork in there). Even apologized that I cant watch TV on that receiver for a couple days. He mentions the old card normally needs ot be sent back but since its built in we can't. I even joked with him and said "you dont want me to take the cover off and get that partial card out huh?"
So now either tomorrow or Thursday the new card will arrive and all I gotta do is call back in with the new S#.
I can't believe Dish customer service and even tech support (since I said "tech support" each time I called) is still this crappy and you have to call 3-4 times to get something as simple as replacing a receiver resolved. The last time I called Dish was last fall to activate a 3rd receiver on my grandparents account and that took 3 calls and over an hour to activate a receiver. I really feel bad for the folks who dont know what they're doing and call in. If my dad had called it in, he'd STILL have no TV on that one and no card coming (since the 1st two goofballs didnt even bother to send a new card out)
ok rant off
Had to swap out a receiver for my dad. He had a 311 that went bad so I found a new 322 online. He wanted to use the 322 for his bedroom and the garage so the dual tuner seemed a better option.
Change out some of the wiring (added a DPP44+) and got the receiver to the point of activating it. Noticed the S# is S00 which is old embedded card. No biggie. Call dish and get "Victor" (uh yeah sure). I explain what I wanted to do. I explained that the one receiver is bad (signal goes form 0 to 65-66 then back to 0 back to 65 etc) and explained that I had bought another receiver to swap it out with.
First "Victor" wanted to send a tech out to test it. HUH? I already explained that I tried it at known spots in the house and it still did the same thing. Plus the receiver is owned
Then he wanted to sell me a new receiver. Uh dude I already have a replacement receiver
Then he says I cant activate it because that is a MPEG2 receiver and you need MPEG4 in my market.....I explained that Minneapolis is both and if you look at the account there are 311/301's on the account and all I want to do is activate it.
So I gave him the R# of the "bad" receiver and the info on the new one. I explained that the card is old and (tried this line) can I swap the card out from the old to the new? He says "let me check", puts me on hold, then comes back and says (no I'm not making this up)
THE CARD IN THE NEW RECEIVER IS GOOD AND CAN BE ACTIVATED (even though S00 is the old card version)
After arguing with him that the old card cannot be activated he attempts to activate it. He says "Its active. Do you have any more questions?". I checked the old receiver and yep programming gone but the new one isnt working yet. He says "oh wait 15 minutes and if it dont work call back. OK? Good bye" AND FRICKING HANGS UP ON ME :rant:
Call back and get a female who again has an accent. UGH! I asked if the receiver was on the account and she says yes. I explain I have no programming (screen is still on "call dish to activate") and the card I think is old. She tells me to wait 10 minutes or so and if programming doesnt work call back and disconnects the call.
I call a FOURTH time (I forgot the 2nd time I called back I got hung up on before anyone answered) and got a guy named "James" who probably goes by Jimbo with his buddies.
I patiently explain what I wanted to do and what has already happened. James said the receiver is active but I needed a new card and apologized numerous times for the way I had been treated by the previous reps. Asked me where I got the receiver and I told him a Dish retailer and it was new in the box. James was nice enough to send out a new card for no charge since the card in there wont work (gee why didnt the first 2 folks tell me that?) and he made sure there was no charge since it should have been in there to begin with (must have been some OLD new stock since it was from Dish originally with the "this is how you set up your replacement receiver" paperwork in there). Even apologized that I cant watch TV on that receiver for a couple days. He mentions the old card normally needs ot be sent back but since its built in we can't. I even joked with him and said "you dont want me to take the cover off and get that partial card out huh?"
So now either tomorrow or Thursday the new card will arrive and all I gotta do is call back in with the new S#.
I can't believe Dish customer service and even tech support (since I said "tech support" each time I called) is still this crappy and you have to call 3-4 times to get something as simple as replacing a receiver resolved. The last time I called Dish was last fall to activate a 3rd receiver on my grandparents account and that took 3 calls and over an hour to activate a receiver. I really feel bad for the folks who dont know what they're doing and call in. If my dad had called it in, he'd STILL have no TV on that one and no card coming (since the 1st two goofballs didnt even bother to send a new card out)
ok rant off
