Ok this is part question part rant (ok...mostly a rant) 
I havent had dish in 18 months now so I havent dealt with them. But my grandma has them. 2 301's...she gets new smart cards. One works, one doesnt.
So she calls them 3 weeks ago and they have to send new smart cards....
didnt get them...she calls back and they resend them....
5 days later nothing...so she calls back and they tell her the receiver is shot (huh???) and they will send a new receiver and she'll get it in....5 days....
well still nothing so she calls back and the guy tells her that box should be fine (the original one).
So tonight I go there to fix it. Hooked the box back up, insert new card and rerun check switch...download the guide and all I get is the freebie channels
so I call Dish and...there is no option for tech support(?????) what happened to option 2 tech support?????
so I get someone who cant even give their opening right so I hang up call back
2nd person hangs up on me after I give my name and explain that its my grandmas account but she is here to verify if need be
3rd time I get someone who has to transfer me only to get "if you'd like to make a call please hang up"
4th time I get someone. I explain the issue..now the fun begins. Because either they have no memory or they truly read off a list. I explain I put the new smartcard in and all I get are a couple channels...here is the questions I was asked
what channel are you on?
dish 101
do you get a picture
yes I do but I only get a few channels like 101,213,240,262. The rest are in green
oh but you have a picture?
yes on 101 and a few others
so whats the issue?
I dont get the channels we pay for. They are green in the guide
but what is on your screen now?
channel 101
she tells me to hit channel up and I explain from 104 it goes to 156 then 213
oh so you're not getting all your channels
correct
when did this problem start?
3 weeks ago with the new card
oh ok
I explain that it probably needs a programming rehiit as the other box works fine...so she has me read off the R# which I do. I ask if she wants the S# too but "no thats not necessary"
Now she asks me what I see on the screen when I select a channel in green.
"this program is available for purchase.....message 371"
what message?
371
what channel do you see that on?
all the channels I pay for except for the 3 or 4 free channels
again I explain that it just needs a rehit
what message do you get on the other channels
371 (for the 3rd time I mumble under my breath)
when did this start
3 weeks ago when we got the new cards. One box works fine but this one doesnt work
now she wants me to go back into the system info to read the R & S #'s again (ugh!!!) which she proceeds to f up twice as I read them off.
She puts me on hold and comes back and says they need to do a "smartcard update in their system"....wait a minute...YOU HAD THE WRONG SMARTCARD IN THE SYSTEM FOR 3 WEEKS?????
So she comes back and now the channels work....yay!!...but no locals. I tell her which locals and she tells me she has to run a local check to see if my grandma qualifies for locals....I tell the lady "please tell me you're kidding. She has had locals for 8 years". So she asks for the address and says "yes you qualify" (huh no crap) but maybe I dont have satellite 110 and asks me to hit 9900. By this time I'm just like "yep its there"
Lady screws around and finally the locals come up...huh only 1 hour and 4 calls to do a simple thing
The folks I feel sorry for are the customers who dont know what they're doing and actually follow along with these jokers. I knew what had to be done but this lady still read from a book
so now I ask...what the hell happened to "option 2 tech support" to get a dude in Virginia or something???
(sorry for the rant)
I havent had dish in 18 months now so I havent dealt with them. But my grandma has them. 2 301's...she gets new smart cards. One works, one doesnt.
So she calls them 3 weeks ago and they have to send new smart cards....
didnt get them...she calls back and they resend them....
5 days later nothing...so she calls back and they tell her the receiver is shot (huh???) and they will send a new receiver and she'll get it in....5 days....
well still nothing so she calls back and the guy tells her that box should be fine (the original one).
So tonight I go there to fix it. Hooked the box back up, insert new card and rerun check switch...download the guide and all I get is the freebie channels
so I call Dish and...there is no option for tech support(?????) what happened to option 2 tech support?????
so I get someone who cant even give their opening right so I hang up call back
2nd person hangs up on me after I give my name and explain that its my grandmas account but she is here to verify if need be
3rd time I get someone who has to transfer me only to get "if you'd like to make a call please hang up"
4th time I get someone. I explain the issue..now the fun begins. Because either they have no memory or they truly read off a list. I explain I put the new smartcard in and all I get are a couple channels...here is the questions I was asked
what channel are you on?
dish 101
do you get a picture
yes I do but I only get a few channels like 101,213,240,262. The rest are in green
oh but you have a picture?
yes on 101 and a few others
so whats the issue?
I dont get the channels we pay for. They are green in the guide
but what is on your screen now?
channel 101
she tells me to hit channel up and I explain from 104 it goes to 156 then 213
oh so you're not getting all your channels
correct
when did this problem start?
3 weeks ago with the new card
oh ok
I explain that it probably needs a programming rehiit as the other box works fine...so she has me read off the R# which I do. I ask if she wants the S# too but "no thats not necessary"
Now she asks me what I see on the screen when I select a channel in green.
"this program is available for purchase.....message 371"
what message?
371
what channel do you see that on?
all the channels I pay for except for the 3 or 4 free channels
again I explain that it just needs a rehit
what message do you get on the other channels
371 (for the 3rd time I mumble under my breath)
when did this start
3 weeks ago when we got the new cards. One box works fine but this one doesnt work
now she wants me to go back into the system info to read the R & S #'s again (ugh!!!) which she proceeds to f up twice as I read them off.
She puts me on hold and comes back and says they need to do a "smartcard update in their system"....wait a minute...YOU HAD THE WRONG SMARTCARD IN THE SYSTEM FOR 3 WEEKS?????
So she comes back and now the channels work....yay!!...but no locals. I tell her which locals and she tells me she has to run a local check to see if my grandma qualifies for locals....I tell the lady "please tell me you're kidding. She has had locals for 8 years". So she asks for the address and says "yes you qualify" (huh no crap) but maybe I dont have satellite 110 and asks me to hit 9900. By this time I'm just like "yep its there"
Lady screws around and finally the locals come up...huh only 1 hour and 4 calls to do a simple thing
The folks I feel sorry for are the customers who dont know what they're doing and actually follow along with these jokers. I knew what had to be done but this lady still read from a book
so now I ask...what the hell happened to "option 2 tech support" to get a dude in Virginia or something???
(sorry for the rant)
