why phone line?

[dishcomm]

Because it is part of the contract or terms of service you agree to when you become a dish network customer. Plug it in, or pay the fee.

It would be so much easier if cusomers would get this one item down on paper and remember it as the gospel..Dish is not waiving that fee for all bamboo in Thailand.
I have had customers swear on a stack that the sales partner or a Dish CSR said the fee would be waived...Usually if it gets this out of control Dish will offer a free wireless phone jack..If the cust does not have a land based phone line, oh well.....I have been able to avoid many conflicts by reminding the customer of the 30 day MBG....That allows me to get the job done and then the customer can deal with Dish themselves.

 

[Jared Twomey]

If I'm at an install and the customer starts complaining about the phone line fee, I tell them that I can put in 4 single tuner recievers if they'd prefer, or they could go with 4 single tuner receviers with Directv..... either way, they are going to still end up paying the same amount as they would with 2 dual-tuners, not plugged in to the phone line

 

[dishcomm]

If I'm at an install and the customer starts complaining about the phone line fee, I tell them that I can put in 4 single tuner recievers if they'd prefer, or they could go with 4 single tuner receviers with Directv..... either way, they are going to still end up paying the same amount as they would with 2 dual-tuners, not plugged in to the phone line

We just have them talk to one of our dispatchers..Both these women could sweetalk any irate customer into the install..Dish will not allow a customer to cancel over a phone line fee..They will allow a free wireless phone jack....I haven't run into this much at all...If a customer asks I tell them that if the connect to the phone line Dish will discount their rate by 5 bucks....

 

[stevo/65]

It still is a good deal without a phone line plugged in anyway.
Also a phone line can be used to relay info back to dish like a neilsons rating box as well.

 

[bonipie]

Hi,
Any way we can use our cell phone to fulfill the phone connection?? We have one cell phone and one TV. I know, it's hard to believe, but that's the way it is. Thanks.

 

[Van]

Easy to believe yes, doable I dont think so, I have heard of people trying with various cell add ons but I havent heard of it working.

 

[rcdallas]

It would be so much easier if cusomers would get this one item down on paper and remember it as the gospel..Dish is not waiving that fee for all bamboo in Thailand.
I have had customers swear on a stack that the sales partner or a Dish CSR said the fee would be waived...Usually if it gets this out of control Dish will offer a free wireless phone jack..If the cust does not have a land based phone line, oh well.....I have been able to avoid many conflicts by reminding the customer of the 30 day MBG....That allows me to get the job done and then the customer can deal with Dish themselves.

30 day MBG has saved me a few myself, too bad they no longer offer it.

It would be nice if the order takers would ALL participate in telling the new customer about the phone line fee, instead of leaving it to the person who installs it.

 

[dishcomm]

30 day MBG has saved me a few myself, too bad they no longer offer it.

It would be nice if the order takers would ALL participate in telling the new customer about the phone line fee, instead of leaving it to the person who installs it.

Ah yes..And here's lies the rub of the green.....Sales partners eager to get to "yes" leav eout certain important details..One such detail is the fact that if a dual tuner isn't connected to a land based PL, the fee goes up 5 bucks a month..All prices I have seen on slick ads never mention the phone line fee until you get tot the teenie tiny print at the bottom...Or, in the case of the over the phone sale, the sales reps gloss over or fail to mention. And the really big one, when the cust does ask, the csr/sales rep says, yeah ,they will do that. Never once mentioning that if a tech installs a hardwire PL , there is a charge.
I really don't care to deal with any of this..I am the tech.. I get paid to install the EQ, demo the system and answer anyquestion about the operation of said EQ..I don't think I am obligated to re-sell the product or to fill in the blanks the sales people failed to fill..Unless of course the sales guy wants to fork over his commission to me..

 

[okiekevn]

main reason why the phonelines are being pushed.... i am a tsr(tech service rep) for echostar, i take all these fun phonecalls about this subject, a lot. we have recently had some update training and seen examples how the next generation software releases will allow the reciever to self diagnose and sned us a full detailed report of all errors/attention/warning codes it comes across. when a cust calls in, getting this info is sometimes like pulling teeth. example...
me: ma'am, what exactly does it say on ur screen?
cust: theres nothing on my tv.
Me: is nothing a blue screen, black screen, snowy screen, erro mesage, etc
cust: i dont have my tv shows

this will go on for 20 more minutes sometimes. this way we can skip this, get the problem fixed faster, or dispatch a tech if needed. i am sure a lot of you out there have computers. i had a problem with my toshiba laptop. i called india, and the guy said no problem, asked my serial number, and then next thing i know, he had taken over my whole computer since i was hooked up to the internet, and fixed my problem in minutes for me. all i had to do was let him do it for me. i cant wait for the day i can access a cust rec and fix it for them. you would be surprised how many people have problems following simple directions. "ma'am, please press the menu butten on ur remote" and then next thing i know they got the guide screen up instead. i guess a lot of people didnt get the toy i got in kindergarten to play with, you know the one where u put the round pegs in the round holes and the square pegs in the square ones.

 

[dishcomm]

main reason why the phonelines are being pushed.... i am a tsr(tech service rep) for echostar, i take all these fun phonecalls about this subject, a lot. we have recently had some update training and seen examples how the next generation software releases will allow the reciever to self diagnose and sned us a full detailed report of all errors/attention/warning codes it comes across. when a cust calls in, getting this info is sometimes like pulling teeth. example...
me: ma'am, what exactly does it say on ur screen?
cust: theres nothing on my tv.
Me: is nothing a blue screen, black screen, snowy screen, erro mesage, etc
cust: i dont have my tv shows

this will go on for 20 more minutes sometimes. this way we can skip this, get the problem fixed faster, or dispatch a tech if needed. i am sure a lot of you out there have computers. i had a problem with my toshiba laptop. i called india, and the guy said no problem, asked my serial number, and then next thing i know, he had taken over my whole computer since i was hooked up to the internet, and fixed my problem in minutes for me. all i had to do was let him do it for me. i cant wait for the day i can access a cust rec and fix it for them. you would be surprised how many people have problems following simple directions. "ma'am, please press the menu butten on ur remote" and then next thing i know they got the guide screen up instead. i guess a lot of people didnt get the toy i got in kindergarten to play with, you know the one where u put the round pegs in the round holes and the square pegs in the square ones.

In the 9 years I have installing satellite I have com eto the conclusion that 50% of the customers are real shaky with the techonology and half of those should be allowed to go near a remote control. I have gone on service calls and found that soem people whp are two year or core customers still don't knw how to use the most basic functions. Lke the people who still save the tv guide out of their sunday paper and refuse to use the on screen guide. Or the ones who haven't a clue what channel their tv is set to. Or the ones that use the word "on" when they complain about an interruption of their tv watching ability..E.g. ( my tv doesn't come
on".. Yesterday I go to a svc call. Customer says no signal...I get there and I have a no pic..So I do a little checking and magically the pic appears.I run diagnostics..No problem with the Dish EQ.....Turned out that the video prtion of the composite cable was not plugged all the way in..The cust had told me that her son in law had added a splitter and a run to another room...It is amazing how much detail a customer will deliberately leave out..I know why..They think they will have to pay for service calls.
My point is that I find it amazing how few people will do the the smallest amout of research about a product before plunking down their dough. Then they get all pissy when they can't get their ass kissed on the spot.
This phone line thing is becoming a major a bone of contention. I can see in the future the possiblity of Dish going to a hardwire requirement similar to DTV. DTV installers must install hdwire phine lines when a jack is not available. And there is no pay for that. DTV considers this part of the satellite install..Thats why I don't work for them....My philosophy is, if I work ,you pay. Non negotiable. The day Dish orders techs to install phone lines for no additional money is the day I leave the business on the spot.

 

[stihlersfan]

I wish that they would waive the $5.00 fee if you are not able to establish a phone connection.

I have Packet8 VOIP service as my phone system. For a while I was able to make the phone connection using my VOIP service. Last month, I noticed the $5.00 fee was being added again so I checked and sure enough, I was no longer able to dial out and establish the link. Called customer support and they told me it hasn't successfully phoned home since May. I'm trying to hook my phone up but with no luck and plenty of frustration.

When I had the same problem with Tivo, I was at least able to connect a wireless network card to the USB port and add it to my wireless network router. Would be nice if my 622 could do the same so I can stop paying this additional fee.

 

[digiblur]

I wish that they would waive the $5.00 fee if you are not able to establish a phone connection.

I have Packet8 VOIP service as my phone system. For a while I was able to make the phone connection using my VOIP service. Last month, I noticed the $5.00 fee was being added again so I checked and sure enough, I was no longer able to dial out and establish the link. Called customer support and they told me it hasn't successfully phoned home since May. I'm trying to hook my phone up but with no luck and plenty of frustration.

When I had the same problem with Tivo, I was at least able to connect a wireless network card to the USB port and add it to my wireless network router. Would be nice if my 622 could do the same so I can stop paying this additional fee.

Packet8 doesn't use g711u so you're stuck on that one unless you can get Packet8 to up you to full quality g711u VoIP.

Or if you have the new software sent to your 622 you can use the ethernet port connected to your broadband connection. There are few other threads about this around here.

 

[stihlersfan]

Yes, I believe I read an earlier post you submitted about Packet8 and the lack of g711u.

The customer rep also mentioned a new software update that would support home networking on the ethernet port. When we went through the settings, we discovered that I had not received it yet, so I'm waiting. Do you know if it will only support the ethernet jack, or will it also support wireless networking devices through the usb port similar to Tivo?

 

[gbjbany]

Stihlersfan

How and what can be used for the the ethernet connection is being disucssed in a couple of thread's, here's the one where it was announced.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/103033-new-622-feature-coming.html
however to answer your questions, you will connect from the ethernet port to a hardwire or a wifi adaptor - i am using a game adaptor, there are other options too.
Many are discussed here http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/103614-wireless-lan-solution-vip-622-a.html

Hope that helps.