522 Dishin'it up promo details

[DirtyMack]

Well here's my upgrade story:
I ordered a 510 thas part of the "Dishing it up" promotion, paid $25 and was able to keep my old receiver.
Called earlier this afternoon to inquire about the 522, got a CSR who obviously throws out all Dish related memos, as he had absolutely no idea about any DVR upgrade promotions.
A few hours ago I finished installing my 510 and had to call Dish to activate it, I was connected to a cool CSR who after activating my 510 answered my question about a 522 upgrade.
Here's the deal:
If you upgrade through the "Dishing it up" promotion, you have to wait a year before taking advantage of another one. However, since he advised me that the CSR who took my order a week and a half ago "failed to inform me of the upcoming 522 special", he would have the cancellations department swap out my receivers.
The fees are $49 upgrade + $50 installation, no getting around that. However they subtracted the $25 I paid for the shipment of the 510, so I was charged $74 tonight.
He also said he was given the memo about the 522 promotion at around Christmas time.
I thought the 510 would suffice, but I already ran into a problem wanting to record Carnivale while watching The Daily Show.

 

[JohnL]

The fees are $49 upgrade + $50 installation, no getting around that. However they subtracted the $25 I paid for the shipment of the 510, so I was charged $74 tonight.
He also said he was given the memo about the 522 promotion at around Christmas time.
I thought the 510 would suffice, but I already ran into a problem wanting to record Carnivale while watching The Daily Show.

Dirty Mack,


I too called for the Dish'n it up promotion in November to get another DVR, a 510. When I called back in November I asked the CSR if when the 522 was available if I could trade it for a 522. At the time the CSR said no problem.

Well I called yesterday Feb 1st to get the 510 traded for a 522. First CSR said "No, sorry sir, I'll ask my supervisor". I get the Supervisor same question; "Eeer, Sir no that is not possible, but I can transfer your call to the executive level, please hold" We are now 28 minutes into the call. We are now up to the executive level, "Yes, sir you qualify for the 510 upgrade under the Dish'n it up program, in fact ALL previous 510 Dish'n It up subs are eligible. The CSR's are not well versed in the New 522 program as it's a new program but yes ALL 510 Dish'n it up lease subs are eligible for the swap out."

Those are the words from the exceutive level so I would assume this individual was more versed in the rules of the program, although you may have to escalate your call to the uppper levels at Echostar to get what you want. I'll assume that these types of decisions and coding is NOT in the computer for the lower level CSR's.

John

 

[scrotus]

Exactly, JohnL. The poor CSRs were probably getting hammered yesterday because of this. What I don't get is that even the supervisors and the "specialists" didn't have a clue. Makes it hard on the consumer when you have to call back several times to get a csr that did read the memo.

 

[Pablo_New]

Bret,

You can't cancel and then resign. You would have to use another phone number than what they have currently for you. Maybe you can fool them.

Dish also collects SSN, so use your spouse's, significant other's, parent's, etc. I had cancelled two years prior to coming back to DHA and they still had info on file. I think the cutoff is six months to be considered new again, but it might be longer.
:shocked

 

[Mike_H]

I would suggest that those of you that are having trouble ordering start a thread in the Dish Network Users forum documenting the problems. Dish is supposidly checking that area out at times. It would be good that they are kept aware of their ongoing issues with not fully covering all their bases on programs when they roll them out. It seems like everytime they start something new there are all sorts of undocumented procedures you have to go through.

 

[jbcheshire]

Mike, I did open up a thread yesterday for my experience: My Dish'n It Up Experience
You can some experiences there.

 

[sbrinck]

Thanks Mike

Here is what I see. I haven't called yet. too busy to play games on the phone tonight. I highlighted the section about the 522.:

Thanks Mike
I sent your attachment to CEO@echostar.com with my second love letter .
Maybe I will even get a reply . If I don't there will be a 510 on ebay .
Hello Direct TV.

 

[Jstanuthrdishguy]

Instead of being so excited about spending 50 to 100 dollars to lease a soon to be useless box, why don't you do something useful with the money. Like send it to me, my car insurance is due.

 

[caesar gdi]

Instead of being so excited about spending 50 to 100 dollars to lease a soon to be useless box, why don't you do something useful with the money. Like send it to me, my car insurance is due.

why is the 522 soon to be useless?? it's not an HD box.

 

[Shadowtester]

I am sure it will take a year or more for Dish to complete the change over to Mpeg4 when that does occur the current Mpeg2 boxes such as the 522 will be useless. Since they are not starting the conversion untill 3rd quarter 05 you should have almost 2 years of use out of the 522 before having to get a Mpeg4 box for a basic subscription.

 

[GaryPen]

Here is what I see. I haven't called yet. too busy to play games on the phone tonight. I highlighted the section about the 522.:

If you look a little further down on that page, it says "Installation or shipping charges may apply". So, the $49 upgrade fee, plus the $50 installation charge, is well within the written parameters of the offer.

 

[EricW]

As others have said, I can return my 510 for a $25 credit, or I can move it to replace the non DVR box and pay the monthly DVR fee. I'm keeping it, I'm not sure what I'm going to do.

The cost for the upgrade was $99 like everyone else. I assume they have to install a new switch since I have an original Dish 500 with a switch for 2 receivers. I requested that they not send the 2 halfwits that came with my 510, since they didn't know how to attach anything from my old to my new machine. He promised to send a field manager or something similar.

An interesting note, before I called a second time, I sent a note to ceo@echostar.com explaining my dilemma. After doing that, saw someone's response here that it took him 3 calls, so I called tech support after reading that. Within the hour, I got an email from someone in the executive office as well as a phone call to my home, saying they saw I was successful in getting my install and if I have any other issues to please call and she gave me a direct line number. It's sad that I thought I had to resort to that, but also reassuring that I got such a good response.

 

[traderumors]

My running history

Called the CSR's on 2/1. First one I talked to said I couldn't have the deal, and therefore she couldn't tell me what the deal was. Talked to her supervisor, same thing. So I called tech support. They at least explained to me how the setup would work, and what the costs SHOULD be ($99). Although she did say there would be a 4.99 lease fee along with the DVR fee, which I don't think is correct. She, of course, also could not explain to me why I wasn't qualified. So I emailed the CEO account. Got an email a few hours later from someone named Kristin saying for me to call her, oh, and no 800 number, but a toll number (isn't that nice). So I called and no answer. So I called later, and no answer, so I left my #.

Next AM (2/3) I call again. I also respond to her email stating I can't get a hold of her. I call again later, still no answer, so I leave my #, again. A few hours later, I send the original email from her to the CEO account, stating my displeasure. Less than 1 hour later I get another email from Kristin stating she is "working on getting my account qualified for the offer", and that she would call when that gets done.

Now that's outstanding customer service. Anyone wanna bet if I ever hear from her again?

 

[scrotus]

Called the CSR's on 2/1. First one I talked to said I couldn't have the deal, and therefore she couldn't tell me what the deal was. Talked to her supervisor, same thing. So I called tech support. They at least explained to me how the setup would work, and what the costs SHOULD be ($99). Although she did say there would be a 4.99 lease fee along with the DVR fee, which I don't think is correct. She, of course, also could not explain to me why I wasn't qualified. So I emailed the CEO account. Got an email a few hours later from someone named Kristin saying for me to call her, oh, and no 800 number, but a toll number (isn't that nice). So I called and no answer. So I called later, and no answer, so I left my #.

Next AM (2/3) I call again. I also respond to her email stating I can't get a hold of her. I call again later, still no answer, so I leave my #, again. A few hours later, I send the original email from her to the CEO account, stating my displeasure. Less than 1 hour later I get another email from Kristin stating she is "working on getting my account qualified for the offer", and that she would call when that gets done.

Now that's outstanding customer service. Anyone wanna bet if I ever hear from her again?

Holy crap trade. I have done the exact same thing yesterday and today. I sent the email yesterday. Kristin called my house (though I said reply to my email) and I called her back from work. No answer. She called before she left for the night.

So I left a message giving her my cell phone number so I could be reached anywhere. No call today at all. I call her number probably 20 times today with no answer. I also replied to her email that said to call her and said I can't reach you, call me at .... No call.

I will be calling a local dealer today and ordering D*. I don't have time for this.

 

[Mike_H]

A call to DirecTV may be appropriate for situations where you just get fed up with Dish support. But in this case they simply don't have a solution that is similar to what the 522 can give you.

With the 522 I can get rid of two receivers that don't record and replace them with one that does record and will output to two different televisions. At DirecTV I'd need 4DVR's. With Dish I can get by with 3. If I can just find time to call. Probably won't until Saturday. Maybe they'll have their fullfillment bugs worked out by then?

 

[sbrinck]

WOW!!
I came home tonight with the same message on my voice mail .
If the responce level is the same as you have experianced . My next call will be to Direct TV !!!
DOWN WITH DISH !!

 

[sbrinck]

Mike you are right !!
The 522 makes 2 of my headaches go away one being my Kids and myself sharing a single DVR and in the process I can relieve myself of the 811 maybe I am tight with a buck but to pay $15.00 a month for the lame HD Dish offers is truly a waste !!
All I ever watch is OTA and I can pick up a OTA tuner some with HD DVR inc. for around $400.00 I cant get this done fast enough.
Scott

 

[scrotus]

well i made the call and having D* installed on saturday. Got the Tivo unit R10 80 gig and a separate regular recvr for the bedroom. If at some point I want to use the tivo in the bedroom, i'll just backfeed it. I've got an rf remote I can jp1 to run the tivo from the other room.

Sucks really though. I hate the hassle of having to switch. If I had only gotten some kind of response. I just couldn't see spending $150 for an upgrade when I got paid $50 to switch.

 

[mamccart]

Promo Costs

Am I right in assuming that the following constitute the costs of adding a 522 to my account:


Up Front:

Upgrade Fee: $49
Installation Fee: $50 or $100​

Monthly Thereafter:

Lease Fee: $5.00
DVR Fee: $4.95
Extra Machine On Account Fee: $4.95​

So basically the worst case scenario is $150 up front and $15 a month thereafter.

 

[scrotus]

mamccart,

Actually for the dvr, you pay the lease fee and the dvr fee. There isn't an extra machine fee. That is covered by the lease fee. At least that is how it is with my current 500 setup. I assume the same with the 522.

BTW, got a call back from Kristen in the exec office. She said that it would still be $148 for the upgrade. It pleased me to just say, no thanks, I've taken care of it with another provider. I think I caught her off guard.