722 DVR upgrade for a current customer?

[kjslish]

I've had Dish for over 4 years (was originally a Absolute customer) and currently have Top 120 with Blockbuster at Home and have a VIP 222 (was originally hoping that one day there would be a external hard drive DVR update for that box but have given up). Currently I'm thinking about upgrading to a 722 DVR to get the streaming part of the Blockbuster add-on, DVR capability and also maybe the option for a Sling Adapter.

I had an online chat with a customer service rep and they wanted a $100 upgrade fee for the DVR plus for me to agree to a new 2 year contract. I find that a bit much considering Dish offers you a free DVR upgrade when you move (it's always advertised on my bill) and I really don't want to sign a long term contract at regular pricing either. If I wanted a contract, I'd just cancel Dish for few months, switch to back to cable temporarily by adding TV to my cable internet service, and then switch back to Dish as a new customer at a promotional rate. A slight hassle but I'd get what I want and end up saving $300 over a year due to the promo pricing.

I just want to swap out my equipment and pay my $6/month for the DVR service and continue being a happy customer. Any advice or anyone from DIRT that can help?

 

[Scherrman]

You're going to renew a 24 month agreement regardless. As for the $100 fee, that depends on what you qualify for. In some cases a 722k upgrade is $100 plus the technician visit fee of $95. ($15 if on the protection plan) If you do qualify for a free upgrade you are still suppose to pay the technician visit fee.

 

[boba]

Hello cable as you proposed. In 3-4 months sign up as a returning customer. Or spend a $100 and continue as a happy customer.

 

[MattG@DISH]

I just want to swap out my equipment and pay my $6/month for the DVR service and continue being a happy customer. Any advice or anyone from DIRT that can help?

If you send me a PM with your phone/account number, I can review this further for you

 

[kjslish]

If you do qualify for a free upgrade you are still suppose to pay the technician visit fee.

Seriously, a technician visit? With cable I could take the box down to the local office, swap it out, and hook up the new one on my own. It's not like the dish needs moved or anything. I don't see why a box couldn't be sent, disconnect old, hook up the new one, send the old one back.

MattG....I'll PM you my account info when I get home this evening.

 

[Tampa8]

Hopefully Matt can meet some of your requirements. Maybe I have not kept up with upgrades, but I would hold out for either no fee and a two year contract, or pay the fee with no contract, not both. I understand when you upgrade to the latest/greatest (Hopper) having to pay etc.., not going from a 222 to 722. Honestly if you pay on time this is a case of you doing Dish a favor by staying and just wanting a similar receiver but with a hard drive.

 

[Dishlover]

Just tell them if they don't upgrade you for free, you are leaving.

 

[KAB]

Just tell them if they don't upgrade you for free, you are leaving.

yep, that's a sure fire win.

 

[garys]

Just tell them if they don't upgrade you for free, you are leaving.

Just be prepared to leave when they call you on it.

 

[Jhon69]

If DIRT cannot help you call DISH ask to be transferred to DISH's Loyalty Department,if they cannot help you then you need to go with a different provider.Good Luck!

 

[kjslish]

While I appreciate the effort from MattG and he did eliminate the upgrade fee, there is no budging on the term commitment or install fee (although I could get it reduced by signing up for the Protection Plan).

Before I pull the trigger to call in and cancel, would it be this difficult if I just outright bought a 722 receiver? I've seen them sell on this forum and eBay for around $150-$200. Could I just buy one, call and activate it, and send back the leased 222? Plus this method will presumably eliminate the need for a contract. Will they still want a technician visit for a customer owned receiver?

Plus, if I do eventually decide to go a different route (I'm watching more and more of my TV on demand on Roku via Netflix and Amazon, and this whole talk of Dish offering a online package interests me as well), I could always resell the receiver and get a good chunk of my investment back. I have a feeling TV services will be a whole lot different in another 12-24 months. If not, I'll still have what I want, a DVR that I can use with Blockbuster and my second hand Sling adapter that I picked up cheap.

 

[KazooGuy]

I purchased my own 722K, had a 722, but wanted the ability of the two OTA tuners. I just installed it myself and called to activate it and they sent me (email) a label to sent their 722 back. I paid the shipping however and that is all it cost. This was two years ago.

 

[TheKrell]

Before I pull the trigger to call in and cancel, would it be this difficult if I just outright bought a 722 receiver? I've seen them sell on this forum and eBay for around $150-$200. Could I just buy one, call and activate it, and send back the leased 222? Plus this method will presumably eliminate the need for a contract. Will they still want a technician visit for a customer owned receiver?

Buying your own receiver should work as you want. You do the install yourself, and you avoid the commitment.

 

[Scherrman]

You should be able to purchase a receiver just fine. You'll spend more money but you'll be able to avoid the 24 month commitment.

 

[johnwadams]

I would not buy a 722, especially used. I have 2 hard drives fail and am on my 3rd 722. Glad i have the DISH Protection Plan. I have an old 612 that has never given any trouble. I did add an external fan to move more air through my 722 as was detailed on this forum over a year ago
Someone recently posted a note that these hard drive failures may not really be the hard drive but a capacitor associated with the HD and how to replace it. Then you don't loose the recordings you have on your hard drive. My last failure caused me to loose over a dozen movies. Now I move everything over to an external hard drive within a day of recording it. Matt is really great and will do everything he can, but there is a limit to what anyone can do. If it was not for Matt, I would now be a DirecTV customer but not just because of the hard drive failures.

 

[kjslish]

Just thought I'd update this thread. I ended up buying a 722K missing a remote off of eBay for less than $100 and successfully activated it last night. So far so good, I'm going to run it the rest of the week to make sure it runs ok before calling and cancelling the leased 222 receiver and shipping it back. Was worried about it not working but couldn't pass it up for the price. I don't know how much it was used because it still had the protective plastic on the front, but there were some recordings on it that the previous owner neglected to delete. So, no new long term contract and I still spent less than either an upgrade or install fee....

Interesting thought about adding a fan....I did notice that the 722k gets warm near the vents but it's by itself on a shelf with open ventilation.

Now if I could figure out how Blockbuster@Home works, but I'll open another thread about that.

 

[Jim5506]

I presume you checked the serial number on the receiver with Dish to make sure it was not a leased unit?

 

[Jhon69]

Buying your own receiver should work as you want. You do the install yourself, and you avoid the commitment.

I agree,but when purchasing a DISH receiver always get the receiver ID number,then call DISH to make sure you are not buying a "leased" receiver.

 

[kjslish]

I presume you checked the serial number on the receiver with Dish to make sure it was not a leased unit?

Yep, checked with Dish, it activated fine. They did ask me if it was purchased from a retailer or "from a friend." Wasn't sure how to answer that one so I went with the latter.