Anyone else having difficulty setting timers for tomorrow's Center Ice games?

[netsolo]

Hi all, a frustrated first time poster here... after spending an hour and a half on the phone with Dish last night and not having the issue resolved, I thought I would seek out help with the true experts.

Mysteriously all of a sudden I'm unable to set a DVR timer for tomorrow's Center Ice game Phoenix vs. Colorado (or ANY Center Ice game tomorrow or in the future). Both the HD and the SD channels come up saying "To Order this event, please call the customer service center... etc. etc." as if I am not subscribed to Center Ice anymore.

Customer service confirmed that Center Ice is still on my account (as it should be since I paid in full at the beginning of the season) and that's as far as they took me before passing me off to tech support, who ran me through the mind numbing usual techniques of resetting the receiver and checking the signal on all transponders.

The problem is obviously on their end, yet I can't get anyone over there to help. Anyone else having this problem? Are you able to set a timer for tomorrow's game on Ch 9542?

 

[KE4EST]

to SatelliteGuys netsolo!!!!

Someone that subscribes will hopefully be along soon.

 

[netsolo]

Thanks! Looking forward to hearing if anyone else is having a similar issue... I have a feeling that as soon as their free preview weekend ended, they made a goof and locked everyone out?

 

[netsolo]

Well, thinking maybe that as soon as midnight struck things might roll over and reactivate, I gave it a try again... still getting the Pay Per View event message.

So, in a severe lack of judgment, I made the mistake of calling customer service again (not sure why I felt like subjecting myself to that misery again, maybe I'm into self torture). The billing rep confirmed that Center Ice is activated and when I begged and pleaded with her to double-check to make sure that a switch hadn't been deactivated on their end, she told me that my subscriptions were in place and it should work "please hold the line" - the four dreaded words I hate to hear now from these people.

She transfers me to tech support and the under-trained wet behind the ears employee runs through the basic script (again) marking the fourth time that I've told these people my software version. We run check switch tests and redownload program guide info... we reset the box several times, I swear these are the type of techs that if I called them and told them there was smoke coming out of my receiver they'd want to run through the pre-written script anyway.

After another 20 minutes of telling the tech that indeed my signal strength is high and there's nothing blocking my dish he has the nerve to tell me that I'll need to "check all your cable connections thoroughly and call us back after you have done so." I try to tell him that I'm pretty sure a loose cable isn't causing a Pay Per View message to come up to which he responds, "I'm sorry sir, but you'll have to check your connections and call us back."

I love the fact that after you've run through their script and they have no other pre-written methods to troubleshoot, they just give up.

Sorry for such a lengthy post, I'm just at wits end and getting tired of the E run-around just to watch a game on a subscription service that, up until Saturday, was working fine.

Help me SatelliteGuys, you're my only hope.

 

[azdevil]

Mine appear to be working fine. Sorry, good luck.

 

[netsolo]

Well, in the event that some wayward poster is having the same problem and tries to seek out help by searching the forums, I thought I'd update everyone as to how the problem was eventually remedied.

Again, after another hour on the phone with customer service, then being transferred over to tech support who wanted to run me through their usual script of general and useless troubleshooting - I had had enough and hung up on them.

With no other choice, I finally went to the Dish website and did the live "customer service" chat, so that I could at least be getting work done while I'm waiting for responses from the rep. I told the billing rep that I knew for a fact that it was a switch on their end, something in my profile that hadn't been activated and that I absolutely refused to be transfered to tech support until they figured out what wasn't activated.

Man, I hate it when I'm right.

They needed to activate a purchase on my new HD receiver's Purchase History in order to gain access to the NHL Center Ice programs (I had recently upgraded from SD to a new HD 722 box). The minute the online rep did that, everything was back to normal and all the Center Ice channels were accessible again.

To think, after five phone calls and over five hours of pleading with them that it wasn't a tech issue, that they didn't need to send a service rep, that I didn't need to check my connections or my signal strength again for the 20th time, that it actually was what the customer was trying to point out to them the entire time... what are the odds of that?

I guess the moral of this story is that if something needs to be done on your account, hit up the online "Live" chat with a service representative. That way they have it spelled out for them, the "script" is in your hands, and you can actually get something accomplished.

Whew. Who needs a drink?