Can anyone answer this?? Dish CSRs can't

[Iceman]

I was looking on Dish Network's website at the channel package lineup. It shows that Comcast Sports is in the AT120 package. It is channel 424. Funny, I press 424 and nothing happens. I call Dish and ask them why. A CSR by the name of Abe, tells me he is "fixing the situation" and ask me to power off my receiver and wait 15 minutes, power back on and it should be there.
Just for laughs and giggles I do as instructed, and just as I thought, still no 424.
I called back and spoke to a Chris, who tells me they don't have Comcast Sports, they are a cable company....I called Dish Network. I then begin to lose my temper due to the fact this jackass doesn't even know what channels that the company who pays his check carries.
I instruct him to look on the website. He places me on hold for a couple of minutes comes back and says "Oh, I see it now", but you can't get it; you don't qualify for it. I am pissed. He said I don't live in the area to receive it. I totally lose it. I asked him what channel is he going to put in it's place since that is part of the 120 channels they advertise that I will get. He sits in silence with no answer. I hang up and call back.
I get Mary. Mary tells me I don't qualify for it due to my address, even though Comcast cable company does have it for my area as well as Directv with no qualifications. This is the kicker. She says if I pay $5 more, I can get with the FOX Sports regional network package. ?????????? Either I qualify or I don't. Why would $5 more a month qualify my address??? Just another way to steal $5 a month from me I guess.
Wow... Three different CSRs, three different answers...

PATHETIC

Does anyone out there know for sure?

 

[SimpleSimon]

A classic case of CSR roulette.

 

[mike123abc]

Here is what each CSR was trying to do:

1. turning off your reciever for 15 minutes, the recievers never really turn off. When you turn it off, it just tunes in the satellite and looks for updates. Abe probably just told the system to send the reauthorization for your package to your reciever.

2. They use an address broker that gives the regional sports channel based on your address. Dish/DIRECTV use slightly different ones, but unless you are right on the dividing line they should be the same.


3. Well the last one was trying to sell you the out of market regional sports package. This would give you all the regional sports packages from around the country, but they do black out all the Pro Sports games if you are not in their market.

You can see which one Dish's computer thinks you should have by putting your address in the local channels qualifier. At the bottom of the results page it tells you which regional sports package you should be recieving.

http://customersupport.dishnetwork.com/customernetqual/nqCustomerLocalsCheck.jsp

 

[Greg Bimson]

Yes, it is a classic case of CSR roulette. However...

The OP is in Georgia. Getting Comcast Sports Net will get everything but the professional sports. Of course, Comcast Sports Net is the Mid-Atlantic version, that carries the Orioles, Wizards, Capitals, and Mystics. This is not the Comcast Sports Net from Philadelphia.

The worst part is that the only way a Georgian can get CSN Mid-Atlantic is to subscribe to the Sports Pack. That is an extra $5 a month.

 

[Iceman]

Here is what each CSR was trying to do:


2. They use an address broker that gives the regional sports channel based on your address. Dish/DIRECTV use slightly different ones, but unless you are right on the dividing line they should be the same.


3. Well the last one was trying to sell you the out of market regional sports package. This would give you all the regional sports packages from around the country, but they do black out all the Pro Sports games if you are not in their market.

Here's where I get confused. Though Comcast Sports is based out of the Washington area, it is a National channel, like ESPN, except of course, blackouts do apply; Just like when I am watching the Braves on my local Fox, if I try to watch it on ESPN or FOX Sports South, It's blacked out because my local carrier gets the nod.
My two local cable providers, Comcast and Charter, both offer Comcast Sports channel in their expanded package with no kind of address qualification. Directv also carries this station with no address qualification.

What the hell does my address have to do with Comcast Sports for Dish Network when THREE other cable/satellite providers offer this channel without qualifications?

The way Dish Network's package is suppose to work is you get every channel listed in that sports category except ALL of the Fox Sports Networks. You get ONE Fox Sports Net channel; the one that is in your region of course. If you want the other Fox Sports Net channels, you have to pay the $5 to get the Fox Multi-Sports Package.

Oh.... I forgot to include in the original post the best excuse I heard. I was told that in the Sports category, I only get ONE sports channel. I asked "do you mean one Fox Sports Network?" They said, "No, one channel sir. Look at the #2 footnote on the website. It says you may receive one sports network." I told them that means one FOX sports network, not one damn channel out of that whole package. They continued to argue with me. So I asked if I get ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNEWS, ESPN Classic, Turner South??? They said "Yes." I said, "That's five channels in that package. You just told me I only get ONE. Get your story straight." They put me on forever hold to discuss this with their supervisor. The supervisor got involved in the call and informed me that they will be discussing this matter further and I would get a call back shortly.

No call yet.

This whole company is going down hill fast.

Do you have the 120 or more package? What channel is Dish Network going to substitute your Comcast Sports channel for, or are they going to continue to charge you for a channel they advertise as part of the 120, 180,etc.????

 

[utexex79]

the footnote says 'Receive one Regional Sports Network only', the key word here being Regional. From what I understand, this includes Fox, NESN, MSG, Sunshine, Empire and Comcast. you receive all of the ESPN channels as they are considered 'national'. In my case, I receive FSSW. I do not get Turner South, which is "available in Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and regions of North Carolina".

why the CSR couldn't explain this to you is another matter alltogether...

 

[TNGTony]

Iceman, Long post, please read it all the way through before responding.

This is a classic case of lousy customer service (not explaining the situation properly) and complete customer misunderstanding of the situation.

The footnote (which is at the top of all the web pages in question) is the following

* Please note: If you subscribe to America's Top 120 you will receive the regional sports network(s) determined by your geographical location. Click Here for sports blackout information.

It does not say "Fox Sports Networks". That may be what you understood it meant, it it is not what it says! The confusion starts off with all the sports networks (regional and national) being listed in aphabetical order. This puts Comcast first in the list of sports channels right above ESPN.

The REGIONAL sports networks have specific REGIONS they serve. You are entitled to one, two or even three REGIONAL sports networks as part of AT60 PLUS and higher packages.

The REGIONAL sports networks that are available to you depend 100% on where you live.

Most REGIONAL sports channels are "Fox Sports Net" branded channels, but not all.

-Com-Cast mid-atlantic used to be called Home Team Sports.
-Florida has the Sunshine Network.
-Upstate New York has Empire Sports.
-NYC has "Madison Square Garden Net." and Yankees Entertainment & Sports" channel (Not available on Dish).
-New England has NESN.
-Philadelphia has Comcast Sports Philadelphia (only available on cable because that is the way the channel owners want it)

Comcast Sports Mid atlantic serves Baltimore/Washington down to eastern North Carolina. That is their REGION.

Example...you get Turner South as part of your REGIONAL sports networks as part of AT60+. I cannot, under any circumstances even if my name is Ted Turner, get that channel in Ohio legally. Why? Because of the programming contracts the CHANNEL (not Dish Network) has. By the same token, I get Fox Sports Ohio (used to be Sportschannel Cincinnati) and you don't.

Here is the list of the RSNs on Dish:

Fox Sports West 2 FSW2 (LA area subs only) Not available on OOM Package
MSG - Madison Square Garden Network MSG
Fox Sports New York FOXNY
Fox Sports Rocky Mountain FOXRM
Fox Sports Arizona FOXAZ
Fox Sports Southwest FOXSW
Fox Sports West FOXW
Fox Sports Midwest FOXMW
Fox Sports Bay Area FOXBA
Fox Sports South FOXS
Fox Sports Chicago FOXCH
Sunshine Network SUN
Fox Sports Florida FOXFL rts
Comcast Sports Network-Mid Atlantic (HTS) CCSN
Fox Sports Ohio(Cleveland/State Wide) FOXOH
Fox Sports Northwest FOXNW
Fox Sports Ohio(Cincinnati) FOXCN
Fox Sports Pittsburgh FOXPT
Fox Sports Detroit FOXD
Empire Sports Network EMP
New England Sports Network NESN
Fox Sports New England FOXNE
Fox Sports North (MN) (WI on FS Alt2-446) FOXN DL2* Sports
Turner South (available ONLY in MS, AL, TN, GA, SC and Western NC)


And now to confuse things a little more: many of these channels have several different feeds. Dish only carries the main ones except on an as-needed basis to get all the pro sports. That is when the Alternates are activated. If the game is supposed to be available to you in your area. The alternate channel will be made available to you (445-450 range) for the duration of the event.

Some of these feeds are available in areas that may seem strange. For example, Fox Sports Ohio has 6, count them 6 feeds. Most of the time they are the same. But one of the feeds is specifically for cable systems in central and Eastern Kentucky and Indiana outside the Cincinnati Reds area. One is specifically for Central Ohio and, is specifically for West Virginia. One is specifically for the Cleveland (NE and Eastern Ohio) and one is for the Cincinnati area. Dish carries two of the 6 channels. These are the two main feeds. The two feeds with all the major league sports. People in Cincinnati cannot get the Cleveland channel and vice-versa. However, people in south-central Ohio can get both! Why? Because the RSNs want it that way.

So that is the long way of saying that the Comcast sports channel on cable in your area may not be the same as the channel on Dish or DirecTV.

Another point of confusion: DirecTV includes the RSN Out-of-Market package (No pro sports for the most part) in some of their basic packages. Dish does not. At the same time many of, Dish packages are cheaper by a few, which happens to be the cost of the RSN out-of-market package on Dish.
(Before people jump my case here and start arguing price, the point was not to start a price comparison argument. It's just another illustration which is usually correct but not always depending on the packages.)

Another completely unrelated thought here: It takes 24-48 hours from the time your receiver is activated to the time you can see your regional sports network. Why? Because the RSNs work backwards. The receiver assumes you DO NOT qualify to get the channel until it gets a specific authorization code that comes from a different source. Why? Because that is the way the RSNs want it!

See ya
Tony

 

[Chris Freeland]

In addition to what TNGTony said above, the Comcast Sports Net that you are referring too that are on your local cable company is actually Comcast/Charter Sports SE and you are a little mistaken because neither E* nor D* caries this channel. Their are no pro sports on CSE, mostly TN and some GA college sports on it if I am not mistaken. I live in nearby TN and qualify for the same channels as I believe that you do, Fox Sport South and Turner South. CSE is exclusively on Comcast and Charter cable.