DIRT TEAM: International Package Software Needs Fix ! Help !

[mario315]

Yesterday (3-14-12) DISH finally made "available" in the weekly Uplink the "FRANCE 24 ENGLISH" Live International News Channel (Chs. 665 & 9864) ....Been trying all day to add this great new channel to my account and it's been a total nightmare !.... My dish set-up is Western Arc 110/119/129 plus 118.7 for Internationals...

Apparently, the DISH software does not allow this channel to be added unless I drop "America's Everything Pack" which I have as my core basic package.... "FRANCE 24 ENGLISH" is ONLY available through the "International Basic" package ($10 per month) which CANNOT be added if someone has another "basic" package.... How crazy is that ???.... I'm willing to pay the $10 monthly fee to get the "International Basic" Package added (in order to see FRANCE 24 ENGLISH) and they won't let me do this unless I drop the $110 per month AEP package, which, of course, does not carry FRANCE 24 ENGLISH...

The DISH Supervisors/Managers I spoke with throughout the day today were also losing their patience with this major software error... They tried and tried and could not get it to work.... Since the DIRT Team monitors this website, perhaps they can get this mess straightened out.... Or, at minimum, make FRANCE 24 ENGLISH available in another package that can be added without having to drop AEP...

By the way, I also have the French Bouquet Package ($19.99 per month) which, ironically enough, does NOT carry the new FRANCE 24 ENGLISH... It only carries the French-language version of FRANCE 24.... I'd be happy to pay more for the French Bouquet just to get the new FRANCE 24 ENGLISH..... Help ! Someone please fix this mess.... And much thanks !!!

 

[Tampa8]

I think the problem is you need an international core package, not an English core package. I don't think it's a software glitch it's a long standing policy. For instance I have the Top250, I can not add the International Package. I have to have a package from one of the languages. Btw it even tells you that when try to build package online......

 

[mario315]

Thanks Tampa8.... But I already DO have a package from one of the languages--- the French Bouquet French-language package ($19.99/month) .... And so, even with this international package DISH won't let me add the International Basic Package to the French package... It just doesn't make any sense.....

And it gets even more nutty... If I make the International Basic Package my core basic package they won't let me keep America's Everything Pack (AEP), I'd have to drop AEP !!!....

I wonder if the financial guys at DISH know what the DISH software engineers have done here.....

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Can you please PM me your account or phone number so I can look into this issue for you? Thank you!

 

[mario315]

Thanks, Maryb for offering to look into this .... I just sent you a private message with all my account information..... Here's hoping you will be able to get this problem fixed..... Very much appreciate it and thank you !

 

[rglore]

Dish was running ads for some foreign channels that said to just call to add the international basic package. I called and tried to do that but it's not possible and keep the english programming too. Same experience as Mario above.

 

[mario315]

Dish was running ads for some foreign channels that said to just call to add the international basic package. I called and tried to do that but it's not possible and keep the english programming too. Same experience as Mario above.

DISH must think that people who subscribe to the International Channels do not speak or understand English, thus no need for them to get the main "Top" Packages.... Incredible, isn't it ?...

 

[kb2vgp]

Get a Roku, then you can stream France 24 English, French and Arabic for FREE!!!

 

[TNGTony]

Unfortunately the Roku box feed of France 24 is severely compressed. Still watchable but low res.

 

[mario315]

Unfortunately the Roku box feed of France 24 is severely compressed. Still watchable but low res.

But if someone is already a DISH customer why should we even have to look for a 2nd provider when the channel we want to pay for is already available on DISH ?.... Just because DISH engineers have made this big screw-up it should not shift the burden of solving the problem over to the paying customer.... DISH should solve this mess, not the DISH customer by having to get ROKU or any other provider carrying the channel in question....

These alternative solutions ignore the fact that this is a DISH problem to fix, not a customer's problem for him/her to fix....

 

[TNGTony]

I am not disagreeing with you here. My Roku comment was really a negative one against Roku. I would prefer a higher res video stream. With Roku you get the same feed you would get through International breaking news and headlines - FRANCE 24

 

[mario315]

I am not disagreeing with you here. My Roku comment was really a negative one against Roku. I would prefer a higher res video stream. With Roku you get the same feed you would get through International breaking news and headlines - FRANCE 24[/QUOTE

Sorry, I did not mean for it to come across like that... I understand what you mean about ROKU and thanks for the heads-up....

On DISH all my International Channels look pretty good (considering they're not HD) and will assume FRANCE 24 ENGLISH will look as good, which is why I'm fighting for it....

So far, no fix or resolution from the DIRT Team to get this resolved.... I feel bad for them to have to deal with this DISH mess...

 

[MattG@DISH]

So far, no fix or resolution from the DIRT Team to get this resolved.... I feel bad for them to have to deal with this DISH mess...

France 24 English is only available in the International Basic Pack at this time. There can only be one Base/core package on an account, so this is not something that we would be able to add for you without removing your other core package (AEP/AT250)

 

[Tampa8]

Problem is you actually don't know if it is a software problem or done intentionally. My original reply above is based on my experience of about a year and half ago. It was just as I stated you have to have a core international package. And it does preclude you from having a second core TOP package. I could not keep the TOP package (in my case 250) and get an international core package. So perhaps it's a software problem never fixed from who knows how long, or it's a policy. If it's a software problem, of course it should be fixed. But if a policy then that is a different problem. You would need to find out why if Dish is willing to say.

Meanwhile, I spent all of $59 and can watch it, and all sorts of international programming on my Roku free. Problem solved. I really don't care find out why Dish won't let me get it, rather just watch the programming.

EDIT - didn't see reply above mine. That's exactly what I thought.

 

[mario315]

Problem is you actually don't know if it is a software problem or done intentionally. My original reply above is based on my experience of about a year and half ago. It was just as I stated you have to have a core international package. And it does preclude you from having a second core TOP package. I could not keep the TOP package (in my case 250) and get an international core package. So perhaps it's a software problem never fixed from who knows how long, or it's a policy. If it's a software problem, of course it should be fixed. But if a policy then that is a different problem. You would need to find out why if Dish is willing to say.

Meanwhile, I spent all of $59 and can watch it, and all sorts of international programming on my Roku free. Problem solved. I really don't care find out why Dish won't let me get it, rather just watch the programming.

EDIT - didn't see reply above mine. That's exactly what I thought.

Great points, Tampa 8, about whether it's a software issue or a policy issue and whether DISH will ever publicly say the truth on this one....

Bottom line is that they'd rather hide behind the illogical policy rather than admit it's illogical or admit the engineers screwed this up years ago and now they have to defend it.... I would hope DISH is big enough to admit the mistake and fix it-- rather than force all its Customer Service employees to stand behind and defend this nonsense...

Imagine if the CSR's had to apply this stupidity to the other add-on packages: "Oh, you can't add the Spanish-language Latino channels unless you drop America's Top 250"..... "Oh, you can't add the Multi-Sport Package unless you drop America's Everything Package".... "Oh my, you can't add the Superstations unless you get rid of your Top 200 Package".... And on and on and on.....

 

[TNGTony]

Thanks for checking into this Matt. But if you were a customer, what would be your recourse to get the channels on the International package AND keep the AT package channels? As stated above, this is like not allowing anyone to get Dish Latino channels (which is another base package) while having AT channels.

 

[r10fret]

Let me guess (on the dish side) you can't take the current RID and activate it as a second separate account and add the other core, so your only solution (on the subs side) is to get an owned receiver and activate it on the lesser package yourself because dish isn't changing anything anytime soon, they have had channel 641 flagged conus (really hawaii spotbeam) for years and when you channel up/down/across 641 you get signal loss message in conus. Just one of many examples of how companies get so big ....