Fingers crossed on smooth upgrade..

[sratson]

I am on the 110/119/61.5 setup in the Philly area, so I haven't gotten the latest addition of HD channels yet.. I have been wanting to add a 222 to my account but was told to wait till February so I can get it for free (leased).. I'm a little slow so I call today and they say "Sure, no problem. We can add that to your account.." I say and I want to convert to EA too.. "No problem" they sell me the service pack for 6./mo so I only pay $15 service fee.. Fine.. I say I want to add a 211 too.. That I have to pay for.. 149. but they can't do it in the same service call (which is scheduled for Tuesday AM).. have to schedule it after this call is done.. Fine.. (Then I check out Dishstore.com and find it for 119. sold!) Great, all set, right? Then I'm thinking, I have a 301 on one of my TV's and remember it won't work on EA (Thanks Satelliteguys!) So I call back and nice as pie ask if they can swap it out with another 222 when they come on Tuesday.. about 5 minutes later they AGREE!! No additional charge for the receiver or service call.. So right now I am just waiting for Tuesday for the tech to come, set me up with everything I need (including making sure I have enough outputs for the 211 I ordered) and I will have all HD boxes for all my TVs in the house (this whole thing was to get the kids rooms and the basement and kitchen tvs up on dish, they were on my basic cable through my cable modem lead-in but they have killed pretty much all the analog channels and they can't watch tv anymore..).
I just hope this goes as planned. All available HD programming on all tvs at minimal cost. And all with the help of info on satelliteguys.us. Love you guys.

 

[dishcomm]

I am on the 110/119/61.5 setup in the Philly area, so I haven't gotten the latest addition of HD channels yet.. I have been wanting to add a 222 to my account but was told to wait till February so I can get it for free (leased).. I'm a little slow so I call today and they say "Sure, no problem. We can add that to your account.." I say and I want to convert to EA too.. "No problem" they sell me the service pack for 6./mo so I only pay $15 service fee.. Fine.. I say I want to add a 211 too.. That I have to pay for.. 149. but they can't do it in the same service call (which is scheduled for Tuesday AM).. have to schedule it after this call is done.. Fine.. (Then I check out Dishstore.com and find it for 119. sold!) Great, all set, right? Then I'm thinking, I have a 301 on one of my TV's and remember it won't work on EA (Thanks Satelliteguys!) So I call back and nice as pie ask if they can swap it out with another 222 when they come on Tuesday.. about 5 minutes later they AGREE!! No additional charge for the receiver or service call.. So right now I am just waiting for Tuesday for the tech to come, set me up with everything I need (including making sure I have enough outputs for the 211 I ordered) and I will have all HD boxes for all my TVs in the house (this whole thing was to get the kids rooms and the basement and kitchen tvs up on dish, they were on my basic cable through my cable modem lead-in but they have killed pretty much all the analog channels and they can't watch tv anymore..).
I just hope this goes as planned. All available HD programming on all tvs at minimal cost. And all with the help of info on satelliteguys.us. Love you guys.

SO you are ADDING two 222's and a 211 to your existing account? What receivers do you have now? Are you deleting ALL of your existing receivers and replacing them with the equipment you have ordered from Dish as well as the 211 purchsed from Dishstore?
If so, you have enough outputs on the 1000.4 to accomodate that.
Now, the tech will see the 222's on his work order and he will be prepared to install those only. Since you are adding a purchased 211 to your account the tech will inquire as to how payment for that box to be installed will be made. I say this as all activites the tech perfoms must be compensated. Since his work order calls for 4 tv's and you want five, there will be inquiries made.
This information is to prepare you for what will occur.
Hopefully the company coming out to do the work has a precall policy( we do) and at time you can discuss this with the tech.

 

[sratson]

I also have 2 622's on the account already, so the ea upgrade should atleast account for those as well..

 

[dishcomm]

I also have 2 622's on the account already, so the ea upgrade should atleast account for those as well..

Let me get this straight...You have two 622's( 4 tv's) And you are adding two 222's( 4 tv's and one 211( one tv) plus adding a 1000.4 dish?
That is a total of 9 tuners?...Yeah, you'll need not one but two switches. You will be charged for those in addtion to any applicable labor charges.
You will be paying money for the work you need done.
Expect the tech to be at your home for an extended period of time.
If you are scehduled PM, you will probably be resschuled as the tech may not arrive until later in the PM. I highly doubt he is going to start a job involving a new dish ,two switches and up to 9 tv's at a late hour.
Did you explain all this to Dish? That you wanted 9 tuners connected to the new Dish?

 

[sratson]

All the cabling is already in place.. he just needs to replace the dish and switches.. it is an AM appt. so I really don't see this as being difficult.. The equipment should all be included as part of the upgrade. I can do any cabling myself anyway.. as long as he swaps the dish and switches I can do the rest myself.

 

[dishcomm]

All the cabling is already in place.. he just needs to replace the dish and switches.. it is an AM appt. so I really don't see this as being difficult.. The equipment should all be included as part of the upgrade. I can do any cabling myself anyway.. as long as he swaps the dish and switches I can do the rest myself.

Ok..
Good luck...
Just be prepared to explain to the tech what needs to be done. Show him around the house.
As far as the equipmet is concerned, only the equipment you ordered from Dish will appear on the work order. The 211 you purchased will not.
Neither will the switches. The tech will have to add those to the work order. Be prepared to pay for those switches. There is a strong possibility you will be asked to pay for installation of the owned 211.
ON that, I have been able to get labor added to the work order. This makes it so we can be paid by dish and thus I get paid and hopefully the customer doesn't have to pay.
Just one of the little slick things I do to accomodate customers..Sometimes it works. Sometimes not. Ask the tech to give it a shot

 

[sratson]

The 211 won't even be here yet.. Just ordered it today.. the switches will be covered by dish if I have anything to say about it, they will be required to do the upgrade after all... I can be very convincing.. I will be here and will assist anyway I can.. I am a tech, so this should go pretty smooth. Just may need to talk to a couple rungs up the ladder at dish from what you say to get all the equipment covered, but I never had an issue before..

 

[j_mil87]

assuming the tech has a 44 switch on his truck, the warehouse doesn't like to give those out unless they are on the work order already. i would call dish and have a DPP 44 switch and a DPP 33 switch added so your not wasting the techs time modifying and/or running back to the office to get those parts.

 

[sratson]

I have a DPP34 now.. Just talked to Dish and verified that any equipment needed will be covered for the upgrade to support all my boxes.. I will call back tomorrow to see if I can get the tech's info and make sure he knows what he's getting into to bring what he needs..

 

[j_mil87]

Right on. In my MA we don't need EA so I wasn't thinking you already had the 33 but I gotcha now. Did they say they put it on the work order though?

 

[dishcomm]

I have a DPP34 now.. Just talked to Dish and verified that any equipment needed will be covered for the upgrade to support all my boxes.. I will call back tomorrow to see if I can get the tech's info and make sure he knows what he's getting into to bring what he needs..

It's gotta be either a DPP 33 or DPP 44.....NO such aniaml as a DPP 34..
Oh, please note.. You'll need at least one DPP 44. This switch has cascade ports. So the best config is one DPP 44 cascaded to a DPP 33.
They may give you the 44. The addtional switch I doubt will be free.
In fact your work order will read "Non-standard configuration".
Please keep in mind that in order for the tech to do the job properly all equipment MUST be listed on the work order for him to proceed.
Do not blame the tech( as so many customers do) if Dish will not put the equipment on the work order without attempting to charge you.
This is due to the non-standard configuration..
If Dish will not add items your install needs to the work order without asking you for payment, the tech can't just "go ahead an put it in anyway". So please don't ask.
I am stating this from past experience.
I had one guy almost start screaming at me because he refused to pay for something and he insisted I install it anyway. Even after I told him I would then be financially responsible for the piece. He basically said "so what ,I want it. It's not my problem."
I said end of conversation and I left..

 

[sratson]

I have a 44 now.. just checked.. waiting for the tech to arrive this morning.. I will be on the phone with dish while he is here if there are any issues and have it resolved with them before he leaves.. I know the tech doesn't have control of that.. as a contractor myself, I know the 'don't shot the messenger' rule well..

 

[mikethedishguy]

As a installer I would run from your job for several reasons.
a. I would only be paid for 1 receiver swap so I would not make any more than working a Mc Donald's
2. You are an auto repeat service call. When you call to install the 211 it will generate a TC which means I will have to go out and install your reciever for free.
3. I am sure that the CSR explained how much the additional receiver will cost each month($48.00 my guess) over what you now pay.
4. Dish will only lease 3 dual receivers all others must be purchased

Good luck.

 

[sratson]

Well, he just left. Everything is all hooked up and ready for the 211 to arrive and be activated.. He was a dish installer not a contractor, so he was real easy to deal with, time was not an issue.. Since most of the wiring was all done, just had to run one lead about 30' in the basement for the receiver going down there.. He took down the 2 dishes I had, put up the EA dish, added the 44 to the one I had and we just had to plug everything in and go. He even gave me his cell # in case I had any issues when the 211 came, but I doubt I'll need it. All in all, I'm very happy. I even have two open ports still on the 2nd 44 after I hook up the 211 when it gets here. Sweet.. And it didn't cost me anything more than the $15. service call.

 

[Tyralak]

Well, he just left. Everything is all hooked up and ready for the 211 to arrive and be activated.. He was a dish installer not a contractor, so he was real easy to deal with, time was not an issue.. Since most of the wiring was all done, just had to run one lead about 30' in the basement for the receiver going down there.. He took down the 2 dishes I had, put up the EA dish, added the 44 to the one I had and we just had to plug everything in and go. He even gave me his cell # in case I had any issues when the 211 came, but I doubt I'll need it. All in all, I'm very happy. I even have two open ports still on the 2nd 44 after I hook up the 211 when it gets here. Sweet.. And it didn't cost me anything more than the $15. service call.

Excellent. I'm glad it worked out well for you. It is easier when it comes to equipment and non-standard installations to deal with an internal technician. I've been both a sub and an in-house tech. As an in-house tech, we are instructed (at least more recently) to use whatever equipment is required to do the job. We attempt to use the least costly equipment, of course, but we will use what we have to in order to get it done.

 

[sratson]

quick update.. Got my 211 from dishstore.. Hooked everything up where I wanted, called dish to activate it and all is well.. The csr (from the phillipines) was very sweet. Thanks dishstore and dish! Btw, picked up a hannspree 28" hdtv from costco online for 299. Including s&h.. Even came with an hdmi cable. 1080p res @ that price never looked so good..

 

[sca]

you are lucky and so is the tech. he took a big risk doing so much work for probably very few points (producivity score will hit him in the pocket), and risked a tc out of it (which would also hit him in the pocketbook). glad he was nice. i'm sure he felt confident you have knowledge as well, or he wouldnt have done it.

 

[Tyralak]

you are lucky and so is the tech. he took a big risk doing so much work for probably very few points (producivity score will hit him in the pocket), and risked a tc out of it (which would also hit him in the pocketbook). glad he was nice. i'm sure he felt confident you have knowledge as well, or he wouldnt have done it.

Not so big of a risk for an in-house. Not unless it's a really bizarre, complicated or risky install. When a situation comes up like the one sratson had, I usually just do it if I can be reasonably sure there won't be a TC created. If there's a bit of a chance of a TC, I'll leave my phone number so I can answer any questions instead of a CSR with an itchy TC button finger. If it's something that will take more than 20-30 minutes to do, I'll call and explain the situation to my manager. His answer is always the same "take care of the customer". Of course if the customer's request is unreasonable or is well out of the range of standard installation, of course we explain we can't do it. But what sratson described is really quite reasonable. Now a subcontractor OTOH shouldn't be expected to do this an absorb the cost. He should be able to charge for work that is not on the W/O that Dish will not compensate him for.

 

[jrbdmb]

Five receivers / nine tuners on the account? I expect you'll get on a first name basis with the Dish Audit Nazis. Good luck with that.

 

[sca]

Not so big of a risk for an in-house. Not unless it's a really bizarre, complicated or risky install.

right, i am in-house myself. problem is the focus has shifted VERY strongly towards points per hour....and slower techs are dissappearing...