Help. How to get KBS World?

[Thor123]

Hi all,

Got Dish Network installed today. Chose Dish for several reasons, one of which was that KBS World is part of the standard packages. Went to watch it after the tech left and it's not there. Of course, neither is Showtime, HD Platinum, and my Sling Extender...

Called Dish and they added the other stuff, but after a number of reboots couldn't get KBS. So I get escalated and the tech there is checking stuff with the dish. Finally concludes that the brand new dish I had installed won't receive the correct satellite, and that it will be $50 to install one that will. This is now just 4 - 5 hours after the techs left. I questioned him why I needed to pay an additional install fee for a channel that is advertised as standard in the 120, 200, 250, etc. plans. Said there was nothing that could be done.

Any thoughts? It would be nice to have all the channels that I thought I would be getting when I signed up. Shouldn't they put a disclaimer stating that special equipment is required for KBS? Why even advertise it as a standard channel?

Also, is the Sling hard to install/configure on a 722? The techs forgot it and just plan on shipping it to me.

 

[TheKrell]

Agree that free stations on 118 need to have a prominent caveat/disclaimer. The only thing I can say that might help a bit is that the 1000+ dish and DPP44 switch is normally $100 extra.

The Sling Adapter is trivial to install. Just plug it in and wait for it's existence to propagate to Dish servers. Oh and log in on your Dish online account and go to "DISH Remote Access".

 

[Thor123]

What was strange to me was that the first two people at Dish that I talked to didn't know about the issue. They looked at the programming guide and said it should be there. Even many of the employees at Dish don't know about this.

 

[Mr Tony]

KBSWorld is also on 72.7 so it sounds like you have a western arc (110/119/129) setup.

 

[sbsi]

you should have told dish network before and during the installation about KBS World. this way, they will make sure you get the station when the installer is there.

1000+ Dish will get it. You will need to pay more.

 

[Thor123]

Why does the customer need to tell the installer that they want *all* the channels in the package? When you buy a car, do you find out later that the ABS brakes, which are listed on the car's spec sheet, will only work if you pay them money to upgrade your tires? And how does a new customer know about the differences in all the satellites? Please see post #3 of this thread... the first two support people at Dish didn't know what the problem was. They pulled up a list of channels in the package and saw that it was supposed to be there. I found the fine print in the channel guide. *Existing* customers may need to pay for a hardware upgrade to receive some channels.

 

[Tampa8]

Why does the customer need to tell the installer that they want *all* the channels in the package? When you buy a car, do you find out later that the ABS brakes, which are listed on the car's spec sheet, will only work if you pay them money to upgrade your tires? And how does a new customer know about the differences in all the satellites? Please see post #3 of this thread... the first two support people at Dish didn't know what the problem was. They pulled up a list of channels in the package and saw that it was supposed to be there. I found the fine print in the channel guide. *Existing* customers may need to pay for a hardware upgrade to receive some channels.

This is unfortunately somewhat tricky, though overall I agree with you.

On the one hand, because Dish uses several satellites and changes channels between those satellites from time to time, they try to insist you get the correct satellite set-up. But some people don't want to get or pay for the change in satellites. Add to that, the Dish website is not always correct, or omits important information. I have long thought companies that are going to get you to buy their product with a website have their feet kept to the fire and make sure the information - and I mean the prominent information - not have to look for the fine print - be correct. So for mistakes on their website I do blame Dish.

They need to make it clear some channels require a specific set-up, and that some channels may not be available with certain satellite set-ups. When you are ordering your package, Dish should be able to look at the set-up you have or will have, and tell you what channels you will not get that are listed in the package you are ordering. And they should tell you without you having to ask, because especially newer subscribers are going to (rightly so) assume you get what the package says you will you get.

That said, I think they do a good job overall making sure you get the channels most people think of - I think KBS is just one of those that probably is not a priority for most people, so isn't always in every sat set-up. They could fix this by adding it to the Western arc - any one of the sats there.

 

[r10fret]

You could have signed up for an international channel and then they would have installed the proper 500+/1000+ dish for KBS-World.

After a month you could have cancelled the international.

KBS world is technically a free preveiw channel and shows up on any receiver regardless of subscription with a dish on 118, 61.5 or 121 (Hawaii). 9850 was only on 72.7 for week until it moved back to 61.5.

 

[Tampa8]

You could have signed up for an international channel and then they would have installed the proper 500+/1000+ dish for KBS-World.

After a month you could have cancelled the international.

KBS world is technically a free preveiw channel and shows up on any receiver regardless of subscription with a dish on 118, 61.5 or 121 (Hawaii). 9850 was only on 72.7 for week until it moved back to 61.5.

Well, you have managed to be wrong on almost everything you posted.

1. It is listed as a channel in almost every English package I look at. There is nothing you should have to do but to order the package, get the install, and watch it.

2. 9850 KBS is still on the 72 sat.

3. Where did you get it is in free preview? Again, it is listed as a channel as part of the package for the continental US, starting with Dish America. (may be in family or welcome, don't know)

 

[r10fret]

Free preview status / available on 9850 @ 118, TP 17.
Free preview status / available on 9850 @ 121, TP 15.
Hidden / subscription requirement 9850 @ 61.5, TP 4.
Hidden / subscription requirement 9850 @ 72.7, TP 22.
Due to be removed at 72.7 after problems with 77 required use of TP4 @ 61.5 for a week.

The key here for the OP is since they are on WA and did not initially order an international channel on 118 then they were not going to get a dish installed for 118.

 

[Brisak]

I have an extra eastern arc lnb lying around

 

[Tampa8]

Free preview status / available on 9850 @ 118, TP 17.
Free preview status / available on 9850 @ 121, TP 15.
Hidden / subscription requirement 9850 @ 61.5, TP 4.
Hidden / subscription requirement 9850 @ 72.7, TP 22.
Due to be removed at 72.7 after problems with 77 required use of TP4 @ 61.5 for a week.

The key here for the OP is since they are on WA and did not initially order an international channel on 118 then they were not going to get a dish installed for 118.

That ignores the one important fact. The channel is listed as being in the packages. It is not a free preview for most of the English packages - it is supposed to be there. Your reply makes it sound like it is in free preview and you will need to subscribe to it. Not according to the Dish site.
No subscriber should need to look and compare sats and check on every channel listed to be sure they get it. Again, this is not a free preview channel for most English packages, it is an actual channel listed in most every package. Why do people blame a subscriber for a Dish error? How in the world would he or most anyone know they need to order an International package to get a channel they are supposed to get in their English package? In addition, my reply addressed your post that it was no longer on 72. What might happen in the future I don't know, but it was, has been and is still on 72.

 

[patrick80639]

I have an extra eastern arc lnb lying around

He'll need a different LNB, it's on 118.7, which is low-power ku band.

On a side note, KBS is a great channel, I'm sure it's worth upgrading the dish for people who speak Korean. I enjoy the programming with English subtitles, which is actually quite abundant.

 

[DishSubLA]

I have seen the disclaimer stating something like "may require additional equipment at additional cost" on Dish's website and channel listing in the past, at least as recently as a few months ago--and yes for KBS World and others--so I think it is correct to say that Dish DOES disclose this fact. However, such smaller print disclosures aren't always seen by all viewing. Dish seems correct on this one.

Now, to the OP: $50 is a reasonable upgrade AFTER having installed you at their cost for having to go out there and perform the labor to replace the LNBF,s allowing the dual band Ku DBS/Ku FSS single unit LNBF, a piece of equipment that costs them yet more money . I believe it is usually MORE expensive to do an International upgrade (I've seen and been quoted $100). My advice is TAKE IT NOW. When you are enjoying KBS World, you will feel it was worth it. This is a perfectly reasonable and fair solution.

 

[parkrow]

Newbie here. I'm not too familiar w/ dish arc, lnb, etc. but wanted to chime in w/ my experience of getting KBS from Dish (the info on KBS is not too easy to come by on the web, but there are some posts detailing how to get it as a public interest channel, ie free preview - i never tried this route).

A few years ago, in ND, I signed up for Dish (KBS was part of the reason - my wife and I are Korean, and speak both languages). But after the installer left, I had the same issue that the OP had. In short, I needed to install a 'different' kind of dish which would've been free if I requested it at the time of the install (like the OP, how was supposed to know?). After talking to several reps who had no idea why it wouldn't show, finally I was told it would cost me extra (believe it or not, there always has been extra small print disclaimer next to KBS on their brochures) to have another installer come and put in a new dish. I just gave up at that point b/c KBS was not a must for me.

Last year, I moved to CA, and signed up w/ Dish again - but this time, I made sure to request the 'special' dish (i think it was "super" dish or something). However, the installer showed up and claimed that the special dish was not requested at the time of ordering (he also claimed that I did not request for 722 DVR, and tried to give a SD receiver). But he was familiar w/ KBS b/c his boss was Korean, so after a few calls, he was able to update the work order w/ Dish. However, he installed 'two' dishes (apparently one for KBS, and the other for the regular Dish 120 programming), but KBS worked fine - made my wife happy. Their programming is quite decent w/ caption for everything.

A few months ago, I moved again, and used their Dish Mover service. AGAIN, the local installer came out claiming that the work order did not specify 'super' dish. I had read somewhere in this forum that now there's no need for two separate dishes, so I insisted that I will not get anything other than what will get me KBS. The guy said that he's not sure if he brought it, then proceed to bring out the one that I needed from his van! Now there is one dish, and I get KBS and Dish 120 w/o any issues.

After Dish increased their fee this year, I noticed that "Dish America" shows that it includes KBS (but their programming comparison says that KBS is included only w/ Dish 120 and up). I'm about to go home and 'down grade' to Dish America and see whether their website is correct or not. I found out that a lot of their reps are not familiar w/ KBS, and you will be given different answers from diff. reps. I'll try to update whether KBS is included in Dish America or not.

 

[patrick80639]

Parkrow, KBS is free with any package.

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

I did a double take with this thread, it seemed familiar.....

To Thor, I may be able to help you out. I shot you a PM and I would need to research some things.

Also, to the mods, can this get "joined" with the other thread? LOL, I thought I was losing my marbles and dreaming about threads.

 

[parkrow]

Parkrow, KBS is free with any package.

??? Can you tell me how? I just did a chat w/ Dish and he said it's only for AT 120 or above.

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

Parkrow, I do not see KBS World listed as part of any DISH America package on my end. Those are all HD Packages and KBS World is not HD. Sorry for the confusion, if you could post the link where you got the information I can see that it gets corrected.

 

[parkrow]

DISH America From DISH Network
It's not even some hard to find page - go to the main Dish page; English packages; "Learn More" under Dish America.