How do you tell if card has balance?

[Larry35]

I want to buy a used 301 and I see alot of talk about the card having no balance.
Can you tell if the card has a balance somehow before I buy it or do I just have to hope they are honest?
If it does have a balance on it, is there anyway to get it to work without paying the balance. How much is a new card?
Sorry for the dumb questions but I'm not up on this dish network stuff.

 

[thiggin2]

Well you could get the Card number and call Dish or just hope hes honest.
If it does have a balance you can't get it activated until the balance is paid, and a new card was about $50 but I'm not sure if the new type card are the same price as the older ones where.

 

[boba]

Buying a new card does not remove the old balance, you still have to pay the old balance still before the receiver can be activated. DISH attaches the balance owed to both the receiver and the smart card, some people think that by removing the smart card they can sell the receiver without the balance having to be paid.

 

[Larry35]

Thanks!
So can I take the serial # from the reciever and call dish to find out if there is a balance?

 

[boba]

The R00# would be used along with the S00# get both if you can you can also see if the receiver has been released so another customer can activate it.

 

[mkm4]

Thanks!
So can I take the serial # from the reciever and call dish to find out if there is a balance?

Not entirely. If the receiver isn't hooked upto a telephone, Dish will not know if the card has a balance or not.