Successful EBAY purchase of 522 and activation

[hhunton]

Since I haven't seen a thread about successful EBAY 522 purchases/activations, I'll start one.

Two weeks ago I won an auction for a brand new DVR 522 (EBAY item number 5707472428) . Cost me $211.04 after shipping. Received the receiver within 5 business days. When it arrived, I was pleased to see it was a brand new unit (as advertised) with everything wrapped in it's original packaging and sealed.

I Replaced a model 4700 and 301 with the 522. My setup is a legacy Dish 500 and a legacy Dish 300 running through an SW-64. I also have an 811 (purchased directly from Dish for $150) on my Mits wide screen (no problems with the 811 either).

The 522 fired up just fine and I did the on-screen setup until it told me to activate through customer service. It took about 30 minutes on the phone, but I had no problem getting activated. The rep told me the 522's were supposed to be lease only but since I've been with Dish 6 years and I purchased the 522 free and clear, that she would activate it for me. She put me on hold for quite some time while she contacted her manager. The rep told me that the manager was the only one capable of adding the 522 to my account and that they needed to add a note to my account showing that they approved of me owning my own 522.

This is my first experience with a PVR and my wife and I love it. I ended up running a feed from TV2 on the 522 to my Mits to supplement my 811. My Mits is HD ready, so I use the 811 for OTA HD in addition to the Dish HD pack. I was amused when my wife asked me if the 522 could record shows by putting in the name (she has never seen a TIVO or PVR in use before). I informed her that NBR was supposed to be a future enhancement. Since she's only used to recording with a VCR interface (i.e. times and dates), the 522 recording interface is not a problem for her.

The EBAY seller is horse3690.

Hugh

 

[RedHat39]

Congrats on your success. I was tempted to buy one of these from eBay a while back but resisted. I've read so many horror stories of having to get replacements for them I opted for the DHA program. At least this way if it breaks I'll get a replacement. Although I do believe a lot of DN techs are a bit too antsy to want to replace the units when some problems could most like be dealt with otherwise.

But anyway congrats to you and I wish the best of luck to you.

 

[hhunton]

Since I'm an existing Dish customer, there was no way for me to get a 522 except to purchase one on EBAY. I tried to talk Dish into letting me lease one, but they insisted it was for new customers only.

Hugh

 

[RedHat39]

Yeah don't that suck. Reminds me of the Sprint PCS commercial where all the kids in kindergarten have to water color with black only water colors except for the new kid that gets to use all the colors just because shes new.

Satellite providers and cell phone carriers are so ignorant when it comes to customer retention.

 

[Wishbone]

If the 522 are lease-only, how was it able to be sold on E-Bay?

 

[mike123abc]

If the 522 are lease-only, how was it able to be sold on E-Bay?

Echostar wants them to be lease only but some dealers are still selling them.

 

[video62]

Since I'm an existing Dish customer, there was no way for me to get a 522 except to purchase one on EBAY. I tried to talk Dish into letting me lease one, but they insisted it was for new customers only.
...
Satellite providers and cell phone carriers are so ignorant when it comes to customer retention.

Well, when I found I couldn't get a 522 I bailed for D* and two DirecTivos - been VERY HAPPY as a result. As someone suggested, maybe E* wants to eventually have a lease-only customer base.