Since I followed a different pathway than normal for installation and activation, I thought I would share the process for others that may want to do the same thing.
For a number of reasons, I wasn't able to take advantage of the free installation offered by D*. Having set up a SC satellite system in numerous places, I figured no problem - I can get it set up myself. Finding a slimline dish on Ebay/Craig's list is pretty easy, so I got one myself and mounted it when my schedule allowed ( I have a sat meter that made the job pretty simple).
The interesting part came when trying to get a receiver. Having seen lots of receivers in the major electronics stores I thought it would be very simple to just buy one and walk out - not quite that easy. The Best Buy store I went to initially wouldn't just sell one to me saying that the in-store receivers were only for existing D* customers. After many attempts at explaining that my goal was to walk out of the store with a receiver, and not have to have one delivered by the installer, the store agreed to call D* and attempt to process the application. After explaining the goal to the D* rep a few times, they told the Best Buy clerk that it was OK for me to just buy the receiver as is and call in the application myself from home.
Got the receiver home, hooked up the wiring and got a great signal on all satellites. Called D* as a new subscriber and initally confused the CSR, but after she talked with her manager, we went through the process for setting up - the system still required that I schedule an installation date even though it wasn't needed. She then transferred me to a different group for activation of the receiver, which they did with no issues - also cancelled the installation at this time as I was fully up and running with no issues. They still gave me the full Best Buy deal and the current promotions that went with that (other than the $100 immediate discount on the HD-DVR receiver).
Overall the process went well, but it is obviously not a pathway that any of the people I initially talked to were aware of. I don't have a very flexible schedule right now, and this approach got me set up an activated entirely on my own, based on my limited free time.
I did a lot of reading on this site before starting the process - thanks for all the tips in the forum - made the set-up very easy.
Gord
For a number of reasons, I wasn't able to take advantage of the free installation offered by D*. Having set up a SC satellite system in numerous places, I figured no problem - I can get it set up myself. Finding a slimline dish on Ebay/Craig's list is pretty easy, so I got one myself and mounted it when my schedule allowed ( I have a sat meter that made the job pretty simple).
The interesting part came when trying to get a receiver. Having seen lots of receivers in the major electronics stores I thought it would be very simple to just buy one and walk out - not quite that easy. The Best Buy store I went to initially wouldn't just sell one to me saying that the in-store receivers were only for existing D* customers. After many attempts at explaining that my goal was to walk out of the store with a receiver, and not have to have one delivered by the installer, the store agreed to call D* and attempt to process the application. After explaining the goal to the D* rep a few times, they told the Best Buy clerk that it was OK for me to just buy the receiver as is and call in the application myself from home.
Got the receiver home, hooked up the wiring and got a great signal on all satellites. Called D* as a new subscriber and initally confused the CSR, but after she talked with her manager, we went through the process for setting up - the system still required that I schedule an installation date even though it wasn't needed. She then transferred me to a different group for activation of the receiver, which they did with no issues - also cancelled the installation at this time as I was fully up and running with no issues. They still gave me the full Best Buy deal and the current promotions that went with that (other than the $100 immediate discount on the HD-DVR receiver).
Overall the process went well, but it is obviously not a pathway that any of the people I initially talked to were aware of. I don't have a very flexible schedule right now, and this approach got me set up an activated entirely on my own, based on my limited free time.
I did a lot of reading on this site before starting the process - thanks for all the tips in the forum - made the set-up very easy.
Gord
