# Call from E* Executive Support regarding 942 upgrade



## sbuko (Jan 10, 2006)

Hi all. I want to pass on some information that I received today from a phone call from Dish Network. The person identified herself as calling from the Dish Network Executive support group.

I'll apologize up front for the long post, but it has some valuable information for 942 owners.

Back on January 11th, I sent the following email to E*

_Hello Charlie / Dish Network,

I'm sure you are swamped with emails from customers regarding the latest announcements this week. But I wanted to give you my own objective opinion on the subject.

I first must start by commending you guys on your chats. This is something that other companies simply do not do. You guys kind of put yourself out on a limb during those things and I for one really appreciate it. The last chat was the most informative chat so far.

I have been a Dish Network customer for many many years. My first set of receivers were the 4700, 3800, and 2800.

Since signing up with Dish Network, I have constantly upgraded my hardware, moving to a Dish Player 7100 then to the 5xx series DVRs.

My family has always enjoyed the programming and I have been a very happy customer.

However this latest announcement really has me a bit upset. I just invested $3000 in a 50 inch HD plasma and prior to ordering the plasma I contacted Dish regarding HD receivers. I felt like it was finally time to take the HD plunge. I was told that the HD 942 DVR was the top of the line. I always quiz the customer support rep to make sure I am getting the latest hardware and ask them about upcoming hardware releases. The last thing I want to do is spend $600 on a new receiver to be told soon after that a new / better receiver was being released.

I was assured that my 942 was the latest and greatest technology available and I would be set to enjoy future HD programming. This is definitely not the case. This is not just a case of a new cooler receiver coming out that I would really LIKE to have. Not only is a better receiver coming out, but I MUST have this better receiver to get my local programming in HD.

I purchased my brand new 942 from SolidSignal on 12/21/2006 for over $600. Now I know that I am not the only one in this boat. But the rebate you guys are offering just doesn't seem fair to me.

From my perspective I was told to get this particular receiver by a Dish Network employee only to find out that I now cannot get my HD locals and the other new channels with the $600 receiver that I own. The $200 rebate that you guys will be offering to current customers is a great thing for those customers who are already leasing. It costs them $99. They may have already paid $250 for their 942 or 921, but it's still a great offer to them. They don't own their receivers anyway. I am out $600 and the $200 rebate just doesn't seem to be a fair deal to me.

Basically, the rebate "allows" ME to give YOU my $600 receiver and still I have to pay you another $99. So in total over the last 30 days I am out of pocket $700 and now it's not even my receiver. Doesn't this sound a little strange?

Anyway, I think I got my point across. I am not writing to threaten to move to DTV or make you guys feel that I am an unhappy customer. On the contrary, I feel that you guys are doing a great job and hope you continue to offer the kind of product that you have in the past. I just hope that you have a better solution for people who have only "OWNED" their 942 receivers for a very very short period of time.

Thanks for your time. Keep up the good work.

Steve_

I had not received a reply, so today I sent a reply to the email asking if they are receiving the emails and wondered why I hadn't received any response.

Just a few minutes ago I received the call and basically reviewed what is posted above. She told me that I would definitely have to return my 942 if I upgraded it to a 622. It does not matter if it is owned or leased. I confirmed that if I did this upgrade and turned in my 942 that the 622 would still be leased and not owned.

I did ask her if I could keep my 942 and upgrade a 301 to the 622. She said that I could keep my 942 active and upgrade my 301 to a 622. This would cost me $299. I confirmed that I could have both active at the same time.

I asked what the chances are that this information would change before the 4/1 date and she simply said that this is the policy at this point and that she had not heard of any planned change, although they certainly could change between now and then.

I hope this info helps others in my situation. I am probably not going to wait for the 4/1 date and will upgrade my 301 once the ATL locals become active.


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## GoRaja (Feb 1, 2006)

I am in a similar dilema as you. Do you remember the name of the person who called you? I have emailed Dish twice but have not had a response as of yet.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

sbuko, if you do remember the name please don't post it openly in the forum.


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## Stevious (Nov 1, 2005)

I am absolutely disgusted. Thanks for nothing, E*. They treat their early adopters like dirt.

First, they tell us existing customers can't get the 942 lease deal, so we all buy the receiver for $600+. Then they turn around and take advantage of our excitement over HD programming. BOOO! Shame on you, E*.


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## sbuko (Jan 10, 2006)

I don't remember her name. She said her name and then where she was calling from. I did't start paying attention until I heard her say "Dish Network". :lol: 

You should probably continue to email and let them know that you have sent multiple emails and would expect a reply.

Remeber that what I was told was by a single person prior to the finalization of the 4/1 policy. She simply told me what the policy is currently. This doesn't mean that it won't change. 

The only way to change this is to give constructive feedback to E*. This is what I did. If the policy doesn't change I'll keep my 942 for my wife, replacing her 501. At least she'll have two tuners for recording.


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## dpd146 (Oct 1, 2005)

sbuko said:


> I did ask her if I could keep my 942 and upgrade a 301 to the 622. She said that I could keep my 942 active and upgrade my 301 to a 622. This would cost me $299. I confirmed that I could have both active at the same time.


That's good news. I want to keep my 811 and ditch a 301.


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## volfan615 (Sep 18, 2003)

James Long said:


> sbuko, if you do remember the name please don't post it openly in the forum.


Is DBS talk here for the customers or DISH? YOU are constantly watching out for them and closing threads that might leak something everyone here should know.


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

The people at E* have better days when they don't see their names in print and get hundreds of people asking them for a special deal. When they are having good days it's more likely that the people they are working with will have good days.

E* has established methods of contacting them - Customer Service numbers, website forms and of course our favorite [email protected] email address. There is no need to out some friendly assistant in the office who is working through hundreds (if not thousands) of "special requests" for information.

It's common courtesy. Sometimes not as common as it once was.

DBSTalk is here for the customers, but we respect the companies and employees that serve those customers.


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## rice0209 (Oct 11, 2005)

James,

I wholeheartedly agree with what you just said. I as a 921 owner have had the worst and best CSR's, but no matter how bad I have been treated, the last thing that needs to happen is for a CSR to get harrassed by callers because there name was leaked out on an internet site. We have to remember that at the end of the day, these people are just like you and I. They are just trying to earn a living and keep their families in good shape.

What's even worse is when incorrect information is tied to a person's name and then they have to deal with a bunch of people getting angry over something that was never true to begin with.


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## jcm.oo (Jan 24, 2005)

One the Wednesday I called to upgrade my owned 942. I was told by two different reps that I would be able to keep my owned 942 it just had to be deactivated. Now I was never asking about waiting until April to do this and get the $200 rebate. I did ask if I upgraded now, would I be able to get the rebate in April and I was told no way. If I wanted the rebate I had to wait till April 1. Both of the csrs told me at first that I would have to send the receiver back. Then I explained that I owned my receiver and I shouldn't have to send it back, they both found out that I was correct. On the second call after I was assured that I would be able to get HD DNS I was ready to order. When the csr got ready to order he showed that I have two 942's, which is correct, one is owned the other is leased. However, he showed that both of them were leased and that I would have to get my retailer to fix the problem if I wanted to keep my 942.

Maybe I was just told a bunch of crap, I had him put in the notes that he told me I'd get HD DNS, and be able to keep my owned receiver. Neither seem to be true at this point.


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## rbyers (Jan 15, 2004)

There does seem to be some problems with their record keeping regarding owned/leased equipment. The last time that I called with a 921 problem, they said my 921 was leased. To my knowledge, Dish never leased the 921 to anyone. That was enough to get my records straightened out. Since Dish policy is not to lease 2 942s to anyone, you shouldn't have much of a problem getting this sorted out. 

As to lease/own. What's the advantage of owning? I only bought the 921 because it was the only game in town at the time. If you turn in an owned box, I have been lead to believe that there is no lease fee, only the initial charge. Dish owns the box but there is no monthly out-of-pocket. I could be wrong on this, but I've read that somewhere on this forum.


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## jcm.oo (Jan 24, 2005)

rbyers said:


> There does seem to be some problems with their record keeping regarding owned/leased equipment. The last time that I called with a 921 problem, they said my 921 was leased. To my knowledge, Dish never leased the 921 to anyone. That was enough to get my records straightened out. Since Dish policy is not to lease 2 942s to anyone, you shouldn't have much of a problem getting this sorted out.
> 
> As to lease/own. What's the advantage of owning? I only bought the 921 because it was the only game in town at the time. If you turn in an owned box, I have been lead to believe that there is no lease fee, only the initial charge. Dish owns the box but there is no monthly out-of-pocket. I could be wrong on this, but I've read that somewhere on this forum.


My reason for owning a 942 is simple, I needed two and they wouldn't lease two, so I had to buy it.

I have checked e-bay a few times and it seems like the 942's are selling for about $300-$400. So if it costs me $300 to upgrade to the 622 and I sell my 942 for $300 I broke even, no big deal at all. (a better deal than waiting till April 1 to get the rebate)


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## vurbano (May 15, 2004)

volfan615 said:


> Is DBS talk here for the customers or DISH? YOU are constantly watching out for them and closing threads that might leak something everyone here should know.


Without a name its not Official is it? And shouldnt be posted at all according to the rules.


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## Rogueone (Jan 29, 2004)

on the screwed up records, when I called they told me I was leasing a 921/501 and owned a 301. When I signed up for Dish, I got their special at the time of a 501/301 package, and I bought the 921 in 04 for $1000. Only reason I can think of for screwing it up is that I did have to return the original 921 due to the blue line issue


on the upgrade to 622 from 921 deal, I hope Dish responds to the email I sent them. If they won't allow me to get a 622 for $99 and keep my 921 running, then there is no point waiting. But also, if they pull that sort of crap, I would likely jump ship as soon as FiOS is available for me. Dish has done a poor job in giving nuggets of thanks to it's existing customers, especially us with the most expensive packages. This 622 deal is an example. Why are us current HD DVR users the ones who have to wait? that makes no sense. We should have either been the only ones allowed to order on 2/1, and for $99, or we should have been allowed to order from CES until 2/1, as a thank you for your dedication. But by making us wait, and we being the ones driving this by paying for service, they show they don't think about the existing customer, and that's a shame


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

volfan615 said:


> Is DBS talk here for the customers or DISH? YOU are constantly watching out for them and closing threads that might leak something everyone here should know.


You are signed on and posting as "volfan615"... so is it really that unreasonable to ask that people don't post real names of contacts at Dish network? Many of us aren't posting under our real names for the same reason people at Dish wouldn't want their names thrown around on the forums either.


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