My Dish/508 story

[pernar]

I've been a Dish customer since early 2000, and have been battling with tech support pretty much since then over my Dishplayer. There were periods of time when it would more or less work OK, but in the last few months the problems were just unacceptable. I tried to sneak into multiple Charlie Chats, but they sniffed me out every time. In the meantime, my wife and I had lost shows, blackouts when skipping commercials, dropped audio, etc. etc... What basically kept me from going to DirecTV were the Superstations, and my story below.

Well, the DP saga all came to a head last Tuesday when I e-mailed ceo@echostar out of sheer desperation. I don't have an exact copy of the e-mail, but it basically said, "I've had enough of my Dishplayer. I've called tech support many times with no satisfaction, TV is not worth this kind of stress. As a new subscriber to DirecTV, I figure it would cost me a hundred bucks to get a DirecTivo to replace the 7200. I'd like to remain a Dish customer, and I'm not expecting any freebies. If you can somehow get me a reliable PVR for the same amount as it would cost me to switch to DirecTV, I'd happily stay. Please contact me if you're interested in keeping me as a customer." I also made mention that I was downright offended that I kept getting blown off the Charlie Chat. I signed with my name, address, and home phone number.

I was seriously expecting 1. Not to hear anything, and 2. I would be picking up a DirecTivo from Best Buy this weekend, and then dump Dish. When I arrived home the following day, there was a voice mail from someone from the executive offices at Dish, and they wanted me to call them back ASAP. Apparantly someone at Dish does care about customer service, because not only would they give me a 501/508 for $99, but they'd install it for free on a friggin *Saturday*.

I was astounded. Part of me was still skeptical, but sure enough a guy in a Dish Network van showed up bright and early Saturday morning with a brand new, in the box 508. It's an amazing receiver in every way, so much better than the Dishplayer my wife and I have been high-fiving each other all weekend. We went to dinner with another couple that Saturday evening, and the topic of degrading customer service came up. I said things weren't all that bad, there are still companies that gave a rip. They were as impressed as we were.

Maybe I'm an aberration, but I'm completely impressed with Dish right now. This past Monday I was on the dbstalk charlie chat shindig (as richp) joining in the DP complaining spree. I dunno what I'll complain about now, though I do still hope some disgruntled DP owner makes it in one of these times. :D I still do have my DP, and I'm debating what to do with it. It was such a neat device, but it was responsible for so many headaches.. Backing over it with my car and relieving myself on the remains almost seems like too good a fate. I'm not sure my conscience would let me sell it to anyone...

[Karl Foster]

So you bought a defective receiver for about $200 and then Dish gives you the "opportunity" to buy a 508 for $99? Did you sell your DP? It seems that you are now out $300 for a PVR. I hope you get a good price for your DP. I think they should have given it to you for free, as you are now out more for a single-tuner PVR than if you had switched for a dual-tuner PVR. Just my $.02 worth. I guess as long as you feel you were dealt with fairly, that is what is important. They could have told you to pack sand.

[Bob Haller]

E bay it. With a 40 gig drive its worth $200 to $250 not bad to be rid of it:)

I got the same deal but just heard someone with TWO dippy DPs got the second one for $150.:( I would have gone for that, obviously I wasnt pushy enough:(

I like the 508 fine although the interface isnt as good as the DP.

Having had a bug or two so far its still WAY BETTER than the dippy unit.

Seriously I wonder how many subs just leave over DPs that arent aware of the CEO address?

[pernar]

Karl,

I don't see it quite that harshly. My DP is nearly 3 years old, and while in it's current state it is most definately 'defective', for the most part it served us well and I feel I got my money's worth out of the thing. I haven't sold the DP (it was just replaced yesterday morning, after all), and am not sure whether I'm going to. The problem is that if I sold it cheap to a relative, I'd feel bad because they'd inevitably have tons of problems with it. I'd also feel bad getting rid of it over eBay, since it would almost certainly be purchased by a hacker who intends to steal programming.

I think as far as interface goes, I actually prefer the 508's. One thing that REALLY annoyed me about the DP is setting up repeating programs. Would it record the program daily? weekly? You had no idea, even if it said it would do one thing, it would frequently do another. I like the Caller ID display, time on pause, etc.. sure, the interface looks a bit more rustic, but I'll take the functionality, speed, and stability any day. The one thing, and I do mean the *one* thing I don't like is that it only shows 4 lines of programming in the guide while using the PiP.

I was a former DirecTV subscriber at another address from '98-early 2000, and had many problems that are probably resolved at this point. The PQ was atrocious with a capital 'A', and the RCA receiver was a complete POS (lockups, picture breakups, sound dropouts). I dropped them when I moved and signed up with Dish at my new address, because 1. I could get a great deal on the DP - DTV didn't have a PVR at the time, and 2. If Dish turned out to be a disappointment, I could resign with DirecTV as a new sub and get all the perks that come with it.

Bob, If I had two DPs I would have probably dumped E* long ago, if not just blown my brains out. That is just pure masochism. Whenever I wanted to watch something and the DP was occupied/acting up, I turned to my trusty 6000 which is a downright bulletproof receiver (I use my HD setup for almost strictly gaming and movie watching.. the DP and now 508 is used for my 'casual' watching and wife's sitcoms/soaps/BS). That's another reason I'm glad Dish didn't force my hand and go to D*, although my conscience would have let me sell the thing on eBay and I would have gotten back what I paid for it, I love my 6000.

[cnsf]

Originally posted by pernar
Apparantly someone at Dish does care about customer service, because not only would they give me a 501/508 for $99, but they'd install it for free on a friggin *Saturday*.

I was astounded. Part of me was still skeptical, but sure enough a guy in a Dish Network van showed up bright and early Saturday morning with a brand new, in the box 508.

Maybe I'm an aberration, but I'm completely impressed with Dish right now.

I had the EXACT same experience with two DPs and two 501 replacements at $99 each. I still have a relationship with my contact in the EVPs office. She's very nice.

It's too bad I have to move to DirecTV to get my Yankees.

I'll miss the personal Dish Customer Service.

[Jacob S]

Well think of it this way, you paid $99 for the 501, you can get $200 out of the used dishplayer, you just made $100 and get a new satellite receiver and free use of the dishplayer all that time, not being out of $300.

[Brew]

Hello perner,


I can really relate to your story. I had almost the identical experience with two 7200's.

I was at the end of my rope lately. I kept the extended warranty on both of them and was hammering the tech support people having them swap DP's every week. I finally got tired of reinstalling them. Spoke with several support folks and finally got them to do two 508's for $300 delivered. Which was the absolute best deal I thought I could make. If I had read your post first I might have gone for $200... Still I bought the two 7200's with a Sw64 and Dishpro 500 all for $240 with a $250 dollar rebate, so I had nothing in the two 7200's.

I did manage to sell both of them rather quickly for $450. So I'm up $150.! and saving $9.99 @ month for PTV, and $2.99 @ month on warranty, at least for a year. And the 508's are FANTASTIC! The UI is a bit clunky compared to the DP's but the aggravation factor is so much lower... thankfully!


Take care and for now, I'm a satisfied Dish customer!

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