Digital Home Plan Question

[tgettys]

All,

Just had Dish installed last week and really like it so far. I went with the Digital Home Plan, one 508 and 3 301's. I want to buy a 508 to replace one of the leased 301's so I can get Dolby out and an extra PVR. I'm getting mixed reviews from Dish support people about whether this is ok. The first person said it would violate my contract since I agreed to keep the equipment for 12 months. The second said it would be ok but I would need professional installation to install the new 508.

I'm not trying to reduce the number of fees I'm paying, and it seems like this is something Dish would want me to do. Has anyone else out there done this or know what the real answer should be?

Thanks in advance.

[Jacob S]

You do not need professional installation to install the new 508. Also it would violate your contract if you took any receivers off of the account even if you was adding another one on. You would have to mail that one receiver back to them. You are better off just adding the 508 as an additional receiver and then after the year is up mailing the 301 that you do not need back to them. Its better to pay the extra $5 per month than to pay the cancellation fee.

Dish might be able to work with you on this though, ask a supervisor on the phone or email dish network and see what response you get back. The good thing about an email is that it is proof in case they come back and charge you after saying they will allow you to do this.

[Lightnin1]

Believe it or not, I actually done this for one of my customers. You can have your retailer call retail services and they may have to talk to a supervisor to get it done.

This swap was done just 2 months after this customer signed a DHP contract with me. This WILL NOT violate your contract, as technically you are not disconnecting your receiver, you are just replacing it. You just give the receiver back to the retailer who installed it.

This may sound like a crock of crap, but I went straight to Mary Davdison, manager of retailer services at the time, and she is the one who set it up.

I am not saying it will not be difficult, but it can be done.

[Claude Greiner]

#1 Did you get your system from a retailer or from Dishnetwork?

#2 If you went through Dish, then get a 508 reciever and simply swap it out with one of the recievers you already have active on the account. Once its swapped out, call the RA Department at 1-888-220-3474 and request a box to send back the 4th reciever.

#3 If you went through a local retailer, then contact them to buy the 508 reciever. You must purchase the 508 through the origional retailer, or its going to play chargeback hell with the retailers commissions if you put a reciever on your account from another dealer. Needless if you put a reciever from another retailer on your account, it will violate your contract between you and the retailer.

The Retailer will inturn look up your account and give you serial number for the 4th 301 reciever which you need to return to your local retailer. From there, activate the 508 reciever on the account in position D on the account.

Pay the retailer $10 which is the FPI payment on the 4th reciever on a (4) reciever DHP account, since the 508 will cause this payment to be charged back.

[Jacob S]

Mary Davidson no longer works for Dish Network so perhaps she was helping you out where others would not, and maybe now there is nobody that will do such a nice thing as she has done because she seemed to go out of her way to help people out and its such a shame that she left.

Also it will cause the retailer a chargeback in return causing you a chargeback in which will be a huge amount. You best get it in writing or from an email from Dish Network that the retailer will not get charged back and that you will not get penalized for such an action or thats what may just happen to you regardless of what you was told on the phone.

Also anotherway to prevent chargeback/penalty is to have it added to the notes on your account and call back later to ask if it is actually on the notes on your account that you was given permission to do this. This works, been there done that. I hate to see people get the runaround when they were told they could do one thing then get penalized for it.

[rtt2]

I am in the same situation with 4 receivers. I have one 508 & three 301s. I bought/ signed up for the DHP by calling 1800-333-DISH in January.
If I want to replace one of the 301s with another 508 where would I go about getting a 508? I don't want to violate my contract. What do I say on the phone?

[tgettys]

I got my equipment directly from Dish, not through a retailer.

Claude - Your #2 (buy 508 receiver from Dish and swap out one of the 301's) is what I was trying to do originally when the customer service person told me I would be violating my contract. Since then I think I've decided to go through a retailer so I can have someone else "on my side" to try to get Dish to say that this is ok.

Jacob - I already have 4 receivers, so would they want me to add the new 508 as a 5th one even though the dish can only send signals to 4 receivers?

I had no idea this would be so difficult. I mentioned this idea to the installation guys (who did a great job I might add) and they didn't warn me about a potential issue. For heaven's sake, I'm trying to buy one of their $300 products, not downgrade my service or contract! I'll put less wear and tear on the 301 if I give it back to them now instead of using it for a year.

[Ric]

I went through this originally when I signed up with DISH. I told the installer I decided I wanted a 501 instead of one of the 301's and if it was a big deal. He said no but he didn't have one on the truck. Just to call DISH and he could come back out to switch it (I orginally signed up with the DISH 800# as well). Of course, once the 301's were in, I was told the same story you were. Tried several different reps on several different occasions and all the same story - the lease is on the receiver and if you get rid of it (replace) you void the lease.

Needless to say, when my year was up, I switched to Directv to get my PVR. Had Dish worked with me at that time, I would still be with them on their lease plan. Sorry this doesn't help much but maybe DISH will start to hear the needs of their customers on this topic.

[tgettys]

I just ordered a new 508 from Mark @ Dish Depot. He spoke to someone at Dish and things are worked out (hopefully). The 508 should arrive at my house on Tuesday, so we'll see if there are any issues when I try to activate the new 508 and cancel the old 301.
Thanks to all for your input. I'll post again after I get the new 508 connected (or not).

[Jacob S]

You are allowed to add receivers within a month of account activation but I dont know if they allow swapping within the contract.

Since you went directly through Dish then there would be fewer issues since you would not have to worry about retailer chargeback and the retailer coming back on you.

By having a 5th receiver added without a signal to go to that receiver because of not having a special switch or dish, you would have to either add a dish or use one of the receivers for camping/travelling. They would still activate the receiver even if you did not have a signal feed to it because they dont know what kind of dish setup you have. They usually dont think or ask about those types of things when activating multiple receivers.

[tgettys]

Update - I received my new 508 this afternoon. Mark from Dish Depot had contacted Dish ahead of time and they were expecting my call to switch the systems. Everything works great. Dish's customer service was great. Mark from Dish Depot was great. Could not be happier.

[angiodan]

As many have said before, Mark at Dish Depot is the 'man'!