[mccoady]

My mother just went into a assisted living facility and since their local cable was so bad we like many others had satellite installed. She had DirecTV on the farm so that's what we had installed for her probably about a month ago. She's had no issues accept yesterday when she turned on her TV she had the Error 771 on the screen. I haven't been there yet but will check it out today. I did have someone at the facility reboot it twice but same error message with sunny skies so no weather issues.

I read online to check these things.
1. Check cables
2. Unplug for a few seconds and plug back in... start receiver
3. According to what I read there should be a SWIM device and you should unplug for 30 seconds to reset it
4. Remove Access Card for 30 seconds
5. Press your channel up twice then down twice
6. Change from HD to SD
7. Check Dish

Is there anything else to try?

I already went ahead and scheduled a tech which I can always cancel but they said no one could come until until May 26th. What has happened to DirecTV (besides AT&T) where it takes two to three weeks for a service call? Is this Covid related or is this AT&T's new business practice?

It took three weeks to just get service installed I wonder if Dish is any better. Hard to believe you're expected to go without a TV for up to three weeks really doesn't sound like they want your satellite business.

 

[harsh]

Error 771 is usually a problem with the satellite dish not seeing the satellite (rain fade, the dish has moved, etc.). My guess is that someone messed up her dish (or it wasn't installed correctly in the first place).

If it were a cabling problem, the error would typically be a 775 -- receiver can't communicate with dish.

DISH isn't likely to get your mother out of her 24 month programming commitment but they're not contracting with AT&T for service calls. Two and a half weeks is awfully hard to swallow. You would think they would be all over it since they may be able to back-charge the installer.

 

[litzdog911]

You'll need to check the dish. Perhaps someone or something moved it out of alignment. Or a coax cable came loose.

Does she have her own dish or is it shared with other folks?

 

[mccoady]

Thanks for the replies she has her own dish.… my brother is going to try messing with the dish later today.

 

[mccoady]

So my brother looked the dish over and it was bent some he said it looked liked someone hit it when mowing he could tell grass was just mowed. He was able to bend it back in place a little then tried to adjust it and was able to get signal to 80% but no higher... it does have a good tv picture now though.

My brother said they probably need to replace the dish so I’m going to keep my May 26th appointment. Will the service man likely have a dish on truck or do I need to make them aware before he comes?

Will we be responsible for the dish being hit or is it just one of those things that DirecTV will just replace?

Think I read somewhere that they have a 90 day guarantee for an initial install so should the tech visit cost us anything? If so I may need to temporarily take out the Maintenance plan.

 

[harsh]

I suspected as much.

Dishes don't come with accident insurance. I'd suggest showing the bill to the housing management people and see if they would accept some responsibility for the damage.

 

[west99999]

If its under 90 days it will be a warranty call regardless of the resolution.

 

[mccoady]

It's definitely been under 90 days (maybe a month has passed) so you're saying the service call will be no charge but probably charged for the dish? If so how much are we talking about? And yes we've already told the facility what likely happened where my mother lost her satellie the day he mowed.

How do I handle this so they'll have a dish on the truck the day they come. Do I call them and tell them the dish was damaged and I don't know how but be sure to bring a new dish for my May 26th service call?

 

[WestDC]

It's definitely been under 90 days (maybe a month has passed) so you're saying the service call will be no charge but probably charged for the dish? If so how much are we talking about? And yes we've already told the facility what likely happened where my mother lost her satellie the day he mowed.

How do I handle this so they'll have a dish on the truck the day they come. Do I call them and tell them the dish was damaged and I don't know how but be sure to bring a new dish for my May 26th service call?

the tech will have a dish --and if it's under 90 days since the install --the service call should not be billed --the tech that installed the dish will be charged back (deducted) 50% of his pay for the install.

Now you know way tech's are hard to come by

 

[mccoady]

the tech will have a dish --and if it's under 90 days since the install --the service call should not be billed --the tech that installed the dish will be charged back (deducted) 50% of his pay for the install.

Now you know way tech's are hard to come by

Thanks that's a relief didn't want to have to deal with the facility unless I had too. Well normally I would feel bad for the tech that installed it but he was such a jerk now I'm not sure.

 

[harsh]

It is a shame that the installer might get charged for something the facility's people did.

 

[mccoady]

Yeah you're right I wouldn't want that to happen to me.

 

[WestDC]

Yeah you're right I wouldn't want that to happen to me.

It's viewed as a call back that's how they pay the second service e tech with the 50% charge back.

 

[carl6]

The dish should not have been installed where it could be hit / damaged by routine lawn care. Whomever comes to fix this problem should find a better location, or you (on your mother's behalf) should discuss this with the property management. If that is where the installer was told to place the dish, then they should take measures to prevent that type of damage.

 

[mccoady]

Well it‘s where all the other dishes are installed right outside of their apartments there’s a row of them on the grass along a sidewalk. Turns out the mowing service had a really young kid mowing the other day so can’t believe this is something that happens on a regular basis. The facility has been notified and in turn pretty sure they notified the mowing service. We live in a rural area in an extremely small town so everybody pretty much knows everybody I know everyone involved except for the kid.

 

[harsh]

The dish should not have been installed where it could be hit / damaged by routine lawn care.

Given the limitations placed on the installers by employer and facility policies, that may be the only option there is going forward.

Outside of putting up curbing or bollards, I'm not sure what else can be done.

 

[krel]

The dish should not have been installed where it could be hit / damaged by routine lawn care. Whomever comes to fix this problem should find a better location, or you (on your mother's behalf) should discuss this with the property management. If that is where the installer was told to place the dish, then they should take measures to prevent that type of damage.

or get an MDU setup going on in there!!!

 

[harsh]

or get an MDU setup going on in there!!!

Even if they eliminate all the dishes but one, it becomes the new target.

 

[mccoady]

So I'm approaching my 26th appointment next Thursday and wondered what I should say to the tech. After further research the Assisted Living maintenance guy hit the dish while mowing and did admit it after we brought it to the attention of the Administrator. Do I play dumb if he asks if I know how the dish got hit even though I and the facility both know. Or do I just tell him the maintenance guy accidently hit it while mowing?

 

[harsh]

Who performed the act probably isn't helpful to the technician. Just show them which dish it is to reduce any hunting around for the damaged dish.

I'd suggest that some sort of non-grass area (i.e. barkdust or pea gravel) be established on "dish row".