It would be highly unlikely that they could fat finger the card and the receiver and get the numbers right. You know department stores have re-pack machines. Could have been a return that Sears pawned off on you as new. I'd be back at Sears ASAP.

 

It would be highly unlikely that they could fat finger the card and the receiver and get the numbers right. You know department stores have re-pack machines. Could have been a return that Sears pawned off on you as new. I'd be back at Sears ASAP.

Yeah, I thought of that too, but if it had been repacked, they did a darn good job at it. Everything in the box was in a sealed plastic bag--not just taped shut, but completely sealed. I took it back and got another receiver--no problem with authorizing that one. They were offering 10% off or I would have just bought it at Walmart. BTW, the receiver itself said that it had NOT been authorized--only Dish said it had. That's why I figured it may be a Dish database problem. Whatever....not worth firing too many neurons over.

 

Garye,
As a long time installer for Dish, I have seen this situation come up many times before.
So, I took it upon myself to find out why this was happening.
The answer that I got was this:
Any receivers that are returned to Dish within the first 3 months of activation, (cust. canceled, defective rec from factory, damaged in shipping, etc.) are re-worked and sent back out as new equip! They retain their original smart cards so the rec and card will always match up. What happens sometimes, is Dish forgets to take the defective rec off of active status and therefore it will show in their computers as still being active, even though you can't receive any programing (other than the basic "freebies") until you have the rec activated under your account. (when they are returned to be re-worked, they are automatically deprogrammed). And, just so you don't think the people at Dish are completely incompetent, sometimes the rec's get back out to the retailers, and to the customers, before the database gets updated! I hope this answered your question.

 

Garye,
As a long time installer for Dish, I have seen this situation come up many times before.
So, I took it upon myself to find out why this was happening.
The answer that I got was this:
Any receivers that are returned to Dish within the first 3 months of activation, (cust. canceled, defective rec from factory, damaged in shipping, etc.) are re-worked and sent back out as new equip! They retain their original smart cards so the rec and card will always match up. What happens sometimes, is Dish forgets to take the defective rec off of active status and therefore it will show in their computers as still being active, even though you can't receive any programing (other than the basic "freebies") until you have the rec activated under your account. (when they are returned to be re-worked, they are automatically deprogrammed). And, just so you don't think the people at Dish are completely incompetent, sometimes the rec's get back out to the retailers, and to the customers, before the database gets updated! I hope this answered your question.

In many states, that is illegal. They would have to be marked as refurbished or some such. They are not supposed to be sold as new. It is considered deceptive. (Then again, selling hardware which is basically still in alpha stage, not even beta, might be considered deceptive too.)

 

Yeah, I thought of that too, but if it had been repacked, they did a darn good job at it. Everything in the box was in a sealed plastic bag--not just taped shut, but completely sealed. I took it back and got another receiver--no problem with authorizing that one.

I let a receiver go unauthorized to the point where it reverted back to the "install" list of channels. (It belonged to the previous owner of my house. He cut the sat cable and cancelled. The receiver didn't get the kill command. I plugged it in to see what was there and the previous owner's package was still active. -- Nice picture, lets buy one! -- One trip to Wal*Mart later and I installed a fresh 301 and Dish500 with DP LNBs. I decided to let the old receiver die a natural death. That occurred the day I authorized my new receiver. CS found the former address owner's account - and sent the kill instructions again. Now "his" receiver has only the "install" list of channels listed.)

Perhaps someone took a quick trip to Sears, bought the new receiver, swapped their old one for the NIB one leaving all the accessories sealed and intact, and returned it - walking away with a new clean receiver. Stranger things have happened in retail, and if they returned the box cleanly taped the store may never have figured out it was done. (Please don't do this!)

I doubt that E*'s return stream would get to Sears. I could understand returns getting to other retailers, and the Dish contract clearly states that equipment may be used. (Although one would expect that on lease plans, not retail sold units.) Then again, if it comes from Echostar's warehouse it sounds possible.

JL

 

It would be aggervating if someone went to activate a receiver and did not hook it up when they called to activate it but waited until later to hook it up and ended up getting fewer channels than what they ordered. Someone could also have a receiver disconnected when ordering more channels and that receiver that was not connected would not get the additional channels that were ordered. Does only the blue cards do this or do the yellow cards and new receivers without the card do this as well?

 

I believe E* sends the commands to turn on new channels in a receiver more than once. They certainly send the "off" commands for a while. One SHOULD have their receivers online when they are ready to activate them. And if, for some reason, a receiver's activation "doesn't take" due to a receiver being unplugged from power or the dish, you can always call back and complain ... and the ons will be resent.

If it's agrivating, it is self agrivating.

JL

 

How long are kill commands sent?

We have the DHP. We at one point had 4 receivers but took one off. It was unplugged at the time. They told us they'll send out a box to pick it up - never got the box. Couple months later I hooked it up and it's still receiving the full AEP (which we still pay for) but we don't pay the $5 fee anymore and don't technically own this receiver.