Something they **do not** tell you when you get satellite T.V. - -

[cboy4]

I had to call DISH this week because I started not being able to receive a couple of channels -- most importantly my baseball. :grr:

So I called technical support and they walked me through a couple of things, but no luck.

So, then they told me I needed to make a service appointment to have someone come by and look at their equipment.

No problem I thought, until they told me the service call is an effing $50.00!!!

Are you kidding me??

I didn't know that when switched over to satellite, I'd have to pay for tech support.

After all, it doesn't cost anything to have the cable guy/gal come by and check things out.

It also doesn't cost anything to have my internet service provider tech come by and troubleshoot my modem and computer.

:wtf: Am I the only person who had no idea I would have to pay for satellite TV service calls?!?!

I love my satellite TV, but now I'm starting to feel like it was a mistake to dump cable. :(

Anyone else not know about this bullshit policy??

[rodeodance]

1. yes, it is the fine print that gets you. My mom wishes the same (had keep

cable).

[KT2000]

2. I didn't know that

it sure seems that they should make any repairs necessary if you are not getting the channels you paid for.

I lost some channels once, but the phone support got them back. Had no idea that I would have to pay if that had not worked.

[NMMNG]

3. Methinks I will stick with cable

If I can afford it. Dish touts their low prices--now I see why they can provide them.

[cboy4]

7. I know, ha Buff!

[grasswire]

4. I'm about to find out, I guess

Because for a couple of weeks I've been losing signal on some channels. Oddly enough, it is the two channels I use the most that have gone completely blank. Others have digital scramble. Some are fine.

I'm about to call customer service. But I think in this case the equipment belongs to me not the provider and I'll bet that means I have to pay for service.

I'm not gonna like it either.

[KT2000]

31. You are describing

problems that I am having too.
Losing signal on some of the stations and that scramble.
I am hoping the weather has something to do with it.

[DanCa]

5. We have DISH too but we never had the problem.

The one thing nice I will say about them is that we got to blues music stations on it. That's the only nice thing I'll say about them. I'll ask my old man if he had knew about the service call. Thank you for the heads up.

[cboy4]

6. Right on. Yea, the music is definitely cool.....

However, I think I'm going to call the California Public Utilities Commission to find out more.

It's just total B.S. that they fail to mention you'll have to pay for each and every service call to fix their problem!

[onenote]

62. good luck. The PUC has no jurisdiction over DISH

[cboy4]

68. They will when I'm done with them!!!!!

;)

Yea, you're right.

[sandnsea]

8. How long have you had it?

When ours was an installation problem, they did not charge. I'd say if you've had it less than 45 days or so, call customer service and pitch a fit. I've used satellite for 20 years and it's some of the most stable equipment around, so the idea that there was broken equipment is a bit weird to begin with. Oh, and it isn't their equipment, it's YOURS. That's part of the reason you have to pay for something if it breaks, although like I say, I can't recall anything ever breaking on a satellite dish or receiver.

[cboy4]

9. I've had it for probably about a year, so....

I'm just wondering if a tree branch has grown and is obstructing the dish?!

Wutta pain in the ass!

[sandnsea]

11. That's most likely

What exactly is it doing. Maybe my husband would have an idea of what's up with it. Could be a break in your cable too, we have had that problem occasionally.

[cboy4]

14. I'm getting an error 02 message saying "The satellite signal has been

lost, signal acquisition is in progress."

But nothing happens.

It's channel 9415 Free Speech TV....one of my favorites!! :(

I'm no technical genius, but it doesn't seem logical a cable break, or other hardware problem could affect just one channel, does it? :shrug:

[sandnsea]

18. That is weird

He said try shutting the receiver off for about a minute and then turn it back on. Let the new guide download and maybe it will find the channel again. That error means it's looking for the satellite and transponder and can't find it for some reason.

[cboy4]

19. Yea, we've tried that. :(

But thank your hubby for the suggestion. That was very nice of you both trying to help! :pals:

[sandnsea]

21. Well dang

He happened to be up getting a glass of water and just went back to bed. If he thinks of anything else in the morning, I'll PM you and let you know. Losing one channel is just really weird.

[cboy4]

23. I know! Well thank you my friend

;)

[Brian Stevens]

33. OH I LOVE FREE SPEECH TV

I barely watch anything else.

[cboy4]

48. I know, totally! It's great, ha?

That's why I'm so bummed.

Why couldn't it be FOX that doesn't come in!!??

[Brian Stevens]

86. I usually Tivo Democracy Now show. NT

[Guy Noir]

10. You're being victimized by China's satellite invasion...

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geuo9YIcdENiUBUF1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTE1NTRyaXZjBGNvbG8DZQRwb3MDMQRzZWMDb3YtdG9wBHZ0aWQDUFJFVl8xMDk-/SIG=1iqvbqatq/EXP=1153987288/**http%3a//www23.overture.com/d/sr/%3fxargs=15KPjg1%255FRS%255FpXyl%255FruNLbXU6TFhUBTwsvtoZI%255FU4wtRpYGricpFr89Nb6exZkhE7l5vVGN0q3SqeVSabGu96jTVlfbBk3RXb7piIHFzYsrZaKmX9hChLcpwujpiNNDPQoDFmawCNS66JvOINOPPmgd84pn%252DS29jqktzM60xeEdFLzc2Vtx7QTZJ50B7KYrgsmxXJl7OMRVfs%255FAnibGQKwiytwG4eTQTyQQLiq0vmIEvAGNUjMJpd%252D%252DeplVtLb4nIaQf77wnsQgNAbXrOI95U3OkCDM2ckyci%255Fe1eodxU5ADb2jbTvdlgwxoazBi%255FvNbtFjqHCiAJ2BSC6YIQAuOlMwX6L%255Ff1c2FVERphPeM4BFBc%252Dr5Cu5HrCBBD4ka0YD6ZblLcVyvlSbjGUtVDDcCvCpw2NPLOJ5mRf5W1C96x4h17dm777SLMcStoCiqXM%252E%26yargs=www.official-dishnetwork-online.com

[cboy4]

15. You're an ass.

[Guy Noir]

28. I know I'm an ass, but China has invested many $$$ into Satellite Tech...

... http://www.china-satellite.org/en/Default.html (hit cancel)

[Guy Noir]

32. I'm the farthest thing from a repuke...

...

Listening is a skill. Talking is easy.

[napi21]

12. WOW! I didn't know that! I threatened to quite cable many times

last year when I was having an outage every time it rained, but they finally got it fixed and I stayed with the cable co. I can tell you, I checked into a dish, and the price wasn't cheaper! I'm sure glad I didn't switch! After hearing this pay for service BS, I'd be freaking!!!!

[cboy4]

16. I know! I basically switched because I wanted the Major League Baseball

package.

I've been happy up to this point....even thought I'm paying a little bit more.

[driver8]

13. I have had Direct TV for 7 years and have never had a problem.

I have never had to call for service, so I'm not sure if they charge for a service call. The cable system in our city sucks the big one -- there was no way I was going to pay for their shitty service.

Sorry you are having problems with Dish.

[cboy4]

17. Thanks bro

[Corgigal]

81. we also have Directv

since 2001. We have no problems and I enjoy it much more then cable. We actually have both cable and satellite. We have basic cable for the kids and two TV set up to DirecTV.

Also cable isn't free when they come out to correct a problem. We have to pay a few dollars a month to get the maintenance plan.

[RebelOne]

20. Yes, I found out the same way you did. n/t

[cboy4]

24. What was the outcome with you?

[Raine]

22. I HAD Dish

but canceled them and went back to cable cause they were assholes and shaking me down for more and more money also the satellite would go out for hours at a time.

[cboy4]

25. That's why I'm gunna call the Calif. PUC -- I had a billing problem with

Cingular one time,so I called the PUC and they had the issue solved that day!!

[onenote]

63. Cingular is regulated by the PUC -- for now

DISH isn't, so calling the Cal PUC probably won't help (although I encourage you to do so, since it strengthens their case for retaining/expanding jurisdiction). As for Cingular, wireless companies are subject to state jurisdiction -- for now. The telecommunications act revision being debated in congress contains a provision that would strip states of their jurisdiction, meaning that you (and everyone else in the country) would have to rely on an understaffed FCC to address even local consumer issues.

[magellan]

26. Have you tried Dish Network's Tech Portal?

http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/techportal/index.shtml

Answer questions and it walks you through some tests and potential fixes. These might be the same things they did over the phone or maybe not.

Then again, a message I read on a Yahoo group concerning one channel not coming in put it down to a frayed thread in the cable, which sounds like it means the cable needs replacing.

I don't know about the charge, we haven't had a problem in 3 years (except for the dish blowing slightly out of line during a hurricane, and we fixed that ourselves), knock on wood. $50.00 -- YIKES.

[cboy4]

30. I'll check it out! :) -- As for the cable wire, it's been about 110 here

for more than a week straight, so I'm wondering if that's a factor??

It just seems really weird that a hardware problem would affect only one channel!

Anyway, thanks for the link!! :hug:

[Ms. Clio]

77. yes, something similar happened to me, but it wasn't one channel

every now and then the whole thing would go out. I made the same call you did, heard the same thing about a service fee, and thought, "why don't I just check the little box in the backyard, first?" So I went out and jiggled it or something and haven't had the problem since.

It is totally weird that it would be just that one channel.

[Codeine]

27. That sucks.

I've had DirecTV for about seven or eight years and the only problem has been when my tree grows out too much in the spring and blocks the signal. Try going into your menu and trying different transponders; that sometimes takes care of problems with individual channels.

[cboy4]

40. Tech support walked me through that.....no go.

But thanks for your help :)

[wakeme2008]

29. You should call the people that install the sat dish

The sat companies do not have local support, part of the reason they can offer their low prices. It sounds like the installer did not install it correctly.

I know my Verison DSL came with a self install kit, but if you could not do it, they charged to install it for you.

[cboy4]

41. Well, I've had the dish for more than a year and this is the first time

I've had trouble...........it just doesn't seem like incorrect installation after all this time would cause only one station to not come in.

[grasswire]

34. the odd thing is...

....the channels that are 100 percent lost are CNN and MSNBC, the two I watch the most. Some others are intermittently scrambled or lost.

I was really mad the other night because I planned to watch the Travel channel when Michael Palin in his walk across the Sahara Desert returned to the town where his cruxificion was filmed in the Monty Python film "Life of Brian." Gah!! That channel did not work that evening!

I guess I'd better call today. Not looking forward to it.

[Cleita]

35. I have DirecTV and once they sent me a support guy who

charged me but couldn't fix the problem because what I needed was an upgrade in equipment. DirecTV gave me a new Dish and covered the bill, so it cost me nothing.

As far as losing channels, on DirecTV there is a function you can go into and find out what channels you have and don't have. You can remove or add channels except the ones you pay extra for. For those that can't be fixed this way, they can usually fix it over the telephone from their end to your receiver with no charge.

I would talk to Dish about this. They might cover the charge if you tell them how pissed off you are.

[cboy4]

43. That's a good idea.....I'm going to give DISH a call again.....maybe if I

threaten to go back to cable, they'll be a little more sympathetic! ;)

[Cleita]

52. They should if they value you as a customer.

Good luck!

[Ganja Ninja]

36. When I first got Dish I had a problem getting some channels.

I had to have them come out and relocate my antenna because a tree was in the way. The original installer did lazy a half assed job trying to mount it to the old Direct TV mount. Since the satellites are not located in the same part of the sky he never had a strong signal. This all occurred in the first 2 weeks after I signed up and they didn't charge me.
Also Dish uses 2 satellites and some of the channels are carried on one and not the other. You may have a good signal on one and not on the other. Sometimes they need to install a second dish to get both satellites.

[cboy4]

44. They told me the only reason I would need two dishes is if I wanted the

Spanish channels.

Thanks for the information!!!

[onenote]

64. by law, they are now required to provide all local signals on one dish

[cboy4]

66. Interesting.....I thought it took two dishes for some technical reason....

BTW, they weren't going to charge me for the second dish.....I just didn't want two of 'em on my house

[onenote]

71. Economic, not technical

In 1999, satellite companies were given permission to retransmit local broadcast signals, provided that they retransmitted them on a non discriminatory basis. For economic (rather than technical) reasons, the satellite companies put the more popular stations on one satellite and some of the lesser stations on a second bird. At first, they tried charging separately. When the FCC ruled that was illegal, they didn't charge,but they had their customer service reps play dumb or give out misleading info to discourage people from requesting the free second dish. In 2004, the law was changed again to require one dish for all local signals (although digital and analog signals can be put on separate satellites and still may require two dishes). The satellite companies were given until this year to transition their local signals to a single dish arrangement.

[Skip Intro]

37. Have Dish Network - Love it. Switched to cable, then ran back.

Just moved into a new house, signed up for Dish rather than cable - free DVR, free equipment, free installation. My roommate talked me into switching to TimeWarner cable. The quality of the picture was sooo much worse with cable, and I called Dish the next day to see if they'd come back out and re-install the wiring the cable guy had changed around to use (TimeWarner said no way were they going to put things back like they found them). The first person I talked to at Dish mentioned a fee for this, which was understandable, but I persisted a little longer, got transefered to another person, who had someone come out and re-install Dish for me for free.

I won't ever go back to cable.

[otohara]

38. Dish Trys Really Hard to NOT Send Techs

I know this cuz my kid works there and this is his dept. The techs are so busy installing, they try everything to fix the the problem on the phone. My advice would be to call back - get a different person who maybe knows more and can fix the problem over the phone.

[cboy4]

45. Right on! That's what I'll do. Thanks for your help!

:pals:

[karlrschneider]

39. Here are some things to check (we are Dish installers)

Look up where the dish is pointed - the satellite is about 20 to 25 degrees HIGHER than a line
going straight "out" of the center of the dish. Summertime is when tree limbs grow into the
signal path. It only takes a few leaves to mess up the signal strength! (It can cause loss of
SOME channels at first and will get worse as the leaves grow bigger)

You can try re-booting the receiver & LNB. Hold the power button (on the box, NOT the remote) until the pilot light (green on almost all) goes out, wait 30 seconds then press it again to restore power.
This is a common problem and remedy.

If that doesn't help, you can do a 'hard reboot', unplug the receiver from the AC wall outlet,
wait 30 seconds & re-plug. It should come on right away but if it doesn't, turn on the normal
way with the power button on the rcvr box or the remote.

edit; added a little more

[cboy4]

47. Tried both suggestions dude, but no go. Just seems weird how only

one channel is effected!

But thanks man for your suggestions!

[karlrschneider]

56. Okay, have you gone into the 'dish pointing' to check sig strength?

You should do a 'check switch' too (although you probably have already done these too.)

I didn't realize there was only ONE channel not working, that doesn't sound like a LNB or
cable problem. Need to read your OP again, stand by
.......................

edit:

You wrote "I had to call DISH this week because I started not being able to receive a couple of channels -- most importantly my baseball."

I wasn't sure how many "a couple" was. Is it possible the dish has been bumped or somehow moved
by some high winds? What exactly do you see when you switch to the channel that isn't 'working'?
Do you get any message/video at all?

[cboy4]

59. Well, one of the channels (FOX Sports Net) came back....WTF?!

No wind, dish hasn't been moved.....just really F'ing hot here

I get an 002 message saying signal lost, signal acquisition in progress.....

[karlrschneider]

61. I would give odds the dish isn't pointed right.

Or there's something in the way. Did you check like I said that there is no vegetation about 20 degrees above what "seems" like the elevation the dish is aimed? The dish isn't spherical, it's a weird semi-ellipse that allows it to see two birds and the true focal point is WAY higher than it
-seems- to be. Is the dish where you can see it up close? You might also look at the 'skew' setting, it might be a little off (that's how much it's 'tilted' from vertical)

[cboy4]

65. A tree limb may barely, barely be in the way, so I'll dick around with

it and see how it goes.

Really dude, thanks A LOT for your help!

[karlrschneider]

67. You would probably be amazed at how little it takes!

Even a few tiny twigs will knock the shit outta your signal!

[cboy4]

73. YOU ARE THE MAN! I panned to the east just a bit and it did the

trick.

The problem was a tiny-ass twig that was obviously in the way. Unbelievable!

Beer is on me if you visit California some day!

Thanks again buddy!!! :toast:

[cboy4]

74. delete....wrong location

[karlrschneider]

82. GREAT! Hey, glad to help!

:toast:

[smacky44]

42. Thanks for the information. I will stick with cable.

[Touchdown]

46. I've had Dish for 6 years, never a service call.

I've had to do hard reboots before, especially with a 5 year old reciever, but I saved $10 a month not paying rent on it (you do pay for that cable box, every month.).

I just upgraded to Dish HD with a new reciever/DVR, and unlike my old one, it requires me to turn it off for data downloads. They're trying to charge me $99 for a dish install that they told me was free, so I'm calling, but I wouldn't ever go back to cable. Sorry your having problems with yours, but that must be the price of ownership.

[cboy4]

49. Yea, I wouldn't be so irritated if DISH made it more clear from the get go

that I'd be responsible for service calls.

Maybe I should have know, but I still feel like I was fu*ked over ;)

[karlrschneider]

57. If you have a 522 or similar DVR receiver it will turn itself off.

Some models will let you set the time to do it (I think the default is 2:00 a.m. local time), if you're up watching when it wants to do that, you can cancel it and it will try again later.

[Touchdown]

87. That's the one I have...the 522.

...and it did ask me once at 1:30am when I was watching Needful Things one wee hour. I just told it to wait. Never occured to me that it would turn itself off. Thanks.

[Gold Metal Flake]

50. Twice with DirectTv we had equipment issues.

Both times they simply sent out a new tuner box. No questions, no service call, no requirement to return the old tuner box.

[raysr]

51. I get support on

the phone and it is fine. Never an offer to send a tech. Don't call who you bought it from, call 1800 333 3474, go through the menu and talk to a real tech. Problem solved for free. I used to sell and install Dish systems and own one.
Word of warning, don't but a receiver "cheap" at a garage sale. If there's any money owed on the programming from the previous owner they'll NEVER authorize it unless you pay his bill. Not being able to get a channel is not a hardware issue but a programming issue, this equipment is very simply built. However, if the dish is out of alignment that could cause a channel to not come in but that is the installer's fault.

[halobeam]

53. I get Verizon FIOS... I dropped LI, NY cablevision.

Tech support/service free.. VERY POLITE...Never had a problem, in fact, the pic AND audio beats the heck out of cable, get more channels, more boxes actually, and it is less expensive. Really can't beat that.

Besides, cable is/was a monopoly until dish came out.. NOW the competition is really starting .. Verizon is kickin' butt and AT&T is on it's way there. Cablevision charged outrageous fees and every bill kept climbing... because they COULD. But no more.

I remember being on the line at the cable store to return my boxes, and more than half the people there were returning their equipment ... they went FIOS ...lol... Call Verizon, try to get it.

[cboy4]

54. ***THE LATEST.......

Spoke with another tech support person......ran some over the phone tests and my transponder signal strength is 65.

They say anything below 70 could be problematic, and could affect just one channel!!! That seems crazy.

So I was told it could be a problem with the dish or the cable or the receiver.

Jesus.

They want me to sign up for the $4.95 (I think that's the cost) per month home protection plan.

It will reduce the cost of the service call to $29 and they would replace my receiver....otherwise, I'll have to pay more than double for the service call and pay for a new receiver. :wtf:

The only channel I can't get is Free Speech TV, which I love......but I'm now trying to figure out whether it's worth the money to fix it.

I'm starting to think I should have stayed with cable, but I wanted DISH for the Major League Baseball package.

I think I'm going to call DISH and threaten to actually go back to cable unless they fix their shit. :banghead:

Fuc* I hate public utilities!!!!

[Touchdown]

55. Simple troubleshooting elimination. Check the dish first.

Get your boyfriend to watch the signal on TV, you need a wrench to move it. When the signal hits 90 he should tell you that's the sweet spot. If it goes down, move it the other way. If it goes down, no matter how you move it, then it's the coax. Put the dish back to where it was. Have him tell you when it's 65%, and tighten the bolts.

Coax is just standard cable. Buy a heavy duty thick one...about 100 ft. Radio Shack or Best Buy has them. Don't buy cheap, since the cable will be outside.

If that doesn't improve the signal strength, then it is the reciever. BUY, don't rent, but BUY a new one. Have them come out and pick their POS up, and take that monthly rental fee off of your bill. Radio Shack and Sears sells Dish Network recievers.

Do this, and you've just done what they would do for $50. Have boyfriend take you out for a $50 dinner.

[cboy4]

58. WTF???!? Boyfriend?? I'm straight dude. Fuck. . . . . .

Ahhh, had you going didn't I? ;)

K, good ideas, I'll get busy. Thanks :)

[donco6]

70. Do try that! It worked for me when I had that prob.

It really wasn't that hard. You can set your settings so that the signal strength broadcasts a signal really loud. Turn it up and you can maneuver the dish from outside and still hear when you're "getting close" inside.

The hardest thing for me was finding a @#$%#@ ladder. . .

[Touchdown]

88. We've talked before Hot Stuff.

Nice fake out though.:rofl:

[karlrschneider]

60. Point about coax: It MUST be RG6. 58 or 59 will NOT work.

(there are a couple other flavors that will work but they aren't sold in retail stores)
ks

[SoCalDem]

69. Did you buy the equipment when you signed up, or rent?

I ask, because the plan we signed up for 3 years ago was for rental. I debated on the rent-to-purchase plan, but decided I'd rather not own it..

[cboy4]

76. I got it for free as part of the package sign-up deal, so I guess I'm

ultimately responsible for the unit!

[SoCalDem]

78. aaah.. That's why I chose to rent

I figured, well I would own the equipment after a time, but that's also when something would go wrong with it, and even if it did not, I would have "old" equipment.. My husband questioned the wisdom of it, but after hearing your dilemma, I'm gald I did not buy it ..:hug:

[cboy4]

79. That's why you're smarter than me!

;) :hug:

[CrispyQ]

72. We love DISH.

Hated cable. Our city has terrible cable service. It would go out more than our DISH ever has.

with Dish, we had problems once & were told to re-set the card. There is a covered slot where there is a credit card type card. If you go to the Dish Network website they have directions & trouble shooting. I beleive you have to turn everything off before taking the card out. Anyway, it fixed the problem we were having.

Before you switch to cable, I would talk to your neighbors who have it & see if they are happy. Good luck.

[cboy4]

75. SUCCESS!!!!! Thanks everyone for your help - - - and for those

who have dishes.....keep in mind a lousy little twig can screw up your reception!!

You need to readjust the dish!

[karlrschneider]

83. Just keep in mind, that won't always work!

If you move the dish -too much- it won't be pointed at the satellite! Best solution is to peak the
signal then chop anything in the way! :D

[cboy4]

85. All right. You're hired! Can I expect you say, Wednesday of next week to

start chopping??

J/K!!!

[Vinca]

80. We have Directv and they've been great.

Our dish was acting up and they had a technician come and install a new receiver free of charge and reposition the dish. They even called back to be sure we were happy. I nearly fainted.

[NNN0LHI]

84. My cable company has threatened to charge me for coming out to fix...

...their problems before. I didn't fall for it. But I bet a lot of people do.

Don