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1/10 DTVPAL is junk, dish network a RIPOFF!!!

rocketman54321 - 10/06/08

DO NOT BUY THE DTVPAL! DISH NETWORK IS A RIPOFF! THEIR WARRANTY SERVICE DOES NOT EXIST! This company is dishonest and does not support their product. Their alleged warranty isn't worth the paper it's printed on. --- After waiting months for the DTVpal, having one order canceled because of unavailability and the price increase, I finally got two just days before my coupons expired. I immediately installed one on our bedroom TV. In less than two weeks, it had failed. When turned on, it would download schedule for a minute, give me about a minute of TV viewing, then the picture would lock up. It would stay this way for a while, then eventually "reboot", power off, back on, and repeat the process over and over. Aside from all the firmware bugs that have been reported on this unit, my unit is broken. A dozen emails, chats, and phone calls with Dish over the past TWO MONTHS, and they can't even figure out how to replace a failed box under their warranty. I have been lied to repeatedly by their "Executive Resolution Team". It seems their entire operation is set up to require an account number to do anything, which DTVpal users don't have. I did confirm that there is no way to field upgrade the firmware on these boxes to fix all of the firmware bugs that they went ahead and shipped with this product that shouldn't be out of beta test at this point. So firmware upgraded will require replacing the entire unit at customer expense. As to my problem, I emailed Echostar support on 8/8, and they kept insisting that they couldn't help me without an account number. WTF? The whole idea of these boxes is that I don't have to pay the monthly fees for service and crappy support. On 8/12 I found their tech support "chat" and spent 45 minutes online with "Alvaro", who confirmed that my box was broken, and that they would replace it. He took my name, address, and phone number, and said I'd get a confirmation call in 3 days that a replacement had been shipped. NOTHING! On 8/20 I called their 888-667-0633 customer "support" number from the instruction book. They transferred me a couple times to a different number, and I again explained the problem, and they again realized the box was defective, but again, without an account number, they don't have a clue how to replace the thing. They were supposed to figure it out and get back to me, but never did. On 9/4 I again called dish, and after getting nowhere for a while, managed to get transferred to the ERT ("Executive Resolution Team"). Isaac Ferman seemed helpful, but rather ignorant. He told me the unit would not work unless activated, and that he had to set up an account for me before it would work. He couldn't explain why it had worked for about a week when I first got it without an account, or why my other unit worked without an account, but set up an account for me, which of course did nothing. He took all of my information, and promised I'd have a replacement shipped immediately, and that it would be in my hands a week later on 9/11. On 9/16 I still had nothing, and called again, and asked for the ERT. The first person hung up on me. I called again, and this time got to Paul. Paul's phone number is 915-298-5525 x85525. Isaac was unavailable, and Paul promised that he or Isaac would get back to me immediately. Never happened. On 9/19 I called again, and again asked for the ERT. This time I got to Gary, who told me that my replacement has been on "hold" since 9/8. It took him a while to find out why, but he finally found that they were waiting for me to return my broken unit. Well, they had NEVER asked me to ship it back, or given me an address to send it. Gary gave me an address to return the box to, which I did on that same day. The USPS tracking number indicates it was delivered on 9/22. Here is the tracking data from USPS.COM: Label/Receipt Number: 0308 0660 0001 2205 3491 Detailed Results: Bullet Delivered, September 22, 2008, 11:57 am, SUWANEE, GA 30024 Bullet Arrival at Unit, September 22, 2008, 8:03 am, SUWANEE, GA 30024 Bullet Processed, September 21, 2008, 2:13 pm, ATLANTA, GA 30320 Bullet Processed, September 19, 2008, 9:16 pm, CHICAGO, IL 60701 Bullet Acceptance, September 19, 2008, 3:07 pm, DUNDEE, IL 60118 I'm missing the date of my next call (about a week later), but I next talked with Cathy Welling in the ERT (720-514-7865) to find the status of my replacement. Se never called back. On 10/3 I again called the ERT and talked with Hugo. He promised to get me a tracking number by the end of the day, but failed to do so. On 10/6 I called once again and got to Sarah Brown in the ERT (720-514-8555). She too was unable to give me a tracking number to verify that my unit had been shipped. I next spoke to the ERT "supervisor" Chrissy at 956-364-7738. She has promised to call me back by the morning of 10/7 and either provide me with a tracking number for my replacement box, or to issue me a check for $70 to reimburse me for the cost of the box. Why do I not believe her? --- I am fully aware that dish's marketing strategy behind this box is to get it in the hands of those who don't subscribe to any TV service, have them "wow" at digital TV, want more, and become dish subscribers. Based on the customer "service" I've had over the past two months, I can promise them that I will NEVER be a paying subscriber to their "service", and will tell as many of my friends as I can how lousy their customer support is so they too can avoid this nightmare that I've dealt with the past two months. --- Since I bought this with coupons that expired about the same time toe product arrived at my door, can any one tell me how to get my money back, either from dish or the vendor, INCLUDING the value of the coupons, so I can buy something else? Even if I do get a refund from dish, there's no other box on the market that will preserve any ability to be able to program your VCR or DVR after next year's transition, so we're all screwed. [Can I give something here a NEAGATIVE 100 RATING??]

1/10 Software flaw results in poor image

813jason - 10/20/08

I purchased this unit based on all of the positive reviews I read at sites like CNet. As soon as I plugged the unit in, I noticed a line of digital noise/distortion at the top of many programs when viewed in letter box format on a normal TV set. The flickering distortion was difficult to ignore and so I contacted tech support for assistance. Thus began a two month long saga. My saga with tech support included recommendations that I buy new cables or view the image in zoom mode to "hide" the distortion. Pursuing the issue further for several weeks, i finally found someone who confirmed that early DTVPal units had a known software glitch and that I could return mine for a replacement. When I contacted tech support to do so, however, I learned that I would have to pay to ship the defective unit back to them. So, two months into owning this unit that everyone seemed to think was so wonderful I had a choice of 1) continuing to use it and try to ignore the continually flickering distortion, 2) pay to ship my defective unit to Dish Network and trust that they would send me a "newer" unit that did not have the software problem, or 3) throw the defective unit in the trash. Unfortunately, I've chosen option 3 and have to admit that I will never do business with Dish Network again. I understand the possibility of having a buggy product when you're rushing to get things out the door and be a "pioneer" in this new set top box converter field, but requiring customers to pay more for your incompetence is ridiculous. Why would I spend more money with a company that has already sold me a defective product. I'm going to stick with the Digital Stream converter box I bought from Radio Shack. It's worked flawlessly from day one.

10/10 Very pleased with mine.

saflak - 04/07/09

My DTVPal has worked flawlessly for 6 months. I love the program guide and particularly love the 4 event timer. It has better reception than my Zenith. I wish I had purchased two. I have had no problems whatsoever.

7/10 vjvj

omarsman - 09/01/09

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