Just had the installers at my dad's house to install his new Starchoice.He tried to pull the old it's going to be $50 extra because it a hard to do install.I said let me think about it for a sec and called customer service, while he walked around his truck. Customer service said they would take care of it.Five minutes later the installer came back to the door and told me he got the Extra $50 fee waived.

How many receiver's/lines was he installing?
Starchoice pays the installer for the first two runs, extra are billed to the customer @ $50.00 a pop.

He got three but the third install customer service said will show up on his bill later.The installer wanted another $50 up front before he started the work.What shocked me was this guy was in a starchoice truck not a rogue installer.

Did anyone try to get a CSR this past weekend? 60+minute wait. At least they tell you at the start of the call. I wanted to activate PPV on a receiver that had been unplugged for a few months. As soon as the SuperBowl was over the wait went down to 5 minutes.
If anyone cares, the CSR told me that the PPV login system was down and he doubted he could fix the issue at that time. He was right!!:(

He got three but the third install customer service said will show up on his bill later.The installer wanted another $50 up front before he started the work.What shocked me was this guy was in a starchoice truck not a rogue installer.

Standard protocol is for the installer to bill the customer the $50 for the third line directly.
It may have been a misunderstanding.
Starchoice will not bill for the 3rd line unless it is setup and verified by the customer @ time of install.
The extra call probably cleared up the confusion.
If Starchoice bills the customer on his bill later, than Starchoice will pay the installer the extra $50 when they process payment for his work.
Either way the installer gets the extra $50.

When I ordered I asked about the charge for the third line. Should I have the money ready to pay the installer? I was told the $50 install for the third line is put on the bill after I activate the service.This installer said it is $50 for the third line and wanted another $50 for what he said was a hard install.The hard install fee was waived and I pay the $50 for the third line.
The installer went on about some crap about aluminum siding , slope on the roof said it was more money for wire and blocks to hold the dish down.

I have been with *c for over 3 years.
They have replaced 3 of my receivers over that time (no cost to me).
The CSR's have all treated me well with both diagnosing the bad receivers
and activating the new ones.
Overall my experience with *c has been positive.

What receivers had to be replaced?

My wife bought an old DSR305 from a charity store, which i wanted to set up with my computer.
So i called Starchoice the next day and gave them the s/n and they said that it was OK to use and did i want to set it up now.
I said no as i had to run the extra line into the house.
So 3 weeks later i put the line in and called Starchoice to activate it.
Well to my surprise she said that there was money owing on it and the unit was frozen.
Nothing i said changed her mind.
I wouldnt have been bothered if the first person had said that, i could have returned the unit. Now i can't, i am stuck with it.
So they are losing a customer, I am going to Bell.
See you guys later.

Ha, if thats what you're leaving Star Choice for, you're going to love Bell.

$35 to activate a used receiver with them.

You'll notice on the back of your Star Choice bill, under the "LATE PAYMENTS" section, it states:
Programming upgrades and the removal of equipment from the subscriber's premises are not permitted while the account is in arrears.


It's unfortunate that the first person you spoke with didn't notice the outstanding balance. Did the second rep you talked to mention if there were notes in the account from the first agent? If there were, you might have some traction in getting somwhere with this.

My advice is to See if they'll give you a deal on a new additional receiver. You'll probably be able to get a few bucks off the list price of a 205 or something.

[So they are losing a customer, I am going to Bell.
See you guys later.[/QUOTE]

Bye bye, the grass may not be greener over the fence.

Funny, i did buy an old 301 receiver about 2 years ago from a friend and there was a balance for months (which he did not tell me). SC activated it anyways. I don't recall if my friend paid or not the bill before SC activated it.

;)

Why buy a used one when a new one is less than free DSR 205 @ $79 - $100 in credits.Another $10 off if you buy online.They give you $30 .
Get a DSR315 @$100 with a $110 credit.They give you $10.
And they would have come in and did the install at no charge.

Sorry I just noticed these prices for new subs only!

The details regarding the current transfer of ownership policy can be easily found on Star Choice's website:
http://www.starchoice.com/english/support/transferownership.asp

Here is the relevant section:
Transferring Ownership of a Star Choice Receiver

Have you recently purchase or received a Star Choice receiver or are you looking to sell or give away a receiver? Follow these few simple guidelines to make the transition go smoothly. The rules below apply to all equipment transfers.

New owner has a Star Choice account
If the new owner already has a Star Choice account in their name, they can contact us to activate the receiver, and no bill of sale is required. We only require that the previous owner's account is in good standing, or if the account has been cancelled that the balance owing is less than $25.00.


Should this be placed in the Star Choice FAQ?

So how much was owing on the receive?

I really don't understand the point of this policy. The person being penalized is the one who purchased the receiver. Why do they make the (new) owner of the receiver responsible for the charges? The purchaser of the receiver buys it in good faith only to find out it can't be activated. The seller ends up making a few bucks off the sale. They should have means to collect the outsatnding debt as any other business instead of "freezing" a receiver. This takes a perfectly good receiver out of commission.

I guess they work it the same way as a lien a mechanic puts on a car when someone owes him money for repairs. A way to cover their loss.
My question to swampfox would be what would you do if they activated it and it did not work?There has to be some Caveat Emptor.

The original owner gave the receiver away to a charity shop. So he didnt make any money from the sale.
The receiver works, as i got the picture and was able to change channels.
Yes that was my point from the start, they are not punishing the original owner, they are sticking it to a customer of good standing that was about to upgrade his programming. So i got a little ticked off.
No, they didnt say what the outstanding balance was.
But as i said, they originally said it was ok to use.

I would call back,unless your dead set to switch.I'm with ExpressVu and you have got to call them a few times to get the right fix as well.
I think we all know when it comes to customer service, one is usually much better than the other.

The original owner gave the receiver away to a charity shop. So he didnt make any money from the sale.


But he didn't pay his SC bill - some charity work.

Call SC to cancel your account. You will be switched to a "Saves" CSR. Explain that you called to verify unit OK before purchasing. You spent your money based on an error made by a Star Choice employee - keep it simple and keep to the point.

I really don't understand the point of this policy.

There are 2 reasons why I think the policy is in place:
1) It's extra encouragement for existing customers to pay their bill when they disconnect their account. It's awfully easy to ignore the $150 you owe Star Choice when its just a collections agency that is contacting you, but when your neighbor or coworker is reminding you every week you need to pay it before they can use the receiver you sold them, its a bit more encouraging.
2) There are alot of people who get their account turned off for not paying their bill, and then turn around and try to simply reactivate at the same address (or slightly different) under the wife/kids/neighbor/parent/friends name, with the same receiver. Having the policy in place ensures this doesn't happen.

Just a thought, I'm sure Star Choice has their own reasons too.

Just a thought, I'm sure Star Choice has their own reasons too.

You nailed it. Those two reasons are exactly why the policy is in place. The latter especially.