Comments for Twittering With DISH Scores Free Local HD Channels

Twittering With DISH Scores Free Local HD Channels

2009-03-23T18:41:36Z

Like anything that's cool and people use to organically connect to one another, companies have rushed into Twittering. To take advantage of this, reader Justin says he's started following all the companies he gets service from on Twitter. When he saw @dishnetwork tweet about an area getting local HD channels, he asked in reply when Cincinnati would get them. @dishnetwork replied back that Cincinnati should have them and asked for his account for so they could check into it. Turned out he needed a different Dish and the rep agreed to have it installed at no cost instead of the usual $60. "The tech showed up this morning, and I have local HD channels for free," writes Justin. "I'm finding tracking companies on Twitter is useful because they people monitoring the accounts are ones who can actually do something."

(Illustration: carrotcreative)

Comment from speedway84 on 2009-03-27

2009-03-27T23:11:28Z

@I_am_Awesome: If only this were true in Canada!

Comment from Hands on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T16:22:34Z

I was gonna get some customer service by Twitter until I noticed the CSR was tweeting with an Indian accent.

Comment from Raving Rabbid on 2009-03-24

2009-03-24T05:48:10Z

He needed a 1000.4 to get the 77 West sat, which has Cincinnati HD locals.

Comment from Anonymous on 2009-03-23

2009-03-24T02:09:51Z

I had an issue with Dish and looked up the twitter account. I had a response within 5 minutes, a personal phone call when the twittering wouldn't cut it, and the reps direct phone line to call back if anything goes wrong. Everything went well! Yet another reason I heart Dish.

Comment from oregongal on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T23:23:37Z

Well Twitter worked for me in solving a great mystery with Charter cable. For years the on-screen guide for G4 on my TV showed programming in PST BUT actual program was on EST feed. So irritating since no one would/could figure out the problem. So I tweeted about it and within moments got a RT from Eric Ketzer aka my hero lol. I gave him the necessary info on a Thursday and by Sunday it was all sorted out.

The most frustrating part of all of this was it had to go to this length.

Comment from Tankueray on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:43:27Z

I'd also like to say that while many companies use Twitter well, there are many more that don't. I sent a tweet to a company the other day asking if there were any tips for usage of one product and what was the warranty on another. What I received was a reply that said "contact customer service" and "you're using it wrong, stupid." (paraphrased)

To their benefit, I called CS instead of using the email address he gave me and I was pleasantly surprised to spend less than 5 minutes on the phone and they shipped out a replacement by the end of the week.

Comment from Tankueray on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T22:33:49Z

(Replies not working)

@allstarecho - no, it doesn't work that way. All you have to do is send an @reply to them and it will show up in their account. If you want to DM each other, you both have to be following. Also, many companies have people that work for them with regular user names that follow keywords posted in tweets. So, even if the company doesn't have an official Twitter account, you can still post a tweet with their name or product and they might be looking for it.

Comment from bigdave914 on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:45:53Z

Twitter Directory of companies:
[www.socialbrandindex.com]

Comment from juri squared on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:39:20Z

Twitter is really handy for finding deals, too. I got $22 loge seats for Rent after seeing @VisitChicago tweet the sale.

Comment from allstarecho on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:20:58Z

Of course Twitter is useless if the company you're following, doesn't follow you too so they can see your complaints... and I've found that some of the companies I have added to "follow", don't follow me back. Just because you follow a company doesn't mean anything. They have to follow you too to even see your complaint or whatever you post about them.

Comment from BrandonSH on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T21:16:18Z

If twittering gets you free HD channels, I'm gonna have to get started ;)

Comment from sodomanaz on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T20:30:50Z

@johnva: Don't worry. This will get exploited soon enough and everyone will be on the same playing field again.

Comment from PoopsieDoodle on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T20:30:11Z

@captadam: An antenna won't always cut it. I live in a heavily-populated area, fairly close to the local TV stations. However, the land here is very hilly. Even with an antenna, TV reception is nonexistent.

Comment from mike on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T20:25:45Z

It'd be great if there was a website that kept a list of all the companies that had twitter pages.

Comment from PunditGuy on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:57:49Z

I did manage to get exactly the same thing for my dad with a 3-minute phone call. Twittering would have been marginally more convenient, but it isn't necessary to get service.

Comment from hippybear on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:54:48Z

I agree with captadam. Free HD channels are available over the air with an antenna, if your television has an HD tuner built in. In fact, with the multiple program streams carried under DTV, many stations are broadcasting 2-4 channels now, something you will NOT get via satellite. It's a shame that the ruts of satellite and cable television are so deep, many consumers cannot see over them to realize that a lot of this stuff is available over the air.

Bravo for DISH for the excellent customer service.

Comment from I_am_Awesome on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:50:45Z

All cable companies are required by law to provide local HD channels for free. Not sure if that applies to satellite companies, but it probably does. They don't have to provide the equipment for free, but if you have cable the only equipment you need is a TV with a QAM tuner. Most recent HDTVs have a QAM tuner.

Comment from doobs on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:48:27Z

free except for the fact that he now has a 24 month contract with dish, it's $60 if you don't want to renew your contract. this offer is available to anyone at any time. also he didn't need a different dish, he needed an extra dish, that's right two ugly ass sat dishes on your house instead of one. i love dish but i'm sticking with my ota hd channels.

Comment from captadam on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:34:55Z

Wow, I was able to get free local HD channels too! I use something called an antenna.

Comment from johnva on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T19:18:04Z

@Hank Scorpio: No, you're not being cynical. That is exactly what will happen if it ever gets too popular. Paradoxically, spreading around what good service you got by going this route may actually hasten that day.

Comment from Hank Scorpio on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T18:51:55Z

"I'm finding tracking companies on Twitter is useful because [the] people monitoring the accounts are ones who can actually do something."

For now. Just wait. Once more people start actually using Twitter to get good customer service with these companies, that'll get outsourced, too.

Or am I just being cynical?

(Comment previews are back!)

Comment from johnva on 2009-03-23

2009-03-23T18:49:53Z

So we're all going to have to start using this method to actually get actual customer service? Ugh. Plus, it doesn't seem too scalable once more people figure it out, if the whole point of doing it is to get "access" to the people who can actually do their job in customer service.