View Full Version : Just got screwed by Dish...What to do?
amnster
10-07-05, 08:58 PM
Hello all,
I'm new here and not trying to start a troll topic. I'm very upset and don't know what to do.
I just bought HDTV and wanted to upgrade my 2700 for the 811. E* csr told me it'd be $50 to upgrade the receiver. Of course the csr didn't tell me it's a leased equipment and the $5/mo lease fee.
I just found out about the lease terms when I got the receiver. I called to cancel it and they wouldn't give me back the $50.
I don't know if I'm going to get charged for the cancellation fee (because the rude csr hung up on me when I tried to explain to her that nobody told me about the lease situation).
Is there another ph# to call other than the 333dish or email address?
Thank you
Wills77
10-07-05, 09:12 PM
Hello all,
I'm new here and not trying to start a troll topic. I'm very upset and don't know what to do.
I just bought HDTV and wanted to upgrade my 2700 for the 811. E* csr told me it'd be $50 to upgrade the receiver. Of course the csr didn't tell me it's a leased equipment and the $5/mo lease fee.
I just found out about the lease terms when I got the receiver. I called to cancel it and they wouldn't give me back the $50.
I don't know if I'm going to get charged for the cancellation fee (because the rude csr hung up on me when I tried to explain to her that nobody told me about the lease situation).
Is there another ph# to call other than the 333dish or email address?
Thank you
Welcome to DBSTalk!
If you simply deactivate your 2700 and activate the 811 the only added cost with be for your HD Programming. Although the 811 is leased, it is included in the price of the programming package of your choice, assuming you deactivate your 2700 that is.
Having said that, not sure why you would want a refund... did you think you would own a HD Receiver for $50???? I am not sure if you will get a refund but im sure that it is possible with numerous calls to DISH.
I saw an email for the ceo somewhere on this forum but don't remember it. I emailed it and actually got a response.
I would try csr again and if no luck just lease the receiver through the end of your contract then cancel everything (if you're really that upset). The $60 lease will be alot cheaper than the cancellation fee.
Not to kick you when you're down but did you really think you were getting a $400 receiver for $50?
Sorry, Wills77 types faster than me ;)
larrystotler
10-07-05, 09:42 PM
IF you added the 811, then the normal $4.99 additional outlet fee would be considered a $5.00 LEASE fee on your bill. It is the SAME thing basically, but with a different name and different tax breaks for E*. Are you using BOTH receivers? If so, then your bill should have went up $5 for now($10 if you added the Voom channels), and after 6 months, it will go up another $10 when you start actually paying for the HD pack.
amnster
10-07-05, 09:52 PM
Thank you for the welcome and comments. I'm sorry I wasn't very cleared on my 1st post and didn't want to make a short story long.
I upgraded one of my 2700 to 811 over a year ago when it first came out. I paid $90 for the 811 thru E* (purchased not leased). I'm already paying for the HD package. I just bought another HDTV and wanted to upgraded another receiver. I assumed it'd be the same as last time. When the csr told me it'd be $50 to upgrade the receiver, I thought to myself that was great, may be it's been a year and the price had come down. She never told me I was leasing the receiver and had to pay $5/mo for the lease fee.
My point is; I was never told about the lease situation when I called to upgrade the receiver and by giving E* my credit card number I'd accepted their lease contract. Do you think that's fair?
Fair is such a relative term, especially with E*. Sounds like a communication breakdown between u and CSR. Pretty rare with E* CSR. j/k I'm to the point that whenever I upgrade, I just agree to the long winded description of the upgrade and hope for the best.
A lease is actually a good thing with the 811, they have alot of problems that don't seem to start until after the warranty expires. I own mine and I am considering doing the $6 protection plan in anticipation of my 811 dying.
You're best bet is a few more phone calls to CSR until you talk with someone who will help you make things right.
Jason Nipp
10-07-05, 10:12 PM
In my opinion the lease is beneficial right now. In the next 6months or so MPEG4 will come out and you will need to upgrade anyhow.
From my understanding, if your adding the new 811 as a second receiver you should not see any change in your bill other than a description change. By adding a second receiver you would have a $4.99 additional outlet fee. By leasing you'd pay a penny more per month and you can give the receiver back when it is obsolete.
amnster
10-07-05, 10:29 PM
Anyway, I'll try to be short about the whole story.
I've been with E* for 8 years. I currently own 3 receivers one 811 and two 2700's (originally owned three 2700's). I upgraded one of the 2700's a year ago to 811 and my bill stayed the same except for the HD package. I wanted to upgrade one of the two 2700's to another 811.
It's been a week since I called E* to upgraded the receiver. UPS just delivered the receiver this afternoon. I unpacked the package and found the lease terms and conditions inside the receiver box. I was a little confused, so I called E* to ask about it. At first, the first csr told me it's a leased unit and I had to pay the fee. Then she changed her mine and said it's a purchased unit instead, after I told her about the last upgrade I had a year ago and asked her to check my account history (to prove it). I asked if she could fax me a confirmation to assure me it's not a leased receiver, but she hung up on me. I called back and explained the whole thing over again to the second csr. He told me it's a leased receiver for sure. He then explained to me about the lease contract, by giving them the CC#, I'd accepted the contract and activated the receiver.
Again, my point is; it's not fair to be forced to accept a contract and not knowing anything about it.
amnster
10-07-05, 10:44 PM
It seems I'm the only one here who thinks I got screwed. Oh well...live and learn. Thank you for all your help.
Don't get me wrong, I totally agree, it's just a David vs. Goliath situation. That's the problem with large corporations without brick and mortar locations. Trying to explain the situation to someone on the phone knowing the only thing they care about is getting to the next call is a pain. There's no "Customers Always Right" attitude with E* that's for sure.
You just have to weigh the pros and cons. You're going to run into the same crap at D* or cable eventually. It's just the nature of the industry. I personally wouldn't cancel my service because of a bad CSR experience. You're not being asked to pay anything unreasonable just not what you thought or what was explained to you.
I think it was Shakespeare who said "Sometimes the H#ll you know is better than the H#ll you don't."
Stewart Vernon
10-07-05, 11:39 PM
Not to kick while you are down... but are you sure you actually bought the first 811?
I've heard of people exchanging receivers they own for a credit towards leasing a receiver. Not something I would do, but some people apparently do it.
So, what I'm wondering is... if that 2700 for 811 swap you did a year or so ago actually got you a leased 811 then too.
I know you said your monthly bill stayed the same, but it would... because you started and ended with the same number of active receivers (3) on your account.
It wouldn't surprise me if you looked and found out that they have you leasing the first 811 as well.
If I were in your shoes, I'd want to double-check things just to be sure.
ColoradoDBS
10-08-05, 01:28 AM
I believe the e-mail in question is ceo@echostar.com - it is unlikely they will drop the lease fee, but if you are wanting to return the rcvr they may help you there. If you still have one of your original rcvrs on the account, the $5/mo lease fee should just replace the $4.99 additional outlet fee you were paying for the old 2700
JohnGfun
10-08-05, 07:17 AM
I paid $90 for the 811 thru E* (purchased not leased).
Like dpd146 said its a $400 receiver. There is no way you purchased it for $90.
You should have anticipated that it was a leased receiver, knowing that E*'s install fee is $50.
John
You used a credit card dispute the transaction with your bank if you feel so offended by the DISH service! Personally I don't see what you are complaining about you got an 811 your bill has changed by only a penny, and the receiver will be obsolete when MPEG4 goes into use.
Another case of E making a mistake on there behalf. I do not agree with some of the posters on here, some some will not agree with my posting. But here goes. E CSR's will lie to customers, and then change there minds about upgrades and options. This is just a case of a big company having bad apples working for it. I have had good luck with Dish so far. So I will not bad mouth them in that way. But I will say that call one more CSR today and try to get it straightened out. If that doesn't work ask to talk to there supervisor. You may have to keep calling back. Some CSR's refuse to let you talk to a supervisor. Same old excuses, drop your call, supervisor not around. If no one can satisfy your needs, pick up the phone and call your bank and cancel the transaction with Dish for the receiver. This will get there attention. They may even turn off your service. Go on line and see if you can get an E-Mail to Charlie the owner and explain your situation to him. Usually he will make it right. Then you always have the other option which some on here do not like. Go on line to the Better Business Bureau in Colorado where Dishes home base is located and file a complaint.
Mark Holtz
10-08-05, 03:24 PM
Hmmmm.... something just doesn't smell right with the transaction. It sounds like a case of CSR roulette, and you got bad information. Try to get a definitive answer in writing, and use the dispute charge as your ace in the hole.
larrystotler
10-08-05, 04:47 PM
If I remember correctly, E* used to have an HD upgrade similar to the DVR upgrade where you could get the rreceiver for like $100 and would own it after a year. They were doing that back in 2003. It wasn't until last February that they tried to start doing it lease only with the DishNItUp promo.
E* does not usually treat current customer well. Whereas new customers can get the 811 or DVR receivers without any initial charge. The $250 initial fee to get the 942 HD receiver is also only available to new customer.
If you have been a loyal customer to support E* for so long, why does one has to pay for upgrade fee when new customers don't ???
D* is a doing a little better to keep their current customers happy. Their existing customers can get a HD DVR for $200 after rebate whereas new customers are paying $500.
xnt, I totally agree. That's been my biggest complaint with E* all along. Why not reward your long standing customers with some decent upgrade promotions. Evertime I look at their website and see what is being offered to new customers I get mad.
My buddy just got new service, got an 811, DVR, two regular receivers, same programming package for nothing up front and $20 cheaper a month than me. Come on E* get a clue.
Of course I keep paying and keep upgrading so they must know something about their customers. Prob some market research that shows existing customers won't cancel even though they get screwed at every turn.
Oh well, back to my 811 that overheats, locks up and loses signal everytime it rains. Rock on E* :)
SBacklin
10-09-05, 10:15 AM
I read this thread and wanted to ask a question. Why is it I see so many people talking about E* CSRs hanging up on customers? Is it really that bad. Granted, I'm with D* and the only issues I seem to have is half of the time I get CSRs who are outsourced and have such heavy accents and "sir" is the every other word out of their mouth. I am a guy, but there are times when to say sir and when you have it be your every other word, it's annoying. That's the extent so far with my experiences with D*. I had considered E* when I was moving to satellite. From the looks of it, I am glad I didn't go with E*.
Stewart Vernon
10-09-05, 11:20 AM
No offense... but a lot of the "I want a special deal because I've been here longer" posts remind me of siblings, where the older brother wants to be loved more by the parents because he was the first.
To use the analogy... all children/customers are loved equally by the parent/company... but sometimes better opportunities are available to the younger children/newer customers that weren't available in the past. It doesn't mean your parents/company love you any less... it just means they are trying to do the best at the current time that they can.
Free market economy and family? Intresting analogy.
I've been eating at the same ice cream shop for 10 years. They just introduced a new flavor and if you are a regular customer they charge $3 but if you have never been in before you can get it for $1.50. Would you continue to get your ice cream from them. I would hope not.
The advantage E* has is the hassle involved with switching, people locked in contracts, and the fact that the grass is probably no greener on the other side.
_______________________
"Indecision may or may not be my problem" :grin:
JB
Slamminc11
10-09-05, 11:50 AM
I read this thread and wanted to ask a question. Why is it I see so many people talking about E* CSRs hanging up on customers? Is it really that bad. Granted, I'm with D* and the only issues I seem to have is half of the time I get CSRs who are outsourced and have such heavy accents and "sir" is the every other word out of their mouth. I am a guy, but there are times when to say sir and when you have it be your every other word, it's annoying. That's the extent so far with my experiences with D*. I had considered E* when I was moving to satellite. From the looks of it, I am glad I didn't go with E*.
Well, I for one have had little to no problems when I have called into Dish. You have to remember that what is represented here is what about 1% of the total Dish customer base if even that. So what is represented here is just that, a very small percent of the whole.
Now with that said, Charlie did admit at the shareholders meeting was that one of the areas Dish did need to work on was the customer service, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out in the next year.
greatwhitenorth
10-09-05, 01:06 PM
So nobody here has mentioned any possible reasons why both D* and E* have better deals for new customers? Here is the big reason...New customers are what counts on Wall Street and in the financial community. Subscriber and revenue growth are absolutely critical for both companies to grow and expand. Yes, it is important to treat current customers well, but new customer growth drives the financials. Like it or not, new customers will probably always be given the best deal. You thought E* (or D*)was a good deal when you signed up, has your deal changed? Here's another analogy: You buy a TV at Best Buy for $1500, then 3 months later, you see the same model priced $500 cheaper. Are you getting ripped off?
Stewart Vernon
10-09-05, 03:14 PM
Free market economy and family? Intresting analogy.
I've been eating at the same ice cream shop for 10 years. They just introduced a new flavor and if you are a regular customer they charge $3 but if you have never been in before you can get it for $1.50. Would you continue to get your ice cream from them. I would hope not.
The answer is a definitive maybe!
You know there are special discount plans for first-time home buyers? But once you've bought a home, you are never a new home buyer ever again... even buying one from another company! Similar programs exist for first-time car buyers also, and again once you buy one you can never buy again. There's also a sexual analogy as well, but I'll leave that one alone.
Thing is... as a business you really shouldn't have to entice an existing customer to stay. Existing customers will stay if you treat them right AND they feel they are getting what they are paying for. New customers sometimes need to be enticed to try you out.
I've gone through this a dozen times in various different ways... If you keep havin to entice existing customers to stay, you keep having to offer bigger and better deals each time... "I got a receiver for half off last time, can I have it free this time?" then "I got a free one last time, can I have two now?" and "I got two free ones last time, will you pay me to take one this time?" It can get out of hand quickly, if they keep having to one-up their past "good customer" offers.
An existing customer who is always looking for a better deal, to put it bluntly, isn't worth trying to keep. Why? Because no matter what you offer, someone else can offer a better deal and they will threaten to leave... and if they leave, they will then threaten *that* company and probably come back to you eventually!
Those always in search of a better deal, can often find it... but they then have to begin the search anew... and end up spending a lot of time. I liken this to driving in circles for the best up-front parking space. You can spend 10 minutes driving around waiting for the good space to open up... or you can park farther away and walk and be inside quicker than 10 minutes! All depends on how you want to spend your time.
I prefer to park and walk as long as I am healthy and able to do so. As for deals... When I am trying a new concept, like satellite TV, I do shop around for the best deal... I went with Dish... so now I'm not looking around for the next best deal. Instead, I'm happy with my service so far... so unless they do something to lose me as a customer or make me feel like I'm paying more than I feel the service is worth... then I'm good and loyal.
Most of any good business' customerbase is the loyal ones. They entice the new ones with better/limited-time deals... then they either become loyal ones OR the deal-seeker kind. And the deal-seeker kind are more expensive to try and keep + as I said earlier, if you wait long enough they will come back to you some day by default!
Stewart Vernon
10-09-05, 03:15 PM
Like it or not, new customers will probably always be given the best deal. You thought E* (or D*)was a good deal when you signed up, has your deal changed? Here's another analogy: You buy a TV at Best Buy for $1500, then 3 months later, you see the same model priced $500 cheaper. Are you getting ripped off?
Based on the posts of some people... I expect some of them must go to Best Buy and demand to be given a brand new TV in exchange for their old one because of being a loyal customer!
;)
Based on the posts of some people... I expect some of them must go to Best Buy and demand to be given a brand new TV in exchange for their old one because of being a loyal customer!
;)
I don't think that's a fair apple to orange comparison since you don't pay monthly fee to a retailer like Best Buy. A reasonable customer won't go that extreme to switch components every 3 months. Also, if you need to buy a HD TV today, are you willing to pay the same price 2 years ago? IMO, long term customers should be given some incentives like free upgrade say every 2 years?
I could take a different analogy of good employers continue to give stock options, additional vacation days and sabbatical to keep loyal employees. New employee get extra sign-on bonus and no current employees will ever complain with that.
D* is probably seeing this that is why they offer some incentives that are only available to existing customers.
On extreme cases, if customers do not see something as fair, they may switch to a different provider say cable and come back in 6 months to get much better deal. It wil cost customers time but it will cost E* more. Why would a good business company let this happen is beyond me.
Stewart Vernon
10-10-05, 05:13 PM
IMO, long term customers should be given some incentives like free upgrade say every 2 years?
Think about it this way... If you ran a company, would you give all your existing customers free upgrades every 2 years? Is your answer the same if you have 11 million customers?
I could take a different analogy of good employers continue to give stock options, additional vacation days and sabbatical to keep loyal employees. New employee get extra sign-on bonus and no current employees will ever complain with that.
Well, sort of... but what if your existing employees demand they get a sign-on bonus for not leaving? If they see new employees getting a bonus, and they remember they didn't get that kind of bonus... what if those employees threaten to leave and get a job elsewhere if they don't get a "please stay bonus"?
On extreme cases, if customers do not see something as fair, they may switch to a different provider say cable and come back in 6 months to get much better deal. It wil cost customers time but it will cost E* more. Why would a good business company let this happen is beyond me.
Like I said... customers who do the switch and switch back trick are not loyal customers... and are not worth trying to keep because they aren't loyal and will continue to up their demands (kind of like trying to negotiate with a terrorist, though that is a bad example)... and if you let them go, they will eventually come back to you when they want a better deal than where they left you to go.
Insurance companies are a good example here... Lots of folks switch insurance for their car every 6 months to get a better deal, but the big insurance companies pay attention to this... When they see someone who has a history of hopping from company to company for the best deal, they don't try nearly as hard to entice that customer as they do a new person who hasn't switched in a very long time OR a new person just coming of insurance age.
Loyalty is built when I pay for something, and get what I pay for, and am treated courteously when problems come up. This is all I am owed by a company like Dish. They say "We offer XX channels for YY dollars", and I decide "Hmm, is that worth it to me or not"... and maybe they haggle a bit at first to get me on-board or give me a "free" receiver or credit or something... and then I sign on.
As long as I get what I pay for month after month... then they are treating me as I deserve to be treated. I have no right to expect bonuses and free stuff just for paying my bill as I promised.
Think of it like this... you work for an employer, and he pays you... Does he earn the right to expect you to work free overtime because he has paid you on time every month for 5 years? Hey, why not... he is a loyal paying person to you... so why not give him some free overtime every 2 years as a thank you bonus :)
But it doesn't work that way... As long as we get what we are promised and paying for... then we are being treated right. No reason to expect freebies and bonuses, though they certainly are nice and welcome... but not reason to threaten to leave.
Something else worth asking yourself (not you but anyone thinking along the I deserve a bonus line of thought)... is IF you ran the company, would you give your profits away in free upgrades all the time? It wouldn't be the smart business decision.
catnap1972
10-10-05, 06:50 PM
Think of it like this... you work for an employer, and he pays you... Does he earn the right to expect you to work free overtime because he has paid you on time every month for 5 years? Hey, why not... he is a loyal paying person to you... so why not give him some free overtime every 2 years as a thank you bonus :)
Bad example...there's plenty of employers who do expect just that as a requirement for continued employment.
Stewart Vernon
10-10-05, 10:54 PM
Bad example...there's plenty of employers who do expect just that as a requirement for continued employment.
I realized that after I posted it :(
Except it also works as a backwards example... People get mad (rightfully so) if the employer tries to take advantage of them and pressure them into free overtime... but those same people often expect something for nothing from others (like their satellite or cable provider).
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