Can customer support get any worse?

[jrb531]

Talk about a Catch-22...

1st Phone Call:

Me: I currently have a 622 but do not subscribe to your HD. I understand that I can currently add a 2nd 622 to my account for $149 and I will get a $100 rebate. On 15 August a new promotion will start in which current subscribers who upgrade to HD will pay $149 but instead of a rebate get free HD for 6 months. Do I qualify for this?

Dish1: Yes that is the current promotion. I do not know anything about new promotions.

Me: Well is there anyone you can ask. If I wait until 15 August and I do not qualify then I lose out on the old promotion.

Dish1: Yeah sure you qualify

Me: You do not sound very sure of that answer... *CLICK* Hello? Hello?

2nd Phone Call:

Me: I would like to speak to a supervisor. I was just hung up on and I need to ask a question.

Dish2: No supervisor is available. I can answer your question.

Me: I currently have a 622 but do not subscribe to your HD. I understand that I can currently add a 2nd 622 to my account for $149 and I will get a $100 rebate. On 15 August a new promotion will start in which current subscribers who upgrade to HD will pay $149 but instead of a rebate get free HD for 6 months. Do I qualify for this?

Dish2: Yes that is the current promotion and yes that is the upcoming promotion but you will have to call back on 15 August to see if you qualify.

Me: But if I do not qualify can I still take advantage of the prior promotion?

Dish2: No because then that promotion would have been expired. Do you still need to talk to a supervisor?

Me: YES!

Supervisor: How can I help you?

Me: I currently have a 622 but do not subscribe to your HD. I understand that I can currently add a 2nd 622 to my account for $149 and I will get a $100 rebate. On 15 August a new promotion will start in which current subscribers who upgrade to HD will pay $149 but instead of a rebate get free HD for 6 months. Do I qualify for this?

Supervisor: Yes that will be the new promotion but that is only for select customers.

Me: Am I one of those select customers?

Supervisor: You will have to call back on 15 August and we will see

Me: But if I do not qualify can I still take advantage of the prior promotion?

Supervisor: No because then that promotion would have been expired.

Me: Well I find this unacceptable. You know my account and you know the new promotion. All I want to know is if I qualify because if I wait, I lose out on the current promotion. Is there ANY time I can call BEFORE 15 August to see if I qualify.

Supervisor: No

Me: Can I talk to someone to register a complaint?

Supervisor: No, you can email us or write a letter.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Does anyone else find this unreasonable? Talk about a catch-22!

I swear I would pay $5 a call if I could just talk to someone local instead of the endless overseas calls with the broken English, bad connections and a total and utter lack of any real knowledge!

Yes I know the Dish CS is infamous..... grrrrr this is a new low - at least for me.

Oh well off to write and email... just for yuks I post the response if I get any.

Sorry but I had to vent :)

-JB

P.S. If anyone actually knows the answer to this question I'm all ears :)

I have one 622 and I canceled HD 6 months ago (I pay the $6 per month fee for no HD) - If I get another 622 "and" turn back on HD do I qualify for the new promotion or should I get a new 622 on the old promotion?

Thanks

[Stewart Vernon]

I have one 622 and I canceled HD 6 months ago (I pay the $6 per month fee for no HD) - If I get another 622 "and" turn back on HD do I qualify for the new promotion or should I get a new 622 on the old promotion?


Since you are not a new customer to Dish... and not a new DishHD customer (you said you had it before but dropped it 6 months ago), I do not see how you would qualify for the 6 months of free HD.

My understanding is that offer is only for entirely new customers to Dish OR existing Dish customers who have not previously had DishHD. They *might* qualify existing customers who had the old HD Pack (with or without Voom)... but not anyone who has ever subscribed to the DishHD Pack.

I'm not sure why a CSR couldn't have at least verified that much for you.

[paulman182]

I'm not sure why a CSR couldn't have at least verified that much for you.

Perhaps there is qualification software that they do not have yet?

[jrb531]

Since you are not a new customer to Dish... and not a new DishHD customer (you said you had it before but dropped it 6 months ago), I do not see how you would qualify for the 6 months of free HD.

My understanding is that offer is only for entirely new customers to Dish OR existing Dish customers who have not previously had DishHD. They *might* qualify existing customers who had the old HD Pack (with or without Voom)... but not anyone who has ever subscribed to the DishHD Pack.

I'm not sure why a CSR couldn't have at least verified that much for you.

I was just reading this:

DISH Network Announces Changes To Rebate Program
During a recent retailer chat, DISH Network announced plans to replace its customer rebate program with several free service offers.

Starting Aug. 15, DishHD service will be offered free for six months to eligible new DISH Network subscribers and existing customers who are upgrading to DishHD. HBO and Cinemax will also be made available free of charge for three months to the same groups. No redemption form will be required for either offer.

It does not say anything about customers who have never had HD which is why I was calling to ask in the first place.

Do you know for a fact that this promotion is limited to those who have "never" had HD from Dish?

It's only about $20 difference ($100 rebate vs free 6 months of HD - 6 x $20 = $120)

Hmmmm

-JB

[jrb531]

Perhaps there is qualification software that they do not have yet?

I'm sure that this is it but has it really gone so far that actual people are so enslaved to the computers that this info cannot at least have been found out.

It's not like it was some off the wall question. Many people who already have Dish are going to want to upgrade for the new channels and I cannot imagine I'm the only one wanting to know which of the two deals is better.

Now if I do not qualify for the new deal then the one one is better :)

Thanks everyone for the quick reply.

-JB

[Mike D-CO5]

Try writing to the ceo@echostar.com and ask him of about your problem.

[Stewart Vernon]

Starting Aug. 15, DishHD service will be offered free for six months to eligible new DISH Network subscribers and existing customers who are upgrading to DishHD. HBO and Cinemax will also be made available free of charge for three months to the same groups. No redemption form will be required for either offer.

It does not say anything about customers who have never had HD which is why I was calling to ask in the first place.

Do you know for a fact that this promotion is limited to those who have "never" had HD from Dish?

I don't know for a fact, unfortunately. In the past, however, these kinds of deals when saying "...existing customers who are upgrading to DishHD..." they have always meant for the first time. Otherwise people would just drop DishHD every time there was a new offer like this and re-add it to get the freebie... So it would surprise me very much if it applied to anyone who previously had subscribed to DishHD.

Only way to know for sure is if you could corner someone at Dish to give you a straight answer. My best guess though is still that you wouldn't qualify being an existing customer who used to have DishHD.

And again, while I know their "qualification software" sometimes needs to be updated for new offers... this particular question seems pretty straightforward to me. There should be someone, especially a supervisor, who could confirm whether or not being a previous DishHD customer invalidates you from consideration.

[jrb531]

Yes I can see that every single person with HD would drop it on the 14th *smiles* and re-up on the 15th for 6 free months.

Usually when they do allow former subscribers they set some kind of limit like a few months before you re-qualify.

This is what miffed me... it was a simple question (in my mind) of do former HD subscribers get the deal... if so then how long must you have been unsubscribed to qualify.

They "have" to had thought of this when they came up with the promotion.

Oh well... I'll wait a few more days then try calling again. So far not even an auto-bot replay from my email saying they got it. Not going to hold my breath on that :)

Thanks again everyone for the comments and suggestions.

-JB

[Jim5506]

I can see why they are reluctant to answer your question. People are always looking for loop-holes, just like the one you hope you've found.

You need to decide whether you want to take the current offer or take the chance that the next one will give you $20 more.

You might very well get a straight answer from ceo@echostar.com, that is if they have solidified their qualification criteria, but you are asking too much from the people at the bottom who have no say in whether you will qualify or not and cannot tell you until they have the proper information.

A bird is hand is worth two in the bush. Take the current offer and start enjoying Dish HD now and you'll not aggravate your ulcer for 3 weeks over $20.

[jimborst]

Since this thread is about customer service, and yes I've had bad from Dish. But last week I was having problems with my 311. It kept losing sat signal, so I switched it with my 622 to see if there was cabling problem and it happened there too. Now I thought I had this receiver for a long time but the CSR told me that it was under warranty, and they would do an exchange. The CSR also said that since I was a preferred customer she would wave the shipping and there would be no cost.

[jrb531]

This is an excellent answer. People always seem to want to be entitled to something they aren't....just because......Glad to see that others agree.

I've had problems with Dish customer service but it's mainly the people who are in India or Pakistan or Indonesia who don't understand English and don't understand the concerns.....

But when subscribers think they should get something they aren't entitled to....just because.....I feel sorry for the outsourced customer service robots.

I am not looking for a way to beat the system in this case.

6+ months ago I dropped HD because I felt that it was not worth it. I was not trying to anticipate some form of deal so I could save another $20 :)

I just picked up a HDTV for the basement (my wife seems to own our bedroom HDTV LOL) to replace my 12+ year old SD set that was on it's last legs. I just happened to see that Dish is expanding their HD offerings and the channels seem to tip the balance in favor or re-subscribing to HD.

I popped over to dishnetwork.com to see what it would cost to obtain another 622 and I saw the $149 with a $100 rebate. Later I saw the change in offerings on 15 August here.

So as you can see this is not some form of "plot" to get another $20 out of Dish :)

As I said in a prior post, these kind of offers usually have some time limits on how long you have not had the service to qualify. While this time limit might be 3 months or 6 months or even "forever" the point is that this little detail is not some obscure loophole but I would guess that a ton of people may have done the very same thing that I did... try HD but cancel and now will be looking to reup not due to the deal but rather the additional channels.

So far no response from my e-mail. I'm leaning towards just doing the rebate. In my mind this was not some life or death situation but I figured I would just call and ask before I decided. The rotten CS is the reason I posted here.

While I have had bad CS from Dish in the past, this topped them all. I'm sure many of you have had your share of CS issues with Dish :)

In this case what really upset me was the "yeah sure... whatever you say" attitude followed by the being hung up on. Clearly this particular CS rep was saying anything just to be rid of me. The next CS followed by the "supposed" supervisor could not care less about the poor service I recieved and once again I got the impression that all they cared about was to get rid of me.

While you only have my word for it, I was not some form of nutcase yelling at them and whatnot.

Now if even the "supposed" supervisor (how do we know we are really talking to a supervisor?) did not know the answer then shame on Dish!

In this case, IMHO, the correct answer would have been to take my name and number, find out the info and call me back later or even another day.

-JB

[Presence]

This thread is ridiculous. What Dish told you sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Just because you are trying to jump the system, then get upset because they will not bend just for you, we are supposed to be on board with your pity party?

Try writing to the ceo@echostar.com and ask him of about your problem.

Let us know what "problem" that is.

[allargon]

I'm not defending the CSR's or castigating you. However, the CSR's hands are tied by the call center software when it comes to adding leased HD receivers to people that already have HD receivers on their account. You aren't paying $20/month, but you're likely paying the $6/month HD enable fee, right? Basically, they know that you already have ONE 622. As a result, they're in no hurry to give you another 622/211/222/722 since it doesn't add anymore to their bottom line. I went through the same thing. I couldn't talk them into replacing my 625 with another 622, so I bought a 211 off Ebay.

[damjr]

This is an excellent answer. People always seem to want to be entitled to something they aren't....just because......Glad to see that others agree.

I've had problems with Dish customer service but it's mainly the people who are in India or Pakistan or Indonesia who don't understand English and don't understand the concerns.....

But when subscribers think they should get something they aren't entitled to....just because.....I feel sorry for the outsourced customer service robots.

I fully agree. Here's what I posted in another thread when someone else was trying to use the "loop holes".

Promotions are just that...........PROMOTIONS.
As a consumer you are offered these promos.......AT THE TIME OF ACTIVATION !!!!!
Read your contract and advertising piece.

It really chaps my hide when I read all the posts from people who feel they're "entitled" to promotional offers after they sign up and have been on service.

What most people don't understand is that it takes D* and E* an average of 18-24 months just to break even on new subscribers. Customer aquisition costs are rising with all the new advanced product, advertising costs, having to be more competitive with cable by offering "free programing", etc.................
Also if you purchase through an independant retailer and start demanding these things, he's the one who takes it in the shorts with false charge backs, extra equipment costs, etc....... and the retailer has to spend countless hours fighting the provider trying to get his money back.

So please, everyone who tries to take advantage of the system, and has purchased through an independant, keep this in mind. YOU ARE AFFECTING THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE.

[jrb531]

This thread is ridiculous. What Dish told you sounds perfectly reasonable to me. Just because you are trying to jump the system, then get upset because they will not bend just for you, we are supposed to be on board with your pity party?



Let us know what "problem" that is.

So hanging up is no issue?

A supervisor not knowing answers to logical questions is ok?

What did I do to try and "jump the system"

I asked a simple question, got an unprofessional CS rep followed by a supposed supervisor who did not care that I was hung up on and in fact did not know CS herself.

I wonder how happy you would be if you called with a simple question and was hung up on. In fact it was worse because the first CS rep who did not know the answer told me... "yeah sure you qualify" so not only was I hung up on but I was lied to.

IMHO the only reason companies are able to put up poor CS and support is because enough of us tolerate this form of service or non-service.

-JB

[jrb531]

I fully agree. Here's what I posted in another thread when someone else was trying to use the "loop holes".

Promotions are just that...........PROMOTIONS.
As a consumer you are offered these promos.......AT THE TIME OF ACTIVATION !!!!!
Read your contract and advertising piece.

It really chaps my hide when I read all the posts from people who feel they're "entitled" to promotional offers after they sign up and have been on service.

What most people don't understand is that it takes D* and E* an average of 18-24 months just to break even on new subscribers. Customer aquisition costs are rising with all the new advanced product, advertising costs, having to be more competitive with cable by offering "free programing", etc.................
Also if you purchase through an independant retailer and start demanding these things, he's the one who takes it in the shorts with false charge backs, extra equipment costs, etc....... and the retailer has to spend countless hours fighting the provider trying to get his money back.

So please, everyone who tries to take advantage of the system, and has purchased through an independant, keep this in mind. YOU ARE AFFECTING THE LIVES OF THESE PEOPLE.

For the love of .....

I'm not trying to cheat the system!

I can click on the "Dish it up button" for $149 and a $100 rebate. I can do this right now.

I heard about the new promotion and I just wanted to know if it would be worth waiting. I already stated that the real reason for this post was not so much the question or the lousy $20 but being hung up on and lied to.

Where did I come across trying to scam Dish?

Dish has already offered me a 2nd 622 for $149 - $100 rebate. I assumed that since I qualified for this already and that they were replacing this program with another that I would also qualify for the new offer.

I called simply to verify this. What I got was rude service and no support whatsoever. I do not like being hung up on. Had I been told that "we do not have details of the new program yet and if you call in a week we'll have more info"

Well this is understandable. What I got was an outright lie followed by "CLICK" and when I called back and spoke with a supervisor (At this point I question if they were really a supervisor) about the lie and being hung up on... well they did not care either.

Somehow this has turned into me trying to scam Dish into giving me something I do not deserve? WTH!

I logged into my account, hit "Dish it up" and they offered me the promotion. The fact is that I could not care less about the stinking $20 extra but it would be nice to not have to deal with a rebate.

In other words I would rather pay them $150 and get a month discount ranther than pay them $150 and wait for a $100 rebate.

My goodness... this was all so simple. I've been called many things but being accused of trying to scam someone... not in this lifetime.

-JB

[Mike D-CO5]

Well you asked what people thought about the situation so be ready to hear opposite opinions about what others think. That is why I suggested the Ceo@echostar.com address. You can tell them about your problems with the csr and how you don't understand what the promotions are. They will probably tell you that you don't qualify for any hd promotions because you already have a 622 and you turned off the hd part in the past. But it never hurts to ask someone that can cut through the crap and get to the answer.

[jrb531]

Well you asked what people thought about the situation so be ready to hear opposite opinions about what others think. That is why I suggested the Ceo@echostar.com address. You can tell them about your problems with the csr and how you don't understand what the promotions are. They will probably tell you that you don't qualify for any hd promotions because you already have a 622 and you turned off the hd part in the past. But it never hurts to ask someone that can cut through the crap and get to the answer.

Thanks Mike and yes I did ask for comments. I was just taken a bit aback with the suggestion that I was trying to cheat the system.

-JB

[damjr]

Thanks Mike and yes I did ask for comments. I was just taken a bit aback with the suggestion that I was trying to cheat the system.

-JB

OK...........lets see if I have this right.
You're trying to get a CSR to let you know if you can qualify for a FUTURE promotion that is for NEW CUSTOMERS or EXISTING NEW TO HD customers that NO ONE can offer or advertise yet. Correct?

And this is not trying to cheat the system?:nono2:

[Stewart Vernon]

For the record, jrb531 and I haven't always seen eye-to-eye in some threads on here about various things... but I think he is being perfectly reasonable here.

There is a new offer coming in a couple of weeks, and it is not 100% clear who qualifies and who does not. This is often the case with existing customer upgrades, and I've even seen Charlie/Tech chats where they didn't know the answer to the question during the show.

Now I'm pretty sure (as I already posted) that he will not qualify for the new offer...but I see no reason why it isn't fair of him to ask, and I'm surprised he couldn't get a quick answer on that point.

There are many reasons why we may not qualify for various Dish offers... but in this case it seems like he could be disqualified pretty quickly by a CSR looking at his account and if they let him know that he might jump on the existing offer and they'd gain some more money from him in the process.

[jrb531]

DishHD service will be offered free for six months to eligible new DISH Network subscribers and existing customers who are upgrading to DishHD

This statement as written means...

Anyone who is an existing customer who does not already subscribe to the HD package.

Now I know full well the goal of such an offer is to get people to get a free taste of HD and become permanent subscribers.

What some people here seem to discount is that the current offer that I already qualify for is to obtain a second 622 for $149 with a $100 rebate for a net cost to me of $49.

The new deal (unless something changes) is that I can obtain a second 622 for $149 with no rebate but I would get 6 months of free HD ($20 per month) for a discount of $120

The net difference is "only" $20 and as I said before they can keep the $20... I would just rather not deal with a rebate.

Now if I do not qualify for the new offer then I would lose $100 by waiting. THIS is the reason for my question. Not some way to milk Dish out of an extra $20 :)

I just fail to see how anyone in my position would not want to know the same answer. Some people here are making this out to me being unreasonable.

The "real" point of this post was the awful CS I got. I could have called up to ask what the weather was and I should not have been lied to or hung up on.

Without question the 1st CS rep lied to me when I asked if I qualified. They started out with "I don't know" and then when pressed told me "yeah sure you qualify" then "CLICK"

This is good CS?

Then talking to a supposed supervisor you would think they would be pretty interested in the poor CS I received to ensure that it did not happen to anyone else but this was not the case.

We all know about Dish' now infamous CS and the roulette game we play whne calling... call 10 times and you might get 10 different answers.

Has it gotten to the point in which we just accept this, laugh and ignore the poor service?

Hey... I don't call Dish every week with off-the-wall questions just to argue with them. I call when I have a legit question I need an answer to. I do not call to talk to someone being paid slave wages in another country who does not have full command of the English language reading from a script card and telling me how sorry they are for the wait every 5 seconds while their computers try to bring up my account information half-way across the world.

This is rotten, bare-bones CS than should not be acceptable.

Someday you'll have to call CS and when you get the same sort of treatment I got you can think back to this thread :)

-JB

P.S. Thanks to those with more open minds who replied. I did not open this thread to start some form flame fest. My intent was to let everyone know about my poor experience with CS in hopes that someone in the industry "might" read it and do something about it.

[jrb531]

For any who care this is the answer I got via email from Dish CS:

Dear Mr. ----,

Thank you for your e-mail. We would like to apologize on behalf of the DISH Network for the way that your issue was handled by our representatives. We take our customer service seriously and strive to be the best in our industry. Our customers are very important to us and we sincerely apologize for the service that you have received.

Please understand that as a growing company, we are continuously training all of our employees and constantly re-evaluating our customer service. There is no excuse for being inconsistent or insufficient to those that have made us what we are today—our customers!

We appreciate that you have brought this to our attention so that we may address this issue with the appropriate personnel. Once again, please accept our sincerest apologies and we thank you for your feedback.

I have reviewed your account and our records indicate that you have leased (VIP622) so you can upgrade and get another (VIP622) or you can replace the old DVR with (VIP622) and as you know we have promotion running right now and it will expire on 08/15/2007 with this promotion you can save money but after 08/15/2007 I don’t guarantee if this promotion will be a available or not.

Your business is greatly appreciated and we thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email or call our Customer Service Center at 1-800-333-3474.



Sincerely,

Willy k

DISH Network eCare

Pine Brook



So it seems like I should not take a chance. Now what is interesting is that I have an old 501 on my account so it seems like I can either obtain another 622 or replace the 501 with a 622. I shudder to think I'll have to call and see what the difference is. Right now the 501 is 100% free because of the 501 waiver and it being listed as the first reciever on my account. If this is the same maybe I'll keep it also :)

-JB

[Presence]

Answer: Yes, it can get worse.

Also, you have to appreciate how CS's email did not really address your inquiry about eligibility for the future promotion, either.

[jacmyoung]

I agree there is no other better way to answer your question so I don't understand why it was a big surprise.

If the CS says what you like to hear, and you wait till 8/15 only to find out you do not qualify, you will be pissed, if the CS says no you should not wait, then comes 8/15 you realize you can get the new promo, maybe even cheaper on a 622, you will be equally pissed.

I have never find a good reason to expect a company to tell you details about a promo that is not in place yet. So we can only speculate based on our own expereince of similar promos in the past.

I can tell you my deal, when I signed up with E* as a returning sub a year ago, I had to pay $199 for the first 622, I got the 2x$10 rebate for the next 10 months, one week after my order I called to cancel because I needed two HDDVRs, and I told the guy my cable would give me two HDDVRs with no upfront cost.

He agreed to give me the second 622 without upfront fee, on the day of installation the installer brought with him two brand new 622s. And that was over a year ago.

My above story doesn't really mean much because it was account specific, except that with anything in the gray area, you play by ear or count your luck. But my feeling is if you are not currently under contract and are willing to commit to one at that time, you are likely to get a good deal on your second 622, maybe even better than $149 you think you have to pay.

But if you are not the type that like to gamble, grab the current deal while you still can and enjoy the show. After all this is what a promo is for, to get you to sign on now, not later.

[bhurmam]

You will not qualify for the promotion. Since you have had DishHD before and took it off, adding the other 622 and putting it back on will not count as upgrading to DishHD. As for the CSR not being able to tell you what you qualify for in the future, anyone at Dish, and that includes supervisors, executive employees, etc, use the same system to qualify for promotions and literally only see what you qualify for at that particular time. It cannot be rolled forward or rolled back, so if you email someone or call back and finally get the answer that you are looking for, which seems to be that you will qualify, keep in mind that it is only someone's best guess and they really cannot answer for you until the 15th comes around.

[UT06]

I am not looking for a way to beat the system in this case.

6+ months ago I dropped HD because I felt that it was not worth it. I was not trying to anticipate some form of deal so I could save another $20 :)

I just picked up a HDTV for the basement (my wife seems to own our bedroom HDTV LOL) to replace my 12+ year old SD set that was on it's last legs. I just happened to see that Dish is expanding their HD offerings and the channels seem to tip the balance in favor or re-subscribing to HD.

I popped over to dishnetwork.com to see what it would cost to obtain another 622 and I saw the $149 with a $100 rebate. Later I saw the change in offerings on 15 August here.

So as you can see this is not some form of "plot" to get another $20 out of Dish :)

As I said in a prior post, these kind of offers usually have some time limits on how long you have not had the service to qualify. While this time limit might be 3 months or 6 months or even "forever" the point is that this little detail is not some obscure loophole but I would guess that a ton of people may have done the very same thing that I did... try HD but cancel and now will be looking to reup not due to the deal but rather the additional channels.

So far no response from my e-mail. I'm leaning towards just doing the rebate. In my mind this was not some life or death situation but I figured I would just call and ask before I decided. The rotten CS is the reason I posted here.

While I have had bad CS from Dish in the past, this topped them all. I'm sure many of you have had your share of CS issues with Dish :)

In this case what really upset me was the "yeah sure... whatever you say" attitude followed by the being hung up on. Clearly this particular CS rep was saying anything just to be rid of me. The next CS followed by the "supposed" supervisor could not care less about the poor service I recieved and once again I got the impression that all they cared about was to get rid of me.

While you only have my word for it, I was not some form of nutcase yelling at them and whatnot.

Now if even the "supposed" supervisor (how do we know we are really talking to a supervisor?) did not know the answer then shame on Dish!

In this case, IMHO, the correct answer would have been to take my name and number, find out the info and call me back later or even another day.

-JB

Not having to type all of that would be worth $20 to me.