Mr-Rick said:
Furniture, Cars, homes, riding lawn mowers, add whatever you want....those are big ticket items. We are talking about cheap satellite receivers. Many of which are fully depreciated. We were talking about public relations and the effect it will have on DISH. To replace receivers for these customers who pay monthly for service and can go where ever they want for "TV", I would replace those leased receivers for free if I were in charge at DISH.
At whose expense would you do this? Your own salary? Your employees salaries? The receivers have to be paid for... so if you are giving away replacements and waiving fees for non-returned lease receivers... someone at the company has to pay for that.
Maybe you would just raise the price on the bill the next year to recoup your losses on paying for those replacements?
Mr-Rick said:
What could it possibly cost them?
Money... and potentially lots of it if there are a lot of receivers to be replaced.
Some people are behaving as if they think companies just have piles of money sitting around.
Why can't these people pay to replace their own receivers if it costs so little? On the one hand some are saying it is major devastation to have to pay for a lost receiver... on the other it is "cheap" so why can't Dish pay? You can't have it both ways.
Mr-Rick said:
I see it like the electric meter. It is owned by the electric company. Never heard of the utility charging the customer for the cost of a new electric meter lost to a disaster.
Not a good example. You don't lease your power meter... You pay for electricity. The meter determines how much you use, so they know how much to bill you... It behooves them to make sure you have a working meter installed!
Dish doesn't charge you to calculate your bill each month... and you don't have to buy them a new calculator if theirs breaks.
jep8821 said:
Remind me to NEVER move next to you. First, with regards to the mower, I would be more worried about my neighbor and their well being and HELPING them get back on their feet rather than some stupid lawnmower I let them borrow.
Sorry... Where did I say I didn't care and wouldn't be concerned about my neighbor? The two are not mutually exclusive!
I can care about my neighbor and offer to help them... but how does my yard get mowed?
I live in a HOA that sends out nasti-grams if you don't mow your yard on schedule. So... say I've loaned my mower to a neighbor who loses it in a storm... then I can't mow my yard and I can't afford to buy a new mower either... so now I can't mow my yard, the HOA sends me nasty letters and threatens me if I don't.
Everything is connected... You want your Dish receiver replaced for free... but you don't care that you lost your neighbor's mower and you are causing him trouble that will cost him money.
jep8821 said:
Companies that go above and beyond will build loyality with current and potential customers.
You're kidding, right?
The same people who complain that Dish is robbing them when the price of service goes up $2 per month? These same people will be "loyal" customers to Dish forever because Dish ate the cost of a lost receiver?
This forum is filled with people who have been 5-10 year Dish customers who threaten to move to DirecTV or cable to save a few bucks a month for a year... so I seriously doubt any of them will remember that Dish forgave them a receiver lost to storm damage.
jep8821 said:
Most people JUST DON'T GET IT. A lot of these people LOST everything including their JOBS, their houses and potentially some friends and family. This devistated the city. Minor expenses now become Major problems. Let's go over how this might be going down for some of the people in Joplin. Your House.. gone, your cars... gone.... your Job... gone.. No severance pay... no last paycheck.... Your now living on credit cards and the help of others. Insurance... got it... but how long before I get money. How long for adjustors to do their job. Your now staying w/ friends / relatives etc. NO new income coming in right now. It hits you now, you have to start calling the phone company, the gas company, the cable/satellite company, etc. Dish answers the phone and when you say your house was destroyed and you need to terminate service, they say fine, we will charge that credit card $$$ which is the same credit card you NEED to use to keep your family going because the receivers were destroyed. THE SMALL THINGS ADD UP. When a company like dish or direct can help.....just do it. Show some compassion.
We get it. We also get personal responsibility.
ALL of these people who have been devastated have far more things to worry about than their Dish Network... and to be fair, no one in this thread has actually proven that Dish has forced anyone to pay for a lost receiver yet.
Meanwhile... IF these people are insured, then their Dish receivers will be covered by insurance... IF these people are NOT insured, then that's a choice they made... to save money... and they don't get a free pass for not having insurance.
I don't think Dish is harassing people over this... someone has just stirred up this argument on the internet.
I'm just arguing that IF it comes to pass... I would be grateful if Dish waived such fees, but I wouldn't expect it. They don't owe me that. People sure seem to have a sense of entitlement about things... but then when it comes time to pay for something, they don't want to pay for it!
There's a very real "I want to be covered, but I don't want to pay for other people's problems" vibe going on in this country right now. It's amazing.