Bad Dish Policy

1713 Views 8 Replies 4 Participants Last post by LadyTalia, Oct 10, 2002

motjes2

Discussion Starter · Sep 22, 2002

I am Digital Home customer. I have currently have six receivers. On Thursday, one of the switch 64 went bad. I called tecnical support. The dish guy was very good and he pretty much determined that it was a bad switch since I still had three receivers working and they were all connected to the working switch. He arranged for someone to come sunday morning to replace the bad switch in the morning. I waited all day and the repair man shows up at around 2:30pm (he called twice saying that he was running late). He showed up with no switch, however. He did not check anything. I told him what was happening and pretty much he determined that it was a bad switch. He called dish once again. This time the dish customer service was saying that he was going to ship the switch and I should get it within three days and once I got it he was going to schedule another appointment for someone to replace it. Of course, I told him that it was not acceptable since they already had promised that the switch was going to be replaced today. After I got a supervisor, the supervisor apologized for all the "wasted time". She scheduled someone with the switch for wednesday and was nice to tell me that if something else should come up before wednesday she will let me know.

I just find that this sort of practice is anoying and nonsensical since it was determined pretty much what was the problem and the solution. I was a cable customer for a lot of years and this was one thing that never happened with cable. I really wish that my cable company could provide digital tv, hdtv, and pvr because I would have abandoned dish right away. But I am not stuck with dish because there is no other cable company that can provide me with the same quality of reception (besides direct tv).

If dish continues this practice they are going to have a lot of frustrated customer. I could have bought the switch myself and replace it and probably it would save all the frustration. Dish promises a lot but does deliver in very simple things -- like replacing a simple switch. Why not send an installer with one and if that is not the problem then continue troubleshooting the problem but to send a repair man just to verify what was already determined--ridiculous.

See less See more

Save

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

motjes2

Discussion Starter · #2 · Sep 26, 2002

My friends the story continues... Today I waited for the dish guy to come and replace my switch 64. They called every twice in the morning that they were coming. At around 12:45pm, they called again to say that they could not come because they did not have the switch 64. YOU COULD IMAGINE HOW I WAS FEELING-FURIOUS... I called dish Network and let them know who irresponsible they were for making false promises. They could have called me before Wednesday to cancel the appointment because they did not have the switch. I told the supervisor at dish that this was manner to treat customers-just to replace a switch. They had on hold for about 30-45 minutes trying to get another vendor that had the switch and was willing to come today. Of course, they found no one for today but for tomorrow. I was so upset and fed up with the situation that I went to a local dealer at New Rochelle and bought the switch: $160.00. The are coming back to replace the bad one tomorrow and of course they should replace without touching the one I put up. Now, everything is working again. The moral of the story if you are a digital home customer, be prepared for a lot of frustration, headaches, and do it yourself and do not count on dish to support you on time. What type of business are these people running? I am discouraged with this company but I suppose that direct tv is no different unless someone tells me otherwise...

I hope this does not happen to any one.

See less See more

Save

jrjcd

· #3 · Sep 26, 2002

hehehe...and if the merger goes thru....just imagine....lol

Save

motjes2

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 27, 2002

To my surprise, the vendor that was supposed to come today (Thursday) did not come to replace the switch 64. I called Dish again and they claimed that their computer system showed an appointment for Saturday and not today (which is opposite of what I told yesterday by a supervisor). After speaking, to the dish vendor, he told me that there was no way to get a someone to my house today. The only thing I could do was wait until Saturday. I told him that I did not need them to come and to cancel the appointment all together. I called Dish Network and expressed my complete dissatisfaction with they system they have in placed. Luckily I was able to pick a switch 64 yesterday from a local retailer and replace it myself. I did get them to send me a replacement for the bad switch. Wow!! I am surprised about this whole situation. Next time, I will just tell them to mail me the replacement part and replace it myself, it would have been much easier than waiting for them to do it. They are going to give me some credit for the 7 days I was without programming on those three receivers; I hope they followup on this and I see the proper credit on my bill.

See less See more

Save

HTguy

· #5 · Sep 27, 2002

Lessons learned?

1) Deal with a full-service local specialty retailer from the start and you will be properly cared for. Buy from mass-marketer or mail order & you forego the promt service of an experienced pro in your neighborhood.

2) If you determine the problem is a bad switch (rare, but it does happen...especially if not properly installed) just replace it yourself. As you found out it usually not very hard to do.

Save

motjes2

Discussion Starter · #6 · Oct 9, 2002

Well, here is more...

I received the replacement of the bad switch but with no return labels to return the bad one. I called dish last week and hopefully I get the return labels this week. I also received my bill and saw no credit on it for the 7 days I was without any programming in those three receivers. I called customer service and after going through all the notes in the account and putting me on hold for about 10 minutes, she comes back and said to me that my credit was $3.90. I laughed (inside of me). I asked her how was this determined. She said I was getting credit on the the receivers ONLY. I asked her so what about the programming that I paid on those three receivers, no credit? she said that since I was getting programming on the other three receivers, there was no point in giving me credit on the other threes (bad logic). At this point, I was almost ready to explode!! I told her that those three receivers are placed on the 2nd floor and that the three that were off are on the first floor. On the first floor, there was nobody watching anything!! After a few back and forth and time wasted over the phone, she put me on hold again and came back with another proposal - a free programming package for a month. This is between $11 - $13. I was expecting more like $19.00. I gave up and said this is fine.

Dish is so full of nonsense... It is unbelievable...

See less See more

Save

· #7 · Oct 10, 2002

In defense of DISH your three receivers have programming duplicated on them for $4.99 per month so that is $15 for the entire month. lets call 7 days 1/4 of a month. $15 divided by 4 equals $3.75. I would say even there first offer was more than fair.

Save

motjes2

Discussion Starter · #8 · Oct 10, 2002

Really? Is $15/mth what I see on my bill? No. Yes, I am paying for the receivers but I am paying for the programming as well whether is duplicated or not I am still paying and if they promise a reimbursement then they should keep their promises. Especially, after all the broken promises about not being able to fix the problem. You would think that they will try to take care of their customers a lot better.

Save

LadyTalia

· #9 · Oct 10, 2002

[No message]

Save

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.

Top Contributors this Month