25 replies to this topic

[kvonarya]

Know about Dish Network disconnect Scams when your agreement term is met.

After 18 months of subscribing to 100 channels of mostly reruns at Dish Network I chose to disconnect as the contract term was met.
First I found there is no way to disconnect thru their website(you could only buy more options there), I called them on 4/7/2008 to
disconnect , there you'll end of talking to an operator who does not take no for answer and insists on asking all sort of questions
about why and when you tell that you are not using it quickly want to get your agreement on holding the service for you another
6 months not mentioning there is a $10/mo charge for it till last minute after you agreed to hold. Refusing the hold option the operator
finally agrees to disconnect as of 5/3/2008, no charges are due but I am required to send back their receiver in a box they send me
within 10 days after 5/3/2008(account # is 8255909339772078).
On 4/20/2008 I received my new monthly dish network bill of $61.45 for 5/3/2008 to 6/2/2008 instead of disconnect they raised the
$49.99 monthly due to $61.45.
Filed a complaint thru BBB and hoping to get rid of dish network subscription ordeal one way or another.

Edited by BuffaloHELP, 22 April 2008 - 06:30 AM.

[Watermonkey]

I'd suggest you go to www.ftatalk.com and learn the alternative way to obtain entertainment programming for your home. I currently own a View Sonic 7000PVR and I'm not unhappy about it. Time to stick it to DN since they've been so kind as to stick it to you.

[Thingcubed]

Have you posted this to The Consumerist?

[kvonarya]

Thingcubed, on Apr 22 2008, 12:58 AM, said:

Have you posted this to The Consumerist?

I just did, thanks for the referal.

Watermonkey, on Apr 22 2008, 12:54 AM, said:

I'd suggest you go to www.ftatalk.com and learn the alternative way to obtain entertainment programming for your home. I currently own a View Sonic 7000PVR and I'm not unhappy about it. Time to stick it to DN since they've been so kind as to stick it to you.

Thank you for letting me know about ftatalk.com.
I mainly watch movies and plan to renew my netflix again,used to have more to watch using netflix than DN.

Notice from rvalkass:

Merged double post. You can use the edit button to add to your post if there haven't been any replies since your last post.

[rpgsearcherz]

Kind of glad that I never had to deal with them.

I always assumed that bigger companies would obviously have better customer support. I mean if they didn't have good support, everyone would know about it.(I'm not saying they didn't screw you over)


It's just getting sad how many things companies can do these days to screw over their customers, yet still keep their reputation just as high as it was previously.

[iGuest]

Had a similiar experience with Dish and AT& T. You call AT&T and they make all sorts of promises on Dish Network's behalf and then when you get your bill-NOTHING is what they said it would. We were promised a bill of $116/mo...HA! Got the bill and it was $179! So much for customer service, we had reps from AT&T and DN on the phone at the same time blaming each other and they still DID NOTHING! And threatend us with extra fees if we cancel. Which brings me to my next point. They signed us up for a 2 year agreement without our knowledge. They never tell you that over the phone. They have you sign some electronic pad when they install-NEVER mentioning that you are agreeing to a 2 yr. Deal by signing, in fact, the tech LIES and says you are just signing to state that they were there and installed the equipment and they don't leave any paperwork with you. It's total FRAUD! I smell a class action lawsuit!

[iGuest]

There May Be More To The Scam...Dish Network Scam

On June 2nd, due to my divorce I needed to cancel my Dish service. The first rep was very nice and explained that a box would be sent to my address with pre-paid return labels for me to return rented equipment in. The box didn't arrive. I called Dish on June 23 inquiring about the box and was advised by a very ditzy rep that it could take as many as 23 days to arrive, so should be there that week. No box arrived. I called again on June 26th, explained that the box had not arrived and asked that another be sent. Again no box arrived. On July 8th, I called Dish again and explained that I had requested two boxes and none had been received. The rep was very pleasant and promised to send me another box that would arrive within 5-10 business days. No box arrived.On July 23rd, I sent an email to Dish Network explaining that I had requested 3 boxes and that none had arrived. The email response asked me to call again. I called again on July 24th and explained the entire situation to a rep and was advised that I should receive a box within the next 2 business days. No box arrived. On August 6th, Dish Network made an unauthorized charge to my debit card for the equipment in the amount of $300, overdrafting my account. I called on August 7th, explained the entire situation to a supervisor and asked that another box be sent and that the fee be returned immediately, because I can not afford to have my account overdrafted. The supervisor became very rude to me and advised me that the fee would not be returned and that no more boxes would be sent. It was my problem. I sent another email to Dish on August 7th, following the call and am very unhappy with the way I've been treated. I have doubts that any boxes were sent. It doesn't make any sense and now they are refusing to refund the fees they charged to my debit card without authorization.

-reply by Melissa

[iGuest]

We also returned equipment and were then told, after seeing a $300 charge on our bill, that they had never received the return. There is no way to track it with UPS because the agreement Dish has with them does not provide any tracking so there is no way to prove you sent it! This is a scam!

[iGuest]

Dish disconnect chargesDish Network Scam

After being a Dish customer for about 7 - 8 years we disconnected because they do not carry the MTN sports network. Most of the college sports that I want to watch are on MTN and there are no alternatives. I took the on-line chat approach to disconnect and eventually the disconnect order was placed. Nothing was said about returning the receivers and the rep became very rude when he knew that I was not going to be convinced to stay. We upgraded one receiver to HD about 28 months before and I asked the installer to take the old receiver, which he said that he would. He didn't and never returned to pick it up. My assumption was that the old receivers had very little value and I did not realize that Dish retains ownership even after the contract has been fulfilled. This time I held on to the old receivers three weeks to see if I could give them to a current Dish customer who might want them. After that time they went into the dumpster. A week or so later the boxes arrived. This month there was an $900 charge on my VISA for three receivers. The receivers were 6, 4, and 3 years old. 

The only time I had given them my VISA number was to get them to ship a replacement receiver for one that was defective and still under warranty. In order to ship a new receiver immediately they had to have a credit card. Because I returned the defective receiver I didn't have to pay for the replacement.

I told the bank that they didn't have the authorization to charge my account and shouldn't have even kept my credit card on record. The bank wanted to argue the point but agreed to hold the charge until I filed an official dispute. I don't know what they will do in the end.

This whole practice is very deceptive and I can't believe it isn't more widely known. Talk about frustrating.

[iGuest]

status of acctDish Network Scam

Although through working for dish I do see a lot of problems, this is not a scam.  What it sounds like to me is your account may have been in suspension for non payment?  Yes, indeed you MUST call to cancel Dish for YOUR safety.  Otherwise, anyone can send an email or letter asking to cancel or change your service.  If your account is already in a non pay status with a set complete disconnect date when you call to cancel, they will let it ride out until the disconnect date.  I assume yours was already in nonpay because the date they gave you was so soon and the boxes needed to be sent back.  The boxes are sent automatically upon disconnect and are sent with prepaid labels.  Unless you request UPS to come pick them up from you, there is no charge in sending the equipment back.  The equipment must be sent back within 10 days IF the account was disconnected for the nonpay status before any equipment fees are applied.  In turn, the fees are removed once the equipment is received.  If the account is current when a person calls to cancel (yes, the loyalty agent is required to probe as to why the customer is wanting to cancel, make offers, and try to save the customer- part of their job.) the account will be disconnected on that same day and the customer will have 30 days to get equipment back before fees are applied and 39 days from disconnect before the account would become eligible for collections.  If I am correct and your account was in a nonpay suspended status, you received another bill between the time you called and the time it disconnected because we bill a month in advance and when in nonpay, the billing does not stop until it enters a complete disconnect at which time the balance is prorated to the date when it was suspended.  Although I know it can all be confusing to someone on the outside, there is no "Scam" involved. If this is a freak case in which your account wasn't disconnected upon your request, then I apologize, but it all seems standard to me.

-reply by lynie