25 replies to this topic

[k_nitin_r]

Alicia,

I do not have a Dish Network subscription but with all the negative posts about experiences that people have had with Dish Network, I am probably not someone who would want to take up the service either.

There are however a couple of things I do need to mention, in fairness to Dish Network:

Firstly, when a receiver has not been returned to Dish Network after the cancellation of the account, Dish Network can legally collect the rental for the receiver. Think of the case when you lease your car to somebody and they return it a month late - you are legally entitled to the rental for the additional month. The same applies to the received from Dish Network as well. By delaying the return of the receiver, the (former) customer causes lost revenue for the firm and is therefore liable to Dish Network. However, the customer has to be informed of how to return the receivers - if the boxes are shipped automatically and the customer receives them, there is an obligation for the customer to send the receivers back. Some posts to this thread indicate that the customers didn't receive the boxes so were unaware of how to send the receivers back.

I do not agree with the other practices by Dish Network, such as increasing prices without notifying the customer especially when the customer has cancelled his or her subscription, as mentioned in the first post in this thread by kvonarya (dated 22nd April, 2008).

Signing up customers for a contract without informing them about the existence of the contract or that they are bound to the contract is not something Dish Network can legally do because there was no consent between the two parties. The customer should have had an opportunity to refuse the contract or should have had the ability to agree to the contract for the contract to be valid. Refer to the post by iGuest (posted on 23rd March, 2009) for the mention about the two year contract. Also, I would add that deliver firms often obtain customer signatures on PDAs to indicate that they have received goods or the equipment has been setup by a representative of the firm. However, the legality of the use of a signature on a PDA does seem questionable in the event of a law suit because the representative can state anything while obtaining the signature of the customer therefore there is no indication of the terms that the customer agreed to when signing a PDA. When signing a paper, the terms that the customer agrees to are right there on the paper.

In cases when a box has been ordered from Dish Network and the customer has not received the box, I would expect Dish Network to provide the customer with an alternative means of sending the receiver - either inform them of an address that the customer can send the receiver to by a courier service, at the customer's expense, or to drive over to the Dish Network office and hand over the receiver. It may also be possible for Dish Network to offer to send across a representative to pick up the receiver, either at the customer's expense or at Dish Network's expense if the customer is not located too far away.

I am not sure if Dish Network provides customers with the option of buying the receiver rather than providing them with the receiver for the duration of the service. The network I currently subscribe to has me buying a receiver and I do not have a contract - I can get a month's subscription whenever I come to stay and when I'm away, my subscription lapses and my provider simply turns off the service. I own the receiver so the provider does not require the receiver to be returned so it is less risk for them and more flexibility in terms of subscription for me. I believe it is common practice for the network to ask for their receivers when the service has been cancelled - charging the customer for the receivers without asking them to return them is unethical as well because as far as I know, most agreements only state that the provider owns the receivers and is entitled to ask for them to be returned at any time. The agreement with Dish Network may be different but if those are terms that the customer agreed to (legally, the customer agrees to the provider's terms by signing up if any of the forms say in print that the customer agrees to the provider's terms - he or she either has to ask the provider what the its terms are when subscribing or the provider has to state the terms, either of which would seem acceptable).