DirecTV Marketer Steals DISH Customers Via 800 Number Squatting

[fbara]

From
Consumerist

today:

A sneaky DirecTV marketer has bought up toll-free numbers that end in "DISH."

When
DISH Network


customers call up, the operators make it sound like they're from Dish and offering them a free service upgrade, but in reality, they're switching the service and slamming the Dish Network customer into a DirecTV service contract.

The real number for DISH is 800-333-3474, but this company has bought 888-333-3474, and according to
reports on 800 notes


, several other 800, 888, 866 numbers that end with "DISH."


We first heard about it in a message left on our
Consumerist hotline


:



TRANSCRIPT: "I had to authorize a new Dish receiver. The number on the screen said 1-800-333-DISH. I dialed 1-888-333-DISH. I got a guy that immediately asked for my name, phone number, address, email address, and talked about the new specials that he could give me for being such a loyal customer. I kind of just wanted my receiver authorized.



And he says, these are some great deals, and you should get rewarded for being such a loyal customer since you've been with Dish Network so long.
Then he says, "if I send you these new boxes out, keep in mind that these are direct Tv boxes..."



It turns out that it was a DirecTV franchise that was capitalizing on people mistaking 1-800-333-DISH for 1-888-333-DISH. They're not telling people who they are upfront and they're getting a bunch of information when you're thinking that you're talking to a company that you already trust and have an account with. So it really ticked me off. It's totally uncool. Hopefully you can print this and people won't get confused anymore." :END TRANSCRIPT


Very clever. If you accidentally sign up for this, best thing to do is a charegback. Unsurprisingly,
the folks on 800 notes


say the sleazy DirecTV marketers are not that nice about giving refunds.

[space86]

Business is business.

[pro96]

hehe, just like telephone companies used to do in the 90's .. classic pitch

[RVD420]

still a slimeball move.

Even though DirecTV is not directly involved it still makes DirecTV look bad.

DirecTV should do damage control and terminate the retailers contract.

[dishcomm]

Business is business.

That is NOT business. It is a crime.

[jmccurrytech]

When I called the number it said in a really quick voice "Thank you for calling about Dish One Up" then rings and saids "Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes" then rings again and goes to a Rep. who asks for your telephone number area code first.

[dishcomm]

Anyone who supports or defends this kind of anti consumer low down dirty trickery is scum of the earth.

BTW "cybersquatting" was finally dealt with in final fashion. It is essentially illegal.
This needs to be headed that way as well.
I am not so sure this could not be used for identity theft.

Everyone who uses a telephone should check the number they have dialed very carefully. You financial well being could depend on it.

[Iceberg]

I remember that dish HAD 888-333-Dish about 7-8 years ago. It was one of those "special customer" type numbers. When I first got Dish, they sent me a card with that number and a "special" customer appreciation number on it. When you called the number, you kinda bypassed the auto system.

But that was 8 years ago

[dishcomm]

hehe, just like telephone companies used to do in the 90's .. classic pitch

It was called "slamming"... The practiceof switching a customer from one l;ong distance company to another without the customer's knowledge or approval.
LOcal telcos were basically wide open for any LD company to look at phone numbers and names. Companies like the now crimially defunct MCI were the biggest culprits. MCI slammed me. I had no idea. I got a bill from thenm for LD's an I refused to pay it.
I spoke to a very nasty rep at MCI and her final sanppy response was "you made the calls and you will pay for them"..
I was livid and told her she was a "Cee U Next Tuesday" and that I would never pay.
I never got another bill from MCI and never paid the 15 bucks...

[Bob Haller]

I abandoned my 800 number because a louisana casino got a similar number, and my phone started ringing off the hook all nite long. '


their vanity number was close to my real number. called the casino they didnt care.

my 800 number got reassigned as a porn line. a school told me of this..... but they werent upset. they had a typo in the district calendar, that was another porn number