Is there a 18 month commitment for DVR Advantage for existing customers?

Mike4HDTV

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Apr 14, 2005
238
1
Danbury, CT
I need some help. I just canceled Dish because I got Directv installed today. I had Dish for close to 3 years. I haven't received any new equipment for over 2 years so I knew I was under no commitment. I called up Dish to cancel and they said that I was under an 18 month commitment because I signed up for DVR Advantage in July 2007. They are charging me a cancellation fee of $133.

I don't remember signing up for a commitment when I signed up for DVR Advantage. I could not find anything on their website regarding a commitment for existing customers who sign up for DVR Advantage.

So my question to you all is: Is there a commitment to Dish for existing customers who sign up for DVR Advantage and who do not receive any equipment upgrades?

If the CSR was wrong about me being in a commitment, who can I contact so I don't get charged the cancellation fee.

Thanks for all your help.
 
When i got dvr advantage they told me if you didn't have credit card autopay then you had to commit to 24 months. That's what they told me. I'm thinking of going to directv to. good luck.
 
I signed up Dish Advantage few months back and surely dont remember them telling me about any commitment.
I'm not worried anyway because I'm not going to cancel anytime soon but it would still piss me off if they stuck me with a commitment without them telling me.
 
I've had autopay since I became a Dish customer.

This was exactly what I was told back when I was with E* and signed up with autopay to get $0.01/year CinemaxHD, and DVR advantage to save a few on DVR fee. Autopay + DVR Adv, no commitment. Talk to their corporate office if you have to. Good luck.
 
are you billed through a third party, ie att embarq windstream etc? if you are and that bill is on autopay, then you would have had to take the commit to get on dda.
 
Shipsnake - So far the 2 HD DVR's have been great. The PQ is outstanding on the HD channels. There are so many HD channels on Directv that there isn't enough time in the day to watch them all.

I had an install timeframe from 8AM - 12PM and the installer shows up around 12:30PM. The installer charges me $45 for a bracket to mount the slimline dish. Those were only installation problems that I had.
 
Shipsnake - So far the 2 HD DVR's have been great. The PQ is outstanding on the HD channels. There are so many HD channels on Directv that there isn't enough time in the day to watch them all.

I had an install timeframe from 8AM - 12PM and the installer shows up around 12:30PM. The installer charges me $45 for a bracket to mount the slimline dish. Those were only installation problems that I had.


Sounds good thanks for the reply. $45 for a bracket, i though install is free??:confused:
 
So my question to you all is: Is there a commitment to Dish for existing customers who sign up for DVR Advantage

Yes, if you did not have before or change to "automatic billpay" at the time you went to DVR Advantage.

That's what the CSR told me when I did it December 2007. I told him I was already on "automatic billpay" and he confirmed I would not be put back on a new commitment. My previous 18 month commitment had already expired.
 
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I need some help. I just canceled Dish because I got Directv installed today. I had Dish for close to 3 years. I haven't received any new equipment for over 2 years so I knew I was under no commitment. I called up Dish to cancel and they said that I was under an 18 month commitment because I signed up for DVR Advantage in July 2007. They are charging me a cancellation fee of $133.

I don't remember signing up for a commitment when I signed up for DVR Advantage. I could not find anything on their website regarding a commitment for existing customers who sign up for DVR Advantage.

So my question to you all is: Is there a commitment to Dish for existing customers who sign up for DVR Advantage and who do not receive any equipment upgrades?

If the CSR was wrong about me being in a commitment, who can I contact so I don't get charged the cancellation fee.

Thanks for all your help.


Mike,
I hope this helps you and anyone else who may be in the same situation.
I just signed up for DVR Advantage about 1 month ago, and I made sure the CSR that signed me up repeated at least 3 times that I was not committing to any contract to get it. It ended up saving me $11/month and it looks like they have not signed me up for any long-term commitment, so it looks like it is working out great for me.

I have no other current commitments with Dish, and I've also been on Automatic Payment for many years.

However, toward the end of 2007, I received calls from two different DishNetwork representatives, trying to get me to sign up for DVR Advantage, telling me what a great deal it was because it would save me $2.99/month, and all I had to do was agree to an 18 month commitment. After I said no the first time, I looked at their information about it on the web site, which said no commitment was required, and also that premium packages were only $10 each if you signed up for two. I already had two premiums in HBO and AT250, but I was being charged $15/month for HBO. So when the 2nd sales rep called to try to sign me up for DVR Advantage, I asked if it would reduce my payment for HBO. They told me NO, nothing would change except I would end up paying $3/month less because of waiving the DVR service fee. And they again said I was required to sign up for an 18 month commitment to do this. Again I told them I wasn't interested in a 3% saving on my bill in exchange for an 18 month commitment.

After I researched this a little more on their web site and this forum , I decided that I really should be able to have DVR Advantage with reduced premium costs and no commitment. I called twice to get a CSR who agreed with this, and the bottom line is I am now signed up for DVR Advantage, no commitment, and saving over 10% on my previous bill.

The bottom line is I think Dish's lack of any firm price list, confusing fees, and untrained Customer Service all work together to let them charge the customer whatever they can get away with. If I had agreed to DVR Advantage as promoted by the Sales reps who called me, I fully expect that they would now have me on an 18 month commitment, and they would be charging me much more per month than I'm now paying.
And even though I "believe" I'm now signed up for DVR Advantage, and they've adjusted my bill with partial payments to indicate I have DVR Advantage, the "My Programming" section of my account information on the web site still does not indicate I have DVR Advantage; instead it indicates I have a DVR Service Fee. Since I signed up I questioned them 3 times as to why the web site doesn't indicate DVR Advantage. I finally got what I wanted, which was an email from them confirming that I have DVR Advantage, and exactly what my new monthly payments will be.

Good luck with your situation.
 
...I had an install timeframe from 8AM - 12PM and the installer shows up around 12:30PM. The installer charges me $45 for a bracket to mount the slimline dish. Those were only installation problems that I had.

I know this may not be the right forum but since some of you wanted to know. You can call DirecTV retention (the same as DISH account specailist) department, for two complaints, one is the installer was late and caused you half day of vacation time, they may offer to compensate you for the trouble, second is you had to pay extra for what seemed part of a standard insallation, again DirecTV may refund you the charge, and charge back the installer.

It however is up to you if you want to be bothered to talk to them, since you otherwise seem happy with the service so far.

You should however NOT be charged for the 18 months, not only because you should not (autopay + DVR Adv.) but also you were not informed about the 18-mo at the time.
 
not only because you should not (autopay + DVR Adv.) but also you were not informed about the 18-mo at the time.

Since when is there any requirement to inform someone about a contract they agree to? And since when is it actually done where said person ever listens? Stop confusing the issue of charging someone fees with irrelevant things like facts...
 
I thought you also had to have paperless billing. When I signed up, I already had everything but the paperless billing. So they switched it on, it says DVR Advantage on the customer portal, and my bill went down the appropriate amount.
 
I thought you also had to have paperless billing. When I signed up, I already had everything but the paperless billing. So they switched it on, it says DVR Advantage on the customer portal, and my bill went down the appropriate amount.
Signing up for the paperless billing gets you the One Penny Cinemax deal, if you ask for it.
 
When I signed up for DVR Advantage a couple of months ago they said it was an 18 month commitment. I already had autopay and paperless billing. It was no big deal to me as I just received my 722 which also had an 18 month commitment.
 
When I signed up for the penny cinimax deal I used their text message system to document what the CSR was telling me. When you are finished this gives you the option of getting a written transcript of what was said to keep in case there are later disputes. I am much more comfortable with the text message over a phone call since there is not formal record of what was said over the phone.
 

Can't change programming online ??

DISH free to schools?

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