$5 programming downgrade/upgrade fee now enforced

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yaz96

yaz96

Baby, It's Cold Outside
Original poster
Dec 22, 2005
12,829
1
Front Range, Colorado
Well, just got off the phone with Dish customer service. I got rid of Fox Soccer Plus channel as the EPL season is over. Normally, they have waived the $5 fee in the past. Everytime I downgraded (1 time a year). This time they would not budge. I asked for a supervisor, and they made me wait 10 minutes on hold. (It was 10:45 PM) Finally, a supervisor came on and said they looked over my account and said they could no longer waive this fee. I complained, said I was a long-time Dish customer (which they can see), and she relented, explaining that in the future I may even be charged to ADD programming and that next time I downgraded I would definitely be charged the $5 fee. She said that new rules have some down and front line CSR's can no longer waive the fee. This was an American call center, BTW. Christiansburg ??

Another example of Dish not giving a crap about their customers......

And Slammin, KAB, and Zero, I don't need to hear from any of you.
 
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Mojo said:
Five bucks means a lot to you..........huh?
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5 dollars is 5 dollars, and I'd rather keep it in my pocket than give it to Dish.

If you are not abusing the downgrading, I see no reason they can't continue waiving the fee, just as they have done in the past.
 
You downgrade every year and then add it back for some kind of playoffs, which you have been doing for years and you do not consider that abuse. I guess they looked at your account and decided it was abuse.
 
yaz96 said:
And Slammin, KAB, and Zero, I don't need to hear from any of you.
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Why Not? Wait I know I know!:)

I just Paid $15 to return a 622 I had on my account since 2007.

Believe me I hear what your saying.
All the money in fees you pay all year and they can't aford to pay to ship their own equipment back after 3 years of service?

I feel bad for the guys that have 3 leased receivers. That $45 alone just to cancel.

I'm sorry but E* should not be aloud to charge a customer any fee's when their contract is up for downgrading, or equipment returns.
 
yaz96 said:
Well, just got off the phone with Dish customer service. I got rid of Fox Soccer Plus channel as the EPL season is over.
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I'd recommend foregoing FSC+ and subscribing to Foxsoccer.tv. Hopefully by the beginning of next season, they'll have worked out all the bugs, but for the most part, the service did improve and the amount of games available is ridiculous! Subscribe for the season or per month, no $5 downgrade feeds.

And FSC+ really is a special case channel to begin with. It isn't as if you bought the channel for a particular event. The EPL season lasts so long... as is most the rugby as well. There is little reason to watch FSC+ after the regular season ends. Imagine having to pay for the NHL Channel as an extra all year long. It wouldn't make sense.

The whole being charged to add programming, well... that seems awfully counter productive to me.
 
jerryez said:
You downgrade every year and then add it back for some kind of playoffs, which you have been doing for years and you do not consider that abuse. I guess they looked at your account and decided it was abuse.
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It is not some kind of playoffs. FS+ (formerly Setanta) shows EPL soccer during their season. The season ends in May. Why would I want to pay $30 for repeats of games for 2 months? So, generally most people cancel.

Would you pay for MLB-EI after the World Series?? (oh yeah, Dish doesn't have MLB, but maybe now you'll understand)
 
I don't know if you are trying to be provocative here or what, but your headline seems like trolling. You admit that DISH is not charging a $5 fee for upgrading in your post, yet your headline says that a downgrade/upgrade fee is now being enforced. As far as I know there is no upgrade fee. Others may correct me if I am wrong.
 
You downgrade every year and then add it back for some kind of playoffs, which you have been doing for years and you do not consider that abuse. I guess they looked at your account and decided it was abuse.
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I can't possibly understand how anyone would consider this ABUSE? What, are we all supposed to order the Top 250 package and keep that for the rest of our lives, lol? When I signed up for my DHA 24 package with Dish, I specifically stated that I was ordering a higher zoot package than I normally would, just so I could sample it. The $15 monthly credit made that possible. I also told them that the ability to upgrade and downgrade my package as my viewing needs change is important to me. The ability to do it on line is even better. And yes, I have already discussed with the CSR who took my order what the minimum package needed to be in order to maintain my monthly credit.

If Dish considers this to be abuse, then I will find a different company when my contract expires. Oh, BTW, I couldn't care less about the minimal $5 fee. It is just a cost of doing what I want. If Dish decides to raise the downgrade fee to an outrageous amount, I will reconsider who will be my provider in the future.

Ed
 
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I do believe that DISH should wave this fee ONCE per year.

Example ... I may have HBO now, but my favorite show is leaving and there is nothing for me to watch on HBO. Why charge me to change?

I don't EVER see a fee for upgrading... THEY WANT YOU TO UPGRADE. :)
 
Lt Disher said:
I don't know if you are trying to be provocative here or what, but your headline seems like trolling. You admit that DISH is not charging a $5 fee for upgrading in your post, yet your headline says that a downgrade/upgrade fee is now being enforced. As far as I know there is no upgrade fee. Others may correct me if I am wrong.
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No, I was told by a supervisor that they will no longer waive the $5.00 downgrade fee, and that she made an exception for me. She also stated that there could possibly be a fee for upgrading. Something about calling in to upgrade. I am just passing along what I was told. I have the rep names, ID, and call center if you want to call to verify.

Many people have had this fee waived in the past for removing a movie channel (as Scott mentioned above) or just downgrading a package. I am letting you know that is no longer Dish's policy.
 
What I don't get is why you can only "DOWNGRADE" online once a year. I had to call the second time and actually talk/ chat with someone. Stupid if you ask me.
 
From what I've heard Dish is no longer waiving fees. Too many CSRs were waiving them. I honestly see no big deal about paying it. Everyone knows there is a $5 downgrade fee. It's been there for years. I would consider yourself lucky that they even did it for you.

To me this is just another unnecessary complaint thread. This is just my opinion though.
 
I down graded recently using the online services from AEP to AT200 + HBO. I just looked and have a $5.00 Transaction Fee. I looked at the Explanation of Detailed Activity and see that a Transaction Fee is something "Applied for agent-handled transactions"
*Removing programming, ordering PPV, Agent Payment Handling $5.00.

Since I didn't have an Agent handling my transaction I started up a chat with dish about the billing to find out WTF? Apparently the magical "system" noticed the downgrade and applied the charge. I noted that there is no documentation of this charge on the bill. The chat person pointed to this link as justification:
Satellite Television - Frequently Answered Questions - DISH Network

That link points to a reference that doesn't even recognize that you could make a change online and again implies the charge is related to a agent handling the transaction.

Dish needs to get their stuff in order. I've documented this all and I'm gonna send it off to the MN State Attorney General's office to see if they want to ask Dish what they are doing charging people for things without notifying the people the charge will be incurred. I.e., at no time when I changed my programming options online did the system notify me that there would be a $5 charge for this change. And the bills I've seen would all lead me to believe that there would be no charge.

Thus they either need to fix their billing layout, or not charge the fee for non-agent handled transactions.
 
lots of folks add and remove programming. Its not abuse

When I had Dish I'd add the multi sports pack in October for college hockey and in March remove it when it was over.
Betcha folks who add the sports pack to get extra MLB games (there are areas like that...Iowa as example) wonder how many of those cancel in October and add in April

How many folks added HBO when the Sopranos where in the final season then cancel when season over? I betcha a fair amount of them did ;)
 

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