Call from the Audit Department.... what's next?

[Purogamer]

If she starts out as really rude you should say "Ma'am, I'm more than willingly to help you do your job but I require you to be professional with me and lose your attitude. I am a customer and I should be treated with respect since as of now I have done nothing wrong" and she'd probably straighten up and apologize on top of it...

Sometimes someone's having a bad day and just doesn't realize it's coming through in their tone and demeanor.

 

[SmityWhity]

Purogamer -- Your last post is great. Backing up a little... For several years now, you can have a single number so that if you don't answer your home phone, your cell will ring; and last year Qwest offered me home service with cell service with a single phone number for both. Then there's call forwarding, as well as some telephones ring in 2 (or more) locations that are not at the same physical address, such as a home and then at a small business (mechanic shop, etc...). So it is possible to not be at the receiver location when the call is received, and not be a thief.

In general -- I've read that you must connect a phone line only if you have multiple receivers, and if you do, they will not charge you the extra $5 for the extra receiver. However, if you don't connect a phone line to a single (or multiple) receiver, you may not have access to some functions/services.

 

[kb7oeb]

The cable guard can be really good if a lot / most of the cable companies would use them. This would be really competitive against satellite.

They are required to offer it, I think the hold up for now is usually only high end tvs have cable card and most people would rather have a STB on a new HD tv. Its perfect for cheap bedroom sets but I haven't seen any that come with cable card slots or for that matter even QAM tuners.

 

[stone phillips420]

sooner or later dish will learn there lesson, obviously it will be dish after they lose a majority of good customers assuming everyone who get audited has at least 3-4 irds.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I think phonegunner is over-reacting, and Derwin0 told you why. It is policy, and it's to prevent someone from reading numbers from more than 1 location. They have to be calling the number on the account, and all the boxes have to be in the location of that number. It's not a conspiracy, it is policy and it's 100% reasonable. If you're on the # of the account, there's no reason you don't have access to the boxes unless you're stealing.

The fact that you opened the account on a cell phone # is your fault, not Dish's. I'm surprised your installer allowed such a thing...

3-way calling is SO 20th Century.

The audit idiots have NOT figured out that internet instant messenging makes the ENTIRE process worthless.

If you don't get why, ask someone with an IQ.

If she starts out as really rude you should say "Ma'am, I'm more than willingly to help you do your job but I require you to be professional with me and lose your attitude. I am a customer and I should be treated with respect since as of now I have done nothing wrong" and she'd probably straighten up and apologize on top of it...

Sometimes someone's having a bad day and just doesn't realize it's coming through in their tone and demeanor.

Sorry, gotta disagree. There's WAY too many reports of the audit team acting like real @$$#oles.

That's OK, tho. We do DirecTV, too, and I have NO problem switching one of my customers when the STUPID FRELLING IDIOTS at E* tick them off. These are often people that have purchased multiple HD/DVR boxes, and the facts are they just don't care about the small (to them) amount of money it costs them to switch. Hey - what's a couple of grand when you own your $4M house outright?

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

First, let me start off with I don't like the audit BS, but in all honesty, after 3 of them, I must say I have never been treated rudely or treated like I was stealing something. I have probably had conversations with 5 reps during those 3 periods and never a harsh word or action towards me. HOWEVER I still don't like the BS and its a big waste of my time.

To Begin with, I am not sure why this whole thing about the cellphone and 3 way is such a big deal to the posters here. In every one of the 3 audits, I could not do it when they called. I was given a number to call back and I did. There was never a problem when I told them I could not do it then for whatever made up excuse I made at the time (the least of which, it was inconvenient at the time). Never was the callback from the number on my account. That was never an issue.

If you don't like it as much as I don't like it - here's my first advice - being rude gets you no where. What do you do? WASTE AS MUCH TIME ON THE PHONE WITH THEM AS POSSIBLE. If you need instructions, look at the stupid questions asked by N00BS on the board here. People get nervous with tests - Noobs make dumb Noob mistakes. If you mess up and run a check switch on a 211, congrats, you just shut them down for another 15 minutes....and you just aren't electronically oriented. In every case I have kept them on the phone from 1 to 3 hours - yes you read right....between 1 and 3 hours. If everyone did that, they couldn't afford to do these audits.

In every case, 1 of my STBs failed. They were so fed up being on the phone with me and other STBs passing that they were trying everything to pass it and get off the phone. In 2 instances, they went to a supervisor to get a pass. I insisted I wanted to do this now so I did not have to do it again. Quite honestly, the STBs that failed were here and totally legit - however - from the questions they asked and things they did to try and figure out why, there are more checksums in reading back those numbers than you would think. Anyone that has been through an audit that kept careful track of every step they ask could probably piece it together. Despite the 3 way calling/Internet IM, someone who wants to steal service with account sharing might find there are more checks in place than what you think which will reveal to them the stbs are in different locations, whether you tell them that or not.

Again, I hate the process. I recommend you waste as much as their time as possible until its uneconomical for them to continue. However, I won't tell some of what I know goes into the equation that gives the check sum for the receiver location as I don't condone stealing their service. But be assured, its there and goes into the equation.

 

[Stargazer]

I have seen MANY customers go to Directv this past year. More than ever before.

 

[stone phillips420]

i brought my echostar money to Comcast, I still pay .50 cents a day for dish just to bitch

 

[phonegunner]

Ah ok....

No.. there is only legit equipment.. just we got married and she still had her maiden name on all her cards ... and we just moved into a new house and the phoneline was not connected yet and she wanted to surprise me ... so I could watch the Sci-Fi channel "Twilight-Zone-A-Thon" 1 year ago ...

Anyhow.. as some might have known from on other posts we had just gone thru a crashed 522 and it was replaced just 1 week before this audit came along .... (are there triggers that they do not disclose?)

But, none the less ... the agent was rude .. and my wife wanted me to be on the phone ... and yes .. there is also the possibility that the agent was having a bad day ... I have had some myself ...

Great board .. great discussion ...

Thanks,

Ted...

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Ah ok....

No.. there is only legit equipment.. just we got married and she still had her maiden name on all her cards ... and we just moved into a new house and the phoneline was not connected yet and she wanted to surprise me ... so I could watch the Sci-Fi channel "Twilight-Zone-A-Thon" 1 year ago ...

Anyhow.. as some might have known from on other posts we had just gone thru a crashed 522 and it was replaced just 1 week before this audit came along .... (are there triggers that they do not disclose?)

But, none the less ... the agent was rude .. and my wife wanted me to be on the phone ... and yes .. there is also the possibility that the agent was having a bad day ... I have had some myself ...

Great board .. great discussion ...

Thanks,

Ted...

I don't dispute your experience.

What I dont understand is why you just didnt say you couldnt do it then and would do it later that day, tomorrow whatever.

Then called back. It did not have to be your wife or from the number on the account.

There was no need for a 3 way call, and they clearly state they will not allow a 3 way call.

Again, I hate them...but plan for a time when you can waste 3 hours of their time. That will grind the process to a halt.

 

[BobaBird]

I've read that you must connect a phone line only if you have multiple receivers, and if you do, they will not charge you the extra $5 for the extra receiver.

There is no way to get out of the additional outlet fee for each extra box. You may be thinking of the dual-tuner dual-output boxes where the so-called "additional tuner fee" is "waived" (aka no no-phone penalty) if you have the phone line connected.

 

[Stargazer]

I am surprised that they do not force people to take the dual tuner receivers now to prevent this issue. This would save people money and help resolve some of these issues that they are having now.

 

[SaltiDawg]

...

The audit idiots have NOT figured out that internet instant messenging makes the ENTIRE process worthless.
...

I find it amazing that you would put so much time and energy into cheating.

It's nice to see people's priorities. lol

 

[SmityWhity]

BobaBird,

I may be mixed up - won't swear either way. However, somewhere here or another post I did state that E* has too many disclaimers, terms and conditions, and etc..., and they don't match up. It depends on which versions you look at, mailed, enclosed with the equipment, internet, and then what date. Then they got the Digital Advantage, with obsolete dates.

Me.... I just buy my equipment (1 receiver), hook it up, call to activate it, when the CSR tells me it won't work, he hangs up on me, I call back and get another CSR, ask to activate my receiver, she says I've only been on the floor for a couple of days please bare (bear) with me, credit card number, it's working, final question for me is "what day do you want the tech to come out and hook everything up?

I guess the CSR, and audit folks, generally do not have any technical knowledge. They must have cheat sheets to go by and if they don't follow the flow, they get into a loop. Guess if it wasn't for them, life would be boring.

And I use to not have any technical knowledge either, but started learning quick after a few paper-clips in the wall sockets!

 

[MikeD-C05]

Always talk to the Tech department not the regular csrs. The Techs are a "little" more knowledgeble than the regular csr. I even talk to them for any other issues including billing etc. Sometimes I get an American tech and he and I can actually understand each other. :

 

[SmityWhity]

I've only talked with the techs a couple of times, and they seem to be pretty good. I do wished they had known that you need longer center conductors on your RG-6 for the DPP44 and DP34, would of saved me a few hours of trouble shooting and figuring it out myself.

If they are technically inclined, I don't care what language they speak, British, cajun, or sign language, or even TexMx.

 

[SimpleSimon]

someone who wants to steal service with account sharing might find there are more checks in place than what you think which will reveal to them the stbs are in different locations, whether you tell them that or not.

Sorry, not reliable. The ONLY possible way other than a phone line (and even THAT is no longer reliable) for them to determine true location information is by which spotbeams the receiver is seeing. SO, two receivers in the same town can't be detected, but two receivers in different cities far enough from each other CAN be detected.

I find it amazing that you would put so much time and energy into cheating.

It's nice to see people's priorities. lol

Not me cheating at all. And in fact, I DO want to catch EVERY pirate and thief - they are digging directly into MY pocketbook. If there's 10 in my service area that get caught, 3-4 might open accounts, and I might get them.

P.S. SmityWhity - yup, and my boss STILL razzed me for leaving longer spikes - until HIS first DPP44.

 

[Yahkin]

If you're on the # of the account, there's no reason you don't have access to the boxes unless you're stealing.

Actually this is not correct. I live in southern Wisconsin. I have 2 accounts. One for my home here, and one for my cabin in Minnesota. The receivers in MN do not have a phone line to connect to (It's a cabin!), so the billing address and phone number is my home here. If they call me to audit my cabin account, there is NO WAY I can read any numbers to them. Will they wait 3 weeks until the next time I am there? I am not stealing or breaking any rules, in fact I am going out of my way to follow their rules. Why should I be treated poorly?

The fact that you opened the account on a cell phone # is your fault, not Dish's. I'm surprised your installer allowed such a thing...

??? Welcome to the 21st Century? This is a common occurance and will become more common.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

Sorry, not reliable. The ONLY possible way other than a phone line (and even THAT is no longer reliable) for them to determine true location information is by which spotbeams the receiver is seeing. SO, two receivers in the same town can't be detected, but two receivers in different cities far enough from each other CAN be detected.

sorry, but there is.

In all fairness, i would have never connected the dots unless told during 2 different audits that 2 different receivers in my house failed and then some steps we went through to figure out why. At that point, if the STB was not in your house, it would have been too late anyway.

But, I guess you just haven't thought about it long and hard enough. It was important enough for them and quite simply, I will give them credit for that one.

In most cases the general public - or even those who think they know the scams such as yourself - would never know.

 

[Purogamer]

Actually this is not correct. I live in southern Wisconsin. I have 2 accounts. One for my home here, and one for my cabin in Minnesota. The receivers in MN do not have a phone line to connect to (It's a cabin!), so the billing address and phone number is my home here. If they call me to audit my cabin account, there is NO WAY I can read any numbers to them. Will they wait 3 weeks until the next time I am there? I am not stealing or breaking any rules, in fact I am going out of my way to follow their rules. Why should I be treated poorly?



??? Welcome to the 21st Century? This is a common occurance and will become more common.

If you have two accounts, why would they call your home account to audit your cabin account?