Let me preface this by saying that I am not a rash person, who flies off the handle at a moment's notice to scream about perceived injustices. I am a very patient person. I am also a high level executive at a $50M+ company, who is sometimes involved in contract negotiations. So I know a thing or two about contracts and honoring them.
In late November, 2005, I wrote to the Dish CEO office to request permission to lease a 942. I cited that I had been a Dish subscriber for 7.5 years, was presently sub'ing to the AEP package plus HD, VOOM, Superstations, and PBS, with Autopay. I had previously attempted to lease a 942 in June, but was turned down and offered an 811 for a $99 lease.
Within 48 hours, a representative of the Dish CEO office contacted me to tell me that my request was accepted and that I could now get a 942. I then brought up my June experience where I had been denied and had paid $99 for an 811 that was only 5 months old, for which I certainly had not gotten my money's worth. The Dish rep then graciously extended an offer of giving me $99 in programming credits if I exchanged the 811.
I thought this was very fair. Before the conversation ended, I verified two more times that what we were agreeing to was that I would have to make a payment of $250 to Dish for the 942, and that I would then receive the $99 programming credit. That I would not simply get away by paying $151. Our agreement was quite clear and she repeated it back to me. I thanked her and she said she was glad that she could keep me as a happy Dish customer.
So I paid the $250 and received a 942 (a very buggy 942 that to this day does not function correctly), but a 942 nonetheless. After 4 weeks I noticed that the $99 programming credit never materialized on my bill. However a $25 credit for turning in a 2nd older receiver did.
Believing this to be an oversight, I politely contacted the Dish CEO office again, citing the earlier conversation and asked them to correct the situation. In this email I said that I could understand if it had been overlooked as this wasn't a common procedure. I sent that email just before Christmas.
After not hearing back from Dish, I sent a second email in early January. I figured that with the Lifetime situation and the holidays that my first email had been lost in the flood. In it I again cited that as an honorable company, I expected Dish to fulfill their commitment. Never doubting that they would. Why would Dish lie to a high paying, long-term customer to save a $99 one time write off?
A couple days after sending the 2nd email, I received a response from the CEO office rep who had extended the offer. She asked for more information, and included a statement which indirectly inferred that she had never made such an offer. Now had we only touched on the subject one time in that original conversation, I could understand her claiming that it was a misunderstanding on my part. But as I confirmed it a total of three times, with her given me explicit instructions about how the process would go, there is simply no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the credit was offered.
I still held out hope that Dish would do the right thing, even if they believed that I was the one who screwed up the communications. After all, a $99 credit is less than one month of my payment. And my letters were not argumentative or disrespectful, likewise my 7.5 year history was a clean record, always paying on time, never arguing with a CSR.
My last email was sent 10 days ago. There has been no response and nothing has been credited to my account. It has been 4 weeks since my first email and 8 weeks since the original offer was extended and accepted. Apparently the Dish CEO is indeed going to fail to honor a promise and has run a scam operation on me.
As I have no proof, there is nowhere I can go with this. Except to pass along the story to others, and to reduce my programming subscription to recoup my losses, which I will be doing. However I am limited as to what I can do as I now have a leased (partially functional) 942 with an 18 month commitment to AT60 & HD Pak. Note that I gave Dish a full 4 weeks to resolve the situation before airing it here.
In the end, I will far more than recoup my $99 from Dish in reduced programming fees. That's why I think Dish's actions are foolish. They dishonor their company and lose money too. I can afford the $99, but there is no way I'm going to let them lie to me without any repercussions. And where I was thinking about just waiting out my 942 problems until I obtain a 622 replacement, I will now press Dish Tech Support for a replacement 942. The cost of the tech support time, sending another 942, getting my 942 back and refurbishing it, and potentially a return visit by a local Dish installer to make the swap, will cost Dish more than $99. There is no way they come out a winner in this deal.
I never believed it would come to this.
In late November, 2005, I wrote to the Dish CEO office to request permission to lease a 942. I cited that I had been a Dish subscriber for 7.5 years, was presently sub'ing to the AEP package plus HD, VOOM, Superstations, and PBS, with Autopay. I had previously attempted to lease a 942 in June, but was turned down and offered an 811 for a $99 lease.
Within 48 hours, a representative of the Dish CEO office contacted me to tell me that my request was accepted and that I could now get a 942. I then brought up my June experience where I had been denied and had paid $99 for an 811 that was only 5 months old, for which I certainly had not gotten my money's worth. The Dish rep then graciously extended an offer of giving me $99 in programming credits if I exchanged the 811.
I thought this was very fair. Before the conversation ended, I verified two more times that what we were agreeing to was that I would have to make a payment of $250 to Dish for the 942, and that I would then receive the $99 programming credit. That I would not simply get away by paying $151. Our agreement was quite clear and she repeated it back to me. I thanked her and she said she was glad that she could keep me as a happy Dish customer.
So I paid the $250 and received a 942 (a very buggy 942 that to this day does not function correctly), but a 942 nonetheless. After 4 weeks I noticed that the $99 programming credit never materialized on my bill. However a $25 credit for turning in a 2nd older receiver did.
Believing this to be an oversight, I politely contacted the Dish CEO office again, citing the earlier conversation and asked them to correct the situation. In this email I said that I could understand if it had been overlooked as this wasn't a common procedure. I sent that email just before Christmas.
After not hearing back from Dish, I sent a second email in early January. I figured that with the Lifetime situation and the holidays that my first email had been lost in the flood. In it I again cited that as an honorable company, I expected Dish to fulfill their commitment. Never doubting that they would. Why would Dish lie to a high paying, long-term customer to save a $99 one time write off?
A couple days after sending the 2nd email, I received a response from the CEO office rep who had extended the offer. She asked for more information, and included a statement which indirectly inferred that she had never made such an offer. Now had we only touched on the subject one time in that original conversation, I could understand her claiming that it was a misunderstanding on my part. But as I confirmed it a total of three times, with her given me explicit instructions about how the process would go, there is simply no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the credit was offered.
I still held out hope that Dish would do the right thing, even if they believed that I was the one who screwed up the communications. After all, a $99 credit is less than one month of my payment. And my letters were not argumentative or disrespectful, likewise my 7.5 year history was a clean record, always paying on time, never arguing with a CSR.
My last email was sent 10 days ago. There has been no response and nothing has been credited to my account. It has been 4 weeks since my first email and 8 weeks since the original offer was extended and accepted. Apparently the Dish CEO is indeed going to fail to honor a promise and has run a scam operation on me.
As I have no proof, there is nowhere I can go with this. Except to pass along the story to others, and to reduce my programming subscription to recoup my losses, which I will be doing. However I am limited as to what I can do as I now have a leased (partially functional) 942 with an 18 month commitment to AT60 & HD Pak. Note that I gave Dish a full 4 weeks to resolve the situation before airing it here.
In the end, I will far more than recoup my $99 from Dish in reduced programming fees. That's why I think Dish's actions are foolish. They dishonor their company and lose money too. I can afford the $99, but there is no way I'm going to let them lie to me without any repercussions. And where I was thinking about just waiting out my 942 problems until I obtain a 622 replacement, I will now press Dish Tech Support for a replacement 942. The cost of the tech support time, sending another 942, getting my 942 back and refurbishing it, and potentially a return visit by a local Dish installer to make the swap, will cost Dish more than $99. There is no way they come out a winner in this deal.
I never believed it would come to this.