Dish Customer Service has no loyalty to customers

[kenyaecker]

Been a Dish customer since 2000. Recently unemployed and can not pay my bill at the moment. Account was disabled. I called them to see if I could put the account on a temporary suspension till I can pay down the balance. They said.

"For some accounts we can do that Yours in one of them. But unfortunately your account has been suspended for unpaid balance and we can not get into the account to make the changes until the balance is paid. Then we could help you."

DUH WINNING! WTF. (If I could pay it (RALPH) idiot I would)

So I told them that leaves me no choice but to do a full termination of the account. They said that would be automatic and I would receive boxes in the mail to return the equipment.

What a way to do business after 11 years. I guess I am really NOT a VALUED customer as the recording said. Well Direct TV here I come!

 

[CK SatGuy]

It's sad you had to cancel like that. My question is did you let dish know you couldn't pay after the account got suspended or before that happened? If you notified them before they suspended your account, they should have been able to do something for you like putting it on DISHpause.

 

[KAB]

I guess I am really NOT a VALUED customer as the recording said.

When you don't pay your bills. DUH, NO! Good luck with Direct. They probably will do a credit check on you/credit card. Sounds like that might not be good.

 

[Bobby]

So, you can't pay your Dish bill but you can pay Direct TV just fine?????

 

[kenyaecker]

Obviously after I get a job and can afford it, I will go to Direct. Not now.

 

[kenyaecker]

When I firs contacted them I told them the situation. They did not offer me that option (and I was not aware that it existed til after the interruption), but they did say my service would be interrupted in 3 days if I did not pay. So it got interrupted and I call back today.

 

[Rwwatson]

I know it stinks, but it's not just Dish, it is most companies. No matter how long you have been with them, once you stop paying, you stop getting service. Had a friend who had Comcast (and previous owners of same service) for 20 years, lost his income, and after 3 months of non-payment they cut him off. He called, and they said they were sorry, but essentially, business is business. I think Dish would have done something, like Dish Pause or a service change to a lower package, if you tried to work with them prior to the cutoff. While I wish you well with Direct, I think if everything is the same, Direct's reaction will be the same....

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

I completely understand both your position, kenyaecker, and what the CSR was telling you. Hard times are terrible, and I have been there myself. When you called in prior to the soft disconnect the agents are instructed to offer a lower service to save you money (especially when pricing is the issue, or could help the ability for you to pay) before allowing the account to go into a disconnect. If no changes could be made with your permission at the time of the initial phone call, then they have no choice but to leave the account "as is". Once the account goes into a soft disconnect (non-pay), nothing can be changed as the account is not "active". The system basically determines you are not getting services, so there is no need to change them. As the CSR mentioned, after a certain number of days, the account will go into a "hard disconnect" and the supplies to ship the receivers, remotes, and LNBFs will be sent.

That being said, I would like to review the account if you wouldn't mind. Could you PM an account number or phone number?

 

[Tampa8]

Dish probably could have made some type of incentive for this type of situation because the OP certainly is not the only one who is facing this problem right now.
Pay X amount of dollars every month while we put you on pause, and all will be good when you can start your service again..... But if you miss a payment we have to terminate and report to credit, and try to get what is owed to us....

 

[TonyT@DISH Network]

They have, as I mentioned before. Problem is it cannot happen with a disconnected account. It's simple, there are no services to change when no services are available. Even on a voluntary termination (customer cancel) we cannot make changes to the account, except with regard to billing ledgers. Programming and DISH Pause cannot be added.

 

[lucavex]

I think some reading between the lines is necessary here.

OP became unemployed, but decided not to let Dish know until AFTER his services were suspended, rather than being proactive and calling to discuss options. Just had to see that season finale I suppose.

Now, he's expecting Dish to levy some sort of apology and options to him, after he willingly and knowingly let his bill get out of control, and finally his services were removed.

So, tell me because I might be mistaken here, where exactly did Dish commit some customer service faux pas?

 

[HDRoberts]

When I firs contacted them I told them the situation. They did not offer me that option (and I was not aware that it existed til after the interruption), but they did say my service would be interrupted in 3 days if I did not pay. So it got interrupted and I call back today.

Well, they don't cut you off 3 days after being late (I know from experience) so it sounds like you were headed for severance before you even contacted them. Should have given them a call as soon as you knew you could not pay your bill. Sounds like you wanted to try and stretch your pay TV as long as you could, but finally got burned.

 

[grb]

I know it stinks, but it's not just Dish, it is most companies. No matter how long you have been with them, once you stop paying, you stop getting service. Had a friend who had Comcast (and previous owners of same service) for 20 years, lost his income, and after 3 months of non-payment they cut him off. He called, and they said they were sorry, but essentially, business is business.

How true. When the money stops flowing in, you are no longer a "valued customer"...

 

[lucavex]

How true. When the money stops flowing in, you are no longer a "valued customer"...

Odd that a business would prefer to continue making money.

How selfish of them!


Edited to remove formatting errors

 

[whatchel1]

OP you came to the wrong place for sympathy.

 

[empiretc]

I think some reading between the lines is necessary here.

OP became unemployed, but decided not to let Dish know until AFTER his services were suspended, rather than being proactive and calling to discuss options. Just had to see that season finale I suppose.

Now, he's expecting Dish to levy some sort of apology and options to him, after he willingly and knowingly let his bill get out of control, and finally his services were removed.

So, tell me because I might be mistaken here, where exactly did Dish commit some customer service faux pas?

Agreed. Just seems like more of this "entitlement" so many express these days. Without a doubt, something could have been done before the account went into default.

 

[Jimmerinwi]

If getting service terminated isn't bad enough, wait until the OP gets billed $15 for return shipping boxes!

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[Slamminc11]

The contract you agreed to with Dish is that you pay your bill each month and in turn they will provide you with service. You didn't live up to your side of the deal so why would anyone expect them to continue to provide you service.
you would think that I would be surprised at the audacity of some people...but honestly, not anymore...

 

[englishtycoon]

Been a Dish customer since 2000. Recently unemployed and can not pay my bill at the moment. Account was disabled. I called them to see if I could put the account on a temporary suspension till I can pay down the balance. They said.

"For some accounts we can do that Yours in one of them. But unfortunately your account has been suspended for unpaid balance and we can not get into the account to make the changes until the balance is paid. Then we could help you."

DUH WINNING! WTF. (If I could pay it (RALPH) idiot I would)

So I told them that leaves me no choice but to do a full termination of the account. They said that would be automatic and I would receive boxes in the mail to return the equipment.

What a way to do business after 11 years. I guess I am really NOT a VALUED customer as the recording said. Well Direct TV here I come!

So I see in an old post you were willing to pay $94 a month just to get Fox in HD

DUH WINNING

 

[Zero327]

DISH has no loyalty to customers. Customers have no loyalty to DISH. At what point did "customer service" become some kind of insult or profanity to be thrown at businesses versus a business concept? Let's try that in a sentence...

Go customer service yourself!

You cut me off! Customer service you man!

Awww... customer service.