Dish messed up my bill in my favor, can't get Indian CSRs to figure it out.

jsanders

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
Dec 4, 2003
411
0
This is comical.

I switched to the HD Only pack on 2/1/08. After viewing the new package for one month, my bill is -$51.81! Don't know why. I think I should have to pay them $40.97, that should be my charge. The first month will be prorated between the old package and the new package, so the bill will be different, but I think it should be between $34 and $40.

I have called dish network twice now. I have got CSRs from India both times that explained to me that the negative balance means I have a credit. I told them that it seems that I should have to pay for programming I am subscribed to. Then they tell me again that I have a credit. Logic doesn't enter into their minds. They don't have the fortitude to try to figure out why I have a credit, and if it is somehow justified or if it is a mistake. Just incredible.

Any ideas? Maybe I should call technical support and see if that gets me a non-Indian CSR.


With a credit of $51.81, I won't have to pay next month either, and in two months, I will have a $29 bill.

Go figure!
 
DISH charges for the month in advance, and in some circumstances 2 months in advance. If you had just paid the bill before you downgraded, there will be an adjustment for that month and it is quite possible that there could be a credit for the next bill. What did you downgrade from? If AEP, these numbers could be quite reasonable.
 
Called a 3rd time to technical support, got someone from Colorado. He was sort of helpful. Looks like when I signed up for the HD Only package, they decided I needed a dish 1000 on my roof and wouldn't turn on my new channels until they did it. I called and asked why the new channels weren't turned on, and they said it was because of an install. I told them I had a dish pointed at 61.5, and didn't need one pointed at 129. They cancelled the install, and it looks like that came with a $99 credit. I think that was the problem.

The CSR said he was going to send a note to their audit/refund department, and said they may reverse the credit. It sounded like he was writing me up for doing something bad, and I was trying to tell him that I called three times to try to fix an error in my own favor. He said he realized I was trying to be honest, and said he would write that in his report.

So, I paid my bill anyway, in fear that the charge will be reversed, and then they will tell me that I am late on my payments.

To be honest, I would love to have a $99 credit and not have to pay a bill. I would like dish to be aware of their mistake though. If they still want to give it to me, that is fine. But I at least have to tell them they made a big mistake in my favor. Looks like it took three calls to do it, and there is a possibility that I might get in trouble for doing it. Weird!
 
Called a 3rd time to technical support, got someone from Colorado. He was sort of helpful. Looks like when I signed up for the HD Only package, they decided I needed a dish 1000 on my roof and wouldn't turn on my new channels until they did it. I called and asked why the new channels weren't turned on, and they said it was because of an install. I told them I had a dish pointed at 61.5, and didn't need one pointed at 129. They cancelled the install, and it looks like that came with a $99 credit. I think that was the problem.

The CSR said he was going to send a note to their audit/refund department, and said they may reverse the credit. It sounded like he was writing me up for doing something bad, and I was trying to tell him that I called three times to try to fix an error in my own favor. He said he realized I was trying to be honest, and said he would write that in his report.

So, I paid my bill anyway, in fear that the charge will be reversed, and then they will tell me that I am late on my payments.

To be honest, I would love to have a $99 credit and not have to pay a bill. I would like dish to be aware of their mistake though. If they still want to give it to me, that is fine. But I at least have to tell them they made a big mistake in my favor. Looks like it took three calls to do it, and there is a possibility that I might get in trouble for doing it. Weird!

JSanders, I don't know about the $99 credit fiasco; I recently changed from Dvr advantage at200 to the hd only (29.99) pack; I had an overseas cs tell me a similar tale, I need another dish to see 129; I explained that I already had a second dish to see 61.5 and finally convinced her that I had the necessary setup to receive the hd pack. I ended up with ~$50 credit on my account because of my billing date (runs the 20th thru the 19th of the following month) and had just been billed for $81. Since the bill is a month ahead I'm not getting any extra credit (and I suspect you're not either:D); they've got this billing down to an exact science and it will (or should!) all even out. My new billing will be: $29.99 hd pack, 5.98 dvr fee, 5 locals, and 7 lease fee for a 622. Also, I haven't had any withdrawal pains from not getting the sd channels; if you ask the wife she might grunch & complain about not getting E (channel 114) and ABC family channel:(
 
No good deed ever goes unpunished. :)

Next time it happens, just give the balance to charity. You'll still feel honest and won't have to go through all the hassle.

Or you could just be like me and pocket it.
 
Finally got my first bill off the AT&T Customer website (I've got Dish bundled with my home phone). The E* piece didn't make sense so I called and got an American CSR. After running through each item one by one, I suddenly figured out that they gave me a credit for the ~$198 I put on my credit card when I ordered the service. The CSR said $49 was for installation and $99 was for the 2nd DVR. Ok. But then further down the bill, they charged me $49 for installation, but there was a $49 credit for installation also. I, too, tried to tell the CSR that something was wrong, but after 3 tries, I gave up. I should have had to pay them the $99 bucks for the 2nd DVR (I was getting a free installation deal), but they refunded my $198 and the $49 they charged me again. Definitely a zero sum game at this point.

They might figure it out eventually, but I slept fine last night knowing that I tried to get them to understand.
 
Last edited:
Dish billing is confusing, mine's like that too, unfortunately not in my favor!

I believe first I paid the $50, then $115, then 66. And that's with DVR advantage and 4 TVs.

The dual locals thing made a mess!
 
Yeah, what the French, Toast?

I signed up for AT 250 + Ultimate HD so I figured that's what I'd see on my bill.

Noooooo. It's listed as DVR Advantage for $49.99 and then another line that says Dish HD with 4 premium package for $60. She told me that the $60 breaks down this way:

$10 for the extra 50 channels since the $49.99 is for AT200
$20 for the Ultimate HD
$10 for HBO
$10 for Cinemax
$10 for Starz

Hello, Captain Obvious! Is it too much to ask to show me what I'm actually being billed for instead of me needing to know all this stuff on my own?
 
I lowered to the $10 HD package, but still get all the voom channels.. 3+ weeks now like that, and my bill shows the correct package... will i call them? No. Do i feel i need to? No. I am getting billed what i asked for, and if i recieve more, its not my problem and i did nothing wrong.
 
I lowered to the $10 HD package, but still get all the voom channels.. 3+ weeks now like that, and my bill shows the correct package... will i call them? No. Do i feel i need to? No. I am getting billed what i asked for, and if i recieve more, its not my problem and i did nothing wrong.

+1 :) I have spent 4 calls getting my billing and channels straight since I upgraded to a 722 a month ago (which included install of the 1000). I went with the essentilas hd. I refuse to take another hour of my time to get it straightened out.
Btw, the upgrade was given to me so that I wouldn't leave Dish. lol
 
CSRs do stranges things.

Back in January I added a purchased 722 to my account; that's it, no other changes. What did the CSR do? They removed the AEP bundle package from my account, and added back in a separate AT250 package, and separate HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, and Starz packages. Exactly the same programming as the AEP bundle, EXCEPT now for about $20 more unbundle!

When a called to get them fix this mess up, they tried to change me a downgrade charge to "go back" to the AEP package. THIS WAS THEIR MISTAKE! After much arguing (and talking to a supervisor) they relented. Even then they screw up again by adding back in extra receiver fees for receivers I had deactivated YEARS ago and don't even own any more. It took me two months to get things all straightened out.

And by the way, when I added the 722, the CSR didn't even ask me about 129 access or additional dish installs (I already had a 1000.2). You never know what you're going to get.