Happy Birthday to You and Happy Easter to All!
DISH would rather lose you than keep you happy
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Happy Birthday to You and Happy Easter to All!
Thanks for all the comments, questions, etc. about my thread starting post. I must admit that it was written in the heat of the moment and I should have taken some time to cool off rather than hit the keyboard. I should probably also have been more verbose with the background story but I thought keeping it short was the way to go.
I was wrong.
But here’s the story…
I had my VIP722K for 5 years or more after being a DISH subscriber “here on Maui” since approximately 2001. Prior to that, I became a DISH subscriber when it first became available in Oregon and I switched from my C Band setup sometime in the mid 1990’s. I think that qualifies as a loyal customer.
So fast forward to the present. Sometime at the end of 2018, we were experiencing constant problems with dropped signals. A service call a year or so prior to 2018 determined that the VIP722K was on its way out. So, I finally asked, as a loyal subscriber, “can I get a free upgrade to a Hopper 3 and free installation”.
I was told the only way to do that was to have the service contract and it would be given to me free for 3 months.
We continued to experience occasional issues after the installation and almost 3 months later, it was determined that our 18 year old cable run needed to be replaced. So a great local installer came and replaced the cable run. Since we were near the end of the service contract, I was told we should sign up for a new contract in order to not be charged for the cable replacement.
It turned out that the service call to replace the cable took place while I still had two days remaining on my original 3 month contract.
I called DISH as soon as this was realized, explained the situation and the new contract was removed.
A month or so later, I got a bill with a half month charge for a service contract. I called DISH to explain the situation and not only was the service contract cancelled AGAIN, my account was credited with that half month charge because it was done in error.
Now this month, my account was charged with the cancellation fee.
My first contention is that if the cable run needed to be replaced, it should have been done at the time the new Hopper was installed. Second, it’s understandable that the cable issue may not have been apparent at the time of install but in hindsight, the cable run was replaced just under the deadline for the 3 month service to expire. My discussion with DISH reps at that time made it appear that everything was taken care of and there would be no more worries.
Finally, the choices I outlined in my original post were really an attempt to find out what alternatives DISH could do for a loyal customer since I was told that it’s company policy to not remove that charge. What ultimately came out of the conversation was that nothing could be done.
I was wrong.
But here’s the story…
I had my VIP722K for 5 years or more after being a DISH subscriber “here on Maui” since approximately 2001. Prior to that, I became a DISH subscriber when it first became available in Oregon and I switched from my C Band setup sometime in the mid 1990’s. I think that qualifies as a loyal customer.
So fast forward to the present. Sometime at the end of 2018, we were experiencing constant problems with dropped signals. A service call a year or so prior to 2018 determined that the VIP722K was on its way out. So, I finally asked, as a loyal subscriber, “can I get a free upgrade to a Hopper 3 and free installation”.
I was told the only way to do that was to have the service contract and it would be given to me free for 3 months.
We continued to experience occasional issues after the installation and almost 3 months later, it was determined that our 18 year old cable run needed to be replaced. So a great local installer came and replaced the cable run. Since we were near the end of the service contract, I was told we should sign up for a new contract in order to not be charged for the cable replacement.
It turned out that the service call to replace the cable took place while I still had two days remaining on my original 3 month contract.
I called DISH as soon as this was realized, explained the situation and the new contract was removed.
A month or so later, I got a bill with a half month charge for a service contract. I called DISH to explain the situation and not only was the service contract cancelled AGAIN, my account was credited with that half month charge because it was done in error.
Now this month, my account was charged with the cancellation fee.
My first contention is that if the cable run needed to be replaced, it should have been done at the time the new Hopper was installed. Second, it’s understandable that the cable issue may not have been apparent at the time of install but in hindsight, the cable run was replaced just under the deadline for the 3 month service to expire. My discussion with DISH reps at that time made it appear that everything was taken care of and there would be no more worries.
Finally, the choices I outlined in my original post were really an attempt to find out what alternatives DISH could do for a loyal customer since I was told that it’s company policy to not remove that charge. What ultimately came out of the conversation was that nothing could be done.
You can’t have the protection plan on the account twice at the same time, and I think that is where almost ALL of the confusion is coming in. I think it is also misunderstood about the protection plan, that you received it free for 3 months, but still have a 6 month requirement not to be assessed the “cancellation fee”. I’m sure most will agree that there was some major assumptions and miscommunications in this story.
I agree with this. I think there was a misunderstanding on the OPs part on what their commitment to the service contract truly was. I'm guessing they had committed to 6 months of the service contract (of which Dish was going to give them 3 months free, a pretty decent deal IMO) in exchange for a free upgrade to a Hopper system.
If that was the case, why would the dish csr tell him he needed to add the protection plan to get the cable replaced, when he still supposedly had three months left of the original plan he signed up for?
Because the CSR's of the world aren't trained very well and this one was probably misreading the flow cart on his computer screen, is my guess
Especially when they're offshore CSR's. I learned which options to choose to get someone in the US and I got better results.
Well, of course. It just doesn't line up with what op is saying.
