Help me STAY with Dish

[lippysyd]

Hi guys! Registered today so hopefully someone here can help me stay with Dish. I've had my current D account for almost 2 years. I've been with Dish for almost 10 years, but when we moved in '09 we switched it into my husband's name hoping to get a better deal on HD EQ. (It didn't) I have the top 250, HBO, HD plat. and my bill is $109/mo. I LOVE my 722dvr! I love the interface.

BUT...I've always been PO'd at how badly they treat existing customers-I've never had a good offer for upgrades. I'd like to add another TV, but the best they can do is another receiver for $100. I've had autopay since we switched accounts and always paid on time. Then this month I ran into some $ trouble. Wasn't sure I could pay my bill. Called CS wanting to push my payment ONE week. Was told that I'm on a 'pay-ahead' account (bad credit) and not only could they not push it, but I would never be able to be switched from that account to a regular one. AND my service would be disconnected the day after I miss my payment. NO grace period. Apparently, with DISH, once they decide you are a looser, you stay that way- my 18mos of good payments mean nothing! I said I would walk, and the best they could offer is my HD platinum for free. Big deal- $10.

Looks like I can get DirecTV for WAY cheaper (the first year) plus all the rooms I want and comparable channels. I just hate their interface- I don't like the menu's.

How can I stay?

 

[MaryB@SlingTV]

Hi lippysyd and to Sat Guys. I would like to see what we can do to keep you with us here at DISH Network. Can you please PM me your account information so I may review your account. Thank you!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Dish Network and Directv use pretty much the same credit scoring crieteria to sign up new customers. If your setup as a pay in advance account with Dish, chances are that you might not qualify for a new promotion with Directv without paying atleast a $200 for Standard definition equipment or $300 deposit for Advanced equipment.

Not trying to sound negative, but you might want to check and see if you qualify for Directv's offer before you start to compare services, because your best deal might be with what you already have.

 

[Tampa8]

I think Claude is very likely correct. You may find $99 to add a TV may turn out to be not such a bad deal. If you are accurate about always paying on time but for one problem, you may want to ask them to provide more information to you on why they feel your credit is bad. Good luck and hope it all works out.

 

[lippysyd]

Hey, you're not being negative, you're being practical. I did consider that, but I hadn't gotten a chance to call Direct and talk to them yet.

Actually, the $100 for another receiver didn't seem too bad. Here's what cheeses me off more than anything else: Dish looked at our credit in Oct 09, saw it was bad and picked an account type that was wise for them. Fine, I get it. I deserved it. But since then I've been working hard to stay current on all my bills and sometimes it's been a real struggle. But I did it, and now my back is truely against a wall and they aren't willing to work with me? Then why have I been working so hard to stay current? What difference does it make?

My cell is through Sprint. Has been for 12 years. I had the same type of history with them, payment-wise. I used to be on a restricted account too. But same thing- when we moved I put it on auto pay and bent over backwards to keep it paid. Now they've lifted the restrictions, and have helped me wiggle around a couple of payments, no problem. They used to treat their existing customers like crap, but now, after 22 months you can get the good deals on EQ just like new customers. I've often wondered why doesn't Dish have that same attitude.

My issue was the CS rep telling me that my good 18-mos payment history didn't matter.

 

[Yespage]

Inserts obligatory, you struggle to pay bills but have a $109 sat bill?! post.

Re-establishing good credit takes a while. From your post, you sound like you are still struggling to get by, so it sounds like Dish is being wise with their reservations. I'm sorry that you are struggling, but based on your post (high tv bill, have a cell phone, obviously have a HDTV), you seem to at least be struggling because you are well over stretched financially.

 

[dnstech08852]

good luck with everything, i'm a former employee and they tried there best to nickel and dime me on a dish mover and adding international channels, i'll swallow paying 100 for the mover, but i'm not paying an extra 100 for a 1000 Plus install when you was already going to install a 1.4 which is the more expensive dish...

Alot have changed within the company since 2010 when i left, The CSR's arms are tied with what they can do, I've seen them give credits for all types of things to keep a customer, especially one who isn't currently under contract...In my opinion dish has the superior channel lineup currently but i refuse to take it up the ___ so i had to walk over to DTV, You may have to as well

 

[The Fat Man]

People are always going to give you their opinions. From what I've read, nobody so far has been unreasonable with their opinions. It's your preference. If you have a bad taste in your mouth, it might be better to walk away. Test the waters, who knows, you might think the other guys are better. My parents hated Comcast for similar reasons (mainly they had been customers of the local cable decades longer than Comcast owned it! And Comcast treated them like "dirt"- their words, not mine), so when the Verizon man came knocking to sell this new product called FIOS, they jumped ship. They got a lot of crap saying how horrible FIOS was, but they love it, and as of now wouldn't dream of going back.

 

[lippysyd]

Inserts obligatory, you struggle to pay bills but have a $109 sat bill?! post.

Re-establishing good credit takes a while. From your post, you sound like you are still struggling to get by, so it sounds like Dish is being wise with their reservations. I'm sorry that you are struggling, but based on your post (high tv bill, have a cell phone, obviously have a HDTV), you seem to at least be struggling because you are well over stretched financially.

Maybe I'm taking your post the wrong way, but I'm feeling a bit defensive. Ok, here goes: Our main issue with our credit has to do with both of our student loans. It's a long story, but the bottom line it they've always been too high for us to really make a dent in. (But we've been working on it, just not enough to change our status) That alone is what has dragged our scores down. We both have jobs we love working for the same company and have had them for 13 (me) and 14 years. We are school photographers. The pay is good, the retirement is awesome and the benefits are good. We have cell phones because of our jobs, since we are on the road every day for work. Our Dish is pretty much our entertainment budget for the month- we don't go out much. We bought a trailer 20 mos ago- no fancy, expensive house here- and with the 1st time buyer credit replaced our worn out Tv with a medium sized flat screen on clearance. The rest went into bills and tires. The main issue is that the nature of our job means that we are laid off 2 mos of the summer. Usually we have some money in the bank to help with that, but this year the economy hit our business hard, and I didn't get as much work as I usually do. It happens. Add to that a reduction in unemployment benefit amount. So the savings ran out earlier than I'd hoped. It's taken me a long time to learn how to manage our money with this up and down job of ours, but in the past 20 mos I havn't missed one payment on any of our household bills (including the year-old braces my kid is sportin'), and I'm proud of that. I may have to fanagle sometimes, but each bill gets paid the month it's due and nothing gets shut off.

Was Dish right to be cautious at the beginning? Of course. I just hate that payment history with individual companies seems to carry no weight compared to some stupid number that never seems to reflect the whole picture.

[/rant]
Yeah, it's kinda looking like the wise thing to do, financially speaking, is move to DTV, but I still have to see what they can offer.

 

[Yespage]

Maybe I'm taking your post the wrong way, but I'm feeling a bit defensive. Ok, here goes: Our main issue with our credit has to do with both of our student loans. It's a long story, but the bottom line it they've always been too high for us to really make a dent in. (But we've been working on it, just not enough to change our status) That alone is what has dragged our scores down. We both have jobs we love working for the same company and have had them for 13 (me) and 14 years. We are school photographers. The pay is good, the retirement is awesome and the benefits are good. We have cell phones because of our jobs, since we are on the road every day for work. Our Dish is pretty much our entertainment budget for the month- we don't go out much. We bought a trailer 20 mos ago- no fancy, expensive house here- and with the 1st time buyer credit replaced our worn out Tv with a medium sized flat screen on clearance. The rest went into bills and tires. The main issue is that the nature of our job means that we are laid off 2 mos of the summer. Usually we have some money in the bank to help with that, but this year the economy hit our business hard, and I didn't get as much work as I usually do. It happens. Add to that a reduction in unemployment benefit amount. So the savings ran out earlier than I'd hoped. It's taken me a long time to learn how to manage our money with this up and down job of ours, but in the past 20 mos I havn't missed one payment on any of our household bills (including the year-old braces my kid is sportin'), and I'm proud of that. I may have to fanagle sometimes, but each bill gets paid the month it's due and nothing gets shut off.

Was Dish right to be cautious at the beginning? Of course. I just hate that payment history with individual companies seems to carry no weight compared to some stupid number that never seems to reflect the whole picture.

[/rant]
Yeah, it's kinda looking like the wise thing to do, financially speaking, is move to DTV, but I still have to see what they can offer.

Saying that someone is struggling doesn't mean they aren't trying. You say that Dish is your only thing in the entertainment budget. At $109 a month, that isn't peanuts. Heck, once my bill got up to $90, I panicked and downgraded because I thought that was too much... and I can afford to pay more.

Have you thought of being a little more creative with the spending? Netflix is what $16 a month soon for DVDs and streaming? Add Hulu Plus, and you've just reduced your entertainment cost by around 75%. With the first month's savings you can buy a Roku to make with the streaming, assuming you have DSL.

In conclusion, you admit you are struggling, that you don't have the savings to be able to counterbalance tough times, which you know will come every summer. If you are scraping by each year, I can't see how you can have issue with Dish being cautious. And all this because you want to add another receiver to your home. Maybe you should be happy with what you have now.

Everybody seems to think they should be entitled to everything whether they can reasonably afford it or not. Don't take it personally, it's really just about economics.

 

[patrick80639]

Dish Network and Directv use pretty much the same credit scoring crieteria to sign up new customers.

I can speak from personal experience that that is incorrect. Directv is more lenient than dish in regards to credit history and offering incentives.

 

[lippysyd]

Everybody seems to think they should be entitled to everything whether they can reasonably afford it or not. Don't take it personally, it's really just about economics.

Gee, how could I not take that personally? Household economics are personal. It's a reflection on lifestyle choices, priorities, and money management skills. You're giving opinions on the choices I've made but not taking in the whole picture. I said sometimes I struggle, and that we went into this summer with less savings than usual. And I never said I had a problem with Dish's original assessment of our worthiness as a customer. The problem I have is with the policy that once they place you, you can never earn your way out. Even if I managed to get my credit score back up to perfect they would not re-assess our status. (I asked that directly and that's the answer I got.)

 

[patrick80639]

The problem I have is with the policy that once they place you, you can never earn your way out. Even if I managed to get my credit score back up to perfect they would not re-assess our status. (I asked that directly and that's the answer I got.)

Incorrect. Make your payments on time for a year and you'll be able to switch to a post-paid account.

 

[lippysyd]

Incorrect. Make your payments on time for a year and you'll be able to switch to a post-paid account.

Ok well someone should tell the people over at Dish because in this past week I've talked to three different people and they all say the same thing: "Once an account is established, we do not have the ability to change the type of account that you have." I have 20 mos with this account, all paid on time.

Where are you getting your information?

 

[patrick80639]

Ok well someone should tell the people over at Dish because in this past week I've talked to three different people and they all say the same thing: "Once an account is established, we do not have the ability to change the type of account that you have." I have 20 mos with this account, all paid on time.

Where are you getting your information?

Lol, unfortunately also from dish CSRs. Maybe someone from DIRT can confirm which is true?

 

[ZachS@DISH]

Lol, unfortunately also from dish CSRs. Maybe someone from DIRT can confirm which is true?

The correct answer is that once an account is setup there is no way to change the type of account.

 

[TimberWolf]

Why not reduce your programming temporarily for a little while?
If you are really hurting, you might be able to pause your account.
You could also split TV2 of the DVR to the 3rd room. It would be on the same channel as TV2 is now, but it is free.

 

[Scherrman]

If you need to save money I don't think DTV is going to help. I know it will for the first year but you will most likely be paying more afterwards and have to stay with them for a year paying the higher price. Maybe you should just drop some of the programming like the Platinum channels.

 

[maximum]

The correct answer is that once an account is setup there is no way to change the type of account.

So I guess since I signed up with a good credit rating I don't have to worry about my account being downgraded if I miss payments. Awesome!!!