Mississippi announces $125k Settlement with Dish Network

[Scott Greczkowski]

Attorney General announces $125K settlement for Mississippi with DISH Network


Attorney General announces $5.9 million settlement with DISH Network

Jackson, MS--Attorney General Jim Hood announced today that DISH Network, L.L.C. will pay $5,991,000 to settle consumer protection allegations with attorneys general in 46 states.

Mississippi is expected to receive $125,000 of the total settlement for attorneys fees and other costs of investigation and litigation and/or for future public protection purposes such as consumer protection education and litigation. The states alleged the satellite TV provider and its third-party retailers engaged in deceptive and unfair sales practices. The company denied any wrongdoing.

In addition to the $5.9 million, DISH Network agreed to pay restitution to consumers and to enter into an agreement that limits how it can market services in the future. Restitution for consumers will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

We encourage consumers who qualify for restitution to file a claim with our office or directly with DISH before December 14, 2009, said Attorney General Jim Hood. Consumers can access our offices complaint form online under the consumer tab at http://www.agjimhood.com . Consumers may also request a complaint form by contacting our office at
1-800-281-4418.

The settlement resolves the states allegations including that DISH Network:

Refused to accept responsibility for the misconduct of its third-party retailers and installers;
Made telemarketing calls to consumers in violation of do-not-call rules;
Failed to disclose all terms and conditions of their customer agreements, including the availability of rebates, credits and free offers;
Did not disclose that purchased or leased equipment was previously used and/or refurbished;
Made reference to competitors price offers when the goods or services being compared were materially different; and
Charged customer credit cards and debited bank accounts without providing adequate notice and obtaining appropriate authorization.

Mississippi reached this settlement as part of a multistate investigation which included:
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

CONSUMER REFUNDS:

The company will offer restitution to eligible consumers who filed complaints with the Attorney Generals Office or with DISH Network between January 1, 2004 and July 9, 2009. In addition, consumers who file complaints with the Attorney Generals Office or DISH Network within the next 150 days may be eligible for restitution if the conduct occurred within the past two years. Consumers who are not satisfied with the company's offer of restitution may choose to file a claim to be decided by a third-party claims administrator.

For additional information regarding refunds, please contact the Consumer Protection Division of the Attorney Generals Office at 601-359-4230 or 1-800-281-4418.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Its not right, these people don't deserve anything as Dish did not do anything wrong!

 

[Pepper]

ha ha, good one Claude!

 

[Van]

.

 

[Van]

Guess Claude has never heard of Dish csr's and their affiliates failing to inform the customers of the additional fee's for dvr service, additional receiver's, no phone line attached, not having hd service fee, having limited hd service fee, you know the pleasure of doing business with Charlie Ergen fee's.

 

[Spize]

Guess Claude has never heard of Dish csr's and their affiliates failing to inform the customers of the additional fee's for dvr service, additional receiver's, no phone line attached, not having hd service fee, having limited hd service fee, you know the pleasure of doing business with Charlie Ergen fee's.

I don't know how many times I have had a customer call me and be totally shocked when I tell them the regular monthly price after promotions... it is usually this "but when I called Dish and Joe's satellite shack they told me it would be $34.99 a month for 4 rooms" It usually ends up in a 50/50 situation... they will call me back after they call dish/joe back to see if it really is just a promotional price and not the real price.

I lead off my calls by asking what they want channel/service and tell them I am going to give them the regular monthly price first and then the promotional price and terms... sometimes I get them back, sometimes I don't.... but I have NEVER had a callback from a customer saying "I just got a bill for $$$$ and you said it would be $$." I hate it when someone markets the product and only tells the promotional price... This is why I keep hearing "sure that price sounds good, but what is it a year from now?" Sadly, Joe must be telling them the same promotional price because half of the people don't call back or maybe even just don't get satellite after learning of how they have been lied to by some... assuming we are all liars.

I'll give Dish major props for the instant promotional adds though... at least they aren't pulling the mail-in/web submitted rebate crap that DirecTV loves... I hate that... having to tell a customer they will get money off for a year... starting in the 2nd to 4th month of service, if they do the rebate stuff right. I even paid a customer's bill for 2 months when D* pulled the "submit your rebate online before activation and it will start on your first month's bill" then had computer problems not apply it for every customer that signed up in about a month's time... then a CSR tells the customer they will have to wait 6-8 weeks for it to process now so it will be on the 3rd month bill and that they are not allowed to credit the first two months for the rebate (even though the customer has a verification code and email that says it is confirmed and will start with the first month)... That's so annoying.

Personally I think Dish and Direct should secret shopper call their retailers and CSRs to make sure they are disclosing in full what the price will be after the promotion is done... no disclosure? punish!

I hate having to spend 10 minutes playing PR man and fixing the irritation another greaseball retailer or undertrained CSR caused... it is happening WAY TO OFTEN... perhaps this $5.9 million dollar slap will wake up someone and it will get fixed... hopefully.