Now I Am Getting Warnings on My Television About An Allegedly Unpaid Bill (Which I Paid On-Time and

[HanoverPretzel]

I know I complain a lot, but what's happening here is ridiculous.

Here's a timeline of events:

My bill was due today. I paid via the Dish website early this afternoon ON TIME.

Yesterday, a day BEFORE the bill I was due, I got a kind of jerky automated phone call talking "reminding me" that "you agreed" (the "you" was in a particular insulting tone, like a school teacher lecturing a recalcitrant elementary school student) to pay the bill and that if it wasn't paid, the service would get disconnected and service restart or early termination fees would apply. They called again today with another automated voice mail along the same lines. Keep in mind, these were both before the bill was due -- not collection calls. I didn't do anything wrong or fail to pay on-time or whatever.

So, anyway, I pay my bill on the Dish website early this afternoon, the day it's due, on-time. Alright, no problem, right? I decide to relax tonight, many hours later, and watch the game. When I turn on my television, a message appears in the center of the screen saying my bill is due and I need to pay. To make the message disappear, I had to click cancel with my remote, like an Internet pop-up ad. Then, some time passes, and the (*$@ thing appears again.

Look, I paid my $%@! bill. And, you know what? It's not due until midnight tonight. So, technically, I could have waited to pay until 11:59pm and been perfectly in line with the terms of my contract. I usually pay weeks ahead of time, but I don't have to.

Many years ago, I had some bills (Not with Dish) that went past due, and had to deal with actual bill collectors who had justified reasons to harass me. Guess what? They weren't half as bad as Dish Network is harassing me, and I've always paid my Dish Network bill on-time, it's not overdue. I even paid it this afternoon.

It's not so much that it's a hassle, though it is at least a minor one, it's that it's insulting. I paid for this service, I don't want this company bothering me about bills I've already paid (and on-time) on my television screen blocking the game I'm watching trying to unwind. I don't want a bunch of (at least mildly) threatening phone calls from automated robo callers. It's just uncalled for.

While we're on the subject, I don't think I need a bright bolded letter warning on the outside of my Dish Network bill envelope every week warning me that I need to pay my bill on time or service will be discontinued. I may have questionable credit, but I'm not retarded (No offense intended to those who are). I know I need to pay my bill. And I do every single month. I've never failed to pay my Dish bill on time.

And I just think about the reverse. Imagine if I had some automated system reminding Dish Network every day via a telephone call that they needed to continue to provide me service as per our contract or I'd sue them for breach of contract? How long do you think it would take them to complain to me? Imagine if I somehow hacked into their television at their executives' homes and put an on-screen message there blocking their program that kept popping up every few minutes? I'd never do any of that, because I wouldn't treat people that way. I wonder why this company feels it can treat it's customers this way.

And this on the heels of them denying me the free HD for life they advertised and then charging me for an install while raising my rates with a month or two of signing up (Even though one would think if you contract for something, your rates would be locked in).

This is really BS. If I wasn't under contract, I'd quit effective two months from now and go back to cable as a new customer in a heartbeat.

I'm having issues with Internet, too, but at least they don't literally harass me, and there's no contract there, so I can and plan to terminate my service with them in a couple months and go back to cable Internet.

 

[Tampa8]

You have way to many issues for me to address them all, so the one I will address is the bill. I would make sure you are correct that you paid on time. Judging from past posts Dish does not send that message on the receiver unless you are seriously past due. Based on your posts with other issues, you may not fully understand how the billing works. Make sure the due date on the bill actually says 5/4/2011, and make sure it does not show a past due amount in addition to the current amount due.

If your bill amount is for one month only, due today, contact a Dish CSR here and have them look into it.

 

[MattG@DISH]

To make the message stop showing up, you have to acknowledge it by selecting "OK" 3 times (it may try to take you to the pay bill feature, but press view live TV and you'll be back to a channel)

Sorry for the hassle, but I do believe this has to do with what info I sent you in a PM earlier

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Only a DIRT member could help with this....

 

[HanoverPretzel]

You have way to many issues for me to address them all, so the one I will address is the bill. I would make sure you are correct that you paid on time. Judging from past posts Dish does not send that message on the receiver unless you are seriously past due. Based on your posts with other issues, you may not fully understand how the billing works. Make sure the due date on the bill actually says 5/4/2011, and make sure it does not show a past due amount in addition to the current amount due.

The bill says 5/4/2011. I have a paper copy of it. It says the same thing when I log onto the website. A CSR looked at it earlier when I asked about the phone calls (Before the on-screen warning issue) and confirmed that. I have an e-mail confirmation of paying via the website earlier.

Apparently it has something to do with having a Flex account. I didn't know having that sort of account meant I'd get harassed constantly if I decided (as I have every right to do) to pay on the day it was due. I really think Dish needs to learn to chill and stop harassing paying customers who haven't done anything wrong.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

Sorry for the hassle, but I do believe this has to do with what info I sent you in a PM earlier

Do you mean because I have a flex account? No one warned me when I signed up for a Flex account that I'd be harassed with robocalls before my bill was due and then get on-screen warnings interrupting the television viewing I've already paid for even AFTER having paid my bill FOR THE NEXT BILLING CYCLE. If someone had told me in advance, I'd never have agreed to it.

If someone misses a payment and then gets some phone calls and on-screen warnings and even their service cut-off, fine, but it's not justified until after the due date passes without payment being received, and certainly not after I've already paid.

I'm probably blowing this out of proportion a little bit, and I apologize for that. It's certainly not the fault of anyone who didn't set up this policy. But I do think it's a bad policy. Dish has a lot of those. And unlike a lot of other companies with bad policies, you're stuck dealing with a contract where you literally can't quit without paying a huge penalty fee.

It began with an advertised deal that had small print exceptions that I didn't qualify for and snowballed from there.

 

[MattG@DISH]

For flex/PIA accounts, when the bill is due, the bill is due.. If you do not pay it by the due date, you will be shut off (hence the friendly reminders you've been getting). I understand that you made a payment today, but the payment does show as "pending" until the next business day.

The easiest thing you can do to avoid this is sign up for CCA, or pay your bill earlier than the due date, this gets rid of the frustration that's being caused. If you plan on waiting to pay it on the due date, with the same card every month, CCA is the way to go.

 

[HanoverPretzel]

For flex/PIA accounts, when the bill is due, the bill is due. If you do not pay it by the due date, you will be shut off. I understand that you made a payment today, but the payment does show as "pending" until the next business day.

Well, one thing is that I technically pay the previous month for a billing cycle that includes a day or two after the due date. So, even if I had missed a payment (Which I didn't), service in theory shouldn't be cut off until after all the days I'd already paid for the previous month. After that, though, fine, if I miss a payment and the time I've already paid for expires, I wouldn't complain if they cut off service. I don't expect to get anything I don't pay for. But I've paid every bill I've gotten on-time. None have been late. So all this stuff seems a bit excessive to me.

The easiest thing you can do to avoid this is sign up for CCA, or pay your bill earlier than the due date.

I really don't think I should *have* to do either of these things. It's great that they're options. I often pay my bill weeks before it's due. But I shouldn't *have* to pay early or authorize a credit card to be charged automatically to avoid being harassed.

 

[MattG@DISH]

If you plan on waiting to pay until the due date, then you will receive the "shut off in 48/72 hours" calls (bill due on 5/4 would be shut off at 12AM 5/6 if not paid, so there is one extra day past the due date, and the calls are correct).

I'm not trying to be combative here, just trying to give you the best options available.

 

[cosmo_kramer]

Well, one thing is that I technically pay the previous month for a billing cycle that includes a day or two after the due date. So, even if I had missed a payment (Which I didn't), service in theory shouldn't be cut off until after all the days I'd already paid for the previous month. After that, though, fine, if I miss a payment and the time I've already paid for expires, I wouldn't complain if they cut off service. I don't expect to get anything I don't pay for. But I've paid every bill I've gotten on-time. None have been late. So all this stuff seems a bit excessive to me.



I really don't think I should *have* to do either of these things. It's great that they're options. I often pay my bill weeks before it's due. But I shouldn't *have* to pay early or authorize a credit card to be charged automatically to avoid being harassed.

Do you pay by check?? Do what I do, set up your autopay to come out of your checking account. It comes out on the due date, with no annoying messages...

 

[HanoverPretzel]

I know I'm reacting a little strongly to this and I'm trying to chill a little. It's certainly not a personal issue with Matt and I or anything -- he and I are cool. I just think some of these policies are bad policies -- no doubt set high in the upper echelons of Dish Management, and certainly not anything that's the fault of any of the CSRs or anything, who probably get paid far too little to deal with way too much hassle that comes from problems some corporate management type creates for them. That seems to be the way of the world, doesn't it?

Here's what I'd be thinking about if I were Dish management, though. They are bleeding a lot of customers. The economy's rough, but Directv is gaining customers and companies like Netflix are thriving. When it comes down to it, I think someone who's under financial stress, if they have an entertainment budget, are going to go with what makes them feel good and lets them forget about their troubles. That means the entertainment company itself should be trying extra hard to make sure customers have a good experience all around and that they don't add to people's stress or trouble in any way -- that they are an escape and make people smile, not just with their programming, but with the whole customer experience.

When I feel harassed and like I have to deal with something I shouldn't have to deal with, that stresses me out -- and I think "Great, I don't have much money, and I'm paying some of it to be stressed out.". In the short-run, these sort of harassment techniques may help bring in a few extra on-time payments, but in the long-run, they probably add in with other things to help cause a few more customers to walk away than otherwise would. Dish Network has a problem with losing customers, and it's probably a lot of the little things like this that add up to contribute to that.

I'm the first person I've heard of in day to day life who has signed up for Dish and not paid an early termination fee to get out of it. I've never met, outside of the Internet, a satisfied Dish Network customer. Maybe they need to think about some of the ways they interact with their customers -- do they really need to make those vaguely threatening robocalls? Do they really need to put something on the screen harassing people about paying bills that aren't late and which they may have even already paid, just as they sit down to try to destress with some tv? Just things to think about.

 

[Tampa8]

In your first post you left out the fact it is a flex plan.That means, among other things you can turn off the programming at any time, and in fact if you do not pay by the due date you are considered to have suspended your account. Reading the rules will tell you that. So think about it. I posted that from other posts I thought that Dish only put the warning on the receiver when you are seriously past due. If you wait till the last day to pay, you are indeed seriously past due because your flex pay only takes you to the last day payment is due. It is clear, in that plan, Dish will turn off your service at midnight if you do not pay with the flex plan. I can guarantee you would be here complaining if they shut it off with no warning. Depending on how you made your payment today, I can see how waiting till the last day is not exactly a completely made payment if the funds have not cleared under the terms of the Flex plan. That is the nature of the plan because you have the right to turn off services and start them again when you want to.

Dish on the whole is not bleeding customers, that is a fact. They gained overall last year, and gained the last quarter. They did have alot of churn, very different sometimes good and I'll explain why. You talked about Dish management and what they should be thinking about. They have absolutely been thinking about that. They have decided they want customers who pay their bills. They decided they can not carry people who are behind and they have to chase to try and get payment, especially when costs to Dish are rising so much. They have also decided not to carry channels that they feel are too expensive. Put those two things together and you get a larger than normal churn. People who Dish no longer wants, and people who want their channels that dish decides are too expensive (mostly talking sports channels) and leave to get them mostly caused the people who left. But new subscribers made up for those who left. Dish now has more subscribers who are more likely to pay, and unless under contract are not unhappy with the channel choices. (Under contract may well be happy, if not are waiting till contract is over)

I don't mean you specifically, but if someone is on the flex plan, in many (not all) cases it is because they have some credit problems. It is a way to still get service. But it requires payment or shut-off. Dish was simply telling you that you were about to be shut off. That is the same as anyone would get, except on the regular plans that shut off notice probably would not come until you are about to be two months behind.

 

[MattG@DISH]

Just an FYI, there's a flex, and a flex24 plan. Flex24 does have the 24 month commitment, but you also get the new customer discounts with it (regular flex does not).

 

[HarleyWJones]

And I thought I had problems....

 

[lakebum431]

Dude, just pay with a credit card a few days early, then you won't have to actually pay the credit card bill until you next billing cycle, problem solved.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I understand what you are saying, but If I were you I would just pay a day or two early. I do the same for all of my credit cards. The problem with them is that they often have a payment due time of something like 3 PM. Since I schedule the payment through my online bill pay, sometimes it goes in later than that. When I used to schedule the payment the same day, I would sometimes get marked late. It was never a big issue because I would call and point out that I had made the payment and they would credit the bill. However it was still a hassle so I just moved them all back 2 days ( to make sure I covered holidays / etc ) and I've been fine since.

Again, I agree it shouldn't be that way. But it would be easier if you pay a day early.