Unauthorized Dish Network Protection plan added

[sjhenry]

Hi All,
Long time lurker, first time poster.

I have had Dish network since 2002. I always installed my own equipment until Dish changed me to the Eastern Arc (1000.4). Dish came out and switched out my old Dish 500 and 61.5 Dish. As such I have never called tech support: until yesterday.
I experienced total signal loss on both receivers and called Dish once I realized it was not a problem with my DP44 or internal wiring . Dish called for a truck roll. I was told there would be no charge.
After the call today (to re-align the Dish) , I saw my bill had about $11.00 (pro-rated) added to it and a protection plan had been added. I called Customer service and a lady called Annu removed the protection plan and promised to remove the charge. She could not say who authorized the protection plan being added. She also assured me there would be no charge for the service call.
Has anyone experienced this before. I have had Dish for a long time and have always been happy, but I find this kind of sneaky.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[costanzas_wallet]

Sounds to me like you had a rep who didn't want to charge you a tech-visit fee.

I agree, adding it without your knowledge is pretty damn shady, but I doubt he'd be able to outright tell you "I'm going to add this protection plan on your account .. as soon as the work is done, call and remove it".

 

[Scherrman]

So you had a service call for free and don't pay for the service plan? I don't see much of a complaint here other than they didn't tell you upfront that you should have to pay for the plan.

 

[Tampa8]

Should not be adding it without your authorization, but it sounds like the CSR was doing you a favor by ensuring you would not be charged. Is it possible in one of your conversations it was mentioned?

 

[sjhenry]

I had one service call where I was escalated after a couple of questions. Once escalated the CSR there asked me if both receivers were out and immediately ordered a service call for today. He made a point of telling me that "this wouldn't cost me a dime". If he had indicated a service plan or a cost, I would probably have gone out to try and re-align the dish myself.
The lady from India was nice and removed the charge and cancelled the service plan.
Since I have always done my own maintenance in the past and never called customer support, I did not know the concept of a "service plan" existed. My complaint is not that one exists, or even that Dish charges for a truck roll. It was a question on the ethics of adding a plan that was never mentioned or asked for and never been told that there is a charge for a service.
The probable explanation is that the original CSR assumed I was "in the know" and did me a favor by adding a service plan figuring I would cancel it.
Thanks for the insight on how this all works.

Cheers,
Steve

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

Without the protection plan it would have been at least $99 for the tech to come out.

 

[Dah-Henny]

If you are a "good" customer without the protection plan, you might be surprised how many things Dish will do for you without costing you a dime.

 

[KAB]

If you are a "good" customer without the protection plan, you might be surprised how many things Dish will do for you without costing you a dime.

Yes. "I'm here to tell ya!!"

 

[Tampa8]

Oh ya, recently for me regarding keeping EuroNews.....