When did they start charging a shipping fee?

[maximum]

The hard drive on my 522 went kaput the other day. It started the HDD diagnostics on it's own (not at the scheduled update time). The diagnostics runs for a couple of minutes, then it re-boots itself and re-aquires the signal. It then shows a blank screen with audio for a couple of seconds before it starts the HDD diagnostics again. It just keeps doing this over and over so the receiver it totally useless, can't even watch live TV.

Dish is sending me a new unit but said I will be charged $14.95 shipping fee. Have they always charged for shipping?

Maybe it's just me but I think charging a shipping fee on top of all the other headaches Dish's faulty equipment causes is just rubbing salt in the wound. I'm already losing at least two days (maybe more depending on when the new receiver gets here) of service. Plus I lose all of the recordings on my old receiver. While they'll credit my account for lost service, the shipping fee will more that eat up that credit.

I've had five different 522 receivers and this one will be number six. The first five were all under the initial warranty so someone came out to replace them for free. This one is only about 3 months old and the HDD is already dead
I subscribed to Dish because it was the cheapest deal in town. But if I have to pay $15 every few months to get their crappy equipment fixed I'm going to switch to Direct TV or go back to cable.

Sorry, just had to vent . . .

 

[msnyder]

Tell them you refuse to pay the shipping to replace their faulty equipment, they will give you some grief, them tell them you want to speak to thier supervisor, the supervisor will allow you to get around the shipping "as a one time courtesy". This has worked for me twice, once on an 811 and another time on a 522.

 

[n0qcu]

They've always charged a fee for the advanced exchange.

Its not just Dish
Any electronic equipment I've ever dealt with has always made you return the equipment at your expense.

 

[BFG]

I thought folks on CC Autopay didn't pay the fee? Also folks with DHP or the seperate DHPP

 

[msnyder]

They charge you to get the new box, then you get a prepaid label in the box to send the faulty one back. Just gripe, they will waive it for you.

 

[msnyder]

I thought folks on CC Autopay didn't pay the fee? Also folks with DHP or the seperate DHPP

I have DHP, but they tried to charge me...

 

[ShadowEKU]

i replaced my 522 once and they didnt charge me

 

[Shadowtester]

I thought the warranty on the 522 was one year if so tell them to replace it under warranty if not its a leased unit correct tell them to fix there defective equipment since they own it. You should not have to pay to fix there equipment if they wish to provide the service and equipment then they need to upkeep there equipment. You don't have to pay to fix the water companies underground pipes going to your meter even if its on your property. Its there responibility up to and including the meter since they retain ownership of the equipment.

 

[JBKing]

I got out of the shipping fee for the third time just this past weekend. I told them I was thinking about switching to D*(no lie), and this 14.95 shipping may just be the last straw. I usually throw in something why am I being asked to pay for the fact that E* can't make more reliable equipment.

If you've already been charged the S/H fee, email ceo@echostar.com and ask for a credit. That never hurts.

 

[maximum]

Here is what is listed under the Warranty section of the Digital Home Advantage Terms and Conditions:

"Standard warranty includes no-cost repair/replacement of manufacturer defects during the first 90 days. After the first 90 days, a $14.95 shipping charge applies to warranty equipment replacement by mail, and a $99 in-home warranty trip service charge applies. . . ."

So I guess the $14.95 fee is in the contract. I just didn't expect this condition to be an issue for a three month old unit. I'm going to press the issue that I lost three months of recordings on my HDD so I should be credited for three months of the VOD fee. That should even things out a bit.

 

[Shadowtester]

That or tell them to replace your unit at no cost or since you are not under a contract you will change satellite providers to one whose equipment is more reliable. I am sure there are all kinds of Satellite TV programming special offers available there always is Dish Network is not the only provider available.

 

[maximum]

I sent a letter to ceo@echostar.com so we'll see what comes of it.

 

[maximum]

I got a reply to my email and they said they would credit my account for the shipping fee. Thanks for the suggestion JBKing.

 

[drod]

You don't have to pay for the s&h if you are on cc autopay/eft or if your dhp. If you do get charged it then it was a mistake or ignorance on the part of the csr.

 

[BFG]

Yup, that's exactly what I thought it was. I've read it on here enough times to figure something went wrong.

 

[DJ Rob]

I got the HDTV In A Box promo from Dish which included an 811 and a 34" monitor a few months ago. The UHF remote never worked. I called tech support and they agreed the remote was bad. They sent me a new one. Sure enough there was a charge for $14.95 for shipping it on my next bill.
It can't really cost them that much, can it?
I bet if I went down to the post office or UPS it would be around $5 to ship it.

 

[Stargazer]

Huh, interesting, I'm glad that you guys have mentioned that there is no S&H charge for those that do EFT and had a receiver for 90 days or less. I qualified under both and they STILL tried to charge me the $14.99 fee and I have AEP plus others and pay annually. This is rediculous. They have always tried to charge me the shipping fee but I have always managed to get them to waive it once they talk to a SuperVisor. This past time when I had to get a 301 replaced they came back and said that this was a ONE TIME DEAL and that they would NOT waive the fee again. This is pathetic! DirecTv keeps looking better all the time. Dish Network is just trying to collect what they can when they can.

When I had issues with the DVR's that kept on failing particularly the 501 I told them that paying the $14.95 fee every so many months adds up and that I wasn't going to keep on doing it. If anything they owe US for all the trouble we had to go through with the unreliable hardware.

The $14.95 fee is another one of those 'because we can' fees just like the DVR fee, $25 restart fee, downgrade fee, etc. that does not actually cost Dish Network any or that much money, its like they try to make a profit off of a bad situation. Heck for things like a remote control the dang things barely cost that much, probably didnt cost them but a fraction of what they are charging you for shipping. They could actually be charging you for it in their own way when it comes to remotes just within the shipping charges. Yes USPS only charges about $3 or $4 to ship the remote with tracking even and I'm sure a little bit of insurance dont cost much more either.

Dish acts like they are doing me a favor when waiving the fee, they need to do me a favor and quit trying to charge me when I'm not supposed to be charged. I forgot all about the waive of shipping with EFT. Thanks for the reminder I will remember that next time I have an issue with their hardware.

 

[mitchflorida]

If you are already on your sixth receiver, doesn't that raise questions about how you are treating or installing your unit?? I am surprised that Dish hasn't cancelled your account on its own.

I am on my second 522 unit, but will cancel my subscription if I have to exchange it repeatedly.

 

[maximum]

If you are already on your sixth receiver, doesn't that raise questions about how you are treating or installing your unit?? I am surprised that Dish hasn't cancelled your account on its own.

I am on my second 522 unit, but will cancel my subscription if I have to exchange it repeatedly.

I didn't install my unit. It was installed by the people Dish contracts with, so if there is an installation problem it's Dish's fault. During the first few months of service they sent out multiple people trying to find the causes of problems that ranged from lost singnal to audo/video glitches. Dish insisted these problems were not normal and kept blaming it on the installation. The installers kept blaming it on the 522. Switching out the receiver was just part of their diagnostic process. Two of the six were replaced due to hard drive problems. Based on feedback on this forum, failed hard drives seem to be a common problem with the 522.

I don't know how I could be "treating" the unit in a way that would cause it to fail, unless watching television is abusive.

 

[mitchflorida]

Where is the receiver placed? Is it at room temperature or in the attic somewhere?

I am curious.