You are ALWAYS a Former Customer

[light200]

I called dish today to sign up for service and here is the situation:
I had dish network from january 2006 to january 2007. i moved in with a roomate and we signed up for comcast from january 2007 to august 2009. i am now moving into an apartment by myself and called dish to schedule new service. they said since i was a customer 2.5 years ago, that i am not eligible for new service. also, their computer showed them that i only had service for 5 months, and i needed to have a 6 month minimum to be eligible for anything. (no one ever told me this) so i asked them how much longer i had to wait to be considered a new customer again, and they said they didnt know. i said, how about 5 years or 10 years, and they said they didnt know how long. so they transferred me to customer service and they told me the ONLY way i can get dish network service now is to BUY the equipment, and pay higher rates as an existing customer! this is completely wrong, and they are now losing a customer because of it. i will be calling direct tv to sign up as a new customer. i asked to speak with a supervisor and after being on hold for 47 min, finally was disconnected without ever speaking with a supervisor. what a horrible operation they run over there!

 

[Laddyboy]

The short service time is what killed you. It costs a company like E* or D* quite a bit of money up front to service you as a customer which is why they have service commitments of 24 months now. Did you have to pay an early termination penalty when you discontinued service before? I think the contract period then was 18 months.

 

[MLBurks]

I think it was because you weren't a customer that long. I just came back to Dish after two years at DirecTV. I was a Dish customer for 3 years before D*. I WAS considered a new customer coming back to Dish.

 

[light200]

NO, i did not have to pay any cancellation fees, back in those days, dish was allowing you to opt out of the 18 or 24 month contract by paying the $99 installation fee, which i did to avoid a contract. so that shouldnt have affected it.

 

[bobvick]

I called dish today to sign up for service and here is the situation:
I had dish network from january 2006 to january 2007.

By the way I calculate, you had Dish Network for 12 months, not 5, where did the 5 months come from?

 

[light200]

Dish claims that the retailer did not submit me as a customer until August 8th, 2006. Even though they did the install in January 2006. I needed a retailer because i was on the 6th floor of an apartment building and dish would not install unless i went through a retailer. Long story short, dish's computer record system is wrong, and i have bills to prove it.

 

[jibaro29]

I'm not sure this is related to this thread but here it is. I am a former Dish costumer. I've been gone for over 3 years. I called them today and they offer me a pretty good deal better than Directv however I didn't take it because I was asked for my ssn# and credit card# to see if I qualify for the promotion and established my account. Is this a Dish network policy? I'm confused .

 

[garys]

I'm not sure this is related to this thread but here it is. I am a former Dish costumer. I've been gone for over 3 years. I called them today and they offer me a pretty good deal better than Directv however I didn't take it because I was asked for my ssn# and credit card# to see if I qualify for the promotion and established my account. Is this a Dish network policy? I'm confused .

Yes it is. Dish uses the SS# as a credit check.

 

[Toyzruskid1976]

I'm not sure this is related to this thread but here it is. I am a former Dish costumer. I've been gone for over 3 years. I called them today and they offer me a pretty good deal better than Directv however I didn't take it because I was asked for my ssn# and credit card# to see if I qualify for the promotion and established my account. Is this a Dish network policy? I'm confused .

DirectTV does this as well (CC and Social Security)

 

[tedb3rd]

You didn't want to 'cancel' last time right? ...right? You wanted to 'suspend' your service temporarily and now you are just calling to 'reactivate' your previous receiver? They got it wrong back then... right? You thought they had it correct back then and you just realized that they misunderstood.... right?

 

[sgip2000]

Yes it is. Dish uses the SS# as a credit check.

If they have your credit card #, why do they want your SSN?

 

[Slamminc11]

If they have your credit card #, why do they want your SSN?

umm, because a credit check isn't done by your credit card number?

 

[Andrewwski]

A SSN isn't necessarily needed for a credit check.

Seems like everywhere these days wants your SSN but I'm not a fan of giving it out everywhere.

 

[Slamminc11]

A SSN isn't necessarily needed for a credit check.

Seems like everywhere these days wants your SSN but I'm not a fan of giving it out everywhere.

Which is fully your choice not to give out, but then you can't complain if a company doesn't give you what you want or need (not that you complaining here, just saying).
I will say it's sad that it has gotten to the point that our identity has become so tied to the SSN card, that was never the intent of the cards when they were first issued back in the '30's. Back then they were only supposed to be for when you started a job.

 

[Lord_Vader]

I was told the same thing when I called ( 3 years ago ). I hung up and used the website. Nobody ever said anything and I got the new customer offer.

 

[Bogy]

It is actually illegal for the SSN# to be used for anything other than your SS account. But that has to be one of the most ignored laws there is.

 

[light200]

I was told the same thing when I called ( 3 years ago ). I hung up and used the website. Nobody ever said anything and I got the new customer offer.

I tried this method FIRST, and after i got to the "checkout" step of the process and gave them my SS# and CC#, the next screen said"we are sorry, you must call customer service to complete this transaction, as you may have been a former or existing customer".

 

[KAB]

It is actually illegal for the SSN# to be used for anything other than your SS account. But that has to be one of the most ignored laws there is.

There is no law that prevents businesses from requesting your SSN.

 

[Bogy]

There is no law that prevents businesses from requesting your SSN.

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't play one on tv, and its been a while since I looked it up, but my understanding is that the legislation that authorized SS DOES prohibit requesting the SS# as a form of identification. Of course today it is used for everything from you driver's license to school id, and instead of getting it when you apply for your first job as was the practice when I got mine, your # is all but assigned at birth. (For all I know, it is now assigned at birth, its been 21 years since my last child was born.)

 

[light200]

We seem to have got off topic a bit here....the real question and problem is that Dish is considering me an existing customer from 2.5 years ago, and cannot tell me how long it takes to get off that list. i cannot order via website or person due to this problem, and they have the wrong information in their computer system. Solutions?