Bill screwed up

[clrntsqueak]

Just received the first Dish Network bill... it's completely screwed up!

First of all, I didn't notice the $49.99 credit I'm supposed to receive for committing to 18 months. The only credits I received were for the free HBO I'm supposed to get for free for three months. Is that supposed to be credited on the very first bill?

Also, the HD package isn't even listed.. an "HD Access Fee" at six bucks is listed. How am I supposed to get my $100 rebate if this isn't on the bill?

And I'm getting phone service installed on Wednesday along with DSL. I'm officially away from Comcast.

So I figure I'll call Wednesday when the receivers are hooked up to phone lines so I can get the four $5 charges for not having a phone line knocked off. I received a bill that's $175ish, which shows $200ish online (because they added the HD pack and didn't take off the "HD Access Fee"). Overall, after the $70 in credits ($50 for committment and $20 for the premium for two months)... my final bill should be only $130!

Dish Network completely screwed up the bill. I hope this doesn't screw up my chance for the $20 a month rebates.

So I have two questions before I call on Wednesday... Am I supposed to get the $49.99 credit on this very first bill? And how am I supposed to get the HD programming $100 rebate if it isn't on my paper bill?

Thanks!

 

[tsduke]

The $49.99 credit is supposed to be on your first bill.

Here's the rebate form. Should still be the right form.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/attachment.php?attachmentid=15599&d=1175519823

 

[thiggin2]

So I figure I'll call Wednesday when the receivers are hooked up to phone lines so I can get the four $5 charges for not having a phone line knocked off.

What kind of receivers do you have. You would need 4 dual tuner receivers to knock off 4 phoneline charges. You only save the extra receiver charge on a "Dual" receiver.

 

[clrntsqueak]

Two receivers. A ViP 622 and a Dishplayer 625 DVR. There are four charges because the bill is for 2 months.

 

[micknick]

First bill is for 2 months of service...
Yep if you did DHA18 you should have the $49 credit on the first bill. If the DHA 18 is not on your account this is a simple matter of a change on the account. It appears HD programming was not added that's why you are seeing the $6 charge.
Again a simple thing to fix with a call.
The other charges you should see are:

$5.98 X 2 for two DVRs
$5.00 X 2 if receivers not connected to phone line. (Another simple thing to fix just hook them up to the phone and when you call get tech support to help you run the test with you to make sure they are making connection, once the receiver dials out that charge automatically is removed from your account)

BTW>>>FOR DSL, make sure you have at least one, sometimes it takes two DSL filters installed between the receiver and phone jack. This eliminates DSL noise that the modem can't deal with.


$5.00 X2 for additional outlet for the second receiver. Any receiver past your primary is $5 if standard def or $6 if high def.

Once you get HD programming on the account, the next bill send in with your rebate form. The credits will be applied within 8-10 weeks. You should have (2) $100 rebates good for $20 for 10 months of credits on your bill.

Hope this helps.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Two things would not make the $49.99 credit appear on the first bill....

#1) The sales person who setup the sale did not indicate DHA with an 18 month committment when they entered the order. Although this is very unlikely, because the sales people sell DHA with an 18 month committment 95% of the time.

#2 When you got your contract, it gives you an option to sign with or without an 18 month committment. Customer sees there is an option to opt out of signing the committment, and they think they are "Smart" and check the box on the contract where it says "No committment"

The problem is that nowhere on the contract does it say that the $49.99 activation fee will not be credited because you need the 18 month committment to get the $49.99 credit.

As far as the HD access fee, you should have fixed that when you turned on your television and noticed there where no HD channels and called in to have them added.

Phone line charges can also be fixed when you hook up your phone line with a simple phone call to Dish to let them know they are hooked up.

Best thing to do right now is to have the 18 month committment added on the account so they can issue you the credit.

Send the rebate form in ASAP, so your credits will correctly appear on the 2nd statement. Eventhough the bill says one thing, im sure they will look up your bill before they find a reason to not approve your rebate.

As far as payment, I would send them the entire amount that is due. When the 2nd bill comes due, you should see all the credits and additions/subtractions and on the 3rd bill it will be correct.

I know some people would disagree with me and send in less than what the bill says is due, but its just going to make the 2nd bill that much harder to understand. Generally DISH Networks billing system is pretty darn accurate, I see more credits issued to customers because they don't understand their bill and Dish wants to keep them happy to prevent a possible cancellation, than I do for credits given for an error.

I have never seen actual bill error, besides the occasional bogus adult PPV which usually has an explaination.

 

[clrntsqueak]

Thanks for all the help and advice guys!

I did call into Dish right when I noticed the HD programming wasn't coming in. I figured the bill would reflect that.

Anyways, I'm sure the call on Wednesday will fix everything.

Thanks again.