Canceling service with a contract

[wyattwalter]

Hi all,

I've been on a Dish contract for one year so far. Before Dish, we just watched Netflix and OTA locals. I am finding myself watching little to no TV each month.
I have a year left with Dish. Do I have any options? I'm looking for the most affordable way to do this... should I downgrade my plan and wait until Jan 2014 or pay an ETF?

 

[Ronnie-]

I am not sure what the lowest package price is, but I would think that it plus taxes for a year is most certainly higher than the etf since you are a year in.
Sent from my HTC 8x using Board Express

 

[Mojo Jojo]

You may want to see if you can get the $14.99/month Welcome Pack (soon to be $19.99):
http://www.dish.com/entertainment/packages/welcome/

If not there is the $24.99/month Smart Pack (soon to be $29.99/month):
http://www.dish.com/entertainment/packages/smart-pack/

 

[wyattwalter]

And do Dish's price increases affect customers who've already applied a package?

 

[Mojo Jojo]

There is also Dish Latino Basico which is currently $22.99/month (soon to be $24.99/month):
http://www.dish.com/entertainment/packages/dish-latino-basico/

 

[Mojo Jojo]

And do Dish's price increases affect customers who've already applied a package?

There will be an increase next year for most customers. There is a forum about the price increase. You may want to check it especially if you are a new customer because some packages may qualify for credits depending on the month you started Dish.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Write your state attorney general, make up some stuff about the system not working. Wait 3-4 weeks and you'll get a phone call from Dish letting you out of your contract.

Dish won't fight your attorney general, because they are afraid of them and will make an exception to let you out of your contract.

As a retailer I have seen this happen many times to accounts I sold and it cost me thousands of dollars because Dish never gave me an oppertunity to prove the customer wrong. The only sent me the complaint, after they already backed down and sided with the customer.

The system is broken, take advatange of it.

 

[Hall]

Write your state attorney general, make up some stuff about the system not working. Wait 3-4 weeks and you'll get a phone call from Dish letting you out of your contract.

He asked for the most affordable option, so it sounds like he's an honest person. Hopefully he'll ignore the shady tactic that you suggest...

 

[navychop]

He asked for the most affordable option, so it sounds like he's an honest person. Hopefully he'll ignore the shady tactic that you suggest...

Absolutely. And this site should not be used to push dishonesty.

 

[satjay]

As others have suggested you may want to look at welcome pack. May be a good alternative to get some programming at a low cost that will assit with your other programing options you are looking at

 

[Slamminc11]

Write your state attorney general, make up some stuff about the system not working. Wait 3-4 weeks and you'll get a phone call from Dish letting you out of your contract.

Dish won't fight your attorney general, because they are afraid of them and will make an exception to let you out of your contract.

As a retailer I have seen this happen many times to accounts I sold and it cost me thousands of dollars because Dish never gave me an oppertunity to prove the customer wrong. The only sent me the complaint, after they already backed down and sided with the customer.

The system is broken, take advatange of it.

You really have fallen Claude. I used to look to you and actually suggest people send business your way when they were looking, but holy crap you really have turned out to be pretty pathetic and makes me question your business ethics even before you went off the deep end. Sad, truly sad!

 

[Claude Greiner]

I'm just pointing out the obvious.

If dish don't want to be taken advantage of then they should fix their policies.

This is no worse than people calling in during a programming dispute and threatening to cancel to get special deals or programming discounts.

We had a whole thread about members getting free Roku players when they took down AMC. I didn't see nobody step up and say it wasn't right to take advantage of Dish and the situation back then.

So why get on my case about telling someone how to get out of their contract?

Here is another tip. Simply ask Dish to produce a signed copy if your contract. Unless an actual retailer did the installation, it's likely they will not be able to produce the paperwork because DNS technicians only have you sign a work order. The contract is apparently a verbal one given over the phone.

As a retailer I have been screwed hundreds of times when customers got out of their contact and cancelled early. I have asked Dish many times to be tougher and hold customers feet to the fire to honor the contract they signed.

Dish refuses to listen to me.

So how do you fix it? Make people aware of the loophole in the system and when enough people take advantage of it Dish will change their policies and procedures.

Any contact with dish is not worth the paper it's written on.

If you want to do the right thing and pay the cancellation fee, be my guest.

But with so many customers that are let out of their agreement every day for any little bull crap reason they can think of, you would feel like a fool knowing you had to pay and someone else got out of paying.

 

[cbjbs]

taking a lesser package is one way to go and pay monthly the cost of the package instead of paying the cancellation fee all at once. you may pay a little more but you wont have to let go all of a large sum all at once. as you get closer to the end of the contract you could just cancel then and pay what is left of the fee. just a thought.

 

[harshness]

Unless they adjust the ETF to be more expensive than a maintenance package, your best bet is to punch out.

While there are packages that are cheaper than the ETF, some (if not all) of them don't qualify for the programming commitment.

 

[navychop]

Claude, you can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

And BTW, I for one feel better about doing the right thing than about using the system to get away with something.

 

[Bobby]

Claude, you can be part of the problem or part of the solution.

And BTW, I for one feel better about doing the right thing than about using the system to get away with something.

That in itself is a major part of the problem. Too many people think that playing the system is away to get what they want. They may get it up front, but, they are going to pay for it in the behind......

 

[BBCInc]

That in itself is a major part of the problem. Too many people think that playing the system is away to get what they want. They may get it up front, but, they are going to pay for it in the behind......

That and honest people end up paying more or wasting valuable time due to the constraints/consequences of lowest common denominator behavior.

My personal integrity is more important to me than being part of the LCD club.

 

[CK SatGuy]

I'm leaving Dish for U-verse in January with 1 month remaining in my contract. No point in b****hing to my attorney general over $35.

 

[Ronnie-]

I have no problem with taking advantage of a loophole in an honest manner. Lying about it in the manner Claude is suggesting is not right though imo. I do not care about his past history with them, I am surprised he would suggest that course of action. I would also be surprised if it were legal.

If you are interested in keeping a small amount of service, look at the welcome pack.

If you want the cheapest legal way out, the etf is most likely your best bet.
Sent from my HTC 8x using Board Express

 

[navychop]

Unless they adjust the ETF to be more expensive than a maintenance package, your best bet is to punch out.

While there are packages that are cheaper than the ETF, some (if not all) of them don't qualify for the programming commitment.

Another consideration, at least for me, is to keep a low cost plan long enough to watch all the archived EHD material before dropping pay TV (if it comes to that).