DISH says Give Customers What They Want
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I thought it was stated that all customers that were paying annually would have one month of programming credit on their bill to make up for the month they would not be charged with along with a free ppv coupon?
They could simplify their billing by giving everybody that pays a year in advance an extra month of service credited to their account handled on a case by case basis since there are probably not enough people out there to make it worth them having the program in their computer software.
They could simplify their billing by giving everybody that pays a year in advance an extra month of service credited to their account handled on a case by case basis since there are probably not enough people out there to make it worth them having the program in their computer software.
Please.....re-read this quoted post. It makes as much sense as a $3 dollar bill or a football bat.
I actually agree with a lot of it. Customers want everything for as cheap as possible and will do whatever they can. As a whole customers are a savage group of people and have no regard for what the business is as long as they get a great deal. This is not everyone though, just seems to be the majority.
People have always wanted a good deal, so that's not the issue. What the issue is now is the amount of entitlement they have. This isn't just when people are buying things, it's life in general. My wife is a teacher and coach and the stories she's comes home with are worse than mine. No wonder some kids are terrors, their parents are a**holes. It just seems to be the way society is turning.
People have always wanted a good deal, so that's not the issue. What the issue is now is the amount of entitlement they have. This isn't just when people are buying things, it's life in general. My wife is a teacher and coach and the stories she's comes home with are worse than mine. No wonder some kids are terrors, their parents are a**holes. It just seems to be the way society is turning.
It's not the content but the wording. Stereotyping & treating people like a statistic is a good way to go out of business. If this guy is a retailer I'd sure be surprised. The post reminds me more of a disgruntled installer who thinks they know more than they actually do.
I'm sorry, want me to use my Joe-speak on this one? Here, let me blow some PR-quality smoke for you.
1. What do they want? Everything for free, or if not free, for as cheap as they can possibly get it (0% profit margin for a publically traded company) and free upgrades, credits, movie packages, PPVs depending on their mood that day.
1. A customer just wants to have a great television viewing experience, to get what they pay for, and to be treated like they matter. That's what we all want at the end of the day, ain't it y'all?!
2. How much are they willing to pay? Take the minimum cost to keep the lights on, and subtract $15 per customer.
2. Customers want us to keep costs down. They're tired of the broadcast companies trying to get blood from a turnip. We're fightin to keep a'y'alls costs down!
3. What is the minimum price increase a customer will accept? They'll accept anything we tell them and damned well will like it. But they would prefer something with a negative sign, which will never happen.
3. No one likes price increases, neither do I. But I'll tell y'all what. We've kept costs 40% lower than DirecTV and all the cable companies, and we'll keep fighting to keep y'alls costs down. More movies, more music, more magic!
4. When will they switch to DirecTV? Whenever Direct has something better; but every other time they'll just threaten to do it hoping for free sh*t. See point 1.
4. Dear God! Why would anyone go to DirecTV? Sure they have sports packages, but the rest of their offers are pure phooey! Customers want quality programming and quality equipment at fair prices, and if there ain't nothing else we do, DISH does that!
5. What does a customer consider "fair"? Getting everything they want, when and how they want it, at zero cost to themselves, no matter how unrealistic it is.
5. We treat all our customers fair, not just our favorites that order sports packages. We produce better TV, and better quality, Sling, Hopper and we have more on the way! Stay tuned y'all!
...See, I can blow smoke up your ass too. None of the above is stereotyping, it's just the reality of customer entitlement as Scherrman stated. I just don't see the need to lie to your face or fluff it up to make it more palatable. But hell, on the lines above alone I could run for CEO. It's all true. And as Scherrman stated, it's not ALL customers, but it IS absolutely a majority of them. Today's attitudes are why pay for anything you don't have to; fair market price to hell.
So tell me which you prefer, I can feed you Bullsh!t PR-style, or give it to you up front. I figured you'd like not having something hidden and put plainly in front of you for a change. You just let me know which way you like to be bent over. "You asked for it, you got it!"
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I've got another good recent example of Dish giving customers what they want. In the Atlanta market, Dish customers now get 45 fewer Braves games than customers of any other pay TV provider in the area. Must be what they wanted. People in Atlanta sure hate Atlanta Braves baseball, right?
Sorry about the sarcasm, but if you're going to make a bold statement like your business strategy is giving customers exactly what they want, then you kind of leave yourself open to it when you are the lone operator that doesn't make the customer friendly decision on something. The whole thing makes it feel like they're lying to us, patronizing us, or some combination therefore. As I said earlier in the thread, I know promoting your company and trying to cast things in a exaggerated positive light is part of doing business, but you don't want to exaggerate so much that it actually annoys your customer base. Say something you can mostly deliver on.
Why's "entitlement" a bad thing? When I see people use that word in a derogatory way, most of the time the behavior they're criticizing is just folks trying to live the best possible lives they can for themselves and advocating for things that'll assist them in doing that. That just seems like basic human nature. What do you want people to do, run around with their heads down going "I don't deserve stuff. Good stuff shouldn't happen to me." and stuff like that?
You're criticizing customers as behaving savagely for trying to get a good deal and save money when they pick a TV provider or negotiate with customer services reps or whatever. Yet, these companies all do anything they can to maximize their revenue- constant programming and equipment rate hikes, charging for things like installation and equipment even when said equipment is leased if they think someone with poor credit doesn't have better options, taking channels off the air over a few pennies knowing that people are locked into contracts and can't leave even if you take away the very thing they subscribe to the service for, locking customers into contracts as many times as possible for as long as possible, early termination fees, actually charging people to quit even when the contract is up (i.e. a shipping fee to return equipment that must be returned), etc.. If you call Dish up and say 'I lost my job, I'm having trouble being able to afford to keep a roof over my head and keep food on the table", do you think they'll keep you free television for a few months? Do you think they'll even let you out of a contract without an EFT? If you need to quit early enough while under contract due to unforeseeable circumstances, you'll find a several hundred dollar EFT fee charged to your debit or credit card. Even if you're not under contract and drop them because you can't put food on the table, they'll try to take your last $20 that you had earmarked for ramen and oatmeal so you can ship them back their box that they were happy to drop off free of charge to hook you (But they can't pick it up when you're done or give you a drop-off point).
In fact, the whole business model of these companies is a little similar to drug pushers. Get them in with low introductory rates and raise the price once they're hooked. I mean, what kind of sense do these low introductory rates and high rates for established customers really make, except that they think they'll get people to subscribe to a service they wouldn't normally pay full price for, and then retain them because they get used to it and can't stand to make a break with it later? And then you're saying if the customer calls back and tries to get $5 a month off the inflated price later, there's something wrong with that. Television providers have no problem raising rates or fees $5 or more regularly, not even counting the jump from the introductory price to the regular price, those are just the increases they make to their regular price. Why can't customers ask for $5 off if companies can demand $5 more?
I mean, to me, I certainly have a lot more sympathy for the guy with tight finances who just wants to watch his favorite sports or tv shows and needs to save a few dollars than I do a company that has a few billion in the bank and wants a few billion more. When did so many people start sympathizing with big faceless very profitable billionaire corporations who can easily afford to trim their profit margins a little bit over living breathing human beings in the lower and middle classes for whom ever dollar counts? What kind of sense does that make? One would think you'd almost always choose the person over the corporation.
You know what I'd love to see in a fantasy world? A non-profit television provider that tries to provide the best possible service at the best possible prices to the most possible people. It'd be a great public service.
Sorry about the sarcasm, but if you're going to make a bold statement like your business strategy is giving customers exactly what they want, then you kind of leave yourself open to it when you are the lone operator that doesn't make the customer friendly decision on something. The whole thing makes it feel like they're lying to us, patronizing us, or some combination therefore. As I said earlier in the thread, I know promoting your company and trying to cast things in a exaggerated positive light is part of doing business, but you don't want to exaggerate so much that it actually annoys your customer base. Say something you can mostly deliver on.
Why's "entitlement" a bad thing? When I see people use that word in a derogatory way, most of the time the behavior they're criticizing is just folks trying to live the best possible lives they can for themselves and advocating for things that'll assist them in doing that. That just seems like basic human nature. What do you want people to do, run around with their heads down going "I don't deserve stuff. Good stuff shouldn't happen to me." and stuff like that?
You're criticizing customers as behaving savagely for trying to get a good deal and save money when they pick a TV provider or negotiate with customer services reps or whatever. Yet, these companies all do anything they can to maximize their revenue- constant programming and equipment rate hikes, charging for things like installation and equipment even when said equipment is leased if they think someone with poor credit doesn't have better options, taking channels off the air over a few pennies knowing that people are locked into contracts and can't leave even if you take away the very thing they subscribe to the service for, locking customers into contracts as many times as possible for as long as possible, early termination fees, actually charging people to quit even when the contract is up (i.e. a shipping fee to return equipment that must be returned), etc.. If you call Dish up and say 'I lost my job, I'm having trouble being able to afford to keep a roof over my head and keep food on the table", do you think they'll keep you free television for a few months? Do you think they'll even let you out of a contract without an EFT? If you need to quit early enough while under contract due to unforeseeable circumstances, you'll find a several hundred dollar EFT fee charged to your debit or credit card. Even if you're not under contract and drop them because you can't put food on the table, they'll try to take your last $20 that you had earmarked for ramen and oatmeal so you can ship them back their box that they were happy to drop off free of charge to hook you (But they can't pick it up when you're done or give you a drop-off point).
In fact, the whole business model of these companies is a little similar to drug pushers. Get them in with low introductory rates and raise the price once they're hooked. I mean, what kind of sense do these low introductory rates and high rates for established customers really make, except that they think they'll get people to subscribe to a service they wouldn't normally pay full price for, and then retain them because they get used to it and can't stand to make a break with it later? And then you're saying if the customer calls back and tries to get $5 a month off the inflated price later, there's something wrong with that. Television providers have no problem raising rates or fees $5 or more regularly, not even counting the jump from the introductory price to the regular price, those are just the increases they make to their regular price. Why can't customers ask for $5 off if companies can demand $5 more?
I mean, to me, I certainly have a lot more sympathy for the guy with tight finances who just wants to watch his favorite sports or tv shows and needs to save a few dollars than I do a company that has a few billion in the bank and wants a few billion more. When did so many people start sympathizing with big faceless very profitable billionaire corporations who can easily afford to trim their profit margins a little bit over living breathing human beings in the lower and middle classes for whom ever dollar counts? What kind of sense does that make? One would think you'd almost always choose the person over the corporation.
You know what I'd love to see in a fantasy world? A non-profit television provider that tries to provide the best possible service at the best possible prices to the most possible people. It'd be a great public service.
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Yes, people call DISH up and say that. Yes, they prioritize television over basic life necessities and then blame others for their poor financial circumstances. Yes, customers call hoping to get out of a contract without an EFT.
Just as hard as the guy with a sob story (whether it's true or not) plays the "mean billionaire company" line, just as hard as DISH screws the customer, the customers often screw right back. Chicken or the egg; even I'm not sure which side started it. But at one point back in the Henry Ford years, a business ran based on the customer agreeing to buy a set merchandise or specific length of service, at a preset price. If they didn't like it, they didn't have to buy it. But we're talking about a multi-billion dollar corporation, not a swap meet.
If people didn't try to haggle and play games, it would be a LOT easier to see through corporate Bullsh!t. It would also be a lot easier to tell which customers are full of sh*t. I'm not saying either side is right, but it is a numbers game, 14.5M vs 1. If your life circumstances change and you can't afford TV, CANCEL THE F'N TV!!!!! Don't sit and try to renegotiate terms knowing full well that you're in a disadvantageous position to do so, and then get pissy when you're bent over. What did you expect?
Remember this; that poor guy you're feeling sorry for, never had to buy the service in the first place. He made a decision, and like most, decisions have consequences. Now that said decision is no longer in his favor, if he isn't cut a break, the business is the bad guy? No... It's time people start taking responsibility for the choices they make instead of blaming others. It's long past time.
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really? last I checked the prices were pretty much the same so that "statement" is a line of crap
obviously you work either a retailer or in the office
I've got another good recent example of Dish giving customers what they want. In the Atlanta market, Dish customers now get 45 fewer Braves games than customers of any other pay TV provider in the area. Must be what they wanted. People in Atlanta sure hate Atlanta Braves baseball, right?
Sorry about the sarcasm, but if you're going to make a bold statement like your business strategy is giving customers exactly what they want, then you kind of leave yourself open to it when you are the lone operator that doesn't make the customer friendly decision on something. The whole thing makes it feel like they're lying to us, patronizing us, or some combination therefore. As I said earlier in the thread, I know promoting your company and trying to cast things in a exaggerated positive light is part of doing business, but you don't want to exaggerate so much that it actually annoys your customer base. Say something you can mostly deliver on.
Why's "entitlement" a bad thing? When I see people use that word in a derogatory way, most of the time the behavior they're criticizing is just folks trying to live the best possible lives they can for themselves and advocating for things that'll assist them in doing that. That just seems like basic human nature. What do you want people to do, run around with their heads down going "I don't deserve stuff. Good stuff shouldn't happen to me." and stuff like that?
You're criticizing customers as behaving savagely for trying to get a good deal and save money when they pick a TV provider or negotiate with customer services reps or whatever. Yet, these companies all do anything they can to maximize their revenue- constant programming and equipment rate hikes, charging for things like installation and equipment even when said equipment is leased if they think someone with poor credit doesn't have better options, taking channels off the air over a few pennies knowing that people are locked into contracts and can't leave even if you take away the very thing they subscribe to the service for, locking customers into contracts as many times as possible for as long as possible, early termination fees, actually charging people to quit even when the contract is up (i.e. a shipping fee to return equipment that must be returned), etc.. If you call Dish up and say 'I lost my job, I'm having trouble being able to afford to keep a roof over my head and keep food on the table", do you think they'll keep you free television for a few months? Do you think they'll even let you out of a contract without an EFT? If you need to quit early enough while under contract due to unforeseeable circumstances, you'll find a several hundred dollar EFT fee charged to your debit or credit card. Even if you're not under contract and drop them because you can't put food on the table, they'll try to take your last $20 that you had earmarked for ramen and oatmeal so you can ship them back their box that they were happy to drop off free of charge to hook you (But they can't pick it up when you're done or give you a drop-off point).
In fact, the whole business model of these companies is a little similar to drug pushers. Get them in with low introductory rates and raise the price once they're hooked. I mean, what kind of sense do these low introductory rates and high rates for established customers really make, except that they think they'll get people to subscribe to a service they wouldn't normally pay full price for, and then retain them because they get used to it and can't stand to make a break with it later? And then you're saying if the customer calls back and tries to get $5 a month off the inflated price later, there's something wrong with that. Television providers have no problem raising rates or fees $5 or more regularly, not even counting the jump from the introductory price to the regular price, those are just the increases they make to their regular price. Why can't customers ask for $5 off if companies can demand $5 more?
I mean, to me, I certainly have a lot more sympathy for the guy with tight finances who just wants to watch his favorite sports or tv shows and needs to save a few dollars than I do a company that has a few billion in the bank and wants a few billion more. When did so many people start sympathizing with big faceless very profitable billionaire corporations who can easily afford to trim their profit margins a little bit over living breathing human beings in the lower and middle classes for whom ever dollar counts? What kind of sense does that make? One would think you'd almost always choose the person over the corporation.
You know what I'd love to see in a fantasy world? A non-profit television provider that tries to provide the best possible service at the best possible prices to the most possible people. It'd be a great public service.
I should have known better.
I'm sorry, want me to use my Joe-speak on this one? Here, let me blow some PR-quality smoke for you.
1. What do they want? Everything for free, or if not free, for as cheap as they can possibly get it (0% profit margin for a publically traded company) and free upgrades, credits, movie packages, PPVs depending on their mood that day.
1. A customer just wants to have a great television viewing experience, to get what they pay for, and to be treated like they matter. That's what we all want at the end of the day, ain't it y'all?!
2. How much are they willing to pay? Take the minimum cost to keep the lights on, and subtract $15 per customer.
2. Customers want us to keep costs down. They're tired of the broadcast companies trying to get blood from a turnip. We're fightin to keep a'y'alls costs down!
3. What is the minimum price increase a customer will accept? They'll accept anything we tell them and damned well will like it. But they would prefer something with a negative sign, which will never happen.
3. No one likes price increases, neither do I. But I'll tell y'all what. We've kept costs 40% lower than DirecTV and all the cable companies, and we'll keep fighting to keep y'alls costs down. More movies, more music, more magic!
4. When will they switch to DirecTV? Whenever Direct has something better; but every other time they'll just threaten to do it hoping for free sh*t. See point 1.
4. Dear God! Why would anyone go to DirecTV? Sure they have sports packages, but the rest of their offers are pure phooey! Customers want quality programming and quality equipment at fair prices, and if there ain't nothing else we do, DISH does that!
5. What does a customer consider "fair"? Getting everything they want, when and how they want it, at zero cost to themselves, no matter how unrealistic it is.
5. We treat all our customers fair, not just our favorites that order sports packages. We produce better TV, and better quality, Sling, Hopper and we have more on the way! Stay tuned y'all!
...See, I can blow smoke up your ass too. None of the above is stereotyping, it's just the reality of customer entitlement as Scherrman stated. I just don't see the need to lie to your face or fluff it up to make it more palatable. But hell, on the lines above alone I could run for CEO. It's all true. And as Scherrman stated, it's not ALL customers, but it IS absolutely a majority of them. Today's attitudes are why pay for anything you don't have to; fair market price to hell.
So tell me which you prefer, I can feed you Bullsh!t PR-style, or give it to you up front. I figured you'd like not having something hidden and put plainly in front of you for a change. You just let me know which way you like to be bent over. "You asked for it, you got it!"
While you may have a point or so, getting past all the gibberish is too much. Thankfully there is an ignore button that you will go on.
yeah.. our society has changed. luckily, though, dish will let you put your account on PAUSE to alleviate the ETF. life is tough, get a helmet.
I'll be the first to tell everyone that the customers are not the only ones at fault. There are plenty of crappy companies out there that take advantage of customers. Dish has been pretty awesome but they do plenty of dumb things and it seems like they do it more and more as the years pass.
I opinion towards customers comes from a wider base. We do not only sell Dish but we also sell TVs and appliances along with servicing and installing. I hear gripes from customers constantly and have to listen to them tell me how they can buy the same products online or at Best Buy and Walmart cheaper. The whole industry has gone a little crazy with all this lowest price crap.
People keep demanding the cheapest prices and manufacturers are making them. When you have to make products that cheap you have to use cheaper parts and end up making an inferior product. Now customers are wondering why the TV they bought only last 4 years when their old CRT TV lasted 25. They complain about how expensive a 55" LED is but if you look back to the 80s they were paying the same price for a 25" console TV.
I'd prefer that customers demand quality and longevity from the products they buy but also be willing to pay the price for it. Customers want more products made in the USA which I love but you may have to be wiling to pay more for the labor cost in the USA. I would rather sell a product I know is great and will last because I want my customer to be satisfied so they come back and buy more. I don't want to sell them crap and plan on them being back in a few years to replace it because it failed already.
We actually quit selling Maytag products because once they got bought out by Whirlpool it turned to crap. People still ask for it since they grew up with it and it lasted 20-30 years. I have to explain to them that this is not the Maytag you grew up with. So, instead of selling them a crappy washer that might last 10 years and only has a 1 year warranty we now sell Speed Queen that is made in Wisconsin and has a 3 year warranty. They are built like the old Maytags and cost more than the average washer but it's worth it. They have a 25 year life expectancy which makes it more fun to sell because I have confidence in the product knowing it will last.
Rant over, sorry.
I opinion towards customers comes from a wider base. We do not only sell Dish but we also sell TVs and appliances along with servicing and installing. I hear gripes from customers constantly and have to listen to them tell me how they can buy the same products online or at Best Buy and Walmart cheaper. The whole industry has gone a little crazy with all this lowest price crap.
People keep demanding the cheapest prices and manufacturers are making them. When you have to make products that cheap you have to use cheaper parts and end up making an inferior product. Now customers are wondering why the TV they bought only last 4 years when their old CRT TV lasted 25. They complain about how expensive a 55" LED is but if you look back to the 80s they were paying the same price for a 25" console TV.
I'd prefer that customers demand quality and longevity from the products they buy but also be willing to pay the price for it. Customers want more products made in the USA which I love but you may have to be wiling to pay more for the labor cost in the USA. I would rather sell a product I know is great and will last because I want my customer to be satisfied so they come back and buy more. I don't want to sell them crap and plan on them being back in a few years to replace it because it failed already.
We actually quit selling Maytag products because once they got bought out by Whirlpool it turned to crap. People still ask for it since they grew up with it and it lasted 20-30 years. I have to explain to them that this is not the Maytag you grew up with. So, instead of selling them a crappy washer that might last 10 years and only has a 1 year warranty we now sell Speed Queen that is made in Wisconsin and has a 3 year warranty. They are built like the old Maytags and cost more than the average washer but it's worth it. They have a 25 year life expectancy which makes it more fun to sell because I have confidence in the product knowing it will last.
Rant over, sorry.
That's a hoot. There is no fair market price in the broadcast business. It's all about collusion, exclusivity (cornering the market), and forced bundling. Maybe that's why you are seeing those attitudes of "if they aren't playing fair, then why should I?" Media entertainment is rising in costs at a much higher rate than inflation, and it isn't like the price of milk where it's mostly tied into the price of gasoline.
You mean PBS?
It isn't just people. Stockholders want the best short-term profits from the corporations that they are invested in, so the pressure on manufacturers to continue growth in their profit margins and earnings also puts pressure to make products more cheaply and with a shorter lifespan. I'd pay for quality if I knew it was a long term investment like CRTs used to be, but that choice just isn't there at any price. Hell, I have a CRT HD TV I bought back in 2006 this is going strong to this day.
I think all the providers need to stop doing the "only xx.xx for a year!" Then reverts to regular price crap promotions.
The real price should be advertised without the fine print. All equipment should have to be purchased and not subsidized. This is the same for wireless phones.
We as consumers get stuck paying more for the content subscriptions because of customers not returning equipment or the ones who complain all the time about the installer. Then the provider has to keep sending a tech back to the customer because the customer is too stupid to operate the equipment.
The real price should be advertised without the fine print. All equipment should have to be purchased and not subsidized. This is the same for wireless phones.
We as consumers get stuck paying more for the content subscriptions because of customers not returning equipment or the ones who complain all the time about the installer. Then the provider has to keep sending a tech back to the customer because the customer is too stupid to operate the equipment.
