Frustrated Exclusive Customer

[TimR21]

I know we've all been hearing stories about Dish's handling of this 811 Exclusive Customer offer - so I'll add mine.

I, like many on this forum, called and ordered one for $149 on the day the offer started. I was scheduled for an install on Wed, Dec 9 between 8a-12p. At 5pm on Tuesday Dec 8, I got a message from Digital Reception Services (DRS) saying that Dish had the 811 back-ordered and they would not be able to install until 12/26! So I called back first thing the next morning (actually the day of my original appointment) to confirm a date and they said that they'll get me installed on 12/22. I wasn't too please with this, but because of the great info on SatelliteGuys.US, I was prepared for this disappointment.

A few hours later DRS called me back and said they had just received a shipment of 811's and they'll be out between 8am-12p the next day to install. Well, that was great! I'd get my 811 only 1 day after the originally promised day.

So, I took the morning off from work and waited...and waited...and waited. Around 11:20am (only 40 minutes before the delivery window was to close) I got a message again from DRS telling me they had no receivers and were back-ordered. The would not be able to schedule me until AFTER the 29th!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

I called them back and gave them a piece of my mind. I had been jerked around long enough - not mention I'd lost a half day of work! Of course, they had no explanation and could only reschedule me back to the 22nd again.

I called Dish Network and chewed out the CSR (I knew wouldn't do any good, but at least I could vent). I told him this was intolerable and that I wanted money off my bill for the month. He transferred me to the executive office. The exec rep apologized and said the manufacturer had promised Dish the 811's by a certain day and didn't deliver. He was distressed that DRS was promising me a delivery when there really were no receivers to be had.

So, I still have no receiver. Dish still has my $149. And, DRS may or may not bring me a receiver on the 22nd. The exec rep did tell me that I should call him back if/when I actually do get a receiver and he would try to do something for me. Gee thanks.

My head hurts - this is no way to run a business!

Thanks for letting me vent.

TimR21><>

 

[cyph]

I feel your pain. I guess at this point I have absolutely zero expectations on when I am getting this thing. This last quarter has not been a banner period for E* and crew. After the trifecta of Superdish Rollout flop, continued lack of 921 info, and the lack of new HD anouncements I thought the 811 was a good faith offer by E*. Turns out it has been a public relations nightmare in many parts of the country. As I stated elsewhere, I am trying to have an open mind, but it gets more difficult with each delay.

cyph

 

[Cyclone]

I don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

This $149 offer is not advertised. Its not on their web page and its not in their TV commercials. The unit is new and stocks take time to stablize.

 

[TimR21]

I don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

.

As I told the exec office rep, I'm very grateful for this more than fair offer. However, a business transaction requires that both parties do as they say they are going to in a fair and timely manner. So far, I'm the only one who has done what I was supposed to. I paid my $149 and took off my morning from work. I still have no gift horse to look at in the mouth or anywhere else!

TimR><>

 

[belsokar]

That just happened to me this past week,...I was supposed to get my receiver on monday, between 8am-12pm...

11:45 rolled around, I called dish, they said no news...

12:15 rolled around, still no installer, no phone calls, I called dish...they said there was a note saying they had no 811's in stock, so had to reschedule for following week...i proceeded to chew out 3 different CSR's and then 2 Supervisors...the worst part of it was that they lied about calling me...no missed calls on either of my phone numbers on my account...I called them on that one...

I basically told them that since I missed time off work, and now they wanted me to miss 5 hours on a weekend, that that would be unacceptable...after about an hour of "sorry, thats the best we can do" and me replying with "bullsh*t, thats NOT the best you can do", I got a month's worth of programming credited to my account, and a guaranteed first delivery from the local installer for this Sunday at 8am.

We'll see if that works out or not, or if I end up spending another hour on the phone with them...I have yet to ever have a good installation experience from dish...I know others have, but I have not...when I first got dish, I installed it myself, so no credit to them...I then moved and upgraded, it took 3 days before someone made it out...that was back in my "nice" days so I didn't chew anyone out for making me wait for an installer on 3 separate days....and finally this time, I didn't accept any bullsh*t after the first screw up, I stayed on the phone with every CSR, supervisor, and their mother until they guaranteed me what I wanted which was reimbursement for my lost wages, and a guarantee I would not sit around 5 hours again on a weekend when I could be out spending time doing something else...

 

[Stargazer]

This is why I make companies do it when it is convenient for me, not them, because I do not want to lose money because of their actions. I would make them give you credit for one month of programming for each time the installer did not show up.

 

[SpenceJT]

I feel your pain about Dish Network and their CSRs!

I took advantage of a trade-in offer from Mark at Dish Depot (sorry Scott). By sending my 6000 (complete with 8PSK & 8VSB modules) I receive $250 back on my $399 Dish 811. All this with no appointment required, and no service agreement.

I received and self-installed the 811 on Thursday.

It was only upon calling in to activate the new receiver that I learned that the December 17th SuperDish installation appointment that I had obtained on November 7th was "missing"! That's right, it had been cancelled and not rescheduled! After more than a few calls and working my way up to one of Dish Network's "Vice President" of Technical somethingorother I learned that my region had all SuperDish's shipped to the region, with hardware set for obtaining a signal from the satellite at 105. Since my region's local channels are now being moved over to the satellite at 121, none of the hardware will work without new LNB assemblies which contain alignment of the third LNB to 121. To put is simply, we are waiting on hardware to arrive and all free SuperDish upgrades in my region are on hold until things arrive.

I'm sure glad I found this out as I'd have been mad as hell had I taken a day off on Dec 17th for an installation that was not going to happen. I have no idea if I would have gotten notification!

I am also amazed that the 105/121 hardware information has not been distributed to CSRs. This would have saved a great deal of time and frustration on my part. Dish needs to work on their internal communications!

So, that's my story. I've got a partially functioning 811 (waiting for firmware updates to enable functionality) and a SuperDish that will be installed "someday" (right now it's looking like March or April).

Regards,
Jeff

 

[marko]

Installer missed another appointment for me today (although this time they did call at 9:15, last time they did not call). What irked me this time is yesterday they called to confirm my appointment, so I thought it was good to go. I didn't complain to the installer that called, but I called dish again. First time they gave me $25 credit, which was nice. This time, man, they were tough. The guy tried to tell me that they gave me the 8VSB for free, lol, I'm like, "look, you didn't do me any favors giving me that loud thing. If you would of got the 6000 right to begin with (in regards to fan noise), I wouldn't be ordering a 811 to begin with.

He finally offered me to reimburse me 5.99 for my locals. I'm like, hmmm, that is not enough. How about a free month of HBO. And he really balked with that, which I didn't understand. I mean, I'm not subscribed to HBO now, so that could be additional programming. So after arguing, I finally brought up the point, look, if I sign up for HBO and I cancel it, you will get $5 for cancelling, so the net to me would be $8. Why are you quibbling over the $2 difference between locals and hbo as a reimbursement. Needless to say he finally signed me up.

Then, since I've been meaning to do it for a while, I bumped up to the top 100 from top 50. Maybe the supervisor will get the subtle point that when dish screws you over, compensation is appreciated, and heck, you might actually make customers happy and they will be more likely subscribe to more programming in the future. If you don't, you'll just have pissed off customers.

 

[Stargazer]

If they tick me off enough, and since I pay a year in advance, I would probably start dropping some channels that I can do without, besides, just as everyone else tells me, you can only watch one channel at a time. They would lose the programming I dropped multiplied by 11 or 12 (depending on what package). If they would be willing to make up for my frustration and time then I keep all the channels and service.

When I asked about getting the Dish Entertainment Magazine (Monthly Program Guide Booklet) free for three months to make up for some of their screw ups (since I had pretty well all the channels you can order). He told me I could cancel after the three months but I ended up keeping the magazine (at least for now). When Dish satisfies customers, it can actually make them more money even if it means having to give a little.