Help from those with Long Memories

[Spiffy]

Help from those with Long Memories - Dish Customer Problem

I recently cancelled Dish. Just realized I never watch anything on it, even the Voom channels have gone downhill and repeat the same old programming over and over, while the few new shows are more down-market, kind of like what the Travel Channel has become.

Anyway, I have a spat with Dish now. I've been with Dish since about '98, briefly leaving them for less than a year of happy times with Voom, until Voom crashed and burned, with the remnants absorbed by Dish. Here are the details of the spat:

1. When I went back to Dish, in August of 2005, I got under a promo where I purchased a 942 HD DVR and an 811 (or whatever the non-DVR HD receiver was.) I have a charge of $399.94 appearing on my card from that time (as a new customer, since I had been away for a year.)

2. Later, when the 622 came out, I upgraded once Dish offered a $200 rebate to the 942 owners. I paid them $299.99 in April of 2006. In June, they charged another $201.23, presumably because they did not receive the 942.

I got the 622, but Dish never sent me the box to send the 942 back to them. I called them a few times, they kept promising to send it, never did, then told me the rebate is expired, so tough luck. I let it go and kept meaning to put the 942 on ebay.

3. When I cancelled, the Customer Loyalty rep, who was charming and all, told me that probably I never got the box because I owned the 942. Of course, I thought that was the whole point of the rebate, but whatever. She told me to sell the 942 on ebay, 'cause I ain't gonna get the rebate

Well, once I cancelled and sent back the 622, I've received probably over 30 calls from Dish, most automated, demanding that I return the 942 and the 811. They claim I don't own them, but I leased them (according to them, the charge to my card was for $250 for the 942, $49 activation and $99 installation (I already had all the dishes on my roof from before, but someone did come to the house.)

Huh?! I thought I owned them. Why do I remember that I purchased them under whatever promo they were running in 8/05, why did I waited for the never materialized $200 rebate to lease the 622, and why does it look like I paid $500 for the 622?

Dish Second-Tier Customer S-ce tells me that they've lost my initial contract, but that their first invoice says I leased the 942, so they go by that and want it back. Since I didn't send it back, they just charged my card $698!

So, does anyone remember the Dish promo for the purchase of the 942 about October of 2005, and then the promo for the $200 rebate for upgrading to the 622?

Or am I nuts?

Really need help in figuring out if they ran these promos that I think I remember? Dish has really been one of the worst companies I've ever tried to sever relations with....

 

[richiephx]

If you paid only $399 for a 942 and an 811 receiver, I would kinda doubt that you owned them. I would think that the purchase price for both receivers would be much greater than $399.

 

[Spiffy]

If you paid only $399 for a 942 and an 811 receiver, I would kinda doubt that you owned them. I would think that the purchase price for both receivers would be much greater than $399.

It would have been like $399 for the 942, or $350 for it and $49 for the 811. To be honest, I don't remember the story with the 811, just remember I was told I can't upgrade it when I was upgrading the 942 to the 622.

Anyone remember 2005?

 

[dishcomm]

I recently cancelled Dish. Just realized I never watch anything on it, even the Voom channels have gone downhill and repeat the same old programming over and over, while the few new shows are more down-market, kind of like what the Travel Channel has become.

Anyway, I have a spat with Dish now. I've been with Dish since about '98, briefly leaving them for less than a year of happy times with Voom, until Voom crashed and burned, with the remnants absorbed by Dish. Here are the details of the spat:

1. When I went back to Dish, in August of 2005, I got under a promo where I purchased a 942 HD DVR and an 811 (or whatever the non-DVR HD receiver was.) I have a charge of $399.94 appearing on my card from that time (as a new customer, since I had been away for a year.)

2. Later, when the 622 came out, I upgraded once Dish offered a $200 rebate to the 942 owners. I paid them $299.99 in April of 2006. In June, they charged another $201.23, presumably because they did not receive the 942.

I got the 622, but Dish never sent me the box to send the 942 back to them. I called them a few times, they kept promising to send it, never did, then told me the rebate is expired, so tough luck. I let it go and kept meaning to put the 942 on ebay.

3. When I cancelled, the Customer Loyalty rep, who was charming and all, told me that probably I never got the box because I owned the 942. Of course, I thought that was the whole point of the rebate, but whatever. She told me to sell the 942 on ebay, 'cause I ain't gonna get the rebate

Well, once I cancelled and sent back the 622, I've received probably over 30 calls from Dish, most automated, demanding that I return the 942 and the 811. They claim I don't own them, but I leased them (according to them, the charge to my card was for $250 for the 942, $49 activation and $99 installation (I already had all the dishes on my roof from before, but someone did come to the house.)

Huh?! I thought I owned them. Why do I remember that I purchased them under whatever promo they were running in 8/05, why did I waited for the never materialized $200 rebate to lease the 622, and why does it look like I paid $500 for the 622?

Dish Second-Tier Customer S-ce tells me that they've lost my initial contract, but that their first invoice says I leased the 942, so they go by that and want it back. Since I didn't send it back, they just charged my card $698!

So, does anyone remember the Dish promo for the purchase of the 942 about October of 2005, and then the promo for the $200 rebate for upgrading to the 622?

Or am I nuts?

Really need help in figuring out if they ran these promos that I think I remember? Dish has really been one of the worst companies I've ever tried to sever relations with....

All I can say is.....Uh oh!...

 

[thiggin2]

Is an invoice as good as a contract?????
I would send an email to ceo@dishnetwork.com and tell them what you told us. Also make sure you give them a contact number because they will call you back.

Good luck .

 

[Spiffy]

Thanks for the suggestion, thiggin2. I'll send the email tonight.

I remember pretty clearly the deal, just trying to find someone who made a similar purchase at that time. Funny thing is, several of their reps say I do own the equipment, then there is another camp which says I lease it. Even the first Executive support guy I talked to, when I told him about the $399 charge on my card in August '05, said he remembered the promotion.... He laso remembered the $200 upgrade rebate on the 622, but said it's expired and I can't get it anymore, even if they didn't send me a box or tell me where to send the 942.

 

[Zero327]

Is an invoice as good as a contract?????
I would send an email to ceo@dishnetwork.com and tell them what you told us. Also make sure you give them a contact number because they will call you back.

Good luck .

He's cancelled twice. He's an unreliable customer, I doubt they'll cut him much slack.

 

[wonko]

Keep trying. I not too long ago bought a 622 that I couldn't activate because the CSR said it was leased. But the guy said he owned it when he sold it. I returned it, but t turns out he was right and ended up re-selling it. So I don't think Dish's record-keeping is all that it's cracked up to be sometimes.

 

[Voyager6]

If E* has "lost" your contract, how are they going to prove that you didn't buy the receivers? Challenge the charge to your credit card and make E* come up with the documentation to prove that you need to return the receivers. E* will always assume that you are leasing. It's happened twice to me when I have replaced receivers that I purchased. Both times E* said I had to return the older receiver because it was leased which was false.

 

[boba]

You did lease the receivers from DISH but it is their responsibility to prove you leased them if they are going to charge your credit card. Dispute the charge but be prepared to lose they may have a hard copy of your contract rather than a scanned copy in the computer. I believe at that time we had to fax a copy of the contract then mail an actual copy to DISH.

 

[hockeyinsd]

Maybe I missed something, but do you have your copy of the contract? I always keep copies of the contracts I sign for this exact reason. If you have your copy what does it say?

 

[Spiffy]

O.K.. Sent the email, got a call today.

The woman had a much nicer disposition, but still basically saying that she doesn't remember such promotion, so unless I can find my contract, their working assumption is that I leased it.... And it doesn't matter that at least 4 of the Dish CRs had looked at my account and promised to send me a box so I can get the $200 rebate for sending back the 942 when I upgraded to the 622. And it doesn't matter that their Customer Retention rep looked at my account, saw that I owned it, so assumed that's why Dish didn't send me a box to send it back to them, and then told me that she's is sorry about the mishap with the rebate, I can't get it anymore, but at least I can try selling the 942 on Ebay, since I OWN it. Argh!

So, I am looking in boxes for the contract, which I may or may not have kept....

I have recommended Dish to so-o-o many people, over DirecTV. But right now, I don't think I would touch the company with a 10' pole. Kind of sad.

So, did anyone purchase a 942 in the Summer or Fall of 2005, under the promo I am remembering? And does anyone remember the $200 rebate for upgrading purchased 942s to 622s?

 

[Scott6760]

I have only been with dish for about a year, so I have no idea what promotions they ran back then. However, I distinctly remember a customer telling me not too long ago that they payed close to $1000 for their 942 and they were shocked that they were upgrading to a 622 for ONLY $199. I beleive that the $400 you payed for TWO high def receivers back then was definitely a lease upgrade fee, not full purchase price. Even today with prices much lower than two years ago a 625 is $350 to purchase, and a 722 is something like $600.

 

[Spiffy]

Scott, I appreciate you taking the time to respond, but I'd rather this thread did not turn into speculation as to what people think, based on anecdotal evidence. BTW, the 622 was sold for $499, and the 942 was sold to existing customers for something like $749, before I came back to Dish in 2005.

What I am really looking for is someone like the OP from here: http://www.satelliteguys.us/dish-network-forum/37772-i-dumped-directv-dish.html#post338419. He got his deal because he came from DirecTV.

In my case, I had called Dish when Voom first died, but I did not qualify as a "new" customer yet, since I had not been off Dish for a year yet. I waited the full year (actually tried cable for about a month, since I already get my Internet from cable,) then Dish ran a promotion for former VOOM subscribers, if I recall, and that's what I got. Also, if I remember correctly, by the time I was able to qualify as "new" customer, they told me that I didn't qualify for the lease deal....

And this is why I am looking for someone, like a former VOOM subscriber, who got the same promo.

Thanks, anyway.

 

[bhelms]

Sorry to also "speculate", but mine is mostly first-hand. I upgraded to HD in Dec. '05. The deal included the 811 and whatever else my system needed. I was keeping 2 owned lecacy receivers in the system and I already had an owned D300 dish and dual LNB. The upgrade involved repointing the D300 and giving it a new LNB, adding a D500 dish with Twin LNB, and a DPP44 switch, along with the 811. That cost me $99 and it was clear to me that this was all leased. Sorry to say, but I don't think the price you paid would have been for outright sale of the equipment, just the upgrade fees and installation.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I never knew E* to sell equipment. I thought sales came from retailers like DishStore where I purchased my 622.

 

[old corps]

Keep trying. I not too long ago bought a 622 that I couldn't activate because the CSR said it was leased. But the guy said he owned it when he sold it. I returned it, but t turns out he was right and ended up re-selling it. So I don't think Dish's record-keeping is all that it's cracked up to be sometimes.

Uhh, I think you're right about the record keeping. I tried to report a problem receiving OTA after a recent software upgrade to L446 on my 722 via the online chat at dishnetwork.com. They tell me they have no record of me even having a 722. I leased both a 622 & a 722 within the last 2 months and paid $149 & $199 up front to do so. Unbelievable. They'll probably turn off the 722 and I'll have to spend hours on the phone to get it back on.................

As for Spiff's issue I have to agree that I believe he leased his units and was supposed to get a rebate. I would think the 811's price to purchase would have been over $500 alone. JMHO.

Ed