Extremely Frustrated with Customer Service
I have been a customer with Dish for over 10 years paying $150+ per month. I just called to find out about the hopper and joey service and was asked to pay $100 for the upgrade. I asked the rep why new customers were given the equipment for free and i've been a loyal customer for 10+ years and have to pay $100 which didn't make any sense. The rep told me that that's the rule for existing customers. I told them that if that is the case, I would rather explore my options with other providers and I asked to cancel my service. It really annoyed/frustrated me that by being a customer for so many years, there was nothing he could do. He said that he would have to transfer me to the cancellation department.
When the rep from the cancellation department came on, she started explaining the same thing and I explained to her again that I had been a customer for 10+ years in good standing and no issues on my account and found it odd that they were making me pay $100 for an upgrade while new customers were asked to pay nothing for the equipment. She also told me something that shocked me. This is for all you new customers... Here is what she told me... "Even though we have advertised it as free for new customers, they have to qualify for it and there are many new customers who have had to pay $600+ for the hopper and joey!" I told her "what? does that mean your advertisement about free for new customers is false?". She said it is not false but they just have to qualify! Are they now trying to get new customers to signup by saying it is free and then surprising them with a $600+ charge because they "didn't qualify"????
After talking to her for few mins and telling her that they were going to charge me $100 and make me sign a contract as well, which just didn't seem fair, she said they most she could do is give me $25 off of the upgrade fee. So, I would have to pay $75 and sign a contract. I told her I don't mind signing the contract but the upgrade fee doesn't make sense. She said there was nothing else that could be done. I told her to go ahead and cancel my account for a future date so that I could make arrangements with another provider. While she was setting up the cancellation, she said I had a $20 cancellation fee because I still had 49 days on my contract since I had upgraded to "HD Free for life". When said that, I told her that I refuse to pay dish any $$ for cancellation. I will wait another 49 days and then cancel my account. She said that was fine.
So much for being a customer for 10+ years and paying $150+ per month over the years. I read all these other posts where people have been offered the hopper and joey with no cost, but it is just the opposite for me! It made me feel that they don't care about existing customers whether they've been with them for 1 year, 2 years, 5 years, or 10+ years like me!!