Is there a 18 month commitment for DVR Advantage for existing customers?

[Mike4HDTV]

I just found the flyer explaining the DVR Advantage promotion. It has an asterick that states the following:

"A customer must elect an 18-month commitment or Credit Card AutoPay/recurring EFT payments with online billing as well as subscribe to America's Top 200 plus local channels and have qualifying DVR to receive a discounted monthly rate of $49.99 with DishDVR Advantage. Additional incremental services will be billed separately."

So, if I had autopay since I joined Dish in April 2005, I should not be under any commitment when I signed up for DVR Advantage with AT200. I am going to send an email to ceo@echostar.com and see if this can be resolved.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

 

[luckycat]

This was exactly what I was told back when I was with E* and signed up with autopay to get $0.01/year CinemaxHD, and DVR advantage to save a few on DVR fee. Autopay + DVR Adv, no commitment. Talk to their corporate office if you have to. Good luck.

I second that, exactly the same switch and was told (after I asked) that there is no further commitment.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

I sent the following email to ceo@echostar.com :

To whom it may concern,

I have been a Dish Network customer since April 2005. I have always been on Autopay since I signed up for Dish Network service. On March 24, 2008, I called Dish Network to cancel my account. The CSR told me that I was under an 18 month commitment and that I would owe approximately $133 for a cancellation fee. The CSR told me that on July 10, 2007, I signed up for the DVR Advantage program and he stated that was why I was in a commitment.

When I signed up for the DVR Advantage in July 2007, I was told that since I use Autopay to pay my bills, that there will be no 18 month commitment. I would like to know why a commitment was put on my account when it shouldn’t have been. Since I should not be under any commitment, I should not be charged a cancellation fee.

Attached to this email is the flyer explaining the DVR Advantage promotion. It has an asterick that states the following:

"A customer must elect an 18-month commitment or Credit Card AutoPay/recurring EFT payments with online billing as well as subscribe to America's Top 200 plus local channels and have qualifying DVR to receive a discounted monthly rate of $49.99 with DishDVR Advantage. Additional incremental services will be billed separately."

As the flyer states, since I have Autopay there should not be an 18-month commitment.

My account number is XXXXXX. Please contact me at my home phone number 954-XXX-XXXX or cell phone 305-XXX-XXXX to discuss this matter.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

I received the following email from ceo@echostar.com :

Michael,

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

A review of the account indicates your were set up for credit card auto-pay. You are not required to have both CCA and an 18-month commitment. I have waived the 18-month commitment on your DISH Network account. You will not be charged a cancellation fee and have a zero balance.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions.

Thanks



Great news from Dish.

I want to thank Dish for responding so quickly and for resolving this matter correctly.

Thanks to everybody that replied and helped me out.

 

[sbsi]

For Cinemax penny deal, you don't have to agree with any commitment. The only commitment is still having Auto Pay to get the penny Cinemax deal. One day, if I do cancel Auto Pay, then I need to let Dish Customer Service know about Auto Pay where they will remove Cinemax without the 5.00 cancellation fees. But, you don't have to be a 1 year Dish Customer to get this deal.

 

[varaonaid]

Congrats on getting your situation resolved!

 

[jacmyoung]

I received the following email from ceo@echostar.com :

Michael,

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

A review of the account indicates your were set up for credit card auto-pay. You are not required to have both CCA and an 18-month commitment. I have waived the 18-month commitment on your DISH Network account. You will not be charged a cancellation fee and have a zero balance.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions.

Thanks



Great news from Dish.

I want to thank Dish for responding so quickly and for resolving this matter correctly.

Thanks to everybody that replied and helped me out.

Congrats as well. Now it's time to call DirecTV to get some money back

 

[WiCkeDuDe]

Man thats messed up. I cant believe the ethics of companies now days. I swear they all just see what they can get away with on contracts, rebates, overcharges, etc. Then if you challange them its oh okay np. Sadly though I dont think most people stand up to them or dont pay enough attention to their bills to notice.

 

[Zero327]

I received the following email from ceo@echostar.com :

Michael,

Thank you for your recent e-mail.

A review of the account indicates your were set up for credit card auto-pay. You are not required to have both CCA and an 18-month commitment. I have waived the 18-month commitment on your DISH Network account. You will not be charged a cancellation fee and have a zero balance.

Please contact me if you have any additional questions.

Thanks



Great news from Dish.

I want to thank Dish for responding so quickly and for resolving this matter correctly.

Thanks to everybody that replied and helped me out.

What a retard... The only thing worse than a blatant lie is doing it so you can play hero...

No one at that e-mail address can waive contracts... Senior management is needed to do so. The above is "moronic CSR" for "you had no contract to begin with."

 

[jacmyoung]

What a retard... The only thing worse than a blatant lie is doing it so you can play hero...

No one at that e-mail address can waive contracts... Senior management is needed to do so. The above is "moronic CSR" for "you had no contract to begin with."

Yes they can, the email used above is the DISH corporate office address, they can do things no others at DISH are allowed to do.

BTW changing contract term can be done easily at lower management level, even at DirecTV. When I installed DirecTV two months ago, I was on a two year contract, a month later due to some confusion my contract was changed to 3 years, I called a regular number, the CSR "escalated" a request, and two weeks later my contract was back to two years. And DirecTV did not even make any mistake in my case, I added a few things that triggered the contract extension.

 

[Zero327]

Yes they can, the email used above is the DISH corporate office address, they can do things no others at DISH are allowed to do.

BTW changing contract term can be done easily at lower management level, even at DirecTV. When I installed DirecTV two months ago, I was on a two year contract, a month later due to some confusion my contract was changed to 3 years, I called a regular number, the CSR "escalated" a request, and two weeks later my contract was back to two years. And DirecTV did not even make any mistake in my case, I added a few things that triggered the contract extension.

They are CSRs... Nothing more, and no better than CSRs taking front line calls. They exist to make you feel better when you get transferred to them. About the only thing they can do that regular CSRs can't is adjust $50-$70... And no, it's not a corporate office address; they have no access to contracts, I assure you...

 

[jacmyoung]

Have you talked to corporate office? Because I had. No they are not your CSR's!

What do you mean access to contracts? Are you saying Mike was duped and he is going to see a $133 collection?

 

[scots]

If I recall correctly DVR Advantage required an 18-month contract when they first started offering it, didn't it? And then they changed it a few months ago to where you didn't have to do a contract if you agreed to both CC auto pay and paperless billing. Or am I crazy?

I was already on both paperless billing and CC auto pay when I switched to DVR Advantage a couple months ago, and when they put me on DVR Advantage they started sending me a paper bill again. Go figure.

 

[Zero327]

Have you talked to corporate office? Because I had. No they are not your CSR's!

What do you mean access to contracts? Are you saying Mike was duped and he is going to see a $133 collection?

...You're not listening... and yes, I have. I've been in the building too. All three actually... Guess what, the people that answer the CEO address don't even work in the corporate office building. Oops?

I'm saying he was either duped, or he never had one to begin with. But in either event no one answering that e-mail address has the authority or ability to cancel, modify or physically touch a contract. I'm providing you with fact. I understand what you've been told and what you think, and I'm telling you that information is incorrect...

The OP is taken care of, so the point is moot. But I don't like CSRs with Superman-complexes such as the one that responded to the OP running around; they almost always end up making things more difficult. They should have been truthful and simply stated there was no contract to begin with, or that they couldn't do anything about it. In either event, they did lie, the only question is about which one.

 

[jacmyoung]

...You're not listening... and yes, I have. I've been in the building too. Guess what, the people that answer the CEO address don't even work in the corporate office building. Oops?

I'm saying he was either duped, or he never had one to begin with. But in either event no one answering that e-mail address has the authority to cancel, modify or physically touch a contract. I'm providing you with fact. I understand what you've been told and what you think, and I'm telling you that information is incorrect...

I don't care how much you know, but for your statement to stand, either Mike must be a "retard" for thinking he had to pay $133 in the first place, or the CEO address was lying about not having to pay that $133 Mike will get a $133 after all. Which one are you betting on?

Of course for the most part that address may just be another venue for customers to vent, and most time things could not be done would not be done there. But when I was trying to get a 3rd and 4th 622's I could not get no where, after I emailed the above address, I was not successful either, but I did receive a ph# to call, and when I called I was told no unfornunately they just could not lease more than 4 unters at the time, and they made a few suggestions, also asked me if by offering me some unusual programming discounts would that make me happy to pay $500 for a 3rd 622. I said no and ended up ordering DirecTV.

Later I learned the # I was given was a corporate offcie #, and many people had called that # to have some very unusual compliants resolved, just not me that time. Now that # could also be a "retard" # too, but there are ample evidence that unusual things got done which were not able to be resolved at lower level. But not all things can be resolved.

I am not surprised people work there are not in a "corporate office", they could be working at home for all that I care, when people say "corporate" it is rhetorical, as long as they can resolve some issues that the lower CSR's refuse to resolve, for many reasons. One of which can be that they don't want the lower level CSR's suffer their own pride by admitting they made a mistake, so they set up another line to make everyone happy. Such is done all the time to resolve disputes.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

I don't care how much you know, but for your statement to stand, either Mike must be a "retard" for thinking he had to pay $133 in the first place,

That's not funny.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

Zero327 and jacmyoung - I called up Dish today and they verified that I do not owe any money. My account reflects a zero balance.

All I know is that the email to ceo@echostar.com worked to resolve my problem. I don't know if those people are CSR's or more senior people but either way, I don't owe any cancellation fees.

 

[jacmyoung]

That's not funny.

Oh Mike I thought you at least have enough sense of humor to see this one through, but if you are offended then I apologize deeply for doing so, I had no intent to cause that.

My only goal was trying to point out his apparent having an ax to grind with DISH for possibly getting fired, or soon to be.

We do know any DISH employee who post on these boards are subject to termination.

 

[Mike4HDTV]

Jacmyoung - I was kidding about the post.