Let me get this straight....you have all been waiting for 2/1 and E* really blew it!!

[jsanders]

Apology? Apology for what? Feb one rolled around and the Dish CSR's are filling orders as promised for the 622. Dish never said the 622 was going to be in your hands on that date, only orders for equipment upgrades would be taken. I watched the chat and yes I am a little disappointed with some aspects of the reallity of the details, but I really do not see where we were mislead to a point an apology from Dish is in order.

Well, they charged the credit cards. People are paying for something they are not receiving.

I think this is a software issue myself. They can't ship the boxes to people's houses, have them turn them on and have no software come down the satellite to enable them.

 

[DJ Rob]

Also I've noticed some posts saying that Dish is upgrading customers to the more expensive HD packages when people call to schedule the receiver upgrade instead having it take effect once the new receiver is hooked up in the customer's home. Can anyone confirm if that is really happening?

 

[FRecon36]

It is a software issue. It is stated in my account notes that the RSP read to me verbatim. The expected Vip622 release is 02/28/06. It has been a very trying week for me dealing with these guys so bear with me and i'll digress. (forgive me if this is not the correct thread for this post as i do not post to forums very often)

...
I've been an E* customer since 7/1/96. One of the first 100,000 ( I still have my thank you letter in the filing cabinet) As of 01/27/06 i'd had enough. I called to terminate my service due to ongoing issues with my 811. The CSR informed me i should wait until the 1st to make my decision as there will be new sets available as well as an expanded HD lineup. I did. When i called back on the 1st, they offered me a $100 discount toward the Vip622, (to be credited to my account) and $20 of of the first two months of my new HD package. I accepted their offer on one condition....it must be installed before Sunday. The CSR informed me the soonest they could get one to me would be the 8th, but if i could find a local retailer with one in stock, they would re-write the work order for the installation, delegating it to the retailer. I found a reputable retailer who stated they could have one overnighted from the Chicago warehouse in plenty of time to meet the promised deadline. I recontacted the CSR and placed the order for 1 Vip622 and a Platinum HD package. They charged $299 to my CCard.

When the retailer pulled up my account to get the newly created work order, they found that E* was shipping the receiver directly to me and it would not arrive until 02/25/06. Feeling that this was a mistake, the RSP contacted the CSR and informed them that they would have one overnighted to them from Chicago to expedite the process, at which time a CSR manager informed them that there were none in that warehouse! At this point the retailer (a very reputable communications establishment) went on a fact finding mission of their own, using various contacts at the executive level to try and sort out what was happening. One of these contacts is on the Product Research Team and she said "there is absolutely no problem with overnighting the unit from Chicago or Denver, but it will do the customer no good as the unit will not function whatsoever." This same PRT person added this to my account notes; "the scheduled install has been pushed back to 03/01/06 due to severe software issues."

Trying to keep this short, so if anyone is interested in the long version let me know. After passing this information to me, the RSP gave me a number to an executive account rep. She wouldn't answer. I called an executive 800 number and told my story to another individual. He was amazed at this. He said there was no mention of this issue whatsoever on his level and that he had himself scheduled several installs for the week of the 13th. He said he would call me back after discussing this with his superiors. He didn't. I called again and asked to speak with the previous exec and was told he was busy, i asked to speak with a supervisor and was put on hold. When the lady returned she said there was no need to speak to a supervisor as my account stated that the install date was bumped due to inventory problems. I told her it was much deeper than that and i was already aware of all the issues. She put me on hold once more. When she returned she stated that she had discussed my case with her manager and that she (manager) was unavailable to speak with me.

There are several concerns regarding this incident, none of which should be taken lightly. Some in fact have already been addressed in previous lawsuits. Sorry to ramble but i thought this was a fitting place for my little trainwreck; it may even be informative to some as well.

 

[jsanders]

You said there was a long version? Does it include any details as to what the software problem is?

 

[FRecon36]

Sorry, No.

Everyone who has been involved with this fiasco is astounded that this much has come out the way it is...

My long version includes several other feeble attempts at deception and some unique deflection techniques. Once they realize you're not the technically impaired moron they assume all of us to be, and that you have more reliable information about the product that they are supposed to be supporting, they circle the wagons PDQ.

 

[david4455]

David I can't defend Dish for their CSR's lack of knowledge except to say it is a huge organization and very difficult to get everyone straight on the issues.
I applaud Dish for not shipping receivers with known problem. Many times in my 30+ years of manufacturing electronics our products experienced last minute problems and we stopped shipments (and stopped revenue flow) until we could get a fix. Our customers were upset, but how much more would they have been if we shipped a known defective product? That happens in electronics, take my word for it. Ever heard of Murphy?

I understand...but... there is something a bit "fishy" about all this. This anticpated release has been in the works for quite some time and one would think that E* has ben testing and re-testing and even re-re-testing these units as they come off the line.... to realize the day of release that they have a problem shows some pretty poor time management issues........unless they just took them off the boat on January 31st.....

 

[dougruss]

I understand...but... there is something a bit "fishy" about all this. This anticpated release has been in the works for quite some time and one would think that E* has ben testing and re-testing and even re-re-testing these units as they come off the line.... to realize the day of release that they have a problem shows some pretty poor time management issues........unless they just took them off the boat on January 31st.....
Reply With Quote

But that would cost Dish money$$$$$.

They can save alot,just by having their customers do it for them,
With the Customer Paying Dish to do the Testing for them...........

 

[FRecon36]

There aren't many comments concerning my ordeal. Since I haven't dealt with E* a whole lot on these types of issues, is it safe to suffice that this is the norm? Is this the type of runaround and hassle everyone puts up with, and then diligently pays them to provide a mediocre media service? Until now, I’ve been very comfortable with the business decisions I’ve entered into regarding my everyday life; but in retrospect perhaps I’m not as savvy as I thought if I’m dealing with corporations such as this.

Also, I would love to hear the technical explanation for this software debacle once it surfaces, if someone would be so kind as to point me in the right direction. It should make some entertaining fireside reading.

 

[Scott Greczkowski]

I remember earlier in the week people were making fun of my crystal ball prediction I made.

The Crystal ball sees everything.

As a senior management person from Dish Network told me at CES... "My information I report is TOO good, and thats scares him."

 

[Van]

Put yourself in my shoes for a moment, I work for Dish as a technician and deal with the good and the bad and the ugly of every aspect of this industry. Do you think that its peachy keen for us when there are issues with new promotions, new receiver types, new lnbf or switch types, or new channels on new satellites? Dont get me wrong, I myself understand that frustration of being a customer and getting something new or getting a new package added on to one of my existing services only to find that there is a problem with the product or service, but I can tell you that this week has been hell for any installer that has went out to add on any VIP receiver due to 3 issues revolving around the promo codes and the work orders not reflecting the requirement for a dish 1000 or a dish pointed to 61.5 or 129 and the apropriate hardware required to handle up to four orbital slots.

The bumps are hitting everyone on both sides of the fence and yea Im cursing the whole situation under my breath but still smiling at my customer the whole time that Im working to resolve the situations that have risen this week.

 

[FRecon36]

Van-I fully appreciate the situation that you and countless others in your profession are trying to deal with. I’m not trying to minimize it in any way. These issues stretch much farther than you can reach and are much deeper than the puppet masters in Englewood would ever allow you to dive. This companies lack of R&D, QA/QC, PR and CS have been explained away countless times under the false pretext of misinformed CSR’s, ambitious distributors, bungling RSP’s and incompetent installers. It seems that E*’s lexicon does not include words like loyalty, honesty, or accountability. They have built a disinformation highway centered on plausible deniability, in efforts to avoid the hassle of more settlements such as the one within their home state one year ago. The more I burrow into this the more unintelligent I feel about allowing myself to become a part of it.

Back on point, I think most of us realize it is not you who are doing us wrong. You are simply doing what is required of you from your employer. But since your employer has put you on the front lines without any ammunition and giving you nowhere to escalate those of us who don’t want to accept the canned answers and minimal upgrades, it is only human natural to become self aware and defensive. I ruined several executive CRS’s days when I told them of my findings with the Vip622. They had been scheduling upgrades all day with install dates that where before the release date. They could not believe that a joe blow customer had more accurate information than what their all-knowing supervisor/manager/director had passed to them. What was worse was they knew it would be up to them and the RSP’s to explain away the delays because E* will not allow them to escalate issues and there will be no PR tactical strategy for dealing with this. This is why my reputable communications retailer took it to heart and allowed me access to the inner sanctum. They also grow weary of having to clean up the messes that E* drops on them, knowing the whole time E* has shifted all blame and responsibilities to the RSP’s.

In case anyone is wondering, I’m not just crying namelessly on some internet forum hiding behind anonymity. All of my ramblings have been forwarded to the ceo address which, needless to say, has garnered no response. I also have a lengthy list of Federal and State agencies/organizations that may or may not be interested in what has transpired. Why dust off the old law degree when there are several ambitious young graduates who are chomping at the bit for an opportunity to further their careers? Sorry for the long posts, but I’m operating on principle now and I’ve really took an interest in the outcome of this issue; which most of you seem jaded to, probably because you have dealt with these things time and time again.

 

[TheRatPatrol]

Well it sounds to me like there is just poor communication within the company.