Monthly "good news" Calls resume, UGH!

[TNGTony]

Well, it's been a while, but after a short respite from the "good news" call from Dish, they have resumed today.

For nearly TRHEE FREAKING YEARS I have been getting a automated calls from Dish telling me the "good news" that my account has been changed to paperless billing. Every time I get these calls I go into my account that same day to reactivate my paper bill.

After a while of this I sent a complaint to Dish and the response was helpful and immediate. Unfortunately it took three different calls and quite a bit of work by the resolution team member at Dish to figure out how to deactivate this automatic trigger to change people's accounts WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION. For nearly six months this worked and I wasn't getting the monthly or bi-monthly calls with the "good news". But when I activated Blockbuster @ Home, the trigger was reactivated.

Just another little needle in the arm by Dish. If you have autopay they will automatically remove your paper bill and you have to reactivate it every couple of month.

 

[dare2be]

Just curious, what do you have against paperless bills? I find them more convenient and more secure. And if I really need a paper copy I can print them at work, on my employer's dime.

 

[Juan]

Well they cant call your cell phone without permission..don't know about land lines FCC approves new limits on automated telemarketing calls - CNN.com


[Under the new requirements, telemarketers will have to get permission in writing before placing an automated call to a consumer. Previously, companies that had an established business relationship with a particular consumer could call them without permission. For example, another FCC official not authorized to speak publicly explained, a bank could robocall one of its checking account customers to try to sell them insurance. The new rules prohibit that without written permission.

/B]



[B"Each and every telemarketing robocall will have to include an automated, interactive opt-out mechanism, so that a consumer can revoke consent by pressing just a few keys during the call," Genachowski said. The company will have to immediately disconnect the call and add you to their do-not-call list.










Information calls, such as school closing information and flight cancellations, are an exception. They can be made to land-line phones without written permission. Text messages and calls to cell phones are subject to stricter rules.

"Any type of phone call or text to a wireless device needs written consent," the FCC official added.

 

[dare2be]

I don't believe this would fall under the telemarketer rules as these calls are to an existing customer and they aren't selling anything. The issue here is that he is being automatically switched over to an account option he doesn't want, and the calls are just informing him of that change. It's not the calls that are the problem, it's the automatic change to paperless billing. If he didn't get the calls, he wouldn't know right away that this was happening to him.

 

[hudgreen]

For several years now most all written agreements with dish include a "contact" clause that must be singed.

 

[Juan]

Well, it's been a while, but after a short respite from the "good news" call from Dish, they have resumed today.

For nearly TRHEE FREAKING YEARS I have been getting a automated calls from Dish telling me the "good news" that my account has been changed to paperless billing. Every time I get these calls I go into my account that same day to reactivate my paper bill.

After a while of this I sent a complaint to Dish and the response was helpful and immediate. Unfortunately it took three different calls and quite a bit of work by the resolution team member at Dish to figure out how to deactivate this automatic trigger to change people's accounts WITHOUT THEIR PERMISSION. For nearly six months this worked and I wasn't getting the monthly or bi-monthly calls with the "good news". But when I activated Blockbuster @ Home, the trigger was reactivated.

Just another little needle in the arm by Dish. If you have autopay they will automatically remove your paper bill and you have to reactivate it every couple of month.

dumb question..do you write them a check or pay by credit card online?

 

[TNGTony]

I have auto pay. However I want a paper bill. The reason is irrelevant. The fact that I have asked by phone, in writing and on line to get a paper bill on 12 different occasions so far, and they continue to change the setting against my expressed wishes is what matters here.

I know it saves the company money, but it's not my problem. If they want to give me an itemized discount for paper, ink, postage and handling on my bill for them to save the money, then it would have some sway, but I would still want a paper bill. Again, the reason is irrelevant.

It's "greener". That is code for "it saves us money and helps our bottom line". Again, not my problem.

It saves trees, No. No it doesn't. The trees used for this paper are farmed in renewable and sustainable farms just like wheat and corn. And if you want to look at the total impact of on-line billing, it kills jobs in the aggregate. (not the reason I get a paper bill, again that is irrelevant.)

I just want a paper bill and would rather not have to tell the company over and over and over and over that this is my preference. If they rather I remove autopay from my account, I will. But I'd rather not do that.

 

[dare2be]

All good points...however, security is not irrelevant...unless you have a locked mailbox. Even then, snail mail does sometimes get lost.

It is probably something in their system that is triggering the automatic switch to paperless, due to the fact you have autopay. I don't think it's someone manually flipping a switch, either inadvertently or maliciously. I bet if you go off autopay, you wouldn't have this paperless problem.

 

[Mr Tony]

Tony
I worked with Matt in DIRT to get that fixed for my grandma. She is the same way. Auto pay but wants a paper bill. She doesnt have a computer so she "cant view the bill online".
There is some glitch in the Dish system that if the system sees "autopay-on" than "paperless billing" should also be set to on. If you change it online within a couple weeks the system changes it back.
I just checked her account and it still shows "off" for paperless billing. So it still is fixed

 

[TNGTony]

No. It's not malicious. I know that. It is just an unresponsive company that ignores its customer's wishes and has an automatic trigger when a customer has asked for it to be removed. I bet you are right about the autopay, but, again, it is another symptom of an unresponsive company ignoring its customer's wishes.

 

[Mr Tony]

Tony
Here is the info I got from Matt when we were fixing this

Paper statements are automatically suppressed after about 3 months when on autopay. I do show that she is set up on mailed statements again, and since you changed them back, they should stay this way. Here is the note on her account (8/25/11 THE ACCOUNT WAS ENROLLED FOR AUTOMATIC PAPERLESS BILLING DUE TO BEING ON AUTOPAY FOR 3 CONSECUTIVE MONTHS. THE CUSTOMER HAS BEEN NOTIFIED OF THIS CHANGE THROUGH AN OUTBOUND MESSAGE. IF THE CUSTOMER WISHES TO UN-ENROLL FROM THIS PROGRAM, PLEASE SEE THE AUTOMATIC PAPERLESS BILLING PAGE IN COMMUNITY.)

Its been 2 months now so we'll see what happens next month

 

[TNGTony]

Tony,

Thanks. But it was fixed once, then it was unfixed, then fixed again and now unfixed again. I know it's a glitch. But it's not a new glitch. It's at least three years old and it still hasn't been fixed. To me that means that the glitch is not something Dish sees as a problem. I do.

 

[Mr Tony]

oh I agree completely. I know of folks who have auto pay (for simplicity) but want a bill just in case. Dish is the only one who can't figure it out.

 

[dare2be]

I review all my bills, and have them all securely stashed away, and I can receive them the day they are made available, usually days before it would have arrived in the mail.

 

[TNGTony]

I do not have a working printer right now and no plans to replace it at the moment.

 

[dare2be]

I only print them when absolutely necessary, which is usually never.

 

[Claude Greiner]

I want them to send me a paper bill because it costs them to mail and print it out. Unless they want to discount my bill, I want the paper statements sent out.

Second of all, its setup automatically in DISH Networks system to surpress paper statements after a customer has been on auto-pay for 3 months.

However the biggest reason for paperless billing is that it reduces the amount of bitch calls they get from customers. People get their paper bill in the mail, see the charges and immediatly call in and bitch at customer service. No bill, the customer see's it as a line deduction on their credit card statement and there is no drama.

 

[GaryPen]

All this talk about whether or not paperless is superior to paper bills IS IRRELEVANT. Tony wants paper bills. He has requested paper bills. He should receive paper bills. PERIOD. END OF STORY.

The Dish billing system that automatically switches auto-pay customers to paperless billing needs to be changed. PERIOD. END OF STORY.

Why are people arguing with him about this?

 

[GaryPen]

However the biggest reason for paperless billing is that it reduces the amount of bitch calls they get from customers. People get their paper bill in the mail, see the charges and immediatly call in and bitch at customer service. No bill, the customer see's it as a line deduction on their credit card statement and there is no drama.

It also saves a shipload on printing, material, and postage costs. That's why every banking/service/utility/etc provider pushes it so heavily.

 

[Super Dave]

It also saves a shipload on printing, material, and postage costs. That's why every banking/service/utility/etc provider pushes it so heavily.

Funny how they use the "Green" tag to influence people to change over to it. How green is it if everyone prints their own? It is always about making them more money.