Retentions: Can you trust their promises while on pause in 2016?

[Amiga]

So I called to cancel my meager Welcome Pack that wasn't used for years at a secondary residence. Retentions begged me to stay, promised me the world, and paused my service for nine months. I expressed concern that the pause costs me money ($5) and I didn't plan on paying this to 'stay'. Retentions said not to worry about the $5 because they would credit it back, but I countered that I didn't want the account to go to collections. Of course, they said it wouldn't.

I've had the Welcome Pack for years and I always bought all of my equipment and did my own installs (a truck never rolled). I was promised new equipment and I made them reiterate that I would own the receivers. I think they promised me a 722k with no additional fees. I asked for the 722k to be sent and I was told the unit would have to be installed, period. At this point, I think I'd be more apt to want two Wallys because of the new UI.

I know DISH is great about promising the world, but not delivering. I was told my grandfathered Welcome Pack with locals for $14.99 would be reinstated. I'm now getting past due notices in email about the unpaid pause fees. Do you think they'd be willing to swap the 722k offer for two Wallys with no additional receiver fee? Should I shot for the moon and ask for the one-time $40 Wally DVR activation to be waived? In addition, if DISH requires an installer, I would need them to move the service to another address.

So if you can recommend how I can hold DISH accountable to grandfathering my lite package and promises of owned equipment in 2016, I'd appreciate it.

 

[dare2be]

I wouldn't even bother. I'd call and cancel right away, and tell them because they lied about the pause fees that they can charge off the account because you have no intention of paying them another cent.

 

[Claude Greiner]

They are bleeding customers. They will promise the world to keep you

 

[DBSat]

FYI...they did the same to me...took away my grandfathered Welcome Pak, without locals, and forced local channels on me. They swore they couldn't put it back, but it was all there fault. I did nothing, no changes to programing. or anything. If I don't get my superstations back soon...I'm going to go away and just use my free Roku channels and internet stuff to watch TV....

 

[dare2be]

They are bleeding customers. They will promise the world to keep you

Repeating the same blatant lie does not make it so. Their rate of customer loss is right around the average of the pay TV industry as a whole.

 

[Amiga]

So I called and canceled. I asked the rep to tell me what the notes reflected and of course they didn't match what was promised to me. The free 722k receiver would be owned by myself, but the DVR fees would only be waived for a year. When I heard this I had to tell the rep over and over to cancel since the word games were starting on their end. The DISH CSR finally canceled the account and said that their system would cancel out the existing pause fees automatically (not holding my breath). I asked her politely if she could notate the pause fee reversal in the notes. I assume DISH will try to bone me in some respect.

 

[Tampa8]

I'm just being honest, there is no way, that DISH would ever give you a 722, you own it and pay no DVR fees forever. Again being honest I think you misunderstood what they were going to do for you. It sounds more like they were going to apply the pause fees to the Welcome package when you started service again, making the new charge of $19.99 down to what you were paying of $14.99, but only equal to the months you were on pause. I can just about guarantee you would have paid the current Welcome package price after that, pause is a programming change which can end Grandfathering. Further, if the 722 is the only receiver there is no receiver fee and I am thinking that is what they meant, just find it hard to believe they would give you a receiver free. When you said you were surprised they were charging the $5 pause fee I realized you may not have understood what they were offering. I'm not sure what the incentive for DISH is to keep someone only intending on staying with the Welcome package, now wanting to be on Pause is but I do think it's not to give you free DVR service forever and a free receiver.
Just to cover it, there is no cost difference to you if you own the receiver or DISH does so them owning it has no relevance to the cost of your service.

 

[Amiga]

A few rebuttal points. Retentions did express that the pause credits would happen after the fact when service was restored. In saying this, I didn't trust that the account wouldn't be shipped to some collections entity if I allowed the pause and late fees to pile up for nine months. The billing / hate emails finally compelled me to start this thread.

As far as the 722k is concerned, I was most definitely promised ownership with no DVR fees ever. I trust corporations as far as I can throw them, so I made the initial retentions CSR repeat what was agreed upon, several times. I prefer to own my stuff, so I know the difference between leased and owned equipment fees not being that different.

This post is really meant to show others DISH hasn't changed its colors in 2016. I'll probably go back with Sling TV since I'm grandfathered into its multi-stream Sling Blue service for $20. The only problem with Sling TV is bandwidth usage.

 

[Tampa8]

I appreciate your reasoned reply, and you were on the phone with them I was not so now I can't say you did not understand what they said. I do strongly think the Grandfathering and applying fees is what would have happened but they apparently made promises to you that I too would seriously doubt they would carry out.