Two Year Contract Buyouts- Consumer Beware

[Scherrman]

I now have all of the information that I need to participate in the Buy Out Program. I've sent it on to the Cable Company. If I would have known what I know now in the beginning of this whole process, I would never have taken the Cable Company up on their offer. There were far too many phone calls before reaching the outcome that I now have. But now that it is nearing completion, I will also say, I am glad that everything worked out. Patience paid off. As I said earlier, eventually they MUST send a person a bill, which is exactly what happened in my case. Will I ever go back to dish? Never is a very long time. I just know that I'm satisfied with where I am at now. Good luck to all of you. Now, I'm going to go enjoy some t.v.

From my experience talking to customers that switch providers every so often it seems that it's generally not worth the hassle with some of the these "great" promotions. Companies offer rebates, gift cards and buy out promotions but they are usually not set up to be easy. They are just meant for marketing to get people's attention. They don't actually want you get get the discount and that's why they generally make you jump through a bunch of hoops.

 

[SomeDishGuy]

From my experience talking to customers that switch providers every so often it seems that it's generally not worth the hassle with some of the these "great" promotions. Companies offer rebates, gift cards and buy out promotions but they are usually not set up to be easy. They are just meant for marketing to get people's attention. They don't actually want you get get the discount and that's why they generally make you jump through a bunch of hoops.

Exactly. Dish hasn't changed their final billing/ETF method. That other cable company knows full well how Dish bills. They do what they do in an attempt to sucker people into starting with them, then saying "Oops, sorry, you didn't follow the rules" when you try to get them to pay for their Dish ETF. I remember a long, long time ago, the cellular company Cingular. Bought a couple of phones in 2003, I think, and they offered rebates. They had rules about cutting the UPC off the box and attaching to a particular size piece of cardboard, and several other things I can't remember 11 years later. The point? They were doing everything they could to get out of paying the rebate.

I don't get why people think Dish should change the way they do business to help some other company get customers.

 

[ChadT41]

I just realized, I have signatures on my computer, and not on my cell phone(I can see yours now). I prefer it this way, but just thought I would mention. Completely

 

[Scherrman]

Exactly. Dish hasn't changed their final billing/ETF method. That other cable company knows full well how Dish bills. They do what they do in an attempt to sucker people into starting with them, then saying "Oops, sorry, you didn't follow the rules" when you try to get them to pay for their Dish ETF. I remember a long, long time ago, the cellular company Cingular. Bought a couple of phones in 2003, I think, and they offered rebates. They had rules about cutting the UPC off the box and attaching to a particular size piece of cardboard, and several other things I can't remember 11 years later. The point? They were doing everything they could to get out of paying the rebate.

I don't get why people think Dish should change the way they do business to help some other company get customers.

I agree. This is why we will not fill out rebates and send them in for customers when it comes to appliance and TV rebates. We use to do it as a service to our customers but all it did was bite us in the butt. I would get phone calls every week with customers asking me why they didn't receive their rebate and I'd have to explain to them that it can take up to 8 weeks. Then when they didn't get it after 8 weeks they would call getting upset with me and I'd have to call the rebate company trying to track it down. It's not worth it and if customers want to save money by taking advantage of a rebate then they need to do the work and earn it.

 

[Spike]

I agree. This is why we will not fill out rebates and send them in for customers when it comes to appliance and TV rebates. We use to do it as a service to our customers but all it did was bite us in the butt. I would get phone calls every week with customers asking me why they didn't receive their rebate and I'd have to explain to them that it can take up to 8 weeks. Then when they didn't get it after 8 weeks they would call getting upset with me and I'd have to call the rebate company trying to track it down. It's not worth it and if customers want to save money by taking advantage of a rebate then they need to do the work and earn it.

There used to be a day when customers were treated a certain way for the sake of the retention of those customers too. And the customer mattered a great deal more to companies than today. Those days are long gone. Thus, two year commitments, contract disputes with programming networks that lead to pulling channels from the customers' line ups, charges on additional boxes, television charges, poor installations, poor installers, lack of quality customer service, etc. It used to be, the customer first. Now it is the dollar first. Now, there isn't a problem with that. We live in a capitalistic society, but clearly the mood has changed about who the customer is and their roll in the business model.

 

[Scherrman]

There used to be a day when customers were treated a certain way for the sake of the retention of those customers too. And the customer mattered a great deal more to companies than today too. Those days are long gone. Thus, two year commitments, contract disputes with programming networks that lead to pulling channels from the customers' line ups, charges on additional boxes, television charges, poor installations, poor installers, lack of quality customer service, etc. It used to be, the customer first. Now it is the dollar first. Now, there isn't a problem with that. We live in a capitalistic society, but clearly the mood has changed about who the customer is and their roll in the business model.

I will admit that some businesses have changed and customer service has changed for some but I think it's fair to say that the customer has changed a lot as well. Who changed first would be similar to asking if the chicken or the egg came first though. Did the changing customer make businesses change or did the changing business change how the customer acts. For us it has been the customer that has changed and we've had to change how we do things as a result.

 

[ChadT41]

I disagree, however would that be a bad thing? Especially with the entitlement from generation X and millenials, the customer attitude has changed quite a bit. Customers feel that they can do and say whatever they want, and they are still right. I'm sorry, but when I worked for dish, there was atleast one death threat to me over the phone a week. Are those customers always right? Over TV none the less. I feel like companies should stand up for themselves for, and take back some control front he customers, until we as customers realize, we are not always right. Hell, 90% of the the time we are very wrong.

 

[Spike]

I will admit that some businesses have changed and customer service has changed for some but I think it's fair to say that the customer has changed a lot as well. Who changed first would be similar to asking if the chicken or the egg came first though. Did the changing customer make businesses change or did the changing business change how the customer acts. For us it has been the customer that has changed and we've had to change how we do things as a result.

Very valid points. In my opinion, America is still the greatest economic nation in the world-with tons of opportunity for both consumers and businesses. The key though for continued greatness may lie in having great balance within the model of customer corporate dealings. It is in some sense a very exciting time with plenty of opportunity.

 

[Scherrman]

Very valid points. In my opinion, America is still the greatest economic nation in the world-with tons of opportunity for both consumers and businesses. The key though for continued greatness may lie in having great balance within the model of customer corporate dealings. It is in some sense a very exciting time with plenty of opportunity.

Lots of opportunity but sometimes it just feels like people are getting lazier and just working harder to take advantage of things instead of just working. I was in a meeting with a financial expert a couple weeks ago and he was telling me that businesses are going to be in big trouble when it comes to finding employees. Just in my area there are all kinds of jobs available with signs up saying they are hiring yet all I keep hearing about is how the job market is terrible. So annoying.

 

[Spike]

Lots of opportunity but sometimes it just feels like people are getting lazier and just working harder to take advantage of things instead of just working. I was in a meeting with a financial expert a couple weeks ago and he was telling me that businesses are going to be in big trouble when it comes to finding employees. Just in my area there are all kinds of jobs available with signs up saying they are hiring yet all I keep hearing about is how the job market is terrible. So annoying.

That is so good to hear (job availability). I was a guy that worked 60-70 hours a week prior to my disability. It was devastating to find myself now bed ridden most of the time. To know that people have been lulled into a sense of entitlement is difficult for me to understand. I for one am concerned about what life will be like for future Americans. To me, this is not a political issue. It's a motivational one per individual to individual.

 

[Scherrman]

That is so good to hear (job availability). I was a guy that worked 60-70 hours a week prior to my disability. It was devastating to find myself now bed ridden most of the time. To know that people have been lulled into a sense of entitlement is difficult for me to understand. I for one am concerned about what life will be like for future Americans. To me, this is not a political issue. It's a motivational one per individual to individual.

You're right, it's a motivational issue. People have changed and not always for the better. I have a friend that I hire part time to help deliver appliances because he doesn't have a job. He's 31, married and has a little girl but he and his wife do not have jobs and live with his retired parents. He went to school for engineering so I fear he's not willing to take another job unless it's good enough for what he's technically qualified for. His wife won't work because as soon as she starts she would have her wages garnished due to the child support she is suppose to owe for her other three children she had before she married my friend.

So many stupid things that people get themselves into.

 

[Spike]

You're right, it's a motivational issue. People have changed and not always for the better. I have a friend that I hire part time to help deliver appliances because he doesn't have a job. He's 31, married and has a little girl but he and his wife do not have jobs and live with his retired parents. He went to school for engineering so I fear he's not willing to take another job unless it's good enough for what he's technically qualified for. His wife won't work because as soon as she starts she would have her wages garnished due to the child support she is suppose to owe for her other three children she had before she married my friend.

So many stupid things that people get themselves into.

Yes!

 

[Spike]

Lots of opportunity but sometimes it just feels like people are getting lazier and just working harder to take advantage of things instead of just working. I was in a meeting with a financial expert a couple weeks ago and he was telling me that businesses are going to be in big trouble when it comes to finding employees. Just in my area there are all kinds of jobs available with signs up saying they are hiring yet all I keep hearing about is how the job market is terrible. So annoying.

I am curious. What exactly was the financial expert saying were the reasons for the ominous troubles lying ahead for businesses? Lack of education for jobs offered? Over qualification vs. job opportunity? etc......?

 

[Scherrman]

I know we are straying from the main thread here but it's an interesting subject we're on. The financial person I talked to brought up a very good point about some major concerns, not just for us but for the world. In China they are starting to run into major issues when it comes to finding employees. I know they have some of the highest population but they also have most of the jobs of the world. Soon their older population is going to die off and is only being replaced by small numbers due to families only being able to have one child. So basically there is only one person for every two people dying and their population will be taking a hit. How are all these companies going to get running with such a shortage of population? This is happening in other Asian countries and well and I found it very interesting.

 

[KazooGuy]

Very valid points. In my opinion, America is still the greatest economic nation in the world-with tons of opportunity for both consumers and businesses. The key though for continued greatness may lie in having great balance within the model of customer corporate dealings. It is in some sense a very exciting time with plenty of opportunity.

The World Bank had the Untied States rated as 7th behind mostly Asian nations. Many business indexes show the US number 2 behind China. I feel we will continue to fall because of many of the issues have listed.

 

[ChairBound]

I will admit that some businesses have changed and customer service has changed for some but I think it's fair to say that the customer has changed a lot as well. Who changed first would be similar to asking if the chicken or the egg came first though. Did the changing customer make businesses change or did the changing business change how the customer acts. For us it has been the customer that has changed and we've had to change how we do things as a result.

Interestingly, this same type of conversation was going in over at the Home Shopping Network community this morning. A poster copied an image from her marketing textbook that shows a very interesting picture of how our younger generations are being taught to think about customers, and don't you think this is not driven by the big businesses and corporations (you know, they're people too...that was sarcasm btw) whose only goal is truly profit. Believing anything else is truly naive. Here is the pic she posted...oops, I don't have a hosted site for it, so the link to the thread is http://community.hsn.com/t5/Today-s-Special-Coupons/bonus-for-good-customers/m-p/714640#M16394. Scroll down about halfway to see the pic of the chart if you are interested. It was quite eye-opening to me. And, I worked in retail for years. I can honestly tell some major horror stories about customers and their entitled attitudes, but I think he blame for crap customer service is entirely on the companies and how they are training their CSRs.

 

[Scherrman]

Interestingly, this same type of conversation was going in over at the Home Shopping Network community this morning. A poster copied an image from her marketing textbook that shows a very interesting picture of how our younger generations are being taught to think about customers, and don't you think this is not driven by the big businesses and corporations (you know, they're people too...that was sarcasm btw) whose only goal is truly profit. Believing anything else is truly naive. Here is the pic she posted...oops, I don't have a hosted site for it, so the link to the thread is http://community.hsn.com/t5/Today-s-Special-Coupons/bonus-for-good-customers/m-p/714640#M16394. Scroll down about halfway to see the pic of the chart if you are interested. It was quite eye-opening to me. And, I worked in retail for years. I can honestly tell some major horror stories about customers and their entitled attitudes, but I think he blame for crap customer service is entirely on the companies and how they are training their CSRs.

Pretty interesting. One of the hardest things in business is to make a profit while still keeping customers happy. You have to make it so the customer is happy and willing to be giving you money for your service.