WA fee...

[brad1138]

We noticed a "WA fee" of $1.00 on a few of our customers bills. We weren't sure if it meant WA state or Western Arc. After a few emails with reps from Dish we got the answer:

"This is not a WA state tax, it is a charge that Dish is adding to the bills to try and recover some of the additional costs we pay to do business in WA"

Ya... I bet there is one for most if not every state. I would like to know what the "additional costs" are. Does it take more energy to send the signal to this corner of the country... (jk)

Anyone else seeing this yet?

 

[Bobby]

Maybe Washington State is charging some kind of franchise like fee and Dish is passing it along....

 

[Claude Greiner]

Either raise everyones rates, or don't rasie anyones rates at all if you ask me.

 

[Tampa8]

Either raise everyones rates, or don't rasie anyones rates at all if you ask me.

Ya, I can't believe Direct TV raised only some rates do to RSN's. You're right.

 

[dare2be]

When I moved from one state to another, my taxes on my Dish bill went from over $10 to about $5. They get you one way or another. If it's not a tax, it's a fee.

 

[sethwell]

When I moved from one state to another, my taxes on my Dish bill went from over $10 to about $5. They get you one way or another. If it's not a tax, it's a fee.

dish only collects the tax for the states, it does not impose them on you because they can. fees are another story though!

 

[dare2be]

dish only collects the tax for the states, it does not impose them on you because they can. fees are another story though!

Yeah, I wasn't referring to Dish, I was referring to the states/state authorities.

 

[harshness]

Either raise everyones rates, or don't rasie anyones rates at all if you ask me.

Why should everyone pay a "sin tax" that some other state has decided to saddle its residents with?

Customers want to know that they're not subsidizing or supporting the vagaries of others (electing lawmakers that would consider such legislation). If I wanted to do that, I'd sign up with DIRECTV to tithe the NFL Strike Fund.

 

[oldanbo]

We noticed a "WA fee" of $1.00 on a few of our customers bills. We weren't sure if it meant WA state or Western Arc. After a few emails with reps from Dish we got the answer:

"This is not a WA state tax, it is a charge that Dish is adding to the bills to try and recover some of the additional costs we pay to do business in WA"

Ya... I bet there is one for most if not every state. I would like to know what the "additional costs" are. Does it take more energy to send the signal to this corner of the country... (jk)

Anyone else seeing this yet?

Saw it here to (WA). I thought it was a new state tax as well. Happens all the time in this state.
But I would also be interested if Dish has done this to subs in other states as well. Dish sounds like it may be giving us "a la carte" on the rates but not channels.

I would REALLY be interested to see a response from Dish's CEO as well. What about not raising rates for 2 years?
"Cost of doing business" is not a logical argument or the channel packages prices would differ by locale as well.

Bad PR for Dish and a poke in the eye to loyal customers.

 

[gdunn2]

Saw it here to (WA). I thought it was a new state tax as well. Happens all the time in this state.
But I would also be interested if Dish has done this to subs in other states as well. Dish sounds like it may be giving us "a la carte" on the rates but not channels.

I would REALLY be interested to see a response from Dish's CEO as well. What about not raising rates for 2 years?
"Cost of doing business" is not a logical argument or the channel packages prices would differ by locale as well.

Bad PR for Dish and a poke in the eye to loyal customers.

What's the CEO's e-mail address? I'm seeing this charge as well and I would like to try and have it removed.

Thanks,

Gary Dunn
Lind, WA

 

[sethwell]

What's the CEO's e-mail address? I'm seeing this charge as well and I would like to try and have it removed.

Thanks,

Gary Dunn
Lind, WA

CEO at dishnetwork.com, but I would just contact a DIRT member here.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[Mike Cameron]

I will contact a member of the Dirt team via PM about this. What I am upset about is there was no warning or explanation of what it is.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Teehar]

They should have made an announcement to let customers know about the fee.Not a good business practice,and reminds me of AT&T.They sneak fees and increases in all the time and if you don't pay attention to your bill you would never know it.

 

[Mike Cameron]

Here is the response that I received from Zach.

"This is not a tax, this is a surcharge. Unfortunately, due to the increased costs associated with providing service in Washington, this surcharge allows us to account for those additional expenses."

This really sucks, I can understand a sales tax, but I have trouble understanding this, Is Washington state charging a fee for me to receive signals from the satellite. With no utilities involved why is it costing more in expenses.

 

[KAB]

WA taxing Dish???

 

[mdram]

do cable coompanies charge a surcharge? how about directv?

sounds like a charlie fee

 

[Mike Cameron]

I do not know about Direct TV, I looked at our Comcast bill and there was 1.58 in Franchise costs, franchise fees and FCC Regulatory fees. Our Verizon bill was even worse. So I guess I should be happy that it was only a dollar. I just wish there was some warning that this was going to happen.

 

[oldanbo]

typical Dish-speak and bs. As used to be said in the military, and maybe still is, BOHICA!

Hint: Bend O Here It Comes Again

 

[navychop]

It ain't gonna get removed.

I've seen "regulatory cost recovery fees" creep into more and more of my "utilities." Dish wants to be recompensed for the costs of collecting and submitting taxes or even information.

 

[harshness]

They should have made an announcement to let customers know about the fee.Not a good business practice,and reminds me of AT&T.

I'm betting that they devoted a channel to it at some point. There's often a channel called "NOTAX" in the uplink reports.