Who does DISH think they are!

[cpgny9]

Upon cancelling my horrible service with DISH, i was told that I would be receiving a box to send back my equipment. I was going to take 2 weeks (yes, 2 weeks, not exaggerating) to receive these boxes. 3 days later, I noticed that my credit card had an un-authorized charge of $420 on it. I immediately called DISH to point out the charge and I was told that it was for equipment not being returned. How can they charge me for this equipment when I am waiting on them for the boxes to ship it back in. I spoke to 2 different CSRs. The second was not only completely un-helpful, he was also VERY NASTY. They refused to charge back my card and each person I talked to gave me a different story. I cannot stress this . . ... DO NOT SIGN UP WITH DISH!!! I was with DTV for 5 years before switching over to DISH (for their HD content, which turned out to completely suck!) and it was the worst move I could have made!!!

 

[Minsk1]

That is why I never use Credit Card Autopay. Online banking is way better and you are in full control.
Dish like any other company can screw up things from time to time.

 

[gigapower]

So are you going back to DirecTV?

 

[gdarwin]

Happened to me also. Box took too long to get to me. They did reverse the charge when they got the receivers.

 

[gbjbany]

One benefit of credit card payment is you can use the credit card company to dispute the charge.

 

[retiredTech]

Call back and request a supevisor. If they made a mistake, MAKE them correct it.
a regular CSR at any company has no real power, they have cues they read from a computer screen. Anytime you have a real problem that can't be handled by normal CSRs, ASK FOR A SUPERVISOR. This applies anywhere, whether it's a bank, a car repair shop, your phone company, or in this case Dish Network. Trust me you could have the same or worse experience with DirecTV. CSRs are trained to follow on screen intructions and nothing more.

 

[dwcobb]

I am a current Dish customer and they did this box thing with an old receiver I had hanging around from my 921 purchase/install. I guess the 921 installer was a subscontractor, but he didn't know what was supposed to happen with my box, and I couldn't remember if I had owned it or not. The installer didn't know what to do with it, and I know that when I had D* removed I owned their basic boxes and had them in a cupboard forever too before I got rid of them.

So I had it in a cupboard forever, and suddenly out of the blue I started getting really ,really nasty voice messages from Dish saying I had something of theirs and I had to return it.

Eventually (a few weeks later) a box showed up, but I went out of town on a business trip for a few days. I was going to get the thing shipped back on Saturday when I had time, but suddenly on like Tuesday a UPS guy shows up saying he was there to pick up the box. Only by a fluke was someone home when he came to know why he had even come, but we sent him away saying it wasn't ready. He came back 2 more days (no one there).

That saturday, as I had planned, I took the big "you crook you stole Dish equipment box" to be shipped at a UPS store. That was a great 3 block walk for me. Granted, strangers don't give a damn what you are carrying but I felt very embarressed just the same since the box really makes you look like a criminal. Sent a really pissed email to Dish and never got a response. They treated me like a criminal for something that I think is entirely their fault - not having made arrangements for returning the box when they scheduled my install, even if it was just a matter of shipping the box then.

By the time this came up I didn't really know what the heck they were talking about. And I found it very embarressing to have the box left in a public area of my biulding too - it has lots of big, big type on it saying, basically "you have dish equipement and if you don't return it right away you are stealing it."

As a CURRENT Dish customer, I was flumoxed. I couldn't believe they would treat someone who pays them $100 a month without fail the way they did. I nearly canceled my service at that point. And I still frankly hate Dish. If it weren't for their channel line up, I would have left already.

Sorry, I don't think this is a "sometimes a company screws up" kind of issue. I think they have a deep and severe cultural problem about customer service. I know from my experience there was absolutely no reason for them to treat me as they did.

From my perspective, D* and E* are like, hmm, ISP's. I don't want to go to the trouble of changing my ISP all the time, but I am not subscribing to one or another because I love my ISP - I subscribe because I want to get to the internet. Here, I subscribe because I want channels. Unfortunatekly, UNLIKE an ISP, I can't get everything I want with all carriers, and right now Dish has an edge.

But as a company, I think they kind of suck.

 

[retiredTech]

dwcobb I agree that customer service is gone as we knew it in the past. What I don't think that it is isolated to Dish Network. I think it's everywhere. It's because, there are so many customers and so much easy money for most companies. They don't have time and have no incentive to take time. TOO many people on the planet. But probably more importantly, the individual worker, from my experience, does NOT care any more. (some still do but they are rare) Most workers in every field today are lazy and feel their job is inconvenience to them and anyone that bothers them is more of an inconvenience. That to me is the root of the problem, one even if a company cares (rare), getting employees to really care (even rarer)

 

[Weezknight]

I have the boxes saved from my installation. Should I ever cancel or upgrade, does anyone know if I can just re-use those boxes to send the receivers back? Or does E* have to send you some wonderful, magical, type of box?

 

[dwcobb]

I don't really buy that argument either. I agree that companies don't invest as much in CS as they did in the past. But firstly, I have never had nearly as bad an experience with any other company I have dealt with in my life. This was truly the worst customer service I have ever personally experienced, by far. And I have had some bad experiences before.

Second, there is a difference between simple incompetence and an entrenched cultural nastiness. That is what I got from Dish. This whole interaction with me was approached, by them, in an adversarial way. I have never experienced that with any company I have dealt with.

 

[dwcobb]

I have the boxes saved from my installation. Should I ever cancel or upgrade, does anyone know if I can just re-use those boxes to send the receivers back? Or does E* have to send you some wonderful, magical, type of box?

The only good thing about those nasty boxes is that they come with the paperwork to reverse the charges and send them through UPS. It is painless, just really, really rude.

 

[Harry]

Upon cancelling my horrible service with DISH, i was told that I would be receiving a box to send back my equipment. I was going to take 2 weeks (yes, 2 weeks, not exaggerating) to receive these boxes. 3 days later, I noticed that my credit card had an un-authorized charge of $420 on it. I immediately called DISH to point out the charge and I was told that it was for equipment not being returned. How can they charge me for this equipment when I am waiting on them for the boxes to ship it back in. I spoke to 2 different CSRs. The second was not only completely un-helpful, he was also VERY NASTY. They refused to charge back my card and each person I talked to gave me a different story. I cannot stress this . . ... DO NOT SIGN UP WITH DISH!!! I was with DTV for 5 years before switching over to DISH (for their HD content, which turned out to completely suck!) and it was the worst move I could have made!!!

Call your credit card company and dispute the charge. If they billed you before the alloted time to return then they are in error and need to be called on it. You may also report them to your state's Attorney General for fraud.

 

[kgraves]

You know......how much trouble is it to look up a customer's account history? If they have been a good customer in the past, they probably don't want to steal the equipment. This seems like a 'no brainer' to me. I will not do business with someone who is rude to me. I don't care if I have to do without.

 

[jerryez]

Call your credit card company and they will remove the charges while the amount is in dispute. You should have returned the receiver by then.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Call your credit card company and they will remove the charges while the amount is in dispute. You should have returned the receiver by then.

That's what I did with the similar @$$#oles at Vonage.

 

[JH1949]

Upon cancelling my horrible service with DISH, i was told that I would be receiving a box to send back my equipment. I was going to take 2 weeks (yes, 2 weeks, not exaggerating) to receive these boxes.

(1) What date did you first call Dish ? On my original call to return a receiver, they told me I had 15 days to get the receiver back to them.
(2) What date did your return box with shipping label arrive ? Mine took 10 days to arrive.
(3) Did you get an automated phone call from Dish about 5 days after you first called ? I did. It advised me to call a specific phone number if I did not receive the box and shipping label by 12 days after my original phone call.
(4) What date did you ship back your receiver ? REMEMBER to save the RA number you write on the return label and also ask UPS for tracking number so you can verify Dish got it back.
(5) What date did Dish get your receiver back ? On that day, call Dish Billing to find out when they will put a credit back into your account for the returned receiver or they may call it a reversal of original credit card charge.
(6) What date did Dish put a reversal or credit into your account ? On that day, call Dish Billing and request that that money be posted to your credit card account.
(7) What date did you get a credit back on your credit card ? Mine was 10 days after I requested Dish Billing to post the reversal.

Good Luck !

 

[iKramerica]

he said he got charged before he got the boxes. one would assume that once you send them back, the charges will be reversed.

while I don't doubt his story, we don't really know what happened. we only know what is written.

we don't know what kind of customer he has been. they may have charged immediately as they had no confidence he would return the equipment. he talking about "horrible" service with dish, and for all we know, it could be his fault. some people get horrible service because they are jerks who demand things but don't pay. maybe he was canceled and not switched due to non-payment.

or he may be a great customer for years who they are treating like crap. we just don't know.

 

[Stargazer]

They might give you back your money minus the restocking fee.