Ski Andorra ‘07 News Here
2006/06/27 - 15:02
Actually, the information has moved to http://www.greatskitrip.com
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Dish Network has incredibly poor customer service
2006/06/17 - 20:13
On June 10, I called dish network to upgrade my
standard TV service to HDTV. They had a special going
on, where for $199, I could get the new HDTV receiver
delivered and installed. I immediately signed up, but
when we got to the payment section, and I went to
give them my credit card information, they told me I
wasn’t eligible. It would seem that Dish
Network requires your billing address to be the same
as your home address. Mine isn’t; I’ve
used a PO box for years because it cuts down on the
amount of junk mail I receive. I figured I’d
show them, so I called my credit card company and
changed the address - right after I sign up for the
promotion, I’ll change it right back. Since
when does a TV company care where the bill is sent,
so long as it’s paid on time?
On June 12, after I changed the credit card billing address, I called Dish Network for two reasons; one, to replace my PVR 501 Receiver/Recorder due to a recently crashed hard drive (the 5th crash in 3 years!), and also to take advantage of the upgrade to HDTV offer. I was finally getting the service to go along with my new TV!
I was amazed they told me I could get this new service on the 14th - only 48 hours. I confirmed the appointment, paid my fee, and went about my business.
On June 14th, because Dish Network will only give you a window of time the installer will show up, I took the day off and patiently waited for the installer to arrive. At 12:02pm, 2 minutes after their window was over, I called Dish Network. Dialing from my home phone, their computer system recognized me. It asked if I wanted to get information regarding my upcoming appointment, so I pushed 1 to proceed. It then stated “your appointment has been scheduled for Sunday, June 18th.” Now I got a little ticked off, having taken the day off and all, but I continued the call anyway, and got through to customer service after a “seems forever“ hold time. I explained to the guy that we had an appointment, that they had now missed, and I was curious how the day got screwed up.
Immediately, he told me I had called in the day prior and rescheduled the install day, because “that’s what his computer told him.”
In as nice of a manner as I could muster, I explained that I had not rescheduled the appointment, and if I had, I would 1) never have made the call complaining about the missed appointment, and 2) never have taken the day off to make a missed appointment.
He continued to say that he couldn’t do anything about it, because it was my fault. I told him he/his computer was wrong, that nobody called from my house (indicating that someone broke into my house, knew of my upcoming appointment with Dish Network, and rather than stealing stuff from my house, just called Dish Network and moved the appointment around). (For those of you who care, I have a semi-fancy phone system in my house, where all the phones sync with each other - I can see outgoing calls no matter which phone they were physically made from - and no/none/zero calls were made from my house on June 13!) This went on for about 45 minutes. Not seeing the absurdity of this, he offered June 15th as a new install date. So I agreed to this date, and asked him for a free month of service. He told me that because it was my fault, that he wasn’t going to give me anything for free. So I asked for customer service. He told me he was customer service. I asked for the cancellation department. Please hold...
So now I’m on with operator “SYD” who I was very patient with at first, but because it had taken me well over an hour at this point to get to someone who could give me a free month, I was now demanding 2 free months. I explained the entire situation to operator SYD, and told her very calmly if I didn’t get 2 months free for my trouble, I would cancel. She asked me not to threaten her, and I calmly explained that this wasn’t a threat. It would be my course of action should she fail to come up with two free months of service for my troubles.
I also told her that their computer system needed to be checked because this was the exact same excuse Dish Network gave my mother just months before. She, too, of course, had never called to cancel or change her appointment. I caught them lying to multiple customers red handed.
She put me on hold.
Now, mind you, I pay nearly $90 per month for my service, and have been a loyal customer of Dish Network for probably 5 years. I’ve recommended the service to a large number of people, many of whom have become Dish Network customers. I’ve paid them, by my estimates, over $5400 in my fees alone, not counting my referrals. And I was upgrading my service to HDTV, signing a 2 year extension agreement, guaranteeing them more money per month and a customer for two years more - a guaranteed $2400 over the next 2 years. I was merely asking for $180 is service credits because of my troubles, them lying, etc.
Direct TV will be installed on Tuesday.
On June 12, after I changed the credit card billing address, I called Dish Network for two reasons; one, to replace my PVR 501 Receiver/Recorder due to a recently crashed hard drive (the 5th crash in 3 years!), and also to take advantage of the upgrade to HDTV offer. I was finally getting the service to go along with my new TV!
I was amazed they told me I could get this new service on the 14th - only 48 hours. I confirmed the appointment, paid my fee, and went about my business.
On June 14th, because Dish Network will only give you a window of time the installer will show up, I took the day off and patiently waited for the installer to arrive. At 12:02pm, 2 minutes after their window was over, I called Dish Network. Dialing from my home phone, their computer system recognized me. It asked if I wanted to get information regarding my upcoming appointment, so I pushed 1 to proceed. It then stated “your appointment has been scheduled for Sunday, June 18th.” Now I got a little ticked off, having taken the day off and all, but I continued the call anyway, and got through to customer service after a “seems forever“ hold time. I explained to the guy that we had an appointment, that they had now missed, and I was curious how the day got screwed up.
Immediately, he told me I had called in the day prior and rescheduled the install day, because “that’s what his computer told him.”
In as nice of a manner as I could muster, I explained that I had not rescheduled the appointment, and if I had, I would 1) never have made the call complaining about the missed appointment, and 2) never have taken the day off to make a missed appointment.
He continued to say that he couldn’t do anything about it, because it was my fault. I told him he/his computer was wrong, that nobody called from my house (indicating that someone broke into my house, knew of my upcoming appointment with Dish Network, and rather than stealing stuff from my house, just called Dish Network and moved the appointment around). (For those of you who care, I have a semi-fancy phone system in my house, where all the phones sync with each other - I can see outgoing calls no matter which phone they were physically made from - and no/none/zero calls were made from my house on June 13!) This went on for about 45 minutes. Not seeing the absurdity of this, he offered June 15th as a new install date. So I agreed to this date, and asked him for a free month of service. He told me that because it was my fault, that he wasn’t going to give me anything for free. So I asked for customer service. He told me he was customer service. I asked for the cancellation department. Please hold...
So now I’m on with operator “SYD” who I was very patient with at first, but because it had taken me well over an hour at this point to get to someone who could give me a free month, I was now demanding 2 free months. I explained the entire situation to operator SYD, and told her very calmly if I didn’t get 2 months free for my trouble, I would cancel. She asked me not to threaten her, and I calmly explained that this wasn’t a threat. It would be my course of action should she fail to come up with two free months of service for my troubles.
I also told her that their computer system needed to be checked because this was the exact same excuse Dish Network gave my mother just months before. She, too, of course, had never called to cancel or change her appointment. I caught them lying to multiple customers red handed.
She put me on hold.
Now, mind you, I pay nearly $90 per month for my service, and have been a loyal customer of Dish Network for probably 5 years. I’ve recommended the service to a large number of people, many of whom have become Dish Network customers. I’ve paid them, by my estimates, over $5400 in my fees alone, not counting my referrals. And I was upgrading my service to HDTV, signing a 2 year extension agreement, guaranteeing them more money per month and a customer for two years more - a guaranteed $2400 over the next 2 years. I was merely asking for $180 is service credits because of my troubles, them lying, etc.
Direct TV will be installed on Tuesday.
A little project Tammy & I have been working on
2006/06/15 - 08:50 Filed in: Personal