Colleen
Senior Member
- Location
- Pennsylvania
This is going to be a long one....sorry, but I wanted to share my DISH experience.
We moved 4 years ago out of town (about 20 miles), which is rural, to say the least. The only choices for TV were Frontier, which has a horrible rating, and DISH, so we've had Dish for 4 years. Our "contract" renews every 2 years and we've been able to keep our bill about the same each time. You HAVE to call and "negotiate" or they'll jump the price up a lot.
Our contract ran out on July 2nd so when I got the email for July's billing it was $10 more. Not a huge amount but I called and wanted to know why they no longer gave me a $5 discount for using auto-pay and no longer a discount on the receiver.
The first guy I got, I could barely understand him and he eventually transferred me to a "specialist". He was a little hard to understand but better than the first guy. He said that they don't give "discounts" any more and my bill out be the additional $10 added for July and my August bill would then go up $40 more! WHAT?? No way! I told him to "send me the box" and I would pack up their equipment and send it to them (with my best wishes!). Of course, they don't want to lose you as a sucker...I mean "customer", so he said he could offer me a Flex plan (we have the 120 channel plan, which we watch 3 channels from) and it would reduce my August bill. OK, here's the figures: We're currently paying $72 for the 120 channels. That's the $10 off. My July bill went to $84, with no discounts. The August bill was going to be $112.
This guy was suggesting a Flex plan (50 channels) for $94! I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, but even I could see that didn't make any sense. I got so disgusted, I told him I'd call back. He said, I'll make notes on your account so when you call back, you can get this price. Ya, right...don't hold your breath.
I was practically spittin' nails when I hung up and my husband was sitting next to me and said....cut the cord. Now....you gotta understand that the only reason we've been holding on to Dish is because he loves to watch NASCAR, which will not sell the rights to any other broadcasters other than FS1 and NBC. So, for him to tell me to cut the cord...that was a huge decision on his part.
I was all set to do it (have been wanting to do it for a long time), so I call Dish back. Here's the corker. I tell him we want to cancel our service and please send me the box. He asked why and I told him. I said there's NO WAY we're paying $112 or $94, especially for a Flex plan that gives me less stations (not that I actually watch any of them) for more money that what my July bill ($84) would be. He said a Flex plan would never cost $94 and he looked at my account and said there weren't any notes in it about offering a Flex plan. What it all boiled down to was....he got us on a Flex plan for August for $67 and adjusted our July bill to $67.
It's amazing what can happen when you get hold of the right person. I'm still not thrilled that we're locked in for another 2 years, but that's how it is for now. Our situation will be changing within the next 9 months (we're leaving AZ...YAY...can't wait!) and hopefully we won't have to have Dish.
We moved 4 years ago out of town (about 20 miles), which is rural, to say the least. The only choices for TV were Frontier, which has a horrible rating, and DISH, so we've had Dish for 4 years. Our "contract" renews every 2 years and we've been able to keep our bill about the same each time. You HAVE to call and "negotiate" or they'll jump the price up a lot.
Our contract ran out on July 2nd so when I got the email for July's billing it was $10 more. Not a huge amount but I called and wanted to know why they no longer gave me a $5 discount for using auto-pay and no longer a discount on the receiver.
The first guy I got, I could barely understand him and he eventually transferred me to a "specialist". He was a little hard to understand but better than the first guy. He said that they don't give "discounts" any more and my bill out be the additional $10 added for July and my August bill would then go up $40 more! WHAT?? No way! I told him to "send me the box" and I would pack up their equipment and send it to them (with my best wishes!). Of course, they don't want to lose you as a sucker...I mean "customer", so he said he could offer me a Flex plan (we have the 120 channel plan, which we watch 3 channels from) and it would reduce my August bill. OK, here's the figures: We're currently paying $72 for the 120 channels. That's the $10 off. My July bill went to $84, with no discounts. The August bill was going to be $112.
This guy was suggesting a Flex plan (50 channels) for $94! I'm not the brightest bulb on the tree, but even I could see that didn't make any sense. I got so disgusted, I told him I'd call back. He said, I'll make notes on your account so when you call back, you can get this price. Ya, right...don't hold your breath.
I was practically spittin' nails when I hung up and my husband was sitting next to me and said....cut the cord. Now....you gotta understand that the only reason we've been holding on to Dish is because he loves to watch NASCAR, which will not sell the rights to any other broadcasters other than FS1 and NBC. So, for him to tell me to cut the cord...that was a huge decision on his part.
I was all set to do it (have been wanting to do it for a long time), so I call Dish back. Here's the corker. I tell him we want to cancel our service and please send me the box. He asked why and I told him. I said there's NO WAY we're paying $112 or $94, especially for a Flex plan that gives me less stations (not that I actually watch any of them) for more money that what my July bill ($84) would be. He said a Flex plan would never cost $94 and he looked at my account and said there weren't any notes in it about offering a Flex plan. What it all boiled down to was....he got us on a Flex plan for August for $67 and adjusted our July bill to $67.
It's amazing what can happen when you get hold of the right person. I'm still not thrilled that we're locked in for another 2 years, but that's how it is for now. Our situation will be changing within the next 9 months (we're leaving AZ...YAY...can't wait!) and hopefully we won't have to have Dish.
