Having account on hold is not Free

ComplaintsSatellite and Cable TV ProvidersDish Network

Complaint

0
Kathleen
Country: United States
I called Dish Network in April to cancel my service because I needed to stay with my parents. The rep suggested that since it's temporary she can put my account on hold for several months and when I move back I can call and active my service again. She said she will do it for free. It sounded interesting so I agreed.

3 months later I moved back and decided to active my service. When I called a lady told me I have a negative balance on my account. It turned out they were charging me $10 a month for the hold and were taking money from a credit on my account that was left there. There was no credit left anymore and I needed to pay the balance!

I explained that I was given wrong information when I called 3 months ago. A manager I spoke to promised to issue me a refund. It's been 5 weeks and I still have no refund. I canceled my service and sent back the equipment.

Comments

  • 0
    Pat
    We moved to NC from IN about six months ago, while we lived in IN we had a bundle package with AT&T and Dish Network. Beginning in November, when we moved, and continuing through January, we repeatedly called and asked to have our connection switched because AT&T does not service the area we live in.

    We finally were told that our service was switched in January but we never received any bills. When I called again, I spoke with someone from Dish, he told me that we would be receiving a bill shortly, but that it would be a large bill due to the billing/switch over mistake. He assured me that when we got the bill, all we needed to do was make payments on it until it was paid in full and that as long as we made payments, our service would not be disconnected.

    Finally, in April (which is when they actually switched our service) we received a bill for $175 for three months of service which we paid in full. The next month, we received a bill for $234 with an unknown charge of $140. My husband called to find out what the charge was but no one could tell him what it was for, he then called AT&T who told him it was for phone charges for January-April, we had not had phone service with them since November!

    When he explained this to AT&T they hung up on him. We thought it could be a charge for switching or something and began making payments like the Dish Network employee had advised. Dish went ahead and disconnected our service, after I had paid the amount in full, when I called them I was told that whoever I had spoken with had not made any notes in our account and therefore, they would not turn our service back on until they had received our payment, which I have already made!

    It's been three days and they still have not reconnected our service. When asked how much longer we had on our contract, we were told that our contract only became effective in April. Dish Network renewed our contract without our consent or knowledge.

    Dish Network is unethical and mistreats there customers. I think something should be done to old these companies accountable for statements that they make to their customers. As far as I know the person I spoke with in January really did note the account and the company is just going back on their word.

    Either way, I have made all payments and this company has still disconnected our service. I hope this and all the other statements about Dish Network will stop someone else from making the same mistake we have by trusting Dish Network.
  • 0
    studydaze
    I had a problem with the Customer Service regarding "free" movies for having a friend sign up with DISH.  I had my mother sign up and I got the monthly discount and free movie passes as promised.  Several years later, I was speaking with a friend about dish and they asked me how they sign up.  I had received "Gift Cards" to refer a friend so I called Customer Service to make sure that I would still be entitled to the monthly discount and free movie passes.  I was assured, by 2 different customer service reps that I would get both.  So, I gave my friend the gift card and she had DISH installed. Long story short, I never received the free movie passes (i think it was something like 3 or 5 free movies).  I called and the first person I spoke with said I should have received them and transferred me to someone else to help me out.  That person told me that because I had referred someone 3 years earlier, I would not be receiving my movie passes.  Funny, this was the first I was hearing of this. Okay so the passes aren't a big deal but I couldn't understand why 3 people led me to believe I would.  She then asked if I would like to speak with a customer service manager.  I agreed and an extremely rude woman answered the phone.  I explained that I had now been told by 3 people that I would be or should have received these passes and her response was "I don't believe anyone here ever told you that."  This really made me angry.  I asked her if she was calling me a liar and she said "that's the word you put on it."  I said "well, if you don't believe the statement I made that 3 people told me this then wouldn't that mean you think I'm lying?"  "I guess so" was her response.  I told her that I couldn't believe Dish Network would treat someone this way.  (The free passes really cost them nothing so to appease an 8 year customer it seemed like a no brainer.)  She told me if I didn't like it, I could always leave Dish Network.  I asked her for her name and she disconnected me.  Cable is not available where I live and I've heard nothing good about DIRECT Tv so I'm stuck for the time being.  But,  Fiber Optic TV is just starting to come into our area and as soon as it does I will, with great joy, make the phone call to Dish Network to say goodbye.
  • 0
    Ripped off by Dish 2008
    We have been ripped off over $620 in the past week for service we terminated in Jan 2008.  Prior to that we put up with horrible service from Dish and Frontier both and could not use our phone or internet, had lousy reception.  It was all caused by the Dish HD receiver.  We paid $920 for that lousy service before giving up on getting it fixed.  We were never refunded the extra $140 we paid to frontier for this lousy service.  We attempted to return the equipment in person and by phone they would not allow us to return it and demanded we wait on ups labels that have never been sent.  Then Dish arbitrarily accesses my daughter's account and takes out $620 last week.  All termination fees were to be waived due to the service being so bad and the signal was turned off in January - this I have in writing.  Now they claim we have received service for three months and owe termination fees, late fees, equipment fees.  The bank account had to be closed yesterday to stop them from taking any more money out of the account because they were still demanding to be paid more.  I have already lodged complaints with the FCC, Attorney General, BBB, and the ripoff report.  In my research of the over 200,000 complaints about Dish Network online I found this information and have just faxed my info to them.  I thought I would pass this on for others that have been ripped off.

    Carpetz Law Firm    
    5000 Birch Street, West Tower Suite 2500
    Newport Beach, California 92660-2139
    Telephone: 949-724-3000 800-351-8588
    Fax: 949-757-2635 URL: http://www.capretz.com URL: http://www.capretzlawfirm.com


    ECHOSTAR & DISH NETWORK

    We are currently investigating claims against EchoStar and its Dish Network satellite cable provider for possible violation of state and/or federal laws. If you or someone you know currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Dish Network, you and those similarly situated could be entitled to monetary damages. Please contact us or call our toll-free number (800) 351-8588 for a free, no-obligation consultation with an attorney.
  • 0
    paying for service I'm not getting
    I moved in with some friends this July 1st.  I contacted Dish to let them know I needed to change my address for service.  Once they took my info they let me know that their service people would connect the new place up on the 29th!  Last week I received a bill for this month and next, totaling $200.  Naturally I called and asked for a credit to be put on my account for the month I did not have service, to which they replied, "our policy does not allow for credit in situations like this, after all it was your choice to move".  How could this be?  I asked to speak to a supervisor who told me the exact same thing.  What do I have to do?  Write a letter?
  • 0
    Andy
    Dish Network tallked me into waiting 30 days before canceling with them and they would send me boxes to return equipment. I kept waiting on the boxes and they never came. Called them they hadn't canceled my acct. and now i will get a bill from them. They suck...
  • 0
    Erika
    I am noticing that we are not the only ones with this problem. I believe they are keeping us on hold to pass time to ruin our credit reports. I waited for the boxes as they asked me to be patient-then they posted derogatory remarks on my credit report. Never had a problem with bill paying-credit EVER!

    I am pursuing state and government agencies to establish a network of people that have been effected by their deceptive practices! Unbelievable!
  • 0
    Jimmy D
    Two and 1/2 years ago i signed up with dish They offered FREE I repeat Free DVR service and FREE dvr receiver For Two years now it was Free I got mY feb Bil and they are now charging me 20 dollors for the dvr and service I clle dand they more or less told me to bad we are now billing you for it even if it was free. I maske dthe ignorant person on the line if i were to sell hima aphone service with FREE long distance and then when he used a thousand dollars worth of the service i then billed him would he have to ay He said NO it would not be legal But it is legal for Dish to do it to us, DISH SUCKS
  • 0
    Lou M
    We signed up for dish service with a special introductory package and was told at the end of the introductory period our monthly bill would be 63.00. Our bill has increased for the past three months and is now 90 dollars! We called dish and their solution is to downgrade our service or to contact the sub-contractor who sold us thhe package. I am sick and tired of this [***]. I have a two year contract that they can charge anything they want. Yes, it states they can make changes to the contract but this is just taking advantage of peoople who sign on figuring that a large corporation might be honest and forthcoming about their policies. If you want sat. tv go with direct tv, better yet do internet tv for free,but whatever you do do not buy into the dish network because the only thing they dish out is a weak signal and extra charges to your bill. SCEW THEM
  • 0
    dish network
    worse ever customer service, pretty expensive- every year bill has increased, go with direct tv or another provider..
    never received a confirmation for a coupon to watch a paid per view movie. happy i bought only one....
  • 0
    steve
    I have quite bad experiences with Dish Network. After signing up with Dish Network two years ago, my bills were never right for a single month. I have ordered a plain service, but always got charged for different fees. I had to call the customer service every month to clear them up. Finally my two-year contract was up, I was so tired of calling them every month, so I made a call to cancel the service. I tried to do everything seamless to avoid the charges, like returned the equipment the first day I canceled the service. Guess what, I still received a bill around $40 even I still had $20 credit with them. It maybe not so bad considering other people get charged hundrend of dollars!
  • 0
    dish  newtork is horrible
    Dish Network has the worst customer service ever, when i called to get important information about my account they transferred me to several different people and then got hung up on, so i called back and they STILL could not help me,( this is every time i call!) Every month our bill was something different never what it was suppose to be! Needless to say we cancelled our account and we will not ever be using them again!
  • 0
    Don
    Signed up for DISH  and asked if I could put account  on seasonal  hold. ( I spend winters in Florida )  I was told yes for a $14.00 monthly fee. I'm OK with that. When I returned in spring I was told my subscription  went from $77.00 to $120 plus because  was part of the the contract  if account  was placed on hold. Basically  I was told I broke the contract  and I agreed to this.  I sure would not  have  agreed  to anything  like  that.
    I asked to cancel and was told that a penalty would be $600 to $800 for early csncellation. Think twice before  subscribing  to DISH
  • 0
    tom whilden
    put my dish on "hold" per their recommendation, while gone for 2 months. was never told the price would go up when we reinstated it.  talked till i turned blue, all the way to the Presidents office (whoopee).  told it was our fault for not understanding the restrictions, putting it on hold for 2 months cost us 30 dollar increase for 12 months, keeping it on for those 2 months would have been 140 dollars, saving us 220 dollars.  what kind of moron does dish think i am, if i would have been told or explained that i would have never done it. now looking at other options.
  • 0
    Dish Network is desperate
    I called to cancel my account because I was moving. The Dish Network representative begs you not to disconnect.  Finally to get the person off my back they said I could pause the account. I told them I didn't want that but they persisted. There is no noticed that they are going to start charging you after the pause period even though you have no Dish!  $175 bill with no service and I have called four times to get rid of this leaching business. They won't write off the $175 even though they acknowledge that no services were rendered nor did they advice me verbally or in writing that I would be charged. Now they are threatening to submit to debt collection. Please let this be a warning, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH DISH NETWORK!  They are a dying business and they are desperate for your money. They are now stealing it, charging you even though you don't have service with them.
  • 0
    Dish Network is deceptive
    I called to cancel my account.  I explained I was moving to a less expensive steaming service.  The customer service representative offered to pause my account for 3 months in case I changed my mind.  He told me to keep the equipment.  He said Dish does this in case I change my mind I can just start the service again without having to have someone come out and reinstall everything.  What he did not disclose is that Dish would charge me $5 a month for the pause.  Fortunately Dish sent me an email explaining that my account was paused and I'd be charged $5 per month.  I called back in irate that I had been lied to and to cancel.  The new customer service representative tried to down play what had happened saying they wouldn't charge my card, that I had a credit.  The credit was my money owed to me after the account had been cancelled.  The first representative did not disclose the terms.  The 2nd tried to mask what they were really doing.  I can't imagine this is legal.

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