Fraud and misrepresentation - Dish network
Complaint
Mo. Ouijdani
Country: United States
I shopped for a dish network package and I purchased a promotion package that was offered through a Dish network authorized dealer. The package was valued at $22.95 a month. The sales person I spoke to (who refused to give me his full name) assured me there were no more charges except for installation fee which I accepted and was billed to my credit card. When I received my first billing, it showed something completely different; A bill for $107 (2 months worth) but even if you add it up it does not make sense. I contacted the billing department of Dish network to get clarification and they explained to me the package was actually $39.95 a month plus several other charges that were never disclosed to me or made aware of. Bottom line is that Dish Network could not explain what happened and want me to go back to the dealer. The dealer wants me to go back to Dish Network and I am in the middle of a shuffle to dispute charges. What to do? Apparently Dish Network has no control over its distribution or authorized dealers and no one is willing to get a supervisor on the line who can resolve the issue. This is a clear case of a fraudulent operation. Anyway, I do not waht to do; please help. by the way the distributor name is called Pronto Dish who does NOT have an e-mail system to register complaints and who gives imaginary addresses to clients to send complaints in writing. In addition, they do not have supervisors to talk to customers...
Comments
Three things about the Dish employee comments:
1. "I know this information doesn't solve your problem or make you feel any less ripped off." BRAVO a Dish employee finally in black and white tells a Dish Network customer that Dish does not offer solutions and makes customers feel ripped off.
2. "But for the best service always try to reach the technical support center, not the customer service or billing centers". NEWS FLASH - It doesn't matter who you reach technical support center, customer service center, billing center, or any other Dish Network Center. The bottom line is Dish Network is going to ripp you off and ripp you off big time without even batting an eye.
3. "Because MOST of the technical support operations are in the US and you will find these technicians MOSTLY know what they are doing. Good luck". The operative words here are MOST, MOSTLY, and GOOD LUCK. I'll explain. Good luck finding MOST of the US technical support operations and good luck in finding the technicians who MOSTLY know what they are doing.
Can you pls mail across your complaints to sales@dishpronto.com for us to look into it if your issue has not been resolved.
Thanks,
Linish M
legitimate resellers who called us few years back and signed us up for
a valid promotional rate which worked fine. When they called me again
late last year with a special promotion, I fell for it. I had them send me
the information via email to look at the details. I wired them the money
as requested by the promotion (see below) after I verified online my
Dish Network account showed a credit for the specified amount ($267).
This was supposed to be a one time lumpsum payment to cover the
first 4 months charges so that we can get a reduced rate for two years
or for life. Three months went by and all of a sudden I stopped getting Dish
service. When I called, I found out my account was delinquent. When I
logged into Dish Network, it was still showing a credit but I was told that
credit didn't go through. The Dish reseller used a bogus discover card and
posted a payment in my name, changed my account settings etc. The
Dish Network folks asked me "what was the extension number you were
given by the reseller", which told me they knew who these guys were and
knew more about this scam. Yet, they would not give me any kind of credit
or reduced rate to offset my losses - a scam done by their reseller. I am
looking to get out the contract with Dish without incurring penalties for early
cancellation from two year contract. Might file a complaint with the BBB.
Below ithe text from the email I got about the promotion:
DishNetwork Promotions:
Customer needs to pay one time $240.00 in advance and will get first four months free for Dish Network.
Total Monthly Bill for all above mentioned programming will be $60.00 including tax from fifth month.
$60.00 per month includes DVR's, Receiver's charges and all other tax.
No Agreement.
Free Service Plan.
Free local city channels.
Free High Definition Channels.
Monthly Bill will remain same forever.
Payment Method:
Customer needs to do MONEY TRANSFER for this one time payment of $240.00 through Western Union to Mr. Barry Bill on the Address:
1936 East Deere Ave, Ste 100
Santa Ana, California, 92705
After checking the credit of $240.00 in online account on www.dishnetwork.com
Customer can pay using one of the following method:
Pay over the Phone : +1-800-325-6000
Pay over Website : www.westernunion.com
Don't select option of Money Order or anything else, Please do only Money Transfer.
We shall need the 10 Digits MTCN code of the payment provided by Western Union to enter in our system.
Thanks & Regards,
Name : Sam
Ext. : 007
Call Back : +1-818-660-0670
Satellite Works Inc.
The Distribution Partner of Dish Network
I HAVE BEEN SIMILARLY ABUSED BY SO CALLED DISH NETWORK DEALERS, SEVERAL TIMES. IN THE PAST. I WAS DUMB AND PUT UP WITH THE SCAM, WITHOUT KNOWING SO.
(1) THIS TIME I HAVE REC'D THREE EMAILS OFFERING ME AN UNBELIEVABLE DEAL: FOR A SINGLE, ADVANCE PAYMENT OF $550.00 GET FREE DISH NETWORK SERVICE OF America Everything Pack + HD PACK + HINDI MEGA PACK+KANNADA MINI PACK FOR FULL 26 MONTHS...... PROVIDED THAT FULL PAYMENT IS MADE IN ADVANCE THRU' WESTERN UNION ONLY ...NOT THRU AMEX!!!
SUCH SCAMS HAVE BEEN GOING ON FOR A LONG TIME , AND WHAT HAS "DISH NETWORK" DONE TO ROOT IT OUT??...NOTHING SO FAR
(2) Also I rec'd an alert from American Express that DISH NETWORK" is trying to suck-out $500.00 from my AMEX a/c. I reported this to Dish, so far they have not done anything,, have not even called me.
You have to blame Dish not the dealers
Message Code U7J8
The dish service was already underway for 1 day and everything seemed OK.. After doing Google and coming across this thread, I called Dish Network in US right away. They told me that there was no such deal for 1 year and I will be billed every 12 weeks at ~$70month rate.. Reading thru your stories here, I suspect that guy was propably going to pay for 3 months before pulling the plug. He even had an online access set-up on my behalf without my knowledge, which was connected to his email.
He wanted $424 wired over for 1 year..
After not seeing the money thru (as I blocked it),the guy (dealer/distributor?) just called me from India... He was wondering what happened to the money.. He had given me someone else's name in Texas to wire the money to (I am withholding name of that person in TX for privacy reasons. I think that person's identity is compromised. I could Google his name in Texas and he seemed like an average person... May be an ex/present customer of these guys who gave too much info over to them (DOB, SSN etc)..
I confronted the guy (dealer) over the phone.. He had guts to continue to use his story in spite of me presenting these facts to him. The only answer he could give me was: ""rust me, I would ensure your service would continue for the whole year".. He did not give me any explanation other than the "trust" story.. he did not give me any contact info for his company in India or of that person in TX..
Wow.. these scams are abound in the name of (with the knowledge of?) these large companies such as Dish?
I am now afraid of too much info that I gave to this guy during the process, such as DOB, SSN, Credit Card, Name etc, thinking I was talking to Dish Network. I sure was fool.. not sure how I got into this, inspite of having known about such scams over the phone/internet. I know why - I thought Dish Network could not do scams.. There name is being used, and they don't care???
I talked to Dish Network fraud department recently and they promised me that the guys who scammed me are no longer their resellers.Looks like they are reincarnating. I was going to run a test to see if my scammer is still in business. I was going to have my sister call him up and ask them about a new promotion like the one I got and see what they say.
This is how one of the scam works:
The scammers are supposedly calling into Dish network using a bogus card and making a payment of specified amount in the name of the Dish network customer. It takes roughly 24 hours to have the payment credited to the Dish account. When victims like us see the credit, we fall for the scam and send in our money. The scammers pocket the money. Dish later finds out the payment got rejected by Discover and takes away the credit from the account. This can take as much as 60 days, may be because the card holder later disputes the charges and that process can take a while. These scammers are actually people who worked for Dish as resellers. At least in my case, I clearly remember the guy's voice because he renewed my contract with a new promotion couple of years earlier. That is the reason I trusted him this time.
One other scam they do is, these guys know when our two year contracts are up. They say, they will renew our contract, but say, the promotion only works if the name on the account has to be on spouce's name. They not only changed the name on the new contract, they also changed my address, but used the same phone number. These guys are scamming both Dish and the customers. When they get the account opened on a new name and address, Dish seems to pay them for the new account.
I am glad I took the time to post my scam here and vent my frustration, it helped at least one person.
Following is a true copy of the chat:
Saul (ID: A3B ): Hi, my name is Saul (ID: A3B ). How may I help you?
Saul (ID: A3B ): Gracias por comunicarse al departamento de ventas de DISH, su hogar para el entretenimiento total, incluyendo Blockbuster @Home. Mi nombre es Saul como le puedo ayudar a crear su orden el dia de hoy?
Joe Brown: I like to add "dish latino bonus pack" to an english package, what are the latin channels and what package qualifies?
Saul (ID: A3B ): Ok, comprendo.
Saul (ID: A3B ): I understand.
Saul (ID: A3B ): Are you an existing customer?
Joe Brown: no
Saul (ID: A3B ): Ok, I understand.
Joe Brown: i'm shopping and comparing, thanks
Saul (ID: A3B ): In this case, I can create your order today.
Joe Brown: not ready for an order, 1st I need all information, thanks
Saul (ID: A3B ): Please provide me you address, a telephone number and your full name.
Joe Brown: Saul, my name is Joe Brown, I live in AState, zip code xyzxy
Saul (ID: A3B ): Ok, thank you.
Saul (ID: A3B ): But I need your complete address.
Joe Brown: I do not like to give it at this time. Again shopping and comparing. The zip code will be adequate. thanks
Saul (ID: A3B ): I understand, but we are going to need your SSN and a credit card number so we can have the exact price.
Saul (ID: A3B ): And we need the complete address.
Saul (ID: A3B ): Please provide me your full address.
Joe Brown: Sir, you must be kidding, never will I disclose this information. I am not purchasing anything at this moment! and if you are unwilling to provide simple information we can end the dialogue right now and I will call the Corporate office tomorrow.
Saul (ID: A3B ): Ok, I understand, I apologize for the inconvenience we just need basic information such as address, and phone number in order to give you the best prices in your area but if you are uncomfortable no problem, I can give you basic information on our packages.
Saul (ID: A3B ): But let me advise you that prices may vary because of taxes.
Joe Brown: Well thanks, I am not ignorant about taxes, etc. Pls look at my question i.e.:
Joe Brown: I like to add "dish latino bonus pack" to an english package, what are the latin channels and what package qualifies?
Saul (ID: A3B ): Ok, I will be glad to help you.
Joe Brown: I do not ask for prices anyway!
Saul (ID: A3B ): Can you bare with me for 2 minutes whle I pull up all the information i thank you!
Joe Brown: yes
Saul (ID: A3B ): Thank you very much.