Friggen Dish Network....
 

So, I have been a Dish customer for 8+ years. I notice they have all kinds of nifty promotions going on. I call to upgrade my receivers and service. Uh huh, ain't gonna happen. THOSE promotions are only for NEW customers. Long story short, they wanted to ream me for 350.00 to get less stuff than new customers are getting for free. Screw them, I just took advantage of a better package from Direct TV, plus I'll get a 50.00 Visa gift card and a 100.00 rebate. I guess sometimes it's good to be the new guy.

There, I am done.... :)

Life is hard for stupid people. And companies.

I've had DTV for about 4 years now. No real complaints about their service specifically. Hopefully you'll have better service from them.

I am happily an ex-Dish network customer. :)

Same problem here. I have to switch to DirectTV to get a good deal on a HD upgrade.

Same situation, but opposite side.

I actually talked to the DirectTV drone that called a few weeks ago, there was no way around it she said. Fortunately, I'm not on a contract - month-to-month - so I can stop being a customer and start again with no problems... although I may switch to DishTV (w/ phone and DSL it will save me some $$)

All the satellite companies are like this, I had the same issue with DirecTv several years ago. They wouldn't upgrade my system to the exact stuff they were giving out for free to new customers, even if I agreed to a new contract. It's ridiculous and short sighted, but there you go. FYI, sometimes (not always) you can get traction by asking them to connect you directly from there to the line for cancellation of service, that sometimes gets their attention.

Somebody really dropped the ball when it came to your situation.

I assume that the packages for the satellite dishes works like a cell phone- you get a bunch of cool stuff, but you sign a 2 year contract and your first born.

Assuming this is the case, Dish Network should have given you their current offer so long as you agree to be their ***** for 2 years. Or even better, for 1 year seeing as how you are a loyal customer.

They definitely dropped the ball on you. Good for you on leaving.

was a directv customer and wanted a dvr - i called and was told i would have to pay $199 plus $10 a month for one....... I told them that I see the DVR's for free in all the ad's

Of course that was only for "new" customers. I of course tried to explain the value of keeping an existing customer but that was just a silly waste of time.

Told them I want to cancel my account as I wanted a DVR and refused to pay for one that was being offered for free. They transfered me to their "customer retention drone"

Told them to cancel my account as I was going to DISHnet. Of course at that point they offered the free DVR but it was too late.

Dish gave me the DVR for free and with no monthly fee. DirecTV sends me junk mail weekly training to get me to sign up.

I only talk to Directv customer retention. They have supreme control over keeping me happy. Free programming, free HD DVR, monthly discounts off regular bill. They can provide all the perks to keep customers from leaving.

One thing about Directv and Dish. If you don't like the answer you received from a regular CSR, don't argue, just hang up and call back. The CSR's really have too much discretion available and they can be very inconsistent from one customer to another. That can be a good or bad thing. So always be polite, or at least start off polite.

BTW Brad, as a new subscriber, give them my name as a referral and we both get $50 off our bill. ;)

Two years is way too long. A lot of people (me included) have no idea where they'll be in two years and if the services I'm contracting for will even be available there.

Sooner or later, the companies will realize the silliness of this and start competing on the basis of this. It's like the "activation fee" and "credit check" and other crap they used to make people pay for mobile phones. They realized that this was a huge turn-off to customers and started competing on the basis of it.

i am going through the same with direct TV right now. i would switch to dish but have been less than impressed with their offering during usage at others' houses.

T$

*****! You beat me to it... LOL...

I'll kick back $10... ;)

Same BS everywhere.

Had it with Direct TV over a DVR upgrade.

1 month later FIOS became available in my area so I cancelled DT.

They called me back asking why?

So I told them why and of course it was no longer an issue to give me what I asked for.

Was very satisfying to tell the guy, "sorry, too late, you had your shot, buh bye"

I had dish in Chattanooga and couldn't have been happier. Got it here in N.O. and the installation was a nightmare. Once that was straight, it's been great. Customer service has given me just about anything I've asked for. I need to call them now to get the feature turned on so I can plug in an external HD and record to it so I can then make a disk of the recording on a PC.

I've been with dish network for three years. i had cable but the reception sucked on channel 2, 4, and 5. They told me I would have to pay $75 to get them to replace their cable. I told them to pack sand.

I've been happy with dish except for when a couple of remote controls gave up the ship. I called and asked for new ones, they asked for $69 each. Ticked me off.
I went on e-bay and bought a couple for 99 cents plus $5 shipping. I sniped them too ;)

AT&T is licking their chops getting ready to buy out DISH.

LOL

The new guy thing works for magazines as well...just let your subscription expire...then re-up as a "new subscriber"...

I did the same. I was told the same as above about the $199 to upgrade. When I cancelled DTV, they were all over me to send the stuff out for free. Too late.

DTV is gonna take some serious hits now that FIOS is out. I've got the Net on FIOS too. DTV wants something like $70/mo. for satellite Internet. Ainn't gonna happen.

I'm looking forward to FIOS in my area and will most likely sign up when it arrives. I think FIOS is keeping prices down from the other providers, but the price gap is narrowing. It's becoming more expensive next year.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200711201527DOWJONESDJONLINE000652_FORTUNE5.htm

After awhile fios nails you. $180 month, 4 receivers, all phone and internet. Not sure how that compares to everyone else, but it seems steep. Oh, I can't stand the latest firmware upgrade to the system either. Just changing the volume now takes FOREVER!!