I responded to local advertising stating 100 channels were available for $9. Per month through Dish Network. I called in advance to ask if there were hidden charges. When I went in to the retailer and ordered, I was shown other packages, but I said I wanted only the advertised special. (There was no mention of pay per view)
When the installer had finished installing the dish and wiring, he asked me if I would ever be ordering pay per view. When I said 'No, ' he said 'Okay, I won't hook that up, so you won't have to worry about that.' I told my son that we could not get pay per view.
Several months later, when I opened what was to be my $9. Bill from Dish, I was shocked to see a bill in excess of $200.! I called customer service immediately, where the young man recited over and over that 'pay per view charges were not reversible.' He told me that the installer did not have the authority to determine who receives pay per view. My question is this: How is a consumer to know this? I called later that day, and spoke to a young lady who was more receptive, and able to reverse about $16. Of the charges. I thanked her sincerely for the effort, but told her this is not good enough. I was also told over the phone, now several months later, that if I do not want pay per view charges, I need to call the company and request that my balance be set at zero. How is a consumer to know that?
I was also told (several months after installation) that the wiring necessary is as simple as hooking up a phone line to the box. My phone line is hooked up to my computer, in a very inaccessible cabinet, and I use the computer daily. It was never hooked up to anything else, so these 'movies' were never received. My son admitted to trying to 'figure it out, ' but couldn't.
I wrote them a letter detailing what had happened, and now, several months after activation, they have mailed me two documents I have never seen before: A copy of a 6 page Residential Service Agreement and the detail of the process to order pay per view. These would have been appropriate initially. They are inappropriate now.
Dish states they have no liability. They have disconnected my service.
Who else in America can smuggle a line of credit to the children in your home, pornography 24 hours a day to anyone who can push a button, bill you for something you DID NOT receive, and then apologize in a letter for the confusion?
Confusion is their marketing strategy!
Two weeks ago, someone from the Dish retention department called me. She was a gem, listened carefully, and showed sincere interest in me as a consumer, and said she would recommed the issue be reviewed. She observed also that the pattern of the ordering appeared to be 'someone trying to figure it out.'
To date, I have heard nothing more.
Dish, Echostar, and any satellite company needs to be up front and clear on what they are planting in the hands of children in America! Dish needs to know that they cannot charge people for products never received, just like any other American company!
Becky
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
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