Early I opened a DISH Network account for my father over the phone. Later on, I called to change the name on the account to my father's, but was not informed by the representative that I also had to change financial information.
Apparently, DISH network had problems with my father, and canceled the account. I found out on April 19th when I received a letter from my bank that a charge of $660 was made to my account by DISH Network and that an overdraft fee of $25 was incurred. I went to check my account, and saw that almost $300 more in overdraft fees had been incurred due to automatic widthdrawals from my monthly bills. My rent was due in a week, and I was overdrawn more than $500, so I had to borrow money to:
1. Pay the bank the overdrawn amount
2. Pay my rent the next week
3. Buy food for the next two weeks
All totaled close to $2000
I called DISH Network to demand the reason why I, and not the account holder, was charged/billed for this amount, but all I was repeatedly told was, "because your card was in the billing information." Despite insisting that the charges were fraudulent because they were posted without my permission, I was told that I would get my money back until I returned their equipment, and that when they received it, it would take 7 to 10 days for the refund to be issued. - Not enough time to pay my rent.
After I followed up with DISH network to get my $660 back, they told me that because of breach of contract (18 month agreement which I do not recall signing up for, but DISH says they have a signed contract) they would only return $500. Again, I tried to make them understand that I was no longer responsible for any money owed to them, and that they had to deal with the current account holder, but the representatives were very rude, and even suggested that if I kept insisting, that my $500 refund would be delayed. At one point they told me to talk to my father and get the $160 from him!
I ended up canceling my debit card, and submitting a dispute with my bank. My bank did their best to help, but the damage had already been done.
On September 20, I received a letter from DISH network telling me that I owed them $160. I called to find out why, and they said that it was a charge for breach of contract. I'm still puzzled as to why, if they already got that amount?
If you currently have DISH Network, and you think their great - wonderful. My advise however is, when you cancel with them, make sure you cancel the credit card they have on file for your account because they may just charge you for their equipment. Their equipment is proprietary, and they really, really want it back when you're done with it. They use the tactic I mention above, which is very effective, to get it back.
Monica
Burbank, California
U.S.A.
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