DishNetwork won’t let loose of me!
October 1, 2008
I’ve never been too fond of the cable company, and could quite easily do without, but for some time I was paying for cable so my mom could watch her movies when she was home, not feeling well.
As the prices went up, and it became clear that we (she) could really do without, I tried to cut the strings, but I couldn’t shake them loose.
Having agreed to a free six months of service, I noticed that instead of the zero balance CSR #1 had promised me, there was an additional, random $5 charge each month. Mmhm. I also noticed that from month to month, or week to week, their billing was inconsistent and didn’t make much sense. After a couple statements, and a couple calls telling them to take care of their business as promised I decided: to heck with this!
CSR #4 wanted to know why I wanted them to cancel my free subscription. Well, I said, because the outstanding balance on my account doesn’t look so “free,” does it? Instead of noting all the conversations I’ve had with them, and the fact that the last time I gave them money was July and therefore I couldn’t possibly be a very profitable customer, she apologizes for the inconveniences, gives me another six months free, credits the outstanding balance, and adjusts the scheduled credits to encompass the extra fee that had been erroneously tacked on. *sigh* Okaaaayy. Do these retention folks get extra credit for each customer they hold on to, despite the cost to the company? Because I’m not paying them another penny. As I’ve said before, I don’t need cable, I don’t care about cable, and I’m perfectly willing to cut them loose.
It’s like I’m in a weird dependent relationship with Dish and they keep rejecting my break-up, a la Natalie and Jeremy of Sports Night.
Anyway. There you have it, ‘nother free six months of cable.
Free cable sounds pretty good!
Wow either you are an expert negotiator or they are hurtin for business! congrats and I hope they make good on their promise from now on…
crazy…a year’s worth of free cable!
It’s awesome that they’re giving it to you for free, though!
They’re hoping that you’ll forget or get fed up and just pay the bill. One of my friends had AOL, and they told her they’d get it for free and then charged her. When she called to complain, the CSR was all, “But you’ve been using it!” Yeah, because she thought it was FREE.
savingdiva: Can’t beat the bargain, if I can just stop having to call them!
sense: Hehe, if anything, the secret is in really not wanting the service and not wanting to pay for it. I don’t imagine that works anywhere else, though….
paranoidasteroid: Your friend’s experience is exactly what I was expecting to hear. That’s why I prefaced my complaint with: the only reason I still have this is because it was supposed to be free.