First, let me say that the actual service hasn't been terrible. I can't get my locals in HD, but its no big deal since we don't watch them that much anyway. Other than the occasional rain storm, though, the service has been fine.

But, my local cable company offered me a better deal, so I fent.  With the bundled services, we are going to save about $30 a month.

Anyway, when I called to cancel my service, they kept offering me deals to stay on.  I kept telling them that I already had the new service installed and that I didn't want to continue with them.  Had to do this about five times, after which I said, "Look.  The new service is installed.  I'm not calling them to come and take it out, so why don't you stop wasting your time and mine and just terminate my service?"  Which they finally agreed to do.

So, as they were settling up the final balance on my account, they told me that there was no balance to be credited back.

Which was strange, since the day I canceled was right in the middle of the billing cycle. So, I pushed it a little, and they magically "found" $40 or so that should have been pro-rated back to me.

That's just shifty and slimy.  I'm sure if I hadn't raised a fuss, they'd have happily taken my money.

Well, then they inform me that I will have to return my receivers, since they are leased equipment. Fine, I said.  They said that I would have to have a separate box for each receiver, and the cost to ship each would be $17.  So, both boxes would be $36 if I used their shipping label. So, they'll be taking that money that's left in my account after all. I'd like to point out at this time if I had merely upgraded my equipment, Dish would have paid the shipping for the new equipment and returning the old equipment. But now that I'm leaving, I guess they want the door to hit me as I leave.

They said that the shipping would be through UPS.  There's no UPS shipping service anywhere near my neighborhood, so I asked if I could just pay my own postage and they said that I could, but that if the box wasn't returned within thirty days, I'd have to pay for the receivers.

So, I got the box yesterday.  Both receivers fit in the box, even though they're technically not supposed to, so I will pad them well and ship them that way.  But, the paperwork in the box said very threateningly that the box MUST be postmarked within three days of receipt or else I would have to pay for the receivers.  

Now, the best part...they want me to ship back the LNB off of the dish itself.  I've worked late every night this week, so now, I have to climb up on the roof and disassemble their equipment in order to send it back so I can get it ready to send out tomorrow. And, of course, the post office closes early on Saturday.  

I'm getting delivery confirmation on it just in case there's any funny business. I wouldn't put anything past them.

I'm betting, after all of this, that they find some stupid reason to charge me for the receiver.  If they do, I'll go ballistic.

EDIT:  TL;DR: Dish makes it a huge pain in the rear to terminate your service.

This is why you never, ever rent your equipment. There are people that sell it. Buy and install yourself.

Try and cancel ANY of them and you'll get the same routine. Cancel Time Warner service and see what you get.

They all want their equipment back, even though it might be several years old and unusable to them. They just want to make sure you're not somehow using it to pirate a signal from them.

Mountain Mama. Country road.

My job is to have a conversation with you about keeping your service, about finding out why it is you’re looking to cancel your service. If you don’t want to talk to me, you can definitely go into the Comcast Dish Network store and cancel your service there.

Being that we’re the number 1 ? provider of TV and internet service in the entire country, why is it you don’t want the number 1 ? provider?

...

When I called to cancel Dish they spent a while trying to talk me into keeping it but when that didn't work the guy got snippy and almost hateful and then I got the same jackass attitude about the return. I didn't have anything against Dish and had been with them since right after they started, I just had to save money and wasn't watching it anyway, but after that little session, screw them.

I never sent the LNB, never heard anything back from em. I'll never go back after their FX fiasco a few years ago.

"Sorry, I'm disabled and unable to climb the ladder to the roof.  Why don't you have the same guy that brought over everything and installed the dish come by and pick it up.  I'm sure he can use it elsewhere."

FDN

Basically what I told Dish last year.......I was a little more impolite though as I'm a filthy inkie!

Just tell them that you can't safely access the dish.  I just did that about a month ago.  They will tell you to ignore the LNB crap.

I just dis engauged my card from auto pay and quit paying them.  So much happier that I don't watch any more of that lib charged drivel. They can get ahold of me.  I'm not spending hours listening to their bull shit.  

That's exactly what I told them.  Chatted with a rep this evening and this is what I said:



One positive...I did explain that I have chronic back problems and wasn't particularly thrilled about climbing up on the roof of my house and taking that LNB off.  She said that she put a waiver in my file so that I didn't have to return the LNB.  I have the chat transcript with date and time stamp saved on my computer, but if they really decide to screw me, that probably won't matter.  She also said that it would cost $199 to replace the DVR and $99 to replace the crappy SD receiver I had in my son's room [edit] if I didn't return it to them.

Funny thing is, if the cable I have now doesn't work out, I'd have gone back to Dish in a heartbeat.  Now?  Forget it. I'll call DirecTV.

When I dumped them a few years ago I was asked WHY

So I took three pages of reasons and explained them to the Customer Support Agent, one after another, each and Every Single reason I had meticulously kept during the time I started getting dissatisfied them.  I never did get to Page 3.  

not true, i cancelled comcast a  year ago, they told me drop off my shit, i did done and done


now tmobile......
i called 3 days before my contract ended and said i wont renew what do i need to do?
they said nothing, just don't renew,
then started sending bill after bs bill

but that is another story.

FYI - just because you CAN fit them both in one box doesn't mean they'll suck it up and take it and credit it back to you properly.

I hang out on a few retail complaint sites... one thing i've learned from reading about other people's mistakes is that returning things "my way" doesn't always work the way you think it will.  


pepper your angus

Tell them you want to upgrade and need some new wiring due to squirrels, when they show up, tell them you changed your mind and to remove all of their property of yours, or you will consider it a gift and get the fuck out.

 

ETA: twice I've canceled service (Cox & TWC) without much hoopla because I kept the reasons simple and nothing they could try to work me over on.  Keep it simple with your "reasons" and you don't have to "fight" as much usually.  


First time...
Me: My computer and TV were both stolen, no reason to keep paying for cable.  (Sadly I wasn't even joking... although I did replace the computer a little while later)
Cox employee: I'm so sorry!  I'll cancel your account!

Second time...
Me: I'm moving.
TWC: Are you sure you don't want to keep it just in case we're in your new area?
Me: Your company doesn't exist where I'm moving to. (ironically they did end up moving here but a couple of years later)
TWC: Ok. We'll cancel your account.



The one time I had to fight was with AOL.  Fucker lied that my account was being updated and I had to call back in 48 hours. I called back in 20 minutes.  The second rep canceled my account.

I had Viacom cable years back. Canceled and told them to come get their shit. They told me I'd have to take it to some office that was about a half hour away. I told them to come get it and that I wasn't taking it back and that if they didn't come get in in the next couple of days I'd strip the rj connector off the cable and plug it into a 120 outlet before I left to drop off their shit at their office.



They came and got it.

Funny you mention this. My wife just received a letter today that had a threatening tone from Dish Networks. It essentially said that this was her last chance to get their service at the reduced price.  Interesting approach to business.

When I canceled my Dish about 5 yrs ago, they said leave the dish and just send back the receivers on their dime (prepaid shipping label).

I will bet you get charged for one receiver when that second box doesn't show up.

And you have no way to prove you shipped a second receiver.

If I were you, I'd pack and send both boxes back. The number on the box is what they go by. Not what's inside.

Pepper your anus.

Same experience, same timeframe.
My wife's mother passed away a few years before that and they had a hell of a time cancelling her DirecTV account.

They only sent one box.  They knew I had two receivers, though.

T-Mobile is more f'ed up than a football bat.

I had a go round with Time Warner when I tried to cancel my service.   I had to interrupt the spiel, "hey lady, don't waste my time,  I'm moving in a month so and I'll be staying with family who already have an account (the last part was a lie).  They shut me off and prorated my bill.  I dropped said receivers off.  i dropped off the boxes at their depot in town.   I won't stay on the phone to argue with a damned utility about cancelling.

Are you sure you won't get another box Monday?

The shipping label / labels should have the receiver number / numbers on it / them.

So I wouldn't get the run around I told time warner I was moving out of the country. No hassle at all.

Wow.  Just browsed a few sites looking for others who have returned Dish receivers.

It's not pretty.  Even when you do everything by the book, people frequently get bills for missing receivers and have to fight to have charges refunded.

Crap.  I don't need this kind of headache.

Guess this might have just turned from a "thread" into an "ongoing saga".  

I've never been a fan of ambulance chasers, but the words "class action lawsuit" are starting to sound really good right about now.

You messed up.  Should have called them to cancel before the cable was installed.  Then you could have seen if they would match or beat the price from cable.  If not then just cancel it.  

I got them to lower my bill by $50 a month for a year once before I switched to Directv.

ETA: I had no problem returning my receiver to Dish, used their pre-paid label and just checked UPS tracking to make sure it go to them in time.  After you check the price to send it back through USPS or FedEx you'll find that the $17 price is cheaper.

Well, I got this one Thursday and was finally home long enough to get it packed up.  I might call them and ask if they have a tracking number for the second one.

If I wasn't looking to bundle, I probably would have.  

So far, everything is as good or better on the new system (I got phone, cable, and internet).  The cable service is better (5 channel DVR) the internet is faster, and the phone is as good as the old service was.  

But yes, they seem willing to make some ridiculously good deals when you threaten to cancel.

 

1. Get a second checking account - One that doesn't charge monthly fees. Some banks offer them as a courtesy to long-term customers.

2. Set up your satellite/cable TV provider to draft monthly bills from it.

3. Transfer just enough money into the account every month to cover the bill.

4. When your satellite/cable TV provider starts jerking you around (and they all do, eventually), stop transferring money into the account.

5. Notifying your satellite/cable TV provider that his services are no longer required is optional.

Well, figured out why they didn't send a second shipping box.

According to an email they sent me, the second receiver is obsolete and not required to be returned.  This is in direct contradiction to what I was told last night on the customer service chat.  Think I'll print out that email and put a copy of it in with the receiver with the pertinent portions highlighted when I send it.

Should I invoice them for disposal of the second receiver?  Seems like they can be pretty heavy handed about what I'm expected to do to take care of their precious equipment, but won't take responsibility for proper disposal of their stuff when they don't want it any more. I think I should be compensated for the burden of seeing to it that it is disposed of properly.

I'm thinking $50 should cover it.

Not a bad idea.  Wonder if you could do that with a prepaid credit card?

UPDATE: Didn't get the box sent out Saturday.  I don't see how they can penalize me for this, since they sent me a box on Thursday and UPS is closed on Saturday (even though I plan to send it through the postal service).  They sent me a prepaid UPS label that I will not be using.

I might have posted earlier that I got an email stating that I didn't need to send back the SD receiver.  So, that's a plus, if they honor it.

But, I just got off the chat with another Dish representative to confirm that I got an LNBF waiver so I wouldn't have to climb up on my roof and disassemble my satellite dish.  And, the lady who was supposed to note that on my account had NOT done it. Surprise, surprise. So, the guy I talked with this evening said that he would note it (yeah, right).  I printed out the chat transcript as well as the email stating that I didn't have to send the second receiver.  I also wrote a note explaining why I wasn't returning any of that stuff, and to call me immediately if anything is amiss.

And of course, I will be sending it "signature required".

Dunno.  We'll see how it goes, but if what I've read about other people attempting to return receivers is true, I don't expect this to be over soon.  

Sigh.

Peppered my angus.

After reading a little more on some other sites, I found out that it is fairly common for Dish to contact former customers a few months after termination of service and complain that they didn't return equipment.  Some of these cases end up going to collection agencies.

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/dish-network-florida-c304965.html

So, I decided to get proactive.

Packed the box up and took pictures, but I didn't tape it shut. I included a printout of the chat in which the CSR told me that I didn't have to send back the LNB. Also included the copy of the email stating that I didn't have to send back the second receiver.

I typed up an inventory of the contents of the box and took the whole thing to the post office without sealing it.  Had the window clerk check the inventory of the box, including the serial number of the receiver, and sign off that he checked the items against the inventory list and watched me seal the box in front of him. He even stamped the inventory sheet with his postmark.  Shipped it with signature confirmation and $200 insurance.

I think I have all my bases covered.  Time will tell, but I've kept digital copies of all the documents and am watching the tracking numbers to make sure it gets there.  Should be arriving tomorrow.

Then, I wait to see if Dish Network will try to screw me.  I guess it's no big deal if they do at this point, since I'm covered for the price of the receiver, but regardless, if they mess this up, I'm heading back to the post office to see how to initiate a mail fraud investigation against them.

SOP for any of the providers. Guarantee that if you tried to cancel your cable service they'd pull the same tricks. Good luck with cable. They tend to raise rates a lot faster than Dish. (One of the more stable pricers in the biz.)

I just went all uverse. Only thing that sucks is that installation was scheduled for the 16 and i get an email for the 22.

Used a similar fib when I cancelled AT&T DSL.

Told them I was moving to Belize.
Canceled the account without any issue whatsoever.

DirecTV is no different. When I cut the cord 3 years ago they just could not fathom someone doing that. They kept trying to throw deals at me and I told them unless they were going to give me free service I was not interested. Took probably 30 minutes before the woman finally gave up. Sheesh.