DISH really doesn’t want returning customers??

As you must know from my previous post about no longer having or wanting Comcast, I’m trying to get DISH.

But since I had DISH a couple of years ago, it seems that DISH network will not sell me DISH service again. I called DISH a couple of times and was given the same information by both reps. The first one flatly refused to give me DISH unless I bought all the equipment and paid for installation or installed myself. The second one said that I needed to contact a retailer to get DISH and gave me a few numbers.

So I called a retailer (VMC) this morning (because none of the 24/7 retailers pick up the phone at night), who after charging me $10 for a credit check (DISH won’t sell you satellite TV without a credit check!!) tells me that I can’t be setup as a new customer because I already had DISH before and gave me a number to the DISH fraud line to get my old account deleted.

While being on hold for about half an hour with the DISH fraud line, I was getting frustrated enough to actually hang up and get DirecTV, but they don’t offer the same Hindi programming that DISH does so it has to be DISH. Anyway the Fraud alert guy put some note on the account asking the retailer to call him. He was apologetic and said that this whole thing was for my protection (my ass). He indirectly hinted that I originally had DISH through Embarq and the problem was because how the account was closed. Now I don’t remember if I posted about this or not, but never never ever get DISH through Embarq – they will send you wrong bills, not correct them in time, send you incorrect late fees and in general make your life a misery. Do not bundle Embarq + DISH. It doesn’t cost less and increases your problems.

Ofcourse I never got a call back from VMC so I called back and talked to someone else, who continued the process. She called DISH (another 10 minute hold) and they required her to call back and have both people on the line at the same time. So she called again with me on the line, got forwarded once wihtout the support even caring about what she had to say, one more 15 minute hold. Still no resolution to the problem so the VMC lady (also probably frustrated at this point with DISH) said she’ll get someone from DISH on the line first and then call me back. At this time I’m pissed enough to just live without TV but we have parents visiting soon and they’ll need TV. Once the DISH contract is over I’m seriously considering getting rid of everything and just living with Blockbuster online and Internet.

Anyway she called me back in 10 minutes and gave me the DISH fraud number again to get setup. So if you already had DISH in your life ever and are switching back, don’t call DISH, don’t call a retailer, just call 1-888-237-4278. I called again, got someone else and she went to find the first guy who put the note on my account (= more hold time) and I was asked to call the retailer again because DISH installation schedules would be much slower than the resellers. Anyway this time I accidentally called allsat instead of VMC and I just told the allsat lady that I already went through everything before and I just need her to call 1-888-237-4278 and have them on the line the same time as me and it was all done in about 15 minutes.

If you are a new customer considering DISH, just skip calling DISH and just call a retailer. Here are a few options:
VMC (10$ fee)
Dish Pronto (15$ fee, don’t get lured by their free offerings – they are not worth the effort)
Allsat ($0 fee)

Sidd’s Tip:If you read between the lines here, you will see that you can skip the credit check part if you call up a reseller and tell them you already went through the process once. Allsat only wanted the last 4 of my social because the lady thought I went through that whole process with them before. Well, VMC lost some commission from DISH. Anyway I’m an Allsat affiliate and I’m hoping that I get the commission for this order. That would make the wasted hours sort of worthwhile.

3 thoughts on “DISH really doesn’t want returning customers??

  1. Embarq Joey says:

    Sidd,

    Sorry to hear that you were not satisfied with your Embarq service. Can I help? I know you said it’s been a few years, but if there’s anything I can do, please let me know.

    You can email me at Embarq_Joey@embarq.com or follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Embarq_Joey.

    Thanks.

  2. Sidd says:

    Actually I’m pretty happy with my Embarq DSL (I get the full bandwidth whenever I want it) and phone service (it could be cheaper with fewer fees but well you can’t have everything). It was just that bundling DISH didn’t work too well.

  3. Jacquelin Twiss says:

    I used Embarg to get Dish Network — HUGH MISTAKE. I was promised a $25.00 visa gift card for switching to Dish with them. The card was suppose to arrive in 3 – 4 weeks after I signed up.

    NO CARD! And when I called to find out about my card, Claude Grimer, the “supervisor” told me, they were not honoring their promotions, so sorry — too bad, if I didn’t like it I could go to Dish to see if they would honor it.

    Yea. That’s what the SOS consumer protection agency is for. Of course, I probably won’t ever see the gift card but at least I can hopefully stop them from SCAMMING someone else

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