Dish Network Pay-as-you-go Problems

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by DGShaffer

Sorry but the instructions I was given is that I only had to pay for the month I used it. If I no longer wanted the service I was to simply not pay the next months bill. I may be stupid because to me it sounded pretty simple

Not stupid at all, Don. That's what the FAQ says, so that should be the way it works. We have always called to cancel because our trips are short-term and we can save the part of the month that we paid for but didn't use. Plus, they have our credit card on file and I don't want "unauthorized charges" in case they should keep billing us.

Also, it's helpful to set up a mydish.com ID online; you can view your account status at any time. I just checked our account and there is a $41.15 credit still there since last October. To restart our service, I simply pay ~$36 because the package we use is $77/month.

[billyb]

ok I have a question, can you cancel the home service while you are on the road and running the mobile setup paying the 7. 00 service

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by billyb

ok I have a question, can you cancel the home service while you are on the road and running the mobile setup paying the 7. 00 service

I wouldn't think so. I believe the $7 monthly RV rate is because you have the service at your home.

[lllkrob]

Originally Posted by billyb

ok I have a question, can you cancel the home service while you are on the road and running the mobile setup paying the 7. 00 service

No, the $7 is the charge for having the extra receiver in your MH active. If you cancel your home service you have NO DISH Network service to receive, and DISH will want any leased receivers returned immediately.

[Mckeerw]

OK all… I started this topic, and thanks to several of the good replies above have made good progress.
After several dead ends, I finally ended up at DISH 800-333-3474, where I was told to ask for “RV Support, Dr. DISH.” I’m not kidding! And… it worked!

I spoke to an agent who was very familiar with the plan, admitted that reps at the regular DISH customer support were not knowledgeable, told me my account was not coded properly, and made the changes.
Here’s a short recap. Yes, you are supposed to be able to pre-pay a month, then just let it expire or renew (Pre-pay) on a month to month basis, call when you want to reactivate. What he recommended was calling when I want it shut off (use the term “Free Pause” @ 800-333-3474) It can stay paused for up to 9 months. When it goes on pause you will keep a credit on the account equal to the unused portion of the 30 day pre-pay. There is no $7.00/month fee. Call that same number to reactivate the account, pre-pay another 30 days (minus any existing credit), and you should be back in business. Do it as often as you want.
Be sure to have them verify on the first call that the account is coded as a “SNOWBIRD” account. (Thank you Bussinit reply #4!)

I was given the agent’s name and I.D.: Jerry, 93G
He also gave me a confirmation number showing the account was properly coded for future reference.

BTW… dishformyrv.com is not a DISH network website, but is an authorized retailer. They were very helpful when I spoke to them on the phone and getting me pointed in the right direction.

[sdennislee]

Thanks for the recap. I will follow the steps you have listed.

[gmpartsvet]

All that information would have saved me a ton of trouble over the last couple years. I had dish at the house so taking a receiver with the coach and changing the service location was never a problem. Then three years ago I wanted to upgrade to HD and the tech came out to change the dish on the house. He tried for half a day to find a location to pick up either the east or west HD satellite and couldn't because of all the trees, so we switched to cable at the house and dish pay-as-you-go for the rv.

Every time I wanted to use rv we had an issue with Dish like many of you have said. I was told a number of times we could only stop service for 6 months, or stop only once during the year. I got tired of calling and arguing about charges that they would then credit back. Last year I went up on my STEEP roof with my ipad and a satellite finder app and found a spot where I could get all 3 sats, and had DISH put back on the house, dropped cable, problem solved.

[smiller]

Originally Posted by Mckeerw

OK all… I started this topic, and thanks to several of the good replies above have made good progress.
After several dead ends, I finally ended up at DISH 800-333-3474, where I was told to ask for “RV Support, Dr. DISH.” I’m not kidding! And… it worked!

I spoke to an agent who was very familiar with the plan, admitted that reps at the regular DISH customer support were not knowledgeable, told me my account was not coded properly, and made the changes.
Here’s a short recap. Yes, you are supposed to be able to pre-pay a month, then just let it expire or renew (Pre-pay) on a month to month basis, call when you want to reactivate. What he recommended was calling when I want it shut off (use the term “Free Pause” @ 800-333-3474) It can stay paused for up to 9 months. When it goes on pause you will keep a credit on the account equal to the unused portion of the 30 day pre-pay. There is no $7.00/month fee. Call that same number to reactivate the account, pre-pay another 30 days (minus any existing credit), and you should be back in business. Do it as often as you want.
Be sure to have them verify on the first call that the account is coded as a “SNOWBIRD” account. (Thank you Bussinit reply #4!)

I was given the agent’s name and I.D.: Jerry, 93G
He also gave me a confirmation number showing the account was properly coded for future reference.

BTW… dishformyrv.com is not a DISH network website, but is an authorized retailer. They were very helpful when I spoke to them on the phone and getting me pointed in the right direction.

Sorry to complicate things further but I just called Dish, was transferred to RV Support/Dr. Dish, and was told that if I pause the account there will be a monthly debit of $5/month until I reactivate. That agent said that as a pre-pay RV customer what I should do is deactivate the account which will leave any remaining service credit intact until I reactivate. The agent noted the amount of the remaining credit in my account record and said it would be applied when I reactivated. I was also told that a 'snowbird' account is not an RV account and as a travelling RVer an RV account (not snowbird) is what I should (and do) have.

I went over this several times with two agents and both said this is what I should be doing, although I still have no confidence as to which is really correct. In the end I guess it doesn't really matter as both actions have the same result (you preserve unused service credit) but it sure would be nice if one of these days two separate callers could actually get the same story!

[Dr4Film]

Actually, SarahW has stated a few times on this thread about cancelling when you no longer need the service preserving the months unused balance until service is started once again.

To me that seems to be the best method unless you choose to only pay by the month and then let it lapse after the month.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[wa8yxm]

When I got a pay-as-you-go Dish, I decided to not renew it after the 1st month.. Suddenly I started getting past due notices IN MY WIFE's NAME (Wife is deceased and never had a Dish account)

The letter I sent them did not contain any improper language.. However I did feel the need to hold the fire extinguisher and stand near the printer while it printed. (I basically offered to sue them if they sent another bill).

[JFXG]

We've been using Dish for almost two years. A few glitches in the early months, then I realized that in spite of their almost perfect accents, much of the time you're dealing with non-English speakers. Just something in the way things don't quite connect, they don't quite register the vernacular.

Anyway, once I picked up on that, it got simple: when I call 855 318-0572, the first thing I say is that I'm in an RV and I want to speak with someone in the RV department. Then I just say I want to change my SERVICE address. As others have pointed out, this is important. The service address is your physical location. Also, have a real, complete address ready. Use the campground address. Its right on all the paperwork you got when you checked in. They have to input a complete address, incl zip, or the system won't work for them. Occasionally, the rep will ask for my former service address, just to verify, then they ask for the new address. Only takes a few minutes, and the new local stations download within about 10 minutes.

Now, in fairness, we fulltime, so we have no other account to confuse things, and we've only shut off the service once, when we were parked at a place for about 6 weeks where we were totally blocked by trees and used the park's cable. Other than that once, we leave it constantly active, and have no problems.

[BigBill3111]

Originally Posted by Sofakleez

I just got the pay as you go plan through Dish and I was told that you just stop paying when you want to suspend service. Nothing was said about having to call or paying a $5/month fee. This is direct from the Dish website:

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it true there is no commitment, activation, disconnect nor restart fees?

Yes. There is no commitment required, activation, disconnect nor restart fees. When you are no longer using your service you can simply stop paying your monthly bill.

Here's the URL: http://www.dishformyrv.com/frequently-asked-questions/

That is not the "DISH NETWORK" site, it is a site for an authorized dealer for them.

I have the Tailgater with the $7.00 per month added to my home service plan. I haven't used it for several months now, and probably won't be using it for a couple more, but I continue to pay the $7.00 per month rather than to try to deal with the idiots that work there. I will find the email back and forth conversation that I had with them over stopping my service, and copy it to this forum. I can't deal with stupidity. I went with the customer service numbers and email chat that was on the actual DISH Network site. The tailgater works good and is a great concept, but there is a reason that Dish is one of the top five or so most hated companies by customers AND employees.

I have realized that the phone number in the owners manual that came with the Tailgater is the only one to try to use.

[ahicks]

I just set up a Dish account for a home I plan on using 6 months out of the year. I went with a bare bones basic plan, to be paid on a monthly basis. There was no big prepay or deposit required, no "activation" fee, I didn't have to invest a dime in any equipment, and though I did agree to a 2 year contract, I can transfer the account to a different address, or suspend the service for up to 9 months at a time - without incurring ANY fees. First year is 23.00 a month with all the taxes, and the second year jumps 10.00. Total initial cost, including the first month of service, was 44.00?

Bonus was a buddy (already on Dish) and I went through the referral process and each received a 50.00 sign on/referral bonus?

This, from what I have seen reading through all the above posts, seems pretty reasonable? Is there a reason something very similar couldn't be done with an RV?

[bdickson]

Originally Posted by JFXG

We've been using Dish for almost two years. A few glitches in the early months, then I realized that in spite of their almost perfect accents, much of the time you're dealing with non-English speakers. Just something in the way things don't quite connect, they don't quite register the vernacular.

Anyway, once I picked up on that, it got simple: when I call 855 318-0572, the first thing I say is that I'm in an RV and I want to speak with someone in the RV department. Then I just say I want to change my SERVICE address. As others have pointed out, this is important. The service address is your physical location. Also, have a real, complete address ready. Use the campground address. Its right on all the paperwork you got when you checked in. They have to input a complete address, incl zip, or the system won't work for them. Occasionally, the rep will ask for my former service address, just to verify, then they ask for the new address. Only takes a few minutes, and the new local stations download within about 10 minutes.

Now, in fairness, we fulltime, so we have no other account to confuse things, and we've only shut off the service once, when we were parked at a place for about 6 weeks where we were totally blocked by trees and used the park's cable. Other than that once, we leave it constantly active, and have no problems.

That is exactly what we do, except we call 888 309 0370 which connects straight to the "RV Department". Most of the techs I've spoken to there are based in Denver CO.