DishNetwork service story:
Last June I wanted to switch from TimeWarnerCable due to their shortage of HD channels but still my monthly bill is about $60. I saw a Dish ad in a newspaper offering service for $14.95 with hundreds of HD channels, so I called the number and negotiated a package finally for $44.95 after promo period with all my favorite (mostly sports and Discovery family) channels in HD. The next day a technician came and installed their equipment and service; immediately I saw that some of my favorite channels were missing (like NBATV) and I called Dish for explanation. I was told that with all my channels my price after promo would be not $44.95 but $84.95 monthly, which made me feel sorry for myself and I decided to cancel despite their threat of cancelation fee of $300 - that for being a victim of cheating and using their signal for several minutes! After couple of days I saw the charge online and immediately called Citibank with my complaint since I never authorized Dish to charge my credit card and didn't sign any agreement or contract which would justified the charge. First, at Citibank they told me that they open a dispute regarding this charge, but when I talked with them today due to the charge still being on my account after almost 6 weeks, I was told that since I gave Dish my credit card number, they cannot do anything if its the company's cancelation policy. By this logic, I have to be happy it's only $300 - could be $3000000 or more! I called TWC and reinstalled their service for some extra charge, and for 2 days I did not have TV service. I'm 71, a retired and disabled person living on SSB income (kind of low since I was never a public employee) and $300 is a lot of money for me, especially to pay it for the lies, deceit and cheating! Also a terrible customer service, no grace period (should be at least 3 days!) even with instant detection of their cheating and instant cancelation! Please help! Thanks