Death doesn't stop Dish Network bills
Hoodoo
Thursday, May. 27, 2010
By DAVE LIEBER
http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/05/27/2223163/death-doesnt-stop-dish-network.html
Here's my nomination for worst customer service story of the year --
both for the customer and for me, trying to learn what happened.
Elizabeth Cordry of Fort Worth died Jan. 27 at 85. Yet her
month-to-month contract with satellite TV company Dish Network
threatened to live forever.
After her son, Robert -- who lived with and cared for his disabled
mother -- buried her, he paid her utility bills and canceled the accounts.
On Feb. 21, he called Dish and informed the company that his mother had
died. He recalls that the customer service rep told him, "Well, if she's
deceased, you've got to send a death certificate."
He refused.
He told me: "She didn't have a contract. Most of the contracts are for a
year, but it was a month-to-month deal. We had the right to cancel that
thing as far as I know."
After that, he received robo-phone calls and more bills.
He called many times, once asking a rep, "What do I have to do? Go to
court to get off the Dish bill?"
On one bill, he wrote on the unopened envelope "DECEASED. Notified of
disconnect." He mailed it back.
The debt was passed to a collection agency, which demanded $180.
He called: "I kept telling them the same thing, and it's like talking to
a wall. It was really on my nerves. Her house is in probate. We've got a
lot of balls up in the air. We don't have time to argue with them."
He contacted The Watchdog.
I passed his complaint on to Dish. Robert Cordry got a call from the
company.
"They canceled the debt," he says. "They said they'd give her a $25
credit if she wants to hook up again.
"I said, 'She's deceased. What good would that do her? What's she going
to do? Come back and use it?'"
After I wrote Dish for further comment, spokeswoman Allyson Mylrea sent
me this:
"Here is our official statement re: Mr. & Mrs. Cordry." (Note from The
Watchdog: Mother and son were NOT married.)
"Dish Network sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience to Mr. Cordry.
Once we were made aware of the issue, we immediately reached out to him
in order to correct the situation. We have since refunded his money and
waived all cancellation fees and charges he would be assessed. Please
let me know if you need anything else."
I had more questions: Why did this happen? What is the company policy?
What should customers do to avoid this?
There was no response, so I wrote again: "I am concerned that I haven't
heard from you despite repeated attempts to talk to someone in the press
office before I hand my column in for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I
always want to talk to all sides in any story before I go to publication
out of fairness and my earnest desire for accurate information."
Mylrea wrote back, "You can call me. However, I will let you know that I
am not allowed to go into much deeper details of the issue. In these
types of situations, it is only up to the customer to provide specific
details on the resolution and details of the situation."
I called. She didn't return my call.
I sought guidance from John Riggins, president of the Better Business
Bureau at Fort Worth. He looked up Dish Network's record: 13,000
complaints nationally in three years.
The BBB website reports that last year Dish settled a claim with 46
states, including Texas, charging the company with unfair and deceptive
sales practices.
Companies with low profit margins tend to scrimp on customer service,
Riggins said. Reps have scenarios to read back to customers, and they
often don't have authority to go beyond that when situations may differ.
If someone dies, the script might state, "Send us a death certificate."
He continued, "In this day and age, it's easier to go public than it
ever has been. You've got the Internet, blogs, reporters, a lot of
different ways."
That gave me an idea. I went to my Twitter account (@DaveLieber) and
tweeted this:
"DISH Network media relations: Are you there?? You ignored me for days
as I write column on deadline 'bout poor customer service."
Many companies monitor tweets that mention them. Within minutes, Mylrea
e-mailed me: "Just saw your tweet." She was sorry she didn't call me
back. "I didn't have time." She repeated that she couldn't share details.
"That's your decision," I e-mailed back. "And I will share it with the
readers. My hundreds of thousands of them."
Then I searched Twitter for other comments about Dish in the previous hours:
"@Joshe99 dishnetwork not now. I cancelled my service after 4 months of
fighting with Dish network. I call that bad customer service."
"@iMarkusAnthony Goodbye Dish network, hello DirecTV!"
"@jonrcrowell #Dish Network punishes loyal customers."
"@zdove918 Never use Dish Network. Poor poor poor customer service."
On the World Wide Web, that's called the wisdom of crowds.
The Watchdog column appears Fridays and Sundays.
--
Trout Mask Replica
KFJC.org, WFMU.org, WMSE.org, or WUSB.org;
because the pigoenholed programming of music channels
on Sirius Satellite, and its internet radio player, suck
R H Draney
>
>"They canceled the debt," he says. "They said they'd give her a $25
>credit if she wants to hook up again.
>
>"I said, 'She's deceased. What good would that do her? What's she going
>to do? Come back and use it?'"
I've dealt with them in nearly identical circumstances...they seem utterly
incapable of grasping that death is permanent....r
--
"Oy! A cat made of lead cannot fly."
- Mark Brader declaims a basic scientific principle
BobF
Previously on alt.obituaries (29 May 2010 00:16:43 -0700 to be exact),
R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote thusly:
>Hoodoo filted:
>>
>>"They canceled the debt," he says. "They said they'd give her a $25
>>credit if she wants to hook up again.
>>
>>"I said, 'She's deceased. What good would that do her? What's she going
>>to do? Come back and use it?'"
>
>I've dealt with them in nearly identical circumstances...they seem utterly
>incapable of grasping that death is permanent....r
It's not just the idiots at the Dish Network. My wife and I ran into
the same lack of competence when her mother died. Even the idiot
lawyer who handled the estate kept sending her mother monthly
newsletters long after the estate had been wound up.
In the case of my wife's aunt, the pencil pushers in the UK (and it's
full of them) wanted to see the death certificate before they'd close
various accounts - even though she'd lived in small village, was very
well known and they bloody well knew she'd died. Some assholes just
like to take advantage of the little bit of power they've been given.
Like the lard assed security assholes at airports.
--
Subject: Re: (OT) Man with a gun: Jerry Lewis at Las Vegas airport
> He didn't know it was in his bag? I always know exactly what's in my bag
> when I travel. Nothing goes in that I don't know about.
Your wife (or son, etc.) sneaks the gun into your bag
because she wants to get even with you for ordering her to do something she
didn't want to do.
> That excuse sounds very lame.
*Now*, how does your excuse sound?
Lame-o, or a distinct possibility?
- From "The Sayings of Roy"
MWB
However...I LOVE DISH
GO DISH
Mark
R H Draney
>
>
>Previously on alt.obituaries (29 May 2010 00:16:43 -0700 to be exact),
>R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net> wrote thusly:
>
>>Hoodoo filted:
>>>
>>>to do? Come back and use it?'"
>>
>>I've dealt with them in nearly identical circumstances...they seem utterly
>>incapable of grasping that death is permanent....r
>
>full of them) wanted to see the death certificate before they'd close
>various accounts - even though she'd lived in small village, was very
>well known and they bloody well knew she'd died. Some assholes just
>like to take advantage of the little bit of power they've been given.
And then there's Sprint...I called them up to tell them she had died, close the
account and settle up her final phone bill:
Me: "How much is the amount due?"
Sprint: "I can't give you that information"
Me: "Then how am I supposed to settle up?"
Sprint: "I can take a payment over the phone"
Me: "Okay, let's do that then"
Sprint: "How much did you want to pay?"
Me: "The full balance"
Sprint: "Sure. Let me just get the number of the account you'll be paying
from"
Me: "And I'll need the amount of the payment for my records"
Sprint: "I can't give you that information"
Me: "So you want me to give you access to take money out of my account, but you
can't tell me either before or after the fact how much you're going to take?"
Sprint: "It's a privacy regulation"
End of story is that whatever that last bill was, Sprint had to eat the whole
thing....r
Tim J.
wrote:
>On Feb. 21, he called Dish and informed the company that his mother had
>died. He recalls that the customer service rep told him, "Well, if she's
>deceased, you've got to send a death certificate."
Primestar treated my mother the same way when my father died. She was
simply trying to get the bill into her name instead of his. I finally
had to call Primestar and "impersonate" my father and request the
account be closed. She was then able to switch to Dish without
problem.
Brian
>Primestar treated my mother the same way when my father died. She was
>simply trying to get the bill into her name instead of his. I finally
>had to call Primestar and "impersonate" my father and request the
>account be closed. She was then able to switch to Dish without
>problem.
My mother had a similar problem with Comcast. The account is in my
father's name and he is deceased. She wanted to get her name on the
bill and change some service. they wouldn't do it without a death
certificate.
I called and got asked them to make the changes she wanted but I think
the account is still in his name.
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
> And then there's Sprint...I called them up to tell them she had died,
> close the account and settle up her final phone bill:
>
> Me: "How much is the amount due?" Sprint: "I can't give you that
> information" Me: "Then how am I supposed to settle up?" Sprint: "I
> can take a payment over the phone" Me: "Okay, let's do that then"
> Sprint: "How much did you want to pay?" Me: "The full balance"
> Sprint: "Sure. Let me just get the number of the account you'll be
> paying from" Me: "And I'll need the amount of the payment for my
> records" Sprint: "I can't give you that information" Me: "So you
> want me to give you access to take money out of my account, but you
> can't tell me either before or after the fact how much you're going
> to take?" Sprint: "It's a privacy regulation"
That is astounding in its stupidity!
> End of story is that whatever that last bill was, Sprint had to eat
> the whole thing....r
They should with that type of business attitude.
Tim J.
wrote:
>R H Draney <dado...@spamcop.net>, on Sat May 29 2010 13:17:27 GMT-0500
>(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
>
>> And then there's Sprint...I called them up to tell them she had died,
>> close the account and settle up her final phone bill:
>>
>> Me: "How much is the amount due?" Sprint: "I can't give you that
>> information" Me: "Then how am I supposed to settle up?" Sprint: "I
>> can take a payment over the phone" Me: "Okay, let's do that then"
>> Sprint: "How much did you want to pay?" Me: "The full balance"
>> Sprint: "Sure. Let me just get the number of the account you'll be
>> paying from" Me: "And I'll need the amount of the payment for my
>> records" Sprint: "I can't give you that information" Me: "So you
>> want me to give you access to take money out of my account, but you
>> can't tell me either before or after the fact how much you're going
>> to take?" Sprint: "It's a privacy regulation"
>
>That is astounding in its stupidity!
>
>> End of story is that whatever that last bill was, Sprint had to eat
>> the whole thing....r
>
>They should with that type of business attitude.
But, you do have to look at it from their POV. How do they know it
isn't some enemy of the "decedent" trying to get their service turned
off as an act of revenge/harassment? When my father died, we ordered
about 8 copies of his death certificate to use to cancel several
accounts he had and apply for payouts on a couple of insurance
policies. My mother had erroneously assumed she was on the Primestar
account, but we ran through all of the death certificates before
dealing with Primestar. It was easier and faster to impersonate my
father than to get another copy of the DC. Failing that, I would have
given them the probate case number and told them to file a claim with
the court.
Hoodoo
(Central Daylight Time), spoke thusly:
> Failing
> that, I would have given them the probate case number and told them
> to file a claim with the court.
That seems like a logical course of action (which most folks may not
think to do).
Let them deal with the hassle of obtaining payment rather than forcing
you to jump through hoops (when attempting to do the right thing) or
resort to improper activity to merely settle a debt a relative owed them.