Now I understand those television commercials in which dolts, often young, are stunned to be informed of the number of subscriptions they have that they are paying for, but are not using.
Today, I discovered I’m a variation of such a dolt, admittedly an elderly one.
As recounted here a few days back in a screed about television, I use DISH for my television signal and had recently called to receive a $40 credit due my signal being unavailable for what turned out to be nine hours, plus or minus.
The DISH telephone agent I contacted then had indicated I would see the credit on my bill in about a day or two. I checked online numerous times since and saw nothing evident and so I called again today to check, this being four days after the fact.
Again, I used my loyalty phone number and again, the wait was minimal. This time, a bubbly sounding female who identified herself as Jo Hanna in Texas (we’re guessing at name spelling, but there was a definite pause between Jo and Hanna) walked me through the web side to some unlabeled, virtually hidden click points that produced a PDF copy of my billing.
She then pointed me to the small paragraphs on the extreme right side of page 2. I discovered, with her guidance, that I was at the end of my 24-month service period, entered into two years back to save some money.
Since I am on automatic billing and automatic pay as it is billed to my credit card, which in turn is automatically paid from my checking account, I receive no hard copy of my bills. And, I confess, I don’t read them word-for-word monthly online to pick up on any looming surprises.
In this case, my billing will be going up about $30 or $40 a month. This is how I missed the $40 credit. It’s been applied to my increased charge, which is delineated nowhere on the billing.
I was pleasant with Jo Hanna, but noted one would think DISH might send out an email reminder to those of us being billed electronically that the rate was changing. Jo Hanna remained bright and bubbly, but didn’t really buy this.
In a case of happy coincidence, Jo Hanna was not only technical support (neither she, nor I was sure why I’d gotten tech support), but also cross-trained in account services. Unfortunately for me, there are no inducements these days in which you lock in a commitment period of a couple of years and are rewarded with a lower rate for your loyalty.
I can, she happily reminded me, get the free upgrade to the Hopper satellite receiver, which in the past I have been told is free for the upgrade but costs more per month than my current dinosaur model. Jo Hanna assured me this is not true – the increased monthly fee.
Regardless, my television status stands at a crossroads. I watch a lot of television, as mentioned in the previous post. So do my wife and my two granddaughters, who are around quite a bit.
Our local cable television provider – which I use for internet access – should have a logo of masked individuals, such is their pricing policy. Also, customer service tends to be, shall we say, lacking. That’s why I’ve been with DISH for about 17 or 18 years.
I have come to this unfortunate juncture just as DISH is in turmoil. How it can struggle financially astounds me, but it seems to be true. As of the end of 2023, the DISH subscriber base was 6.47 million, down almost 1.75 million over the previous two years.
It’s been a long-term decline. DISH stock was about $80 a share in November 2014 and was $5.73 when the stock ceased trading.
That event occurred on Dec. 29, 2023, when DISH was delisted as a stock after having merged with EchoStar.
In recent weeks, there was a proposal from rival DirecTV to acquire DISH and Sling TV from Echo Star.
The price offered was $1, ironically the symbolic amount of the bet between two millionaires that was at the heart of the plot in the movie “Trading Places.” Also, DirecTV proposed to take over approximately $9.8 billion in DISH debt, an amount about $1.6 billion less than the total amount outstanding.
DISH debt holders balked at absorbing the $1.6 billion haircut and so, as of Friday Nov. 22, the deal reportedly won’t happen.
In the past, I have checked in on DirecTV and its offers paled in comparison to those offed by DISH. Maybe that is why DISH failed/is failing. Perhaps I will check in again with DirecTV, or hold my nose and call the cable people to find out if some sort of bundling of internet and television might save me money. Or maybe the TV just does dark?
Help!
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