I’ve been down the proverbial path with Dish Network before; why I didn’t blog about it is beyond me (it may have been pre-Wordpress).

Regardless, take this tip: if you’ve got another option (i.e. DirecTV), your house isn’t pre-rigged for Dish (like mine), and you don’t have an innate desire to be brutally raped in your wallet…don’t get Dish.

This round of BS came in the form an “HD Readiness” charge. I’ve got HD receivers, and an HD dish…because I love watching the Chargers in the brilliance of HD. But because our TiVo doesn’t support HD (and I’m not willing to shill out $800 to upgrade it), and the girls – who watch all the non-football television in the house – don’t watch HD channels, I downgraded my Dish subscription by ditching the HD.

“Sir, I need to inform you that you will be charged a $6/month ‘HD Readiness’ charge if you cancel your HD service.”
“Ehh, what’s that?”
“Since you have HD equipment, but aren’t paying for an HD subscription, this is a monthly fee that keeps your HD status ready to go.”
“Change my receivers and dish, then.”
“Sir, we can’t do that.”
“Okay, since this is a scam, I’m going to call your bluff. I was prepared to delete the $20/month HD subscription, but replace it with a premium subscription to both HBO and Starz. Since you want to add $6 on top of THAT, I’ll just pass on the premium channels.”
“So you would consider adding the premium channels, if I waive the $6 HD Readiness fee?”
“Yep.”

“Okay, Sir, I can do that for you.”

Done, right?

Nope. This month’s bill has the blasted HD Readiness fee. After five minutes of agony with a woman whose English was like throwing a full Coke can in the blender, I requested a supervisor. Sam, the supervisor, came on a few minutes later.

After hearing my story, she sold out the lady from my first call; she didn’t “make any notes” in my account, but it was clear that my story made sense. Sam was able to extend my waived fee for five more months.

“Five months…okay, what happens in the sixth month?”
“Well, you will be charged for the HD Readiness fee.”
“You mean, I’ll be cancelling my Dish Network subscription, and pumping out a couple hundred extra dollars to deal with DirecTV instead.”
“That’s possible, Sir.”
“Either that, or I’ll call YOU back, threaten to quit, and you’ll extend my waiver for another five months.”
“That’s more likely, Sir.”
“Thanks for your honesty.”

Bite me, Dish.

technorati tags:dishnetwork, dish, scam, HD, television, customerservice