Dish Network

[crsemt1258]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin
Hi has anyone else heard of this happening?
My girlfriend got behind on her Dish Network Payments in December & January. She made a 1 time check payment online for $30.00 to at least show them she was trying to pay something. About 2 weeks later she deposited her payroll check, and within the next day she was overdrawn. Dish network accessed her account without permission and withdrew $400.00, putting her over $100.00 overdrawn. She filed a dispute with the bank, but the said they will not cover anymore checks for her before this is settled. Dish Network now wants the receiver back before they will return the money. She is at least $300.00 and some dollars overdrawn now. Can they do this legally without permission? I see nothing in their residential contract that says they can do this? Is there a basis for a lawsuit of some kind?

 

[You Are Guilty]

What is the name of your state? Wisconsin
Hi has anyone else heard of this happening?
My girlfriend got behind on her Dish Network Payments in December & January. She made a 1 time check payment online for $30.00 to at least show them she was trying to pay something. About 2 weeks later she deposited her payroll check, and within the next day she was overdrawn. Dish network accessed her account without permission and withdrew $400.00, putting her over $100.00 overdrawn. She filed a dispute with the bank, but the said they will not cover anymore checks for her before this is settled. Dish Network now wants the receiver back before they will return the money. She is at least $300.00 and some dollars overdrawn now. Can they do this legally without permission? I see nothing in their residential contract that says they can do this? Is there a basis for a lawsuit of some kind?

Unless you're a lawyer, you'll have to post the contract for anyone to know for sure.

 

[crsemt1258]

Part 1

www.dishnetwork.com
Standard Residential Agreement. I tried to post on here, but it is too long.
Thanks,
Scott

 

[luskg]

Can your girlfriend prove she only authorized $30? If so you are only liable for $50 of unauthorized transfers. Make sure she gets everything to them (the bank) in writing.

What your girlfriend should really do is return the reciever to Dish Network like they ask. If she can not make payment the company has the right to their equipment back.

 

[Halobear]

She should be able to go back to Dish Network's website and pull up every online payment she's ever made...she needs to make SURE that she changed the amount showing from the total balance due (which is what shows when you sign in by default--I have Dish Network myself and only pay online EVER) to $30.00. If she didn't, she'll have to either ante up the rest of what she owes or turn her equipment back in, sad to say...did she call them first to try and make arrangements for this partial payment of $30? If not, then they also don't have to accept a partial payment...

 

[You Are Guilty]

I see nothing in that contract that permits them to take any payments from a bank account at all. Unless you signed something else that would give them permission to do so, you are only liable for up to $50 of any unauthorized withdrawal (and if you argue with customer service enough, you might even be able to get them to waive the $50).

 

[Fat Tony]

You have to remember something. When you signed up for Dish Network, they required a credit card to secure the account. Was it a debit card off this same checking account? If so, they have every right to pull it if the account is in default, and this was explained to you at time of purchase when they asked for a credit card number. The only way you set up Dish Network service without a CC guarantee is if (A) You bought the equipment outright, or (2) You signed up through a 3rd party distributor, normally a local telephone company such as SBC or Bell South. Have your girlfriend check into that.

PS After re-reading the post, I see they took $400. Thats the equipment cost, I believe. Was her service disconnected at the time?

 

[You Are Guilty]

If so, they have every right to pull it if the account is in default, and this was explained to you at time of purchase when they asked for a credit card number.

Is your crystal ball that much better than mine? Where did you get this from? It certainly wasn't in the contract on their web site.

 

[Fat Tony]

I am a Dish Dealer.

 

[You Are Guilty]

I am a Dish Dealer.

Ok, and I'm a crack dealer, but that still doesn't mean I can take what I want from a client's bank account. What contract did the OP sign that permits the direct withdrawal?

 

[Fat Tony]

The client will sign some sort of addendum when the dish is installed that allows Echostar to hold their CC number as a deposit. Sometimes they will even make you go on an "autopay" type agreement where they agree to pay the bill each month from a credit or debit card, depending on your credit. I dont know which contract you are looking at on their website, but you have to remember that Dish has several different types of plans and levels of services, and different contracts and addendums for each. I never said anything about the dealer taking any money from the account, Echostar itself does. I was offering insight into the OPs question, as he was not telling the full story. And who cares about you being a crack dealer? How much for a quarter hard then?

 

[You Are Guilty]

I can give you the 15% hooker discount, but the point is the OP, who is clearly never coming back here so I don't know why we're bothering, claimed he never signed such an authorization. Granted, he might have and not realize it, but I'm just going on what he's claiming.

As an aside, while sitting in Federal court last week, the case before mine was a contract dispute between a sub and Echostar concerning payment of their fees - apparently, from what I could hear, Echostar's standard contract says that if their suscribers do not pay, they don't have to pay their subs for the installs. That's some good lawyering!

 

[Fat Tony]

Its sick man, I lose so much in chargebacks its outrageous. The way it works is that if you are a dealer, like myself, you buy the equipment from Echostar COD or 30 day terms. When the customer establishes service, in most cases, we give them the equipment for free and install it for free, only collecting a very small fee from the customer, normally $50. We then pay our installers. Follow along, Im now out the price of the equipment (around 3-4 hundred) and the installers pay ($125). Echostar then sends me a comission check for my commission, as well as the reimbursement for equipment (whatever my cost was) and installation ($150). If that customer disconnects before 90 days, I lose everything including commissions and rebates, and it is up to me to collect the boxes and uninstall the dish, as it now belongs to me. If they disconnect between day 91 and 180, I lose all my commissions and install credits, but they eat the equipment costs, and its up to them to collect the equipment. Its a bad system, butr both Dish and DirecTV work almost the same, so if you're in this business, you have no choice. I had this as my main business back in 1999-2001, but you cant make any real profit at it with such a screwed up commission structure. I just keep the acct going and sell mostly to family, friends, and personal contacts now, that way I still recieve residuals. Didnt mean to tell you my life story, just wanted to vent.