I am going to mark 0 star if I can have the choice.
I shopped for cable service in February 2013, and a salesman from DISH called me and quoted my a price, but he never mentioned it was a TWO YEAR CONTRACT. I asked how much is the termination fee, he said "it is merely $20."
When the mechanic came in, he asked me to sign something and said this is for "I didn't break anything in your apartment." I nicely signed it, and after I signed it, he told me the service is a 2 year contract. I and my boyfriend called their customer service immediately, at at time they told me it is a 2 year contract, and the termination fee is $20 for the rest of the term, which could be more than $400. I immediately explained the salesman and mechanism's misrepresentation, and they told me they will try to solve it.
Meanwhile, from Feb. to now, I have been expecting their boxes so I can ship the equipments back, but never received that.
The same night, I called the customer service again, and the representative terminated the contract without ask my permission, and also said I will be charged for $99 activation fee. I dispute this penalty because I think the document I signed was invalid because of a misrepresentation and a lie, I never wanted the account, therefore I should not be charged with the activation fee. I called them several times, online chat with them, and set multiple emails through their web side, and here is the result: for the calls, I never get any meaningful reply. For the online chat, they told me they will note this account as "unauthorized charges." For emails, no response.
At the sometime, I called my bank (major bank in US) and explained this situation to them. Their fraud investigation team determined it is a fraud, and declined DISH's charge on my card. The charge include $99 activation fee, and amount $45 for services fee (As I stated above, I never had a minute of service, I refuse the contract as soon as I know the term, and made multiple calls to let them know that I refuse the service.)
While the amount is still in dispute, DISH send that amount to debt collection company. I have to pay the whatever amount in full, including the whole amount that my bank think it is a fraud, because their action is threaten my credit report.
So this is my experience, I never had a minute of service, and was fraud into a contract that I thought "the mechanic didn't break anything", and spent a long time frustrated talking with their customer service, online chatting, writing emails trying to work with them. This is a duress. read more