Dish Network Dish Network demanding return of receivers, which are mine ,part of ATT bundled offer, Nationwide
In year 2006, ATT made a bundled offer for telephone, dish network and Internet service. The contract specified that the dish network equipment is mine to keep. Now when I terminate the dish network service, Dish Network is demanding that I return the network receivers back to them. There are multiple issues with this.
1. The original contract is between me and ATT. The equipment is offered for free and is installed by ATT. So Dish Network has to work with ATT and not make demands on me.
2.When I asked the service rep, she refused to produce any proof of ownership for the receivers which Dish Network is claiming to be theirs.
3. I own two receivers. In Aug 2014 I terminated the use of one receiver. At the time the service rep agreed verbally that I own the equipment and hence I need not return the same. When I asked about the service rep about this conversation, the rep refused to provide audio recording of this call, claiming that such record does not exist.
4. Moreover dish network has been charging me an "equipment charge" for the receivers for so many years. Early in 2008-2009 timeframe, when I demanded explanation for this charge, stating that I own the equipment, so why should I pay lease charges, I was told that these are not lease charges.
So I suggest to CA State Attorney General to look into this issue and make this company pay a refund the so called "equipment charges" to many consumers like me , sending a strong message that such a predatory behaviour is not acceptable, and CA state attorney general watching out for us consumers against such practices.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
sdk
Cupertino,California,
Do I have a proof of ownership
#3Author of original report
Sat, January 03, 2015
Question # 1:
Why do I need a receiver which is 8-9 years old.
As you rightly mentioned, I do not need these receivers.
But I get angry when some large corporation thinks that it can claim ownership of something, just because its own records say so. This is a disregard for law of the land.
Moreover I realise that based upon such records, Dish Network has been collecting "equipment charges" for last so many years.
That amount comes to about aprox $8 * 100Months = 800$.
I am once again angry because Dish Network has done so, just because it knows that the legal cost of protesting against such charges, is not justified.
Question # 2:
Do I have proof of ownership?
I guess that if I dig thru my paper records, I can find the original installation paperwork, to prove the ownership. But the real question is this, Dish Network is claiming ownershipp of some equipment at my premises. So isn't the onus of proof on Dish Network? If I lease a car and later claim that I own the car, the leasing company will immediately produce the original contract which clearly proves the ownership. It is also possible for Dish Network to produce a sample contract / offers being made by (SBCGlobal -- now ATT) during 2006. Point is Dish Network simply refuses to investigate, and tries to bulldoze me into following their policies. that the initial
Robert
Irvine,California,
So a question...
#3Consumer Comment
Sat, January 03, 2015
First of all I really don't know why a person would have a legitimate reason why they would even want to keep 8-9 year old receivers for a service you no longer have.
But here is a question...
You asked them for proof of ownership from them. So do you have any proof of ownership that says they are yours?