Brandon's Personal Blog

Dish Network Woes

We recently moved from Texas to Colorado, and my parents drove in to help us with the move and see some of the sights in Colorado. My parents had never been to Colorado before, and they had a very limited amount of time for us to show them around because they needed to head back to Texas soon. We scheduled the Dish Network installation for Jan 16th from 12pm to 5pm, and got ready to drive into Denver with my family as soon as the installation was done.

We got a call confirming the window the day before, and we were assured that the installer would call us to give us a more specific time on the morning of the 16th. We waited around all day, but received no phone call and the installer never came. Finally, I called the customer service line to make sure that the installer was on his way. I spoke with Dan Cortes, who told me that the installer would not be here during the installation window. He wouldn’t be there until 6:30pm. I explained to Dan that I had family in, and that we couldn’t wait that long because we needed to leave. I asked him to reschedule the appointment with a specific time, and not a window. He agreed, and told me that the installer would be there at 8am on Jan 18th. I confirmed with him that this would be a specific time, not a window, and I asked him for a reference number for our conversation. He provided the number “wk5”.

On Jan 17th, I received a call from the installation company. The representative indicated that the appointment tomorrow was a window, not a specific time, and that the installer would be there anywhere between 8am to noon. I relayed the conversation with Dan, but the representative said that there was nothing she could do - there was no way to make the appointment occur specifically at 8.

I was already frustrated about the situation on the 16th, and decided that I could not continue to do business with a company that was untrustworhy and provided such misinformation. I called the Dish Network customer service line and spoke with Joanna. I explained the situation, and told her I would like to cancel my service. She processed the cancellation, and quoted me a final balance on the account. She said that if I returned the receiver, the final balance would be a credit of $45.06, which would be refunded to us. I confirmed the final balance, and then ended the call. On the 18th, I got a call from the installer, who was still planning on showing up. I explained that I’d cancelled my service the night before.

On Jan 23rd, I received a letter indicating that I owed an early termination fee of $105. I called in to the customer service line and spoke with Steve. He said that Joanna’s information was incorrect. She failed to disclose the termination fee, and her final balance was inaccurate. I explained to him that this kind of misinformation was the reason I was leaving Dish Network. I would not have made the decision to cancel my account were it not for the consistently inaccurate information and poor service that Dish Network provided. I asked that the $105 fee be waived because of Dish Network’s pattern of incorrect information and mistreatment. He refused, so escalated to Bella, a customer service supervisor.

Bella said that her ID number was #8SN. She said that there was no way that they would refund the fee, regardless of the history of poor service and misinformation. I explained to her that I was paying Dish Network in part for their service, and the repeated, egregious failures in customer service made it impossible to trust Dish Network and continue a business relationship with them. She told me that poor customer service does not void the contract. She said that Dish Network is providing TV service, and that “it’s not about customer service”. She said that if I have a problem with the customer service, then the only thing that she can do to rectify it is provide feedback to the phone representatives I spoke with previously.

It was shocking to hear a supervisor say that customer service was irrelevent, and had no bearing on the TV service that Dish Network provides. I would have thought that a supervisor would understand the important role that customer service plays in the vitality of a company, especially one with which there is such fierce competition. This callous response served not only to confirm my dissatisfaction with the customer service division, but it left me with a very bad impression of Dish Network as a whole. It’s much more expensive to gain a new customer than it is to keep an existing one, but if a company projects a reputation of being uncaring and cavalier about customer service it becomes increasingly difficult to do either.

Swamp Thing #2 was amazing! I never imagined that this character could be so interesting! Scott Snyder is an incredible writer!

So I just finished the Green Lantern movie, and I’m quite disappointed. The first 2/3rd of the movie was actually really good! The changes to the storyline were understandable, and the plot was still enjoyable. Then, all of the sudden it was like the filmmakers said “Oh crap, we’ve got to end this thing” and kicked it into “high gear”, throwing storyline and plausibility out the window. There was a distinct turning point where the movie cast aside all prior characterization, inserted a “rousing” call to arms speech that came out of nowhere, and instantly abandoned all pretense of credibility. The tension that had been building through the movie was resolved in mere minutes, with an altogether lackluster effort by the hero. The movie was closed with a summarizing cliche, and a sequel was set up without any attempt at showing motivation for the actions of the villain-to-be. The potential of the movie was hopelessly squandered, most likely leaving a bad taste in the mouth of would-be Green Lantern fans. *sigh* Maybe the inevitable “reboot” 5 years from now will be better…

DC takes the comic world by storm!

So far, I’m really enjoying the DC “new 52” that has been emerging this month.  I’ve only really been into comics for about a year now, but for most of that time I was pretty squarely in the Marvel camp.  I started out on X-Men, Wolverine, and Iron Man.  Slowly but surely, though, I felt DC drawing me in.  I began reading Batman and Green Lantern, and learned more about the other characters in their “multiverse”.

With the coming of the Flashpoint storyline and the relaunch of all of DC’s comics, though, the gentle tug was amplified a hundredfold.  I am hooked, and now definitely consider myself a DC devotee.  The new creative teams have been, for the most part, fantastic! The art has never been better, and the story arcs that are being teased with these first issues appear to be quite grand and exciting.  The subtle (and not so subtle) changes to the comic universe have been overwhelmingly good, and I love the steps that have been taken to modernize the characters’ appearance.

Read on to find out what I enjoyed most so far.

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American Vampire 13 to 18: Ghost War

I just finished up Ghost War, the latest storyline in the American Vampire comic by Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque.  A lot of people came to the American Vampire series because of Stephen King’s work on the first several issues.  I actually started following the series much later, after Scott had already began his run on Detective Comics.  It was Scott Snyder’s name that drew me to the comics, and his writing never ceases to amaze!

Despite my late arrival to the series, I started reading with issue #1.  I’m very glad I did, because the thrilling finale of the Ghost War storyline draws heavily from the events at the beginning of the comic.  Scott Snyder made a fantastic effort to reward the long-time readers of the series, while still making the story accessible to newcomers.

This story brings American Vampire out of the late Wild West era and into the struggle of World War 2.  The new setting works very well with Snyder’s characters, and I hope he keeps them in this time period for a little while longer. The vampire-hunting Vassals are growing into a larger and more influential organization in the world, and they draw Henry into a covert mission on a besieged island close to Japan.  The danger that awaits them is far more than they imagined, however.

The story is a great read with lots of exciting moments and plot development.  The epic conclusion that it builds up to plays out in a way that truly does not disappoint.  It’s going to be very interesting to see how the series continues after the events that unfolded on the island.

Rafael’s art just gets better and better.  The panels at times look like paintings, rendering the broad landscapes and visceral action in vibrant colors and harsh, jagged lines.  The recent “Strange Frontiers” issue that wasn’t drawn by Albuquerque made me realize just how much I enjoy his art.  It’s very good to see him back in action for this arc.

I really can’t think of anything I dislike about this story.  The surprise ending really has me on the edge of my seat, eager to see where Snyder takes his vampires next! I’d highly recommend Ghost War if you enjoy historical settings filled with the hissing, clawing, brutal vampires that you won’t find glistening in the sunlight.

The Higher Education Bubble

Time Magazine recently reported on a study showing that 85% of college graduates are now moving back home.  They are now saddled with crushing student loan debt, and they’re unable to find the work they were led to believe would be abundant once they graduated.

Many of those who are actually able to find jobs have to settle for low-paying work that doesn’t take advantage of their degree.  According to Doug French in the Christian Science Monitor, “In the United States, 80,000 bartenders as well as 317,000 waiters and waitresses have college degrees. Nearly a quarter of all retail salespersons have a college degree. In all, 17 million Americans with college degrees are working at jobs that do not require a bachelor’s degree.”

Successful businessman, hedge fund manager, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel was recently interviewed by TechCrunch.  He believes that education is the next big bubble that will burst.  “A true bubble is when something is overvalued and intensely believed.  Education may be the only thing people still believe in in the United States. To question education is really dangerous. It is the absolute taboo. It’s like telling the world there’s no Santa Claus.”

The article’s author, Sarah Lacy, goes on to say “Like the housing bubble, the education bubble is about security and insurance against the future. Both whisper a seductive promise into the ears of worried Americans: Do this and you will be safe. The excesses of both were always excused by a core national belief that no matter what happens in the world, these were the best investments you could make. Housing prices would always go up, and you will always make more money if you are college educated.”

In the New York Times, Hannah Seligson reports that “the median starting salary for those who graduated from four-year degree programs in 2009 and 2010 was $27,000”.  Is that really worth the price of admission?