I’ve had my share of troubles with Dish Network customer service in the past, but this just about takes the cake… This past month, our bill was a bit higher than normal. When I investigated, I discovered that we were charged $3.99 for a pay-per-view movie that we never ordered. No, $3.99 isn’t a huge deal. But after all the trouble that they’ve given us, I’m not willing to pay them a penny more than absolutely necessary.
Because their phone service is atrocious and has extensive hold times, I decided to contact them via their website late last week. Within the prescribed 24-48 hours, I received a canned response that basically said “tough luck.” Here’s the text of their response:
Thank you for your e-mail. Please understand all pay-per-view (PPV) movies are non-refundable once ordered. Our technical specialists have done exhaustive troubleshooting on tuners that were reported to have ordered pay-per-view events independently and have found it is not possible for a tuner to do so. The system requires that you confirm your purchase two times before the order will process.
The process to order a PPV includes:
1) Tuning to an event from the guide or channel itself.
2) Pressing the “Select†button go to the order screen.
3) Pressing the “Select†button again to order the PPV.
4) Pressing the right arrow button to highlight “Yes.â€
5) Pressing the “Select†button to confirm the order.
6) Pressing the “Select†button to run the phone test.
7) Finally, pressing the “Select†button again to acknowledge the test results.
We regret that it is not possible to make the credit, as you have requested. If you are unaware of how these movies were ordered on your system, you may choose to either lock out your system’s pay-per-view feature (menu, 5, 3) or call us at 1-800-333-3474 to have a supervisor permanently disable your pay-per-view. Both options will prevent pay-per-views from being ordered on your system in the future without your prior explicit approval.
We thank you for allowing us to be of assistance to you. If you have any further questions or concerns, please refer to www.dishnetwork.com or reply to this email.
In short, they claim that it’s impossible for their system to make an error of this nature, and they further argued that ordering a PPV movie is so complex that it would be impossible to do so accidentally. The only useful information contained within their boilerplate response is an outline of how to lock out PPV movies. The funny thing is, the movie in question was apparently ordered at 5AM on a Monday morning, at which time nobody in our house is awake.
I’ve responded letting them know that we’ve just about satisfied our original 18 month agreement (we’re seventeen months in) and that I can’t believe they’d risk running off a reliable customer in the interest of defending a $3.99 billing error. Whether or not the PPV movie is technically refundable, they have it within their power to make billing adjustments. They’ve just chosen not to. I’m sure that the CSR that reads my response won’t care, but I’m sick of dealing with dumbass CSRs on the phone. Next stop, a phone call to EchoStar corporate headquarters — this is seemingly the only way to get any satisfaction from them.
Dish Network, your customer service STILL sucks and we won’t miss you in the least.
As an amusing aside, I encourage you to run a quick Google search for: Dish network customer service
(Here, I did it for you.)
Notice what comes up as the #2 hit, immediately after their official customer service page? 😉
Every single satellite company sucks. Especially when that’s all you can get. Just one response from a dish CSR, “We cant provide unlimited internet access like Comcast does, but you can buy unlimited from us by “upgrading” your package. I spewed iced tea out my nose. That is all. LMFAO!
i may not be allowed to comment here because i like dish network. I have been a customer for over 10 yrs. I have had very little trouble with them and that was just recently. my daughter has direct and she is so sick of them she says she is going to switch to direct when her contract is up.
Dish sucks. I recently sold my house bought a larger property. As part of the process I investigated my options for Internet, phone and TV. I was working with Dish Network on a bundled service and was told I could get all three for about $160 a month. I agreed and the rep signed me up with the phone and Internet being bundled through AT&T. What I didn’t know is that he lied to me as they haven’t had a contract with them for several years now and took my personal information and committed me to a two year contract with AT&T for over $150 a month for just the phone and Internet. This is additional to the DISH service for &150 a mont. there is no way in hell I’m paying over $300 a month for the 3 services. When I discovered the lie and deceit because I got a bill from AT&T I called DISH and was told I was past the “cancellation period for misinformation” that I would be charged $402 to cancel. After many phone calls and rants on their Facebook page I was blocked from any posting and they won’t even respond to my calls. Save yourself the headaches and don’t do business with Dish Network.
They basically committed fraud and refuse to waive the early termination fee,
Wow, really? You took all that time to sit & type out a complaint over $3.99? Have you ever thought that maybe you have so many problems because you focus on all your problems? Duh! And look at all the people that commented… You’re all doing the same thing. Joining in as if it will somehow help you. Let’s all compare notes about how bad things are… Go for a jog & count your blessings & stop clogging up internet searches w/ your whining!
Dish network sucks. I had problems with the box. I had subscribed to dish mover service at $6 per month, for years. When I moved home and asked them to move the service, they said I had to pay for move as I had subscribed to too many channels, which I refused and they said to send their items back. This I did and when they sent me the box to return the items, they sent a leaflet to stay with them. I just sent the items back. Their customer service (really really sucks) stated first that they will not refund the overpayment and the 2nd rep said they will. Fat chance, they still have not refunded the money.
@David Steffan – I can definitely see why you would be frustrated. I would need to view the account to get more accurate information, but it sounds like the price increase was due to promotional pricing/credits expiring on the account.
Your signal being at 50% is good, but if you’re experiencing signal loss problems I can definitely try some steps to get that resolved.
We include the first/most expensive receiver free in your package price. If you only have one receiver on the account there should not be any additional fees, and we can definitely look into a credit for no service.
If you have any general questions you can post them here and I would be happy to help. If you wish to talk about the account specifically you can reach me directly at [email protected].
Tommy Faust
DISH Internet Response Team
Bill always goes up 10.. Every few months!we are now
Over 80 month!! Started @ 30. Signal has never been over
50 % not obstructed roof mount “professionally”( wink-wink)!!
I got the special single reciever dual output and now I’m being
charged for two units!!! Dish you suck!! Unit went bad and no
satellite for two weeks NO CREDIT for lack of service “under
contract ” “sorry sir there is nothing we can do”
DISH SUCKS:
My remote “Sat” button breaks,
I call, they want to charge me WAY too much for another remote…. so for a few months, I just walk up to the receiver & push the buttons. But… Dish starts putting on this dancing blue box, that won’t go away unless the “Sat” button is pushed… which is broke. So, I watched a few programs with the blue box (you must push sat button box). Finally quit watching altogether… call to cancel service… they offer me a free remote!!
So, now I’m pissed, tell them too late… They offer me everything else.. nope. They close the account & tell me I have to pay to cancel service!!! (via $15 shipping charge). I tell them to take a flying hike… We go round & round. I call back & say:
“I’ve been around the world, in all my years, I’ve NEVER paid to cancel service & I NEVER will. You want me to pay $15 bucks, no way. There better be somewhere I can drop off in the metro area, or one of your installation guys pick up, or you’ll never get your equipment back.”
He says, “there isn’t any, you signed the contract, you have to pay or we’ll add the price of the equipment to your bill, right now you have a $8 credit. It’ll be $150 for that old receiver.”
Me: “Not a chance, it’ll not only never be paid, I’m calling the better business bureau, the state attorney general & will NEVER have Dish Network in my house EVER for life… is that worth $15 to you?”
Dish: “bla bla bla bla bla”
Me: ” you could have said in fine print on the back page you’ll charge me $100,000 to cancel. I wouldn’t pay that either. The install guy who was 2 hours late to my house (hours I should bill them for), was very impatient & late for his next apt, sign here, sign right there, just sign…
DO NOT EVER GET DISHNETWORK!!!!!!!!!
A substandard, all the way.
Dish Network is the worst cable/satellite provider in the country. And that is saying something. Because, we had Time Warner and they are @ucking terrible! I called customer service at Dish to see about adding MLB Extra Innings after the all-star break. Guess what, no MLB Network, no MLB Extra Innings, no local channels in HD and the locals are all available too in HD. They tell me they are not. Liars! Not to mention, the NFL Sunday Ticket won’t be available in this century. I am dumping and flushing this outfit QUICK!! A turd always gets flushed. Bye bye Dish Fuckwork!!
Here is today’s email to Dish Network. Oh and by the way, they never responded to the first email, so I do realize that writing is a waste of time. However, these letters will be sent to the BBB and Newspaper. I guarantee it!!!!
I just want to thank you in a sarcastic way for your lack of response to my last email. Your company is really something else. In other words, you never responded.
Two days ago I spoke with Bethany in your “Loyalty” Department. What a joke of a name, Loyalty; I told her we never received a smart card for one of our boxes (it’s a box we never use, but recently wanted to use); she wanted $50.00 for it. I told her we never received it to begin with, and she said basically that we did. I told her we were going to quit Dish when our contract was up, and I hope the $50.00 charge was worth it to her. She didn’t care because she is not Mr. Dish…she is not an owner, and she just doesn’t give a shit to be quite honest. Can you tell I’m angry? So I told her to just disconnect that box, as we never use it anyway, and I’m not paying $50.00 for a card that was supposed to be free. She said, okay. Once again, why should she care? She is not the owner of the company. She does not care if you don’t make money off of us any longer. My $1,200.00 per year doesn’t mean anything to her.
Nevertheless, the next day, after she disconnected that box, our two DVR’s are acting up. In the 300 channels (HBO), you arrow up to 302 and 305, and sometimes the other 300 channels, and we receive a Blue Screen that reads, Complete Signal Failure, then it changes to Partial Signal Failure. Once it is on Partial Signal Failure, I can arrow up again…Bethany screwed something up. And after talking to Omar in the Dominican Republic, he took me through all the possible steps to correct this, but it was not corrected. I hate to say that the first guy I talked to, before Omar, tried to tell me that the 300 channels were not part of my package. Even though I told him that I have had Dish for 8 years, and I certainly know my channels!!!! Then he said, “Oh I didn’t know these were HBO channels. You should have told me that.” Like I am the technician that knows the correct lingo to use. I also told him that before I called, I already unplugged the Box and restarted it. He would not let me move on, unless I did it again. I refused. Repeating history is ridiculous. I absolutely hate your company, and I think your customer service sucks. I am not mad at Omar. I honestly think he did everything in his power to fix the box, but it was out of his control. The first guy, however, I just wanted to strangle. I get so aggravated when I speak to your company!!! AT&T U-Verse, here we come!!!!!
Here is my most recent letter to feedback for Dish Network. Do you think they would respond? Not a chance. No one gives a crap. The problem is that there is no Mr. Dish Network who cares about customer service. Anyway, here’s a copy of the letter sent:
To Whom It May Concern,
I almost feel that writing this letter may be a waste of time because I have been very disappointed in your customer service as of late. We have been Dish Customers for approximately 7 or 8 years, and I have experienced several problems over those years that it is now to the point where when I have to call Dish for help, I actually immediately become annoyed and upset. This is because I know I will be on the phone forever, and most likely, the first person I speak with will not be able to answer my question. In the meantime, I am missing the television show I am trying to watch, and my night is basically ruined. However, I would like to address my 2 most recent experiences.
A friend of mine told me that I probably have what she called, “On Demand”. I told her that I did not think so because I have Dish. She said that her parents have Dish, and she watches a lot of movies at their house. Therefore I called Dish. The first time I called, customer service said, “All you need is a phone jack.” Then about one week later, as I was looking through the menus, I noticed it said something about Broadband. So I called again, and I specifically asked, “In order to get your version of on demand, are you sure that all I need is a phone jack?” I again was told yes, that is all I need. I was also told that I would be able to see anything on Dish at any time. So $143.00 later, we had a phone jack installed. I then tried to utilize the feature, and it again said something about needing Broadband.
I called Dish again, and I spoke to one person, who of course had no clue what I meant, so they sent me to someone else. This lady sounded knowledgeable, but she was not. She said, “The phone jack is for movie rentals. She went on to say that movie rentals is your version of On Demand. You need an ethernet cord and attach it to your router.” She also went on to say that I had to go online and download the movies I want to my router. This was getting so ridiculous. I asked to speak to a supervisor. Originally, she came back on the line and told me that the supervisor said to email this address. I said, “No, I want to speak to him.” After another long wait, I finally spoke to him, and I number one, complained that I just spent $143.00 on a phone jack I don’t need. And number two, after I asked many questions, I finally asked about a wireless adapter…if that exists, and he said yes, so I ordered one. Now here is my point, four customer service representatives did not tell me about the wireless router, and your supervisor did not suggest it himself either. Rather, I spent $143.00 on a jack I don’t need. This is absolutely ridiculous.
Finally, I was exploring this new feature with the wireless adapter, and I thought, I will download the movie Afterlife. So I did. The message read something like, This movie will be ready to view in 8 hours. So the next day I came home and turned on Dancing with the Stars, and a message popped up, Your movie is ready to watch, Watch Now or Watch Later. I chose Watch Later. The message went away, and in about 30 seconds, it popped up again. This kept happening. At one point I chose Watch Now, and the screen just turned black, and then the message came on again. Not only am I now missing my television shows, I am dialing Dish, knowing this will be another long call. After going through the automated part and waiting for the customer service person, I get someone who truly did not listen to what I said. I told him that I downloaded a movie through my wireless adapter, and this is what is happening. He kept trying to trouble shoot the DVR box. At one point the representative said that the movie I downloaded was probably corrupt. Corrupt? You let us download corrupt movies? Crazy. Finally, after a really long time, he said, oh this is a wireless problem, I will have to give you to our wireless department. I said to him…You know, I told you when I first called that this was through the wireless adapter. Oh I’m sorry, etc… is what I heard, and he tries to connect me to wireless, who isn’t answering, of course. The wait time with your company is ridiculous. So finally I hung up and pulled the adapter out of the DVR and then enjoyed the rest of my night.
My point here is that you really need to better train your customer service. I think it’s crazy that the first person can never really help you, and you have to waste a ton of time talking to them before you get a person who may know what’s going on. Another thing I absolutely hate is this. For example, I will say to the customer service person, “When I press Watch Movie, my screen turns black.” And they say, after about 30 seconds, “So are you saying that when you press watch movie your screen turns black?” I get so annoyed by this!!!! You may train them to repeat what we say to make sure they understand, but for every sentence!!! I hate it. It’s nerve racking. I finally started answering, “That’s what I just said.”
I’m sure you can tell by my letter that I am completely annoyed. I also picture getting a response from you which only addresses the wireless problem, and there won’t be one word about your customer service issue, and all the time and money I have wasted. Right now, I have a phone jack I don’t need and a wireless adapter with a corrupt movie that flashes messages while trying to watch television. It’s a joke. I will wait until a time where I don’t mind being on the phone with Dish for one hour or more to correct this problem, hopefully with the first person to whom I speak.
Dish Network STILL still sucks, as of 5/28/2011. Picture is mediocre, satellite box is slow and sluggish, DVR features suck, customer service is abysmal. Get DirecTV, a good antenna, or even Comcast. Set your money on fire rather than give it to DN.
dishnetwork sucks because it doesn’t care about people. I worked for them for 5 years and i can tell you customers are looked upon as stupid. Agents frequently place you on mute and curse you as i did also.Charlie Eargen is a hitler of a ceo , employees miss 5 days a year even with a doctor note they are fired 1 min late of break can get you fired. i quit btw didn’t get fired, I also droped dishnetwork service and have direct tv now . I can say i like dish’s dvr’s better than direct but all in all direct tv is better price as well as service however it’s buyer beware folks research talk to people talk it over call multiple time see if you get the same offer then make a decision good luck ! 🙂
nope the down side is Dish service sucks always has and will continue to do so
the service is substandard period
Prices increased by $5 for core programming, americas top 120-americas top 250 +everything packages. dish Network is not the only provider increasing prices. This happens every year. Remember that sports channel or local channel you lost for a month or so? but finally got back? That costs money to keep broadcasting rights. Money that the channel providers demand. Contract negotiations happen all year long. Most go off without a hitch but when theres a problem with a contract renewal for broadcasting rights, all customer feel the impact. Unfortunately one cannot choose which channels specifically you want anymore. Channel providers tell your cable/sat company which package they want their channel in depending on the price of the channel. Example: Disney owns the disney channels but they also own espn.
The most important questions to ask when signing up for any kind of service:
1. How long is the commitment if there is one?
2. What is the pro-rated cancellation fee?
3. What will my price be for the 2nd year of service?
(Most companies like Dish Network offer a promo price only for first year for basic services with no dvr fees) Obviously the more features you add to a car the more expensive your monthly lease payment is, same thing applies to your cable or satellite company.
Dish Network fees:
1st receiver no matter what kind and how many tv’s it controls is covered at no cost.
additional rcvr fees: if it controls 1 TV with no dvr=$7
If it controls 1 TV with dvr=$10
If it controls 2 TV with NO dvr=$14
If it controls 2 TV WITH dvr=$17
one DVR service fee of $6 if you have any type of DVR in your home is added extra.
Keep in mind other service providers like time warner charge you per rcvr you have in each room with a dvr fee for each one of those rcvrs. My Time-Warner bill reached almost $150/month and $70 of it in equipment fees. Do your research before you buy. Find the channel package that suits you best.
The major downside to satellite service is that you lose signal with incliment weather and cable lines can always be cut accidentally. That just might force you to spend some family time with your kids, do some laundry, or look for a second job to help pay that huge entertainment bill.
Jeff,
I would like to Thank you for posting your response, I’m glad you did because, I am more then happy to help the thousands of others you have mentioned as well- that’s what I am here for! It concerns me to see all of the concerns & complaints posted on this blog. Therefore my post is to each & every one of the posts, if you would like or need my assistance; please feel free to contact me directly at any time! My e-mail is the same as previously posted- [email protected]. Look forward to hearing from you! -Kirstie 🙂
look another troll
“review your account”
what about the thousands of others????
Hi Michelle!
My name is Kirstie Filosa and I work for DISH Network in the Executive Office. I happened to run across this blog and read your post and I am very sorry to hear you have cancelled your service. Please let me know if you would like me to review your account and see if there is anything I can do to help you and/or correct the situation. Feel free to contact me directly @ [email protected]. -Take care -Kirstie
We are now Dish Network free as well! They are liars and have HORRIBLE customer service. I have lodged a complaint to the BBB about them before. They change their tune when you do that.
I wish Demon would come back on here though. I cannot believe someone who has such crappy grammer and spelling would even think about correcting others.
Demon it’s receivers and supervisors. I cannot believe you don’t still work there. I could have sworn I talked to you last week. Guess you are not the only idiot they employ.
my comcast box took a sheit they had a guy out the next day to replace it cost me nothing
99 bucks a month buys me 2 tv’s with everything but premium channels a VOIP phone I can call anywhere in the world on and 5 meg ISP service I can use Tunnel 1 and 2 protocall to work from home on and no contract
what did I get from dish?
89 a month bought me 2 tv’s with minimal service and zero customer service
dish you still suck
bye bye dish
you scum bags
when I signed up, they told me I had to buy my receiver for $300. THey said that it was mine and if I left I could sell it. Well when they started screwing my on channels(and no credit) I left. Now they want the receiver back that I paid $300. When I told them I bought it, they gave me some spiel about how their receivers are expensive, blah blah. When I asked about the $300, they blamed it on the “agent” who took my order and that the agent wasn’t official DISH network. After I tried to explain to the idiot about how an agent IS dish, he got flustered and continued to read his prepared statement. Not only do I have to return the box, but also climb on the roof to give them back some part of the dish PLUS I have to pay to send it back. Then the guy has the balls to ask me to consider coming back. WHat a bunch of f’ing idiots. I will go back to cable before I consider these gypsys, tramps and thieves. Buyer beware of these morons
dish does suck I mean they really really suck they lie over charge change dates so they can charge you nick your bank account for 10 dollar fees after you cancel
it’s all bullshit
and there is no recourse at all
I’m glad they are gone I hope I never here from them again
cable is better cheaper better service less equipment no maintance
DISH is all untrained kids with a power trip in full throtle
DISH installers are stupid retarded bums that not only smell but bring their 12 year old kids to job sites
Blue yonder the ISP for DISH promises 1 meg but only delivers 342k up and 128k down costs 200 bucks to install and only works when the satelite is in the right spot
never ever use these guys they are clowns
COPY OF EMAIL MESSAGE THAT I SENT TO DISH NETWORK TODAY:
I just wanted to say thank you for persuading me to save > 50% on my monthly satellite TV bill. I’ve been a loyal DISH Network subscriber for over 6 years, and recently my no frills monthly service cost exceeded $150.
I phoned your “customer care” to plead for a competitive rate. I was told “That’s just for new customers. We can’t offer you any of those discounts”. Well guess what? DirecTV can! They juiced me up for about $75 per month for even more channels, including Showtime. Best move I’ve ever made. Interesting thing is, without your price increase this month, I would have never known how sweet it can be on the bright side. Thank you again, and it’s been really nice knowing you.
Yes, DishNetwork sucks in every way. Customer Service is a total joke, every time I have had to call, fist I got someone in an Indian country that tried to tell me his name was Bob or Bill or some outrageous lie, then tried to make me feel that my lack of service was somehow my fault. Then, miraculously, my service was restored. Stupid American Me. Now, it just conks out at whatever time and usually in the middle of a program, and the transponder takes a half hour to reset. My bill has doubled in the last 6 mo. despite a contract for billing for the next 2 yrs. If I am late on payment by 2-3 days my service is disconnected, with no regard to my online payment date. On the whole, I would rather slit my wrists than do business with this company ever again in this lifetime. Which I suspect is what the Indian bastards want in the long run anyway. Not gonna happen, when my 2 year contract is up and they can’t charge me a disconnect fee, I am so gone. I loved DirecTV and actual American people gave customer service. BTW, your name isn’t Bill or Bob or even Mary, it’s some sort of ethnic moniker that I can neither pronounce correctly or spell, but DishNetwork is easy to remember and will be totally forgotten soon.
I miss Direct! Had them for years and then switched because we thought it would be cheaper but it is not worth it! Service calls are only free the first month and then its $19 per visit and thats WITH the insurance. I started threatening to cancel their sevice with my calls to technical support if they resulted in a visit (surprise: they always do) and now manage to get some one out here for free. This happens about once a month or everytime the wind blows, which ever comes first. Their technical support is RIDICULOUS because you wait on hold forever, talk to a person whose genius solution is unpulg the unit (gee, didn’t think of that!) and when it doesn’t work they send you to ADVANCED support who walk you through the same thing and then through their menus to try to reset the satelite. Beware! I’ve never had success with this. I CAN’T WAIT until my contract is over so i can go back to direcTV. And if we get to keep any of the equipment i will smash it and throw it in the river.
yea, dish network sucks,im done!!!they coinspire nto chjarge your credit card & ri[p you off!!! dso not sign up with dish,what a bunch of fucking crooks!!!!!
Please report any and all problems with dishnetwork to the FCC and your state BBB. Dish Network will be fined for their incompetence.
Went with dish about 5 months ago…………Big mistake. Have paid the bill faithfully every month, yet they continue to try to force auto pay on us. They play games like sending the bill two or three days before it’s due, then threaten to cancel our service if they don’t get in in 48 hours. Auto pay isn’t mandatory, but we are threatened every month because we don’t use it.
Don’t even get me started on the used crap dual recievers they give you that are supposed to be ‘state of the art’. Were on our second one, and I’d advise anyone fool enough to go with these clowns to pay the $6 bucks a month insurance policy for service calls.
When our two year contract is up (or sooner, if they tick me off much longer) tehy are GONE.
I have been a loyal customer for 8 1/2 years and had fair service. Recently my receiver went on the blink and I spent 4 1/2 hours on the phone with Dish Network tec service without fixing anything. They sent out a new receiver and I spent another 2 hours trying to get my number 2 remote to work to no avail. They wanted to charge me 9 plus dollars plus shipping cost for a new remote. I refused to pay and they sent one free. I spent another 2 1/2 hours with tec service trying to get the new number 2 remote to work to no avail. They then suggested that I pay $95.00 per hour for a technician to come to my house and fix it. I told them I would pay the $95.00 per hours if they would pay me $95.00 per every hours the technician was here and I have dicked around with their tec service away from my work. They got nasty and I told them to cancel my service. Would you believe, my TV went blank in less than 2 minutes. That is the way Dish Network treats its customers. We are just numbers to them.
NB
Dish Network Sucks !!!!!
I’ve worked for their telephone customer service for 13 months in the Colorado/Thornton call center – and the entire place is run by a bunch of scumbag punk kids. It’s no wonder there are so many complaints against DISH considering the brainwashed stupid idiots they have working for them. What a waste of my time my service to them was. I’ll be sure to help spread the word about their lousy retailers too. DISH supports misinfomation campaignes (only $19.99/mo for service when locals cost an additional $5/mo. – real cost of $24.99 but new customers don’t know that when they sign up. – Retailers also do not disclose the extra receiver fees and DVR fees !!!)
DISH network sucks and all my coworkers I had to complain about suck too. They can all go to hell !
I cant wait until I am out of this contract.. When I am – I will NEVER use a Satellite Service again… NO more Contracts.
I have 7 channels that I watch.. we have China TV, Korean Network, CD Music channels.. I dont want to watch foreign TV.. If I wanted to listen to Music I would turn on my radio.. I thought it would be a good deal.. NOPE!
sounds great larry… first off its ad not add. unless you were talking to your friend about subtracting dish from his life. your call… any ways. its the same fees you see everywhere else. i can help if you don’t understand something. I no longer work for dish network, but i do know about future price changes that will be forced to all customers nation wide. packagaes will stay the same but prices for recivers will go up. basic rcvr 7 dollars any thing higher its 7-21 dollars per rcvr now. i did not like the way that was changing so i got out. i was against it but was only told to ohio about prices.
Demon, you still suck too!
In talking a freind of mine out of getting Dish, we
looked for the fine print in the add he had, could barely make it out with a 10X magnifier, more like micro print. He changed his mind after he could read it.
Demon again. I see that you guys still don’t read the fine print. The 19.99 promo. no locals and no extra features such as dvr or the 3rd or 4th room. If you just have a regular hd rcvr for 2 rooms. guess what you get the promo. you want locals its an additional 5 dollar fee. read inbetween the lines. I researched bliss, and its exactly like i ment it. I was born in the United States. Born and raised. Born in Kansas and raised in Texas. I live in the southern area.
I worked for the West Corp. They are subcontracted by Dish. 2 weeks of training and you hit the phones in the billing department. If you are luck you will not be connected to an agent in Makati, if you are lucky you will not be connected to an agent in U.S. If you owe anything be expected to be asked no less than 3 times if you are able to pay the full amount you owe. Even after you answered the first 2 you are to be asked again.
As long as we are venting… DishNetwork is still up to there same old tricks… You will not receive the $19.99 — 120 channel package that the flyers advertise.. In stead, you will be billed for the entire cost and credited over a 12 month period.. MADDOFF maybe..
Demon, yup we can tell you work for Dish Net you moron, look up bliss in the dictionary you idiot, no one in this forum is bliss, maybe after they switch to Directv or cable. Dish Net is nothing but lies and greed, I know Dish Net dealers who whish they never got involved, so what does that tell you! So whats your job at Dish Net anyhow? As far as people not wanting to hear what you have to say, yup, I bet a few people would like to know where you live, er what country are you from anyway?
my name is demon, i am a dish network employee. i know you guys most likely don’t want to read what i have to write but you guys are being bliss. sure we have a promotion of 19.99. its classic bronze 100 no locals no dvr just a 2 room set up. if you read the fine print it tells you charges but you never want to read them. you see being print but fail to relize the truth. if you get a ppv at 5 am. doesn’t mean it was ordered at that time. it just means that it was an all day even that started at 5am and last all day till next 5 am. if you have installation probelms. call imediatelly and explain. if front line rep doesn’t do anything ask to speak to supervior. if superviosor doesn’t work out than say thank you hang up and call again. when asked by the “robot” ivr. say cancellation it would transfer you to loyalty department and they will help you through out the whole way and about being charged over 600 dollars cause its a rip off. bull!!! you signed a contract that allows up to charge any card on file for early termination or unreturned equipment. your daughter didn’t follow protocall. we also offer sending pre paid shipping labels to your email if boxes don’t show. you have all accessories. to let all you bliss people know. to cancell dish servivces its maximum 360 dollar plus current bill which is nothing over 500 dollars and thats with the everything pack. 360 fee for termination of a 24 month contract. if you have services for “years” your cancellation fee shouldn’t even be near 300 dollars unless you failed to return equipment in the 30 day gate way. you have more questions about why this or why that about dish. feel free to email me. its [email protected]. i can tell you things you wish you could understand rather than being bliss. your choice!!!
Dish Network advertised a $19.99 package for 100 plus channels… believe me this is bait and which at its best…. You sign up for one price… with a programming discount…. but… they nickel and dime you for receiver rental…. must have a cable or home phone… available… get real….
Dish Network is so bad, when I called in to order it, the Customer Service Rep told me i would get Cinemax for a $.01 an i call an they tell me i have to use a card to pay my bill this sucks
Lord help us! We just got dish network a couple of weeks ago, and I’m SO not looking forward to having to deal with them. My husband has already had to sit on “eternal hold” to ask CS a question. $600 to have the service disconnected?? I’m thinking I need to research to see what my husband signed us up for!
DISH NETWORK SUCKS!!! They are my only option since moving to my new apt. I was a loyal Direct TV customer for years and will switch back as soon as I can. I have had this crapola service for a month now and my HD DVR box craps out after maybe 10 mins of a signal every time I go to watch TV. The tech said that the problem was due to the box being in a cabinet and it was over heating. I moved the box to the top a a bar stool and the problem still persists. Thanks for the great help geniuses as I have yet to watch TV for more than 10 mins at a time. Verizon FIOS will be available on Aug 31. Can’t wait to throw the box a the Tech on Sept 1.
I HAD DISH LONGER THEN I SHOULD HAVE THEY SCREWED ME OVER ON EVERY TURN THE FINAL STRAW WAS WHEN?? YOU CANT CALL IT CUST SERVICE IT SHOULD BE CUST DIS SERVICE !! I CALLED CUST DIS SERVICE AND THE WHAT EVER IT WAS ON THE OTHER END OF THE LINE COULD NOT SPEEK ANYTHING UNDERSTANDABLE AND THE PART I COULD UNDERSTAND SAID SHUT UP LET ME TALK I TOLD IT THAT SHE COULD NOT TALK ANYTHING UNDERSTANDABLE IF THEY ARE GOING TO USE FORIGN COUNTRIES THEN THEY SHOULD LEAVE THIS COUNTRY !!! I THOUGHT CUST DIS SERVICE WAS FOR OUR HELP ????? BIG MISTAKE .
I just had the exact same thing happen to me! Our system pre-ordered pay per view sporting event (not scheduled to air for 6 days)…..for $29,95!!…AT 5:00 AM while everyone at our house was asleep!!!!
I was told ppv cannot be cancelled or refunded. I am telling you that no one in our home was awake at 5am to order this!
I know Nickel’s post is a few years old. But I just found it while searching for info on Dish Networks ppv cancelation policy.
I am a new customer to DishNetwork and I am having a problem registering/creating an account online. I spoke to Customer Service online and they can’t help me. I was previously with a cable company and when I called to cancel cable service they told me they would pay $200.00 of the $300.00 that I would be charged if I cancel before my 24 month contract.
I SWITCHED FROM DIRECT TV AND ORDERED THE BUNDLE THROUGH AT&T(TELEPHONE,INTERNET,DISH NETWORK,THE BIGGEST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE///WHAT EVER PRICE THEY QUOTE YOU WHEN ORDERING NEVER HAPPENS. THE PRICE IS ALWAYS HIGHER THAN WHAT WAS QUOTED ..I HOPE DISH SATTELITE GOES BANKRUPT AND I CANT BELIEVE ATT PARTNERED WITH SUCH FRAUDULENT PEOPLE,YOU TALK TO 10 PEOPLE IN ONE DAY AND EACH ONE TELLS A DIFFERENT LIE/// DISH PRE-BILLED ME FOR THE FREE HBO/STARZ PACKAGE AND WANT DEDUCT IT OFF MY BILL,EVEN WHEN I CANCELLED IT.GODS GONNA GET YOU///I’LL READ ABOUT YOU ON THE LIST OF COMPANIES THAT WENT UNDER.REMEMBER WHAT GOES AROUND COME AROUND///
After many days of negotiating with Dish network sales people, we settled on 72.00 a month. (I asked what the monthly would be after all incentives, packages etc.were over). I do not have a land line phone. (supposedley an extra $5.00 a month). No problem they said, we will waive that charge, still $72.00 a month. My last bill was $99.13. I called and they said this is what I had agreed on. Baloney. They will do anything to get you to agree to their service.
I have cancelled my service and now have to deal with the cancellation fee, I will fight this the best I can. My advice: forget Dish Network. They are dishonest, and the only thing they give a damn about is your money in their coffers.
Dish Network is so bad, when I called in to order it, the Customer Service Rep told me I was better off going with Direct TV. And he was right. Since I’ve had Direct TV my picture has been great, my bills have been manageable and ontime, and the customer service is always so friendly to me. I think it’s time to start giving credit where credit is due. Just one happy customer willing to say so. Two cheers for Direct TV.
I had a similar issue with a PPV “Event” ($49.99 WWE grabage) Talked to 2operators (one hung up on me) and 3 different managers all gave the same answer. Then I called back and talked to Tech Suppport and he adjusted it off the bill like nothing. Dont deal with cust service, talk to Tech Support he did it like it was nothing.
Don’t Do It!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT GET DISH NETWORK!!! I can’t believe that anyone can get away with what they are doing! I had been happy for years with just an antenna and a couple of channels, then seeing one of their flyers for the cheap package deal that would include phone, internet and dish, and needing internet, it sounded like a great deal. The guy was just swell on the phone when we called. He promised us free upgrades for 3 mo. and so on and so forth and the guy was suppose to come hook it up the folowing saturday, stayed home all day, no one came and no one called, called them, set it up again, wait another week, no one called, no one came, did this FIVE times, took SIX WEEKS to get the service, if you could call it that. All that ever happened is some fool came and hooked the dish up to the side of the house, down quite low where it was in danger of being hit by the neighbor’s car. That was it. No one ever came to hook up the phone line. Then their were problems with the inter-net service. They promised to send technicians who never came. I have a metal roof so that I don’t have to shovel the roof in heavy snow, but wouldn’t you know, the stupid place they put the dish was situated so that when the snow slid off in a sheet, it broke the dish. That should not matter anymore as we paid the huge fee to cancel their service. Now it is like they are imbedded in my tv. I have to go to all this trouble just to get the use of my television back. I just bought another antenna!! When we got our package, we were told we would have soooooo many channels, but the largest majority of them were shopping network channels, talk about cutting a fat hog in the … they get paid by you and they get paid by advertisers, so you pay them to show you the f……advertiser’s product. Wow, paying to watch advertising???? If we were wanting to watch actual television, we were told that we would have to upgrade! MORE MONEY OF COURSE!!! It does not seem to be relevant to them whether or not you are actually receiving service, just as long as you are receiving their bill for it.
On the ppv subject. both dish and directv have a no ppv refund policy.
Dish network is a rip off, even worse than direct tv! i went with them in order to consolidate by tv, phone and internet bill all under one contract, also as they gave us a DVR and said we would get a free upgrade to HD receiver box when we upgraded our tv.
Now the fu__rs want $150 for the HD box as well as $10/month for the HD channels! I am very tempted to pay the penalty for discontinuing the service, for $130, and get a pair of HD rabbit ears and live with 3 channels. The wife will have to decide but I have had it with these assholes.
I have been a Dish Network customer for only 2 weeks and I need to tell other people about the lousy service that I have encounter with Dish Network. First of all when the salesman call and ask me about switching from Directv to Dish Network he told me that I would qualify for a lot of free upgrades and I agrees to switch because even though I had been a loyal customer at Directv they were not willing to give me any free upgrades. Since I have been with Dish Network I have called at least 6 times because of LOUSY reception they will walk me through the problem and then I lose my signal again even on bright and sunny days. I am so FRUSTRATED with their service that I called them to cancel my service. The salesman told me that I could cancel at any time if I wasn’t completely satisfied with Dish Network but keep in mind that I would have to pay $10.00 a month for every month that was remaining on my contract. Here is the CRAZY part at no time was I told about a third party that would have to be paid also. Something should be done about the deceptive ,coniving and down right fraudlent way Dish Network is doing business and getting away with it. I have a satellite system that clearly is not working but we are STUCK with it because I don’t want it but can’t afford to pay the third party $600.00 to cancel. The salesman knew when he signed me up that I should have been made aware of the third billing party he intended to mislead me by not mentioned the third party. But get this when I first called Dish Network I was told that if the salesman didn’t write it on my account the day he signed me up that and at the time she was talking to me she said that it was not on my account but when I called back to ask about where do I return their equipment then I was told that in addition to paying Dish Network $240.00 I now had to pay (I SATELLITE) a fee of $600.00 and if I decided to cancelled Dish Network . DishNetwork business practices are very deceptive.They should be held accountable to someone about the way they treat people. I am going to write whomever I have to and tell everyone I know about their misleading tactics. Have they heard that good news travel but bad news (SERVICE) travel faster.
I have had similar experiences with Dish Network and will relate this story.
I’ve had Dish Network service for some time now that I got through AT&T. I have found out that getting Dish service this way results in a subpar account. I’m not able to setup an online account and have the advantages that other Dish Network customers have.
Also, Dish’s no-refund policy concerning PPV is so messed up that many customers won’t use it. The PPV activity is uploaded every night. In that case, Dish Network should know if a customer navigated OFF of a PPV movie due to finding out the movie was not enjoyed as expected. I could see having the no-refund policy IF Dish Network provided a way to PREVIEW the movie before purchasing but this it not the case. Since there is no way of previewing the movie and the system knows the customer navigated off of a movie within only a few minutes, this means Dish Network uses the no-refund policy as a way of ripping off the customer as a means of increasing revenue.
This is not fair business practice. This is why customers choose to either lock out Pay Per View OR discontinue service with Dish Network. Maybe some day Dish Network will wake up and realize that in order to be competitive in today’s changing marketplace, they will have to become more customer-oriented.
Congratulations dish net work you have managed to loose another customer due to your poor company ethics , poor customer service o and THEFT , Yes you heard me correct they pulled $400.00 out of my checking with out my permission
luckily we are not dirt poor as this may have been a real big problem . Any way our receiver is acting up so we call dish net work and they send a service tech and he is on time. So tells me the receiver is bad replaces it and takes the old one with him a month goes by and there is a $400.00 charge on my checking account after some research i find out that dish net work did not receive the receiver that the tech took with him . So i call them up wait on hold for 30 min and get passed on 2 , 3 different operators explaining the situation to each finally they tell me i will have a refund processed to my dish net work account and it takes a few days and i should call back on Monday . So i call back and wouldn’t you know the whole process starts over and again they tell me i will have my money back in in a week . well next week has came and went and no money in fact now i only get back $350.00 seams there accounting department noticed i had not payed my bill so they took it on them self to pay them self . ((I have been a loyal customer for over 3 years always paying my bill on time .))
Now i Am pissed but i keep my cool over the phone on hold again 40min 2 operators and 1 manager if you want to call him that . Any way manager puts me on hold for another 17 min and thats when i threw in the tall So i hung up called back and asked for there cancellation department they picked up right away and this operator had the best attitude of them all I was offered $20.00 off my bill for 6 months to keep my account open and a month free . And you know what i did? I still canceled my account and it felt grate . O and i should have the remainder of my back in a week….. http://www.dishnetwork.com/customerService/contactus/email/default.aspx
I signed on Dish Network in Jan 08 and have hardly had a 30 day period without some sort of problem. But the last month has been a nightmare. The Dish Technician initially chose the location of the satelite dish. I was not receiving any channels from satelite 129 (most of HD channels) so after many tries to get a field tech there the representative thought the dish should be moved 3′ to the east. A new hole was dug and a new pole was set but that did not resolve the inability to get satelite 129. The field tech ordered a new 722 receiver and after a week it arrived. It was installed and it was never able to attain the 129 signal. In fact 12 hours later the reciver failed completely. I made a call to have another field representative to asses what was needed now. Unknown to me a call was made to the automated site at 1:00 a.m. the morning that the techinician was supposed to have come and said there was a need for the field trip. I did not learn of this until 3 hours after the tech was supoosed to have arrived. I changed the account phone number and rescheduled. Again I was told later that I had called in and canceled the service call. I was furious and asked to speak to a supervisor. They stated that the best thing to do was set another appointment. After much grumbling on my part I again changed the account phone number to one of my cell phones. I was also allowed to setup a password that only the system and I would know. The 3rd attempt again was shortstopped by someone saying that they were me and calling in masking my phone number. The next supervisor told me that a password is not required cancel a field call. Has anyone else had any similar problems? I paid for the equipment up front, I have never had such a terrible service and now I feel as if some hacker may have my personal information.
Dish/Embarq is my only television/DSL option where I live. Its OK; called to upgrade to new HD. Was told it would cost $125 and upgrade could be done in two days (Friday afternoon). Cool, took Friday off work, and, you guessed it, NO SHOW. Checked credit card only, and been billed for $175(!) and was told that the service upgrade was scheduled for SUNDAY afternoon. Like, right. I told them to refund and cancel; they were very arrogant unitl I told them I was going to chargeback their overcharge. Unbelieveably incompetent, unbelievable uncaring, couldn’t give a damn I lost a half day of work for their mistake.
dishnetworks sucks for dropping Voom HD!!!!! We canceled due to no more voom HD.!
Dish receiver continues to disconnect. So far three repairmen have come out to the house in the past week,. and shortly after they leave it ceases service again. Everytime I call I get the run around from their customer service and I keep explaining the problem. They have changed antenna, changed plugs, changed cables but continues to shut off and keeps making attempts to reboot, but doesn’t,
I certainly don’t recommend them at this point.
I had Dish Network back from 2000 to 2002 and had to cancel because I moved to an apt. I bought a house in 2006 and decided to sign up again in March of 2007 because my first time with them was fine. Oh my has their service declined, if there was one cloud in the sky the service would go out and I had at least three service cut outs per week. I cancelled them and switched to Directv in December of 2007 and service is fine, customer service although not great, is lightyears better that Dish. There have been countless times I was on hold with Dish for over 30 minutes before talking to some dude or dudette in India who could barely speak English. Dish nickled and dimed me to death, they didn’t even install the dish correctly and then charged me $30 for the re-point. They charged me $5 a month for not having a phone line, by the way Directv does not charge me for not having a phone line. Plus Dish doesn’t have MLB Extra Innings! Directv is a far superior product. When I got Directv HD I needed only one dish while with Dish Network I needed two. I hope Dish goes out of business, THEY ARE HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve had my share of troubles with Dish, too, mostly for restarting out of the blue and problems with ordering pay per view. By and large, i’m happy, tho. Keep your eye at ripoff report, cuz they’ll have the latest on what Dish’s response is to all their complainst.
We to have been ripped of by Dish network. They would not fix the problems that began the day of installation and caused our phone to not work and the internet to go only intermittently. The service was a bundle through Frontier and after 6 months of complaints to both Frontier and Dish with no resolution we canceled our bundle and were promised no termination fees would apply. We attempted to return the equipment but it was refused in person, we called the 800 number they never sent labels to return it, we contacted them online and were refered back to the 800 number. So after months of trying we gave up. We should be charging them rent for being forced to keep it. Last week Dish accessed our daughter’s account and so far has taken out $620 and were attempting to take out more so she had to close her bank account and is now trying to deal with bounced check fees and returned items. There was no bill ever sent, no communication what so ever by Dish they just took her money. So far we have contacted the FCC, Attorney General, BBB, ripoff report and this attorney listed below, I also found out today I should contact the FTC and lodge a complaint with them. I am passing this on to anyone else that has been ripped off by Dish in case anyone is interested in contacting this attorney.
We have been ripped off over $620 in the past week for service we terminated in Jan 2008. Prior to that we put up with horrible service from Dish and Frontier both and could not use our phone or internet, had lousy reception. It was all caused by the Dish HD receiver. We paid $920 for that lousy service before giving up on getting it fixed. We were never refunded the extra $140 we paid to frontier for this lousy service. We attempted to return the equipment in person and by phone they would not allow us to return it and demanded we wait on ups labels that have never been sent. Then Dish arbitrarily accesses my daughter’s account and takes out $620 last week. All termination fees were to be waived due to the service being so bad and the signal was turned off in January – this I have in writing. Now they claim we have received service for three months and owe termination fees, late fees, equipment fees. The bank account had to be closed yesterday to stop them from taking any more money out of the account because they were still demanding to be paid more. I have already lodged complaints with the FCC, Attorney General, BBB, and the ripoff report. In my research of the over 200,000 complaints about Dish Network online I found this information and have just faxed my info to them. I thought I would pass this on for others that have been ripped off.
Carpetz Law Firm
5000 Birch Street, West Tower Suite 2500
Newport Beach, California 92660-2139
Telephone: 949-724-3000 800-351-8588
Fax: 949-757-2635 URL: http://www.capretz.com URL: http://www.capretzlawfirm.com
ECHOSTAR & DISH NETWORK
We are currently investigating claims against EchoStar and its Dish Network satellite cable provider for possible violation of state and/or federal laws. If you or someone you know currently subscribe or have subscribed in the past to the Dish Network, you and those similarly situated could be entitled to monetary damages. Please contact us or call our toll-free number (800) 351-8588 for a free, no-obligation consultation with an attorney.
My brother works for Dish. He told me absolutely DO NOT get Dish Network. His exact words: “Dish customer service sucks.”
I hate Dish Network they have been screwing me since the day I had it installed. I now am thinking I have enough to just cancell my contract and send the crap dish and equipment back to them. I would advise anyone thinking of going with them to rethink. They suck suck suck. I have been way over charged for what the ad said and they continue to try to get more from me.
On March 12,2008, I contacted Dish Network regarding an update sent via satellite that crashed my HD receiver. For three days, we waited for the update to complete and it never did. So on March 12, I called customer service to report the interruption in service. I was told because it was a software error, they would send out a replacement unit within a week. I thanked them and went on with life. Here we are on April 9, 2008 and we still do not have a replacement! My husband I have called three more times to find out where the unit was. We were given a multitude of answers and apologies but still not unit! We are customers in good standing (no late payments and we have been customers for several years and referred people to their service) and this is how valued customers are treated! My last phone call resulted my promise to them that I would contact the all channels possible to express my extreme disapproval of this treatment. The customer service department explained that the fulfillment department was not getting back to them and that they handle sending out the receivers. Do not tell me a corporation of this size cannot overnight a receiver for a customer, especially since this was their programming error not user error that caused this situation. We have kept our tone professional and thankful for their help. This has not worked. This leads me to believe that vulgarity and screaming may have gotten our receiver sent to us in a timely fashion. I am writing to warn everyone of Dish Networks poor customer service / fulfillment department and recommend that they use digital cable or another satellite carrier. We will be.
DISHNETWORK BLOWS!! They have lost me as a customer as of today. I was supposed to get it installed on 12/31 — long story short, I have now called them 5 times, and been promised a call-back within 24-48 hours and told “I will personally follow up on this” twice, and still haven’t heard from them. I am currently looking for a physical mailing address for Charles Ergen, DishNetwork CEO. I will be sending him a written complaint. Who knows if it’ll do anything, but it’ll make me feel better. Eat it, Dish!!
I thought was the only guy out there that was having trouble with the dish network company. I have been lied to, over billed and have not received what is in their contract. If you count the number of channels on the channel directory for the top 100 you come up with 75. and that’s only a small part of there lie-ing to the public. There has to be a place we can send this information to someone that will do something about it. I dought the government will help as Bush is probable being paid by them, and half the senate and congress.
I just sent in a complaint to BBB about dish network. They keep taking money out of my bank account without my authorization and telling me they wont refund me. Long story but they have the worst customer service. Very unwilling to help you. Plus I asked to speak with a manager and they said it would be a two hour wait. Do they have that many people complaining? haha
i just read your message i wish i had seen it before i got my dish network now i have 2 tvs that are in need of repair and a service that dont work right and im only 6 months into my contract and dish network wont even return my calls anymore
I just came here from Consumerist, some of the commentators over there gave you a real hard time and it wasn’t fair. I’ve been screwed in supposedly “impossible” situations before as well.
This one is of a different sort but here’s but one of my consumer horror stories…
My cellular provider about 8 years ago nailed me with double roam charges when a few family members kept calling me while I was away on a trip. They also nailed me with additional long distance charges and thoguh my bill showed it was all entirely their mistake – they expected me to pay and even threatened me with a collection agency if I didn’t pay up. I’d been the utmost of polite up until this point but that was the last straw. I put the phone and all its gadgets back in the box and took it to the kiosk nearest my home. I smiled politely at the girl who said “We don’t take returns here” and I said “Oh? How tragic..” as I shoved it across the counter, paperwork included and just walked off. I never heard another thing from them…
Stick to your guns bud. Some companies will screw you any way they can. $3.99 here and there adds up after a while. I wonder how many folks they’ve done this to that didn’t complain or fuss?
After having Direct TV for 6 yrs. now, I can’t imagine that I’d ever switch. With the troubles my brother & sister had with Dish, it was an obvious choice. And coupled with the other discounts through AT&T/BellSouth, that makes it a no-brainer for someone who lives out of the reach of cable. If you’re having this much trouble, just switch next month…
CANCEL CANCEL CANCEL! ABORT! CTRL-ALT-DELETE! OPEN APPLE-OPTION-ESCAPE!
Are you locked in to some sort of pernicious contract that keeps you with this obscene outfit? Put the Dish in the dishwasher, turn the machine to “Sanitize,” and switch to some other provider that will treat you decently.
If you’re stuck with the SOBs, complain to the FTC, the local and federal attorney generals, the Better Business Bureau, and every other regulatory agency you can think of. They’ve violated your contract by cheating you, and so you should be able to exit stage left.
After three consecutive months of billing errors from Time Warner cable, I forwarded copies of all the correspondence to my credit card company and started disputing individual amounts. To my surprise, the credit card company refunded the entire months bill (not just the amount in dispute); given TWs lack of response, the CC simply made the refund permanent.
Nickel : is this billed to a credit card ? Try the same tastic.
I ditched DishNetwork years ago for DirectTv for a similar nonsensical customer service issue. It was like they didn’t even care that I left but then tried to offer me the world to stay when it finally went through.
I went to DirecTV and they weren’t much better so I ditched Satellite for digital cable (IO with the whole triple pack) and while it’s nice it’s overpriced and their service is almost as bad…
You can’t win.
I can hear the boardroom discussions: “First, we set up the surveillance cams. Then, we start The Nickel Channel. All Nickel, all the time.”
Whatever happened to “the customer is always right?” We have DirecTV but it’s only because they were the first here to pick up the Big Ten Network.
Yeah, by the way the email is worded, the are basically saying you are a big liar and you are not getting your money back. I dropped them a few years back due to poor customer service.
We’ve been Dish customers for years and are generally happy with it. While we haven’t had any problems like nickel has had, this e-mail surprises me.
In our old house, we were watching TV one day when all of a sudden our channels started changing. After some troubleshooting and a call to customer service, we found that a neighbor of ours had Dish installed that day, and our UHF remotes were sharing the same frequency, and they were changing our channels. So, hell yes, it’s absolutely possible for someone outside of your house to order a movie on their system and it could order it on yours at the same time. The fact that it happened at 5am could mean that during daylight hours, there is sufficient wireless activity around your house to block this signal from your neighbor. But at 5am, when things are relatively quiet, it managed to get through.
Pure guessing on my part, but I’d be surprised if this is the first time this has happened.
We got DirecTV a few months ago and it is GREAT. Customer service is always rated among the best of ALL businesses. Sounds like you are making the switch. Good for you.
Regarding Vilmo’s comment, that’s the problem with monopolies and oligopolies. There’s no real competition, and thus there’s no real motivation for these companies to improve service. They have terrible service and sky-high prices simply because they can get away with it.
Unfortunately, there’s not much we can do about it except keep complaining to the government officials in charge.
Sorry to hear about your troubles but be careful what you wish for. If you think Dish Network customer service is bad, try dealing with Comcast for a while. And you get to pay more with them too.
Umm, sorry I meant to tell you I watched a pay-per-view at your house last time you were out. My bad :0
Perhaps try forwarding the email response along with a brief explanation to your state’s Department of Consumers Affairs complaint division. They may contact Dish or forward your request to the appropriate authority to investigate. If the way Dish has handled this with their canned response is not up to your state’s standards, Dish may choose to issue the refund rather than answer a formal inquiry. Just a thought.
FIP: We love a bit out in the country, and thus can’t get cable in our area (though oddly enough we can get DSL).
Congrats on your search placement. 😀
It’s strange how companies will go to great lengths to woo new customers but not to small ones to retain them. Sad, really.
I’ve been using the same cable company for about a decade now, great high-speed internet and lots of cable channels to choose from, it’s about $80 a month for both of those. It’s ot the cheapest thing in the world, but it’s great service.
What idiots. I went with directv a couple years ago and will never go back. I just don’t subscribe to TV anymore. It’s a waste of money.