Complaint about Dish Network (please don't publish our email address!!)

Re: Dish Network

Dear Complaints.com,

When my husband and I moved into our new place in April 2006, we contacted Dish Network telling them if they could give us a good deal we'd go with them. They didn't require a contract if we paid the $49.99 activation fee and since we hate contracts we opted to pay the activation fee one time and be able to get out of bad service.

The first time I called, I was on the phone for an hour with the first guy because he couldn't seem to get their computers to run right to accept my order. He kept asking me for my info over and over again and didn't like it when I asked him "where are you located?" as he replied "I'm not allowed to disclose that". I knew that he was in a foreign country, I could tell not only by his accent (everyone I'd talked to there had a foreign accent), but our connection wasn't great either. All in all it took me THREE Phone calls to dish network supervisors to try and get our initial service setup. All that was in one day, I spent a total of nearly three hours on the phone. Finally, I got so disgusted and infuriated I hung up. Then I spent the next few precious hours trying to track down Dish Network's corporate information. Trying to find a number to their HQ was challenging. I checked out public records and found CEO Charlie Ergen's information but couldn't locate a phone number.

Finally I was checking out Forbes magazine online and found the profile for Dish Network with CEO Charlie Ergen's info and a corporate number. I called the number and eventually got someone named John (whose ID number I kept) to help me. Thanks to him we got our service setup and received a one-month credit on service and three months of FREE HBO.

I wish that were the end of it. Remember, we just signed up for this effective April 1, 2006.

First let me say that we started with the Top 60 package for $34.99 and then moved to the Top 120 for $44.99 per month plus taxes.

Our first bill was screwed up. We didn't have the credits applied and so the bill was near $80.00. I had to call and explain to someone that we were owed a credit of one month plus the 14.99 for HBO. Finally they adjusted the total and it came to $32.54 and that's what we paid.

The second bill came in and was still screwed up. They were billing us for the past due amount from the previous month, which was actually the exact amount of credit we were supposed to be receiving PLUS they still hadn't adjusted our HBO credit for the current bill. I called in the evening and spoke to someone and together we laid out the bill and they gave me my new total which was something like $40.55. And the next evening, I paid that bill.

When the third bill arrived, it was for $117.06 they were still charging us for HBO (which the last person said be sure to cancel before July 7th so I wouldn't be charged another month) and they were showing we owed a past due amount from the previous bill (bill #2). My husband was so angry he called them and when the girl on the phone (again, in a foreign nation) refused to do anything about it, he told her we were cancelling. I believe the date of this call was June 21st.

When my husband mentioned cancelling service, the very first thing the female customer service rep (named Vanessa) said was that they would have to charge a cancellation fee because we had a contract. That's when my husband lost it. We never signed a contract. I was specific with Dish from the very beginning, even reiterated it through the guy who installed the service, we would not sign a contract.

Remember as I mentioned earlier, they charged our credit card $49.99 when we first ordered service and we did that to avoid a contract. Because the rep kept insisting we signed one, my husband got angrier and hung up. The phone rang on our end and I picked up and it was Vanessa at Dish again. And then she proceeded to insist to me that we had a contract. I told her I don't know what crap they were trying to pull (and I was being as nice as I could) but we signed NO contract. I said "and I have proof, I have paperwork and I have the $49.99 charge on our credit card for the activation fee that was charged at that time for those who opted out of a contract".

You know what she says? Instead of "one moment let me check that out for you" she just blurts out that everyone gets charged an activation fee. And then she continued to go on and on about how much we owed. She did finally admit we didn't have a contract but I found it very unprofessional of her that she blurted out they would charge us a cancellation fee rather than looking at our record to see we had no contract.

I was so disgusted with her I said "get me to the person who can cancel us" and I spoke to Sabrina who was so nice and in ten minutes she had not only reviewed our bill and admitted their errors, she credited the bill, added another free month of HBO and now our bill is $57.10, that includes the $44.99 in service, $3.99 for one pay per view movie, and taxes. I asked her "can you assure me that when we get our next bill all the credits will be issued" and she said that the only thing I'd have to call about was HBO and have them credit that. Our HBO is free till August 6th, I am going to cancel it long before that. She told me how to get a hold of her if we have any problems and I plan to do just that.

And by the way, Sabrina did agree that our record showed we did not sign a contract.

Ok now fast forward to Tuesday, January 30, 2007. My husband and I pondered getting rid of the Dish Network service since out of 120 channels we only watched half dozen and it wasn't worth the $53 we were paying each month. I called Dish Network spoke to a lady with broken English (possibly Indian or Pakistani) and I told her I wanted to cancel our service. First thing she says to us is "well ma'am I see you are under 18 month contract and you have only had service with us 9 months which means you will have to pay a cancellation fee"

I insisted to her that we did not have a contract and still she was insistent. I informed her of that twice and then told her that if she checked our account she would see that we voluntarily paid the $40 activation fee on our credit card in exchange for not signing a contract. Her reply was that we had been receiving a $5.99 credit on our bill each month as a refund for the activation fee. I informed her that the discount was NOT related to the activation fee and that I had the copy of the installation paperwork in front of me and we had NOT signed any contract. I also informed her that when I called months earlier I had the same problem with them and that there should be a note in our account that we did not sign any contract.

All she kept doing was insisting I was wrong and finally I asked to speak to a supervisor. I told the male Supervisor that the customer service person insisted we had a contract. He says "Yes I just noticed a comment on your account that states no contract"

I asked him why if he saw that on our account, the previous person did not and he replied that she probably had not scrolled through all of the account screens. I talked to the supervisor who spent the next ten minutes trying to sell me on staying with Dish (this--after ALL the problems we had with them!) and in the end he didn't sell me. He insisted a lesser package would still allow us to keep all our channels including FoxNews. But I didn't bite. He finally transferred me to the cancellation person, she was nice, although it became annoying that she too wanted to sell me more packages instead of just processing my request. She did tell me however that Fox News was NOT offered in the lower package whereas the supervisor had insisted it was. You just have to wonder WHO is telling the truth about anything at that company!

The cancellation rep offered us a $10 credit each month for a year to keep us as customers but I told her that not only did we not watch enough TV to warrant paying for it but that the customer service had been so terrible and the experience so miserable that I would not consider giving them a dime of my money again.

Before we hung up she told me that Dish Network would send us prepaid boxes so we could send back the two remotes, one receiver and the LNB that is on the dish. She said that they had to receive it back within thirty days from the time of cancellation, that cancellation date is February 6, 2007 so we shall see what happens. I have heard that even though people have sent the equipment back, they are still billed for it and ultimately contacted by a collector. Our credit is excellent and we plan to keep it that way. Therefore we will make sure that the package is insured and has a tracking number. Also, if they do not send us the prepaid boxes promptly we plan to pack them up and ship them at our own cost. We will do what it takes to take care of our responsibility, I just hope they live up to theirs. If they try to pull a fast one we plan to take them to court because we will protect our credit at any cost.

I should have listened to the people who warned me about Dish Network. I should have really considered the complaints I had read about them. Instead I thought perhaps my experience would be different. It has been a nightmare. They should be investigated, sued, whatever it takes to either change their business practices or put them out of business

Jessica & Vinny

_____

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My horror story is now available for viewing....pass it to everyone you know.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WVzILbM__Q

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I too was lied to about my Dish Network service before purchasing it. I was told by my "sales rep" that I would only be paying $14.99 per month for 100 channels ( no Family package). I was then offered free HBO for 3 months and so I signed up in April 2009 and had the installation. I contacted them via email the first week in August 2009 to tell them I wanted to cancel the HBO. They left the HBO on my bill even though I emailed them and verbally told them to take it off for 5 more months charging me $22 per month. I also have had identity theft for the second time and the thieves decided I needed to have STARZ added to my package which I did not give any consent or approval for. I went online to remove the programming from my line-up and notified Dish that I did not want to pay $5 per month for changing my line-up from something that I never authorized to begin with. The disputed or unauthorized amount has grown to over $150 and I'm constantly getting notices to pay everytime I have the nerve to turn on my Tv which thank god is not too often. I called the customer service number and was hung up on by a supervisor because I was asking for the physical street address to send a certified letter regarding my account. She said she could only give me a PO Box number. Gee it sounds like someone put my account into collections without notifying me also. They have never offered me a credit to my account for the overpayment of monthly fees even though I've notified them twice verbally I have never paid what my "sales rep" offered me per month onetime. I'm sure the stinking thieves enjoyed their non-stop movies while they weren't working. Thanks for the corporate address at least I can mail them a certified letter regarding my account without being hung up on. I can only guess what they've tagged my account with since I have so many legit complaints.

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here,s the letter i wrote to them their awful

Mr. Carlson I am a dish networks customer and I would like to say how unsatisfied I am with your service and service reps

Let me tell you my story. So that you may get a clear picture.

My neighbor told us that he had dish network after we bought our HD flat screen TV and that he would get a 25.00 or 50.00 credit if we chose Dish. So we called the local dish network store @928-204-1400 in Sedona, AZ.

I spoke with a rep by the name of Harry. He told me that I would get dish for $37.00 for the first 3 months and $42.00 + tax after that which then was going a be$ 69.99 plus Cinemax channels for a penny for the first year, which left me with a final bill of 69.99 a month for two years and that if I chose to keep the Cinemax channels after a year I would have to pay for them then. Ok, so I tell him to come and set it up as long as my final amount is not going to go up from 69.99. He said that it would stay at 69.99.

He comes out set up the dish and he tells me to sign for it. He explains that the contract is for two years and I ask him to explain the numbers on the paper called (customer selection confirmation). He tells me that all it is is a paper that has my address and numbers on how he got my bottom line price and I’m just to sign that my address, phone and name are correct. Just make sure the info is correct i.e. name etc., and that my contract is the 24 month commitment.

So I sign it with no problem.

Ok so 3 months later my bill is now $ 79.99 a month and I call dish and they tell me that your rate went up so with tax it when up $10.00 ok not happy but ok I will live with a $10.00 hike. We have auto pay by the way and did not receive a letter telling us it was going up. Which is bad customer service but I got over it.

I would like to also tell you that every time it rains hard or snows we lose signal and our remotes have never worked very well. I have called Dish several times to fix this.

So now its been a year. I call Dish, find out that my first year is up on the 26th of August 2010 (this was somewhere around the beginning of August).

Today is the 24th of August. So I call and have the Cinemax channels taken off. And to my surprise my bill has gone up again by $15.00 and that my monthly bill will now be $75.00 plus tax and fees to make my total bill $93.00 which is a far cry from $69.99.

No one in your company wants to fix this. Your sales rep lied to me took advantage of my naivete.

And suckered me and my husband into a contract for 2 years and we cannot do a thing about it.

Shame on your company for not fixing this problem. I am not blaming the rep that I have spoken to on the phone today. I know there is only so much they can do and were very pleasant the whole time. But after I spoke with Betty in your corporate office about this large misrepresentation from your sales team, all she could say was I signed the contract!

So here’s what is going to happen on my end. I will fulfill my contract because unlike your company, I keep my word but we will be canceling it when it expires.

By the way, my husband is the owner of the largest welding and fabrication company in Sedona, AZ and work with all the major contractors that build or remodel homes in Sedona.

I will be informing our customers and home owners in Sedona not to use Dish network .

As there businesses practices are a bit on the shady side and they don’t seem to care that there sales reps are misleading their customers. At which time you would think they would try and make the contract fair to keep a customer

If you would like to speak to me about this matter, you may call my husband or myself.

Thank you

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I purchased two Dishnetwork systems some eleven years ago. From almost day one they were a total disaster of a company with which to work. After many years of crappy service, half truths and outright lies from their so called Customer Service and Technical Service people I'd had more than enough and notified DishNetwork that I was terminating my service effective February 1st of 2010. Since then I had multiple telephone calls from "account executives" and others trying to get me to reconnect my service; then outright threats when I told them in writing and on the telephone to send me a box with which to return their equipment. Finally they did send me the box and I returned the equipment the next day. I have since been being billed every month for and exhorbitant fee for service....which I will never pay. They have some outfit called CBI who call me in the middle of the night to try to talk to me....I tend to hang up on people with whom I don't know or have a legitimate business relationship but that doesn't seem to get their attention to the fact that they were FIRED and I have no intention of using their services ever again.

This company should be investigated by every State Attorney General's Consumer Protection Agency as well as the FCC. I am sending letters of complaint to every possible agency I can think or and encourage everyone else who has problems with them to do the same. Perhaps a few hundred million dollars of legal fees will wake Charlie Ergan up....nothing else seems to work.

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I have also had problems with Dish Network. I checked with them before getting the service to be sure that if I purchased my receivers, there would be no monthly fees involved for them unless I chose to get the service plan for 6.00/mo. I purchased 3 reveivers, one being the DVR and leased one receiver to get the 1 year 49.99 pricing. I just received my first bill and I am being charged a DVR fee, for what I don't know, since I own the DVR. I am being charged a 14.00 monthly fee for each of my duo receivers, for what reason I don't know, since all I am being told when I call is that is the activation fee for the receiver, which I could understand if it was a one time fee, but this is a monthly charge. They are ripping people off with these charges since they do not own the boxes and do not have any up keep on them. BE WARE. It is a shame that any company has to result to doing this to their customers, especially since a lot of them are trying to get away from the cable service and being ripped off paying for lease receivers, since you can not purchase them.

Dish Network customer service sucks when it comes to any difficult matters like this and that is what eventually is going to put them out of business. I believe the people in this country are tired of being screwed at every corner they turn.

Doug

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I join the list of people who should have heeded the warnings about Dish Network. I am an Active Duty service member living on a Military Post and retiring. I have orders and am moving out of the country. When I called Dish to cancel service they first said that they wanted to charge me 175 dollars to cancel. When I informed them that this is a military move they said it didn't matter and that I would be charged anyway for canceling the contract. As part of my housing arrangement I have to have the equipment removed when I move. So Dish happily informed me there would be another 99 dollar charge for that. Then they said that they could only show up on their schedule and it took me about an hour to get a deinstall appointment. The customer service reps don't seem to have the authority to do anything but take money so they should really be called the accounts receivable department since they don't seem to provide any service to the customer.

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Recent correspondence with customer rep:

Please wait while we find a representative to assist you...

Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer, I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me a moment to access your account and review the information you have already provided.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: How can I provide you with the best value and service today?

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: I noticed that you have been idle for more than 1 minute. If there is no response, your session will disconnect in 30 seconds.

Paul Wohlfarth: I need to understand why I'm being charged a service call on a system that was installed improperly

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: I'd be happy to assist you with that.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: you were charged for a service call because we had to have a service technician go out to your home

Paul Wohlfarth: But the system was missing equipment from day one in 2007 and I've had issues ever since then on poor reception.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: Unlike other companies, we do not charge you every month for the Technician Visit. We only charge you when you need it. So, with the other companies, although it may appear to be a free Technician Visit, you are actually paying for it every month with your monthly programming. So, in order to keep your monthly prices low, we do not add the Technician Visit charge into your monthly programming so that you only pay for it when you need it.

Paul Wohlfarth: I understand that but I am at no fault to shotty workmanship by the 2007 installer.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: ok, well its not our fault either

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: we didn't know the equipment was bad

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: and if it was bad from 2007 why wait till now to have someone come out to fix it, it must not have been that bad

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: Thank you for being a DISH Network customer, have a wonderful day!

Thank you for visiting Dish Network. You may now close this window.

Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

Please wait while we find a representative to assist you...

Thank you for being a valued DISH Network customer, I will be happy to assist you today. Please give me a moment to access your account and review the information you have already provided.

(03mk*) Marie D.Q8V: I'd be glad to connect you to (04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR if you want to.

Paul Wohlfarth: Yes

(03mk*) Marie D.Q8V: Do you really want to be connected to the same agent or do you want me to assist you instead?

Paul Wohlfarth: Listen he cut me off during our correspondence.

(03mk*) Marie D.Q8V: I'd be happy to connect you thru to 04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR. Please give me 2 minutes. Thank you for contacting Dish Network

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR has entered the session.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: How can I provide you with the best value and service today?

Paul Wohlfarth: I'm not a technician. How am I to know what is wrong with the system. I did call repeatedly and took advice

(03mk*) Marie D.Q8V has left the session.

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: How can I provide you with the best value and service today?

Paul Wohlfarth: You stated that your company didn't know the equipment was bad

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: ok

Paul Wohlfarth: I didn't know the equipment was bad but I took the advice of the phone techs

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: ok

Paul Wohlfarth: So they just got around to calling out a technician who found the faulty equipment install

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: ok

Paul Wohlfarth: Now im stuck with another install charge

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: I apologize for the inconvenience.

Paul Wohlfarth: I pay my bills on time and have put up with signal loss problems for three years

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: ok

Paul Wohlfarth: Why am I paying this bill!

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: because we are supplying you service

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Paul Wohlfarth: Yes who do I talk to above you?

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: if you want a supervisor you will need to call in to our 1-800 number

(04-21rf#) Phillip M.YWR: Thank you for being a DISH Network customer, have a wonderful day!

Thank you for visiting Dish Network. You may now close this window.

Your session has ended. You may now close this window.

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These reviews are more than right. This is an impossibly illegit and fraudulent company. I had dish network for 3 months (July, August, Sept 2009). Thank goodness I din't have a contract. Me and my roommate paid a $99 activation fee which was required if you did not take a contract. When we cancelled they said they will come no to take THEIR dish out so we had to unmount that huge piece of equipment from our deck which initially they had screwed on to our deck despite telling them that they are NOT supposed to do that. Later they had secured it with planks of concrete so it made that thing even heavier. GUYS if you want to stay out of trouble DO NOT TAKE DISH NETWORK!!

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I talked to a dish network employee prior to signing up to make sure I can pay to opt out of a contract, and still be able to add 2 more televisions for a total of 4 televisions in my house. He quickly said, in 6 months you are eligible for 2 more televisions or 1 more line if you do not have a deliquent account. No Dish is telling me I have to pay almost 400 bucks plus an additional monthly fee to have two more televisions, etc after the guy said no additional charges would incur. Too top it off dish told me I would have to opt into contract if I got two more tv's put in (1 line). Here's the catch everyone, I have the employee's ID# and his name is Adam who said it, not to mention, I asked him prior to talking if I could record the conversation for future clarity and he agreed. I've gotten dish network to budge to eliminate most of the costs, but I'm not thrilled right now. I have an audio recording, employee ID#, name, date and everything, so I'll see what I can do with this. You can reach me at ghostlyencountersva AT yahoo.com

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I to experienced the same thing. I had the service for a year and called and tried to cancel and it was the hardest thing I every did. They also told me that my contract was for 18 months not 12 as the paper that I had showed. When I complained they sent me a contract that they said we signed when it was put in but I never had a copy of the one they sent. They charged me 80.00 for canceling before the 18 months. I went ahead and sent 20.00 month until I had payed them 60.00 and I thought i have already paid them money I did not owe so I did not send the last 20.00 and they had it on my credit report. I have been telling every one what kind of compnay this is to deal with

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My Name is Daniel Armstrong.

Since I have Started my dish network service I have have seen nothing but incompetency and a lack of customer service. Let Me Run Down What I have been Through.

I called to set up the service in November. I told the Lady who set it up I would need a pole mount 3 times she set us up for an appointment between 12 and 5. My wife sits home and waits for him. he shows up at 5:45 Pm With Out A POLE. He calls to reschedule. Set the appointment for 8 to 12 the next day Because my wife has a doctors APPT at 2:30. She Calls at about 10 to check to see how long it will take. They tell her he is on his way. At 12 he is not there she calls back"he got held up he will be right there." At 1:30 she calls back he is not even headed to our house so she cancels the service all together.

2 days Later A Account Manger Named Dee calls us tells us he will do anything to set us up. he offers us 3 months free no money at all for 3 months. Says he will have a FSM come out on Saturday at 8:30 am with a Pole. The guy shows up at 10:30 because he got half way to the house and did not have a pole. When he gets here He can't get the pole out of the truck so he uses a landscaping timber, untreated wood.

We get a bill from dish network and My wife calls because we where told it would be free. NO ONE KNOWS A DEE THE NUMBER HE GAVE US IS FAKE AND HIS EMPLOYEE NUMBER DOESN'T WORK.

December the we loose service. we have a tech come out he is a hour and a half late. the appt was 8 to 12 he show up at 1:30

Jan Service goes out again Set another appt have to wait a week for the appt.

Feb service goes out tech gets to the house at 8:30pm re aligns dish tells us we need a metal pole. I Knew that the landscaping timber was warping. this is Monday. Tuesday no service. set up appt for thrus. 12-5 the guy does not show.

MY WIFE SPENDS 2 HOURS ON THE PHONE BEFORE SHE IS TOLD SOMEONE WAS SUPPOSED TO CALL HER AT 5 TO RESCHEDULE THE APPT NO ONE CALLED. the FSM WAS SUPPOSED TO CALL US HE NEVER CALLED THE TECH HAD HAD AN ACCIDENT A 4 THIS IS 8P BEFORE WE FIND OUT THE FSM IS THE SAME GUY THAT MOUNTED THE DISH ON THE LANDSCAPE TIMBER AND HE NEVER CALLS US. this IS ALL FROM THE SUNNY DALE BRANCH. I AM TOLD BY THE DISPATCH THAT WE CANNOT GET AN APPT UNTIL SUNDAY so I HAVE no SERVICE TILL SUNDAY SO I GO OUT REALIGN THE DISH MY SELF AND GET A STRONGER SIGNAL THAN WE EVER RECEIVED WITH THE "DISH NETWORK TECHNICIANS"

We have had nothing but problems since day one.

I want the FSM Alex at the Sunny dale branch to be reprimanded severally. And I would Like to see the proof that he was. It is his technicians and his workmanship that has caused us all this grief.

Thank you

Daniel Armstrong

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Dish Network's Corporate Number is (303) 723-1000. Charlie Ergen is the CEO and Chairman of the Board, his direct number seems to be (303) 723-1010, but you have to let it ring about a dozen times if it's not picked up before you get the answering machine. His assistant is reported to be Marcie (last name undisclosed) and her number is (303) 723-1005. The Office Address is 9601 South Meridian Blvd, Englewood, CO 80112.

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I experienced a similar although I think even more frightening situation with DISH Network. It forced me to cancel my MasterCard and I believe put my credit rating at risk, as well as subjected my entire family to the potential of identity theft.

It defies all logic.

DISH Network's response? A boiler plate "email" apology (no refund) and the suggestion I call the "Customer Service" line...the same line I had been on talking to perhaps 40 incompetent and at least one potentially criminal DISH employees.

I ignore that advice and called my attorneys instead.

The entire saga is spelled out and updated at:

http://www.michaelmain.com/dishwarning.htm

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Please, if anybody has also had Dish Network tell them they signed an 18 month contract that they really didnt, please email me. I am in the process of reporting Dish Networks fraud to the Utilities and Transportation Commission, as well as various other outlets to investigate a possible class action lawsuit against this dishonest, scamming company. Email me at leeannmitsubishi AT yahoo.com