DISH NETWORK

DISH NETWORK and the PROGRAM ACCESS FEE

We recently had DISH NETWORK installed in our home. We agreed to their 18 MONTH COMMITMENT. I was told when I ordered DISH NETWORK that our phone line would be hooked-up to the satellite receivers. So when the man came out to install DISH NETWORK he was finishing up his work, but had not connected the phone line. I asked him "are you going to hook up our phone line"? And he said "well I could, but if your not going to be using pay per view, it is not needed". I said ok then,"don't hook up the phone lines", and he left. Well a few days later we received our first DISH NETWORK bill. On it was a $20 PROGRAM ACCESS FEE. This did not make sense to me. I was not told about this fee, so I contacted DISH NETWORK customer service. The customer service agent told me that the PROGRAM ACCESS FEE, "was for not having my phone line connected to the receivers". I told him that the installer did not hook them up, that he said "it was not needed". The agent got ugly with me and

replied , "I can't help what the installer told you, but it is needed"! I said, "then please send the installer back out to hook-up our phone line". "If we do there will be a charge for the return trip!" the customer service agent said rudely. I couldn't believe what I was hearing! What kind of scam are they pulling here? If I hadn't sign that 18 MONTH COMMITMENT, I would have canceled DISH NETWORK, then and there! Don't need it... do need it... charge you for a return trip, it went on and on! So finally it ended up with myself taking a few hours of my on time to run phone lines all over the house to hook-up the DISH NETWORK receivers. Then it took 3 or 4 calls to DISH NETWORK customer service to get the PROGRAM ACCESS FEE off my bill.

I wonder how many DISH NETWORK customer are paying the PROGRAM ACCESS FEE and don't even know what it is. I'm sure there must be some senior citizens and other people who don't check their bill as closely as I did. Its pretty deceiving because it sounds like a fee for programs your are getting. PROGRAM ACCESS FEE! They should call it the 'phone line fee', but that would send up red flags and alert people now wouldn't it. And they wouldn't be making that extra cash from a fee that people don't understand. I wonder why they are charging me for not hooking up my phone line in the first place? What difference does it make? Or are their receivers doing something with my phone line that I don't know about? They could be sending information about me and I wouldn't even ever know about it. Something must be going on!

So if you or your friends or family have DISH NETWORK, you should check your bills very closely and see if there is a PROGRAM ACCESS FEE on it.

And to the people at DISH NETWORK, you should be ashamed of deceiving new customers by sending out your installers to tell people the phone line is not needed and then charging your customer for a return trip to fix your mistake! You should be ashamed of the way your agents at customer service treat new customers. I guess you figure that after we sign your 18 MONTH COMMITMENT it doesn't matter, you can treat us like dogs. And by the way the DISH NETWORK 18 MONTH COMMITMENT, it is completely one sided in favor of DISH NETWORK! It's all about everything DISH NETWORK can do and everything YOU CAN'T DO! They have paid their lawyers good to make sure you have absolutely no way out! Without paying BIG BUCKS, that is. Oh yeah, if your promised a $100 REBATE from DISH NETWORK and the installer tells you "the rebate form will come with the first bill, to fill it out and send it in with the payment", don't believe him. This is miss-guided, misinformation also! You must go

on-line to a certain website to get the form and send it to an address other than where you send your payment. I wonder what people without computer have to go through to get the rebate form?

DISH NETWORK and the PROGRAM ACCESS FEE! BE WARNED!

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Comment On This

It took you HOURS to plug a standard telephone cord into the back of your receiver? Did you have the telephone company come out to install your phone too?

I assure you - the Dish installer wasn't going to do it. If you decided to place the receiver where there were no electrical outlets, he would not have run electrical cable for you either.

I agree with you that their installer teams stink though. They hire contractors, none of whom do the same quality work as the next. You never see the same company twice. It takes them forever to fix anything, but there is a 90 day warranty on every thing they do (including the installation) and you can hold them to it quite easily until it's fixed.

As for the company making it difficult for customers to get out of the 18 month committment, I assure you - this is what the word 'committment' means. You are a poor consumer indeed to sign up for an 18 month minimum and then be surprised that you have to actually maintain your account for 18 months.

When my phone line got damaged, the charge did show up on my bill. It states "TV2 Receiver Connection (You can save $5 by connectiong your receiver to a phone line/braodband)". They have apparently changed the wording to say exactly what it is.

Comment On This

I have had a nightmare experience with Dish over the last year. I will never as long as I live and breath have Dish Network in my home again. One year ago this month I tried to cancel and have been getting bills and charges to my credit card actually to the point of filing an affidavit swearing the charges were not authorized and having to dispute numerous charges. ANYWAY! I found this number on the better business bureau website which goes to Dish Networks corporate headquarters. After fighting for four months over 50 dollars worth of "taxes", and my credit card company actually taking money back from Dish and unauthorizing them from being able to charge my card again, the lady at the corporate level was very friendly and anxious to help. I now have a 12 dollar credit to my account lol. Here's the number 1-866-319-4564. Hope this helps someone out there.