Dish Network - A History of Problems

The last month or so has been so horrible, I've dedicated a blog ( http://whydoesdishnetworkhateme.blogspot.com/) to my trials and tribulations of getting results and straight answers.

My letter of complaint to dish:

To Whom It May Concern:

What started as an optimistic relationship with a company that I had received only stellar reviews from has taken a complete turn to the worst experience with a service provider that I have ever encountered.

My # 1 reason for choosing Dish Network is the fact that when I signed up (June 2005), Dish Network was paired with the then SBC - a company that I had family members working for. My theory has always been to support your family's employer, as you are supporting your family. I only wish that companies that you support thought that of their customer family.

My concern is that after 2 years of being a faithful customer of Dish (through AT&T or SBC), and subscribing to all of AT&T's services (landline, DSL, Cingular), the customer service and scheduling departments of Dish continue to treat me and my wife like complete idiots, and make outlandish lies and accusations.

My request: I would like to receive my local market channels in High Definition. Nothing more, nothing less. This has been the biggest struggle of my life, leading to numerous fights stemming from "why have I done this and caused all these problems!"

Issue # 1: My originally scheduled appointment is cancelled due to high winds...not a problem. We reschedule for the next Saturday 8-12. After waiting around until noon, I make a call. I find out that the appointment is not for today; rather it was for Monday (5 days earlier). The rep then proceeds to tell me that the change was made by me, it is my fault, and too bad.

Issue # 2: My newly scheduled appointment (8 - 12) is also a no show. After waiting around half of the day, I decide that we are going out. Out of curiosity, I leave my cell number on the door to see when the installer arrives. Sometime between 1:30 and 2:00, I receive a call asking if I am inside of my house for the appointment. At this point, I am done for the day.

Issue # 3: The Sunday following the 2nd no show, I call to see what had happened, and reschedule the appointment. A very rude man states that there is no one available to expedite a new work order for that day. In fact, there are no dispatchers available on Sundays. Apparently, I'm way out of line to expect that someone would want to help me reschedule an appointment, and he was more than willing to let me know and hang up. I call a few more times, and get a new appointment for the next Saturday.

Issue # 4: The installer finally shows up....2 hours late. I had almost given up on him. But, he does not come with the correct equipment. We had been promised that we would receive the upgraded dish, replacing our hideous 2 dish monstrosity on the roof, which I have never been able to understand why we had installed. (I have received a lot of differing opinions.) He does the install. He also uses my phone, and paces the hallway into our bedroom (only once) without even considering asking my permission. But we have HD finally!

Issue # 5: Let's just lump sum all the lies I've heard up to this point as one problem. It always seems like a rush to get me off the phone, and I've been told what I want to hear numerous times to quiet me. The most recent being on the above installation day. A kind rep told me she would enter in a work order to replace our 2 dishes with one for the following Monday. Of course, it never happened (and led to a 2 hour phone call...again).

Issue # 6: I call to ask again for one dish. The man snidely says I cannot get this. Period! I remark that my friends have it, and it exists. He denies. I explain further. He denies. I say the neighbor has it. He then changes his story from a lie to that we must pay an extra fee, since he's not sending a tech to do this for free. I argue a bit with him, since I'm pretty annoyed, and he hangs up.

Issue # 7: I call cancellations. I have had enough, and decide they have one last chance before I cancel to make it right. A very nice rep does everything he can. He assures me that all the right equipment will be available for the tech to choose from. The install is free, and he's taking care of it. The next day comes, the installer hasn't shown up at 5, which is ok, but I see the local channels are completely gone now. I call, and my work order is blamed. And they note it's been moved to the next day. I ask for a manager, and lobby to get my locals back, but I will lose my work order. At this point, I'm just pro whatever will make my TV functional again. I agree. He does something, mumbles and then asks if there's anything else he can do and starts to hang up. This starts a discussion of how I cannot have it both ways. Either I have locals, and no work order, or a new work order is issued and I lose locals. Ridiculous! He then hangs up.

Here's the fun part. Fifteen minutes later, the original installer for today calls. He's 20 minutes away, and will be right here. What? He comes, and completes the order. We have one dish now. Our locals still were not back on when he finished, and he had to again call CS to turn them on. Out of skepticism, I would not sign his order until the locals were on. How am I to approve the HD channels, if they are not present?

My point? I don't like to be lied to. I don't like to be belittled. I do not appreciate being blamed for Dish Network's mistakes. I, for one, would like some sort of sincere apology from Dish, and to see that something is being done to prevent future customers from being treated in this way. I would also like AT&T to be made aware of their partner's inappropriate practices, as this will most likely cost them our service in all forms. I hate to leave them, for family reasons, but I can't be a part of this any longer.

I look forward to your future response to the above issues, and the dialogue that will stem from it. Please also be aware that this letter is being forwarded to numerous sources, email and websites.

Thank you for your upcoming prompt response!

Nic