Dish Network

St. Louis, Mo.

Several months ago I purchased by first HDTV. I immediately upgraded my Dish service to include a new High Definition Dish and Receiver. The customer service department at Dish Network advised me that I would be receiving approximately 29 High Def stations and all the local St. Louis stations that broadcast in High Definition.

Two months after the installation and having enjoyed good reception by ability to received Channels 2 (Fox) and 5 (NBC) was marred by the fact that they began displaying an error code and I was not able to receive either of these two stations. I called Dish who set up an appointment for a technician to visit my home. Shortly after making the appointment someone from Dish Network (I believe from HQ) called and said that they were doing a survey on my problem and that Dish had been experiencing a high level of calls from St. Louis about the same problem. In fact, there were hundreds of calls. They thought it had to do with the Satellite and not the Dish on my home and the compatibility of the receiver they furnished me with. A week or so later I was visited by their local technician who told me that he could not do anything to fix my problem because it was a Dish Network problem and that they knew about it and it affected hundreds of people in the St. Louis area.

I called Dish Network Customer Service and they denied that such a problem existed and told me that the technician did not know what he was talking about. They set up another appointment for a technician to visit my home and that technician again reiterated what the first tech had said that it was a Dish problem having to do with their Satellite and equipment. He too agreed that there were at least several hundred people that his firm had visited and were not able to fix the problem. I called Customer Service while he was there and the Rep. kept denying that there was any problem. I asked that Dish then give me an over-the-air antenna at no charge since they were not able to fix the problem. They refused. I asked that they allow me to cancel my contract with Dish without penalty. They refused. I asked to speak to a supervisor who after twenty minutes begrudgingly told me that Dish might have a problem. She would not give me an over-the-air antenna or allow me to cancel my contract because she said that Dish advertised that they would get me High Definition TV but not necessarily “all” stations.

I have contacted both Channels 2 and 5 and told the engineering departments that there were hundreds of listeners unable to get their programs in High Def. which they did not know about. I have contacted the FCC and the local TV Critic of the Post-Dispatch, the major newspaper in St. Louis. Perhaps posting this complaint will get some acknowledgement and resolution of this problem.

Allan Levy