Satellite Systems - Dishnetwork of Echostar Satellite corporation fraudulent, incompetent and deceptive

Complaints.com received this e-message on July 22, 2000:

From:

RE: Dishnetwork / Echostar Satellite

Dear Sir/Madam: Dishnetwork of Echostar Satellite corporation is fraudulent, incompetent, and deceptive. Dishnetwork provides foreign language and Englsih satelite services. I decided to purchase the ART program (Arabic) for $25/month and bought the dish and receciever for over $300. This worked out fine. A year later, I added the Top-100 (English), which I also had to purchase another satelite dish for, but same receiver. After 8-10 months, this Top 100 disappeared from my screen; called them about it and emphasized that these equipments were still under warrantee. They said to keep paying for the Top100 which would be refunded later, "unless I wanted to put myself in deferred status, which would not be good," according to the company's rep. After almost 4 months, they sent someone to my house to supposedly fix the problem. This serviceman was not part of Dishnetwork, gave me no business card, and worse of all was either high on something or had few drinks. Indeed I was very alaramed by him; I took his license plate number, but his white van had no writing on it. (License plate number: JRV24X). Anyway, this serviceman was trying to fix the wrong satelite after I told him over and over again that the top-100 was the problem. He became belligerant and I had to ask him to leave. He fixed nothing, indeed he made things worse. I had to go up the roof to fasten the "working" dish again. I called the company and complained, but they never got back with me. This happened in June. Come July, Dishnetwork is sending me a bill for $158 for service call, not to mention, adding another $5 here and there for access fees.... . I have been talking to the company since March about this problem; explained to them that the problem was not fixed, then finally cancelled my top-100 ... e-mailed them, and so on-but their representative on the phone knew none of this. I was literally on the phone with dishnetwork for hours aday, I needed my TV, but they proved to be fraudulent, deceptive, and above all incompetent. They ripped me off and I am not going to let this happen to anyone else, and I will not pay them a penny for their so-called service-call. Please investigate this matter further, if you are willing to help, warn people about this nonsense that Dishnetwork does to customers, and let me know if I could be of help to anyone else who wishes further information about my bad experience with this company.

Here is my e-mail address: Email User

address:

Hopatcong, NJ 07843.

Sincerely,

Ben Vaughn cc: Better Business Bureau