Dish Network

Dish Network

July 14, 2006

I ordered Dish Network from the number I was given from 411. A few days later a guy shows up on my door step that speaks no English at all (only Cantonese). Using pictures, I helped the guy find a good spot for the dish. If I didn’t help him he would have drilled holes through my new roof and mounted it that way. They seem to think that is OK. He ended up using the old coax instead of installing new wire. I called 3 or 4 times to have them help me because I was not getting a signal and they said that they’d send someone out to look at it. I asked them to send someone that I could communicate with and I was told that it would be the same company that came out to install it. I told them that I call Dish Network, and they said, “No, you called a third party installer.” I said, ”But, I called the 800 # for Dish Network.” They said, “Oh that routed you to the installers in your area.” I told them that was not my fault that they routed me to someone else when I called them. So, they sent the same guy out and he shook the wires and got it to work then tried to give me a bill for $35. I said that I wasn’t going to pay that and showed him to the door. I called Dish Network to tell them what he did and that he tried to charge me and they said that was correct. We argued for a moment about how long I had been a customer and how long it worked after the install and the charge was dropped. All seemed fine for a week or so. Then the signal dropped off again and I called and demanded that they send someone that I could communicate with and that I wanted a Dish Network tech. Finally I got the Dish Network guy and he said that he had to replace the coax because it was RJ5 wire not RJ6 (the center wire is a heavier gauge). He gave me some paperwork and went on his way. When the bill came, I noticed a $35 charge and called customer service. I was told that he repaired the line and I owed for the repair. Again, we talked about how long I had been a customer and how long it worked after the install and eventually the charge was dropped. This company thinks that I’m going to stick around for more abuse now that my contract is up. My bill increased $2.50/month on the average to end up at $110 per month for a box that doesn’t work very well with my Tivo and I’d have to pay to upgrade. They forget to tell you that they don’t have a box that does unless you ask to talk to the tech department, but they’ll be happy to charge you for a different receiver.