DISH Network
Reviews and Complaints

I scheduled an appointment to have a technician service my home to install internet service. The technician failed to show to two separate appointments. I took two days off work to wait for a technician that never showed up. I did not receive a courtesy call on either occasion. When I called to complain and cancel my service they refused to cancel it. I spent over two hours on the phone, and after speaking to NINE representatives I finally got my service canceled. It has been TWO months and I am still being charged for the service I never got! They are extremely condescending and rude when it comes to complaints, and they don't listen to the customer but rather argue with the customer! They are horrible. I was able to get DirectTV service for half the cost, and twice the channels. Furthermore, Dish constantly changes the channel line ups. We have had Fox Sports, A&E, and Blockbuster canceled by Dish over the last few years. They cannot reach agreements with cable networks, and so cancel the service/channel to their customers constantly.

If you live in a rural area, your only option for high-speed Internet service is satellite - forget cable and DSL. DishNET is one of the very few satellite Internet providers. Satellite Internet service has significant drawbacks - it's slower than cable or DSL, is unreliable (goes out during thunderstorms or for no reason at all), and is subject to data caps. These are the reasons why DishNET sucks:

For one, it's outrageously expensive - here are the available plans:

$49.99 / month - 5 GB Anytime Data and 5 GB Bonus Data @ 5 Mbps download speed
$59.99 / month - 10 GB Anytime Data and 10 GB Bonus Data @ 10 Mbps download speed
$79.99 / month - 15 GB Anytime Data and 15 GB Bonus Data @ 10 Mbps download speed

Each plan requires a 2-year contract and a $10 / month equipment lease fee. If you bundle with Dish satellite TV service, you save $10 / month - yay!

As noted above, DishNET is subject to monthly data caps. Each plan is divided into what are called Anytime Data and Bonus Data. Bonus Data is only used during off-peak hours (2 am - 7 am). DishNET uses misleading advertising - they claim their $49.99 / month plan includes 10 GB of data, but only half of it can be used during the day.

Should you exceed your monthly data allowance (which you often will), your service will be reduced to dial-up speeds (approx. 128 Kbps download) for the remainder of the month. If you want more data, it will cost you $10 for a measly 1 GB!

All satellite Internet providers (as well as mobile phone service providers) impose such limits. They claim the reason for them is to improve service by minimizing excessive usage - that's not true. They do this in order to make more money. A report explaining this can be found online.

In conclusion, DishNET is a joke. You're better off with dial-up!

when we upgraded to the hopper it was mandated by your company that payment would automatically be taken out from our account
now your sending me late notices all the time and demanding payment
I refuse to pay double for anything
What right do you have to threaten me with turning it off when all the choices have been taken away by your company
I don't even know now why we upgraded it has been nothing but trouble
Our verizon bill has skyrocketed thanks to your company
something never talked about by your representative or your info packets
The wifi connection when installed evidently piggybacks off our verizon when downloading so it is no longer plugged in
I somehow don't think it made a difference though as the notice of overages is still happening and we are not downloading anything
so the unit provided by your company evidently has some sort or connection still even though the connecting part was removed by me
we may have to shut down our verizon wifi because of your company
I used to be happy with the service from your company and now all I want to do is quit all of it and just disconnect from the world totally
So congratulations on turning a happy customer into a miserable customer
I sincerely hope that there is a real person reading this email as I think it is very important for someone to look into the practices of this company before it is too late and you become another at&t

Account Number: [protected]

BEWARE THE PIGGYBACK WIFI ATTACHMENT!

I live way out in the middle of nowhere and the only way I have to obtain internet service is by mobile broadband or satellite. I tried mobile broadband and that is another issue I will address later. What I want to say is, if you are contemplating using any satellite service for your internet access...forget it. They all claim to offer a "4g or better" download but, in fact, it truly is only slightly faster than the old dial-up modem gave you. True, if you measure download speeds with their site (hughesnet.net) it will show you have 4gbs or better, but you may die of old age waiting for other sites to load. Two tin cans and a piece of string would serve you better.

I began my Dish Network service in March 2013. On March 26, 2013 I received a call from Peter (last name not given) and I gave him my debit card number and specifically repeated to him three times during our conversation "Do not bill this card until the first of the month. I am retired and my retirement check is always posted on the first of each month. My account in empty by the 26th of the month and processing my bill before the 1st of the month will always come back as "insufficient funds". After he agreed to process my payment on the first of each month, he IMMEDIATELY ran my debit card, not once--but TWICE on the 26th. After I had spent twenty minutes on the phone explaining this to him. Now, each month my card is processed on the 1st of the month and immediately paid.

Every month since then (April and May) the bill is still processed on the 26th and each time a different person calls me up and tells me that my card failed. Each month the run it through on the 26th, twice, and each time a different representative calls me up. For the month of April, it was Roberto, who said that he couldn't process my bill on the 1st of each month, it has to be processed on the 26th. He, too, ran my debit card number, twice, on the 26th of April (even though April's bill and already been paid. I explained to him (three times during our conversation) that my retirement check in posted on the 1st of each month and there is no money left in my account. He told me, "I can't process your bill on the first, it must be on the 26th of each month. I finally said, "Either process my bill on the 1st or come and get your satellite dish!"

On May, Rachel, called me after she process my bill, twice, on the 26th. Again, I repeated the same story and asked to speak to the supervisor. She "accidentally" cut me off. I asked Rachel to remove all the pornographic channels from my account. She did, and the increased my till to $84, 58 cents a month and REMOVED my favorite channel, GMC. Which is 180 degrees opposite of pornographic. Finally I went down to the local representative to ask for the regional manager's name and address. She stalled for over thirty minutes and instead of giving me her business card, she took my name and number and promised to call me back with two hours with the names and numbers that I asked for. She was so pleasant that I actually believed her. No one from Dish network has contacted me and it has been three days.

My June bill was processed on the 1st of June, and I will cancel on June 30th. I am paying for 25 channels all the rest of "Pay for View" and "Video on Demand" which cost for each movie. I think either, "the left and doesn't know what the right hand is doing" or Dish Network is deliberately not being customer friendly. Either way, on the 30th of June I am instructing the local representative to come and get their satellite dish on June 30th and cancel my account. $85 per month for only 25 channels is totally too much to pay! And I would rate their customer service as an F (failure)!

I have recharged a sum of rs 250 on 02/06/2013 online for my disth tv vc no [protected]. The order no from ccavenue is & bull; order iddt0102730263. But it is still not processed. Please do the needful to recharge my dish tv account
Details received from ccavenue is as given below:
• order iddt0102730263
• date & time02-[protected]:15
• mobile no. / subscriber id01515307476
• recharge amount250.00
• amount paid 250.00
• coupon face value n/a
Prem shanker shrivastav
Mobile no. [protected]

I need some clarification on a service that Dish offers. I signed up for Dishnet (internet). I have no choice but to use satellite internet due to location of my address. Dishnet is like a cellular data plan. I get 20GB a month at 15mbps download 5mbps upload. I can only use 10GB during the daytime and the other 10GB between 3-7am...not cool!
Dish keeps advertising on TV that you can watch all your favorite shows and movies anywhere in your home on a TV, laptop, phone, tab, and/or any other supporting electronic device. So if i have a tab and want to watch a tv show using the Dish's application, then i have to have an internet (wi-fi) connection to my tab right? So now i am using dish internet to watch a dish show on my tab, as they advertise, but now I am soaking up my data usage that DISH limits...still following me? My DISH DVR has to use the DISH internet to allow me to watch a DISH "On Demand" movie. One movie could be between 2-3GB or more. A couple of movies could use up my monthly data allowance real quick. How is it that their advertising commercials say that customers can do anything they want using the Dishnet internet service, but I cant watch or play movies, shows, youtube, games, and all kinds of other (anything) stuff? Does anyone else have an issue like this?

I used to have unlimited DSL. I had to cancel my netflix, xbox live, hulu plus, and several other accounts because i am now limited.

So, how is it that they advertise the satellite internet on TV with customers saying "I can watch all my favorite movies and TV shows?"

I ordered a move of my Dish service. The technician couldn't install at the new condo site, because the internal wiring was not compatible and he would have to tap into the outdoor box (that Time Warner owned), run wire 600 feet to the building, snake the wire up the side of the building, drill through the balcony wall, into the master bedroom, drill through the master bedroom to run wires across the floor to the other side of the bedroom, where he would drill through that wall to get to the family room for hook-up. Dish won't let me out of the contract and is charging $227.50 in early termination fees. They say my contract is for the previous residence only, but my contract says no such thing.

I subscribed to Dish Network in December of 2012, after my contract had ended with Directv. Dish offered a 2-year promotion that would lower my monthly bill to about half of what I paid DTV, and at the time, DTV could not compete with that offer. For the entire 3 months of my subscription with Dish, I experienced frozen pictures, and the advertised Hopper never did show a television show or movie in its entirety. Customer service was a joke. I would stay on the phone waiting for assistance for at least 15 minutes per call; and their remedies in fixing my problems never lasted over 24 hours. After about 3 months of this mess, I called DTV and explained that I wanted to come back. At that time, DTV offered me a comparable package for a slightly higher rate than Dish, and I did not hesitate at the offer. In addition, DTV offered a $200 Early Cancellation Refund for leaving the other satellite provider. I knew that I could not keep the service with Dish for the contracted 24 months, so I went back to DTV.

When I called Dish to disconnect, I told them the reason for my discontent, and also explained that I had chosen to return to my old provider, and that I would gladly pay the Early Cancellation Fee (which had been explained during my initial telephone installation order. They told me that I would receive a bill ($383.00) for the time left on my contract. This was a lot of money, but it was worth it to end my mistake with Dish. Again, I ended the service in December of 2012. From December 2012 until March 25, 2013, I repeatedly called Dish to inquire about this bill. To this day (April 9, 2013) I have never received that bill. Each time I called to inquire, they told me that the bill would be sent in the next few weeks. However, on March 25, 2013, I received an email from Dish notifying me that they had charged a credit card (from my previous account) the amount of $383.01, which was the Early Cancellation Fee. I was not pleased with this because the charge was never authorized. More importantly, I had never received this bill, as they had been promising since my disconnect in December 2012. I contacted Dish on that same day, and requested a copy of the bill. The said that it would be sent (again) in the next week. After calling Dish every other day since March 25, 2013, I did receive a letter on April 5, 2013, advising me that my account with Dish had a "zero balance". I called the number on the letter, and (again) requested a bill. That representative told me that the bill was sent out on the same day as the letter and I should receive it on the following day. I waited until April 8, and still no letter. I called Dish again on April 8, 2013, and was told that since Dish charged my card on March 25, 2013, no bill would be generated. I asked that representative to verify on my account that I had requested this same bill since December 2012. She verified that this information was on the account. After being promised a bill for the past 3 months and was repeatedly advised that the bill would be mailed. On April 8, 2013, this representative finally informed me that no bill would ever be issued. The representative stated that she would email me the bill 'since I had repeatedly requested a bill, and there had been a misunderstanding'. Of course, I never received the emailed bill.

This angers me for a number of reasons: my experience goes beyond untrained Dish representatives who gave out wrong information. My experience points to an orchestrated reprisal of customers who are so dissatisfied that they chose to end the service before the contract period. I believe that Dish is fully aware of the offers of their competitors in the area of promotions to switch mid contract. All of these promotions require a copy of the bill which contains the Early Cancellation Fee amount. I believe that Dish purposely withholds this bill as a way of punishing the customer for ending their contract. It is a shame that Dish did not us this ingenuity in keeping the customer in the first place.

I had already decided that I would pay the Early Cancellation Fee regardless of any offer received from a competitor. However, I have an issue with Dish pulling an old credit card and charging the amount without any bill showing these charges, or even notifying me that they would be charging the card (until after the fact).

I would advise any customer that is unfortunate enough to use Dish Network, to never use your credit card as a method of payment. Actually, I would advise against choosing Dish Network in the first place.

I signed up with Dishnet work in a two year contract, Dish promised no price increases untill feb 2013, They lied., no only did they increase the bill, they also dropped channels., they did not keep their promise but expected me to keep my two tear agreement, . well I kept my part of the bargin, then i canceled, i had over a $80 dollar credit on my account . they sent a box to return equipment which was to cost $17, again I fullfill my part of the bargin, It has been canceled since Dec 2012 and i have yet to see a refund.. oh yes, Dish has had the nerve to send me junk mail asking me to come back ... If you try to contact someone about the account, their phone reps, just pass you on to a endless recording . . Buyer beware, stay away from Dish net work, who in their own mind claim to be highest custumer service... dream on Dish, truth is, They Lie...
Dan from Hannibal Mo

Account# [protected]
Dear E care team, My name is Kimberly and I am emailing you concerning my account with dish network. I was told you are the one to go to concerning my problem with them. I filled out a PMF with their corporate office and was denied on 1/30/13. I put my account on suspend and while doing this I was not inform all of my disclosure information. I was not inform that putting my account on hold that I would be forfeiting my right to the new customer discount. After continuously paying my bill on time full amount they will not give me back my credits or discount.I was also not notify that I couldn't change my dish account to my new house with out being charged 100.00 dollars unless it was a year to the date from on signing up. At this time I was able to change on 2/1/2013 for free because that was my year date but today I was informed that I still have 18 months left on the account. I also payed a balance of $118.00 that when making this payment it would bring my balance down to 99 cents and when I contact them two weeks later I find out my balance is $83.11 I am emailing you in hope that you can help either get my discount back that I was paying of 34.00 dollars a month for America's top 120 or credit to my account that I feel I rightfully deserve or break my contract with no fee. Please contact me if you need further information about this matter at [protected] or e-mail me at [protected]@gmail.com. Thank you for your time and I hope to hear back from.

Sorry forgot to add that I have bin dealing with this matter since 1/25/13 and was just notify that I was denied from the corporate office on 3/1/13. I have bin informing every dish network representative that I was waiting on the corporate office decision and was told they didn't hear from the corporate office yet. Which I was lied to for months thinking they have not made a decision on my complaint please help me thanks again for taking the time to listen!

I was looking for a better deal than Direct TV was offering. I called Dish talked about a package that gave me all I wanted. I was told that I would be able to get that package at 1/2 off for the 1st year then go to full price approx. $120 monthly. I agreed to sign up for that. After 3 months I get a e-mail that the 3 month movie package deal was ending and my bill would be going up to the $120. Not finding a phone number I tried the customer service chat. He told me he would gladly remove the movie package so my bill would not go up. So the salesperson lied to me and they are not willing to do anything other than remove the package I was promised free for a year. I am sure the sale people are on commission and will tell you anything to get you to sign up.

My wife and I moved from Washington State to Atlanta, Georgia. We had planned on taking our Dish Network program with us. We rented a house that could not have a dish due to the trees and the landlord did not want a dish attached to the house. Centurylink, whom we had bought the system through a "bundle" stated that if we move and cannot take it with us, the contract is ended. So, we cancelled our Dish and moved across the country. A month later, we got a bill for $236.00. We explained to Dish that we could not have a dish nor use the system due to the trees and landlord. We were told by Dish's legal team that the CEO of the company requires, that eventhough you cannot use the system, you still have to pay. I spoke to my friend about the problem. He said that when his mother died, Dish made him pay the rest of his mother's contract, $180.00. Nice company. The CEO wants it this way, as I was told by Dish Legal. Beware of greedy CEO's and contracts at Dish Network, .even when you cannot use the system.

This morning I woke to view my Showtime and HBO programs I had recorded last night. Only I found that not only can I not watch anything that I have recorded on these two networks but anything I recorded on TMC and Flix also. Then I tried to watch any of these network channels live and I am blocked out with this High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. I went to my system info and I am turned on to receive this High band width Digital Content Protection. So I am missing about 40 channels. I tried watching them on the alternative unHD choice and I could not do that either. Dish network acted surprised and after transferring me to a "Higher Technician" I was told I would have to install a component cable ($10). Looking on the internet I learned that this cable is of lesser quality reception. What is going on here? Did these Cable companies not inform Dish of this problem or is there more here that meets the eye. I am outraged that as a paying customer to these companies that they so disregard their valued (?) customers. On their websites I find no contact info to file a complaint.

I am so sick & tired of having to call billing because the promotional price was adjusted . Auto bill pays was supposed to keep the price down, yet in a 4 month span, I have have to call & get that adjusted.
I keep getting excuses like "i don't know why the computer did that" or " the compute just assumed you wanted to UPGRADE to the premium package" & so on it goes...
In all Fairness, Direct TV pulled the same crap before i even got my dish hooked up.
Why did we go digital in the 1st place? will never get the truth..

I had been with Dish in Alaska for 12 years moved to Washington and because I could not get a line of site they let me out of my 2 year contract at that time no penalties no fees. I moved a few months later in to a house where I could get their services again so jumped on it as I really do hate Com-cast the local cable TV provider. I am not forced to move from my house in to an apartment and because my apartment sits where there is no possible way I can get a satellite signal from my patio they will certainly cancel my contract with a $400 dollar cancellation fee. I told her I would of never signed any contract that says if I can not use their services because of no line of site that I would agree to pay any fees, I am not cancelling because I want to I have no choice...her response was well you can put the account on hold...for what I asked I cant use your services I signed a year contract. Well the only option Dish offers is for you to pay the fees. I will never ever refer any one to Dish Network again. I truly had no issues with them in all the years I was with them and was just curious would anyone in their right mind sign a contract with a cable provider where if they had to move and Dish can not point the dish at the satellite sign a contract to pay the crooks for the rest of the contract? NOT I never would of agreed to that in a million years if they pointed that out. I am not cancelling because I want to its because I have no choice. CROOKS I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AGAIN EVER I WILL NEVER REFER THEM TO ANYONE I KNOW. I work in retail and we never tell our customers NO because then well they will do what I am doing...Bad mouthing them! Good job Dish what a way to have outstanding customer service.