DISH Network

Background: Dish account [protected]. I had a pay as you go account for our RV. We put it on Pause because we were not using it. I chatted with an agent in April to close the account because we were not using the RV and I did not want to pay the fee every month to keep the account on Pause.

After several months of attempting to close my account starting in April 2016, I have finally been told that the account is closed on 4 August and that I owe $6.21. I have tried to close this account several times via the chat and was told each time that it would close automatically when the bill was not paid. This seemed like a very poor way to close an account, but I got the same answer each time I chatted. The second chat was on May 21, 2016 in which I have a copy and I stated " I contacted you all last month to close my account. I was told it would close as a result of deleting the auto pay. I now am getting another bill for 6.12. I want the account closed". The agent stated "no need to worry about that you don't need to pay the $6.17 on the account we also removed the auto pay your account will automatically cancel".

On Aug 6 I got yet another bill and called Dish. I called this time and was told the account closed on 4 August and that I owed $6.21. I paid them $6.21 that I was told I owed via check. I did not trust them to take credit information over the phone and they said because my account was now closed I could not pay it online.

Bottom line is that dish service is extremely poor and misleading. I tried repeatedly to close this account and believe Dish agents purposely withheld closing it in favor of an easier option for them, which was to just tell me the only way to close it was to not pay the bill. I find Dish business practices unacceptable and will certainly never do business with Dish again. For RVs pay as you go is not really pay as you go!

Dish Network did not provide the services they guaranteed...Storms and inclement weather created numerous interruptions to service (Installation person said initially that this would not happen)...I terminate service due to their inability to provide service...Talked to, allegedly, their corporate office they claimed they had no computer records of my complaints and would not return my $400 that placed on my debit card for early termination of contract...

Dish is charging me early termination fee $200 for disconnecting my service even though I didn't sign any contract. In May 2015, I had leased a third receiver which was added to my current contract account no [protected]). The person who came in to install the equipment somehow, without my consent, and without even informing me, renewed my contract. I am now in a binding 2 year contract with DISH NETWORK without ever having any knowledge of this. I believe this is a fraudulent way to lure customers by keeping them misinformed and ignorant to the facts. When I called to cancel my account with DISH NETWORK today, I was informed of all this. Not only was the Manager named Dennis Crine rude to me, but he hung up on me, without resolving my issues. With all due respect, I am FULLY entitled to cancel my account, because I NEVER confirmed or consented to entering into a 24 month contract.
DISH NETWORK and its staff is uncooperative and unwilling to help its customers. Thank you for your time. Sheraz Syed

Signed an adhesion contract for 2 yr satellite dish service for internet service only. DISH represented that they have a good viable satellite service for internet in my area of the country. But the internet service was slow to very slow all the time. Inspite of many calls to complain about this slow service and tech help to troubleshoot the problem. the problem persisted over the first 2 months (roughly) of service (November/December 2014). The slow speed continues on. Due to slow speed, more time must be spent on internet to get my farm business work done on internet thus leading to excessive time on internet and a mandatory DISH action for placing my service on even slower speed. Ample opportunity was provided to DISH to solve this slow internet speed (I have had many internet providers in past years going back to 1990s and the speed has been acceptable except for this DISH satellite service. After these past 2 months, I called DISH and cancelled this service. They want to charge $385 for early cancellation via small print on their adhesion contract. They have not performed in providing adequate speed for the internet. It is their fault that their satellite system is not providing satisfactory speed. And a cancellation is warranted. The cancellation fee is egregious and I dispute that amount.

I called Dish to inquire about the cost of TV and internet service. Jessica Singh was the rep I spoke to. I agreed on America's Top 200 TV package and 12mbps internet service. This would include 3 rooms of TV, wireless internet and the Hopper. She also said for a 3 month promotion, I would get Premium channels, HBO, MAX, SHO and STARZ and Blockbuster for free. She quoted me $86.22 for the TV and internet a month for the first 12 months and then $116.22 for the next 12 months plus any taxes. I specifically asked if there were any hidden charges, extra charges, or anything else and she said no that is it. I had a $50 referral coupon and asked about using it. She said that I had to wait for my first bill there was nothing in the system to credit it against. She said all I would need to do is call billing and they would apply it, once I received my first bill. I was told I could choose to set up the internet myself, or have a tech come out for $50. I choose to do it myself. Well for 12mbps internet service a tech does have to come out, so I had to take 1/2 days vacation to be there for the tech to get the internet working. They didn't charge me anything, but I am out 1/2 vacation. I received my bill and the amount due was $140.73! I noticed they were charging me $65.31 for the premium channels and crediting $45.00, Blockbuster charge was $14.50 and credit was $10.00. So much for free! I was also being charged for 2 Joey receivers at $10.16 a month. A joey receiver allows for TV in the additional two rooms. Again Jessica said the total included three rooms of HD TV. I called and was told that the billing is actully 1 month and a second month was pro-rated. I asked why the credit for the premium channels and Blockbuster wasn't pro-rated. The person said their billing computer progam dosen't allow that. They will make the credit it up at the end of the 3 month promotion. So much for free! I next asked what is my monthly TV and internet billing going to be. She said $108.95 for the first 12 months and $148 for the next 12 months. I went over my conversation that I had with Jessica when I was sold the package. I said Jessica told me that my cost would be $86.22 including EVERYTHING for the first 12 months and then $116.22 including EVERYTHING for the next 12 months plus additional taxes. I was getting upset and asked if this was something that happens regularly at Dish? Sounds like the old "bait and switch" to me. The lady said there was nothing she could do. I said what about the $50 referral coupon that Jessica said I could use on my first bill? The lady said I couldn't use that now, it had to be used when I first called in. She put me on hold and came back and said they could apply a 10 month credit of $5.00. I explained that is not what I was told when I odrered my package. I feel like Dish being unfair with quoting me one cost for their service and then charging me quite a bit more. Over the 2 years they are charging me an additional $654.12.

For 12 years we were with directv. Our directv install was originally performed by myself with equipment we purchased. Under the current pricing scheme, we were offered what appeared to be a much better price through bundling our at&t service with dish network. So we went ahead and bundled our services, and then our problem begins.

On the day of the install, the dish network installers arrived about 3:15-3:30pm. They performed a site survey, and asked what rooms in our house was to get what service. We originally ordered dvr service for the living room and 1 bedroom along with standard service for 2 other bedrooms.

The technicians seemed so confused about the way things should be setup and wired that I finally asked them if it would be easier to just add dvr service to all 4 rooms. They said yes, so I called customer service to have our order changed. The lady at customer service was asked if there would be any additional charges for the change, and she stated that there would be a $5.99 charge each month added to the bill for the dvr service in the 2 rooms that would have been just standard programming under the original order.

I felt that the cost was reasonable, and she proceeded to remind me that the equipment would all be under the same original 24 month lease agreement. She asked me to ask the technician if he had a spare dvr box with him, and he said yes. So, up to this point I am feeling pretty great with their service.

Let me also add that I informed them during both calls that we currently had all standard tv sets in the house, but we were buying 2 new lcd tv sets in the near future. So the installers proceed to the install of 4 rooms of dish dvr service, and I am feeling great. Now comes the first blow... The inform me that the cabling in our house is sub-par for their boxes and the proceed to rip out the old staff and put in new wiring.

Funny, directv ran on the same wiring for 12 years and lost signal maybe 1 time per year due to flood conditions or heavy snow. But fine... Go ahead and waste your company's money if you want to, because it doesn't cost me extra. About 45 minutes into the actual work of the install, two more guys show up to help. The installer that seemed to be the lead on the job tells the other guys what wires to run where, and what connections to hookup to each splitter. He proceeds to go then to start setting up the wiring and boxes inside. Meanwhile his partner is mounting the dish on the pole and aligning it, and the other 2 are doing the cables outside.

After the cables are installed, the two are told they can go ahead and go back to their hotel because the job should be about done. At this point the one on the ladder has the dish installed and says he has a good signal of about 70. I tried to tell him that 70 would not be sufficient strength, but he disagreed and said that 70 on his meter was well above 100 on the boxes (A totally ignorant lie or mistake... But he did seem to be new to the job). He proceeds into living room to hookup the second box.

Now we finally have both boxes installed, but from the first power-on neither one could find a satellite. So there is about 2 hours spent booting and rebooting, setting and resetting... But no satellite. So the dish man goes out to check his work while the box installer checks over all the inside wiring again. The dish man says he has tweaked the dish pointing and got the strength to over 100 on his meter. Once again, the boxes can't find the satellite. So the lead guy goes out and checks the dish and the wiring. During the check he finds that the wiring outside, that was supposedly double-checked, was actually reverse of what it should have been at the splitters.

Ok, problem solved, satellite found (But the signal was only 66-70). Next they spent a little time setting the boxes up and then it was time for the paperwork. 'oops, someone left the paperwork outside in the rain, we will have to come back tomorrow!' at this point, it is more than 8 hrs since these guys showed up, my house is in total disarray and I am really tired. Ok, so we will see ya tomorrow.

The next morning I get a call from the lead tech and he brings some paperwork by (It looks like the same paperwork from the night before that had been dried out). I sign it, and he loads up the ladder that they forgot the night before. He also asks me if I would like him to take the old dish, the boxes and the old wiring back for recycling. Seems like a nice gesture, and I wasn't going to need the stuff anymore... So sure take it. So far, other than the extremely long and frustrating install and the mess they made of my floors with their boots, I a happy.

A couple weeks go by, and at each rain shower we lose signal. I log into my at&t account to get the number to call for assistance, and I notice that the bill has arrived. Wow! Why is my bill so high? I start going over the bill and see the charge for the programming (Prorated, plus the next month in advance), and I also see a $99 service fee that doesn't look right.

I call at&t and find out that it is an equipment upgrade fee for the 2nd dvr box (The one I was told only would cost $5.99/mo extra). 'I wasn't told about any additional fee, that's fraudulent billing, take it all out' was what at&t heard next. Well the customer service lady at at&t talked me into keeping it, if they paid half the cost (Even though I was still skeptical and not quite sure about the move I made).

So she gets me over to tech support to get the signal problem and a frequency issue resolved with my remotes. Dish support doesn't even tell me how to set the remote frequency, they just schedule an appointment for a tech to come out and say he will fix it all when he comes in about a week. That brings us up to yesterday.

I get a call about 10am and it is the tech. He tells me that he is running a little early, and he asks if it is ok to come early. I was happy with that, and I told him to go ahead and come fix the issues. Evidentially this 'kid' is a contractor, because he shows up in a jeep cherokee with a 20ft ladder strapped to the rood using bunjie cords.

I show him the dish (Which is mounted to a mast that extends above the roof), and he proceeds to try and stand in one of our lawn chairs to adjust the dish. I tried to tell him he was too short to reach it, but he had to find out himself (Kids). So when he couldn't reach it he goes to remove the 18 bunjie cords from the ladder on his jeep.

I told him we had a ladder that he could use instead under the deck he was standing on, so he proceeded to get our ladder out (I am disabled and have bone and joint issues that limit my arm movement and causes lots of problems in my feet so he had to do the lifting). He climbs up on the ladder stating he thinks it is a bad lnb.

He removes the dual lnb from our dish and just sticks a single one in its place, doesn't put a screw in it, and just lets it sit there. He hooks up his test meter and says 'oh yeah, I have great signal there, it's your lnb'. (Mind you, he put no screws in it, so the single moved everytime he touched the cable or moved his meter).

He then puts a new double lnb in place and we proceed inside to the televisions. Inside the signal is now a little lower than it was before and on a partly cloudy day the signal drops to 50 as a single cloud drifts by. Last night we had a really small shower and just like before 'aquiring signal'.

After the tech left, we went shopping and I bought the 2 lcd televisions that we had planned on earlier. We get the first one assembled and setup. We turn it on, and the picture is at 4:3 aspect ratio instead of 16:1. For literally hours I look through manuals, settings, try their so called troubleshooter (The most worthless piece of junk ever made... If you are gonna troubleshoot an issue, make sure you put some information and answers in the troubleshooter... 4 questions and 3 answers is not a troubleshooter program) application.

I even tried resetting the box like the instructions say, hoping that maybe it would auto-detect my new tv. After hours of getting nowhere, I decide to go to bed at 4:45am this morning to get a little sleep. That brings us to today! This morning at 10:00am I call into dish network's tech support line. I explain to the girl what is going on, and I ask her to first schedule another technician (This time preferably one with some experience) to come and align my dish. She does so and we are on to the aspect ratio problem.

I ask her how to change the aspect ratio on my now 1 month old dvr to 16:1 from 4:3, and she puts me on hold for a couple minutes. She comes back and informs me that the dvr equipment I have will not perform that operation and I will have to get 2 more dvr boxes. So here we are with yet another undisclosed item that will result in another large charge for more equipment.

I am informed that the boxes will cost me another $149 each and I will have to pay at least $10 more each month for hd programming. I really didn't want hd programming, I just want the 16:1 aspect ratio for my widescreen tv. I disagree with the charge, but she tells me she will transfer me to someone that may be able to waive the fees since I am still practically a new customer.

She puts me on hold and transfers me into a 'cold call' with another woman that informs me that I have actually been transferred to the cancellation dept (Only after I have to explain the entire situation to her again). She then transfers me to another woman that says she can waive the first box, but the software won't let her waive the second. She puts me on hold for a supervisor to see if they can waive it.

The supposed supervisor comes on the line and I have to explain the entire situation to her again. She tells me that she will waive the first box, but the second will cost me not $149 but $549 instead (Now the price is almost tripling what it was before I spoke to her). I got upset and told her 'oh h*ll no'. She then got really rude and we ended the call. At this point I just had to get outside. While exiting the house, I fell down the steps and broke my ankle. So today is really not going well so far.

Well after a trip to the doctor for a cast, I thought I would try one more time. This time I called at&t billing to see if they could do anything. The lady there informs me that they can't do anything about it, but she will transfer me to dish network's billing dept (Here we go again). I go through the entire story once again, and I am confronted by one of the rudest, most ignorant, self righteous personality I have ever seen in customer service. She done nothing but argue that my point was wrong, that she was absolutely right that widescreen was hd (Which widescreen could care less about hd... Widescreen has been out since the 1920's).

If she actually had any education about formats at all, she would know that hd uses widescreen natively and the scanrate is more important to hd than aspect ratio. And she would also have enough sense not to claim higher knowledge in tech than a 25yr sr. Engineer from the it world. She even had the nerve to raise her voice to a customer. I tell you customer service is definitely not serving the customer anymore. At this point I hangup and called directv.

After going over the setup with directv and their packages, I decide to think about it for a bit because I will have to pay $240 cancellation fee to dish, plus since I am not a new customer to directv... I would have to buy part of the equipment and I really don't like their programming package prices.

After thinking about the situation, I come up with the brilliant idea of having dish adjust their wiring tp have the hd dvr controlling the 2 lcd televisions and the other standard dvr they put in (That I already paid for mind you) control the 2 standard televisions. So once again I call in to tech support again. This time I actually get someone on the line that understands widescreen, hd, aspect ratios, and scanrates (We are doing good so far). I explain the situation to him, told him about the royal b* I had before (He agrees that she was way off base and way out of line), and I tell him about the plan I come up with to resolve it.

He said it sounds good and that they could waive the one box and I wouldn't be charged extra for another box. (Oh, looking so good). He also told me that I would be just as well to take the lowest priced hd package because 1. It's required for the upgrade to be free, and 2. Even without hd I would still have to pay $7/mo just for the box (So I may as well spend the 3 extra dollars).

Then comes the bad news... I asked him to make absolutely sure that I could set both tv sets on that box to 16:1 aspect ratio. After some research, he finds the answer is no... Only 1 tv on the box can be set to 16:3 aspect ratio, the other is only 4:3 aspect. And to top it all off, he didn't find it in any of their literature or books, he had to go try it on one of their boxes.

So now we are right back to square one, I get transferred to yet another supervisor to see if he can do anything (Maybe take the $99 charge I paid on the other box off of the $149 fee for the new one). And this one refuses not only to discount the second box in any manner, he tells me I will have to pay $149 for the first box plus $549 for the second box (And that doesn't even include the $99 fee at&t and I was charged for the first wrong piece of equipment that was install). So now it would cost me another $700 ($800 counting the first box) just to get 16:1 ratio on my 2 new $2500 worth of lcd televisions.