
Kevin of Eagle Mtn, UT on Aug. 4, 2011
Satisfaction Rating: 1/5
Be warned. Do not use Dish Network. You will regret it!
I had been a customer of DirecTV for a long time, but I thought the idea of saving a little money per month ($20) was worth signing with Dish. It was the worst experience I've ever had with a company in my life. Remember, everything I am about to go over is compared to DirecTV, since I had been with them for many years.
From day 1, the interface or user friendliness of how everything was set-up was very unfriendly. It took many more steps to do simple tasks. And at times, it was flat out confusing, but I kept thinking, "I'm saving $20 a month". In retrospect, it's as if all common sense went out the window when Dish was deciding what units to offer. Most probably, in order for Dish Network to compete with DirecTV and save a buck, Dish Network chose an inferior product. I never had this problem with DirecTV. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I started wondering, did I make a bad choice?
Then I started to notice a common problem with the Dish Network recordings. Each show I recorded would have several areas where the screen would go black or fuzz out. Several static lines would appear making the recorded show unwatchable or annoying at best. I never had this problem with DirecTV!
I called Dish Network. After waiting on hold for a long time, I got people that I couldn't understand because their English was so broken. I told the Dish Network CS agent after several "What's?" that I couldn't understand what they were saying. I had to hang up and call back, so I could get someone that could speak understandable English. Again, I got someone I couldn't understand. The Dish Network CS agent tried to walk me through some reprogramming and such, but it was a very long haul as I couldn't understand anything. After a lot of time and 2 more calls, attempting to fix the issues I was having with their unit, the Dish Network CS agent suggested I get a new unit. Dish Network said they would send me a new unit. And then, I would need to send the malfunctioning unit back to them within a few days. They would be replacing the current unit for one that was the same model. I told them this unit seemed cheap. I would like to get a unit that wasn't so cheap. I was told, "No", unless I was willing to pay more. The idea was to save money. I didn't want to spend more on another unit. Besides, how do I know it would make it any better?
A week later, I got the new unit from them stating I had a short time to send the malfunctioning unit back. I then noticed there was no return slip to send the unit back. I ended up paying $15 S/H to send their defective unit back. I then started to hook up the new unit as instructed. It didn't work. Again, I found myself calling Dish Network CS. And again, I was extremely frustrated with the lack of English. After many hours of frustration and playing IT for Dish Network, finally, the new receiver was working. It wasn't long before I realized, the recordings were just as bad as before. The problems I was experiencing from the other receiver were identical. Needless to say, I was furious and realized I had made a very bad decision in going with Dish Network. It was obvious; Dish Network had cut corners to save a buck. I should add that DirecTV's customer service was amazing in comparison. I always understood the person on the other line. And they were always courteous.
At this point, I no longer believe in nor have any faith in Dish Network, neither their equipment nor their customer service. I was done with Dish Network. I was done with their lousy CS, unfriendly interface and with their inferior products. I was done playing Mr. fix-it. Naturally, I wanted to cancel the service and go back to DirecTV. I knew I would need to call Dish Network CS to cancel my account. I was dreading the thought. I knew I would be battling just to understand them.
I explained everything that took place. They informed me I would have a $300 fee charged for early cancellation. I told them I will not pay that fee with everything that has happened. The Dish Network agent said there is nothing they could do. I then told them that I need to speak with their superior. They transferred me, I heard music and then I was hung up on. I called back. I got a new agent who wanted me to repeat the issue rather than read through the notes, so I did. Again, the agent said there is nothing they could do and I needed to pay the $300. I told that agent to put me through to their boss and they did. I spoke with a woman who had me repeat everything again. She told me there was nothing she could do and I owed the $300. I went round and round with her explaining firmly, but professionally, "I have been wronged here. I am canceling your service because you failed to keep me satisfied on many levels. And there is no point in continuing to do business with a company that doesn't care about me or exercise good business practices." I told her, "I want to speak with your boss right now as this is going nowhere." And before I could finish my sentences, he hung up on me.
I called back. I told the 1st rep, "I want to speak with your legal department." The rep slowly but surely said, "I will transfer you to our legal department." I then spoke to another CS rep and again had to explain my whole story. She said I would need to send the 1st unit back. I explained to her that I already did. She said she had no record of it. I told her a Travis at the front desk signed for it about 3 weeks ago, and I had a tracking number. She asked me to send her that info. If the original unit was received, she could work with me. I sent it to her and never heard anything back, so I called again. I told the first agent, "I need to speak with your boss." I was then transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor had me explain the whole story again, and proceeded to tell me I still had to pay $300. I then told her I needed to speak with the legal department, because that person said they would be willing to work with me so long as the unit was indeed returned.
She said they don't have a legal department for me to be transferred to. I told her the last lady I spoke to was from their legal department. She said the last person I spoke to was a Dish Network agent with the same status as her as supervisor. I told her to let me speak to her boss and she transferred me. The next person I got on the phone said he was, that there was no one higher than him. Again, he had me explain my situation. He then replied stating I had to pay the $300 dollars. I said, "So no matter what has transpired, even though your company has not lived up to any kind of satisfactory service, even though your company has inconvenienced me, even though you have wasted many hours of my time in trying to rectify this situation and inconvenienced me greatly." He said, "Yes sir, you still owe the $300. And you will be charged $15 dollars for each unit you need to send back."
I explained to the agent that I am an internet marketer by trade. I send millions of emails daily. I have social sites with huge following. I am skilled in search engine marketing. I told him the way I was being treated was wrong. I explained that I would have to use my talents to warn others if this was the route he was going to take. I told him I was going to ask one more time. I gave him one more chance to let me speak to someone else that could write off the $300. I again offered to pay $150 if he would pay the other half. He said there is no one else for me to speak with, and I would need to pay the full $300. I told him to cancel my account immediately. I told him that I will see to it people hear about my experience with Dish Network. He didn't care?
I expect Dish Network to do the following:
- Refund/write-off the $300 dollars
- Refund/write-off the last month of service
- Pay for the receivers to be sent back