DISH - Service

We cancel free HBO before it was to expire. I sent DISH a note to that effect and got a response that it was corrected. Last month, we got hit by DISH for HBO and another channel. I sent them an email but no response!

I bought my Dish from Radio Shack in Luverne, Alabama a couple of years ago. I paid $210.00. On 2-2-12, I called Dish Network and told them I was having problems with my satellite, when their service guy hooked it up. He rigged it up, running under the door. Well that's their mess-up, to start with. I told the customer service lady. She sent me to another lady. I had to explain all over again. They sent me to another person, then to a guy I was on the phone for way over 2 hours. At first, they wanted me to pay $95, before they come out to fix their own mistake, then they changed it to $15. I still disagreed.

Finally, they dropped it down to $6. I finally agreed to pay it, and get my satellite fixed, but I am legally blind. This isn't my first run in with Dish. I can't believe how their customer service is so rude, that I had to pay to fix something. Their service guy did. Oh well, DirecTV has offered me two boxes, for what Dish offered me on that one, a few years ago. I know how to solve this at the end of this month. I will be switching to DirecTV. I rate them number 1 in customer service. Dish is going to send someone out on Sunday to fix it, 2-5-12, the day of the super bowl. Now, Dish better hope they fix this before the super bowl, because if not, then they take their ** with them, while they're here. Dish, you need try treating your customers with respect.

Earlier this month, my debit card had an unauthorized charge, so my bank reissued me a new debit card with a new number. A day or so before this happened, I purchased a sling-box from Dish. A day after this happened, I remembered my auto pay with Dish, and gave them a call to inform them of the new debit card number. Bad policy number one: Dish required me to make an early payment, because if I want to change debit cards, I had to make a payment. I asked why, and was told that its a Dish policy. Fast forward to a few weeks to two days ago, my wife realized that her mobile connect wasn't working, so I called to inquire why. A recording said my account was inactive, and asked if I wanted to make a payment of "zero dollars and zero cents".

I was assured everything was okay, and my account would be refreshed within 15 minutes. Today, we have the same issue with mobile connect, our program guide only goes out one hour, and the DVR isn't recording anything. I called back to learn that the sling box I bought didn't go through, because the first debit card was rejected. I proactively contacted them about this weeks ago. Interestingly, I show a charge on my online bank statement but no credit back. I'll be watching for it. Bad policy number two: because I switched my debit card number at the exact wrong time, I am now banned from using any debit cards for the next 6 months, and of course, I am required continue paperless billing, so I have to remember when to pay Dish, and for how much.

Let me make sure I understand this. Dish is upset with me, because a charge was denied, even though I proactively contacted them about it, so they make me figure out how much I owe them, and when to send payment. The chances of missing a payment now are much higher, because of this dumb policy. I was planning on switching to DirecTV a month ago, but caught them in a lie during the installation. My cable company is unreliable, and has a poor DVR system. I'm stuck with the best of three poorly run companies. I can't wait until streaming TV through the internet is more viable for me.

If it was raining, or a fly landed on the dish, we lost signal. In Indiana, rain is a regular occurrence so you can imagine how many times we lost signal. After months upon months of trying to get AT&T U-verse, we finally were able to and are so happy with it. We can record 4 things at a time. We can start a recording downstairs and finish it upstairs. The music channels are never interrupted by commercials and include the complete eras and genres instead of just picking and choosing with their satellite music. We absolutely love AT&T and never lose signal. It's awesome!

Another reason we hate Dish is because we tried 4 times to cancel service and finally had to call and get, it prorated. They sent us this statement to send back equipment, which we found out was too old to even qualify for "discounted shipping" so we'll just send off the memory card. Now we have to worry about disposing of the boxes and remotes. You will receive a return kit including boxes and discounted return labels in the next few days.

A $15 per label equipment return fee will be charged to your account should you choose to use the labels. This fee is significantly less than rates you are likely to find with UPS, FedEx, or the US Postal Service. A return kit will not be sent for purchased or obsolete equipment; instead, a postage-paid Smartcard return envelope will be sent to return Smartcard(s) for obsolete equipment. Really Dish? You guys suck so bad! I am so glad we no longer have to deal with them ever again!

It's all about their so-called HD channels. It is so irritating not being able to see the whole screen, which cut off so much. Then taking off AMC and other channels sucks. Dish is not worth the money.

I cancelled Dish a year ago due to poor service, paying for a pay per view event that due to Dish having technical issues I could not watch and was refused a refund.When I signed up for Dish, I was told the package only provided one dual receiver and 3 solo receivers. I needed another receiver for a guest room and was told I had to buy it. I had it installed with the others. It went into the guest bedroom and I still had to pay a rental fee for it the whole time I had Dish Network. I asked why several times and why was it called a rental fee when I had purchased the unit. I was told that just meant I was renting the access to the Dish network or something to that effect.

Though not happy I complied. The bill kept changing, fees kept creeping in and since the Dish bill was bundled with my other phone provider's, it was difficult to follow exactly who was charging what. After about 19 months, losing a pay-per view college football game that wasn't re-aired somewhere else, the High-def never worked properly even though I was billed for it and Dish changing channel line ups, dropping channels we had specifically signed up with Dish to get, we had enough and dropped Dish and went to another provider who has since provided us with outstanding customer service.

I was notified to return the equipment leased through the contract from Dish. They sent boxes and I returned 1 satellite piece "thingy" off the Dish, 1 dual unit and 3 single units. I was charged with the return shipping, boxes, and breaking the contract. I paid and thought I was done with them. I have been hounded now for over a year by 3 collection agencies, 3 people in the "executive" offices- the first 2 got faxed copied of where I bought the equipment through billing of my phone provider whom I also dropped bundling with Dish services. All because they want the receiver in the guest room. I find out now it is a dual not a single receiver and they want me to pay $350 or send it back.

I told them I sent back all leased equipment, I'm sorry they had an error. I just took what I was given and paid for it, thinking it was different because it wasn't part of the"package" installation.They said I paid for a single unit and since I had sent it back as instructed they could not locate it to send me back the correct unit I paid for. I have the unit I paid for! They now want me to send back the unit I have, I pay shipping, and they would credit my account the $350 I owe. I offered to send back the unit I have along with a copy of the bill where I paid it if they would refund me the $249.00 I was billed on March 25, 2009. If I were to do what they ask I would be out $249.00, shipping and a receiver that I own. That is downright theft and extortion.

I had called Dish technical support because our service kept going out. I was informed that the receiver that I had was old and that they were going to send a technician out with a new one to install it. I asked the technician when he was finished if he was going to take the old receiver back with him. He said "no". He stated that they were going to getting rid of these receivers so I could just throw it out if I did not want it. This threw up a red flag for me. I held onto the receiver for a few months and was just getting ready to throw it out when I received a voice mail from Dish stating that they had not received my old receiver back yet and that my account was going to be charged the $212.50 for the receiver if it was not returned within so many days.

I immediately called Dish and they sent me out a label, but no box, to return the old receiver in. I kept very close tabs on the tracking and delivery of this package as I just had a "bad feeling" about it. As soon as it was received by Dish, I printed out the information showing when it was received by them and who signed for it. Wouldn't you know this last week I had a very rude surprise when I found that my checking account was down $212.50! Of course, this had to happen while I was at work with the tracking information at home. I immediately called Dish and let them know that they had charged my account in error, that I had actually returned the receiver and had proof of the receipt 2 months ago!

They would not take my word for it and I had to stay on hold for over an hour to speak to a supervisor who basically called me a liar in not so many words and yelled at me while doing this. I was so upset that I could not think straight, so I had to hang up. When I got home that evening, I called Dish to give them the tracking number and then asked to speak to a supervisor to get my money refunded. This put me in a horrible financial crunch. By them, doing this it sent my checking account into overdraft which left me no gas or grocery money for the rest of the week. I, like most people, are living from check to check and this sent mine into a tail spin. I asked the first supervisor that I spoke to during the day if they were going to reimburse me for every overdraft fee for items coming into the bank that I had already written checks for that was supposed to be clearing. She told me that they could not do that.

When I called back that evening, I had to call twice because the first time, for the evening call, they put me on ignore for over 30 minutes. When I called back, they did not even have a record that I had called in a few minutes earlier with the tracking number, so I asked to be connected to a supervisor again. After another 30-plus minutes, a supervisor came on the phone. I asked him the same thing if Dish was going to pay for all of my overdraft and any returned fee items while they are holding onto my money that they stole from my account. The man said only if I sent him my entire bank statement to prove that anything in overdraft was their fault. I was told that even though the payment was done as an electronic funds transfer, they were going to have to hang onto it for at least 5 to 8 more days to make sure that it cleared their bank, all the while I'm sitting here with no gas and grocery money!

I'm so furious that I can't even describe it right now! Being in a rural area, we are very limited on our choices of viewing sources, so as soon as we get a new choice out there, Dish will no longer be my provider. Their customer service is below horrible! I have never been screamed at by a customer service representative, much less the supervisor. I really do not know what else I can do. I cannot even find their contact information on line for formal complaints!

I have been paying Dish Network a lot of money for US and International Channels. All channels from the Hindi mega pack at $55 per month for the South Asian channels have been changed and instead of receiving 20 channels, I am able to receive only 4 channels for several months. I have not been informed of the changes and my credit card has been continuously charged. When I accused them of theft, the operator, Robin, offered me $10 per month in future payment discounts. It appears that they have organized to commit this institutional fraud on unsuspecting customers and the $10 refund answer was obviously preplanned for customers who complained. What about the money that I have already been charged? They refused to refund my money.

Dish signal is lost in bad weather in South Florida frequently. They never apologized. This is organized theft by a big corporation. It requires an investigation in my judgement as a consumer.

I've been a DISH Network customer for 15 years now, and I've been repeatedly disappointed by their service. On several occasions, I'd attempt to order PPVs, either the program would not download due to supposed SmartCard errors or I'd get charged more than once for a single PPV.

I've also had a great difficulty watching a majority of the channels that I paid for, in the last spring, early summer and early fall. I continuously get error messages on the screen claiming that the satellite signal could not be acquired. Why? It's a clear, calm day, no wind, no excessive shrubbery, yet the channels will not come in, at any point in the day until the weather gets cooler. I'm being charged for my full channel subscription, but only getting a fraction of the channels.

Also, the remotes are worthless! I have to press any button several times to get a response. I have fresh batteries in them, I stand in front of the box and continuously press the buttons while moving closer and further away, but I'm still getting no response. Let me break it down: Unfair billing, no channels and no working remotes. I am now a very unsatisfied customer!

I just canceled my Dish Network, because I was so sick of their customer service. They told me they'll send me box to return my receivers. It will be $15. I will be getting $64 in refund after all the deduction. After 1 month passed, I got no refund. I called again. They said that they received my receivers, but the refund will be $45. They are deducting various itemized costs, like discounts I was getting. They want all of my discounts I was getting. I gave up arguing with these guys. Whatever! Why wasn't this processed? I would have to call the Dish Network again to get refund. So, if somebody returns the receiver, and forgets to call, they keep the refund! What a ripoff! This happened after another customer rep told me that the refund will be processed automatically. They are the biggest ripoff. Never will I do another business with them again.

DISH Network promised many things and fulfilled very little. They said that I would have 122 channels, free DVR and a few months free on a couple premium channels. All I got were 10-15 channels which I can get with any other service, a bunch of music channels, and about 30 Spanish channels! I don't speak Spanish. I am an American. I have rights and they violated the contract that we had agreed upon! They sent me a letter stating that they were going to take $350.00 off my debit card account on 21 Oct 11 for an early cancellation fee! I wouldn't have cancelled it if they had provided the services they promised in the beginning.

This company doesn't deserve a single star in a year's time. I'm going on my 9th replacement DVR, and I've gone through 3 remotes! Customer service is a joke. I call and call and speak with every department and no one has answers. And when they do, it's different every time you call. I've had technicians at my home 3 times and every time, something seems to be wrong. What? The guy before him was always a screw up?

They don't care about their customers. I don't know how they can advertise as the best. If I had the money, I'd file a lawsuit without a second thought. The stress has caused me to have seizures and be hospitalized, and the time wasted on the phone caused overage charges on my cellphone. Letters and voice mails all go unanswered.

I have done everything they have and I still can't get working service. What is the trick to this? I just want to watch TV and relax. I have to call in several times a week. And on the days I don't call, I'm just too tired to argue with them; it's not because it's working.

I have been a DISH customer for the past 9 years. To get DISH here in Alaska, I had to have a 6ft. dish installed at a cost of over $1000. Due to a mountain directly SE of my home, the DISH tech could only point my dish to their Satellite 119. There is no cable where I live and no DirecTV service. The main reason that I got DISH was to watch Michigan football games on ESPN channels. A few years ago the Big Ten Network was created and it now shows many Michigan football games. DISH put out a press release at the time proclaiming that anyone with their "America's Top 150" service would get the BTN. Well, I have that service, but I don't get the BTN because DISH doesn't carry it on Satellite 119. I've begged and pleaded with them to put the BTN on Satellite 119, but they refuse to do so. They claim that there isn't any room for it, but that hasn't stopped them from adding multiple infomercial channels since I started using their service.

I've had Dish going on two years now. I have had nothing but problems. Most recently, last month, my service was disconnected. Confused, I looked at my bank statement online because we have autopay. I knew that there was no reason our service should have been interrupted since we had more than enough funds to cover it. Sure enough, my payment had been deducted on the day it was due. I called them and got the runaround. They basically told me that there was no record that a payment had ever been made, even though I was looking right at the bank statement.

After going from customer service rep, to supervisor, to executive accounts manager, I was told to fax in my statement. Well, this month, lo and behold, it happened again. This time I'm fuming. I got the runaround. Yet again, they still "couldn't" find any record of a payment being made. This company is the biggest scam. They shouldn't be in business. And if you are not already in a contract with them, stay away! Previously, I had autopay "decline". So, I called in my payment to have it restored again. My account got charged twice and they never refunded the money. I can't even begin to describe my hatred for this company after all I've been through. They are the worst.

My dish box only works about 70% of the time. It always says complete signal loss or partial signal loss. We signed a contract for two years in June 2010. They took my call and came out once--told me that I had a bad splitter in my wall. The technician was nice but he never went "IN" the wall, he just re-cut a bunch of wires and left. There was no solution.

I have not had a signal now for four days (and the weather is beautiful, by the way). They do not respond to emails, all their phone lines are busy. When I use the website for them to contact me, the person called and said that I had to call commercial services (I live in an apartment). I told them that I have been trying day and night to call the number I always use (1-800-333-3474) and that it was always busy. They hung up on me.

I tried having the website dial me again and they do, but I get a busy signal. So, I tried again a few times, same busy signal. Then, the website feature told me that my calls have been blocked because I was abusing this feature. How can I abuse it if I can't get through? They sell shotty equipment, lie to their customers and then refuse to take your calls. What am I supposed to do?

Our service went out. We tried all the steps they suggested as reported on the TV; nothing worked. We tried calling the phone number they gave us but we only got busy signals for over 30 minutes. We also tried the chat online and it was unavailable. This type of customer service is unacceptable. We lost our service without any explanation.

Before I switched my channel package from "Americas Top 200" to "Dish America", I printed out the channel line-up from the Dish network website. There were 92 channels on the Dish America list. Now, there are 68 channels on the Dish America list. I just called Dish Network and the woman told me that the channels on my printed list, when I switched, were never available in that package! She claimed it must have been a website error. I offered to fax her my copy which clearly shows the website, date and package information. She just kept insisting that they were not available and basically was calling me a liar. I have the printout in black and white right in front of me! False advertising at its best. I will be leaving Dish Network for good once my 2-year contract is up!

I have black lines showing up 6 to 8 times a day on my TV, taking up half of the screen. I first reported it. A technician came out ($15 fee) and replaced the satellite dish. It was not resolved. Second tech came out and replaced the receiver. It was not resolved. And the customer service supervisor never contacted me back. I called to cancel the service or have a bill adjusted for a month and a half of no clear service. They denied any alterations.

We had Dish Network for 20 years and we wanted HD programming for our HD TV in October 2010. They said we need to upgrade our equipment and they sent a tech out to install a new receiver and dish.

He installed the wrong equipment so they sent out another tech in November 2010. He was at our house for 8 hours and put 4 sets of holes in our roof. Then he said he could not provide the programming because he could not get a Satellite signal.

They sent another tech and he said they had again installed the wrong equipment but that we would need 2 dishes to get a signal for HD and HD receiver, but it would have to wait until the snow was melted to access the area.

I called on July 5, 2011 and they sent another tech on 8/5/2011 who installed the second dish and a dual HD receiver. He took the other receiver that was never connected, because it was the wrong one, with him. He was a Dish Network installer and he said we had 15 days to reject the contract.

We had the signal go in and out 4-5 times every evening with sunny weather and no wind. I called Dish TV on 8/9/2011 and was on the phone for 3 hours due to errors in our bill and the programming on the new receiver. I was disconnected 5 times because they out-source their customer service and cannot transfer a call.

I called on 8/10/2011 and canceled the contract, which we were told we had 15 days to do. They confirmed this when I canceled and said we would have to return the equipment in boxes that they would ship to us.

We have not gotten the boxes. I emailed them to find out when and was told by Tony ** that we would be charged $10/month for 24 months due to early termination of our contract. Mind you they have had a year to try to provide us the service we are paying for and could not provide it.

Why should I pay for service they cannot provide and why do they not stand by their commitment to the contract?

Dish Network deserves 0 stars. The service is horrible. Daily the TV goes out because a cloud is overhead. Even when it's sunny out, the local channels go out and a message comes on saying not to call Dish because they are aware of the problem and are trying to fix it. This goes on for hours and all customer service says is to unplug the system for 5 minutes.

Don't waste your money on Dish Network. They lock you up for a 2-year contract, raise your rates after 1 year and try to charge you $95 for a service call.

I have two homes each with a Dish Network account. We switched each of these from a competitor about 6 months ago. I am now on my 3rd DVR in one home and the second dish (non dvr ) at the other residence.

DISH says my expereince is exceptional as their equipent usually lasts years, yet the provide a very limited warranty on the devices (6 weeks? ) forcing you to buy a support agreement to protect yourself.

Searches of the internet show that DISH has to know that the equipment they install is not reliable and yet they take no corrective action. Each time they have to replace a box, I lose all of the programing, all of the recorded shows and lots of wasted time with scripted idiots who are not empowered to do anything except to blame the consumer and explain their contracts.

They seem to be in breach of the contracts but argue they have no obligation to provide "good service"

My name is Patricia ** and I called your company on July 25, 2011 to check out the pricing because my contact will be up in three months with my current company. I spoke to David and informed him I was inquiring regarding pricing. I received a telephone call from your company on July 25, 2011, same day I placed the first call, at 2:03 p.m., 2:14 p.m., 2:26 p.mm, and 2:59 p.m. The last call on July 25, 211 at 7:55 p.m. was David stating this was a follow-up call and his number was **.

On July 26, 2011, your company called me at 7:09 a.m. I informed the person I did not want the service. I received a call on that same day at 7:11 a.m. wherein I informed the person I have just spoken to someone and my spouse was asleep, do not call me anymore and if I was going to go with Disk Network I was not now, removed my telephone number.

I received a call at 7:34 a.m., 7:55 a.m., 9:37 a.m., and 12:29 p.m. I informed the person that I was going to report your company because this is harassment. At 12:33 p.m., 12:35 p.m., and 3:19 p.m., Kyle called and left a message for me to call him back at **. I called my telephone company and had your number blocked.

Something is wrong with your company if you have to contact a person in this fashion. You will never get new customers and the bad thing about it, I had selected your company when my contact was up. I am forwarding this letter to Consumer Affairs.

Thank you.

I had my dish 922 dvr fail and was shipped a replacement that is used versus refurbished. Dish refuses to send me a refurbished/new unit as stated in my contract

Dealing with Dish Network customer service is a nightmare. We recently signed up with their bundle package for phone, TV and Internet. The Internet stopped working, and Dish customer service stated I had to speak with Liberty Bell, but Liberty Bell said that I had to speak with Dish. Here are phone numbers for anyone having problems with getting hold of anyone. These should help to avoid the customer service route; Internet service (855-347-3474), Dish corporate office (303-723-1000) (shout out to John from CA for posting this before) and Liberty Bell (303-831-1977).

On July 19th 2011, I called to talk with Dish about a problem that while watching my shows, the screen freezes as well as the voices, then it fixes itself with me missing several seconds of the show. I was told that it's not their system and it's probably the splitter. I replied that I have two boxes and it's happening on both TVs. I asked if they can fix it through the phone line. I was then advised that they can't do anything over the phone line because you don't need it anymore. It's done through the satellite.

On July 20th, I called Dish to speak with a supervisor to complain about Dish not advising its customers that if they put in a phone line, that was required at the time we signed our contract with Dish in November 2010, that the phone line is no longer needed beginning February 2011. The customer support person who answered the phone and who was not properly trained, asked what my problem was and I explained it to her and she said sorry but that they do not need to inform the customers of all of our changes. I then replied where is the customer service. All they need to do is put it on the monthly bill to advise their customers. I am paying an extra $31.85 per month for this telephone line. We are in a recession and anywhere I can save money counts.

I asked to speak with her supervisor. I was put on hold for approximately eight minutes, then I heard laughing, and was disconnected. I then called back and spoke with Ashley and asked to speak with a supervisor and that I am not going to explain my situation all over again to her because I have been on hold for several minutes, then disconnected and that I wanted to speak to a supervisor now. She then transferred me to Jesse, who advised me that he was a supervisor at the beginning of our conversation. I explained everything to him. We got into a heated discussion and I was getting nowhere with Jesse and then asked to speak with his supervisor.

Roger came on the line after waiting for five minutes, and the first thing I asked Roger is if Jesse was a supervisor. Roger advised that Jesse was not. He is a senior customer support representative. I then explained to Roger why I was calling and he was very helpful, courteous, professional and handled my matter. He was apoplectic and after my conversation with him, I was satisfied with the way he handled my situation. These conversations lasted approximately two hours.

I spoke with DISH Network about error messages I received while viewing the Western channel and 109. The technician walked me through a fix and told me to wait 10 minutes. When it didn't work, I called back and Ken took me through the same procedure and ultimately determined that the dish needed a new part which he offered to send me since the warranty had expired - I have had the dish 4 years and the problem is approximately 4 months old. I explained that I am disabled and cannot get on the roof to install the part. He seemed amused by this. I called back and asked Gabrille for an appointment with a service technician and she tried to convince me to buy a service package instead of a single appointment.

A salesman from DISH Network called and said he could match the $30 price and number of channels that we were getting with our current supplier and we agreed to switch to DISH. When the installers came to install the $30 package, the number of channels was less than half of our previous package. I called to increase the channels and the price went up to approximately $50 per month. Also, since we switched to DISH, the system cuts off several times a day, the guide is messed up and there is only one box to control both TV's. We called to complain and asked that service be cancelled; however, we signed a one year agreement and were told we would have to pay $499 to cancel service.

I purchased the DISH Network 500 system, dish and two receivers and was never able to receive a good signal. The installers came to my home two times and I received a signal for a short period of time before it went out again. DISH Network said I could pay $100 for them to come to my home again or I could pay $25 for a maintenance plan. I cancelled the system. I tried to sell the DISH system that I bought, but until I pay the $74 disputed bill, DISH won't let anyone use the equipment. I have lost at least 2 months of service and have called technicians, the retailer and the installer to no avail.

I signed a one-year contract with Dish Network for the basic channel package. Since the installation, the unit has not worked correctly. I've had to leave work 4 times for service calls, and still the problem has not been corrected. I would like to terminate my relationship with Dish Network, but will be subject to a $240.00 cancellation fee. Since I am not receiving the service I am paying for, and I have given them ample time and opportunities to correct the problem, I do not feel I should be responsible for this fee. I've called them at 8 times to report service problems and when speaking with supervisors, been treated quite poorly.