DISH Network Reviews

Next month, I had the same problem. This time, I spoke with Amber (ID FD1). I got the same promises, but each bill continued to be different. On the third month, I spoke with Trish (ID 07U). I got the same promises from her as well. I finally just started paying the bill each month, if it wasn't over $5 or $6 of what I was promised.

This month, February 2010, is different. My bill jumped to $92.98. Wow, over $15 per month more this time! I called and spoke with a person named Debbie, and then she connected me to a supervisor. I was told my promotion had ended, but I still had to keep the service for 2 years. If I did keep the service, I would be charged a penalty. No one ever told me when I ordered this service that it could increase in a year and that I would still have to keep the service. In fact, I was told by Larry that the price given was good for 2 years, and I could call back anytime and use his name. Larry apparently had more mouth than clout.

She then proceeded to inform me that there was a $15 charge per receiver to return the equipment! I stated that that was incorrect as I was looking at their new charges webpage, and their customer agreement page, and my contract, and there was no mention of it. She stated that they weren't obligated to put it in writing as long as they informed me verbally! As matter of fact, it clearly states on the new charges page that there is $0 shipping charges with the DHPP, which I paid extra for.

I then asked to speak to her manager. Eddie, ID JAO, then came on the line and stated the same; that they don't have to put it in writing as long as they notify me verbally! This is a very lucrative scam they have going. Not only do they charge a ridiculous amount for the termination of a contract, they even have hidden fees when you attempt to cancel! I will be forced to pay a hidden, unadvertised and not anywhere in writing fee to cancel service.

On January 29, the receiver in my room stopped working. I called technical support. The girl told me that my account was flagged and to have my receiver turned on, I would have to contact the "verifications department." That night, Friday, I tried to reach them, but they were closed.

On Saturday, I did not get home from work until 6:40PM. I called the verification department and got through to a Chris. Finally, we went through the motions of verifying the receivers. The instructions that he gave me were as follows. "I will be asking you some questions about the information in the receivers and he would not be putting me on hold. In turn, I would talk to nobody and not put him on hold." This was frankly a little offensive since he made no attempt to explain his self or give any apologies for this behavior.

So we proceeded to verify the receivers. When we were done, he asked me to send him a copy of my utility bill. Chris had told me early in the conversation at 6:45PM that he was going to be there for another 25 minutes. I faxed him a copy of my electric bill and called him back at 7:00PM, and they were closed. On Sunday, they were closed, so I waited till Monday. Finally Monday, only after two hours on the phone, I was able to send the utility bill and get my services back on.

On Thursday night, the same week, my receiver in my living room was turned off. I called the verifications department again, and they said the address on the electric bill did not match the address they had on file. The address on my utility bill says 733, and the address on file says 731. I tried to explain to the agent that my house is part of an apartment complex. I live on a single family home next to seven apartments. This is all part of the apartment complex. The mail box is on the building next to me, and that building is 733. This is where my mailbox is. My house is actually 731. For some reason, when I set up set-up service with Florida Power and Light, they only recognized 733.

The agent was very rude, even after I explained this situation to him. I told him that if it would be good, I could cancel the services at 731 and start new services at 733. He said that I could not do this, because that would be promotional fraud. Additionally, the ultimatum he gave me in order to maintain service was to pay $60 a month for this receiver in addition to the $60 some dollar I am paying now. In other words, pay double service.

Basically, he was calling me a liar and a thief. In conclusion, today, I am cancelling my services with Dish Network. I have never seen anything like this and don't wish this on my worst enemy. Additionally, I will be contacting the FTC, the BBB, and any blog I can upload this story on. Buyer, beware.

Two whole weekends were wasted. It took 4 people to install my dish. The 1st 3 DISH employees all had lame excuses not to climb a ladder to put a dish on top of my house, because it is 2 stories. One said all of his equipment was faulty, but he never tested any of the equipment in my home. One said he could not install the equipment, because we were down one TV (had 3 of the four) needed for the installation. And another one said that he could not install the equipment, because it was raining. I made sure the TV that blew up was replaced for him, but rain blew the third installation date. He told me that I did not need the 4th set for the installation anyway.

The 1st two guys also told me that all DISH's equipment was refurbished, thus unreliable, and I would not be getting new equipment. This did not make me feel good about the company. All TVs, except for one, were each getting a receiver, so the fourth guy did not see why that was a problem (3 or 4 TVs). And he had worked on the rainy day. I guess that was because he was a subcontractor (not a DISH employee).

Then when all was installed, the price Windstream quoted me for HD--$49.95--was now $20 more. What? DISH claimed that was their regular price and did not know of the price I was quoted by Windstream in their bundle. They should not have other companies selling for them if they will not stand behind the prices quoted by them.

If Windstream does not pay the difference, I am told that I can just have it all ripped out at my own expense ($360). Windstream said they would get back with me in a week. I plan to have it ripped out if the difference is not paid, just on principle! And I will not pay for this, since I was told $49.99 and did not sign a contract agreeing to more. I talked to customer service (DISH and Windstream), and they only served to frustrate me further.

I plan to post all of this on the net under horrible experiences with DISH Network and Windstream! It seems I am not alone. Windstream refuses to give us a tape of the call with their rep and says we can just break the contract with DISH and pay the fees to do so. They know they are in the wrong but won't do what is right. These companies are bad news! What can we do?

I contacted Dish and they said it was an internal error between departments and the box was shown as returned. I managed to get it cleared after a few weeks but now it is Jan. 2010 and the same bill has shown up between AT&T and Dish. Since the companies are no longer in partnership, it's very difficult to make anything happen and I'm told to just pay the bill to each company.

At this point, I have lost extensive valuable time trying to negotiate the maze of both companies to find someone that can resolve this to no avail, missed out on a very good loan APR because of the damage this has done to my credit, and have frankly lost my mind trying to deal with these two companies. Each employee looks through my records and says "Yep, I see what's going on here and its not going to be easy". The final straw was when I was told paying would be easier and that not only was their a collection out but that there were two different amounts between the companies for the same thing. If you are a lawyer reading this and can help, I'm happy for assistance but will not pay up front. I'll be happy to negotiate your fee's off of a won settlement. After what I've been through and am still going through with these titans of industry, trust me, I have no remorse going big against these guys and I'm sure each company's own records of my calls to them would provide damning evidence against them.

At that time, I found out that the person had given me erroneous information when I asked about the exchange in the beginning. She said a new contract began when I received the receiver. I would have kept my old receiver had he told me the truth. This was doing the time when you were no longer with AT&T. I am requesting that you honor my request by canceling my contract which extends to the end of August 2010. Being valuable and excellent customers, it is not asking too much to grant us this request. I hope you can resolve this problem as soon as possible.

We are moving today (new address used above), included in our Jan 1, 2010 bill was a flyer stating Dish Network Makes Moving Free and Easy. When I called the main Dish Network to schedule the move and complain about the charges, we were told Dish now charges $15.00 to move a service, effective Feb. 1, 2010. There is nothing they can do about the bill except for us to take another package, not what we signed up for, in order to lower our payment.

I was told by Donna, Dish is not responsible for anyone representing Dish Network. Never to go to a representative of Dish Network, always contact the main Dish Network. Any Dish Network representative would have charged us a lot to move the service. If we wanted to cancel, there would be a $300.00 charge to cancel.

People are scammed by all representatives of Dish network, as people when they respond to advertisements assume they are dealing with Dish, even though they are representatives. There should be a class action law suit for all those who have been scammed by Dish Network. We are retired with a set income, TV is one of our enjoyments. The agreement (which we do not have in writing, by phone only), at $90.00 for life fits into out budget, $127.18 does not. Now, we are going to have to change our programming plan, in order to afford it. We have been scammed, and I am sure we are not the first.

In December of 2009, that was the case. I called them. The lady on the phone reiterated the 30 days notice. I gave it and they asked that I return the equipment. I did and at my own cost by the way.

I'm told that I will owe them nothing once I return the equipment. I asked this clearly and plainly. Then on February 1, 2010, they charge me $198.57 to my credit card (the one they had on file) and when I called them, they called it a cancellation fee. I did not authorize this.

I tried to reason with the woman on the phone, her name is **, and she was hard with me. I stated to her, "If your record shows all of your phone calls, you should look up the ones with regard to my account and you'll see that I'm telling the truth here." She gave no response to that.

Please help so that Dish Network does not get away with doing this to other people.

Dish installed person I referred to, first they said installer was in that area before my area. Jeromie said I can't be referral for someone who installed before mine. I told him Dish scheduled installation that way. He was so rude, overpowering me and did not want to talk to me at all. Talked to me like I was to shut up and said he was ending my call, I had no point to make. As for all the previous calls I made, none was on record because he said I should have called within 90 days and I had each billing cycle, he would not listen to me. I even had cards in front of me and name of operator who wrote information down.

Please if you do want to be treated like a human that counts, Dish Network will not be the company. They say anything to get you in contract and will not want to hear from you after that. Add Dish network TV to very bad customer service when contract is up. We will not need service from Dish TV again. The person who referred us was treated same way. They are an older couple and she was treated badly on phone. Her quote "they are just rough and when contract is up they will cancel also. So to sum up, since October, I have talked with several operators, gotten several operators names and numbers. Finally got manager and all failed me.

My reply was that I thought I was signing off on the installation being complete, not a 2-year contract! Now they want $165 to finish out my contract. I feel completely misled by Dish Network and believe I was lied to when first signing up over the phone with them. Believe me, I research things thoroughly and use consumer reports all the time so feel that I am a very informed consumer. Some of the customer service people I talked with were rude and wouldn't even consider dropping that fee, I was even disconnected once. I looked at the Better Business Bureau website and see that they have many customer service complaints against Dish Network. Enough so that they provide a name and phone number of someone in Littleton, Colorado and ask that you please call them before filing a complaint.

It also states that Dish Network is working hard with the Denver BBB to improve their standing with BBB. So I have left a message at that number and we'll see if I get a call back. If I don't hear from them within a week, I will file a complaint with the BBB. If there is a way to resolve this through this venue, please let me know.

I had the account closed; but even though I closed the account in less than 24 hours, DISH TV will not let me out of the 24-month contract. They are charging me $360 on my charge card to get out of their contract. I'm still waiting for their shipping cartons to return their two DVRs. Had Omar had been honest with me in the beginning, and had not told me I had 30 days trial period, I would not have signed with them to start with had I known this is not true. I don't know how to prevent them from charging us the $360.00. I even offered to pay the young man's wages for the installation! DISH TV is charging me $360.00 for something that I was told I would have for a 30-day trial period. I believe it is very, very wrong for sales people to tell customers anything to make a sale.

However, since it was supposed to be "so simple," I did it.TV would not come on. I could not get it to work. After hanging on phone for at least another hour, my grandson hooked up old receiver so we could watch. With reluctance, they scheduled technician to come out and install. He did and I had a new set of problems. TV in back room played what TV in front room played. After calling again this was easily solved. Then it started freezing again! Approximately every five minutes. I had called customer service again and I talked to a young man who told me he didn't think it was that big of problem and if I wanted another tech to come out, it would cost me $39.99.What? I only had Dish a month and was so stressed and fed up that I called to cancel and go back to DirecTV. Now I did all I could to give the Dish a fair chance to provide me with service. They failed!

Now they want me to pay a $360 early cancelation fee. I am on a fixed income and this is outrageous. The woman was rude and said yes she could wave this if I agreed to have another tech come out and that I didn't give it a chance to remedy the problem. No way was I going to put myself through anymore stress and aggravation.

I called to question them and was told there was a glitch in the system last month that I should've only been credited for 2 months of free HBO/Showtime instead of 3, so now I have to pay for a month of HBO/Showtime even though promotion was supposed to be through February. The lady proceeded to tell me that I basically need to deal with it because even though it was their fault, I have to eat this cost. The billing glitch was not my fault; it was theirs, so why should I be the one who has to eat that cost? I was told I wouldn't get billed for the premium channels until after March 3, 2010. If this current bill is for service from February until March, then why am I getting charged for premium channels? She turned it around that it was my fault because I only paid what my bill stated. It is my right as a consumer to assume that the bill I receive from companies is the correct amount. It is not my responsibility as a consumer to be sure that their billing is right. I had to pay additional fees that I shouldn't have had to pay.

I chose to wait for fear of them double dipping. In December, no payment was taken out so I called again. They told me to make the behind payment and no late fee would be charged. I did and waited to see if the auto pay kicked in. No deal, January rolled around and still, no auto pay. I called because now I am getting an overdue notice onscreen. They told me they don't know what the problem is but I should make the payment and they updated my debit card info. I made the payment and hung up. I then checked my bank account to find that they had double dipped, taken double the amount owed. I called them back and they refused to refund payment saying they only could see one payment. They told me to go to our bank and the bank said sure enough, they had double dipped and it would take 8-10 days to fix from the bank's end.

We called Dish Network back and they said it would take 8-10 days to fix from their end. My car payment is due tomorrow along with a major medical bill and Dish Network refuses to refund, leaving me in a bad position. I do not recommend using this company. We talked to three representatives and three supervisors who basically told us too bad, so sad. I will be behind on two bills and possibly worse consequences if this situation does not get rectified in a timely manner.

Then I spoke with a supervisor Quin, who was rude, and he stated, “I am not cancelling your contract. You sign for a two-year when they did the installed.” I tried to explain to him what had happen and I was not told anything at the install the previous information I was given would not apply and by signing I would be agreeing to a two-year contract. He would not listen to me and kept saying I will send you to a different department so they can send you a copy of your contract.

So I asked to speak to his supervisor. A woman got on the phone (unfortunately I did not write down her ID number). All she said was I should have read before signing. When I tried to explain to her what happened and that I thought I was signing an acknowledgement that the installer did it to my satisfaction because that is what she told me. In fact, the installer started telling that Dish has surprise random inspection of the installer's work when she handed me the form to sign.

I told her she was right I should have read it, but I did not have a clue that I was being swindled into a 2-year contract by signing what the installer handed me. I further explained to her I never would have agreed to a 2-year contract because I work the County of Sacramento and though I missed the first wave of lay-offs, the employees knew there were more to come in 2010. So I would not have done that. She absolutely did not care and after all of my explanation all she said was it is the customer responsibility to read before signing. I told I agreed to a year. After that I will be cancelling my service with Dish and I will never use them again. I believe they will try and ruin my credit and sue me for the remaining year they say I owe them.

He suggested that I call UPS. I did just that, but since Dish paid for the return postage, they would have to contact UPS to get this package back to the store. So, I hung up with UPS thinking I have found a suitable solution for the issue. I called Dish back again and they told me that there is no way to return it. I asked to speak with a supervisor and got Andreas. They do not have this man dealing with customers all day. I am in customer service, and I know that the one thing you are never supposed to do is blurt out, "Well, it was your mistake." They are supposed to help you fix it.

I would understand if this stuff never happened, but he even said it has happened before. Their policy is to throw away the equipment they receive that is not theirs. So, they do not have the best customer service, and they should really rethink those policies before I would ever say they did. People make mistakes, and companies should realize this and make policies accordingly. I totally admitted my fault in the situation, and offered to pay for the shipping costs for them to send it back. They should have been courteous enough to do so. So, for anyone out there who has ever sent the wrong thing back to Dish, you might want to check a landfill, because that's where all our stuff is going.

I asked how long was my account going to be prepaid. She stated the lifetime of the account. I then asked to be transferred to a supervisor. I have been with my previous cable company since moving to this area and I never had a prepaid account. I explained everything to the supervisor; she apologized, but told me there was nothing she could do. I asked her to cancel my service so I may go back to my previous cable company. Since the account was set up as prepaid, I would be charged a certain dollar amount from the date of cancellation until the contract end date. This is unfair. I'm being forced to remain with them due to the amount I would have to pay to leave.

I called on Monday and complained and wanted to cancel. They said no. But agreed to give me a third box that would make it work the way I wanted. They assured me they would be there on Tuesday at 12 pm. I would be the first install in that time frame. It would be in house tech so he would for sure be there. My husband took off work to wait for him. He never showed! I called at 2:45 pm and was told she just talked to the technician and he was finishing a job and would be en route. Fine.

At 4:45, he still had not showed up. My install time was set for 12-5 even though they said it would be 12. I talked to someone else again, he said he just talked to technician and he was on the way right then. He would call me right then and tell me where he was. He never called. I called at 5:30 and demanded to cancel. They wont let me. We talked to the field tech and somewhere between 4:45 and 5:30 the installer went missing. So they were trying to find another tech to send out there. In the meantime, we noticed that the original installer had stolen our DirecTV dish and power supply for the system. This we are told by the tech has a value of over $500. This is felony larceny from a house. My husband is police officer so we are filing report for the theft. No one cares.

So the new tech shows up and he can't fix the problem without drilling a hole in the side of the house and we are not willing to do that. It's a brand new house. We had it wired for satellite and DirecTV was perfectly capable of giving us service with the one cable coming into the house. It turns out we signed up with a third party broker (which we didn't know) and the things he promised were all a lie! As soon as we told them about the theft and the police report, they had the owner of that broker call me. He said well some people complain when we leave it. I said well, then he should have asked! He admitted to me that he installs for both DirecTV and Dish Network so I'm sure he's gong to use that used equipment for someone's house.

They are not compensating me at all for having to sit at home for three days waiting on an installer. The system doesn't work as promised. The billing doesn't match my receipt for my programming and they are refusing to honor that as well. I want this system out of my house at no cost to me. I want to press charges.

Many calls to Dish Network resulted in concerned representatives expressing apologies, but not able to void the contract, even when I had called within 24 hrs of the upgrade for the first complaint. You can read similar stories on many web sites. This is a widespread campaign of deception and abuse by Dish Network. I will contact the Better Business Bureau as well, but this anti-competitive and anti-consumer behavior will continue until stricter rules on oversight of Cable/TV providers are passed.

My first bill was for $335.00 and I almost cried! I called the company and they said that they could not talk to me that I had to call Century Link. I tried to explain that I had bought a package for $87.00 and wanted to know why my bill was so high. I told them the employee named Kenny and his employee number and they said that he did not work for them. They got on the phone with Embarq and Embarq said that Kenny did not work for them either; therefore, my $87.00 package was no good.

They wanted over $145.00 a month for services, plus all the extras they added on that I was not told about when I agreed to the package. I tried to cancel but remember when Kenny told me the price was good for two years? Well, to them, that meant that I had to keep them for two years and pay their high prices. No way to get out! These people need to be stopped. My bill for $335.14 was nine pages long! They slapped every charge they could think of on this bill. Some of the charges that I asked about the operator said that it would take too long to explain it to me so she would take it off! To me, that sounds like criminal activity.

Due to rent increased in Feb 2009, I had to move immediately as demanded by landlord. My family and I have been force to living homeless. We also lost our Section 8 benefits for not finding a place within the allowed time. I am permanently disabled and have been living on a fit income since 2000. In good faith, I contacted Dish Network to put my account in good standing and provided them with a mailing address but for them to charge their customer for services knowing that they are not being provided such service is unfair practice and highway robbery to the customers.

I have been experiencing medical, homelessness and financial hardship. I have been a customer since before 2003 and had moved before with their equipment from Paramount to Inglewood and was unfairly charged then and should not be treated in this way again just because my storage place is picked to the ceiling and I can't locate the equipment. After all of these years, I should own these equipments by now.

First of all, it is very, very, very "un" green to just put a new dish up instead of using the existing one or having the customers take it with them when they move. Second, Dish Network should be responsible for making sure they have the property owner’s authorization to install equipment on their buildings. If I have all of the old ones removed and have to pay for it, it could be in the hundreds of dollars. Then, I will have to dispose of them as e-waste. This is Dish's responsibility not mine. It is a huge eye sore if I just leave them there and as tenants come and go, we will continue to have a bigger "graveyard.”

Yesterday, I was told by Carrie that, "You must have misunderstood," which is a lie. Dish has changed the conditions with its customer agreements and failed to fully disclose to me in entirety these conditions in 2009. Dish says that it tapes phone calls but when I asked them to check the taped call with Jake, I was told that wasn't possible. I find the actions of Dish Network to be deceptive and reprehensible. I have a signed 24-month contract with them but Carrie said that since it does not have a price on it that she could not help me. When I asked if it came down to my word against Jake's, I was basically told yes. I asked if Jake conveniently received a commission for each sale and was told yes. What a surprise.

I don't know why I am being totally mistreated and penalized. I do have my original paperwork and no where does it show my SS# , so I can prove correct SS # or not! What can I do? How do I verify a crazy imputed number. I still would not know about the error if it wasn't for the first time ordering a PPV. I don't have a phone at home to click on dish remote, so I had to call to order which was another whole problem itself with the unclear automation. I wanted a particular channel and got something that costs an exorbitant amount more, that's why I wanted to verify what I ordered, and got this whole mess! They had no problem auto debiting my "fraudulent account" for 3 years. They could have, should have verified with me what they had, from the beginning.

As it was, I've had a problem where they entered phone number in wrong, had my phone/work number reversed. That back then took some time, to get that changed. Now, they charged me over the live chat, saying I owed 51.96 or 54.96 close to that amount (to reopen my account) but when I got bounced back again the same witch had cut me off again. I believe I have credit because every month they auto take my money! Make me pay again and snap! Cut off! Tonight! It's not my fault! This is how they treat a good loyal honest customer? Probably am better off going to Direct but then I want my fees back! I have a contract (that is past my orig. so many months) that they took from me! I really am just bewildered and beside myself crying, how I have been treated tonight! Please help. You know if you have to reactivate or go with another. More reactivation fees and their equipment charges! It's just not fair! That's why I chose not to switch when I had similar problems with them from the past. Even speaking/understanding English!

Two days later, two TVs had fuzzy channels, and I called to get one TV on the DISH Network. I have not been happy with the channel quality and the billing description, so I called 1/8/09 to state the service is bad and the billing is not accurately stated on the bill. The bottom line is that the $119.00 quote in the 12/28/09 conservation came to $135.30.

I did add 4 superstations that my other provider included in their package without the extra $5.99 charge per month. The new customer person sent me to cancellation, and the person in that department said she could send someone to fix it. But I stated that I was already unhappy and wanted to know if I could cancel. She said there would be a $7300 charge, and I requested a supervisor to talk to. She laughed and said that the supervisor could not do anything and then had me on hold until the supervisor came.

After the nice sales people get you, the customer service is really bad, and they state you signed a contract and there is a cancellation fee. I spoke with the supervisor, and he started off, saying, "You have refused to have a technician come and resolve the problem, and you are not understanding what I am telling you. And you have refused our help." This kind of intimidation is what these second-line supervisors are good at, and they do not care that you are the customer.

The supervisor kept saying "You have refused our help." This is to make sure that they record you, so they can get their cancellation fee, because the DISH Network is not all that the sales people say.

I finally got out of the supervisor that there is a $360.00 cancellation fee that is prorated $15.00 as they see fit. So I agreed to have the technician come out, then he said they would be out "tomorrow between 8-12." I said, "Are you telling me or asking me because I will not be here?" Then the supervisor said, "When will you be available?" I said later, "In the afternoon." So it is scheduled for 12-5.

The supervisor said, "Will you be there?" And I said, "Yes, someone will be here." And he said, "Will you be there?" And I said, "Someone will be here." I then stated that "I am unhappy, and yes, I will be here."

This product quality is not as good as previous providers that I have had. This DISH Network is going to be a problem for the next 24 months, even though I asked if I could pay full price and get out of the 24-month contract, the supervisor and the first-line cancellation person said there is a fee. The channel quality is not that good. Even after explaining that I was unhappy with the product, the customer care people did not care that the product is not what is advertised and repeatedly told me that I refused their help.

This customer care and the contract are not fair to consumers, because the customer care people say you signed a contract. I repeatedly said, "if the service is not good, how can the contract be valid?" The care supervisor said, "You refused our technician." I said, "I am not refusing the technician. I am saying the contract should have a statement in it: if the quality is not good or the consumer is unhappy in any way for the first 20 days, a consumer should be able to opt out if not happy."

This caused the supervisor to say "You are not understanding me, because I am telling you that you have refused a technician." I have a problem with contracts that bind the consumer without a legitimate way out, because the channel service is bad and the billing is not accurate. The consumer is at a disadvantage when the product is not what is expected. "No recourse or product guarantee" is not good, and that is just what happened.

On 12/2/09, the technician arrives to perform the original installation. I informed him that since we just bought a new flat screen, we wanted the cable outlet in the living room moved from its original location to the larger wall which is better suited for a large flat screen. Without even checking anything, the technician told me that he would be unable to move the outlet due to not having the proper tools. I was told that a note would be placed on our account for a free service call to come move the outlet at a later date. Four hours later, the installation was complete. I checked that all our TVs were working, the technician assured me that I could call and schedule another service call to have the outlet moved. He gave me some paperwork, I signed it, and he left.

On 12/8/09, a second technician arrives to move the cable outlet in the living room. He tells me that he needs a stud finder which he didn't bring with him. I have one to let him use. He then tells me there are fire blocks, about 2" - 4 horizontal studs, in the wall. He explains that to put a cable drop there, they need a long drill bit to drill straight down through the wall and the company won't let them use these drill bits anymore because too many technicians damaged sheetrock with them. I told him that there are no fire blocks in this wall but he assures me that if there are, as a Dish employee, he cannot do the cable drop along that wall. He does, however, offered to do it on the side because he has a buddy that he can borrow the drill bit from. I said no thanks. He also checked out a minor remote control issue we were having from the original installation and fixed that. We let it go for a few weeks due to Christmas holidays approaching.

On 12/25/09, after Christmas, we were hooking up some new electronics in one of the bedrooms and I noticed the way the original technician wired up the TV. It is a large bedroom, they are two rooms that we combined, and the cable outlet was located at point A and the TV was located at point B. Well, I just now noticed that instead of moving that outlet like he should have which would have been a simple job of extending the cable along the outside wall of the house, he ran a 15 feet coax cable from the outlet through the inside of the room to the TV. Is it professional installation? On 12/27/09, I did an online chat session with Dish Customer Support to request another service call to get the outlet moved in the living room and also to bring up the wiring job I had just noticed in the bedroom. The agent tells me that there will be a $99 fee to move the outlet in the living room. I explained that it was supposed to be moved during the original installation but it wasn't.

Another technician came out but wouldn't do it either and we should have had a note on our account to have this done for free. She asks if I signed off on the original installation paperwork and I said yes. She says that there is no possible way they can do it without charging us $99 because I shouldn't have signed the papers if I wasn't happy. I explained that I signed because the technician told me we would get a free service call. She says that they can send someone out to fix the wiring in the bedroom but there is nothing they can do for me about the living room outlet. I threaten to cancel my service and without even trying to make me happy, she offers to transfer me to the cancellation department. I exit the chat session and I called their phone support. After speaking with multiple people, I finally talked to someone who says they will send someone out to move the outlet and fix the wiring in the bedroom at no charge. He does say they really shouldn’t do this because we signed the original installation paperwork and they're basically doing this as a favor to us, some favor that I am asking them to do what was originally promised.

On 12/28/09, the technician arrives. Note that this is the third technician we've had out at this point. His stay is very short. He tells me the same thing the agent in the chat session told me that is to move the outlet, it will be a $99 charge. He asks to see my original paperwork and says, "Yeah, see, you signed off on it so there's nothing I can do now.” He also tells me that he can't do anything about the wiring in the bedroom either. I informed him that just the day before when I spoke to customer service, I was told that the outlet would be moved free of charge. The technician says, “That's not correct. We signed off on the original installation. It's set in stone. Sorry, I can't do it for free.” After a few minutes of arguing and explaining, he tells me that the original installation technician will have to be the one to come back to do the work for no charge since he didn't do it right in the first place. Supposedly, he got an appointment schedule with the original technician for 12/30/09.

On 12/30/09, I waited all morning but the technician never shows. I called the support and they told me that he will be here tomorrow. On 12/31/09, the original installation technician arrives. He spends only a few minutes here and once again explains that he does not have the proper tools to do the cable drop. He gives the fire block an excuse that the other technician gave me a while back and etcetera. He says that he will be back next week on 1/4/10 with the stuff he needs to fix everything. On 1/4/10, the technician never shows up. I called and they say that someone will be out there tomorrow. On 1/5/10, a new technician shows up. He has no idea about the situation so I explained everything to him, tell him that we've been dealing with this for over a month and we’re expecting the original technician to be here. We have had multiple people here, that we want it moved for no charge like promised and the wiring in the bedroom fixed.

After a few minutes, he agreed to go ahead and do it himself. He fixed the bedroom outlet and he moved it to the correct spot behind where the TV was located. However, instead of doing a proper cable outlet, he simply ran the wire along the outside of the house and through a hole in the wall behind the TV. He didn't cut the cable and connect it to the back of an outlet so that a second cable can be screwed into a wall place. The cable from the outside of the house simply runs through the hole in the wall and there's 5+ feet of cable bundled up behind the TV that connects to the receiver box itself. Now, back to the living room, in the attic, there were already holes drilled in the top of the wall to run the cable down in the proper spot from one of the previous technicians. This new technician said he couldn't get the cable to run down the wall in that spot and the only place he could drop it was right next to a door. He then used a sheetrock saw to begin cutting the hole for the outlet.

Many years ago, there was wood siding in the living room that was covered by sheetrock. He couldn't push his saw through it and he kept trying multiple locations, leaving numerous holes in the sheetrock until he finally told me and I informed him that yes, we do have the wood siding. He now says that he can't do the outlet because he doesn't have the tools to cut through the wood siding. I bring him a reciprocating saw from our shed. He says he doesn't know how to use it and he doesn't want to be held liable for damaging our wall. He says the wire is already in the wall and if I want to cut the hole myself, it's fine. So I cut the hole myself and he leaves me to finish installing the outlet myself.

At this point, I'm so fed up that I don't care about poor placement of the living room outlet, the crappy fixed bedroom job he did and I figure that there's no possible way that I'm going to get them to do anything properly so I may as well just do anything else I need myself. So I sign the paper to get him out of there. You can see the poor placement of the cable outlet. The white door can't even be opened all the way because it hits the cable coming out of the wall. After all of this is done, I get up in the attic to run some speaker wire, as I'm wiring up surround sound in the living room to suit the new placement of our home theater. I notice the coax cable is way too long and the excess is bundled up all over the attic. He also tore a large amount of insulation away from the inside of the wall even in places he didn't need to get to and left it laying all over the place without putting it back.

When I began running my speaker wire, I saw that it easily dropped all the way down the wall in a better location close to the middle of the wall where he should have dropped the coax cable as well. And like I told the second technician, there are no fire blocks in the wall. I work in IT and I have run plenty of cable in my life and have wired up plenty of home theater equipment as well. Granted, this is a job that I could have easily done myself and realize now that I probably should have but when I'm paying for a service and promised professional installation, I don't feel I should have to do the job myself. It took over a month of hassle, multiple no shows, four technicians and five service calls to do a basic cable outlet drop. This is by far some of the worst customer service I have ever encountered in my life, not to mention the way I was treated on the phone on multiple occasions and the hassle I had to go through just to get the work done for no charge since it wasn't done correctly in the first place. Little to say, when my contract with Dish Network is over, I definitely won't be renewing it. I'd advise anyone else to consider another alternative as well.

I called DISH and finally got through to a supervisor. He said that he would send me a new box. While on the phone, he realized that he had ordered the wrong box, so he told me to refuse the first box when it arrived by UPS. I was not home to refuse, and with the Holiday, was not able to get back to DISH within one week. They charged my checking account $300.00. I contacted DISH and sent the receiver back which they have received on 12/22/2009.

Today is 1/05/2010 and they still will not refund my account for the unauthorized charge of $300.00. They told me that they are running the unit by their engineers and once approved, they would refund the money. They said that this would take possibly another week.

They also have hidden fees such as the recording fee of $5 which we were never informed of, $5.99 which we will have to start paying in two months that I believe covers insurance. I can't remember because I was getting sick and tired of hearing all the extra fees they were now introducing and $5 local channels. I am very upset that we still are under contract for two more years. Come July 2011, we are finally out of it.

I cannot believe how they can sucker people into thinking they are getting a package for $19.99 and yet when all is said and done, our bill will be $33.36 a month which includes the family plan, local channels, and the recording option which is really no option at all, and in two more months we will have to pay an additional $5.99 for the insurance plus taxes on that! They really do know how to trick people into a seemingly cheap service. If I didn't call, they would have charged us $71.23 this month. Without even letting us know! This is such a deceptive offer. Dish Network should be ashamed. Less money in my account! We are having a hard time financially and they don't even care!

I recently been experiencing more problems and called to cancel service and was told they would not meet that supervisor's commitment to my account. They are saying that the problem was fixed at that time and it did not apply to any other problems. It does not state this or any other time frame or time sensitive restraint. I am still awaiting a phone call from another higher supervisor and still have not received this as of yet. I am tired of corporations treating the consumers as they are always at fault. I am stressed out over the continuous battle with this company over a cancellation fee of $300.00, not to mention the numerous hours wasted during phone calls.

He went on to state he could come to my house. At this point, I'm getting a little scared because they have my s.s# along with name and address. I hung up just for the rep to call back. This time it was from a unknown number. This rep has called several times and I'm very upset behind such behavior. This rep continues to call. I have had no luck in getting in touch with Dish Network and speaking to someone about such a problem. I'm scared for my safety because I don't know if this person is actually able to get to me and if they will continue to harass me.

As with all Dish networks contracts, this obligates me to a term of 2 years with a charge equal to $15.00 a month plus equipment return fees and shipping fees upon termination or downgrade from the original agreed upon contract. After they installed the system, I found that I did not receive "over 120 channels" as advertised. I received only 31 channels . Of those, I received 6 broadcast channels and 5 local stations that I normally received for no charge as local channels are normally broadcast over the air. The other 24 channels were channels that are non-stop infomercials or channels that did nothing but sell products like 24-hour auctions.

On January 3, I called Dish Network and spoke to their rep Harry. I asked about only receiving 31 channels, most being infomercial stations. Harry told me that in order to get the 120 channels as advertised, I would have to pay an additional $10.00 per month for the HD channels and additional fees for the premium movie package. I was also told that the DVR is not free, that an additional fee of $5.98 per month will apply as a service Fee for the DVR that they do nothing per month but charge for the service. The receiver requires no monthly service in order to receive programming that includes more than 6 entertainment channels. I would have to upgrade to a more expensive per month package.

Harry also explained to me that the $5.98 per month service charge will still apply and that I will be billed for 2 months on my first bill as I am required to pay 1 month in advance for their service If that 1 month advance fee is not paid by the due date each month, they will disconnect and all charges related to the account for the two-year period will apply. Had their sales agents been truthful about their programming, and disclosed the content of the programming and additional costs of their "free" offers, I would not have purchased this from them.

I will call them back on Monday to make sure it doesn't happen to my back account, as I did not authorize it. They have been totally false about the whole process. I did not agree to a two-year contract. I did not authorize anyone to take money from my debit or credit card. I was told that nothing would be charged to it--that it was for information only and had to have it to place the order. My unit would come on and start recording and when I would go in and remove the timers, it would be back on again in a day or so. I did not record anything or watch anything that was recorded. I did not know how it all worked.

Guess what? The tech never showed up and to my surprise, they did not have a log of appointment. Does Dish Network still in paper age? I am wondering if Dish Network knows about computers. They still have my account opened and they never bother to call the customer to see what is happening. Very pathetic service. I have started wondering if the installation process is nearly a week or two. I have spent long hours of phone conversation with Dish Network until probably around 10 hours on one week and wasted 16 man hours until now.

In receiving my bill, I have been charged for the movie that I could not access due to their technical problem. I feel this is fraudulent, not to mention, very poor business practice. If this had been a request for a refund because I didn't watch the movie, then certainly I should pay for the order. However, this practice of charging and not refunding regardless of the problem feels illegal. It is not the amount of money charged but the principle and I wonder how often this happens to other subscribers.

I tried to get to the bottom of this situation to hold someone responsible in their company and asked them to write me a letter of their investigation result on this issue but they couldn't send me a letter or any of that nature. Moreover, during the whole year, my bill was changing from time to time, which I first signed up for a $39 plus tax but I was paying more than what I have agreed in the first place. I am canceling their service as of today, 12/24/09.

Then another person got on the phone and said those channels are available in my area but I have to pay extra. This only after having the service for 5 days. They said that if I cancel early, I have to pay $360 for early cancellation fee under their contract. I said that I had paid extra for a no contract with Saveology who is their reseller. Dish Network basically advised me that is them and this is us and I have to pay. I have requested to ask the phone conversations to be pulled up so they can hear I especially ordered no contract.

The next bill, 10/07/09, they started this base price at $47.99 instead of $39.99 and $27.99 in credits and was $19.99. The bill for 11/06/09 base price starts $41.98, credit $18.67, owing $23.01. The bill for 12/07/09 base price starts $41.98 with $15.00 in credits, owing $26.98. I called to get this issue resolved, to get the bill to at least the $24.99 like the contract we agreed upon. They were going to do nothing. I called again on 12/16/09, told them if they were not going to honor their agreement, to give us the classic bronze with locals for $24.99 a month and the free RFD TV that we paid up until 12/23, send us a box and on that day we would be sending their equipment back. They broke their contract and we were not going to pay more than we had agreed upon.

Morris (operator #**) threatened me with a $300.00 fee for breaking the contract. I told him I would not be paying that, they broke the contract. He threatened to take me to court. This man was rude, nasty, called me liar and said that we were never promised the free RFD TV, that I could not get my package for the agreed price of $24.99, I was already getting too many discounts. Within minutes of getting off the phone with him, my service was shut off. I called the company back and talked with Randy (ID #**). He said the records showed a voluntary disconnect. I explained what had happened and was told I would have to contact Windstream to get my service back on.

I asked to talk with a supervisor and one would not come to the phone. I left a message and never got a return call. I called back around 3PM, talked with Jennet (ID #**). She got the service turned back on under the okay of supervisor (ID #**). It should be the base price $39.99 with a $15.00 credit and free RFD TV. They have a very deceptive billing system. All of this was to just give us what we signed up for, that's not too much to ask.

After about a ten-second delay of surprise, I shut off the power strip and went to unplug the cable from the TV. As soon as I touched it, I was zapped with a nice electrical charge. I thought it was really odd since the TV and DVR/tuner were unplugged. I then went and got my ohmmeter and checked for voltage, 68 dc volts was coming through the cable. I then turned my attention to the receiver in my kids' room. It had shut off with a nice smell of burnt electrical components in the air. I unplugged that TV and receiver and called Dish. I went to get the rabbit ear antenna and hooked it up to watch TV. What do you know? My 36" LCD TV, all $799.99 worth of it is fried. I called Dish, they sent a tech out, he replaced everything and brought in a part that was installed the day we moved in that had looked as if it had been hit with a welder, big burn marks on the side of it. The part was for DirecTV, not Dish. The tech said Dish owes me a TV.

I was to call the next morning to give his report time to be filed. I called and the fun began. I was transferred numerous times and finally sent to the voicemail of the person in charge of this issue (Bill at claims 877-772-4237). The following day, Bill at claims returned my call and without any discussion of the issue, in fact, as soon as he was done saying, "This is Bill at claims," came the famous words "This is not the fault of Dish Network. We did not send the first tech to your house and we are not responsible." They did get the "We are not responsible" part right, just in a different way. After hours of phone conversations with them, I gave up, cancelling service as I am typing. I have been on hold this entire time, by the way, it's December 16th. The incident happened on October 17th. Okay, I was just told I owe them a $99 dish mover fee, cancellation fee and they are sending boxes for the equipment. I told her I was sending them a bill for the TV and her reply, "Good luck with that." Small claims court?

I called Dish, only to get lost in computer-automated voices and never actually get a real person. Funny, I don't remember the salesman mentioning having to go through this every morning when he was trying to sell me on a 2-year contract! I think since they are obviously not keeping their end of the contract by providing a service that I am paying for, I should be allowed out of the contract!

Finally, the technician showed up at 6:30 pm, in the dark, not in their promised window of activity. There were no courtesy calls, no updates from DISH Network, I had to pursue the status myself. I again spoke with DISH Network and they suggested I let the technician do his work or I was free to cancel my service and go elsewhere. At this point, I'd already wasted 7 hours of personal/vacation time and I complained about that to DISH Network. Their reply was that "I should just take more vacation time" - which astounded me in its pure arrogance and contempt.

Finally about 7:30 pm, I had to assist the technician outside, in the dark, in 29 degree winds, with holding a flashlight so he could see. I was outside for nearly an hour, freezing. I had no choice, either I do that or cancel service and go to DirecTV - as I was told by DISH Network people. Finally, after getting the equipment installed, the technician could not resolve a remote programming issue and determined that one of the remote controllers (for TV2) was bad out of the box. He got another one from his truck (this is the second remote for TV2) and finally did get it to work, and finally left my house at about 10 pm that night.

We were exhausted and tired. Next morning, we discovered that the new TV2 remote also quit working. So I called DISH Network Technical Support for help. First time, they hung up on me. Second time, they transferred me and hung up on me again. Third time, I got a technician and then spent about 3 hours troubleshooting the equipment at which point the tech support person said it looked like a bad receiver and they would send a new one out immediately. It never happened. I called again on Dec. 8 and was informed that no receiver was going to be sent out but instead a third TV2 remote would be sent to which I replied that was not acceptable - and then they hung up on me again.

After calling again and getting a new support person, we took about 3 hours to walk through everything possible and again the tech support person said it appears this is a bad receiver and a new one would be sent out. Bottom line: I've wasted hours and hours of personal time trying to fix broken equipment and I still do not have an operating system. I've had to cancel out a business dinner, take vacation, spend 8-12 hours of personal time troubleshooting (while DISH Network only gave me script reading technical support was unable to figure anything out), been insulted, been hung up on, had to assist with the installation of an antenna in bitter cold December winds, on a ladder, and I still do not have a working system and I still have to commit more of my free time to getting this resolved. And yet, I'm told I need to pay them on time or my service is terminated - with prejudice.

I stated that the only people living in our house is my wife and I, and we didn't do it. He insisted there was no other explanation. Again I disputed that statement. Later I spoke with another tech, named Craig, who also scolded me for changing smart cards and made me promise not to do it again. Then miraculously, I had all my channels come back on. I thought my problem was over. Wrong. Today (12-8-09) the same receiver isn't receiving any channels again. I looked at my detailed bill and all my receivers and smart cards match up with the equipment that is being used in my home.

I called back and got someone else. The conversation was basically the same as the lady I chatted with online. He tried to upsell me to a package I didn't want and "mistakenly" signed me up with all kinds of extra stuff and again, all the time trying to set me up with an install date. So he said, "I'll check your credit to see if you qualify for the promo." Okay, whatever. He came back and said, "Yes you qualify," and told me what my monthly bill would be and it sounded great. So he was setting me up with an install date and then said there would be a $520 charge on my card. What?! He told me the same things; upgrade charge, installation, blah, blah, blah. I told him that it clearly says "free install" with the package and he said, "No, we don't do free installation." He told me it was not a deposit, that I wouldn't get the money back and couldn't explain why. And he couldn't explain why when he ran my credit, I "qualified for the promotion" but still had to pay a ** load of money. He wouldn't transfer me to a manager, because there wasn't one because he wasn't even here in America most likely. So basically, I told him that they were crooks and where to put that stupid dish!

The next day, I called DirecTV and got a great deal and didn't have to pay them a cent upfront but I asked about the charge from Dish. They said they do have a deposit charge for some people but they get it back in the form of a credit on every bill. Now that sounds right. What the Dish people are doing doesn't sound legal. Charging a deposit is understandable but taking $520 for nothing in return is thievery.

Now Customer Service is coming with a different plan and telling me some stories about disconnection and contract breaking. This is totally unfair. They are asking me about the ID of the person who did that (are they so stupid, how would I remember the ID or name of person who did that) and they are saying there must be a mistake or something but you will have to pay. It's the problem of Dish if the person who was handling it had not put any comment or had not left any note on the account why they are disconnecting and no fee will be charged on discontinue. Don't these guys keep any record or something to track the reason of the transaction? This is totally unfair what you guys are doing and now they are not listening to me. Why should I be paying for the dish and apartment conflict?

After reading the previous complaints, I find that I am also in the very same predicament. There should be laws against this Dish racket by our government. I would appreciate any information to assist me to get this contract cancelled.

I found out yesterday that the phone service and internet are no longer working. I called Dish and they proceeded to tell me that I never had these two services nor am I able to get phone service at all. If I do want internet through the satellite, it will be at least $49 per month. I was misled from the beginning and when the installation guys came, no one ever mentioned any of this to me. I have had the service for less than 30 days and want to cancel immediately. I was never given any indication that I was not able to get phone or internet and feel that I have been taken advantage of and will not pay any penalties or fees. I would like this be terminated effective immediately and would like a letter to this in writing.

At this point, I stated that I would have to see what Comcast was offering since they just installed fiber optics in the community. She then stated she could put me through to a specialist that might have other discounts available. She forwarded my call to Mike, the specialist. I talked with Mike about the options listed: Service for two HD televisions and standard definition for the third television, Optional HD recorder. I asked Mike at this time what it would cost me and he gave me the following offer. Many times during our conversation I asked what the total amount would be on my bill (after taxes, etc.).

Mike said that Dish Network would keep my current bill the same at $60.99 for a year; at that point it would go up to $73.99 a month for the next year. That will include HD to two television sets and one standard definition to the third television. He said that Dish Network would not charge me for the second HD receiver. When he gave me the above figures, I then asked to include an HD recorder and which he replied that it was included in that price. The HD recorder, stated by Mike, would record up to 50 hours of HD programming and X hours of standard definition. I said that I wanted to discuss this with my wife, at which he held on the phone line. It was then that I stated that I would go ahead and upgrade.

Mike said I would have to sign a two-year contact to receive the above mentioned pricing. Mike then stated that he could schedule it for Tuesday (December 1). I told Mike that Tuesday would not work for me because I had to take my sister-in-law to the Durango airport and would not be available during that time. He then stated that he could schedule the installation for Wednesday (December 2) either in the morning (8 am to 12 noon) or afternoon (12 noon to 5 pm). I selected the afternoon scheduling.

At around 1 pm on December 2, my father-in-law called and said the installer would be by in about 15 minutes. I then left work to meet the installer at my house. Mike Hale, the installer, came by about 20-25 minutes later to do the installation. The installation went well. The installer said the HD recorder would store 30 hrs. of HD programming, which is not what Mike the specialist had quoted over the phone. After signing the installation agreement, it was noticed that I did not have any HD channels, just the local HD channels. The installer looked on his work order and saw that it was supposed to be there, or so he said and I would have to call Dish Network to correct this.

I then did as the installer suggested - I called Dish Network. I was on the phone with them for 65 minutes and 12 seconds - it seemed much longer. Initially, I talked to Jerry. I stated the items listed above. She did try to fix everything, but stated that my cost would be 63.99/month before tax and $67.99/month after tax for the first year, then it would be raised to $79.99/month before taxes and $84.99/month after taxes for the second year. My wife and I had initially discussed the additional expense of Dish Network that Mike, the specialist, had quoted over the phone, while he was on the phone and jointly agreed to the additional expense.

When I discussed with Jerry that I would have to discuss the additional cost increase (more than Mike, the specialist, had quoted) with my wife, she stated that the contract I had signed was valid. I then stated I wanted a 24-hr grace period and she said she could not confirm that. I then told her that I wanted to talk to someone who could confirm it and I was then passed on to her supervisor. Sorry, I didn't get his name. He then stated that the contract was valid and I would have to adhere to it and he then hung up the phone on me.

What was quoted on Sunday is not what I had agreed to. While I haven't discussed the additional expense with my wife yet, I feel that what was dealt to me on Sunday was a classic bait and switch tactic. I did ask them to exclude me from the contract during my conversation with Jerry and her supervisor. I feel that they have violated the basic principle of a written/oral contract.

When the contracted installer arrived, I asked him to review our agreement with Dish to ensure that we would be getting what we had agreed upon through our phone order, before installation would begin. The installer was not very friendly, nor seemed interested in excellence in customer service. After we finished the conversation, I agreed to allow him to proceed with the hook up. I went outside to see where the new satellite dish was installed and noticed that the old dish had not been removed.

I immediately asked the installer, "why was the old dish not removed?" He said, "we do not remove old dishes." I said that this was unacceptable, that part of a complete customer service is to advise new customers of every detail so that a proper cost analysis of switching services could be determined at which point, I advised the installer to stop and cancel the new service. The installer became hostile and personalized my discontent with Dish, as though I was directly upset with him. I almost asked him to leave because he seemed threatening. The installer decided to call his supervisor because he realized that I was serious about cancelling.

His supervisor agreed to bring a taller 40' ladder and remove the old dish at a latter date. Consequently, I agreed to continue with installing the new service. Well, two weeks have passed and the old dish has yet to be removed. My first call to Dish was a disaster as each CSR stated, "we do not remove old dishes." They would not put me in touch with a supervisor, but said one would call me back. It never happened! Today, I again called Dish. They agreed to contact the installer's supervisor to arrange for the old dish removal, but have yet to receive a call. I will wait this out until I receive everything I have been promised by Dish Network. I can afford to lose a $300 cancellation fee, but will definitely fight it out in small claims, if necessary.

I was on hold after being transferred to several people who tried to sell me service to keep me as a customer. I was even offered a free month to see if I wanted to stay and when I declined the representative raised his voice at me. This was supposed to be a member of your "Executive Team" and he was raising his voice at me? It seemed to get ugly when I declined to keep my service and now I am being told I am locked in to an agreement I neither signed for nor verbally agreed to. I asked for the representative to fax me a copy of my signed agreement and I was informed that your office does not have access to a fax machine or email. That is kind of strange since I am on your website emailing you now.

Treating customers the way I have been treated tonight is unacceptable. When I asked for his supervisor I was told his name is "Felipe" and there is no last name. I find that hard to believe. The representatives we spoke to were Jorge ** and David **. I was told I was going to be transferred to a supervisor, but instead was dumped into a voice mailbox that stated you would get a call within 48-72 hours. I would like to resolve this matter immediately. I did not sign or verbally agree to an upgrade and I would like to cancel my account.

I then received statements with my name on them for a while and then I would call and they would tell me I was not the primary account holder. I have fought this for almost 2 years now and they have placed this on my son's credit. I need help to get this off him. Oh, did I fail to mention I was at work when the installer came to my house and my son was home? He had my son sign this and told him he could not install this unless it was signed. I was told by him signing this, he is now the responsible party. Help!

Approximately 1-2 weeks later, I looked at my account to find a negative balance. I called DISH and they took it out for a cancellation fee. I spoke with a supervisor who claims that it was verbally expressed to me that if I cancel, I will have to pay for the remaining months. I advised him that I know I have to pay but I did not authorize them to take from my account this much money without me knowing. He claims it was in the contract but that is a lie. It is not in the contract that you can take money from someone without their knowledge unless you sign up for it. I want my negative balance back including what they took from me!

The programming department rep evidently had only the "authority" to provide two (2) months of free service for the package that included my originally requested and agreed upon channels. This was deemed insufficient and I demanded to be escalated to the next level which resulted in my being transferred to the Loyalty Department -a misnomer at best! There was absolutely no customer service involved or even attempted by their various reps and supervisors - in fact, each tried to invoke a "contract item" that a $300 termination fee was now in effect. This was laughable as I was reading my copy of their contract line-by-line with them and informed them that there is and was no mention - in print or verbally prior to this conversation - of this contract item.

This bait and switch approach evidently has been employed before by DISH Network as evidenced by prior posts to this site regarding DISH Network. I immediately demanded a cancellation of my account but was stunted by DISH Network. This required multiple telephone calls to DISH Network between November 3 and November 17 jumping through the same hoops hearing the same verbiage. Surprisingly enough, I have continuously been thwarted by DISH Network even to schedule an equipment pickup by a technician; they have stated that I could throw away the dish itself and just return (on my dime) the rest of the equipment. I find this silly especially since it took a trained technician hours to assemble the system. Additionally, who in their right mind would dismantle a system of this nature risking error, injury and damages to the equipment?

Finally, Amy, ID **, came on the phone and stated that I have a zero balance on my account and that the supposed $300 termination fee had been "waived" and that her ID # would serve as my confirmation of these terms.

Dish Network is a company that in my case did not practice good business principles in getting customers because it will cost around $500 to rid this house of Dish TV Network. I guess a sucker is born every time you call them.

I tried to resolve the problem over the phone with two different operators and one supervisor (Miguel). Our conversation ended with Miguel stating that company records show that the service was upgraded, from the home, and there would be no refund for the time (they claim) it was provided. I told Miguel my aunt said she never ordered the service upgrade and I asked if Dish Network records, it might be in error. Miguel then said maybe someone else in the house ordered the upgrade. I told Miguel no one else lives in the home except my aunt.

Then in July 2009, my satellite service on one of my TVs quit working and Dish Network told me that I would have to pay them if I wanted them to fix it. I declined. I told Dish that I did not want their service anymore because it had been just a terrible hassle. But I went ahead and paid them. Around August 20, 2009, I lost complete signals on all my TVs. I had no picture at all on any TVs in my home. On August 30, 2009, I had DirecTV installed at my home. I then tried to get this service cancelled from Dish. I have called them several times to cancel and each time, I am told by the person I spoke with that I have to speak to someone else, that they are not authorized to cancel my service. However, each time I am transferred to someone else, no one has yet to answer and speak with me.

Since that time, Dish Network has continued to bill me every month. They call my home and they call my cell phone numerous times a day. I have tried unsuccessfully to talk to someone about this. Finally I wrote a letter to Dish Network complaint department about this and a few days later, I received a phone call telling me to return the equipment. I did that immediately. I received an acknowledgment that Dish had received the return equipment. However, Dish is continuing to bill me for service. When I have attempted to talk to someone at Dish Network, I got a recording that my service has been terminated and if I want it back, to pay the bill. I don't want their service back. I want them to stop harassing me and to stop billing me for service that was terminated back in August 2009.

I called Dish to cancel and they said they would match DirecTV's offer and gave me the same discount. I was reluctant for some reason but I figured, why have a new company come out and install all new equipment and decided to stay with Dish as they were very nice about wanting to keep me. I agreed to signing another 2-year contract and specifically told them that I wanted to be sure my local channels came in HD as it's all I really watch, which they agreed. Fast forward to installation of HD dish, the installer was very nice and really knew what he was doing. I was happy that the HD channels he tested looked great. Then he tested the local channels and none of them worked. It came up with a message of "We are working on the problem, no need to call us." The installer then said they would probably be up shortly as it was a problem on Dish's end.

Fast forward a week later, still no local HD. This is where the trauma begins. I called Dish and they make me go through the "test switch" thing they have you do every time you call. Still no locals. After nearly an hour on the phone, they decide to send a tech out again. The same guy came out, checked it and said "Everything is set up properly. The problem is on Dish's end." So I called Dish again. They make me do the "test switch" thing again. At this point, I am very irritated telling them the tech just left an hour ago and he tested the switch. "Can you please just test switch," was my response. After another hour on the phone, I finally got this guy reading his instruction screen to transfer me to someone with "more authority."

So this guy, I wish I remembered his number, told me that they will send something to the techs and maybe I'll eventually get local channels in HD. I am very upset at this point and told him that I had the courtesy to stay with Dish and be a loyal customer, so they should have the courtesy to let me out of this brand new contract since they misrepresented themselves to me, telling me my locals would come in HD. He said to me, "Ma'am, I can't let you out of your contract and even if I could, I would not." Basically "just deal with it, you are stuck. Next time, don't be loyal to a company because it only works one way."

Since then I have called numerous times and only one nice lady helped me and figured out in a few minutes what the supervisors could not, which is that I am out of their beam for local HD. So then they sent me an over the air converter thing to hook into my Dish receiver. Frustrated, still I said "Don't you need a separate antenna for that?" and they said "Oh no, it works great. Just plug it in." I said okay and they sent it to me. I got it screwed in and then the next step in the instructions says "Hook your outdoor HD antenna into the coaxial plug in!" I am livid at this point!

I called Dish yet again and they told me, "Well get yourself a pair of rabbit ears, that might work." I keep asking them, "You promised me HD locals and obviously, you are telling me that is not possible. I want to try another company, just let me out of my contract. I have been a customer for nearly 3 years with not one late payment!" Of course the reply is, "Oh no, we can't and won't ever do that." So I went and got a pair of "rabbit ears" or an antenna and it picks up one local channel.

Basically I am stuck in a new two year contract with no local HD channels as they promised me. What is wrong with companies nowadays? Is there any integrity left? I have been irritated with corporations before, but never to the point I am right now with Dish Network. The rudeness and lack of knowledge of their customer support reps is unbelievable! I even asked the rude rep at one point, "So you are telling me that even though you promised me local HD if I signed a contract, that if I can't get them in, you are not canceling the contract?" He said, "That is correct, ma'am." If this gets posted, please, don't go with Dish Network!

Anyway, I call and tell them that we need to cancel. They say sure, just pay us more money. What for? It's because our account is still active. But we haven't been using it for almost a year now. We haven't even lived at that house. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry... this and that, but I can't do anything but take your money. Oh, how nice of me. I won't bill you the $5 credit card fee.” So, I talked to a supervisor who said, “Oh, I'm sorry. You should have called me a year ago. I can't do anything for you now.” She told me that I should have asked to talk to a supervisor back then, yet I've talked to two today and they just say, "I'm sorry.” So, what would have been the difference if I would have talked to one then? I guess - I'm sorry, but we'll keep your money anyway!

So, they take my money and they can't do anything. Not even way the month fee. Since it was October 9th last time, I'm guessing that it is over $40 a month when I was originally paying only $30 a month. This seems like legalized fraud. Also, the first guy I talked to was even sweeter. He says that since I canceled my account, I have no ability to contact someone higher than him since they don't handle people without accounts. I suppose another supervisor would tell me much later (if I called) that I was stupid to stop at that supervisor and that I should have called a different supervisor to contact their supervisor to get a better answer. I also asked that DISH not contact me anymore. They say that they can't even do that. It's out of their hands. Of course, they can't even remove the $40-plus for the most recent terms that I didn't agree.

After a year of having to wait to add a new receiver so we could add HD to a TV in our bedroom (basically because the salesperson gave us the wrong information and gave us the wrong package), we finally were transferred to the loyalty department (after considering just outright cancelling). A guy named Eric, ID **, fixed us up with a few discounts to keep us happy and finally upgraded our receiver where we could have HD in the room we wanted last year. He was very helpful. He provided a quote and stated exactly what we could expect on our continued billing cycle. He quoted us the bronze 100 + HD for $39.99, + $7.00 for the additional receiver, and -$15.00 a month for 12 months as a loyalty discount, totaling $31.99 a month.

After the tech left, we did not have HD on any of our channels, despite the fact that Eric stated he had put in the order to reflect the package at $39.99. Everyone now tells me that we need to pay an additional $10.00 per month. Why? The quote he provided to us was supposed to include the bronze package in HD! I've already talked to 2 people in customer service, three people in loyalty and one person at the corporate level. It's always the same runaround. Dish is right, I'm wrong. Not in this case. If a salesperson (especially a higher account manager in loyalty) provides a quote to a customer, then they should input that information into the system correctly and standby the information they presented at the time that a decision was made by the customer (me). Instead, vague notes are left on the account.

I wrote down verbatim exactly what Eric quoted me and I even made him clarify twice what exactly we would be charged. It was correct. What's worse is that no one at Dish wanted to see it my way. They look at past months on previous billing where we had some billing issues and they base their decisions off the past. This new issue just happened on Oct. 30, 2009. If Eric knew based off the information we stated to him on what we wanted, why would he suggest upgrading our receiver to HD without checking to see if we had HD programming? If he stated he bundled the bronze 100 and HD together for $39.99, I assumed he entered the order correct and we finally had what we wanted. Instead, there is all of this squabble over $10.00 for this HD addition.

We have been a customer since 2005. We've always paid our bill. We've never asked for any adjustments on our bill until last year, when our order was placed incorrectly. I honestly can't believe I am getting such a hassle out of this HD issue. The loyalty rep should be held accountable for his quote and we should get our bronze package in HD, just like he quoted us. The last loyalty rep was firm and he just told us to cancel if we weren't happy. Doesn't make sense that you are willing to lose a customer of 4 years over $10.00. We are only asking for the services and equipment we requested at the rate quoted by Eric in loyalty. I gave up on calling again because it's an endless battle, which ends in arguments and accusations. Call center reps and loyalty managers should be totally ashamed of their actions to this point.

After all these changes to our account on Nov. 1st, we still have not benefited from any upgrades. We still do not have HD on our TVs. We would not have authorized another receiver had we not have been getting HD. The loyalty rep either misquoted us or did not enter the order correctly into the system. The loyalty discount was entered before we even started talking about upgrading the receiver and getting the bronze HD. So no one else can say the loyalty discount was to be used for the bronze HD. It wasn't. It wasn't added anyway. We've referred two people to you. We never got our referral rewards. With this kind of treatment and a roller coaster ride, why would we refer anyone else? You have one last opportunity to make this right. We signed another commitment with you because we trusted that all the information Eric provided to us at the time of the upgrade order was complete and accurate.

Boy, the deeper you dig, the more you find out. It appears that operator ** added the HD/platinum package to our account yesterday (we thought this was our resolution). Then he took it back off (after an argument. Yeah, Dish is right, customers are always wrong). Then operator ** tells me that operator ** (the one who originally made this "extreme quote" was hoping that we would redeem one of our club dish referrals to make up for $5.00 of the $15.00 that he quoted us for 12 months. How can you quote dollars off on something that may or may not happen? How can you plan future discounts? Quoted rates on the account should have been rates in real time! Meaning, when my bill comes every month, I want it to be $31.99! I cannot believe your company and reps operate under these policies.

The last loyalty rep I spoke with said since the extreme offer that Eric (**) made wasn't able to be validated, he asked me when we wanted to cancel. Obviously, our upgrade on 11/1 and three days of phone calls and chats has yielded us nothing but headaches and a roller coaster ride. All this squabble over $10.00 that you should hold a loyalty rep quoted us. Now we are in doubt about what our next bill will be. Will it include inflated imaginary discounts that we're not getting? Put yourself in my shoes, why should I continue doing business with you all? To date, we still do not have HD for our receivers or our two HDTVs. Dish states they are not offering us any more discounts and we can cancel because of it. I've also wrote corporate two letters, with no responses. Please think twice before doing business with Dish Network!

I was given until November 22, 2009 to stay or cancel this special offer. I simply called this morning to cancel service with Dish because every representative I have spoken with in the past had a different story to tell me about offers and cancellation information. After getting transferred four times and each time speaking with a new person, I was transferred to the Spanish Department. I spoke with "Sara" who in turn, was very rude to me. I explained to her that I wished to cancel the special offer, which was "free" movie channels so I would not get charged any additional fees. She insisted on why I had made this decision on cancelling this special deal. I expressed to her that I get the runaround and every representative tells me a different story each and every time. I did not get the names and ID#'s of the others before speaking to her.

When I mentioned cancelling with Dish, she further explained to me that I was to pay a $300 cancellation fee. The representative I spoke with before her explained to me there was no cancellation fee due for me to pay. I expressed this to "Sara" and she said it was a "verbal contract" I had made with Dish. I expressed to her that I never had agreed or no representative explained this to me at the beginning. This was where she got very impatient with me and began to pressure me on my decision. I told her I wanted to speak to her supervisor or manager and she said she was the only one that made the cancellations, that there was no one else I can talk to. She did not leave me with any choice but to cancel and, furthermore, she had refused to transfer me to a manager or supervisor. She pressured me into making my decision right then and there to stay with Dish or to cancel.

I was left with no other choice due to her interrogation. I insisted to speak with her manager and again she refused to transfer me to someone else. In addition, she explained to me that I was responsible for a $300 cancellation fee, plus shipping fees to return the cable boxes back to them. "Sara" was very unprofessional in the way she handled the situation. She was very rude and would not work with me in any way. She only left me the choice to stay with Dish or to cancel.

I called Dish Network back today at 10:30 a.m. and spoke with "Steve" who, in turn, was very professional and expressed his apologies and was concerned on how "Sara" had treated me. Steve reassured me that I was not responsible for any cancellation fees or any other fees. Instead, I was getting a $22 reimbursement. "Steve" explained there was a miscommunication from their part and apologized for the bad treatment I received this morning. I feel that as a loyal customer during the time with Dish, they did not fulfill my questions and/or concerns or resolve in a timely manner any issues I had.

I wish to express that there should be more representatives like "Steve" working for Dish and they should brief the "Spanish department" on how they should treat the Spanish clientele and teach them how to resolve these types of issues in a professional manner. Due to how "Sara" treated me and on how she failed to keep me as a customer, I decided to cancel service with Dish Network. I went online to file this complaint and was amazed upon reading many other complaints customers have had with Dish Network. I am very dissapointed with the service from Dish Network, their customer service representatives, and would not recommend Dish to anyone.

When I would call for service, it would take days before they would come, they wanted me to assure I would be here, so that meant taking off work and oftentimes, they wouldn't show up when they were supposed to. Every time there was a little cloud in the sky, we had no signal. One day I was sitting at my desk working at home, the sun was out and it was 95 degrees and all of a sudden, I had no signal. That was when I decided I could no longer deal with them. When it was stormy, sometimes I would be without a signal for as much as an hour and when the weather's bad, that's when I need to have service.

I have gone with the ATT U-Verse and it's wonderful; beautiful picture, great Internet service and much better than DISH ever hoped to be. Service is absolutely incredible with ATT; won't be going back to DISH again.

The new refurbished VIP (right!) 722k DVR overheats, freezes and then needs to be rebooted, over and over again. It overheats but does not shut off. Possible fire hazard? Back to tech support for several hours. Hung up on several times for asking to speak with a supervisor. In addition, I was put on hold several times for 20 minutes or more and then hung up on. I guess that was for asking to speak to a supervisor and not doing what I was told. I should just learn how to behave like a good customer and take whatever garbage they want to toss my way. Hardly. I told them not to send me the same receiver since they are junk in my opinion. They sent the same box anyway, swearing it was new. It was not. They wanted me to install it myself, promising me it would only be a few minutes to install.

Their techs took over two hours to connect it, so I was not buying that one. Finally they sent the tech. They promised my new box would be sent next day mail and it would be here before the tech. Meanwhile, I had my husband call them because I just knew they had lied and were sending me the same new refurbished VIP 722k DVR fire hazard I expressly said I did not want. My husband spoke with them and they assured him they did not send the same box. The tech arrived and the box they said would be there was not. The tech had another box, an HD box with no DVR. It was a downgrade, but I took it because I figured the problem was probably with the DVR. But first, I had to get permission from Dish to downgrade. They wanted to charge me more money for a downgrade (they think we are all slow) and they insisted I give them my credit card number to put a hold on my credit card and then asked me a bunch of questions.

Why they wanted me to give them my credit card number was a mystery since they already had it. The tech was in for a full day. After the tech left, I noticed this new box did not get HD at all. The picture on my new 50-inch Sony Bravia was awful. Now what? I bet you can guess. The box they swore they did not send us, the new refurbished VIP 722k DVR fire hazard was sitting on my porch. My husband said, "Hey it's here. I can hook it up." He is very tech savvy. One more time and here we go. With such excellent customer service, I wonder why everyone does not have a Dish? Oh I forgot to tell you, Dish wanted to charge me $400.00 if I did not send them back the HD box that did not get HD within ten days.

Meanwhile my husband, who works 60 hours a week, wasted four hours on his day off to hook that junk up. We sent back the other HD box that did not get HD to Dish the very next day. Then we received a message saying Dish never received it and they would be charging us $400.00 for the box. Swell. Now this new refurbished VIP 722k DVR fire hazard my husband hooked up shuts off without warning all on its own. I know, you are as shocked as I am. Here is how I think this should be handled. Given the unbelievable amount of complaints about Dish Network a.k.a. Echo Star, the FCC needs to strip them of their licensing. People need to start sending complaints to the FCC and their Attorney General's offices too. Ask why these incompetents are being allowed to abuse citizens in such a brazen manner with no fear of repercussion.

I have sent a complaint to our attorney general and our state rep. I will be sending more too! I have the time. How about a nice class action? FYI, make sure you cancel the credit card you use to pay them with before you cancel service. Document everything and start recording all of your conversations with them. Demand a month to month contract or get an antenna.

2 weeks later, someone calls me asking how the installation went, talking really fast, but I thought I heard something odd, so I said, “Wait, back up, who did you say you were?” They said, “iDish”. “I'm like, “Who the hell are you?” “We are the retailer who sold you dish network”. I'm like, “The hell you say”, I asked specifically if I was speaking to dish network and your rep told me yes. “Oh I'm so sorry, yada yada yada, I'm sure”. So I'm thinking what the hell else did I get lied to about i.e. terms, money etc.?

Well, I got hit with $50 processing fee, like I would pay that instead of calling dish network directly. But that's just the beginning. Then I finally cut to the chase, “I did not agree to any contact what are you showing”. Of course, 2 years, I lost it; what the ** are you crazy? I rent, I can't authorize a 2-year contract. Nothing. Finally, I said, “So here's the thing, you are not authorized to install the dish because you are required to have the landlord’s written permission and your guy never asked for it”. Silence. “We will remove your discount and have no 2-year obligation”. Great. Thanks. We're done.

So I called back iDish, the retailer, gave them hell, told them they committed fraud. They said, “Fortunately, we record all of our conversations”. I'm thinking, “Yeah, that's the sign of a non-criminal business”. Meanwhile, they told me, “Good news, we see your account has been updated to show you are a month-to-month customer”. Ok, fine. So then I started googling and what I saw freaked me out no end.

Later one same evening, I called both of them back. Dish network said, “I don't know what you are talking about. You have a 2- year contract and our installer would never have lied to you about what you signed”. I called back Dish. They said, "I don't know what you are talking about. Dish network has nothing but 2-year contracts!” Oh my God! My only response was, “See you in court.” Although I despise Comcast, they are definitely the better of the two. They are coming Monday, after which Ii cancel Dish network.

Btw, I called Dish network back and sweetly asked, “Gee, could I get off auto-pay?”, and they are like, “Sure, but you lose the free Cinemax”. No problem, I just don't see anything interesting on that channel. I called back 10 minutes later, that change took effect. I am off auto-pay (don't get me wrong, I am not stupid, that card is cancelled tomorrow).

Now they said that I am only allowed to one receiver per account so even if I wanted to have four separate TVs with satellite, I would have to do it in two separate bills and have to pay an installation fee for that 2nd receiver to be installed when from the very beginning, it was an error in their part. The guy who came to install the receivers knew where the receivers were being installed. So he should have told us from the very beginning that was not allowed or changes needed to be made or whatever the issue was. This is bs. Now I'm sure since their service sucks, they are losing customers and just need excuses to get more money out of people.

I cancelled my service immediately due to the service I was receiving. I paid my bill to the end of the month and they were denying me any type of credit or money back for the 8 days left of my paid service. I had to argue just to be told I will be receiving $15.00 back. Throughout the years we had Dish Network, their service was horrible. I live in the Windy City so I had to constantly call Technical Support so I can get connection again because there would always be disruptions due to snow, wind, or rain. I would go days and even weeks without cable and would get no type of credit for that. Think twice about signing with them. It won't be an exciting year service. It will be full of stress. They actually did me a favor. Now that I cancelled, I found a better deal elsewhere.

Dish Network is a dishonest company who tries any way they can to get money from you. Lastly, they charged money on my credit card without my permission for a receiver that I returned, so I called and asked why. They said it was for a special part from the Dish that was to be returned as well. After informing the lady that I was unaware and was not going to do this but someone could come pick up the dish, she waived the fee, only to find out I was still trying to be charged. Once again, I waited for 30 minutes on the phone as usual only to speak to a machine. It took three times for me to finally talk to someone. I hated every aspect of dealing with this company. I would rather go without cable or TV if they were the only cable provider. And thank God, they are not!

The following day, an "Arsenio" came to install, he repeated clearly to my wife and I that we would have all the channels listed under Silver, Bronze and Family. He also told us that we must have our phone line connected to the receiver or incur a charge of $5 per month additional. He said that he would connect that with our permission and that there would be no extra charge. We said yes and he connected it, it has remained connected ever since.

Very shortly we found that several of the channels we had been promised were not available to view. I called the Dish Network and spoke to a representative and complained that we were not getting the channels promised I was informed that Dish Family is not linked to any other package. I was given the impression that "ID”, "BioG" and History Channel would be included. What the rep did not mention is that she had upgraded us to America's top 250 at a higher rate. Each month’s bill is different than the last. When I called in August to complain, I was told that "I" had ordered the upgrade, but due to the outright fraud of the original sales person and the fact that repeated calls to his office are ignored, Dish agreed to give me a $20 credit per month until December 18.

The next month, I noticed that we were being charged for the $5.00 penalty for not having a phone connection. I called and thought I had corrected that; the line was tested and confirmed to be connected but the charge continues. I called again today, October 12, 2009, and spoke to two individuals to protest the ongoing charge for "no phone hookup". Again, they are very pleasant and promise anything that will get me to pay the latest bill. I am worried that when I downgrade in December, they will start my contract for a new 24 months. Everything I am told by other customer/suckers tells me the fraudulent dealer is not unusual for this company.

At this point, we simply want to get out from under this company and will not pay to do so. Other people who have turned Dish off after completing their contract term, and told them are still billed, the equipment is not picked up and when they return it to local dealer, it is not acknowledged. I am 80 years old. I am a hospice volunteer and spend many hours a week in that work, visiting and reading to many Alzheimer’s patients and others. We live on our combined Soc. Sec. and do not appreciate being ripped off by crooked sharpies. Nor can we afford to. I spend about 4 hours a month with the acid reflux I had working its way into ulcers, while I try to get a straight answer from Dish reps. Who knows, maybe the ones I spoke to today will actually do as promised, if so it will be a first.

Second issue is the noise this box makes. Since it needs to be near a phone jack, we installed it in our bedroom. Only later, while reading the manual (page 39, I think) did I find out you can use a Phonex wireless jack system. They want to charge us to move the wrong box to the room it should have been installed in in the first place if the installer could have communicated that to me. Aaagh! They almost make Comcast look good. Thank goodness, the salesperson still returns phone calls and is working this out.

The tech then came out and put in the new receivers. We tried the HD channels and didn't like them, so we cancelled them. I decided to cancel my service after my contract was up in September 2009. I called to let them know I would be doing that. They told me my contract didn't end until 2010. I disagreed, pulled out my original contract and told them exactly what I signed. They told me that because I accepted the new receivers, I extended my contract for another two years. How ridiculous. I didn't even keep the HD channels nor did I agree to a contract. Why would I agree to another two-year contract for HD channels that I didn't even know I would like or not? Which I didn't. DISH is a ripoff. I don't understand legally how someone can just put you in a contract for anything they want to.

I called service and after many months was granted a service call. The servicer was friendly and professional and the first thing that happened was for him to tell me that it could not be fixed, that the model that I had was being removed nationwide for identical problems. The company replaced the second DVR unit and took the bedroom unit (non DVR) and replaced them both with an upgraded receiver. The second servicer to come to my home told me the same story about the problems that were being experienced nationwide. The second servicer took the second DVR and the bedroom receiver when he left. I had mailed back the first DVR via UPS to the company.

The next month, I was given a $175 charge on my bill for returning a damaged DVR to the company. I was told that the receiver was biohazardly contaminated with an infestation of insects and that it had to be destroyed. I asked about why the replacement receiver had the exact same problems and that no other electronic equipment in my home had infestations. It seemed to me to be unlikely that an insect would only use one type of DVR system in which to live over all other electronic equipment.

Before we had the technician come out, we asked the initial rep what the hidden costs were and if we had to pay for local channels, extra DVRs, etc. He stated that there were none and that the price he quoted was everything we had discussed with no hiddens. She called back a second time to confirm the package and again asked for the hiddens and a full description of the charges and we were told that we were getting the classic silver with the HD, Big Ten, HBO and Showtime with 2 DVRs and 4 room connections and that there were no hidden charges, that was the package.

Upon the technician informing us of the lack of HD and Big Ten, we called Customer Service and asked to cancel. They told us we could only if we paid $360. We hadn't even had the service for an hour! I told them they lied and that they conned us into a contract and they said we went through a retailer and they could not do anything about it. We called the number in the phone book that was a 1800 number for Dish Network. They told me they would give me all the salesperson told me but the price would be $49.99/month and that after the first year, it would go up to $74.99/month the second year which is way more than the $15 increase we were sold on.

I disagreed but could not afford to pay the $360 disconnect fee. Then I received our first bill and they charged us for HBO and Showtime and an extra $5 fee for no phone even though they said they would not because we were in the middle of a move. The technician also told us we had a 30-day trial period to cancel the contract and that it depended on "who you talked to." I feel as if there has been many instances of misrepresentation and downright lying. I want to get out of this contract and feel that they have conned us and lied to us to get our business.

These employees do not respect or adhere to any request not to be called and ignore when told your number is on the National "Do Not Call Register", which mine is. I have gotten mad, rude and asked for management when the person was on the line only to be disconnected. I have had the service of Dish Network and after one week of extremely bad service and their unwillingness to resolve the problem, I transferred my service. So to me these calls are really annoying. I can't give you a phone number because there is no caller ID number on my phone or shows out of area or private.

When I contacted the Dish Network and told then I wanted to cancel my service, I was transferred to three different people where I was forced to explain myself three separate times. Each of the three people tried offering me discounts or free premium channels if I wouldn't cancel my subscription. After I made myself perfectly clear that all I wanted from them was for them to cancel my account, they told me that I was locked into a 2-year contract and I would be subject to a cancellation fee as well as a penalty fee for not completing the terms of the contract. At this point, I informed them that I had never seen anything resembling a contract nor did I sign any such document. I asked them to send me a copy of my signed contract which they said they would do.

On September 3rd, I received the enclosed letter from a Mr. Luis ** with a copy of my signed contract, which is also enclosed. Upon inspecting the contract for the very first time, it was obvious to me that my name had been forged as well as my initials. You can imagine my shock as I looked at the fraudulent document and my further shock at the fact that they would send it to me through the United States Postal Service. I believe at that point this became a federal offense as covered under Chapter 63, Title 18 of the United States Code. I would like to lodge a formal complaint against the Dish Network for these unethical and illegal business practices and I would like to pursue whatever legal means available to me to get this resolved. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

The misleading information I requested to be reviewed includes: 1) The DVR provides 2 HD feeds to 2 HDTV. 2) The cancellation policy is 30 days graceful period. 3) There is inconsistency and unprofessional tactics used in various phone calls regarding equipment return policy. 4) I cancelled the services within about 2 weeks, and I was not initially booked when I first called them. I had to write to them to get a cancellation notice. And 5) I asked to review the salespeople's phone call to clarify the misleading information pitched over the phone, and I was told the recording was not available.

The representatives told me that I need to pay $150 for changing the DVR equipment to the basic one if I cancel the DVR service. I explained to him that that part of information was not communicated to me and if he can retrieve my call at the time of signing up the service, he could find out how the sale representatives didn't disclose this information. He said that he could just half the $150 and I signed up with the retail and there are different rules. He also said there was nothing he could do. I was very angry, because I felt that I was tricked to make a decision without all the disclosure. So he transferred my call to the specialist. I explained my situation, and she told me that she could waive the $150 but that my monthly bill would go up due to the change.

I cannot believe the DISH Network, a big company, will have this kind of inappropriate business process. I feel very betrayed and angry. Now it's not the matter of $150, it's the way that they trick people to sign up / upsell the service without disclosing all information then add additional cost / pricing strategy when you change the service. If all information were correctly disclosed to me, I will not be this surprised and mad. For a big company that does this kind of scam, it is not ethical and without integrity. I went online and read many complains about the same kind of issue. Someone has to stop this!

After he instructed me to go into the menu part, he asked a series of questions for each receiver (ex: box e, which is the S # and the R #). After I completed all of the menu options with Mathew, he then stated that my house which I own is a duplex and it states this on my tax records! Primarily, I don't understand why Dish Network would ever access my tax records. In addition, they were at my house over 5 times, and I had their service for over eight years. They stated that I was "double packing" and conducting illegal activity with the service, and I have to have two accounts. My family lives in the whole house, both apartments. Mathew cancelled my service, after they knew my house was a duplex for over eight years, and we paid them over $10k in service fees. He also stated that after he cancelled my service, I have to pay them a cancellation fee, even though they are breaching my contract, and inconveniencing me.

Mathew as a supervisor is very rude, and doesn't have people skills nor communication skills. Dish Network breaches contracts, has horrible customer service for loyal customers, and are scam artists.

During the time we were with Dish Network, we received no special deals or offers. We did however receive a repair bill. One day, our satellite television decided to keep losing connection and not work. When we called a service person to come and repair it, he tried to charge us for the repair bill. We did not pay him because we thought it was outrageous that we would have to pay a repair bill for equipment that does not belong to us. We did nothing to cause the equipment to break or malfunction, yet he still insisted that we had to pay him for his service. We ended up calling the technician’s manager, which ultimately resulted in us not having to pay for anything.

Throughout the few years we had Dish Network, the satellite connection was always weak. Sometimes it would take forever just to get a channel because it was searching for a signal. When we tried to cancel our services with Dish Network, we were asked the reasons for our cancellation by a representative from Dish Network. When we explained to them the details, we were eventually able to talk to the Asian sales associate who convinced us that Dish Network would be the better deal over DirecTV. Instead of handling the situation with professionalism, he was rude and obnoxious. When we stated that we were dissatisfied with the services, he just blew us off. Eventually, we were able to cancel our services without receiving cancellation fees by talking to a manager and were given an apology by the sales associate.

We never received the $45 price that was advertised to us by the sales associate. We decided that we could wait until our contract ended to switch back to DirecTV, but the way Dish Network treated us promptly made us realize that staying with them as our provider would just result in more buyers’ remorse.

She did her own thing, the rep tried to drown me out by talking over me. I told her that I was going to pass, she asked me why. I told her that wasn't what I was looking for. They only offer cable which the special was supposed to be $19.99 for 150 channels for 12 months; I knew it’s too good to be true. I told her I wasn't interested, the next thing I know is that I'm talking to a supervisor. He then informed that they already took the money which was $134.73 off my card, which means they have scheduled installation service for next day. I am not satisfied - period - by this point. I feel violated because they did what they wanted to with the situation. They caused me problem with my bank account, which caused me overdraft charges, and it’s now Thursday, September 24, 2009 and I still don't have my money. I need resolution as soon as possible!

I have called them each and every month with this problem, and so far, they have failed to correct my bill. They finally admitted that it was their error and that someone on their end disconnected my service and re-connected my service the same day, and that threw out all my discounts. They tried to say that they would credit my account in the amount of $140.00 in increments of $35 every month for the next 6 months until the bill works itself out. However, I would have to pay the amount my bill showed that I was overdue by, or they would have to disconnect my service. I told them that was unacceptable and insisted on talking to a supervisor. I got someone who said they were an account specialist, and she promised to credit my account by $175.

I want out of this contract. They are in breach of our contract by not providing my service for the guaranteed amount over the 6-month term. If my phone service is interrupted because of the billing issue, I have been told that the Nebraska Public Commission Service will then file a complaint. Who regulates the satellite companies?

First thing that happened is that someone had to come out 3 times to get the service installed correctly to begin with. Then we get our first bill, and the promised 6 months reduce charges were nowhere to be found, we were charged the full amount. After several calls and threats we would cancel the service, they gave us the discount.

Now we have moved, and a tree is in the way of the signal. The first installer comes out to determine that, tells us no go but a manager would come out within a day or two to confirm. 6 days later, nobody came, called etc., so we called them back. We were told it could be up to 7 days, but someone would call us within 24 hours to set up another appointment for a 2nd opinion. No call after 3 days, so I called back, told them that I was tired of waiting and wanted to cancel. Went through the motions (box send out within 7 days to return equipment etc.) and then was told I would be charged $200. I told the guy I had been promised no charge if we can't get service. 'Sorry, can't do anything, business rules, blah, blah'.

I asked to speak with supervisor, the same thing; can't do anything. Well, now I will be waiting for charge to credit card and then dispute the charge but who knows if I have a chance. Beware, these sales people are liars and will do anything to sell you (we called them so they didn't even have to do that to get our business).

I called Dish thinking there was a simple fix, which they explained no that is how that works. I said I was not interested in their satellite system then and wanted to cancel my contract which was only entered into 24 hours prior; they said there would be a $360 fee. I asked to speak with a supervisor; his number is supposedly **; and he said he refuses to cancel our contract, that they do not have to, and we could just pay more for an additional box. I said that I believed we had a 72 hour window to cancel and he said no because they are a national satellite company then the 72 hour cancellation clause did not apply. I am not sure if that is true. I am sending a certified letter and a fax tomorrow morning stating that I want to cancel. I am hopeful someone can fill me in on if we can get out of this horrible 2-year contract. They are very deceitful!

What a scam. They offered to cut that cost in half, but I am still on the hook for $180.00. I believe they should give at least a 24-hour grace period without penalty to check out their system and programming before locking the consumer into a 24-month contract.

Afterwards, he said I had ordered a fight earlier this year and that it was for "bar." I told him I did not have a "bar" (business) and that the only bar was in my family room. He said that since I did not have a phone line attached to one of my receivers, he would give one week to get one or some type of satellite phone line or he would discontinue my service. I told him I was paying $5 per month extra. I did not have the money to go out immediately and buy that or have the extra $100+ the phone company would charge to come out and put in the line. I didn't, and he turned off my dish.

We called to complain, and they said they would put it back. But it's still off. What am I paying for? For someone to call and badger me, to be nasty and turn off something I am paying for. They - DISH - get their money every month from my checking account, and I don't have a choice. They could check with "google earth" and see that it is a house.

Today, 9/19/2009, a big boxing fight is on pay-per-view so since I do not have a phone line, we went online to order it. We noticed that the amount for the fight had to be prepaid, which company does that? DirecTV or Comcast definitely don't! I called the support number and the representative said that as a one time courtesy, she will order the fight and I should pay it when I received the bill. Like a normal company does, beautiful! The representative then transferred my call to a Customer Relations Professional. Paul (ID **) stated that my account was set up to be prepaid and he could not do anything about it. I stated to transfer my call to someone who will. He put me on hold to speak with a supervisor. The call magically got disconnected.

I again called and spoke to another representative, who then transferred my call to a supervisor Robert (ID **). I again explained my situation and he was very nasty and continued to ignore my situation. He stated that he cannot help me. When I called to set up service with your company, it was never disclosed to me that my account would be a prepaid in order to watch pay-per-view events. I stated that this has to be corrected or I would have to cancel service and expect my install fee to be fully reimbursed. He then was very nasty and ended the call while I was talking. I understand that I was very upset, but made it clear that it was not personal to him.

This is not the customer service your company advertise on TV. It's clearly false advertisement. Prior to the call being ended, Robert (ID **) stated that the disclosure of the prepaid account was disclosed to me. I said, "Do you know that for a fact?" I have the service agreement and this is not stated. If this would have been disclosed to me prior to my service, I would not be a customer with Dish Network. DirecTV was offering a good deal, but with a higher monthly service. If I knew about the bad support your company has, it would have been worth spending a little more for a quality team that understands customers. Your company is alive because of us. Without us you have nothing.

If this cannot be corrected, I want my installation money back and your company can come and pick up the boxes. I am very surprised of your company's customer satisfaction standards. I work in the customer service field myself and know about the challenges working with customers, but one must always be professional and patient when dealing with them. If Robert (ID **) does not understand that, then maybe he should not be a supervisor. A supervisor is there to solve issues representatives can't, not to hang up the phone on a customer who is having problems.

I hope someone can find a solution. Again, I would not be with your company if in fact I knew about this. This is not a good way to do business. If this is not resolved in a timely matter, I will go to the local papers and will do all I can to inform the public of this bad customer service and false advertisement conducted by DISH Network. It's clearly not what your commercials state!

I am less than 30 days into the service, so I asked to cancel. They threatened a $360 charge to cancel and since they have my CC number, they can simply charge me any time with the cancellation fee. Misrepresentation and lack of accountability to redress the misrepresentation are the key issues and control over the customer's CC number to charge a cancellation fee, so the customer has no recourse.

DISH wants us to pay a cancellation fee of $287.00. Why should we pay this when the service we received did not own up to their promise? I also paid them 2 months in advance of $149.05. They want us to pay a balance of $56.64. A contract goes both ways. We as consumers pay our bill and the business should provide good service. We were very unhappy with the service provided. Therefore, we should not have to pay the cancellation fee and should be refunded half of the $149.05.

I wanted to cancel immediately at installation, three days into service, and then 13 days into service. Customer service did anything to try to make right and said I had 30 days to try the service and cancel without cost. On day 26, I canceled. They claimed they never had a 30-day period to cancel and insisted on charging me $360 early termination fee. Quite simply, they lied, and they didn't keep the phone recordings. They claimed they aren't even capable of contacting the representatives by the codes they had given as contacts.

Calls got transferred from one person to the next, and nobody was capable of terminating the contract. They are a desperate company with inferior technology that will do whatever they can to make a buck and that doesn't deserve to remain in business. Don't give them your business. Look at U-Verse if you can or else, Comcast with TIVO series 3. If you do go with DISH, then do it with them directly instead of through one of their resellers. The resellers just add unnecessary costs and terms. A lawyer may contact me for action against DISH Network. I expected to be able to terminate the contract within 30 days without cost as I was assured multiple times.

At this point, my wife chose to challenge the system as we had sent one, and noted that no other utility required a death certificate. She was passed around to three other customer service reps all chanting, "Send a death certificate.” We then faxed a copy on September 4 and were successful, and have a receipt that it was received at Dish. I then sent an e-mail to the customer assistance available through their website and asked for confirmation they had received it and asked for a second pre-paid shipping box so we could return the receivers. I then faxed a fourth copy of the death certificates to the correct department and again received a proof of receipt of my fax. I then phoned customer service to verify they received it. They could not do that as the fax number is in a facility far from customer support.

This time, I was able to discuss the situation at length as I finally found someone willing to take ownership of the problem. She had knowledge that the legal department was backed up 30 days in recording death certificates and powers of attorney, etc. She assured me that if I successfully faxed the documents, it would be resolved within a couple more weeks. She then assured me that our initial call of August 21 had been recorded in their records and the estate would receive no more charges. This was after three weeks of very stressful and arguably disrespectful communications to a family still in mourning that simply wanted to close out an account. This should never happen. I have requested several times acknowledgement of receipt of the death certificates and have received none to date. The battle continues. If I can believe the one knowledgeable rep, it will self-resolve after a few weeks. But I will believe it when I see it.

In bad faith breach of contract, fraudulent inducement, interference with competing offer, fraudulent billing practices, fraudulent credit card practices, harassment, and fraud, DISH did not cut my December 2008 bill to $60, did not bill me at the agreed rate of $60/month at any time since our contract of 12/10/08, and has repeatedly phoned me and emailed me and mailed me fraudulent bills with fraudulent demands for exorbitant sums I do not owe.

I have fulfilled all my obligations by paying $61 - $65 / month to DISH since December 2008 on time, in advance, and in full. I have overpaid DISH each month by paying $61-$65, as the taxes are $0.41. Between December 2008 and March 2009, I phoned DISH 3 times and requested DISH correct its bills, mitigate its bad faith actions and perform its obligations. But DISH refused while admitting DISH records reflect DISH's agreement on 12/10/09 to charge me $60/month and also admitting that I have paid $61 - $65 / month timely as and for payment in full.

A full six months ago, in March 2009, I noticed DISH in writing of the foregoing facts and demanded: This shall serve as formal and final demand that DISH correct its bills to show that I have paid in full each and every month timely. Mail me written proof of said bill correction, bill me henceforth at the agreed sum of $60 / month, and cease all harassing phone calls, emails, and fraudulent mailed billing statements. Your failure to perform your obligations shall force me to sue DISH. This shall serve as formal notice that I prohibit any phone call from DISH henceforth and that I shall tape record all phone calls from DISH without further notice for evidential purposes of fraud and harassment. Any phone call from DISH henceforth grants consent to tape recording. (end of message)

DISH in bad faith, despite being noticed in writing and despite my 3 good faith phone calls, refused to correct the bills to reflect its contract with me and relentlessly and oppressively without interruption continued to send me bills and emails fraudulently, claiming that I had "past due" sums and fraudulently claiming that "We have not received payment for your last statement. You must pay the total amount due immediately to avoid additional late fees and service interruptions."

Most recently, on 9/10/09, I received a bill dated 9/23/09 from DISH, claiming a false "previous balance" of $114.49, a payment of $60, and false "current charges" of $81.96. The correct "previous balance" was $60, not $114.49. The account has been paid in full each month, so the correct balance should state $0.00, and the correct "current charges" should be $60, not $81.96.

This date, a notice appeared on my TV screen stating that my DISH service will be cancelled unless I make an immediate payment, when as DISH at all times knew, I paid my September 2009 DISH bill in full in advance for the entire month on 9/4/09 and that no payment is due or owing. This date, DISH's bad faith conduct and false threats again forced me to take my valuable time to phone DISH and request again that DISH correct its bills and cease fraudulently demanding sums I do not owe and cease false threats to disconnect my service unless I "immediately pay" sums I do not owe when I have already paid in advance for 9/09.

At 11:45pm this date (Saturday, 9/12/09), I had a completely nonsensical and obstructive conversation with your purported "billing adjustment" person Steve. He admitted DISH records reflect the $60 / month agreement and my written March 2009 intention to sue and demand for performance. He also admitted that I paid my September 2009 bill in full on 9/4/09, then he tried to tell me that the current charges of $81.96 were $60 plus $22 of "taxes" when the bill states taxes are $0.41. And he incomprehensibly told me I owe the fraudulent "previous balance" of $114.49," when I had a correct previous balance of $60, which is the overcharge of $54.49 and was for a year of taxes at $0.41 per month!

He also tried to tell me that the $60 per month did not include various undescribed fees and services. I told him again and again that DISH accepted my offer to pay $60 per month, period. He admitted the contract, but he refused to correct the bill, refused to mitigate DISH's yearlong bad faith conduct, and refused to perform in good faith.

All 4 of my phone calls to DISH, both this date and from 12/08 to 3/09, were the same - admissions of the contract then deliberate attempts to assert false vague fees and charges. Unarguably, DISH is willfully training its so-called "customer service" personnel to harm and defraud its customers, as proven in innumerable lawsuits and fines imposed by many states' attorney generals and consumer fraud agencies.

The message threatening to disconnect my service continues to display on my TV screen after my good faith effort and phone call to DISH this date to obtain DISH's performance of our contract. As you know, disconnecting service to a customer who has already paid in full in advance for the month via credit card constitutes egregious credit card fraud, fraudulent banking practices, and theft. As you know, absent my good faith reliance that DISH would perform its obligations to keep a good longtime customer and retain a good customer in an economy wherein many people have disconnected DISH service, I would have and should have accepted DirecTV's competing offer and not been overbilled or oppressively and relentlessly harassed and threatened by DISH for the past year.

Shame on you for treating a good, "pay on time every month," longtime customer like me. It's just bad business, especially in a bad economy. Apparently, your business ethic is "Abuse the Customer."

This notice shall serve as formal and final notice of renewed March 2008 intention to sue with the addition of formal notice of intention to sue on causes of action of fraudulent inducement, fraudulent credit card practices, theft, and fraudulent denial of service. I shall additionally submit at court a full record of the previous overbilling from day one of my good faith contract with DISH. Please be assured that I retain a complete record of all bills, all phone calls, and all written communications. Please additionally be advised that should you in bad faith assign any false claim of unpaid sums to any assignee or collection agency, I shall swiftly sue DISH for additional causes of action.

I then called Dish to cancel my order because I didn't want them to be taking money out of my account for services I was not getting. They had already took a $49.99 deposit out of my account. So when I cancelled the order, I thought they were going to put my money back onto my account. Nope, they didn't. I looked on my bank statement and got the phone number 714-619 ext ** (Mr. **). I looked up the phone number on AOL and came up with an address 1241 E Dyer Rd. Santa Ana CA, 92705. When you call this number, it says Direct Satellite System. On the yellow pages it's called Direct Access TV. I tried to complain to the BBB.org, they could not find this company under both names. They wrote me back with this La Activation, Inc. 1247 East Pomona St. Santa Ana CA 92702 (714-619-2688). I just want my $49.99 back.

So, I contacted customer service to see what could be done about this. The customer service representative stated that there would be a $360 cancellation fee because we signed a contract. We did not sign a contract with them. The only thing we signed was for the technician after he installed the dish stating that he completed the job. The customer service representative stated that they could waive $180 off the $360 and we would be responsible for the other $180. They said that they could credit the $99 payment that was made of 09/08/09 and that would leave us with a balance of approximately $74. They said that if we did not pay for that, then they would charge the card that was used at the time of signing up for service which I advised them that they cannot do because they did not have authorization to charge my card.

I asked to speak with a supervisor and he said the same thing, that he could not do anything because the 1st technician already completed the installation. Their customer service department sucks at customer service. They have no customer service ethics whatsoever. I do not understand how they can charge $360 for cancellation fees for a supposed contract that they say we signed, but we never signed. Also, not to mention they have a release form that the apartments must fill out before installation (which was not signed).

The first technician was unable to perform the work due to the weather. The second technician showed up 7 hours late and refused to do any work because it was dark. The third one who actually installed the equipment was given an incorrect work order due to customer service not entering it correctly and he did not have the required equipment to do the work. He had to have another tech bring the equipment and I had to wait an additional 3 hours. Plus to perform the installation, I had to sign a 2-year contract with DISH or be charged $300. When I complained, I was told there would be no charge. The customer service rep told me there was nothing in my records about the error in service and I had to pay or agree to the contract. So I agreed to the contract.

The tech took the original equipment with him. A week later, I received a box in the mail for the equipment and a letter threatening to turn me over to a collection agency if I didn't return the original equipment immediately. A call to customer service did get that resolved. Since then, I have had problems with the service going out and breaking up, which DISH has been unable to resolve. Calls to customer service have produced no solution. Customer service reps can find no record of any problem in my file and cannot effect any resolution. The last technician who serviced the equipment noted that the original installation was incorrect and due to the surrounding trees, service should have never been installed and the problems will likely continue.

Currently, the receiver is locking up daily and I have to unplug the receiver so that it can reboot. Customer service keeps telling me DISH is working on the solution to this problem but cannot tell me when it will be fixed. This has been going on for 3 weeks. In an effort to get an answer, I filed a complaint with DISH online, as customer service has been worthless. The response was a form letter thanking me for my comments, informing me they could do nothing to help and hoping I continued to enjoy DISH Network. The letter went on to say if I had problems, to contact customer service.

After listening to my complaints, the customer service supervisor suggested that DISH could disconnect the service if I wasn't happy but that I would be charged over $200 for early cancellation of my contract. I recently discovered that I am being charged an additional $5 a month per receiver because the receivers are not connected to a phone line. This was never disclosed by DISH or their techs prior to or during installation. The advertised $39.95 monthly service is currently costing me over $60 a month due to undisclosed charges.

So I waited that time period, and there's no refund. I called them back and was told they were sorry but that although I was told that the refund had been processed, it was not. But it would be and I had to wait another 7 to 10 days this time. Ok, so I waited again the expected time, and still, there's no refund. I called back and again was told sorry that it wasn't done but that it would be escalated to some other department and they would get it down in 2-3 days. Well, guess what? Today is 9/9, and still, there's no refund. Today, I called and asked to speak with a supervisor. After about 5 minutes or so, I spoke with someone named Lee, an operator. She told me that my refund request was just processed on 9/8.

There should be some sort of penalty or something, I think, for this type of behavior and some sort of compensation given to me other than empty apologies. As the amount was over one hundred dollars, to be exact it was $155 and some change, and in this day and time with things the way they are and that almost a month of having that amount of money being held up is a great inconvenience, I feel I should have been compensated for.

Oh yeah, the reason I was given for having been billed in the first place? It's "computer error". I've heard this now practically every time I've spoken with them since.Fast forward to today (September 2009). I will take full responsibility for not having checked my bill between now and the last "credit". However, that being said, there is no excuse for ripping off your customer ever! I am now (and have since May) being illegally billed $12.99/month for Starz Super Pak that I never authorized to be added to my account. I did not authorize this. So, the first guy I talked to told me there was a computer error and that he'll credit me $xx. I asked him to explain how he came up with that number (because it's wrong), and he just went on and on, not making much sense at all. I asked to speak to someone who can actually help me. The second rep lamely tried to claim that I did authorize the Starz when I cancelled the promo pack. I came back and said clearly no. I did not, and they're not going to try to pull this on me either. I would never, ever order something I had no intention of watching.

The channel(s) suck! Oh, and then he had the audacity to tell me that as a "courtesy," he would credit me $xx amount. What?! As a courtesy?! Are you kidding me?! Oh, hell no. You did not just say that to me. Yes. I ripped him a new one and told him that "you do not give a credit as a courtesy when you've been ripping someone off." This time, I demanded to be sent over to the Executive Office. Finally, David at the Executive Office (720-514-8555) agreed to retro-cancel the Starz Super Pak (Did I say I never ordered this?) and give me the credit that I was owed. I've now re-enrolled in paper billing only, and I can guarantee you I'll be going over every single Dish bill with a fine-toothed comb. I'm filing a complaint with the FCC, and I'm also posting this complaint to yelp.com. Oh, have you ever asked them a direct question? It's pretty funny/frustrating to put them on the spot and watch them ** their way out of it, because (I believe) they are not allowed to respond to any direct question or statements. It's the weirdest thing. Not one person, peon, or uppity-up has ever directly answered a question of mine.

The statement said that "to restart programming and to avoid further collection proceedings, please make payment in full immediately." This sounds like a very real threat to me. The billing statement was for "Services from 09/02/09 - 10/01/09". If I cancelled the account effective 1 September 2009, why are they billing me for future service? I have written a letter stating my concerns and am waiting for the response.

So that week comes and goes and no check. On August 20, 2009, I called Dish Network again looking for my refund. The operator told me I would have to wait 7-10 business days for a refund check to be mailed and that I should have it by Monday, August 24, 2009. On Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 10 business days after the refund was confirmed, I called Dish Network again because I still had not seen my refund. The operator then told me I have to wait until August 31, 2009 to see if I'll receive my check and if I don't, I should call on August 31, 2009 and ask for the check to be re-issued and of course, having to wait another 7-10 business days to receive that check.

Dish Network is claiming that the check was mailed by corporate on August 13, 2009. I know the postal service is a little slow, but that's 13 days that this check has been in the mail! So, Dish Network has $300 of my money that they refuse to refund me and every time I call to inquire about the status of the check, they tell me just to wait a couple more days. I called DirecTV and they came out within the week with a free installation and the installer told me that the people who said they could not install Dish Network were full of it and that there was no problem with my location because I can get DirecTV perfectly fine, and both DirecTV and Dish Network have to point in the same direction for the satellite feed. Buyer beware!

So we asked the guy and he informed us that we have a dual connector, which is one cable box that works as two cable boxes. So in my case, the one cable box was hooked up to the TV in the living room and cable cords went into the TV that was in the basement from that one box. To make sure I was still able to record and watch TV at the same time, my sister and I asked the installation guy and he said, "Yes, you can still record and watch TV at the same time." Due to the moving in process, it took me and my sister 3 to 4 days before we actually sat down and went over the Dish Network programs and we were quickly disappointed because we started turning the channel for two TVs (the living room TV and the basement TV) and we were not able to record and watch TV at the same time. So I called Dish Network and asked them why is it that I am turning the channel for two TVs and they told me that I had to press the mode button on the cable box which will split the two TVs and it did.

Now, I asked them why I'm not able to record something and watch something and the rep said with the dual connector, when one TV is recording you have to watch the other TV or that program which is recording and you will not be able to turn the channel or watch another program as that TV records. And that's not what I wanted or asked for because my siblings occupy the TV in the living room, as my sister and I occupy the TV in the basement, so why would I want one TV to record forcing me and my sister to have to go upstairs and bother my siblings to watch TV? And who in the world records a program to watch that same program which defeats the whole purpose of placing something on record? I wanted a TV for my siblings to watch and a TV with DVR for me and my sister to watch. So on that one TV for me and my sister, I wanted to be able to record something at 8pm and watch something on another channel at 8pm.

So how is it that I got exactly what I didn't want when my intentions were clear from the start? The manager over the phone, calls this a miscommunication because he said his reps were only thinking about what Dish offers and they didn't completely understand what I meant by watch TV and record at the same time. Dish calls it miscommunication; I call it robbery because Dish can cash in my money each month while I sit at home with service I don't want. I told Dish Network that I want to cancel and thought I would be able to cancel since Dish Network should have some sort of free trial period and I was only with Dish for 3 or 4 days. This is when they told me that it will cost me $200 to cancel and that there is no 30-day free trial and I only had 72 hours to send back equipment if I didn't like the plan.

Now for me to have the equipment for 3 to 4 days after signing up and then come out of my pocket and give Dish Network $200 is very crazy so I quickly decided I can't cancel yet and will as soon as I get the $200. I had a rep or the installation guy informed me that I had 72 hours, I would have examined the product sooner and had I not been lied to in the beginning about the features, then I'd never be a Dish Network customer. I asked the manager since this was a miscommunication, why doesn't Dish Network forget the contract and take back the equipment, like I never called them? And he said they can't because I have the equipment, which makes no sense because all they had to do is destroy the contract and I will personally hand them back each piece of equipment I have in my house.

I don't need Dish Network's equipment and I want to go to a company where I feel like I'm getting my money's worth and I'm getting the features I asked for, and I'm not being ripped off. So that's where I'm at now, unable to pay the $200 to get out of the contract and needing a attorney to help me get out of the contract without paying the $200 because there is no way a company can lie to you and say, "Yes, we offer this and then you get the product and it is not what you ordered." I will be spreading the word everywhere until I'm finally done with Dish Network. I wrote a dispute to the company as well and I have yet to hear a word from them.

Fast forward, it’s August, I have the cox bundle and the Dish Network boxes are in my dining room waiting for the UPS guy to pick up. I got a bill this weekend, $393.36 and $156.78 of ** in 3 days (July 24, 25 and 26); July 24, 1; the 25 was hot, 8 in all; and the 26th, 6. Now I am not familiar with any of the above, but based on the number of times each of these was subscribed to, they must be pretty good (or bad, depending on how you look at it).

Did I mention that on July 24, 25 and 26 my boxes were disconnected? The rep at Dish Network said that it did not matter, I have to pay. I was told that I have 30 days to cancel and even though I cancelled within that time, I still have to pay the cancellation fee. They hiked up the prices on me and I do not have the right to cancel. Isn’t that a breach in the contract on their part? I am not a barrister, but I know that something illegal is going on here. What are my options?

Then there were the signal issues. I had to have a service tech come out if a fly sneezed because the signal would get knocked out. They wanted to charge me a service charge but after arguing with them forever, they waived it only to find out the original installer hadn't tightened the cables up. They were halfway loose. Okay, that guy fixed it and now in the last month, every time clouds come out, I lose signal, two drops of rain, I lose signal again. A fly sneezes, I lose signal. I called Embarq because it is part of a bundle and I told them I'd like to cancel which they totally understood.

I was transferred to Dish Network by the Embarq agent and she stayed on the line. The 1st Dish rep, supposedly customer service, couldn't help. The 2nd person couldn't help. The 3rd guy said I'm under contract and they will charge me $130 if I cancel 6 months early. I asked them what about their ** service and customer satisfaction to which this guy turned a cold ear and said they would charge a service charge again but get them to drop it. I waited for the tech to show up (at the very far edge of scheduled time), only to waste over an hour with the guy replacing the splitters because he said the ones I had were dinosaurs. Their guy put them in, lol. Anyways, that was a week ago and my satellite went out again about 3 times this weekend in mild rain/clouds. Any ideas how to get rid of them without them charging me more money for inferior service?

Immediately I saw that some of my favorite channels were missing (like NBATV) and I called Dish for an explanation. I was told that with all my channels my price after promo would not be $44.95 but $84.95 monthly, which made me feel sorry for myself and I decided to cancel despite their threat of cancellation fee of $300, that for being a victim of cheating and using their signal for several minutes! After a couple of days, I saw the charge online and immediately called Citibank with my complaint since I never authorized Dish to charge my credit card and didn't sign any agreement or contract which would have justified the charge. First, at Citibank they told me that they opened a dispute regarding this charge, but when I talked with them today, due to the charge still being on my account after almost 6 weeks, I was told that since I gave Dish my credit card number, they cannot do anything if it’s the company's cancellation policy.

By this logic, I have to be happy it's only $300. It could have been $3,000,000 or more! I called TWC and reinstalled their service for some extra charge, and for 2 days I did not have TV service. I'm 71, a retired and disabled person living on SSB income (kind of low since I was never a public employee) and $300 is a lot of money for me, especially to pay it for the lies, deceit and cheating! Also a terrible customer service, no grace period (should be at least 3 days!) even with instant detection of their cheating and instant cancellation! Please help! Thanks. Consequences: 2 days with no service (weekend) plus $50 charge for cable reconnection. I still have the 2 new HD boxes, obviously they do not care!

While being put on hold again, I searched and came across this site and used the wording that so many used about cancelling their contracts. What agreement? You have my signature on such agreement? Their response was yes. Then, I stated that it must have been forged because I have not signed such agreement. I was put on hold again for 45 minutes. Finally, my husband called on his cell and did get Vincent, very polite and courteous, and he said that the fee has been waived, per his manager, that they will be sending boxes so that the two receivers we have can be returned. I asked him why was he so different, he said he feels for us, blah, blah. Do I believe him? No, but I'm hopeful that he will deliver on his promise. Only time will tell.

On or about Jan. 22, 2009, I called Dish Network customer service as we were going out of the country for 5-6 weeks and asked if we could stop the service while out of the country and resume again on our return. No one would be home to watch TV. I got some lady with an extreme attitude and an extreme nasal condition. With her nasal condition and my old ears, I explained to her that I could not understand her except the $200 plus that she was yelling about. I asked to speak to her supervisor. She said okay and put me on hold checking back every 15 minutes to see if I was still there, always telling me that the supervisor would be on very soon. After the third check (45 minutes), I heard her click on again and off again and the line goes dead. During this call, I again asked for a copy of our contract with them. Even though I was promised, no copy of the contract was received. Since talking with her, my billing continues to increase every month.

Then on April 27 of this year, Dish sent a new card for the dish receiver. I put it in the receiver and it did not work. I called tech support and he agreed that the card was defective and he would have another one sent out and we should have it in 2 weeks or sooner. No card received. As I was again out of the country, my wife called on 05/18/09 and spoke to a Raymond first and then a Stephanie ID # ** and she said she would overnight a new card to us. No card received. Again on 05/22/09, my wife called again and talked to a Mary with a strong accent and that she would send out another card by UPS and we would have it in 3 to 5 days. Again no card received. As our receiver did not have a valid card now, Dish Network cut us off. On 05/25/09, my wife called again and talked with Mike # **. He apologized, gave us a $30 adjustment with 3 months of HBO/Showtime free. We received the card and everything worked.

I received our Dish Network statement for 06/27/09-07/26/09 and our billing after the credits were $11.27. Okay. Then our Dish Network statement for 7/27/09-08/26/09 comes in for $84.19. I called Dish Network again on about 07/31/09 and spoke to a Mr. **, phone # 720-514-8555 ext. **. We spoke for quite a while but before we agreed on anything, I asked him about getting a copy of my contract. He said no problem and that he would get me the contract within 2-3 days and get back to me. He did not get back to me. No copy of the contract again. We discussed the billing and he said that they had made a mistake on the earlier billing and they were just adjusting the billing. It was their mistake again and they are charging me back again for their mistake.

All the explanations of the $49.95 contract, the credits promised were not his problem. He said that he would remove the Dish Home Protection Plan and that would remove $5.99 a month and credit us for all the charges in the past for it as I had not authorized the charge. Also, I tried getting online with Dish Network and after putting in my ID and password, I got some lady's account in Alabama. I tried several times and I reported it to Mr. ** and he said that he could not understand it and could do nothing about it. I received our statement for 8/27/09-09/26/09 again for $84.19. No use calling them. If they adjust for their errors or make promises, they do not honor them. Also, I understand that Dish Network has lost in court on charges that they accept these boiler room type contracts but do not honor the customer side of the contracts.

What I want is: Dish Network to honor our original contract and send a copy to me; to refund me all the illegal fees and charges that they charged me over the past year and a half; and to cancel HBO and Showtime on August 25, 2009 on our account as agreed. Not a day earlier. As I have been threatened with more charges to my account, and feel that I am under constant harassment by Dish Network, I am sending a copy to my attorney, the BBB and the local Chamber of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.

They came out and determined that we would not be able to get the dish due to many trees blocking a clean signal. They called my husband back and said it was a no go and my husband told them to cancel all special promotions which was the free gas card and the Acai Berry. On Monday, August 10th, I received the Acai Berries and was charged $29.95. I called that company and at first, they told me I did not have a account with them. Then, they said it was set up as promotion with another company. I told them I did not care and to cancel it.

I then went to Dish Network and after being switched to different people, I was told that they could not help me and that I had to go through the company, Dish Pronto, 1-800-315-0788. After getting the runaround, they told me they would take care of it. I would just have to email them my bank statement. That would never happen. I told them I would send them my Discover Card information with contact information from Slim Time (the company that I got the Acai Berries from), 1-888-332-8108 but only by mail and with a return receipt.

They told me they could not have it mailed and after pressing the issue, they revealed that they were located in India with no office in the United States. So, I called Dish Network back and spoke to first, Jerry, who was in Taiwan so he couldn't help me, then to Andi, who told me to fax and then finally sending me to an account executive named Micheal **. He told me he basically could not help me because Dish Network did not charge. I told him that I knew that they did not charge me but a salesman that his company handed me off to gave our information and charged to another person.

They then made purchases without our authorization and I felt they need to be responsible and ensure they hand their customers to someone reputable. So, I asked if he knew who they had represented them. They said, "Dish Pronto." I asked, "How can Dish Pronto take care of us when they are in India?" By this time, I have been on the phone for hours and I have just about had it. I also did all of my calling by my cell phone so I could have a record of it. This is very frustrating. The address listed above is the only address I could find for them

The field manager who initially set up my service did not mention anything of the kind to me about cancellation fees. In fact, he guaranteed that I could transfer this service if I moved. Also, two technicians were sent to my premises and each one stated that the contract should be voided and the second tech gave me a $20 refund. I am being held to this contract that has a cancellation fee of $12 per month (I believe this is correct; I don't have the contract with me at this time) on the remaining 21 months. Therefore, I will have to pay $240.00 for services that I cannot receive because they have "an iron-clad contract.”

Neither AT&T nor Dish Network will speak with me in a 3-way call to assist me in resolving this problem. I am constantly being put on hold while they connect me with "the other company". I am a senior citizen and am on a fixed income. I cannot pay a $200.00 fee that has been unfairly imposed on my account with Dish Network. AT&T refuses to do anything to help me with this situation - even though it was AT&T who offered me the "bundled services". Problem: My credit will be negatively affected with an "unpaid bill" notation. I need your help. All parties involved indicate that they have no control over the other. I am stuck in the middle of a corporate "dispute". Please help me.

DISH would not let us out of our contract even though we never spoke with the people at DISH Network. Calling DISH to sever their part of the contract that AT&T broke bounced us back to AT&T, which bounced us back to DISH and so on. Finally, a letter to the DISH dispute department created a call from DISH and asked us what happened. After a lengthy explanation and the caller (Ryan) confirming the conversations that took place, DISH three-way called AT&T and confirmed that the contract was dissolved. DISH guaranteed via our phone conversation with AT&T on the line that we would not be liable for any amount over the one that we already paid.

Then, one week later, not only $467 for the early cancellation fee, but also the regular $93 monthly fee from AT&T was pulled out of our bank account. A two-hour call to DISH Network escalated to the management supervisor Anita (**), who, by the way, was the only employee who gave her employee I.D. number, stated they see the conversation but until they get a paperwork in writing from AT&T, they would not return the $467. They confirmed the conversation but wanted paperwork. This is where it gets better.

AT&T stated they already had the conversation with DISH Network and since AT&T had it documented, they see no need for a letter sent to DISH. They also do not know why the monthly fee was still being drafted; they will get back to me in 7-10 business days to confirm. AT&T advised we call back to DISH Network and take it up with them. This has been the worst two-week relationship I have ever been a part of. I am still fighting for my money but the last representative Joyleece advised to take it up in small claims court. This is a legal way for large organizations to steal from honest, hardworking Americans.

Not being a big TV surfer, I assumed I had the service I was being billed for. So I told Juan, "Oh no, I had it before I removed one of my HDTVs." Juan again informed me that there was no way because I didn't have the correct equipment and the correct lines were not installed. Juan suggested before doing anything that I should contact DISH to have this straightened out.

When I realized I had been charged $20 a month ($10 for Gold HD and $10 for Platinum HD) and didn't have the service, on July 21, 2009, I called and spoke to a rep. They then referred me to what DISH calls the Executive Department where I spoke to Adrian ** from the El Paso office **. He pulls up my account and tells me, "Yes, ma'am. You have it." I told him that what the screen says and what the tech (Juan) found out was not the same - that it may show I have the service. I didn't have it coming into the house and if he contacted Juan, he could explain that. Adrian assured me he would check into this and call me back. Of course, I never heard from him again. On July 27, 2009, I called DISH back and spoke to another executive, James (Jim) ** from the Denver, CO office **. He also told me, "Yes, you have it. I see it on your account."

Again, I explained to him that it may show on the screen that I have it, but I was not receiving the HD channels. Jim tells me he will check into it and call me the next day. No, he didn't call, but he sent an email that because of heavy calls (do they have that many complaints?), he would have to call me the next day. I didn't hear from him, so I called and left a message.

Today, July 30, 2009, I spoke to James (Jim) ** and he tells me that he got assistance from his manager, Wade ** who also looked at a screen and said, "Yes, she has HD." Then, they said that what equipment was used in 2006 was not the same that was used now. Unless Juan was a long time employee, he would not have known this.

So, should DISH send out the old guys on the old equipment and only new employees on new equipment? **! I am sure that all techs are trained on all types of equipment that DISH uses. I feel it is only fair that DISH Network reimburse me (not credit my account) for everything I have been billed regarding HD service. I feel that I am getting the runaround with DISH and am requesting your assistance to resolve this before going to the media.

Over the past five months, I've been offered credits for my troubles, but they don't seem to show up right away. And, that bill is intentionally absurd, illogical, and intended to confuse us. They change the names of their plans, switch channels around, take channels away, etc. Again, I just want out (as I did in December 2008 when they took my locals away). They even had the president of the company on those missing local channels talking about how we could leave since we were disenfranchised by Dish. But when I called, they said no and that I had to pay the fee to leave. Is this company related to AOL?

I called the next day to say that my cable company agreed to lower their price, and nothing was said further. However, when I checked my credit card statement, the $49.95 fee was on there. I called to ask why, and the man said that it's policy. I stated I had cancelled, and he said I needed to do it within 24 hours. He then stated that whoever I spoke to certainly explained this to me on the phone. I asked to listen to the taped phone conversation to dispute his claim, and he responded I was not allowed to listen to the taped recording. This practice is very deceptive, and I advise everyone to be aware of their schemes.