dish network - fraud or scam - YOU decide

ok- i have decided to talk about some of the stress i've been having with dish network. dish network is a satellite television and audio programing company. they can also be referred to as a DBSS which stands for direct broadcast satellite service.

now i am sure most all of you that live in the united states know who dish network is. they are the parent company of echostar. they are the ones that directly competes with direct t.v.

i would now like to describe my experience with dish network. i signed up with them through an ad i saw in the newspaper in Warsaw, mo. i called up to ask about the offers as they were offering many specials. i chose the $29.99 package in which i receive a discount of $10 a month on my bill each and every month for 10 months(for a total of $100 cash back), free dish protection plan for 18 months(which normally costs $5.99), and a refund of my original setup fee of $50 in the form of a credit on my first bill. the $50 is automatically charged on your credit card when you sign up over the phone. what they also required was to charge me one month prepaid service with them.

well, that day finally arrived when my service would be set up. two guys showed up. evidently, they didn't know exactly what they were doing. not only did it take them 3 hours, the accidental(i assume) put a hole through my roof in to my kitchen ceiling thinking that was the place that they wanted to go through. it wasn't. my first experience with dish left me a hole in my kitchen ceiling that i have to stare at every day.

i didn't pay it much concern at the time considering i was a little excited just to get the service running asap. i had them note their error on the paper i signed and left it at that for the time being.

my first bill comes. it was supposed to be for $19.99(basic service)+$5(additional receiver)+$5(local station programing)+ taxes of less than a dollar which should total around $31 a month at the most. well, my bill wasn't that amount as promised by dish network, it was $20 higher for over $50! woad! i thought to myself. also, my $50 credit never came on my first bill as promised either. well, i was upset. dish network lied to me so i decided to call them. this was my second problem with dish network and it's only been 1 month!

when you call dish network, they ask you what your problem is. they don't really listen to you. what seems to happen is that they read something off a piece of paper sitting in front of them. i was contiguously interrupted by dish network's customer service center employee and that encouraged me to interrupt THEM until they understood my problem. well, i was hung up on by that employee. i then called back, i got another employee to hopefully help me. this time though, i could hardly understand this person with their middle Essen accent and broken English. i still tried to make an effort to explain but again i was interrupted several times. i was now frustrated because these are the people who are supposed to be helping me but they wont let me state my problem before interrupting me.

i asked to speak to a supervisor. at that point, i was very irritated, frustrated and wondering if I'm going to be hung up on again. i was on auto pay with dish network before i knew they would be over charging me. at this point it just seemed like a scam. tell them one thing when they sign up, and then charge other fees as they see fit.

the supervisor i spoke to actually let me finish with everything i had to say. because of this, i had calmed down a little and satisfied that at least someone is listening. my frustrations and anger grew when the supervisor finally spoke. he told me that because my setup wasn't hooked to two separate phone jacks for each receiver, they are charging me $5 more for each receiver(2) for a total of $10 which they call a programming access fee. they also stated i have to wait for my $10 credit until i fill out a rebate form and i will not receive my $50 credit until i fill out another form to receive it. well, i argued with him.

i argued and argued telling this person i knew NOTHING about a programming access fee and if i needed the system to be hooked up to a phone line, why didn't they install it that way? i also told him i was promised a $10 credit every month for 10 months starting with my first bill and i was also promised by the dish network rep that i would receive my $50 credit off my first bill as well. now this has been the third person i was trying to explain my problem to and i timed it. i was on the phone for approximately 3 hours with dish network that day.

i demanded they credit my credit card for what was promised and for what dish network scammed me out of with false statements. they refused! what i finally negotiated was that they credit me $10 for the programming access fee and my $10 credit will start being credited starting the next month, and i will receive $50 credit for the setup fee on my next bill. i decided to pay it on this man's word again. do you believe that? dish network already lied to me with false statement that i consider a scam, and here i go again trusting them. i warn you all now, NEVER trust dish network. dish network cannot be trusted!

well my next bill came. i finally received my $50 credit and they actually credited me the $10 programing access fee that i was never aware of when i signed up. they also started my $10 credit per month as originally promised. i was happy with that. but wait! what was this? they charged me another $10 extra for the next month in programming access fees! Haag how ridiculous! i had to call again and argue for another hour before they told me i didn't have to pay it. next month, same thing. in three months now, i had talked to dish network a total of 5 hours out of my valuable time and energy to get their errors corrected.

i told them i will NEVER pay a programming access fee but i compromised. i again told them that they should have installed the equipment properly so i didn't have to deal with this b.s. and if they want to come out and install it properly, they can so i wouldn't be charged this b.s. fee. they agreed to set me up with an appointment for someone to come out and hook it up properly and the way it should have been hooked up originally. they day finally arrived when they were supposed to be there. guess what. they never showed. guess what? i was charged another $10 on my next bill that i spent about 1/2 hour arguing this time so they would take it off and to set up another appointment. the day came again. they never showed....hahahahaha! wt! guess what....another $10 charged and i called them again to get it stricken and to set up yet ANOTHER appointment with their reliable dish network people. they evidently said they couldn't find the house(at least it's on record that way but they never had a problem coming here to set it up originally and take my money!)

during this whole process it just felt like i was being scammed by a big company worth millions of dollars because of programming access fees that they are just hoping people will pay without any arguments. somewhat like large insurance companies do sometimes when they deny your claim the first time in hope you wont fight it. it's a SCAM i felt that dish network has been successfully in for years.

well, they finally came to my house! i was relieved that i wouldn't have any more problems with these scumbags. calling them every month has left me distressed, angry, sad, depressed, and all sorts of emotions! so i was finally relieved! well, Bahama....sorry, that relief was only temporary hahaha. i laugh because i am remembering how they hooked up the receivers to my two phone jacks. they draped one of the phone cords over my television, on top of my fireplace, through my kitchen opening and in to the phone jack. because of this, the cord never touches the floor and the cord is not securely fastened to the wall. in fact, if you can imagine it, imagine a phone cord that is never even flush with the wall or floor so when the phone cord is draped from one corner of the wall to the other wall, there is about two feet of open space between the phone cord and the corner of the wall! that's how they hooked it up! i took pictures! Bahama it wasn't funny then, but it's funny now after i got over my anger. they expected me to look at that mess they installed just to save $5? NO THANK YOU! i waited for my wife to come home before we both decided we can't have it there. it looks bad, it's in the way of other things in our living room, and it was a hazard for anyone to accidental pull on the cord. especially when we have small children we sometimes take care of here. not to mention a hazard to the receiver if it ever fell off the television if someone accidental pulls on the phone cord. i can just imagine them over charging for that too when they were the ones creating the hazard!

OK- so that was the first receiver. the one upstairs was done a little better but my phone jack wasn't near the receiver just like the one downstairs. they ran is across my floor to the receiver and left it like that. i say a little better because at least the phone cord was flush with something. but again, i was disappointed. another hazard. someone could easily trip and fall or trip and pull the receiver down and break it. when it's a hazard for me or my wife, i KNOW it has to be a serious hazard to small children that we have in the house at times. my wife and i agreed this was unacceptable and unplugged it.

so now, not only did they ruin my ceiling and and put a hole in my roof where it wasn't supposed to be, they have created unprofessional installations and hazards in my home that i am responsible for if anyone gets hurt. they lied to me several times before my installation and after my installation. so now I'm pissed. they still continue to charge me falsely on something i have told them repeatedly that i am not paying EVER. i gave them the option to cancel my service because of this so i can switch to another company. they refuse. they want ME to cancel so they can trump up the cancellation fees. i wont do that either.

so now i mention my ceiling thinking i can use this as a trump card for either free service or to finally satisfy me as a customer without anymore hassles with this programming access fee. well, they want to look at the damage. i refuse. i tell them i have pictures and will get an estimate for the damages. i told them they aren't coming in my house again to create more of a mess than they already have.

so anyway, what happens next? they charged me $30 to have someone come out and install their equipment the way it was supposed to be installed the first time. they charged me $30 for someone to come out and do an unprofessional job which just looked nasty and also created several hazards in my home. also, of course, they are still charging me the programming access fees. so i call them again. i tell them i am not paying another bill until you correct your errors and finally get my problem resolved so i don't have to call again. well, it's been two months and i haven't paid a bill. obviously now they are charging me late fees :) just another way to get more money out of me while i am disputing my whole entire bill as long as they continue to overcharge me. they are charging me late fees illegally i found out. so dish network is operating illegally in the state of Missouri because in the state of Missouri, if you are disputing a bill, that bill is not supposed to be charged late fees. i even wrote my dispute on the money order they cashed. i threatened to take them to court and they didn't seem to concerned.

so now it's been two months. i receive a call from them to call them back about my bill. i suppose dish network wants some money for their services they are fraudulently over charging me for. i Brok down. i decided to call....dreading it....knowing i will have to argue again.....but i want to be fair, so i call them. well, their computers were down the other day(very recent) and they couldn't help me or even tell me why they called me.

so now i am upset. i was holding for a while just for them to tell me this? i asked the # to their corporate office or their executive department. this is the third time i have requested this and each time i am denied that information. they say they don't have it, but they DO. they don't want you to have it for some unknown reason.they don't want you to go up higher in the chain to try to get your problem resolved. they want to keep you with THEM just so they can make your life a total nightmare just like they did mine! they wanted me to call back after their computers are back up. what i told them was why don't you have a supervisor call me when this happens because i am not a psychic and cannot predict when in fact your computers will be operational. she agreed, took my information, and it's been two days now and nobody has attempted to con tat me either by voice or answering machine or voice mail. so i will have to call them back since and dread yet another disturbing call(i CAN predict THAT now....) with dish network where very little will get done about my problems once again.

now i will make updates to this post as time passes. my main objective here is to let out my frustrations and emotions that dish network created inside me. i plan on editing this post later for spelling and gramme and sending this in to their corporate office in Colorado. i also plan on faxing it to their fax # i have. i plan to hit them hard soon with public exposer and i will append this post to include that threat because i believe the public should know the lies dish network tells you, the scams they pull, and how hard it is to be a satisfied customer with them. they cause emotional distress and it's just not right! i grew up in north ridge, ca but now live in a small town in Warsaw, mo. the papers here are smaller than i am used to and they are always itching for a good and well written article to add to their 7-8 page paper. i know as well the t.v. media would eat a story like this up because it's a public awareness story. so if dish network ever reads this, be prepared to solve my problems or do battle. i may not be a million dollar company, but i, unlike you is well respected in my community. i own two businesses here, and i am a very fair and responsible person. they pushed me to my limits where i am now considering hiring an attorney far a case against them.

to back up my story here, i have researched dish network and echostar. both companies have been sued for the same things i am complaining about now and they have lost several times in court. they have a history of deceiving people. they have a history over over charging credit cards. they have a history of charging things on your credit card that you never authorized them to do. they have a history of lying and just being an all around unprofessional company. all my research comes from searches i have done through goggle. I'm hoping this post gets a high ranking for the same things i had to research and this is only the beginning!

has anyone else had problems with dish network? post your vents with them here and make them pay attention!