Complaint Rating:

I was an unfortunate customer of Dish Network for about 6 months last year, and the ordeal has still not ended. I decided on satellite television because I wanted to have access to the World Cup games and I also was happy that I would be able to get some College Football games that were PPV only. I had no real complaints for the first few months, the reception was good and I was able to watch the World Cup. The problems began when I first tried to get a PPV game. The channels that were needed were not appearing in my channel guide, so I called. I was reassured that ordering the games online would allow me to view them even if I did not see the channels listed, despite the fact that the "Purchase This Event" listing online specifically said that if the channels did not appear you would not be able to view the game. To say the least, I was skeptical of the veracity of the information I was being told. I finally realized that the only way to get any service with Dish Network is to call the new customer line, you are then transferred to an agent in the United States instead of an outsourcing center. She quickly ran me through a few menus on the dish and determined that my satellite dish had not been properly set up and I would need a technician. Because it was more than 90 days since the dish had been installed, I was charged $50 for the service trip. I called a few other times for various items involved with ordering games, and never had a pleasant customer service experience on the phone, but I won't list them all. The final straw was when I decided to move to a new apartment. I was told on the phone that it would cost me $100 to move to a new apartment (despite the fact that it already had dishes installed) unless I wanted to sign up for another 18 month commitment. I asked how much the cancellation fee was, and it was only $140, so the choice was quite easy for me. At that point I was transferred to an account specialist who tried to tell me that I had been misinformed and I could move at no cost, but my mind had been made up and I said I would really just prefer to end my time with Dish Network. She then spent the next 20 minutes on the phone berating me, asking "why would you want to pay more for cable" and telling me "I'm only trying to save you money, why do you have such a problem with saving money." I tried to calmly reply that any amount of money was worth never talking on the phone with any of their service people again, but she had little to no interest in listening to me, odd when my entire reason for quitting was the poor level of customer service I had received throughout my time with them. Regardless, she changed my information and promised that they would ship boxes to my new address so that I could return the equipment, and that I would be charged the full amount if I did not return it within 30 days. Of course, the boxes never arrived. I have since called twice to inform them, and at first I was told the boxes would be reshipped (didn't happen) and then I was told that I would be shipped an envelope with some labels that I could use to ship the equipment back in my own box (never arrived). My account has now been charged and additional $400 which Dish Network did me the courtesy of debiting directly from my bank account (I had originally set up automatic payments) despite the fact that I have called them so many times. After screaming my way through four levels of customer service in India today, during which time I was alternately told that a)the boxes could only be shipped to my old address and I should have somehow picked them up from UPS at a place I no longer lived, b)I had ample time to return the boxes and it was my fault, and c)they could always reship some more boxes as a "courtesy" but I would still be charged full price for the equipment, I finally was transferred to someone in America who was at least willing to refund the $400 - which will take 3-5 days - and reship boxes so that I can finally return the equipment. As am amazing side note, my new address was still in the system incorrectly, despite the many times I have called to try and correct it. I am not sure yet whether I will ever receive them or if the only resolution will be to file in small claims court, which will be my next step. I can not emphasize enough how unhappy I have been having ever dealt with Dish Network, and I will never do business with them or any company that I discover is affiliated with them again in my life.