My horrible Dish Network experience

[ModemGhost]

I have to say that what surprises me the most about the responses I've gotten so far is that so many people seem to think that I'm a difficult customer because I negotiated a better deal. I honestly don't understand this mindset. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to negotiate. Negotiating a good deal with Dish makes me "difficult" and "a penny pincher"? That makes no sense! If Dish wasn't willing to work with me, they could have said no. Just like I was perfectly free to try negotiating with their competitors. In fact, it was Dish's willingness to negotiate their offer that got me to sign up. (Which ended up being a bad thing for them and for me in the end, but it could've gone the other way if I had been happy with their product.) You can act like I'm in the wrong here, but in the end, I'm getting a better deal than you. And it's not like negotiating a better deal is any reason to put up with poor service or a poor product.

Also, I also am not understanding why people are coming back with responses that don't make any sense if you read my previous comments. People keep insisting that my Samsung is responsible for the poor SD quality. But, like I repeatedly said before, I've seen SD look awesome on my TV. The only thing that changed was that I was getting my signal from Dish. Also, people are insisting that I'm going to get worse quality from DirecTV. (Actually, Fred is insisting that, but he's a Dish retailer, so I take his comments with a grain of salt.) However, like I said before, my parents have DirecTV, and their SD picture looks amazing.

[fredinva]

Originally Posted by plabute

I got to be honest here. It sounds like you are pretty difficult to deal with. If you think the standard def is bad on dishnet wait till you go to directv. I'm a technician for a cable company and have a lot experience with samsung tv's and standard def, and there just awful. I actually bought a samsung and returned it for a sony. Now I'm completely satisfied with the sony. As far as saving 50.00. Sounds like your a penny pincher. All compressed standard def will look less than impressive. But The samsung seems to take it to the next level.

Just my thoughts.

Paul

Paul, I totally agree with you. Some HDTVs show a terrible SD pic via satellite. There, that's clearer, 'VIA SAT'... His Direct SD will also look crappy on his sammy. It's been documented for years that Dish pc is slightly better than Direct. I'm not a retailer, I'm an installer, and I've seen alot of crappy SD on new HDs. But while I'm in the store killing time with my Dish retail friend, if a customer has not yet purchased their HDYV, this is what we tell them. "DEMAND TO HAVE THE HDTV SALES PERSON SHOW YOU AN SD PICTURE BEFORE YOU DECIDE WHICH BRAND/TYPE TO PURCHASE"

SIDENOTE: The Dish VIP622 is not perfect but it it quite stable.
on the other hand, an HR20 from Direct is a nightmare - read the posts.

fred

[fastep]

I wonder what would have happened if the op tryed the 622, used component cables and set sd at 480p instead of using hdmi with the 211 and setting the resolution at 1080i.

My advice to anyone trying a new provider/stb - try BOTH component AND hdmi with all output formats before you throw in the towel. (Component in my experience has always offered the best sd pq while maintaining the same hd pq as hdmi).

IMHO (using a mits 73713 hdtv), sd looks best using 4:3 override set at 480p over component cables. That was true for D* (hr10-250) and is true today with comcast (6412III). I tryed fios tv briefly and their sd actually looked better set at 1080i over component.

When it comes to a receiver, always go for the best hd dvr you can afford. It will save time and aggrevation in the long run.

I personnaly think the op gave up way too soon.....especially if the remedy for poor sd pq is D*........I can see a switch to cable or fios tv - definitely - but not D*....at least not until D* launces those 100 hd channels that don't exist.

[gintzj]

It is always better to go with a local installer. He should be friend

uipgrades go to Dish directly

Sorry for your experience

But Dish is better than Direct or cable

Keep smiling with all

[vward91]

I use dish networks 30 money back if not satisfied deal. I was not happy with the SD picture at all. And I got a very rude crs when trying to change my setup. I know Dish is the HD king right now but Direct will be soon. I am not saying 100 hd channels or anything but they will have alot more and not the VOOM crap. I think I watched all the VOOM content the 25 day I had the service anyway. Other than the nfl network, and food hd which I would bet anyone they will be live by the end of the year I am very happy with Direct. Plus My bill is less for the channels I want. Not to mention SUNDAY TICKET.

[ModemGhost]

Another minor update. Upon canceling, I was told by Dish that they would send a prepaid postage box to me so I could send the receiver, remote, and dish LNB back to them. I was also told that if this was not received within 30 days, that I would be billed for the equipment. Well, it's been a week now, and I still hadn't received the package. So I called Dish (again) to find out what was going on. The rep told me that nothing was ever entered into the system for a package to be sent to me. So she entered the appropriate info into the system to get one sent to me, and gave me a number that she said I would have to put on the outside of the box when I sent it back. The guy who originally set up my cancellation never gave me that number, either.

So I asked if my 30 day period started from the day I canceled (a week ago) or from today. She said it started a week ago. So, because they screwed up, there's a chance I may get billed for the equipment.

Lousy customer service.

[fredinva]

The N U M B E R is called an R/A, or return authorization.
And you're lucky, usually euipment must be returend in 14 days.

you won't get billed - let it go away.

fred

[BillinAtl]

This thread started on 3/17 and now it's 3/27 (after the Dish problem was over).

Where's the DirectTV update?

Wonder if all of this really happened.

[fredinva]

He must have found out he'd be more out of pocket with Direct.
Or he researched the infamous HR20!

fred

[ModemGhost]

Yes, Bill, it was all a lie. I'm really a DirecTV plant trying to dissuade potential Dish customers. Give me a break. And, Fred, I'm still confused by your hostile attitude.

In fact, the DirecTV installer is on my roof as I type this. I will give you all an update within a couple of days.

Here's the deal I got with DirecTV.
$399.99 initial charge for the DVR
-100.00 rebate (standard offer)
$299.99 up front

$69.99 per month, including HD and DVR packages
-10.00 per month for a year (standard offer)
-10.00 per month for a year (I talked them into this, being such a "penny-pincher")
-10.00 per month for 5 months for a referral (I actually know people who have DirecTV. I didn't know anyone with Dish.)
$39.99 per month for the first 5 months, $49.99 per month for the rest of the year

And the installer is being nice enough to take the Dish network dish down for me, saving me some time and effort.

So, yes, the up front cost was more. But the monthly cost is considerably less, and I didn't even have the DVR service from Dish. The only thing I'm losing is a handful of HD channels (which sucks, admittedly). So, thus far, I feel DirecTV is looking like the better deal. We'll see how the picture quality looks. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that this will all turn out well. And don't get me wrong! If DirecTV looks as abysmal as Dish did, I will cancel with them as well. And I will come here and let you all know. Wish me luck!

On a side note, I still haven't gotten my equipment return box from Dish.

[jpfrasier]

Originally Posted by ModemGhost

On a side note, I still haven't gotten my equipment return box from Dish.

LOL

I'm not laughing at you just the whole "returning equipment thing." When I moved into my house the previous owners had DISH and apparently had requested a box to return their receiver. Well over the course of three months I had received 3 boxes with their names on the label! I eventually wound up getting DISH myself but thought it was funny that I kept getting these return boxes for the previous owners.

Another side note, when I got Dish installed the local installer took down the old dish and left it on my back porch. So I just tossed it in the garbage. I hope that was cool, it's been 6 months now and so far so good.

[DishTechSub]

Originally Posted by ModemGhost

Of course, like any other company, I'm sure there are lots of people out there who had a great experience with Dish. Personally, my experience was terrible. I thought I'd share, to get opinions, and to give my two cents to anyone else who is thinking about getting Dish. My post is rather long, but I think it's worth hearing someone's full experience for people who are considering signing up.


Part One: The Signup

I originally decided to go with Dish over DirecTV because of Dish's larger HD lineup. I purchased a nice Samsung LN-S4095D 1080p LCD about a month ago, and was eager to see as much HD on it as possible. I was a little put off by Dish's higher price, but decided it was worth it.

So when I signed up, I tried to negotiate with them just a little bit. I was putting a pretty big investment in, and all I wanted was for them to waive the $50 activation fee without forcing me to sign a contract. The person on the phone was a real jerk about it. (I mean, if you don't want to negotiate, that's fine. But don't be a dick!) So I told him I would weigh my options, and get back to them. At this point, I was less than impressed, and had decided I was more likely to go with DirecTV. My parents have had DirecTV for about 15 years, and have never had a single problem.

Well, about 20 minutes after I got off the phone with the jerk from Dish, my phone rang. It was a "supervisor" from Dish's sign-up department. He said he saw that I started to go through the sign-up process, then changed my mind. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to get me to sign up. So I explained the situation. He actually was a bigger jerk about it than the first guy! He explained in a very snotty voice about how they need to make money, and blah blah blah. So I told him that I was going to call DirecTV, and to have a nice night. At that point, he finally agreed to waive the sign-up fee. So I figured I didn't have much to lose with no sign-up fee and no commitment, so I signed up. America's top 250 package with HD, and a ViP 211 receiver.


Part Two: The Install

The day before they were coming to install the equipment, I realized that I didn't know whether they provided an HDMI cable or not. So I called Dish again, and asked them. The person I talked to said that they provdied a component cable, but not an HDMI. I decided that was acceptable, even though I would eventually buy an HDMI cable myself.

They installed my equipment on Thursday. The installer seemed like a nice enough guy, and did a good job with the dish and cabling. But when he hooked up the receiver, he did it with crappy RCA cables. I told him that I was told I would get component cables. He said that they never give anything but RCA cables. So someone in this situation was lying. But he told me it was ok, because the RCA cables would give me an HD signal anyway. ( ) I basically told him he was wrong, but he did the whole, "Whatever, I'm a tech guy and you're just a stupid customer," thing. So I just decided it wasn't worth the argument, and that I would go buy an HDMI cable after he left. The point is that I never got a chance to see a good quality signal before he left.

Part Three: Picture Quality

So I got my HDMI cable, and spent a few days watching TV. The HD channels look great. Not as good as OTA channels, of course, but pretty nice. However, the SD channels look like total garbage! The colors are washed out, the picture is all blotchy, and there is more motion blur than anyone could possibly stand. Now, I know SD signals don't always look great on a HD set, but I previously had SD cable, and it looked amazing. So this was obviously a problem with the Dish hardware.

I did some research, and from what I've read, it sounds like some of the Dish receivers do a god-awful job of upscaling SD signals. Previously, my cable was in SD, and my TV was doing the upscaling. Since I have a pretty nice TV, the SD looked nice. So don't try to tell me that the problem is with my TV, because I've seen SD signals look stunning on this very screen.

I called Dish to see if they had any suggestions for me. They completely blew off all of my questions, and said they would just send a tech to take a look. I figured if they wanted to put in that expense, it was fine with me.

Part Four: The Tech Guy

Tonight, out of the blue, I got a call from the tech who was supposed to come tomorrow. It happened to be the same guy who had done my installation. He called me on my cell phone at 9pm while I was at a restaurant. He wanted to discuss my problem, to see if he really needed to come to my house. I asked if he could just call me back tomorrow morning, as I was at dinner at the moment. He said he was really busy in the morning (like I'm not busy now?) and that ...sigh... he would just come to my house, and that ...sigh... if it turned out to be nothing, it wasn't ...sigh... that big of a deal. I said, fine, let's talk, but make it quick. I stepped out of the room so I could talk to him.

The conversation went for about 10 minutes, but it can be summed up in one sentence. Tech: "I don't want to have to drive all the way back to your house, and there's nothing I'm going to be able to do about your problem anyway, and that basically your choices are to either live with it or cancel your service."

At this point, I was rather stunned. This was the fourth Dish representative I had dealt with who was very rude. This is not the way to treat a brand-new customer! So at this point, I had had enough. I figure I'm not hooked with a commitment period, so I will just give it a few weeks, maybe a couple of months, and see how things go. Maybe I can handle the lower quality signal. Or maybe they'll push a software update for this receiver. Who knows?

So I ask the tech what I need to do to cancel the service call (because I honestly don't want this guy working on my stuff anymore, since he's proven himself to be less than knowledgeable, and rude as well). He said, "No, don't do anything. If you cancel the call, I won't get paid for it. We'll just pretend that I came to your house, so I can get paid. It can be our little way of 'sticking it' to Dish."

If you aren't at least a little bit shocked, please go back and read that paragraph again. This sort of crap is one of the reasons why your satellite bill is so high.

That was the last straw for me. I've had it. This company has spent a full week pissing me off, and I'm done. So I decide to cancel my service.

Part Five: The Cancellation

I called Dish Network again. After bouncing around voice prompt hell for a while, I just pick a random option, since cancellation isn't one of the options they give. That operator transferred me to the correct department. Unbelievably, the cancellation was the only part of my whole experience that went well:

Me: "I'd like to cancel my service."
Op: "I'm sorry to hear that, may I ask why?"
Me: brief version of the story
Op: expresses shock at the tech guy story, offers 3 free months
Me: "No thanks, I'd just like to cancel, please."
Op: "No problem. I understand. I see you're not on a contract, so this shouldn't be a problem. And since you've had our service for less than a week, you shouldn't get billed at all. If you do receive a bill, here is my operator ID. Call back, and we'll make sure you don't get charged anything. You'll also receive a box with prepaid postage to send back the receiver, remote, and LNBs from the dish. Is there anything else I can do for you today?"
Me, in amazement: "Yeah, you can find a way to make all the other people and departments in your company as polite and helpful as you!"

(To Dan, operator ID U1L at Dish - you're awesome.)

Conclusion

You can take from my story what you will. Honestly, in the end, I didn't lose anything but time and a little sanity, so it's probably just not a big deal.

And there are lots of different ways this whole thing could have gone if I had stuck with it. Maybe the poor SD picture quality could've been fixed. Maybe it's just something I will have to deal with no matter what provider I choose. But the experience as a whole was more than enough to make me happy I decided to cancel.

I'm sure some of you have had Dish for years, and have been extremely happy. I could've been one of those people, too. Hey, Dish Network, I could've paid you $80 per month for years to come! But I had nothing but problems, and no one in your organization was willing to help me out. (Until I was ready to cancel!)

Yes, I realize my experience with Dish was limited, being only about a week and a half from start to finish. But I feel that if a company is willing to treat a brand-new customer this poorly, I would be frightened to see how they treat someone who's already tied to them.

"Hello, DirecTV? I'm interested in signing up for your service..."

Thanks for listening, everyone.

First of all let me say im sorry you feel you got such a bad rap but here's the deal.

#1. Dish network corporate tells there phone operators in sales to do whatever it takes within certain guidelines to make a sale or lose there job.

#2. Dish network technical tells there technicians do whatever it takes to get that satellite system installed within certain guidelines
or lose your job. Sub contractors included.

Directv does the same thing. It's about $$$$

As far as out and out lying, i don't agree with it and i don't do it.

But on behalf of dish network techs let me say were not all bad, just some need better trained then others.

BTW: My contracting company does supply component cables.

[ModemGhost]

Thanks for the input, guys. Let me be clear: I don't think that Dish is a bad company. I just had a bad experience with them. Obviously, from reading this board and others, there are a lot of people who love Dish. I'm glad for them. But, unfortunately for Dish, they weren't willing to make things right for me, and they have competition in their industry.

Here's a brief DirecTV update. The installation went without a hitch, and the SD channels look 10 times better than Dish's. Not quite as good as my old non-HD cable service, but definitely good enough. The setup was a piece of cake. I hooked my OTA antenna to the receiver, and it immediately put all of my locals onto my programming guide, and found the listings from my local channels. (With Dish, I got the channels to show up in the guide, but it didn't show what was on. Maybe I just never figured out how to do it.) I've only been playing with DirecTV for a few hours, so I will post a better update later. For the time being, I think I made the right choice for me. I guess it's just about whatever works for each individual, right?

[davecramer74]

well the good news is youll have a shitload of HD come end of year. The bad news is you had to pay them 300 frickin bucks for a hd dvr. I think in the long run, your going to be very happy with dtv. I liked them besides their HD offerings. Im on cable now, i have no line of sight for satellite. I tried getting dish a couple months back with no luck. I was pretty disappointed, needless to say. Sounds like you had bad luck. My cousins got it and it looks great and is cheaper than cable. Thus why i tried to make the switch. But directv has been bragging about what theyll be offering. Id expect them to somewhat come through with quite a bit of HD offering.

[raydi07]

Let me know how you like Directv. I used to have Dish Network and the HD package but about 7 months ago i had the same problem with my dish, the lnb went bad again. The first time was only 2 days after install and i had o go through testing via the box before they would send out a tech. Found out the LNB was indeed fried. They replace it and about 4 months later same problem, only this time after i again went through all the troubleshooting steps they needed a credit card before they would come out. They were going to charge me. I complained and they offered to charge me the xtra fee each month for the " insurance" and they would only need $29.95 to come out. I did agree but after i was told the next available date for service was 3 weeks away I stated that all they had to do was send a new lnb, she checked the records after i was on hold for a whil and came back on and said that would not happen, a tech would have to identify the fault. So i said thank you, i am calling charter cable and i would like to cancel the service. She transferred me and after explaining again what occured they cancelled. Charter was installed 2 days later. Its not bad, but the Moxi box for HD DVR is so slow!!!
Anyway, i received a call from direct 2 weeks later asking why i cancelled. After i explained the situation and their reluctance to send a lnb, the direct rep said he could have it sent out that day if i would agree to reactivate the service. Told him it was to late and charter was already running.