Bamboozled By Dish

[swankenstein_2007]

I was conatcted by Dish Network and since I was unhappy with Brighthouse cable (again) and they were offering a great deal I decided to try it. I told them I wanted EVERYTHING I was currently getting with BH. HD, HD DVR, Standard DVR, ALL movie channels, FULL HD package and local HD. They said yes and sent out an installer the very next day. After him being here all day and putting up TWO dishes on the side of my house. I settled in to start enjoying all my new HD, then I realized I couldn't find my local channels in HD. I immediately got on the phone and was told they dont offer St. Petersburg/Tampa locals in HD, when the sales person clearly told me they did. Unreal. Now after all that installing, Im about to cancel and go back to BH whom at least have locals in HD. Does anyone have any ideas they could offer me on this?????

Having all this HD is not that cool when 65% of HD prpgramming I watch is on local channels.

Thanks.

 

[RandallA]

You should have done your research first before jumping ship. Directv and Dish Network don't offer HD locals to all markets.

 

[mdonnelly]

Ya know, if you're close enough to the towers to use an antenna, you'll get better local HD with OTA than you will with satellite.

 

[voyagerbob]

I was conatcted by Dish Network and since I was unhappy with Brighthouse cable (again) and they were offering a great deal I decided to try it. I told them I wanted EVERYTHING I was currently getting with BH. HD, HD DVR, Standard DVR, ALL movie channels, FULL HD package and local HD. They said yes and sent out an installer the very next day. After him being here all day and putting up TWO dishes on the side of my house. I settled in to start enjoying all my new HD, then I realized I couldn't find my local channels in HD. I immediately got on the phone and was told they dont offer St. Petersburg/Tampa locals in HD, when the sales person clearly told me they did. Unreal. Now after all that installing, Im about to cancel and go back to BH whom at least have locals in HD. Does anyone have any ideas they could offer me on this?????

Having all this HD is not that cool when 65% of HD prpgramming I watch is on local channels.

Thanks.

I used to live near Brandon FL where the towers are and could get all the HD channels with rabbit ears. CBS was the weakest signal as, if I remember correctly, it is near Bartow. Actually you get more with an antenna as it will also have CW, Ion, PBS (two I belive) , MyNetworkTV, and WMOR independent channel. Maybe more since I left. I could also pick up a FT Myers station with the rabbit ears. So at least give it a try. You may be surprised.

Thanks

Bobby

 

[navychop]

OTA is the way to go.

You bought a product without carefully examining what was offered. And you're no doubt paying big bucks each month.

 

[EJMCOL]

You should have done your research first before jumping ship.

The original poster stated that he specifically asked, and the CSR specifically answered "YES".

Shame that a business has to be so dishonest that you can't rely on a single thing they say, eh?

 

[navychop]

Hardly the case here. He should specifically ask about locals (& pursue the answer), as that is not a part of the basic packages and could easily be overlooked by a CSR. Plus there are locals- and HD locals, and they can and do get confused. He seems to have been ordering a very fancy package and it may have gotten complicated. Just humans at work, nothing dishonest. Let the buyer beware- only he can determine suitability of the product to be purchased.

 

[ZandarKoad]

Ya know, if you're close enough to the towers to use an antenna, you'll get better local HD with OTA than you will with satellite.

Word. OTA All The Way. It's cheaper (free) and you'll get better picture quality for the HD.

 

[Cyclone]

Well, if he has DishHD, then he already has an OTA tuner. Dude, hook a antenna up to that 622 and start watching your locals.

 

[RandallA]

The original poster stated that he specifically asked, and the CSR specifically answered "YES".

Shame that a business has to be so dishonest that you can't rely on a single thing they say, eh?

and you honestly believe a word a CSR is telling you? I usually do my homework and research it before changing services. The CSRs are also sales people, they probably even make some commission, do you trust a sales person?

The OP is probably stuck with a contract and his only solution is to pay the cancellation fee or go with OTA like the others suggested. I'm not being harsh and I'm not defending E*, just being realistic here. People should make more educated choices, we have the tools (Internet forums, even Google) to research the providers.

 

[J3ff]

All you guys attacking the OP are CLEARLY in the wrong here.

If a CSR tells me I will get locals when I sign up, I EXPECT TO GET LOCALS!!!!!!!

No - a new sub should not have to RESEARCH it.

YES - he should be able to believe it.......

I mean COMON guys. I asked "will I get locals?" She said "yes" and that was it!!!

 

[gpflepsen]

Bad info = bad... shame on E*. Most of the forum members know to keep some grains of salt around when some claims are made by E* CSRs.

The situation is not that bad, as Cyclone said, get an antenna hooked to the 622 and rock on to some local HD!!!

 

[scooby2]

OTA would be a good solution for the OP if the 622 had dual OTA tuners.

 

[webbydude]

To the OP, if you really feel "bamboozled" then simply bail out of your contract. It's really easy now that there's the 30 day money back guarantee on the 18 month DHA.

Ultimately, the fault lies with Dish, but directly...I blame the sales person/sales partner who sold you the system. Too many times I run into this sort of thing. It's even worse up here in NE Ohio. Direct actually carries the Cleveland locals, so one would think Dish would follow suit just to remain competitive.

 

[Jared Twomey]

See, ya'll are blaming Dish. Personally, I don't think "Dish" sold him anything.
In his original post first lines says that Dish CONTACTED him.
I didn't realize E* was doing telemarketing calls themselves. There are plenty of sales companys out there that call around, sign people up by telling them any and everything, and then dish gets blamed for lies told by some, on-commission sales rep from an independent retailer.

Also, my second clue that I think it was a independent company, is that they had an installer out next day. Almost never does a Dish CSR get an installer out next day.

He got burned by a telemarketer that works for a retailer.... (at least my opinion)

 

[webbydude]

See, ya'll are blaming Dish. Personally, I don't think "Dish" sold him anything.
In his original post first lines says that Dish CONTACTED him.
I didn't realize E* was doing telemarketing calls themselves. There are plenty of sales companys out there that call around, sign people up by telling them any and everything, and then dish gets blamed for lies told by some, on-commission sales rep from an independent retailer.

Also, my second clue that I think it was a independent company, is that they had an installer out next day. Almost never does a Dish CSR get an installer out next day.

He got burned by a telemarketer that works for a retailer.... (at least my opinion)

To the OP, if you really feel "bamboozled" then simply bail out of your contract. It's really easy now that there's the 30 day money back guarantee on the 18 month DHA.

Ultimately, the fault lies with Dish, but directly...I blame the sales person/sales partner who sold you the system. Too many times I run into this sort of thing. It's even worse up here in NE Ohio. Direct actually carries the Cleveland locals, so one would think Dish would follow suit just to remain competitive.

Yepper...pretty much sums up what I was saying/thinking also.

But let's think about it. Who's ultimately in charge of the sales partners/telemarketerrs? It's not fair to blame Dish directly...but in the long run, they are partly responsible for the practices of their contracted sales forces.

 

[Jared Twomey]

Yepper...pretty much sums up what I was saying/thinking also.

But let's think about it. Who's ultimately in charge of the sales partners/telemarketerrs? It's not fair to blame Dish directly...but in the long run, they are partly responsible for the practices of their contracted sales forces.

right, i agree that Dish should step up and make things right because a company that "works" for them lied to a prospective customer. I think they should let him out of his contract or whatever to make it right.
I just think its funny that people started attacking dish csr's and saying that they would lie to the guy, ect. I'm not defending csr's by any means. I'm an installer and I have had to play csr roulette many many times. I just think its funny thats where the blame went to first.

 

[ZandarKoad]

Also, my second clue that I think it was a independent company, is that they had an installer out next day. Almost never does a Dish CSR get an installer out next day.

Ah, actually it happens all the time. I'm a sub who does DNS fufilment, and customers tell me quite often that they are shocked that I could make it out so fast. And that's saying something, because I don't chit chat with the customers at all.

 

[Mr Tony]

If a CSR tells me I will get locals when I sign up, I EXPECT TO GET LOCALS!!!!!!!

I mean COMON guys. I asked "will I get locals?" She said "yes" and that was it!!!

yes the OP got locals...in SD

if I call and say "Can I get my locals" and give them my address, they will see that "yes" I qualify for SD locals. I don't get HD unless I use an OTA which works a heckuva lot better

 

[navychop]

I don't know about you folks, but I always do a little research before committing to spend hundreds of dollars.

And as for not getting what he expected- that's what the 30 day opt out period is for. If he's really unhappy, he can back out of the deal.