Wah wah. DISH is mean!!!!

[MikeD-C05]

Write to the ceo@echostar.com and tell him of your issues and they will respond. I would write your phone number and cell and tell them you want to talk to someone on the phone. I have gotten good responses on issues that the csrs couldn't or wouldn't bother to talk to me about.

 

[mike123abc]

The extra fee per box is nothing more than an extra profit charge for DBS providers. They sell you a box, then charge you $5/6 per month to use it. IF it breaks they charge you to fix it. If you buy a 2 tuner box they charge you even more if you do not plug it into a phone line.

Leasing is really the only thing that makes sense now. Of course they charge you more upfront to lease a HD box and then charge you $1/month more to use it... Another pure profit item.

It just comes down to comparing what is actually billed and ignore all the hype on package prices. The extra profit fees are a large part of the bill now. Compare the total price vs the total price of cable and see which one works out best for your area. Dish as much as they like to bash cable is nothing more than a fee charging cable system in the sky.

 

[Van]

Having my receiver connected to a phone line is BS.

Ok so then pay the monthly fee and be happy about it.

Submitted: 7/15/2007 7:08:57 PM
Modified: 7/15/2007 7:09:00 PM
Tim
Clovis, California


I have had Dish Network for a few years now, and for the most part, am happy with them! I do think their customer service people are horrible though.

My 'rip-off report' is about how they continually charge me an extra $5 a month (per reciever) for all of them past the first one. When I got this system I purchased everything through a retailer and installed it myself. I them called Dish to activate programming. So everything in my house belongs to me! Dish charges me $5 lease fee, per receiver past the first, every month.
They of course don't call it a lease fee but something more clever like additional reciever programming or something, due to the fact that they can't charge me a 'LEASE' fee on my own equipement. It ANGERS me that that is in fact what thet are doing though. If I had bought one reciever and leased the others from them my bill would not change!

I have called several times to no avail. All I get told, on the phone, is one excuse after another. Half the time when I call, I either can't understand the people, or I get hung up on. I am not rude on the phone to their people nor do I want to be treated that way! All I want from them is a justification of charging me a lease fee for my equipement and a refund of the monies I have given them in those fees for the 3-4 YRS. I have been a subscriber. I would also like the charges to stop! They act as if they don't nickel and dime you to death (needlessly) they would go bankrupt or something. I think there has to be some sort of way to stop these needless charges, so I think I might have to take things a step further. Their call center obviously isn't there to help anybody but them!

Tim
Clovis, California
U.S.A.

Ever had cable tv and wanted access to all the channels your paying for on all the tv's? If you have any premium channels then you have to have a cable box in each room you want all the channels in and thats a rental fee of $5 - $12 a box. Its a fact of life and even if you buy your own gear wether dish or a cable box you will still have to pay a monthly fee because these companies are all about making money as most every company is and to think otherwise is foolish.

The extra fee per box is nothing more than an extra profit charge for DBS providers. They sell you a box, then charge you $5/6 per month to use it. IF it breaks they charge you to fix it. If you buy a 2 tuner box they charge you even more if you do not plug it into a phone line.

Leasing is really the only thing that makes sense now. Of course they charge you more upfront to lease a HD box and then charge you $1/month more to use it... Another pure profit item.

It just comes down to comparing what is actually billed and ignore all the hype on package prices. The extra profit fees are a large part of the bill now. Compare the total price vs the total price of cable and see which one works out best for your area. Dish as much as they like to bash cable is nothing more than a fee charging cable system in the sky.

So whats wrong with a company making a profit? Dish has only been making a profit for a short while now but they have been giving away equipment and labour for longer than they have made this profit. If you want free then pay a one time fee and get an antenna is what I have told people who complain about what they pay.

Anyone that wants to bicker about what they pay for E and D should thank the cable company because if it wasnt for a smear campaign they did 7 years ago then you would still be paying for the whole system as well as all the labour involved in putting in a system wich for some the labour alone could end up being 4 times the amount of the system easily.

 

[mike123abc]

So whats wrong with a company making a profit? Dish has only been making a profit for a short while now but they have been giving away equipment and labour for longer than they have made this profit. If you want free then pay a one time fee and get an antenna is what I have told people who complain about what they pay.

Anyone that wants to bicker about what they pay for E and D should thank the cable company because if it wasnt for a smear campaign they did 7 years ago then you would still be paying for the whole system as well as all the labour involved in putting in a system wich for some the labour alone could end up being 4 times the amount of the system easily.

Nothing is wrong with Dish charging fees and making as much profit as the market will bear. Dish used to bash cable companies for these fees, now they have joined them and are charging as many fees as possible. Hence my statement to compare the total cost of both DBS and cable to decide what is better for you in your area.

 

[dishcomm]

The extra fee per box is nothing more than an extra profit charge for DBS providers. They sell you a box, then charge you $5/6 per month to use it. IF it breaks they charge you to fix it. If you buy a 2 tuner box they charge you even more if you do not plug it into a phone line.

Leasing is really the only thing that makes sense now. Of course they charge you more upfront to lease a HD box and then charge you $1/month more to use it... Another pure profit item.

It just comes down to comparing what is actually billed and ignore all the hype on package prices. The extra profit fees are a large part of the bill now. Compare the total price vs the total price of cable and see which one works out best for your area. Dish as much as they like to bash cable is nothing more than a fee charging cable system in the sky.

Yes they do and it is because they can...Now compare E*'s charges to what Time Warner in Charlotte,NC charges...A littel over $8 per month per digital box and about $2 to rent the remote....Yes, to have two digital boxes it's over $20 per month....So when that is taken into account E* is a bargain...
Now I am in agreement with those who think the phone line fee is BS...It isn't just to charge someone the fee if they choose not to have a land line their home.

 

[knkayotte]

Do you have a dual tuner reciever?

Yes, I have two 622's, I have no phone service to my house. I received a letter stating I'd get charged $5 per receiver if I didn't hook them up to a phone line. The letter did not mention anything about the $5 charge being for the use of the 2nd tuner.

It basically said I'd miss out on PPV movies, games, and the receivers interactive features, big friggen deal. I can just imagine how fun that is over a phone line and I don't need PPV movies.

As for being a greedy, gimme, gimme person; damn right, I work for everything I have, I don't care what the cable companies charge their customers. I've been loyal to Dish for over 8 years, I have 4 receivers in my house, subscribe to one of their top tier packages along with locals and HD. I never call tech support, have installed all of my own equipment. I'm am Dish's dream customer, I give them no hassle. So please, don't play the "don't they have a right to make a profit" card on me. Dish is making a killing off of me already.

I've also convinced at least 3 of my friends to go with Dish instead of direct after they saw my setup and how well it worked.

I stand by my original comment, the $5 charge for not having your line hooked up to a phone line is BS. Give me a friggen break.

According to the account specialist, the charge has been waived off my account for a year, she did tell I'd have to call back in a year to get the waiver reinstated. Time will tell how well this goes.

 

[dishcomm]

Yes, I have two 622's, I have no phone service to my house. I received a letter stating I'd get charged $5 per receiver if I didn't hook them up to a phone line. The letter did not mention anything about the $5 charge being for the use of the 2nd tuner.

It basically said I'd miss out on PPV movies, games, and the receivers interactive features, big friggen deal. I can just imagine how fun that is over a phone line and I don't need PPV movies.

As for being a greedy, gimme, gimme person; damn right, I work for everything I have, I don't care what the cable companies charge their customers. I've been loyal to Dish for over 8 years, I have 4 receivers in my house, subscribe to one of their top tier packages along with locals and HD. I never call tech support, have installed all of my own equipment. I'm am Dish's dream customer, I give them no hassle. So please, don't play the "don't they have a right to make a profit" card on me. Dish is making a killing off of me already.

I've also convinced at least 3 of my friends to go with Dish instead of direct after they saw my setup and how well it worked.

I stand by my original comment, the $5 charge for not having your line hooked up to a phone line is BS. Give me a friggen break.

According to the account specialist, the charge has been waived off my account for a year, she did tell I'd have to call back in a year to get the waiver reinstated. Time will tell how well this goes.

When Dish rolled out the dual tuner it was in their interest as a business to charge customers only if no phone line is connected.
When customers ask I explain it in terms of a trade of. They get the potential of PPV purchases while the customer gets a reduction of one A/O fee for each receiver connnected..
I thionk the fee is unreasonable for those subs who choose not to have a land line. Now with that said, we look at what the charges Time Warner levys on their digital customers..A little over $8 monthly for each digital box plus about $2 per month to rent the remote..Using that as a comparison, Dish's fees are a bargain.
There is another choice..You can cacel your service..I don't mean to sound harsh, but that is a choice you have. All customers must pay the fee. Now if you can find a way to avoid the fee, have at it. I wish you luck in your endeavor.

 

[wase4711]

I can't wait till next month to use the network connection port on my VIP receivers, I have have been have issues with the phone line resently when hooked up to phoneline.

According to tech support folks I talked to today, they know NOTHING about connecting to ethernet and that will eliminate the silly phone line requirement..

 

[MikeD-C05]

They are supposed to enable internet access next month along with external hard drive support , so the problem will be fixed then. You will be able to use the ethernet port to call out for your receiver instead of a phone line.

 

[wase4711]

did a actual DishNet employee tell you that, or is it something you have just read on this board?

no one I spoke to at DishNet knew anything about this today..

 

[HIFI]

Say it aint so, dish csr's not knowing whats goin on who'd thunk that

 

[MikeD-C05]

did a actual DishNet employee tell you that, or is it something you have just read on this board?

no one I spoke to at DishNet knew anything about this today..

IT was revealed on this board by Scott G. ,who attended or watched the DISH retailer chat earlier this month. I have no reason to believe that they will not do this. The question is will it be in August or in Sept. I think it will be in August due to Directv launching their new hd national channels in Sept.

Dish needs to be able to differentiate themselves from DIRECTV by keeping up with the new HD channels and having external hard drive support and ethernet capabilities so you can download movies and music from the internet.

If you do a search for retailer chat it will most likely come up and you can read it for yourself. I wouldn' t BELIEVE anything that a DISH csr tells you. They are less informed than the average SATGUYS member. Scott has an IN with DISH behind the scenes and knows when most of the new cutting edge tech and releases are coming our way.

 

[wase4711]

well, yes, I know Scott well, from the old VOOM days, and yes, he tends to be right on when he "reveals" something to the world..I didn't read his retailers chat post, so if I had, I wouldn't have doubted its truth!

I have been a comcast guy the last 5 years, and finally just couldnt stand them anymore, so I am getting Dish installed tomorrow, and its taking me awhile to get up to speed with the Satalite world again!
This 5 bucks a month penalty for not having a phone line is bizarre; I dont have a phone line near the place the 622 is going, but I do have a router nearby, so i sure hope they allow the connection that way within the next month or so. And being able to connect a USB HD to that USB port would make tons of folks happy, and probably keep some people from choosing Direct TV over Dishnet..

 

[navychop]

So would it be better if Dish charged $74.99 for package X, instead of $69.99, and offered $5 off your bill if you kept it connected to a phone line or the internet?

That might complicate advertising- a seemingly higher price at first glance, but a way of actually REDUCING your bill? I'm sure they've considered it.

 

[wase4711]

well, everyone likes to find ways to save a buck, so it might be more palatable if they advertised it that way, as silly as it may seem..

 

[Tyralak]

As a DISH Network Sales Partner and Retailer I agree 100% with what your saying, but its the DNSC installers who cause this problem by not doing their Job by connecting the phone lines properly in the first place.

Explain to me how we "Don't do our jobs". We have 3 - count em 3 - options regarding phone lines. 1: If a phone line is within 25 feet we can connect it directly to the reciever. 2: We can sell the customer a wireless phone jack and have the cost added to their bill. 3: We can call for a bypass. Period. We CANNOT, EVER run phone lines. We are not licenced, trained or equipped for running telephone lines to the NID. That's it. Those are our options. Subcontractors have more leeway to do additional work like running phone lines, and they charge extra for it BTW. But we do not. So don't tell us we don't do our jobs when you don't even know what we are allowed to do on our jobs.