Dish Network charges consumers a $5.00 fee for each receiver you have in your home that is not connected to a phone line. This fee is unfair to consumers that don't want to order their online movies etc. Most people only have one phone line jack in a room, and their not going to move their furniture, to suite Dish Network or spend hundreds of dollars to install phone lines. This is a consumer rip off, and should be investigated by the government. After calling and complaining to customer service, I was given a cool response, with no satisfaction. Switching back to cable is looking better.

I was solicted for service by Dish Network in May 2007. The representative offered me free HD service for one year if I signed up. He said it would come in the form of a $20.00 a month rebate that I would have to send in once the dish was installed.

I signed up for the service, had the dish installed, and sent in my rebate. In December 2007, I received a letter in the mail from the rebate center stating they could not process my rebate. I called the rebate center and they told me they only needed my account number because I put my AT&T number on the rebate form. Apparently this was the wrong number so I provided them with my Dish Network account number and was told I would see the rebate in my next one to two billing cycles.

I waited until March 2008 to call back and check the status of the rebate. I remind you I have been paying the $20.00 each month for HD that I was promised I would not have to pay 9 months prior. When I called back I was told they were still processing the rebate and they would "expedite" it. I explained that I would be cancelling my service if I did not see the rebate on my next bill.

My next bill came and I still was not receiving the rebate. I called Dish Network on May 5, 2008 to cancel my service. I was told I was under contract and there would be a $93.00 cancellation fee for cancelling. Frustrated, I requested this be waived since I had fulfilled all of my obligations as they applied to me sending in the rebate, following up several times on its status, and sending in my payment on time each month. Though I had been paying the $20.00 each month for something I was told would be free, the representative told me there was nothing Dish Network could do and I would have to contact AT&T to resolve that matter.

I then spoke to a Dish Network supervisor who told me she could manually credit my account the $20.00 for six months at this time. She stated since she was offering to do this now (even though it has been one year since I sent in my rebate without any results) that I was obligated to pay the cancellation fee because they were "holding up their end of the bargain."

I called AT&T and within five minutes I was told they would gladly credit my account the $93.00 for the cancellation fee and apologized several times for all of the inconviences.

I do not understand why I had to call to cancel my service for Dish Network to offer to honor the rebate they promised me. Why couldn't this have been done six months earlier when they were having problems with the rebate center? I also don't understand why I send in a check for payment it is cashed within a week but a rebate takes a year to process? I also don't understand how I can hold up my end of the deal by making payments monthly on time yet when Dish Network does not fulfill their commitment to honor their rebate they penalize ME $93.00 and tell me tough luck, take it up with someone who cares (i.e. AT&T).

I don't ask for any type of response from you. I don't ask for any type of compensation from you as I have already cancelled my service. I will gladly pay more money to a company such as Comcast which may be more expensive but does not require a contract nor a rebate to get the product I am promised. I have always heard you get what you pay for. This is a lesson I have learned the hard way with Dish Network.

This email will be forwarded to consumeraffairs.com, my3cents.com, and complaints.com.

Thank you for your time.
Rick

I have been trying to resolve a dispute with Dish Network since early February 2008.
The date of this letter is April 22 2008. My son is disabled and on Social Security
Disability and I am his assigned payee from Social Security. I pay all of his monthly
bills and his payment history for the last 4 years is totally spotless. One of his
receivers went out and he called Dish to get a replacement one. They delived it
and sent him a return box to send back the broken one back to them. Because of his
disability he was slow about returning the box and he did not inform me that that
this event had even occurred. When I found out about it, I called Dish and explained
his disability situation to them and had them send another box to my address so
I could see that it was sent back.They said that they totally understood the situation.
The box arrived and I took it to him. We pacakaged it up and sent it back. ( I know
that he should have sent the receiver back sooner and I would not have objected
the temporary charge of $100.00 on his personal account until they received the
receiver back.) (1) As of his February 02, 2008 his account was current. (as it has
always been) But they debited my Sears card on 1/26/08 $100.00 and 01/31/08 another
$100.00 dollars. I used my credit card to set up his account 4 years ago because
he did not have a credit card. They told me that they could only debit my credit
card if he was late or behind in the first year of his service to make sure he paid
his bill, (of which now is in the 4th year and had never been late) so they debited
my credit card without my authorization. The charge for an unreturned box is ($100.00)
They debited my credit card $200.00. (2) They charged his account $100.00 (3) more
times for a total of $300.00 between my credit card and his personal bill now the
total for (1) box valued at $100.00 he is being charged $500.00. (Between my credit
card and his personal bill.) I know it gets confusing. (3) I have called so many
times I have lost track but I do have who I spoke with, the dates and the action
they were suppose to take to resolve the situation. (4) I was told that they would
credit his account. On March 02, 2008 bill they credited his account $300.00 and
then reversed $100.00 of the credit. (for what reason I do not know) so now he has
a credit of $200.00 out of the $500.00 (5) April 02, 2008 bill credit card charge
back $100.00 was added back to his bill but one good thing, they received the receiver
and credited him the equipment fee-adjustment of $100.00. So this credit is a wash
as well to $0. (6) During the time this was going on I have continued to pay his
monthly bill each month, so this would not be an issue. But they had the nerve to
tell me that the money owed to him was used to pay his bill!!! (Now I am getting
really upset) (7) On my credit card they said that the reason it was charged was
that the first attempt to charge it did not go through on 01/26/08 and they repeated
it on 01/31/08. I have thier statement and my credit card to prove that both charges
went through. (8) They have told me numorous times that they would send the money
back to my credit card and make sure that my son's account would be credited
back the money owed to him.(my credit card has yet to be credited back) and each
time they credit my son's account they turn around and reverse the credit. (9)
To sum it up my son was should be current on his April bill ( as I paid $70.00)
this month and each month prior it should be a normal bill. My credit card should
have a $0 balance. But as his April bill stands right now he has a $22.38 credit
with adding the $70.00 I just sent, for a total credit of $92.38. I still owe $200.00
on my Sears card and if they credit me the $200.00 on my Sears card they are going
to take his $92.38 credit away from him and he is going to owe another $100.00 for
this month according to my calculations. Where is the missing $100.00? (10) I need
some help as today when I called back Dish after calling the credit card company
to see if the money had been credited back to my credit card (the $200.00) which
it had not, they (Dish) spoke to me for awhile and then hung up on me after they
could not explain the bill. (11) I have all of the names and dates if needed of
who I spoke to. (of course they are in India) They use American names but that is
not thier real names, if needed. (12) Who can I contact for some help? I have put
in a dispute with the credit card company and they are working on it but that is
not going to solve the situation with Dish Network. Any help or suggestions would
be gretaly appreciated. Sorry this is so long, but after you spend 4 or 5 hours
on the phone with them trying to get it straighted out it gets pretty lengthly.
Jo Ann Farmersville, California
U.S.A.

I relocated from Cali to Atl. Dish did not tell me to take the satellites off the old house for the new one. An independent contractor wanted 350.00 to install the wild blue service. I decided to close the account dish debited my credit card 600.00 for equip. 350 for closing the contract. I mailed the equipment back in 11/07 but they charged me again 300 and sent this to a collection. I am stuck with paying or lose 40 pts on my credit score. I hope they go bankrupt for the poor service they provide consumers.

My family had the opportunity to utilize a new service in our area, U-verse, which is Broadband for TV and Internet.
Our DishNetwork provided had continually increased our bills to over $200.00 per month. We had reduced everything to basics and it was still astronomical. When we switched service, my husband and I were informed that we had a contract - neither one of us had signed or given consent to a contract service - so this was news to us. We were informed that there would be a $120.00 early termination fee for choosing another server. We requested a copy of the contract - which we still have not received. Dish Network decided to debit our checking account for the amount during the month of March, 2008. We are still waiting for the contract and they refuse to credit back our account. On April 15, 2008, they decided since we had not returned their equipment to again debit our account in the amount of $500.00 without notice. I have just had back surgery and my husband works out of the area, he did however, come home last weekend to remove the transformer from the dish - no easy feat - and was able to box it up for shipping. I am not allowed to pick up anything however, I have asked a neighbor to assist me in getting this to UPS for shipping today. When I contacted the company I expressed my frustration and extreme dissatisfaction with the poor service while the dish was installed and working. We had made several complaints regarding the poor reception, inadequate channels, and numerous service outages (which they claim do not happen).
Worse yet is their customer service. When you request a supervisor they decline and continue to hold you on the line. Since we are returning their equipment today - which has to go from CA to TX it will take few days to get there. I asked how long it would take for the return of my money - the response was - "14 days upon receipt of the equipment". What a joke! They are allowed to rob your checking account but can take their dear sweet time in returning the funds to it - the $500.00 will probably be in a check yet they are allowed to take from the customer without notification and only offer an apology. This doesn't pay our other bills. NEVER WILL WE DEAL WITH DISH NETWORK AGAIN. I strongly urge anyone considering this company for their TV service to think it over very hard and remember all the difficulties other consumers have had with them. I wish now that we had never gotten involved with them.