What a Happy Thanksgiving it WASN'T when we returned home from out of town to find that DISH network had put up DISH for our renting tenants, while nobody was home.
DISH policy is supposedly that a note of permission MUST be written by the building owners, AND someone 18 or older must be home BEFORE they can do the installation. We never wrote the letter of permission, and neither ourselves nor the tenants were home during the installation which took place ON Thanksgiving.
Our tenants were upset; they'd left the door unlocked for a late arriving relative, and were just a few houses down having their Thanksgiving. The first phone call they received from DISH was from the techs who told them they were done and had left already, but that the picture was working fine. Leaving the door unlocked, while NOT wise, is not uncommon in this small town; many people do it. The tenants were very disconcerted that the DISH contractors entered their home without anyone being present.
When we got home, we found that the dish had been attached to the chimney, and not the antenna utility pole on the property. The chimney is not solid, and is a problematic source of leaks in the winter, causing roof damage. After about $7,500 dollars and several touch ups, we have finally made the roof secure, and now that's been jeopardized because the installers just put the dish wherever they wanted. The fact that they drilled multiple holes in the chimney and attached the DISH means problems for us later on, and we haven't checked the rubber roofing for other tears or damage by their carelessness.
The contractors cut holes in the walls, and once inside, they ran the cable along the wall, putting more holes in the wallboard to secure the cable, and then drilling another hole in another wall, this one drywall, and running the cable down the wall and across a 15' expanse of floor. We have a false ceiling over there, with a good foot and a half of space. There is NO reason the cable couldn't have been run above the tiles, other than laziness and stupidity, as well as there is no reason for the holes drilled in the wall.
The DISH contractors also cut our personal cable running from the antenna, a cable that was CLEARLY going into a separate residence. There was absolutely NO reason for the cable to have been cut. It was clean cut, but in a way that it is now so short, it keeps pulling out of the booster.
I love standing outside in 30 degree weather while 8 months pregnant trying to put the damn cable back into the antenna booster while my husband is at work, just so I can watch what 5 channels we currently get.
We called DISH and got the most absurd runaround and the most pathetic customer service treatment ever. We spoke to two supervisors, one who "accidentally" hung up on us. We were also hung up on while being transferred to a supervisor. And just forget about getting the same supervisor when you call back... Nobody knows who you spoke with, and if they do, that person is M.I.A., or can't take the call, and that's only IF the customer service rep doesn't refuse to transfer you to a supervisor in the first place.
Everybody refused to talk to us because we are not the account holders. It doesn't matter that we don't want account information, we just want to get this settled. It doesn't matter that they did an illegal installation without permission or anyone being on site, or that they damaged our property. They refused to give us the names of the local contractors, and more or less laughed at us when we said we are going to file a police report.
Our third call of the night, WITH our tenants on the phone with us, did little more to help. Our tenant is unhappy with how things worked out as well, and he is very willing to try and get this resolved, even giving us permission to deal with this on their account; apparently, that doesn't matter to DISH either, as they still claim (even after speaking to the tenant) that they can't deal with us directly because we are not account holders.
They are supposedly having their techs call the account owner ASAP today to deal with this matter, and our tenant then has to give them our number, again, even though he gave them permission to deal with us on the account. It is after noon now, and there has been no call, and honestly, I'm not holding my breath.
I emailed the customer service people, asking for the corporate info so I can take it up with them directly. They so very politely told me that they'd love to help, but they need my account number. I reiterated that I very clearly explained the situation to them, in written words, and the fact that they still couldn't understand that we are the building OWNERS and do not have an account with them and that that fact doesn't negate the damage they've done means I'm not speaking to anyone who knows what the Hell they are doing. It also makes no sense that they can only release their corporate address and number to just those holding an account. What a load of crap.
We are not account holders, and people, let me tell ya, we never will be now, even though we had been considering it. We've even cancelled the plans to give DISH as a Christmas gift to my parents. While I'm sure not every single person who works at DISH are lying incompetents, we figure, why take the chance. We'll save my folks the headache, and make sure that DISH loses another customer in the process.
I am saving all documentation, and noting all phone calls made and who we've spoke with, but this is beyond ridiculous. If we do not see a contractor today, we are filing a police report and sending it plus a written complaint to corporate, and, while I doubt it will do much good since we don't know the local contractors who did this, we are serious about following up on this matter.
We put a lot of time and money we didn't have into remodeling that apartment, and in just a few short minutes, DISH techs trespassed, entered an empty residence (breaking and entering, possibly?) installed a dish without the building owner's approval or without someone being present during the work, they damaged the building, drilled holes where there shouldn't be, and cut several other cables, including an antenna cable into our residence for NO reason.
For anyone else suffering with these people, I have found on other sites that basically the only hope in most cases is to reach someone in "Executive Escalations" at 303-723-1000. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a 1-800 #, and basically, I'm sure this is just another call center, however, I believe it is the one in Littleton, CO at the corporate office, so hopefully they'll be able to do a bit more than give you pathetic excuses with no foundation, and then hang up on you when you question them.
Good luck to all who have to deal with DISH; you'll need every bit of patience you have, and then it still won't be enough. I hope someone can hit them where it counts, because at this point, everything is just a joke to them. And if you ask me, that includes their "policies" and their customer service.
Kelly
Janesville, Minnesota
U.S.A.
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