I recently had decided to switch from my cable provider to one of the satellite providers. There appears to be a large number of aggressive promotions and marketing going on in the satellite world, plus my cable bill seems to keep creeping up with no increase in service. So I had talked with Dish Network and they seemed to have the best deal. I had carefully asked them a long series of questions to find out about any hidden fees or junk fees.
Once I had finished this process they told me the price for two cable boxes, installation, 200 channel service plus local channels would be $49.99 plus local taxes. However what I really got was something completely different. About a week after we had scheduled the installation Dish called to tell me they could not make it and would have to reschedule. So we rescheduled for a date a week later.
Then while I was waiting for my installation, I received 5 separate phone calls about a new special promotion that would reduce my bill from $49.99 to $42.99 per month, for the exact same service. I once again questioned them on any junk fees. They said that this was all I would be billed for. No equipment rental fees, no local channel fees, no equipment protection fees, nothing extra. Then he asked for my credit card and SS#, so he could verify I was who I said I was. I gave it to them even though they had already gotten it these numbers from me earlier. This went on over and over for 2 days. Finally I told them not to call any more. Then one day (that had nothing to do with the scheduled install date) they show up, lucky I was home. They installed the service, left some trash in my house and left.
Dish had promised free HBO and Cinemax for 3 months as part of the promotion. Of course they were not on my service. When I called Dish about this they told me that since I did not ask for the free HBO and Cinemax when it was installed I was not eligible for the free promotion. I asked for the operator's supervisor and told them they would not be getting a penny from me. Then she magically said oh yes she can turn HBO and Cinemax on and 2 minutes later I had access. Imagine if I did not stick up for myself, I would have been victimized by them again.
About a week later I get a bill for $187.95! I was amazed not only do they have all of these charges and refunds to confuse their customers. But there is a $5.00 per box for extra boxes, $5.99 for protection plan for their box (to protect them), $10.00 for a programming access fee, and an additional $49.99 fee for setup. Then the original promotional rate of $42.99 I had been promised was not there. And of course they are billing me for two months. I feel taken advantage of. Set aside the fact that of the 200 channels about 170 of them no one in my family will ever watch. But they are fraudulently charging me for all of these items that they promised they would not charge or never disclosed.
I called their billing department to have the bill corrected. Essentially they told me they could not do any thing. That the $10.00 is because I did not attach a phone line to the box (first time I had heard this), they would not take off the $5.00 and $5.99 charges, and they would not adjust the $49.99 rate to the promised promotional rate of $42.99. It took three calls and the first two times they put me on hold and hung up on me. The third time they put me on hold for 42 minutes, finally I hung up and gave up. They have already gotten $49.99 out of me on my credit card and I dont intend to let them have any more. Please beware of Dish Network, they will defraud you.
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