Dish Network
Bad reciever... X 2! Vancouve

1 year ago I switched to Dish because they promised "better customer service and cheaper programming". When the technician arrived to hook up my HD, he was unable to adjust the HD satellite, so I opted to keep the HD receiver because I have a friend who is privately contracted with Dish, and I knew he would be able to get it right... At the time, I wasn't aware that my friend installed Dish as well as Direct TV, and if I had, this whole nightmare could have been avoided.

My friend showed up, and as expected, got the signal right away. His first question to me though, was "why did the service tech give me the old style receiver, the VIP622, instead of the newer model. He told me he wished I would have had him do it, because I would just have problems with receiver the tech gave. But since he didn't install it, he couldn't change it out for me.

6 months in, my guide wouldn't show up. No matter what customer service tried, it didn't work. They said they would ship out a new receiver. I explained that I'm disabled, and though I can get around a little, hooking up the receiver would be tough for me. I also wanted to have my saved programs switched over. For the low, low price of $96, they would send a tech out, and for an extra $50, they would transfer my programs. Needless to say, they just shipped me the receiver. Lost my programs, struggled with the install but got it done.

Like clockwork, it's now 6 months into that receiver, and it freezes up every hour or so. It's always done that periodically, along with cutting my sound in and out, recording an hour long program for 4 hours, and deleting all of my scheduled records. But this time it's insistent and my box is so hot that in order to watch it, I have to put a small fan directly on it. I Called customer service, and after explaining the issue, I was transferred to a "higher tech". This time I asked about the old style receiver that I had been given, and the tech admitted that though he didn't know WHY they gave it to me... They definitely should have given me the new one. I requested that they replace my receiver with a newer model, send a tech out to install it, and transfer my programs at no charge since it was their error, and this was the 2nd time I had dealt with this same issue. He told me the tech would be $96 dollars unless I added a new insurance plan to my package, and with that, my programs would be transferred... But if I wanted the receiver that they should have given me in the first place, I would have to re up my contract for another 2 years.

So here I am, resetting my receiver every hour... I can't record any programs because it won't stay on long enough. I can't make myself place the call yet, even though I know I'm stuck. I still have a year on my contract, and I'm disabled... So TV is basically my company.

If I could hang a banner for the world to see, warning them to stay away from Dish, I would. Despite the bad customer service I always got from DirectTV, I always got a tech if there was a problem, and my receiver worked flawlessly for 4 years.

Beware all who are searching for satellite... Dish sucks, and their HD programming isn't NEARLY as clear as my daughter's Comcast/Xfinity.

Company: Dish Network
Country: USA
Address: 9601 S. Meridian Blvd. Englewood Colorado 80112 Un
Phone: 1800333
Site: dishnetwork.com

  <     >