DISH Network: Home Satellite TV Service

LAREDO, TEXAS -- I hate using services with contracts and try to avoid them, but against my better judgment my husband and I went ahead and signed a 2 year contract with Dish in Sept/Oct of 2015. After a few months I started receiving multiple phone calls a week from a Dish representative letting me know that I was having issues with my receiver. I wasn't, so I ignored all those calls and never called back. I actually liked the product and we rarely had issues with it. I didn't see any sense in having a technician come out to fix something that wasn't broke - you know the saying "if it ain't broke don't fix it".

I had read multiple times on review sites that unbeknownst to the consumer, Dish would issue a new contract every time they sent someone out to fix an issue. In December of 2016 we ran into real signal issues and had to have someone come out to fix it. I was very wary and warned my husband not to enter into any contract and to be very specific with the Dish representative. The receiver needed fixing though, so they came out and did their thing. My husband was very adamant that we were NOT entering into a new contract and he was assured that indeed we were not.

He even had the technician sign on the form that we were not entering into a new contract, that we were simply having our satellite issues fixed. Some equipment was changed out, our satellite was working again and that was that. Until now. In October of 2017 our bill jumped $40 in one month, which made sense since that was at the end of our initial 2 year "special price" contract. We had a lot of personal things we were dealing with at that time, so didn't really deal with that price issue until things kind of settled down in January, and then I received a notice that there would be another price increase starting in February.

We said "that's it". We've decided to go back to streaming and Netflix/Hulu, etc. We called to cancel Dish and after getting the normal runaround that all these companies do, they gave us our final total, which - Guess what? Included a cancellation fee because we were "under contract" for another 9 months. Sure enough, when we had the service done they tacked another contract onto the one we already had, even though they said they wouldn't. My husband even has it in writing. They said it's because we have the Hopper 3 and we used to have the Hopper 2.

Well, so what? We NEVER asked for the 3, we have what the technician swapped out for so that our receiver would work again. Sneaky Sneaky, and it's just like what I read in other reviews. Lesson learned. Of course they tried to get us to stay until the end so we wouldn't lose money, but we said no way. We'll just pay the penalty and be done with it.

It's still a LOT cheaper than paying for almost another year, and who knows what shenanigans they'll pull by then. They also require a 30 day notice, so we have to pay for one more month as well. No more satellite companies for us. They're all crooks. Oh, and I gave 2 stars only because we did like the product. The service is always good until you have an issue, and then that is when a company shows their true colors.

BOULDER CREEK, CALIFORNIA -- Don't trust this company. The best thing you can do when calling them is to record the call. They make all kinds of promises but rarely keep them. That was my experience and they just don't care because to get the service you have to agree to keep the service no matter how bad or pay penalties. Poor signal, intermittent video, exorbitant price hikes, broken promises are not a good reason to cancel. So record the discussion so you have proof.

Make sure they know you are recording them or you can't use it in court. I got tired of their shenanigans and canceled the service. The amazing part about that was I have found all kinds of resources that show series and current release movies for FREE. Don't need to take their bull anymore.

GLENDALE AZ, ARIZONA -- I live in Glendale AZ... Dish Network is the worst company I have ever had. I am really upset. I can't get movies to download, I get other people's movie and it cuts off all different times of night to update. Unable to rewind the finishing if any show you are watching at the time the hard drive burned out and I lost all six month of DVR. All my movies and series everything.

And now it will not DRV or pause rewind or fastward anything. Waiting for new one to arrive in the mail. To make up for the inconveniences they offer me to add movie channels. The same promo everyone has. They close their support and customer service at 1120 pm when they are open at midnight. They have an attitude when you call with issues.

And if you are thinking about Dish in AZ don't. I am really not going for the crap. I Understand it may be tempting for the low price for the channels but watch your account. They pull money out without permission and it is not worth the cheap machine and the headaches. It is better to pay a little more and have a better company. I am learning this. Do NOT GO WITH DISH. I MISS COX...

GEORGIA -- I signed a contract to get service from the company. I called the number in the ad that promise a $100 debit card after signing, I have gotten the service (not as good as I thought it would be). I was told that they were contracted with another company to get business for them and they would have the card for me.

I contacted them and they said they sent mail and e-mail me to fill out request for the card. I NEVER GOT THE MAIL OR THE E-MAIL. They also said the offer had expired. I had contacted Dish directly earlier, about a week after the unit was installed and they said the card will be sent soon. I have a problem when I sign up for something the deal is not complete. Dish needs to honor the offer or QUIT using this contractor for false rewards. BEWARE OF FREE OFFERS AT DISH!!!

HURRICANE, UTAH -- I was sold a plan that contained MSNBC News. This is not news! It is Anti-American/ Anti-Trump propaganda B.S.. Dish network should be ashamed of themselves for selling this crap! All I want to do is watch real news. I spoked to a manager and he would not help me out. My two year contract is almost up and I will not be renewing.

MARSHFIELD, MISSOURI -- We had three receivers and two of the three never worked! The DVR would just blackout like there was no programming available! So someone came out 2X to work on 2 of the 3 DVR's. The second time they replaced the DVR's. Still wouldn't work, so I called again and asked them about terminating services! They still are charging us early termination charges for the last 4 months!!! They can't provide us proper service for our money but still charging early termination! BUYER BEWARE!!!

ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO -- I contacted Dish Network to cancel my service, because they had steadily been increasing our monthly cost over the last 3 years and we were paying too much for the few channels that we watched.

The agent who I talked with offered to give us a special deal, because we had been customers for over 4 years, which would only cost $13.00 per month after the $20.00 discount he was offering. I asked to get a list of the channels, because I didn't see the package on their web site, but instead he named off a few channels and said "and a bunch more channels. It includes a lot of channels. It is a package that we don't even offer anymore" (This isn't word for word, but is as close as I can remember). After asking to get a list of the channels again, he said that he could send them to me after I signed up. This is where I should have said 'no' and canceled the service, unfortunately, I was suckered by the offer of a good deal and accepted.

Now we are stuck in a 1 year contract for $13.00 per month and a $120.00 cancellation fee... The new package includes 1 channel that we might watch occasionally, a bunch of shopping channels, and some other junk channels that nobody watches.

I contacted Dish Network the next day and explained that their business practice of requiring someone to agree to a contract before giving them the list of channels was shady, at best. I asked for them to cancel this questionable contract without charging me the cancellation fee. They refused to waive the fee. I explained that this was an unfair arrangement and that it would insure that I would never be a customer again, but this did not seem to matter.

In the end, I did not cancel, because the cancellation fee is nearly the same as the paying the subscription...This review is meant to warn others about Dish Network's shady practices and to let you know how they treat long-term customers. Once your introductory rate runs out they jack up the price and when you try to cancel they find any way possible to stick you with another worthless contract. If you get any value out of cable/satellite don't stick with one provider, because they won't reward you for your loyalty.

Lastly, once you get tired of all this nonsense just buy a ChannelMaster DVR, sign up for some kind of streaming provider, and save yourself all of this trouble. It isn't worth it!

COLORADO -- After being a Dish customer for so many years, I can honestly say, the service has deteriorated every year, every phone call. My charges increased so much every year till I was way over $100 a month. I had called to pause my service because I would be in the hospital for over 35 days, I was assured it would be paused and turned back on when I would be home again.

When I got home I found that I had been charged the entire monthly fee and had only been paused for 3 days! When I called my account had not been notated with my request. Even though I wasn't even home they received my request 3 days before I came home, no name on the request.

I had the complaint up the chain and everyone told me "Oh well, nothing we can do. It's not written on your account". I even gave the date I had called and the person's name. "I'm sorry, your account hasn't been notated on that day." No record! Enough, obviously they could care less about taking care of customers. Even one with my longevity. Bye Dish!

STATE COLLEGE, PENNSYLVANIA -- The tech that came out and installed our Dish Network told us that if we ever needed to have a remote replace that it would be free of charge. Well the time came that we needed to have our remote replaced and so we called Dish and of course that wasn't true! We needed to pay to have a new remote! Then the sales tech talks you into the skins for the remote and of course says they will be replaced free of charge also! We of course that wasn't true either!

CHANTILLY, VIRGINIA -- Last year I moved to a new house and it was pre-wired for HDMI behind the wall above my fireplace When I had dish to setup dish at my house the people from dish who came in were INCOMPETENTand cut the prewired HDMI cable I contacted Dish and they said they have no option but to break the wall which I was against and so they said they will provide me a wireless HDMI I said ok and they shipped me one I could not test it as I did not have a TV I got a TV recently and when I tried to use the wireless HDMI it does not work It does not even power on I have been a loyal customer of DISH for many years but this time DISH really messed it up I called Dish and wanted to talk to the manager They said a manager would call me but they did not Dish Network is not helping to resolve this issue