Been trying to get Dish, but no luck...

[shingles]

I hate for my first post on this forum to be a negative one... but I am seeking advice for my situation... I hope you have some popcorn as this is going to be long...

I ordered Dish on June 21st. I orderd HD Platinum with a 622. I arranged for an installation on June 27th, between 12-5PM.

June 27th roll around, I get a phone call in the AM. I was told that they were out of 622's and would have to reschedule. I'm not happy about it as I have taken a day off of work, but I understand things happen. So we reschedule for the install for Saturday July 1st, between 12-5PM again.

July 1st - at around 4:30PM, I get a call, once again, asking to reschedule. They tell me that they did not get any 622's in and would need to reschedule. I asked them why they still don't have anything in stock, and they said that they were expecting a shipment and it "didn't show up". they asked to reschedul... so we do for July 3rd, again 12-5PM.

July 3rd rolls around... at around 2 PM, I get a call... "sir we might not make the appointment today..." I asked why and was told becaues they were still working on the AM appointment. I asked if I should reschedule or not, and she said "well we don't no, they might make it, they might not". So I decided to wait. Around 3:30 PM, they called again - "we have to reschedule". I was unhappy, but what can I do but reschedule? We changed the schedule to July 8th, 8-12 this time so I won't waste an entire day waiting.

I then decide to call up to Customer Service and see what's going on to see what they can do to help. Well, to make a VERY long story short, I spoke to a "supervisor" that gave me really bad attitude and said that it was "my problem" and that I would need to talk to the sub contractor myself. (BTW I should add that they clamined that I refused to work with the sub contactor... well geez, I've taken two days off of work already, how is that not 'working with them'?) I was extremely unhappy with the attitude, and decided that this wasn't worth my time. It was extremely unprofessional of her IMO. I asked to cancel my account and was transferred to an "Account Specialists". After talking to this gentleman for a while, we agreed that we would wait for the reschedule. He said that he sent an email to the install department to make sure they are aware of the situation.

July 8th comes around... 12:20pm, no word, so I called to find out how far away they are... "1 - 1.5 hours". Ok so I wait... at 1:10pm, I get a call "I have a work order for you for a Dish 1000 and 622, we have to reschedule because we don't have the 622"... I asked why is it that they keep not having a 622, and was told that "Dish didn't send any to us". They get me rescheduled to July 14th... I hung up and called customer service. I spoke with another supervisor and explained the situation. She says that the policy is for the sub contactors to order the receivers and not for dish to send them out. I told her that I have gotten this no 622 three times and she informed me that the situation would be "taken care of".

So if you have kept count...
4 reschedule
2 days off
2 saturday wasted
a bunch of excuses.

Oh and did I mention that they've charged my credit card already, since June 21st?

I think I've been pretty patient... I am trying to figure out what is the policy with the sub contactros? Who can I talk to to get this resolved? Is there a number/email something/someone I can talk to other than the call center folks? Are there more than one sub contractors in a large metro area (I am in the Houston area)?

My wife is extremely unhappy at this point, as am I.
I'm not sure what I should do...

thanks,
-Shing

 

[Jared Twomey]

i'm guessing you called a 1-800 number to order it... personally, I would call them back and tell them you want to cancel and to reverse the charges on your credit card. Then I would locate a local retailer to do the job, at least you know where they are to go yell at them if they give you the runaround

 

[hobojoe]

wow i am so sorry to here about this. i have done all the installation work myself never had dish out yet. but this is very wrong they should have sent you one directly or when they got them in call you to reschedule the appointment. i would go directly threw dish this way they cannot blame a subcontractor.

 

[ralfyguy]

Matter of fact is, they don't want your business. Just call DirecTV. You're a customer, and the customer is supposed to be king, not a beggar!

 

[shingles]

Well, I did order from dish directly. I figured who much can they screw it up? I've planted the pole for the mount already, I've pulled the cables to the edge of the roof, etc etc etc...

it is very interesting that they are even letting me know that they use sub's...

 

[ralfyguy]

Why don't you write to ceo@echostar.com and ask them what you did wrong, because they don't want your business? Tell them that DirecTV does!

 

[shingles]

you know, the funny thing is, I was a D* customer for over 7 years and decided to switch....

 

[scooby2]

My sub contractor experience was pretty similar. At least he brought the 622 and 625 the first time. He did not have a proper dish though so he left with my D* not working and DISH not working. Then missed numerous followups saying he was either drunk or in jail. I never was able to get anyone out so I ended up having to buy everything else myself and set it up.

Seems like DISH will let _anyone_ be a sub contractor.

 

[ScottChez]

Wow, my install was through a sub contractor.

They are great. The called the Day before to remind me of the install time. They verified things about my house on the call, like the location and if they needed a ladder and if I had a Cable run before (from cable).

They also gave me there 1-800 hot line number in case I had questions or needed to change the time.

The install was from 8 to 12, they were not there by 9am so the dispatch called me to make sure I was still there waiting.

Then dispatch called me a 9:30 and said they were on the way.


I guess every sub contractor is different, you got a bad one.

Can you get there phone number, call them before the install and make sure they got the box and are ready BEFORE taking time off.

 

[scott78945]

When I got Dish in Sept 2005 I had a very good experience with a local retailer. They came and were very friendly and was happy with all the work they did. I got the 942 then and am currently upgrading to the 622. I called Dish and spoke to them first. The CSR didn't know what the rebates were all about and all he wanted was my CC# so he could charge me the $200 to upgrade. I decided to call my local retailer again and had them do the work. Needless to say, I will have my 622 in 7-10 days and they will call me to do the install. I would do as others suggest, cancel with Dish directly and go through a local retailer. I think you will be better off.

 

[miguelaqui]

I would call and ask to cancel. Tell the "account specialist" that you are furious and want 3 free moneths of programming....they might give you 1-2.

 

[Jared Twomey]

Personally I don't call a 1-800 number and setup service like this... you never know who they are going to send out. In this area occasionally they send out a guy from 3 or 4 hours away... how responsive do you think he is going to be to come back out and fix it later on. And I know there are good and bad on both sides of the fence, but I just like going through a local guy that I can actually walk into his store and get on his ass if this kind of stuff is going on.

 

[ronfelder]

Why don't you write to ceo@echostar.com and ask them what you did wrong, because they don't want your business? Tell them that DirecTV does!

As a company i'm sure D* is no better. They all screw up and have bad service on occassions. Bet if you went to the D* group you'd find complaints there too.

I had a sub contractor problem last January. It wasn't an install it was a repair. He never fixed the problem just left. He was more interested in doing an install where he made money then do a repair where he didn't make money. Had to write to ceo@ and then they sent a Dish employed tech to fix the problem.

Ron

 

[dishfan1]

Why don't you write to ceo@echostar.com and ask them what you did wrong, because they don't want your business? Tell them that DirecTV does!

What? Go with Direct TV so that after you get it set up then you get to deal with their poor customer service department?? No thanks. Stick with DISH - you're better off in the long run.

 

[HCI]

What? Go with Direct TV so that after you get it set up then you get to deal with their poor customer service department?? No thanks. Stick with DISH - you're better off in the long run.

I gotta say I have had to deal with D* customer service many times and have never had a problem.

I am a tech and when I install a E* system and have to talk to a real person because their website never generates an account number it takes forever.

 

[shingles]

Well, the resolution of the issue is as follows -
I emailed the ceo address... the local dispatch manager did finally call me. BUT I had already taken the issue into my own hands. I took the advice here, went to a local retailer and ordered DISH from them. Then I called to cancel my order via DISH directly. E* pretty much didn't do anything for me.

I ended up going to SOS DISH/SOS Satellite Communications out of Houston, TX. Anyone in the Houston area that wants to get Dish, I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recomment them. These guys are amazingly professional. They showed up the NEXT DAY AS PROMISED and worked on my install. We ran into some issues and they stuck it out, the owner even came out to check out the issues. They kept apologizing not being able to finish it in the timely manner. They were AWESOME. SIMPLE AWESOME.

 

[johnml]

you know, the funny thing is, I was a D* customer for over 7 years and decided to switch....

You should have stuck with Directv - they treat the customer right - at least in my experiance. Im glad i read this post because i actually thought of switching. thanks - :up

 

[ronfelder]

You should have stuck with Directv - they treat the customer right - at least in my experiance. Im glad i read this post because i actually thought of switching. thanks - :up

Never had a problem with a Dish CSR or the company. The problem when I had one was with a sub contractor.

AS I said before neither company or cable company is perfect. They all perform well sometimes, and perform badly sometimes.

Saying you should have stuck with someone doesnt' always hold true.


Ron