Dish Network customer service?!?

[Littleyog]

I thought Dish Network was thrived on their customer service. I think I might be mistaken.

I just started my service last sunday and have had to call over 5 times already. I was unsatisfied when the installer ran wires all up my walls instead of doing a thorough job, so I called to have another installer come out the following weekend to see if they could fix the problem, the customer service people seemed fine with this and told me everything was set up......... but it wasn't. They had my appointment schedule, but somehow the work order stated I had a sound issue and to make a long story short my work order was sent to my ORIGINAL installer!!! I am extremely upset by this because the installer is calling my fiancee and I and also left a not at my house! I think this is uncalled for and unwarrented, and dish network has done nothing about this, the customer service people can't even guarrentee that I won't end up with the same installer on saturday to fix my problem anyway.

I guess I just want to know if I have had a bad run with service here or is this what I should expect from now one and maybe I should cancel my service.

Thanks in advance.

 

[RedWings]

My experience shows that its hit/miss when it comes to the CSRs at Dish. Whenever they say that something is ordered, been credited, scheduled, etc....I always call back and speak to another CSR to double-check.

 

[bhelms]

Things like this you should probably take up with Technical Service anyway. AFAIK they are all on-shore and better able to understand the problems vs. the off-shore CSRs.

What do you mean by a "thorough job"? Not having seen your installation I can't comment exactly, but if the wiring was done neatly and technically correct, then you probably got what you bargained for. Wall fishes, for example, are not part of a standard installation. In a more perfect world, the technician would have discussed his planned installation with you before starting to make sure there were no objections. Did this happen? Were you even there?

Technicians are not mind readers. Perhaps your expectations exceeded what a standard job includes, and to be sure that is often the case which is why experienced techs will discuss the plan with the homeowner in advance in large part to avoid costly call-backs.

Many folks will do a fair amount of the installation themselves in advance to make sure it's done to their own standards. Otherwise they should be prepared to pay additional charges to have a technician do more than the standard work.

Sorry for your bad first experience. Learn from it. In the future, make sure the person actually doing the installation is clear on your expectations and be there to oversee the job as it's happening. If they seem reluctant to do what you want, offer to help. That might make a difference if you show a positive attitude to the process. What you experienced is not unique with Dish installers.

Welcome to SatGuys, btw. I wish you better luck in your future contacts with E*...

 

[Littleyog]

Bhelms,
I appreciate the response and I was present during the installation and did not have a non positive attitude toward the whole thing, and I explained to the installer that I did not want these wires running from outside my house and up my walls, yes that job was done neatly, but I know there are multiple wires in my attic and he didn't want to take the time to check all of them to see which one actually went downstairs (cause there were cable wires present in the basement). Also the installer did not speak very good english which made things more complicated when trying to explain to him which boxes were going were, I mean he was there for over 5 and a half hours and I believe he got lazy towards the end, and didn't even explain to me how anything worked (espcially the VIP622 with the dual mode and single mode thing, I didn't even know about it until I used the DVR)

Thanks for welcoming to the site and I really appreciate all the help I get.

 

[Stargazer]

They do not pay the installers very much and they are expected to do an x number of installs per day so they are going to do it as quick as possible then gone to the next install.

 

[bhelms]

Yeah, sorry to say but it looks like you did everything you reasonably could/should and still are not happy with the results. At this point, what are you trying to accomplish? Is it still the wiring on the side of the house that's in question or is there something else? Perhaps E*'s Tech Support could help. The part about the installer not explaining the workings of the 622 is inexcusable. As I mentioned in another thread, too many installers these days are just not "HD savvy" and that extends to not understanding the rather complex 622 as well as they should. That might be as much E*'s fault for inadequate training and/or support. Fortunately you have SatGuys for that...! You might want to find out who the installing company is and talk with them in advance of someone coming out again. (Their name should appear on your service contract that you signed following the installation.) That way you can determine if they side with you to any extent or if they don't really care either, in which case I'd be logging a complaint with E*...

 

[Littleyog]

Bhelms,
Thanks again for the response, basically I just want to have a second installer's opinion about the wires coming down the back of my house and in through my back door, if he claims there is nothing he thinks can be done, I am satisfied, but as of now I can't get Dish Network to guarentee to me they won't send back my first installer!! HA this just amazes me to do business this way. Believe me I am a very down to earth person and am a contractor myself, so I know the business, I am just merely looking for a second opinion to try to alleviate the wires hanging from the walls.

And I am sorry but I am not sure what E* means, I was looking for a thread with terminology but couldn't find one, cause I know D* is for DirectTV.

Thanks

 

[bhelms]

E* is our shortcut for "Echostar" which is Dish Networks's parent company. You'll catch on!

The part about the wires coming through your back door concerns me! There is a special coaxial cable that is made for going through casement windows at the sill and sliding glass doors along the track, but those should only be used as an absolute last resort! And I wouldn't expect them to last in a door that you use frequently. If you live in a lightly populated area it's possible there are only 1 or 2 installers that service your area, so you might indeed get the same one. You might want to check in the phonebook or on the web for installers in your area and ask one of them for an opinion. Take a picture that you can send them and/or post here and we can also help you out that way.

Good luck...!

 

[Stargazer]

Wires should NEVER be placed in doorways permanently that are constantly used under any circumstance. Could he not crawl underneath the house and run the wire and drill a hole through the floor or is there no crawl space? He should have drilled through the wall to get the wire in the house unless you did not want a hole drilled and if a wire was to be run up a wall was it for another television upstairs or to get the wire to the other side of the room?

If the existing wires were not RG-6 or had splitters on them then he could have only used them to run from the satellite receiver to the televisions but not from the satellite dish to the satellite receiver itself. If the wires were not stapled in the wall somewhere and were capable of being pulled up through easily thten he could have taped one wire to the one running in there already and pulled another one down through that was RG-6 to run to a satellite receiver or use the existing wires that were there.

One may have been able to find out which wire it was by having one person pull on the wire in the room you want tv service at while seeing which one was being pulled on in the attic and all those wires are probably already connected together at a splitter together already so connecting into one could bring you satellite tv in all the rooms the wires are going to. Do you see any splitters anywhere on the outside of your home, in the attic, or in a box somewhere outside? You could run a wire from TV2 on the receiver to the splitter connecting it where your existing cable from the pole ran to and turn all the tv's on channel 60 and see if you are getting tv in all rooms to feed the rest of the rooms in the house. You can take the remote to the rooms you want to view tv in.

Afte rerunning the wires you can email them at ceo@echostar.com and tell them your story saying that you had to rerun the wires yourself and you would like to receive credit on your bill for your time and material for having to do the install correctly or you could request them to send someone else out.

 

[Van]

They do not pay the installers very much and they are expected to do an x number of installs per day so they are going to do it as quick as possible then gone to the next install.

Starting out the inhouse techs now make on average $12 - $13 an hour, when I left I was making $19.35 an hour and putting in enough overtime to take home $3,500 a month after all taxes and pre and post tax deductions wich if I hadnt had anything other than taxes then my take home would have been about $4,000.

If and I stress IF dish actually followed its own guidelines when it came to the installers then life as an installer for dish would be a good thing but a level 1 tech will more often than not role out with the same exact workload that a senior level 3 tech will. Generaly speaking the office that I worked out of for most of my career would not think twice about sending out a new tech with a four room install, two two room installs, and two service calls because they had more work than they planned on due to techs calling in sick or one of the local contractors refusing work.

The workload even for an experienced tech does not allow for any margin of error when it comes to the clock ticking. What this means is that a tech will role out with 14 - 24 hours of work on a given day and be expected to get it all done. I can give examples of this for a specific location and there is a tech on these boards who works at the same office that I did until late spring of 05, but to stay on topic the techs really do not have the time to properly install or explain how to use the system simply because one of the higher ups in dish network has convinced Charlie that the techs could do more work and for this I have examples as to why so just ask if you want to know.

 

[loretta darrillo]

DISH Network is the worst, hands down, when it comes to automated phone service. I've gone through the phone system instruction seven times in an attempt to resolve my technical problem. This annoying automated male voice asks me, after pressing the correct number for technical support, to "check the batteries on your remote." I do so, because I don't want to appear scatterbrained in the opinion of the automated voice. God forbid. Batteries good.
The voice begins each sentence or question with 'Okay...' or "Let's see..." in an apparent attempt to ingratiate me. I did a reboot. I reset the remote. I went through this each of the seven times I've called. I even had a new receiver sent to replace what I assumed was a broken receiver. Not the problem.
For my last foray into the beloved world of customer service, the human person (for whom I waited an astounding 46 minutes) told me I must go through the steps by phone before a technician is sent, or pay the price out-of-pocket for the call, which is $29.95 per hour, including drive time. I refused to go through the steps yet again. I asked to have a technician sent and reminded them of my warranty. I overheard this actual human person, Tiffany, speaking to another actual human person about how she finally "did" her brother's friend, and hopes no one finds out. I was almost so bored with the aforementioned 46 minutes of mind-numbing phone hell to actually care about her sex life. Really. She returns to the line to tell me that I will have to speak to a supervisor. This sounds like a fabulous idea to me. Then, dead line. Ooops, we were cut off. Damn, I won't find out who was on top and if they cuddled afterwards. I call back. This time, after chatting with automated Dish Man, a conversation sprinkled with my, "Sure thing, co*ksu*ker!" to his cheerful requests, I get a human in 22 minutes. I note that this is less than half of my original wait. I count my blessings. I tell this new human, who has just completed a weeklong community course in English as a Second Language, that for two months I've been experiencing the same problem, and I need help. I want a human to come to my home. I remind her that I’m still under warranty and throw in that DishMan has called me a valued customer at least twenty times. She is unimpressed, but schedules the human technician after two jaunts of "Um, hold on a minute...I need to,… um,...just hold on, okay?" She schedules the service call. I rejoice in that fact that although I’ve used foul language with automated DishMan, I’ve kept my actual conversations with the humans quite professional; cordial even. “Thanks for your help, honey-dumplin, I’ll be home on Thursday awaiting my technician!” (No, I didn’t SAY ‘honey-dumplin,’ I only thought it.)
I’m supposed to have a technician here between 8 am and noon today. I mean "was supposed to have..." I called in at 12:30pm to the automated system only to be told by DishMan, "Okay, I see that you have a service call scheduled for (second automated voice; this time female) Thursday, March 15th, 8 am to 12 pm. (now back to male voice) Please continue to wait for the allotted time." Then I’m rerouted to the main menu. Okay, I think, perhaps they meant Eastern time. Cool. I think I'm being quite reasonable, considering that I'm a bit limited to television programming because I live in a remotely rural area. I am also not afforded the luxury of finding and killing DishMan with my bare hands, but I digress. Now, it’s 2:40. I’ve called back, spoken to a human (31 minutes this time) and, while I didn’t use an epithet, I did become belligerent. They tell me the technician is “en route.” He must be flying right behind the monkeys that are exiting my a$$.

 

[bhelms]

Great first post...I'm still laughing! Sorry for your trials and tribulations, but, well, you presented them so well!

Some folks here who are likely as ticked-off (but not nearly as articulate in expressing themselves) have some luck with ceo@echostar.com. Use that link when you can't make any headway otherwise. I don't think DishMan will be the one responding, tho'.

Alternately - try us! I can't tell your exact problem but I'm guessing it has to do with an RF remote not communicating with the receiver, and if so it might be an address problem. Regardless, someone here has probably been there, done that, and already turned the T-shirt into a dust rag.

BTW - I like to cuddle, but that's fodder for another thread in another forum...

 

[RandallA]

Great first post. DishMan definitely has a friend in Loretta. Sorry to hear all your trouble but I still can't figure out the problem you're having. We could try to help you if you tell us what the problem is.

Did this actually happened? "Tiffany, speaking to another actual human person about how she finally "did" her brother's friend, and hopes no one finds out. I was almost so bored with the aforementioned 46 minutes of mind-numbing phone hell to actually care about her sex life."

 

[bhelms]

Who cares?!? It's hillarious...

 

[RandallA]

Who cares?!? It's hillarious...

:clap

 

[loretta darrillo]

It most certainly did happen! And there's more!

UPDATE (6:31 pm)
I placed another call to DISH and got a human in 18 minutes this time. I’m beginning to think that 18 minutes on hold is acceptable. It is not. However, this human tells me that the technician could not reach me by phone so my work order was cancelled. I reminded him that I made the original appointment with both my cell and home numbers. He proceeds to recite my home number AND cell number to me and actually says, “We didn’t have the right number on file. It must have been a typo.”
ME: “You just recited both of my numbers correctly.”
DISH REP: “Um, well, Ma’am, they must have the wrong number.”
ME: “Okay, so they have both my numbers wrong. Do you have the address?”
DISH REP recites address.
ME: “That’s the address. It is correct, as are both my numbers. So, why didn’t the technician come to the correct address?”
DISH REP: “I don’t know, Ma’am, I guess the technician was unable to find you.”
ME: “And apparently unable to read both of the phone numbers off the work order, as well.”
DISH REP: “I already told you that both of your numbers were wrong in our system.”
ME: “But you just recited them to me from your end. Correctly. Without my help.”
I actually hear his eyes rolling. HEAR them.
DISH REP: “So, um…do you want to cancel your work order for today, then?”
No, I want to banish all idiotic phone reps to a deserted island and make them listen to the country music tune “Elvira” until their ears bleed. Giddy up a oom papa oom papa mow mow.
ME: “I thought the work order was already cancelled.”
DISH REP: “Well, I see your notes and it appears you are about ready to just cancel the work order.”
ME: “Does it mention in your notes that I’ve been trying to resolve this problem for two months? Send the technician tonight, which is in accordance with your claim of 24-hour service. I’ll wait.”

He finally gets both of my numbers, again, and tells me that a technician is en route, again. Ten minutes later, I did get a call from the actual technician, who obviously went to the same ESL class as the aforementioned phone rep, except this guy took the mini-course. He asked for directions, said he was twenty minutes from my home, and was on his way. THAT was an hour ago.

UPDATE TWO:
Pablo just left. Yes, he spoke broken English, but he was nice. God bless 'im. He didn't have a clue about automated phone hell, but someone from the company musta let him know I was on the warpath. He seemed pretty nervous. Turns out that a wire was chewed through on the outside of our house. Squirrel probably. I actually suggested this in one of my many phone calls. I got either silence or condescension. Surely there are decent folks that work for DISH Network.

All is working now, and I feel better for venting. I get the whole, "Why the hell doncha just change providers?" but, I say you gotta make it right by perservering.

 

[RandallA]

Glad to hear your story has a happy ending. Yes, it can be very frustrating dealing with Dish Network customer service but if you keep trying they will eventually get it right.

 

[thiggin2]

It most certainly did happen! And there's more!

UPDATE (6:31 pm)
I placed another call to DISH and got a human in 18 minutes this time. I’m beginning to think that 18 minutes on hold is acceptable. It is not. However, this human tells me that the technician could not reach me by phone so my work order was cancelled. I reminded him that I made the original appointment with both my cell and home numbers. He proceeds to recite my home number AND cell number to me and actually says, “We didn’t have the right number on file. It must have been a typo.”
ME: “You just recited both of my numbers correctly.”
DISH REP: “Um, well, Ma’am, they must have the wrong number.”
ME: “Okay, so they have both my numbers wrong. Do you have the address?”
DISH REP recites address.
ME: “That’s the address. It is correct, as are both my numbers. So, why didn’t the technician come to the correct address?”
DISH REP: “I don’t know, Ma’am, I guess the technician was unable to find you.”
ME: “And apparently unable to read both of the phone numbers off the work order, as well.”
DISH REP: “I already told you that both of your numbers were wrong in our system.”
ME: “But you just recited them to me from your end. Correctly. Without my help.”
I actually hear his eyes rolling. HEAR them.
DISH REP: “So, um…do you want to cancel your work order for today, then?”
No, I want to banish all idiotic phone reps to a deserted island and make them listen to the country music tune “Elvira” until their ears bleed. Giddy up a oom papa oom papa mow mow.
ME: “I thought the work order was already cancelled.”
DISH REP: “Well, I see your notes and it appears you are about ready to just cancel the work order.”
ME: “Does it mention in your notes that I’ve been trying to resolve this problem for two months? Send the technician tonight, which is in accordance with your claim of 24-hour service. I’ll wait.”

He finally gets both of my numbers, again, and tells me that a technician is en route, again. Ten minutes later, I did get a call from the actual technician, who obviously went to the same ESL class as the aforementioned phone rep, except this guy took the mini-course. He asked for directions, said he was twenty minutes from my home, and was on his way. THAT was an hour ago.

UPDATE TWO:
Pablo just left. Yes, he spoke broken English, but he was nice. God bless 'im. He didn't have a clue about automated phone hell, but someone from the company musta let him know I was on the warpath. He seemed pretty nervous. Turns out that a wire was chewed through on the outside of our house. Squirrel probably. I actually suggested this in one of my many phone calls. I got either silence or condescension. Surely there are decent folks that work for DISH Network.

All is working now, and I feel better for venting. I get the whole, "Why the hell doncha just change providers?" but, I say you gotta make it right by perservering.

Did they charge you for that service call since it was damage caused by an animal???

 

[dvbfan]

I always wonder with all the modern technology in communication systems that Dish has built but how come Dish Network/EchoStar has such a poor communication system within their company?

 

[DebbyH]

DISH Network is the worst, hands down, when it comes to automated phone service. I've gone through the phone system instruction seven times in an attempt to resolve my technical problem. This annoying automated male voice asks me, after pressing the correct number for technical support, to "check the batteries on your remote." I do so, because I don't want to appear scatterbrained in the opinion of the automated voice. God forbid. Batteries good.
The voice begins each sentence or question with 'Okay...' or "Let's see..." in an apparent attempt to ingratiate me. I did a reboot. I reset the remote. I went through this each of the seven times I've called. I even had a new receiver sent to replace what I assumed was a broken receiver. Not the problem.
For my last foray into the beloved world of customer service, the human person (for whom I waited an astounding 46 minutes) told me I must go through the steps by phone before a technician is sent, or pay the price out-of-pocket for the call, which is $29.95 per hour, including drive time. I refused to go through the steps yet again. I asked to have a technician sent and reminded them of my warranty. I overheard this actual human person, Tiffany, speaking to another actual human person about how she finally "did" her brother's friend, and hopes no one finds out. I was almost so bored with the aforementioned 46 minutes of mind-numbing phone hell to actually care about her sex life. Really. She returns to the line to tell me that I will have to speak to a supervisor. This sounds like a fabulous idea to me. Then, dead line. Ooops, we were cut off. Damn, I won't find out who was on top and if they cuddled afterwards. I call back. This time, after chatting with automated Dish Man, a conversation sprinkled with my, "Sure thing, co*ksu*ker!" to his cheerful requests, I get a human in 22 minutes. I note that this is less than half of my original wait. I count my blessings. I tell this new human, who has just completed a weeklong community course in English as a Second Language, that for two months I've been experiencing the same problem, and I need help. I want a human to come to my home. I remind her that I’m still under warranty and throw in that DishMan has called me a valued customer at least twenty times. She is unimpressed, but schedules the human technician after two jaunts of "Um, hold on a minute...I need to,… um,...just hold on, okay?" She schedules the service call. I rejoice in that fact that although I’ve used foul language with automated DishMan, I’ve kept my actual conversations with the humans quite professional; cordial even. “Thanks for your help, honey-dumplin, I’ll be home on Thursday awaiting my technician!” (No, I didn’t SAY ‘honey-dumplin,’ I only thought it.)
I’m supposed to have a technician here between 8 am and noon today. I mean "was supposed to have..." I called in at 12:30pm to the automated system only to be told by DishMan, "Okay, I see that you have a service call scheduled for (second automated voice; this time female) Thursday, March 15th, 8 am to 12 pm. (now back to male voice) Please continue to wait for the allotted time." Then I’m rerouted to the main menu. Okay, I think, perhaps they meant Eastern time. Cool. I think I'm being quite reasonable, considering that I'm a bit limited to television programming because I live in a remotely rural area. I am also not afforded the luxury of finding and killing DishMan with my bare hands, but I digress. Now, it’s 2:40. I’ve called back, spoken to a human (31 minutes this time) and, while I didn’t use an epithet, I did become belligerent. They tell me the technician is “en route.” He must be flying right behind the monkeys that are exiting my a$$.

This post just made my freakin' day! Just awesome!