Complaint Review: Allsat - Dish Network

In July 2007, I called to set up Dish Network at our apartment in Tennessee. The phone call to set up our service was very hard to hear understand, due to the customer service agent's accent and there was a delay on the conversation.
We were offered an incentive of a "free" portable DVD player. I called Dish back to find out the particulars about getting the DVD player, and they said they had nothing to do with offer, Allsat was a separate company who was responsible for the DVD player. They did not have a phone number to give me. I was mailed a voucher after we were set-up with our service.
The voucher came and still there was no phone number and the "free" gift was going to cost us $25.00. We decided against the DVD player, because it all seemed very suspicious that there was no phone number and Dish couldn't or wouldn't give us any information about this Allsat company.
In October 2007, my husband was offered a position in Virginia. He took the offer, so I called Dish Network to set-up for the "easy move". We were to take our equipment with us and then call for set-up when we arrived in Virginia, because all Dish offices are independent. When we arrived in Virginia October 24th, 2007, I called for an appointment to set-up our Dish Network in Virginia. Our appointment was set-up for early November, 2007. I cleared my schedule and no one called or showed by 5:30 pm. I called and they said that the technician was still coming. At 7:30pm, I received a call and said they would not be able to come that day and we would have to wait until the following Tuesday. I was not pleased, but we actually loved the features of Dish, so I agreed.
I again cleared my schedule, and again, no one showed. I called Dish again and told them no one had showed. They told me that our appointment was cancelled (they failed to inform me of this!!) because one of the managers came to our home over the weekend and there was no line of sight, so they could not provide service and nothing else could be done. (We were home all weekend and no one came to our door to tell us they were even there, nor did we see any strangers roaming our home or yard.) Dish offered to send someone else out in 7 days, but the results would be the same. So, they cancelled on us. Our neighborhood has several homes with Direct TV satellites. I have since found out from Dish Network that their satellites are not as high up as Direct TV's satellites, so trees, etc. block the line of sight.
After all of this, we received a cancellation fee notice from Dish Network. I called them up and told them that they were the ones who could not provide us service. We did not cancel, we wanted Dish Network and we were not paying their cancellation fee. They waived the fee. (I think the fee was $195.00).
Then, we received a $295.00 cancellation fee notice from Allsat. Again, no telephone number to contact them, just a e-mail address and a physical address in Springfield, MO. I e-mailed them and told them that Dish was incapable of providing us service and they cancelled us. We did not cancel them. We e-mailed back and forth a few times, and still no offer of a phone number to talk with someone and now they have sent me to a collection agency. I have filed a report with Consumer Affairs, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and now with the Rip-off report. Do not do business with Allsat/Dish network! Get your service from ANYONE else!!!

Shannon zia
Chesapeake, Virginia
U.S.A.