Complaint Review: Dish Network

I feel I have been the victim of unfair business practices on the part of Dish Network.

There was a problem with an inept Dish network technician after several months of service at my Pomona, California studio, a mixed residential / commercial unit over 100 years old. I spent $100 to correct his mistake and Dish reimbursed me for that. 

I moved into another even older building in March of 2011 and attempted to get Dish service there, but the management company, who also managed at my first address, would not allow Dish Network technicians onto the fragile roof of that structure based on the ineptitude of the previous technician. At the time, I asked the technician if this would cancel my contract and he said "no . . . only in the case of a structural or geographic matter could the contract be cancelled".

All decision-making on this matter was out of my hands.  It seems that this would be a more valid reason to cancel a contract than a structural or geographic matter espacially since Dish took responsibility for the initial technician's error by reimbursing me the $100. Yet Dish, being a greedy and unreasonable company, refused to cancel the contract and this is where the real fiasco starts.

I was involved with Dispute Resolution Specialist Sara Mesfin who, in attempting to reach me, was calling the number of my ex-girlfriend, not my number. Her inattentiveness and just plain bungling on my case was nothing short of amazing. She sent me an e-mail at some point and I thought, finally I could communicate with this woman. Imagine my surprise when I got the letter a week later saying that the matter had been sent to collections. I don't know if Ms. Mesfin is afraid to open an e-mail or maybe she is just not a reader, but a company should not be allowed to take the easy way out and simply send the matter to the collections department in mid-dispute. So far, I give the inept technician an "F" and Ms. Mesfin a "D". Just because a company hires incompetents doesn't mean customers or ex-customers should have to pay the price. I continue writing letters to the company but, like my letters to Ms. Mesfin, I'm afraid they are all being ignored. Dish is a greedy and disreputable company, and bad customer service should never be rewarded. In cases where a hookup is not permitted, in my case, a fragile roof and distrust by a management service, Dish should give up on their early contract termination fees. I'm sure there would be fewer letters like this if they would use the slightest bit of reasoning.