Complaint Review: DISH NETWORK

Hello Ronald,

Was just looking at dish network as my parents had them and my mom paid the bill so they were supposed to turn it back on but never did. I am appalled at what these american companies get by with if it was like this in other countries they would be either shut down by the government and then investigated. what the guy said from dish network if all the people read the truth not what he is saying then there would be no people with dish network. remember enron.

Denver/Boulder BBB March 4, 2005
1020 Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80204-4039

RE: EchoStar Communications Corporation
57007132

Dear Ms. Bacon:

Enclosed please find a copy of the response I received from Erika Rodriguez, Customer Resolution Specialist, at Dish Network. In addition, enclosed is a copy of my reply to this most shameful excuse for the charge to my credit card in the amount of $614.45. The response from this outfit was certainly not satisfactory and, in my opinion, filled with distortions that have sidestepped the issue. It obvious their bookkeeping is in sorry shape and in desperate need of an upgrade.

First, let me say, this corporation had no authorization to continue my service beyond one year that ended on September 14, 2002. The extended service was a problem they created and then did their best to extort $40.46 from me to cover a mistake of their doing. Since Dish Network did not have permission to charge my account, I call into question where they obtained this annual programming payment for the year 2002 2003? My contract called for one year of service, paid in advance, from 2001 2002 and nothing more. You can be sure I never received any annual programming payment reimbursement and I maintain this is a lie.

My contract with Dish Network ran to term and therefore had expired. Who authorize this outfit to continue service for an additional year? Service that extended from September 14, 2002 to October 30, 2002 before Dish decided to disconnect and charge their error to me and call it non-payment. Ask them to provide you with evidence that they indeed reimbursed any annual programming payment to me. Require them to provide proof that I indeed authorized this service to extend beyond the contract date.

Simply put its difficult to imagine any corporation in this country, other than Enron, that would voice such prevarications! While Dish Network may maintain their customers are of great importance, they certainly have a distorted view regarding customer satisfaction. Most reputable corporations would absorb an exiguous $40.46 error of their doing. I consider this entire ugly matter closed without satisfaction from EchoStars Dish Network.

Sincerely,

Ronald

Enclosures

Denver/Boulder BBB March 4, 2005
1020 Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80204-4039

RE: EchoStar Communications Corporation
57007132

Dear Ms. Bacon:

Enclosed please find a copy of the response I received from Erika Rodriguez, Customer Resolution Specialist, at Dish Network. In addition, enclosed is a copy of my reply to this most shameful excuse for the charge to my credit card in the amount of $614.45. The response from this outfit was certainly not satisfactory and, in my opinion, filled with distortions that have sidestepped the issue. It obvious their bookkeeping is in sorry shape and in desperate need of an upgrade.

First, let me say, this corporation had no authorization to continue my service beyond one year that ended on September 14, 2002. The extended service was a problem they created and then did their best to extort $40.46 from me to cover a mistake of their doing. Since Dish Network did not have permission to charge my account, I call into question where they obtained this annual programming payment for the year 2002 2003? My contract called for one year of service, paid in advance, from 2001 2002 and nothing more. You can be sure I never received any annual programming payment reimbursement and I maintain this is a lie.

My contract with Dish Network ran to term and therefore had expired. Who authorize this outfit to continue service for an additional year? Service that extended from September 14, 2002 to October 30, 2002 before Dish decided to disconnect and charge their error to me and call it non-payment. Ask them to provide you with evidence that they indeed reimbursed any annual programming payment to me. Require them to provide proof that I indeed authorized this service to extend beyond the contract date.

Simply put its difficult to imagine any corporation in this country, other than Enron, that would voice such prevarications! While Dish Network may maintain their customers are of great importance, they certainly have a distorted view regarding customer satisfaction. Most reputable corporations would absorb an exiguous $40.46 error of their doing. I consider this entire ugly matter closed without satisfaction from EchoStars Dish Network.

Sincerely,

Ronald

Enclosures

Denver/Boulder BBB March 4, 2005
1020 Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80204-4039

RE: EchoStar Communications Corporation
57007132

Dear Ms. Bacon:

Enclosed please find a copy of the response I received from Erika Rodriguez, Customer Resolution Specialist, at Dish Network. In addition, enclosed is a copy of my reply to this most shameful excuse for the charge to my credit card in the amount of $614.45. The response from this outfit was certainly not satisfactory and, in my opinion, filled with distortions that have sidestepped the issue. It obvious their bookkeeping is in sorry shape and in desperate need of an upgrade.

First, let me say, this corporation had no authorization to continue my service beyond one year that ended on September 14, 2002. The extended service was a problem they created and then did their best to extort $40.46 from me to cover a mistake of their doing. Since Dish Network did not have permission to charge my account, I call into question where they obtained this annual programming payment for the year 2002 2003? My contract called for one year of service, paid in advance, from 2001 2002 and nothing more. You can be sure I never received any annual programming payment reimbursement and I maintain this is a lie.

My contract with Dish Network ran to term and therefore had expired. Who authorize this outfit to continue service for an additional year? Service that extended from September 14, 2002 to October 30, 2002 before Dish decided to disconnect and charge their error to me and call it non-payment. Ask them to provide you with evidence that they indeed reimbursed any annual programming payment to me. Require them to provide proof that I indeed authorized this service to extend beyond the contract date.

Simply put its difficult to imagine any corporation in this country, other than Enron, that would voice such prevarications! While Dish Network may maintain their customers are of great importance, they certainly have a distorted view regarding customer satisfaction. Most reputable corporations would absorb an exiguous $40.46 error of their doing. I consider this entire ugly matter closed without satisfaction from EchoStars Dish Network.

Sincerely,

Ronald

Enclosures

Denver/Boulder BBB March 4, 2005
1020 Cherokee Street
Denver, CO 80204-4039

RE: EchoStar Communications Corporation
57007132

Dear Ms. Bacon:

Enclosed please find a copy of the response I received from Erika Rodriguez, Customer Resolution Specialist, at Dish Network. In addition, enclosed is a copy of my reply to this most shameful excuse for the charge to my credit card in the amount of $614.45. The response from this outfit was certainly not satisfactory and, in my opinion, filled with distortions that have sidestepped the issue. It obvious their bookkeeping is in sorry shape and in desperate need of an upgrade.

First, let me say, this corporation had no authorization to continue my service beyond one year that ended on September 14, 2002. The extended service was a problem they created and then did their best to extort $40.46 from me to cover a mistake of their doing. Since Dish Network did not have permission to charge my account, I call into question where they obtained this annual programming payment for the year 2002 2003? My contract called for one year of service, paid in advance, from 2001 2002 and nothing more. You can be sure I never received any annual programming payment reimbursement and I maintain this is a lie.

My contract with Dish Network ran to term and therefore had expired. Who authorize this outfit to continue service for an additional year? Service that extended from September 14, 2002 to October 30, 2002 before Dish decided to disconnect and charge their error to me and call it non-payment. Ask them to provide you with evidence that they indeed reimbursed any annual programming payment to me. Require them to provide proof that I indeed authorized this service to extend beyond the contract date.

Simply put its difficult to imagine any corporation in this country, other than Enron, that would voice such prevarications! While Dish Network may maintain their customers are of great importance, they certainly have a distorted view regarding customer satisfaction. Most reputable corporations would absorb an exiguous $40.46 error of their doing. I consider this entire ugly matter closed without satisfaction from EchoStars Dish Network.

Sincerely,

Ronald

Enclosures

Erika Rodriguez
Customer Resolution Specialist
P.O. Box 9033
Littleton, CO 802120

RE: File - #20059

Dear Ms. Rodriguez:

You may, as far as this writer is concerned disregard any further action. I have managed to resolve the issue on my own. With the help of my credit card provider I have recovered the entire unauthorized charge against my credit card in the amount of $614.45. Its obvious my credit card provider gives more credence to a settlement made in 2003 between 13 states and Echostars Dish Network than those that were participants, including Florida and Colorado.

Its clear to me that your representatives failed in their obligation to discontinue my service. I never authorized service with Dish Network past September 14, 2002 and therefore cannot legally be held liable. You may if you like file suit in civil court and present your evidence of record to the contrary. At that time I will welcome the opportunity to address the issue.

You said, your corporation charged me for services from September 14, 2002 through October 30, 2002, when the account was disconnected due to non-payment. In effect are you telling me your corporation requires customers to pay for mistakes of their doing? Then you further tell me an exception was made to reimburse a non-refundable annual programming payment. I have no idea what you are talking about. What was there to charge off? Common decency should dictate corporations absorb their error. Where did this annual programming payment come from? I maintain this is a lie and there was no valid authorized programming balance owed and certainly no annual programming payment available for you to reimburse. In addition I maintain I honorably upheld my contract with Dish Network and that is certainly much more than your corporation afforded me.

The last paragraph of your correspondence is meaningless. After visiting the BBB Denver/Bolder its obvious customer satisfaction means less than nothing to a corporation that, in my opinion, is conceived in malice and born of spite that is deliberately framed to give a false impression to rob the American people. You can shout all you want and they will not listen. This entire affair was nothing more than a needless exercise of wasted time, grief, and correspondence. It was more about corporate greed and a willingness of one corporations ability to ignore laws set in place to protect the public. I believe that a fair assessment of what happened to me. Dont you? As a side note: Perhaps someday Dish Network will go the way of Enron.

Sincerely,

February 15, 2005


RE: File - #200059
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


Dear Mr. XXXXX

We apologize for the delay in replying to your letter dated February 5, 2005 regarding your billing and customer service concerns.

In your letter, you requested that we reimburse $40.46. You indicate that you wanted your account disconnected on September 14, 2002; however, the account was not disconnected until October 30, 2002. Unfortunately, we have no record of you contacting us to have the service disconnected. We charged you for services from September 14, 2002 through October 30, 2002, which is when the account was disconnected due to non-payment. The account was charged off and we made an exception to reimburse the annual programming payment, even though this is non-refundable and non-transferable. DISH Network cannot submit a refund request because this was a valid programming balance that was owed.

We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced, as the satisfaction of our customers is of great importance to us. If there are further questions or concerns about this issue, please feel free to contact me at (720)514-8705.

Sincerely,

Erika Rodriguez
Customer Resolution Specialist
Executive Office of Fish Network
Erika.Rodriguez@echostar.com

Cc: Charles Jones

David, you are correct in the paragraph and what it states, BUT...what about when it is Dish Networks fault the equipment wasnt returned fast enough? I called on the first of Feb to have my service shut off on the 7th of Feb. I was told I would have 15 days from the day the service stopped to have the equipment returned and that Dish was sending me boxes to return the stuff in. Fine, I dont want the equipment in my new house anyway, as I now have Direct TV. The person on the phone asked me where I wanted theboxes shipped since I was moving, and I gave them the new address, which he repeated to me for verification.

End of last week comes, and still no boxes, so I call and am told that they are scheduled for delivery at my new house on Feb 14th. That already cuts 7 days off of the time I have to return them before they steal money from me. I havent yet sold my old house so I went back there this past weekend to do some cleaning and what do I find taped to my frint door? A missed delivery ticket from UPS from - you guessed it - Dish Network. I then called AGAIN (for the 3rd time) and spoke to someone about this. They, of course, couldnt givemeany reason why the boxes werent shipped correctly, but told me they would be shipping new boxes to my new address and AGAIN read back the address for verification purposes. I stressed the fact that I am no longer at the service address and that the boxes needed to be sent to the new address SEVERAL TIMES. I was also told that they would "extend" the date by which I had to return my equipment due to their screw up.

I will be keeping a close watch on my credit card and, should they dare to try and charge mefor their mistake, they will be getting their asses sued, because this is their fault, not mine. Further, the claim to not have had the address but, amazingly enough, they sent 3 different bills with 3 different amounts on them to the new address. It seems to me that they can get the address right when they want their money, but when they can try to SCREW someone out of money, they seem to get their information wrong.

Go get a job as a peon at another company and stop trying to play devil's advocate. These people are morons and they outsource overseas - it's NOT a coincidence that every time I called, I got someone with an accent - and I dont mean a Hispanic accent either. I hope they send your job over there next.

David Education is when you read the fine print and experience is what you get if you don't. I did read my contract in 2001 but you have not read or do not understand what is contained in my complaint. The only contract I had with Dish Network was the one I signed in 2001 and that was for one year only.

Dish Network was paid in advance for everything and that contract is long expired. In addition I never signed any contract that authorized them, DISH, to charge my account. After the year was up in 2002 Dish was informed of my decision not to continue service with them. Therefore the contract of 2001 has expired and is no longer valid.

I dont have any of their stinking equipment so why on earth would they want to charge me for any? Activation fees? What do I have for them to activate? Perhaps you will think of something! Furthermore, I dont owe them anything so why would they want to continue in their attempt to charge me? In the mean time I maintain they have all they are going to get from me now, or in the future.

I dont have a signed contract with dish and that is why I maintain they charged my credit card without authorization and the very reason the entire $614.45 was returned and charged back. I would like to remind you that I recovered every cent within 17 working days. Others are not so fortunate.

Its my understanding that an honest businessman considers their customers always right. According to David at Dish Network their customers are seen in a different light, (as a problem.)

Seems to me if Dish Network would spend more time accommodating and less time intimidating they would have 100 percent customer satisfaction. Instead of 11 million customers they would have 22 million but this greedy outfit just doesnt get it!

All I can say is that DISH Network has 11 Million customers now, and even if 1 disgruntled customer in 1000 posted here, its still less than 1% of the entire customer base.

If DISH Network was so bad like you say, what about the other 99.9% that are satisfied with their service. Just looking at the percentages here, one would say the problem is the customer and not the service provider.

Read your contract you will find the following paragraph relating to the use of your credit card.

You hearby authorize DISH Network to charge, and/or place a hold with respect to, Activation Fees and the Unreturned Equipment Charge to your credit card that you provided to DISH Network (the "Credit Card") authorize the issuer of the credit card to pay those amounts without DISH Network submitting a signed receipt and agree that this agreement is to be accecpted as such authorization. You authorize DISH Network to continue to attempt to charge and or place holds with respect to, Activation Fees and Un-returned Equipment Charge, or any portion of any or all, to the credit card until such amounts are paid in full.

You gave DISH Authorization to charge your credit card, and your here now complaining about the charges. Did you read your contract when you signed up?

I don't have dish network. But, after coming here and reading all the fraud complaints, I thank god I managed to avoid them.

So far, there are 182 different complaints on this crooked company. Since only 1 person in 1000 ever comes here to file, the total number of dissatisfied customers must be in the hundreds of thousands.

Even state attorney generals have gotten involved against these frauds. And, the credit card companies have reversed many of the stolen charges. They know fraud when they see it.

Plus, a crook from the company comes here to threaten those people who won't allow themselves to be cheated!

That's all I need to see. After reading all the complaints, you'd have to be crazy to order anything from these people!

Well David, life certainly is a bitter run for some and I find we must struggle daily to catch the vision of the finish line.

You obviously did not read my entire subject matter regarding my complaint. Otherwise you would have known that Dish Network refunded all but $40.46 because they were wrong in charging my credit card without my permission for $614.45. The $40.46 was a charge back to DISH made by my credit card Company and rightfully so. The entire $614.45 is not a billing dispute. It was an unauthorized charge place to my credit card by Echostar (Dish Network.) Illegal, a term a prosecutor uses daily as in crime.

I dont believe Dish Network overcharged me for $40.46 over three years ago, I know they did! I dont take idle threats lying down and never worry about any corporation that maintains a history of inherently abusive business practices. Why else would they agree to pay 5 million to settle with 13 states and in addition agree to place safeguards in place to protect the public from their greedy appetite. A settlement that, in my opinion, is worthless on the face and violated regularly by this corporation. What can they possibly do to me that they have not already tried and failed to do?

Everything I own is paid for and that includes my home in Florida. If I were obligated to this poor excuse for a corporation then they would have been paid the $40.46 years ago. I am not accustomed to extortion by anyone and Dish Network is certainly no exception. When I retired many years ago from banking, it was with a very lucrative retirement package. I dont need Dish Network to provide me with a rosy credit scenario. No one, with two brain cells, would believe them anyway.

If you had read my entire complaint, along with the outcome, perhaps you would have realized that DISH turned this $40.46 over to collection in 2001 or 2002 and then made every attempt at deceptive practices to get it back. Well, they failed in their concerted effort.

If your response is indicative of the folks working for Echostar (Dish Network,) then I already recognize their problem. Why dont you get a spell checker and before you respond to me on behalf or for this gangrenous corporation, get your facts straight. I think that fair, dont you?

Hello,

My name is David, im a customer service representive for DISH Network in Littleton Colorado and I see customer billing disputes everyday.

99.9% of the time when there is a billing dispute and the customer thinks they where overcharged, the customer is not right and simply didn't read their bill correctly. A matter of fact, I have seen customers credited for something that is not even DISH Networks fault just to make the customer satisfied so they keep DISH Network service.

Although I haven't seen your paticular billing dispute with DISH, more than likely your probably wrong and need to pay what you owe.

BTW, You mentioned that disputed the charges on your credit card and won the dispute. Well I hope you don't have any plans on buying a new car, apply for a loan anytime soon because DISH Network will turn you over to collections and put this on your credit report. Then when the bank denies you for your loan, you'll gladly get out your checkbook and pay DISH Network what you owe them :)


Sincerely,

David Radnor
Customer Service Agent
Littleton Colorado

I would like to share with everyone a little of what I have been able to gather regarding Echostar (Dish Network.) After contacting several BBB in different areas of the country, I find that all will direct you to file your complaint with the Denver BBB in Colorado. This sort of places the fox in the hen house since this is the state where Dish Networks home office is located.

"The Better Business Bureau is a non-profit business membership organization." Right! (If Dish Network qualified for membership in the BBB of Denver, then so would Enron!)

The general public must be under the misguided assumption that their States Office of Attorney General was set in place for the enforcement of laws. We were wrong. It is now apparent these government agencies operate more along the lines of a referral service. I was informed in no uncertain terms, via mail from the State of Colorado Department of Law, that they had referred my complaint to the BBB in Denver for processing. In my opinion this is an example of Government and big business working hand in hand to shaft the general public. Never mind that greedy corporations may have broken state laws. We now deal with a non-government agency, the BBB for a resolution. I find in cases like yours, or mine, the BBB has a tendency to paint a rosy picture of such corporations that are members. Since all my funds were recovered, without the help from any government agency, I felt compelled to share this with those that have unresolved complaints against this inherently abusive outfit.

What I found at the Denver BBB were several cross sections of complaints that list figures ranging from a few to over 700. I did not feel it was prudent or necessary to list them here. However, I thought you would get the picture if you saw the section containing the largest number of complaints.

When evaluating complaint information, please consider the company's size and volume of business. The number of complaints filed against the company may not be as important as the type of complaints and how the company handled them.

Denver BBB
Closed Complaints
Number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 36 Months: 3939
Number of complaints processed by the BBB in last 12 months: 1472

Credit or Billing Issues: 1871
Outcome of all complaints -
Resolved: 1746; Delayed Resolution: 8; Company made
good faith effort to Resolve: 117

Obviously this outfit, (Echostar Dish Network,) continues to maintain a serious problem with credit and or billing issues. Remember, 1871 out of the 3939 were credit or billing issues. You do the math!

Update:

My credit card company charged back to EchoStars Dish Network $40.46 this outfit thought they were going to steal from me. Thats the last of the original unauthorized $614.45 they charged against my account. This just goes to prove that if you are persistent, relentless, and as ruthless as they are you will prevail against, abusive businesses.

My dealings with EchoStars Dish Network were less than pleasant. This outfit reminds me of a movie I once saw. I believe it was Alien. In any event, in my opinion, this outfit deals in greed. Their only interest is how their customers behave. They want their customers to act like puppets on a string, with rubber stamp values impressed by them with their sense of conformity, their sense of behavior, even their sense of morality. They rob their customers of the most important thing, individuality. Then when you voice objections or complain and even dare to challenge the smug hypocrisy regarding their stinking service they go after your bank account or credit card with a vengeance. The actions of this Corporation, in my opinion, are conceived in malice and born of spite that is deliberately framed to give a false impression to rob the American people. You can shout all you want and they will not listen; every ounce of their attention is given to their competition. Only large-scale competition among these massive corporations is what upgrades greed from whimsical excess to lethal force. We can only hope this country has not become a ship of fools.

It is obvious to me that JD Power and Associates was never subjected to or acquired service from this outfit, EchoStars Dish Network. Surely, JD Power and Associates never had to deal with unauthorized charges from their credit card or bank account. Otherwise they would rethink the number one rating given to this Corporation. But we must consider there is only a couple to choose from and if this rotten outfit is number one we can only imagine the horror stories emitting from the other. I find the general public will believe anything, so long as it is not founded on truth.

What I do find incredible is those, myself included, that are willing to try a second time to deal with them. I thought after they settled with 13 states they had changed their ways. I am at an age that I should have know better than to try to deal with a Corporation that maintains inherently abusive business practices toward their customers. EchoStars Dish Network is like a big machine. It just marches on relentlessly, and they dont care who is on the other side, they just roll over people to satisfy their greedy corporate appetite. Now that I have recovered what this lying bunch illegally charged against my credit card account I only want to see them at a distance. It would be nice to glimpse them in outer space as a burnt out star.

Ronald

Thanks Rip-Off Report for all your kindness.

This outfit decided it would be wise to returned most of the unauthorized charge to my credit card account. Its obvious to me they are of the opinion this will appease me and make me go silent on the issue. They withheld $40.46 I refused to pay them more than 3 years ago. An amount I maintain is of their doing and this greedy outfit prefers to lose hundreds of dollars in future business just so they could collect an exiguous $40.46.

However, they underestimate my intentions. I will not be satisfied until they return the entire amount they felt necessary to steal from me. If Dish Network believes for one moment I have given up then they should reconsider. I will not be bullied into silence and will never allow myself to be made a victim.

To date the Office of Attorney General of Florida has referred my complaint to the Colorado Department of Law because they feel the subject matter in my complain may fall within the jurisdiction of that agency.

I have not heard from my credit card provider regarding the dispute I filed with them along with the Federal Communication Commission. The FCC is looking for a pattern of abuse regarding EchoStars Dish Network. So if you have a problem with Dish Network, make certain you file with the FCC.

If I owed this stinking outfit, Dish Network any amount then they would have been paid long ago. It would have been worth it to get rid of them. However, it is the principle of the thing and I refuse to pay what I do not owe! EchoStars Dish Network was either unable or, more than likely, unwilling to provide me with proof that I owe them anything. When folks believe it is easier to give up and go away they are not only doing a disservice to themselves but the end result of their inaction will simply encourage this outfit to continue their less than honorable business practices. It was Dish Networks decision to charge my credit card account without authorization after I requested they refrain from doing so. In my opinion this was unjustified extortion.

Unfortunately this outfits policy-making decisions appear based on guidelines that leave no room for exception or flexibility. This example of shabby business practice takes on the appearance of the old, ice pick Willy protection racket. When one is forced to choose from only a couple of outlets to watch TV you may be in fear the sky will turn dark or worse are hit with extortion-like rates. In addition you may be required to let them take control of your credit card or bank account and sock you with what they deem to be fair. The interpretation of fair in the business world is simply another word for greed. Nowadays with most states having enacted law that are suppose to protect the public, I maintain these laws are loosely enforced, against big business, and in many instances they are not enforced at all.