Complaint Review: Dish Network - Englewood Colorado

Dish TV is defrauding their customers by not following through on the offers they make on their web site.

7 months ago I switched from DirecTV to Dish TV because they had a special offer on their web site. The offer was for *two years*. I am still looking for my first bill, but I have here a bill from May that shows it should have been $37.99/month.

Almost every month since I got Dish TV there has been a billing problem. I get overbilled for bonus services I canceled (even after asking the customer service representative to make a special note so it won't happen again. Because the bill is wrong, I have to ask the customer service representative to quote me the actual amount to pay. Once I even got the bill for the canceled service and a late fee for not paying the previous month!

This month the bill was wrong again, and I called again. The call center was obviously foreign - I think Mexico. The customer service rep attempted to only reverse the fee for the canceled service for just this month. After I argued with him and told him to look at the notes on my account, he said he reversed the previous fee as well, but he still quoted me the wrong amount. I finally figured out it was because DishTV had raised the price of the package by two dollars. The way their billing system works, it's not even possible for them to follow through on the special offers made on their web site. They use a base price and subtract $15 dollars from it: so if the base price goes up, you pay more.

The customer service rep kept saying that Dish TV doesn't make fixed price offers like that, and he said it's somewhere in my contract (I signed up over the phone). I went to the DishTV web site and saw there was a different offer for 12 months. Even though I pointed out there was a 12 month offer right on the web site, the customer service rep insisted there are no such offers and Dish TV can raise the price at any time. I can see where he's coming from because the way their billing system works, it would be impossible to follow through on any fixed term offer.

I spoke to a supervisor John who launched into how Dish TV can raise prices any time no matter what's on their web site or what they advertise on TV, because it's in some small print on their contract (even though people are signing up over the phone).

This is false advertising and fraud. I wish I had gotten a screenshot of the original offer, but it never occurred to me that a big, well-known company could do such a thing in the United States. I'm at a loss for what to do. I'm not sure how much to pay this month. If I pay them the amount they are demanding, then they have my money and it will be harder to get a refund. If I don't pay it, they will charge me late fees and my bill will continue to be messed up every month.

I can't even switch back to DirecTV because from Dish's point of view they have me locked into a two year contract, and they can charge me cancellation fees. Why is the deal a "lock" on their side, but not on mine?

Do not believe Dish any time they claim to be "cheaper" than Cable or DirecTV. How can Dish be cheaper when they don't even offer a fixed price. The prices Dish gives on their web site and TV are a lie. Though Dish's current offer is only for one year, the web site says "Lock in Your Savings for a Year". I see no fine print that says "Your Price Locked In For a Year Unless Dish Decides to Raise the Price." This is false advertising, and I hope the Attorney General notices and goes after Dish with the biggest stick they have.