Complaint Review: DISH - Internet

This is our experience with DISH Network for over 18 months.  While moving out to the country, I was made aware that cable TV and Internet service may not be available.  A call to DISH assured me I would receive both services competently and cheaper than cable.  The salesman made specific promises, to whit:

1. DISH Network would provide TV package for $115/mo. For one year;
2. the package would increase to $140/mo. For the 2nd year;
3. could change to HD service at any time with no charge;
4. internet Service would support VPN;
5. internet was fast enough for online gaming.

The problems began almost immediately with the Internet.  Business required a VPN connection to work server and DISH Internet constantly dropped the connection with less than 15 minutes connection time.  Within two days, it refused connection at all.  It took a week and a half and a dozen phone calls to get the connection to stay up most of the time, dropping only 3-5 times a day.  Internet gaming failed from the beginning also, with ping times between 829-1112ms.  Most popular online games refused connection at such slow times.

further problems surfaces at three months when our DISH TV package rates jumped about $40/mo.  A call to customer service informs us that the lower rate we were paying was a three-month special and there is no structure for any other discounts, meaning the 2nd year rates were a lie also.  Our bill has continued to increase $5-15 almost every month fyea over a year.

After a few months, we purchased our first HD TV.  A call to dish to update our service caused another $200 charge and an extra year added to our contract.  15 minutes of arguing got them to honor the salesperson's original promise.  The promises on the phone did not make it to the monthly bill and required another call to customer service and another 20 minutes of fighting.

after six months of poor Internet, talked to a supervisor who agreed to split the early termination fee due to the salesperson's  misrepresentation.  He provided a code to use to identify him.  We decided to delay termination until a replacement was found, but were assured this agreement was good for any time we decided to terminate.  After finding a replacement Internet provider, a call to DISH found that no supervisor had entered any such agreement to our account.  The only entry by the above-mentioned supervisor was to change our address - we had never moved and DISH had our correct address all along.

if you are going to deal with this company, get everything in writing.  Requests for a supervisor are passed around the call center with no one actually having increased authority for dispute resolution.  Any promise the customer wishes will be made just to get the customer off the phone.  Salespersons will say anything to get new business with no basis for their prices and no intent to honor what they promise.  The only time they will honor what they say is when an attorney letter hits their desk or Better Business Bureau is involved.  It is hard to believe that no Class Action suit has been filed against DISH yet.