VMC Satellite, If you order DISH Network Online, BEWARE of VMC! Ripoff Great Falls Virginia

Anyone who HAS ordered DishNetwork, or is THINKING of ordering Dish, PLEASE pay careful attention to the website you use!!!

VMC does everything it can to masquerade as Dish, including being either first or second on a web search for Dish; using a telephone number identified as 1-800-998-DISH; using Dish logos all over its website; stating that it is "brought to you by Dish."

The unaware consumer (me!) will be suckered hook, line, and sinker into believing that they are dealing directly with Dish --until you cancel the service.

Rest assured, you will have been lulled into believing that you have been dealing with DishNetwork alone. You will talk to Dish to schedule your installation. All of your bills will have come from Dish. The Dish rep will tell you there is NO long-term commitment prior to installation AND prior to discontinuing the service; Dish will send you pre-paid UPS boxes for return of the equipment. Any time you will have had to call for any tech issues, etc., you will have talked to Dish. So you believe you have only dealt with Dish from beginning to end.

And THEN -- the Demand Letter from VMC will arrive. You will protest with VMC (How did THEY get involved??? you will ask yourself AND VMC) and VMC will put you on a 3-way conversation with DishNetwork.

Dish Network, who is identified as co-author on the VMC Terms and Conditions, will disavow any relationship with VMC. Dish will state that VMC is a 3rd party RESELLER of EQUIPMENT, and they can do nothing to intervene.

You will note that those same Terms and Conditions state that the EQUIPMENT belongs to Dish and Dish is granting you use of their equipment as long as you have service with Dish.

You will plead that a company that is as reputable as DishNetwork would not want their image and reputation soiled by a company like VMC. How did they get involved, anyways? What am I supposed to have BOUGHT from them? The ad said FREE installation, FREE equipment.
AHH!! The MILLION dollar QUESTION!! (Multiply the number of people who have experienced this same event x $390) What exactly have you bought from VMC??? NO ONE KNOWS!! It used to be a certificate, but I never saw a certificate. It's not the equipment. VMC says that Dish owns the equipment. It's not the service. You pay Dish every month for the service.

ANYWAYS, you say, I'm not paying this! I haven't BOUGHT anything from VMC! "This is CRAZY!!!, you think. "You won't hear any more from them, and you will think that certainly a mistake was made.

And then, 5 or 6 months down the road, when you least expect it, you will receive the letter from the COLLECTION AGENCY!

You will demand proof of this debt (if you're smart, you will do it within 30 days, and you will send it certified mail, return receipt requested), and you will receive a generic copy of VMC's Terms and Conditions, and a computer-generated sheet that lists your vital info, like address, phone #, credit card info.

How does this prove that you entered into a valid debt with VMC, you think. That's the info I gave to Dish, NOT VMC!! (you think??!!) And then, you decide to check your credit report. They've listed this as a debt that is in Collections. You know what that does? Well, for me, it dropped my credit score from 789, which is excellent, to 689, which is fair.

How does this saga end? I wish I KNEW!! I wish that there was SOMEONE out there with the authority to conduct an investigation into the practices of this company that would force them to cease and desist this predation on unsuspecting consumers!! SOMEONE?? ANYONE?? FTC -- VA Attorney Gen --

What about the CO Attorney General, or an Attorney General from one of the 12 OTHER states who joined in the complaint against Dish Network in 2003 for EXACTLY this type of business practice?

Someone who would put 2 and 2 together, and investigate if it is possible that the reason Dish doesn't put a stop to this smear on its good name, is that there's something in it for Dish????!!!

Until then, it's just you (or me) trying to find a way to defend ourselves (what lawyer would take a case for $390?) and restore our good name.

The reason I had to cancel was because we sold our house and moved out of state. Turns out, we had to get satellite again. We had our choice of providers, but because of this underhanded and deceitful event, of course, we chose another provider. The ironic thing is that Dish Network service and programming is VASTLY superior to the one we have now.

But, to anyone contemplating Dish Network, BEWARE!!! Look closely at the telephone number listed above, AND /OR the website. If VMC Satellite is on it ANYWHERE, STOP!!
It may be possible for you to actually deal directly with DishNetwork. I don't KNOW that you can, but I certainly would advise you to TRY.

Cathy
Woodworth, Louisiana
U.S.A.

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