DISH NETWORK/ECHO STAR COMMUNICATIONS BREECH OF CUSTOMER CONTRACT/FEES IMPOSED UNFAIRLY RIPOFF Atlanta Georgia

Had this company for a year and 1st time service was out was given an 18 day waiting period for a technician to come out to fix. Had an extra 5.99/mo charge for preferred service which entitles(according to their ad) a service call of 29.99 and at "your" convenience.

I have a 100% disabled war veteran living here and is bedridden and i don't consider 18 days at "our convenience". I reported to BBB and got a phone call from dish and the woman tells me "hey, we have problems keeping office girls no less field workers in all areas. Gee, i guess this is my fault?? Never did get anymore satisfaction. Paid a private fellow(at their advice for faster service) and charged 70+ USD's to fix. Before we got the chance to unhook, the set had a bad switch and once again we had to wait for service. This time the wait was 8 days. So i called Direct TV (their competition) and they were so busy unhooking Dish customers that it took 9 days for them to hook us up. finally get up and running with them and then Dish calls to inform they want their box back and 2 reflectors off the dish and i said fine and they'd send a prepaid box for it. Afterall what am i going to do with the piece of junk??

Two weeks later and no box sent to me yet but i get an 80.00 bill(even though my monthly service is only 50+ and when i call they tell me it's a disconnect fee. They claim i signed an 18 month contract. Not true. When the installer came here he charged me a 49.99 deposit and said if i wanted to get that deposit back at the end of one year i'd have to sign the contract. I opted not to get the 49.99 back rather than lock in. I may have signed something just to say it was installed. If this is the case this is deceptive practice.

Someone needs to open a class action lawsuit against these companies running over people. Of course they know i'll pay the 80.00 so i don't have a wrecked credit report. I suggest everyone having problems please file with the BBB online and with the Consumer Affairs Office. i know it's not much, but if all of us sit back and keep getting ripped off it will never get noticed.

They tell me i broke their contract??? I think the contract is broken once they can not service the account as promised and are just taking on customers they know they don't have the resources to care for. They broke the contract and should be paying me a cancellation fee!!! I stand firmly on this belief. I know we all feel as one person we can't make a difference, but surely if we don't at least try and get the word out we are doing no justice for the next honest consumer. Thank You.

Lori
Tryon, North Carolina
U.S.A.