Dish Network/VMC SatelliteDish Network/VMC Satellite/EchoStar ripoff consumer fraud ripoff Woburn Massachusetts *REBUTTAL ..unfair EDitor's Comment

All anyone has to do is go to the Dish Network website and everything is black and white

Digital Home Advantage Terms and Conditions

PLEASE READ

Offer Terms

The Digital Home Advantage is for new, first-time DISH Network residential households only. Offer is available from DISH Network in the continental United States between 8/01/04 and 1/31/05 . Number of channels may decline. Local and state sales taxes may apply. Where applicable, monthly equipment rental fees and programming are taxed separately. Requires a minimum purchase of America 's Top 60 or DISH Latino programming package or service will be deactivated. To participate, you must provide a valid major credit card and either your Social Security Number or the last four digits of your Social Security Number plus pay a $49.99 non-refundable fee. Participation is subject to credit approval. Social Security Numbers are used to obtain credit scores and will not be released to third parties except for verification and collection purposes. The Digital Home Advantage includes a satellite TV system with an eligible configuration of up to 4 receivers, choice of Qualifying Programming and Standard Professional Installation.

Activation Fee

You must pay a $49.99 Activation Fee. Such fee is completely nonrefundable once the system is activated. You will receive a $49.99 credit on your first bill.

Equipment Configurations

No more than two dual-tuner receivers per account are permitted (including no more than one DISH Player-DVR 522 receiver), or a total of four single-tuner receivers per account (including no more than two DISH 811 receivers) if no dual-tuner receivers are chosen. A $5.00 per month equipment rental fee for the first receiver is included in your promotional programming package price. A $5.00 per month equipment rental fee will be charged for each receiver beyond the first. DISH 811 receivers require subscription to DISH Network HD Pak.

Qualifying Programming

Qualifying Programming with one receiver ( with local network channels where available) includes America's Top 60 (currently $29.99/mo.), America 's Top 120 (currently $39.99/mo.), America 's Top 180 (currently $49.99/mo.), DISH Latino (currently $29.99/mo.), DISH Latino Dos (currently $39.99/mo.) or DISH Latino Max (currently $49.99/mo.) programming.

Equipment and Installation

Standard Professional Installation includes typical installation of one 20" dish antenna, typical hook-up of up to 4 receivers to up to 4 TVs and equipment testing. More complex installations may require additional fees; other installation restrictions apply.

Unreturned Equipment Fees

The satellite receivers, smart cards, remote controls and low noise block converters (LNBF) remain the property of DISH Network at all times and must be returned within fifteen days of account deactivation to DISH Network or you agree to pay an unreturned equipment fee as follows: DISH Player-DVR 522 $300; DISH 322, DISH Player-DVR 510 and DISH 811 $200; DISH 111, 301 and 311 $100; Out door LNBF - $100; Quad Switch $100.

Fees and Credit Card Charges

By placing this order, you agree that any unreturned equipment fees will automatically be charged to your DISH Network account or your credit or debit card provided to DISH Network and you agree to pay such fees. You authorize DISH Network to investigate creditworthiness. You further authorize DISH Network to report any payment defaults to credit reporting agencies. You acknowledge and agree that DISH Network is not extending credit and that the unreturned equipment fees are not interest, a credit service fee or a finance charge.

Service Fees

Each of your receivers must be continuously connected to your same land-based phone line. A monthly $4.99 Additional Out let Programming Access Fee applies to the second tuner of each DISH 322 or DISH Player-DVR 522 receiver. This fee will be waived on a monthly basis for each such receiver that DISH Network confirms has been continuously connected to Customer's same land-based phone line. DISH Network's confirmation process shall be the sole method utilized to determine if your monthly additional outlet programming access fee(s) will be waived. A $4.98 per month DISH Video-On-Demand Service fee will be charged for each DISH Player-DVR 510 or 522 receiver; this fee will be waived as long as you subscribe to either America's Everything Pak or Latino Everything Pak. There is a $5.00 Change of Service Fee for each programming change except a $10.00 Change of Service Fee for each Adult programming change.

Warranty

Standard warranty includes no-cost repair/replacement of manufacturer defects during the first 90 days. After the first 90 days, a $14.95 shipping charge applies to warranty equipment replacement by mail, and a $99 in-home warranty trip service charge applies. For complete warranty information, including our optional DISH Home Protection Plan, revisit our website at www.dishnetwork.com or call us at (800) 333-DISH for full terms and conditions.

Programming

Local channels by satellite are only available to customers who reside in the specified local Designated Mark et Area (DMA). Channels may vary by market. Certain local channels may require an additional dish antenna from DISH Network, installed free of any charges at time of initial activation. A SuperDISH antenna may be required to receive local channels and will be included at no additional charge at time of initial activation with subscription to local channels . Cities subject to change without notice. Distant Networks packages by satellite are only available for private home viewing and in limited areas to homes that are outside a Grade A or B designated area or with the approval of local affiliates. Limit of two distant cities per eligible customer. If you qualify for PBS National Feed, it will be included in the Distant Networks package price at no additional charge. To find out whether you are eligible for Local Channels or Distant Networks, you may call us at 1 (800) 333-DISH, or revisit our website at www.dishnetwork.com . ESPN and ESPN2 programming subject to change and blackout restrictions, and is licensed separately for residential and commercial use. Some games telecast locally may also be included in ESPN packages. FOX Sports Networks programming subject to blackout restrictions and licensed for residential use only. Regional sports networks not available in all areas. All payments for programming are non-refundable.

Other Terms and Conditions

DISH Network shall determine eligibility for this offer in its sole and absolute discretion. Programming and other services provided are subject to the terms and conditions of the Digital Home Advantage Promotion Agreement and the Residential Customer Agreement, which is available at the link below for "Residential Agreement."

ALL PRICING, PROGRAMMING AND PACKAGES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

All service marks and trademarks belong to their respective owners. 2004, EchoStar Satellite L.L.C. All rights reserved.

The reason VMC gets such special consideration from Dish is partly from their numbers, but also because of the "Good o'l boy network". Charlie Erdgrin & the owner of VMC are good buddies. This allows VMC to get away with almost anything they want. VMC has been giving Dish a bad name for years & Dish's own crappy customer care has helped to hurt it too. {I must say, however that Dish's customer support is way above that of the DirectTV/Pegasus debacle.} However, since a ruling over Dish's practices, which cost them a few $$ they have improved. I am not saying they are great/wondereful, or any other such crap, just improved.

Now it is required for Dish to disclose everything over any internet/3rd party phone sales. So if you do buy something through the "certificate" program, be sure & record your conversation for your own records. Also all installers are now required to be certified & bonded.

Look at all the comments about Dishnet. Its obvious that this company does not care about customer service, or what its customers think about it.

A few reps reply to all these complaints, but seems to me none of these problems are ever taken care of. Doesnt this company realize that this is ultimately going to be their downfall, Sure, you got the goods now, but a new company will come along that offers a similar product AND great customer service...and people will follow in droves.....I have been ripped off by you.

Why dont you tell everyone why your installers refuse to give you copies of the paperwork that is signed. Why doesnt someone just fix these problems to avoid all of this...its obvious that someone lied to the complaintant somewhere...And I do think that VMC had advance knowledge of the 3 month offer, and obviously used it. All I know is if taking the hard line is the way DishNET chooses to do business, then your business will suffer. Because you will have NO LOYALTY.

signed: still waiting for my 200 dollar rebate for three years now.

As someone who knows alot about Dish Network (was a retailer for them) and have suffered the abuses they do to their retailers and also have seen 1st hand the way this company treats paying customers.
I just had to chime in.

If you are interested in the way VMC does business just look up their BBB report. It tells the whole story. And if you have any questions contact the Fairfax county consumer affairs office. (they know them well)

VMC has only been in the paper selling business since around May 2001. (I say paper selling because that's what they sell.)They sell you a certificate that they pay $19.99 for and Dish Network service corp. Does the installation.

Before that they ran a credit repair business and had trouble with consumer affairs. Then they did a cell phone business and had trouble with consumer affairs. This information is public record in Fairfax, Va

They are not a true professional satellite retailer. A real satellite professional would have sold you real equipment that they paid real money for as well as make sure you were activated under the correct promotion. Also they would have Professionally installed that product.

One word of advice, STAY AWAY FROM INTERNET LOWBALLERS. You will get what you pay for with interest......

As far as Dish Network goes they know all about VMC's reputation but, do to their sales volume they turn a blind eye to it.

Dish Network started of as a customer and retailer friendly business but as sometime happens with large corporations corporate greed has taken over.

If you want to do something to tell Dish Network enough is enough write your Congressman, F.T.C as well as John Ashcroft and Just say no to the proposed merger of Dish Network and Directv.

If this Monopoly is allowed to happen it will get worse.

I won't even tell you about the abuses the retailers face to do business with this company except it is worse then the things reported here.

I'm truly sorry for your experiences with the internet company. I've read, on here and several other places, about this company. I'm not saying that the allegations are true or false, just an overwhelming amount of them.

I'd like to offer some advice to some of the internet buyers out there. As there are no perfect businesses, remember, you are buying from a business that you can, in most cases, never see. There are several thousand LOCAL dealers in this country and most likely, some in your area. Look in the phone book, go to the satellite company's homepage and search out a local dealer.

At least this way, you can find this person if something goes wrong. I'm not saying that everything will be fine dealing with a local dealer, but at least you can walk in their store and look at the product, see a face, know where they are located and feel a 'little' comfort.

I hope that I don't offend anyone, but I'm a local dealer and I really get tired of seeing all this stuff about consumers getting "scammed" by other dealers.

Also, the part about DISH hanging up on customers, I know this to be true, but I have to agree, in most cases it's provoked. I don't tend to agree that they should hang up on anyone, but I wouldn't listen to anyone cussing at me either. I'm also not saying the the originator of this post did that, just making an observation. In my own rebuttal to myself, DISH does hang up on people. I've experienced it and I know how to talk to CSR's, TSR's and Reps. I know to be courteous and speak kindly. My pay depends on it! But it still happens and even sometimes when it's not provoked.

This is a common problem, most often with DISH Network and DISHNET.



Customer Service people from both the programmer and the service provider blame the other and intentionally confuse the customer.



If it were not for this website, you would still be ignoring the problem.



EDitor-in-Chief

I thought this was an unbiased website? Should we pay you a fee like the Better Business Bureau to get you to paint us in a better light?



You have put information out about Dish Network when we are talking about VMC Satellite.



Why did you even add an Editor's Comment? It was not requested or required.



My title indicates incorrect information? How is that? Also, your website makes it look like I posted the Editor's Comment.



If you are going to trash Dish Network. Please do it in their section. Also, do not assume things.



If you are not going to run your site fairly, my company will not try to respond to any of the complaints on this website.



I hope that you will correct your error or remove it.



Please feel free to contact me to discuss this situation.

I also experienced a bad situation with dish network.We responded to a "free" offer as you did but we were also charged for this free promotion.I was even willing to overlook this because i was so excited to have satellite.Then one day they took money from my checking account without authorization and proceeded to tell us that we gave them permission when on there own record of our sign-up them have us as "bill to home".



Then the dish shows up 3 days late...the installer has to be rescheduled!!!When we called dish the lady on the phone offered free shipping of the equipment as consolation for the shipping error.Somehow this mentally deficient company got the idea that since we got free shipping that they had permission from us to take money from our account!!!



Four checks bounced and a ton of fees accrued. Dish was called and told us that we had agreed to have the billing done thru our debit account...we had not!!!!



We spoke to a real jerk who was in charge of billing(we were told)and he was rude,inconsiderate and down right demeaning to myself and my wife...told my wife that we must be stupid and hung up on us many times.We asked for any proof that we had signed up for the direct withdrawl and he could produce none but he assured us that we had in fact agreed to it because we were given free shipping!!!!what a screwed up company...they are nothing but thieves and liars.

ps.

dish recently withdrew another 200 dollars from my account without authorization...guess what...they are never gonna see it!!!!!

my bank returned the funds.

I am not sure where this customer has gotten her information from. In all my years of customer service,no customer has frustrated me more. The 3 month free plan did not exist until January 14, 2002. Prior to this date, Dish Network was only offering one free months service. This customer was installed in December of 2001.

It would be impossible for her to even know about the new promotion prior to January 14, 2002. Our company was not even informed until January 12, 2002.

It is obvious by the above comments, that this customer does not really know which company she has been dealing with. She also is not aware of the promotion she applied for.

I personally tried to contact this customer to explain her situation. I was told, "I am online right now, you can call me later." I tried unsuccessfully to contact her later that day.

I wonder if the customer is just looking for a reason to not pay the bill.

I am sorry that this customer is confused about which company she is dealing with. I am also sorry that this customer is confused about which promotion she signed up for.

This customer may call me at my office when it is convenient for her.

Thanks for your time.

EDitor's Comment:

The Rip-off Report has a great deal of information about DISH Network and their deceptive customer service policies. We have no doubt that there is a deliberate effort to confuse customers between DISH Network, DISHNET and DirecTV. We have evidence that DISH Network customer service personnel direct people to use the DISHNET website to register complaints and DO hang up on customers as a de facto policy to provoke customers. Also, your title indicates that there is incorrect information. This looks like another diversionary tactic.

Well, today I received both the mailing box from Dish Network saying I should go up on my roof & disconnect & REMOVE THE DISH AND MAIL IT BACK TO THEM, and a threatening letter from VMC Satelleite saying "because I broke the contract" that they would be losing their "commission from the carrier"!!!!



VMC Satellite threatened that they were TAKING my money (I know this from other disgruntled customers) because "THEY HAVE A COLLECTION AGENCY THAT IS VERY GOOD". FULLY KNOWING THAT THERE WAS A PROBLEM, A VMC manager, MIKE LAUSTEN, called me at home PRETENDING to care & PROMISING to get to the bottom of the problem within 48 hours upon receipt of my detailed e-mail describing the events."



MIKE LAUSTEN of VMC SATELLITE merely wanted me to place blame on Dish Network, and not VMC Satellite! But yet HIS company's the one who's threatening to TAKE $290 from my credit card OR my checking account! In the letter, they CLAIM they have to "pay their commission back"... that "FREE" installation charge of $49.00 they debited from my credit card, I presume! The letter goes on ..."We were able to OFFER YOU A FREE SYSTEM INSTALLATION BECAUSE WE EARN A COMMISSION FROM THE CARRIER WHEN WE SET UP YOUR NEW ACCOUNT."



WHAT FREE system installation???? $49.00 is NOT FREE! It's yet another FRAUDULENT misrepresentation by VMC Satellite! Being overcharged and double-billed and given channels I didn't request is NOT FREE! Which part of that is FREE, MIKE? Did your installer make sure the correct "certificate" got applied since he HUNG UP ON DISH NETWORK HIMESLF IN MY HOME AFTER HE CALLED THEM DURING THE INSTALLATION???? I'm sure he couldn't have cared less! Just like Mike Lausten couldn't care less that his company's misrepresentations caused some of the billing problems!



Dish Network is an ABHORENT company to do business with! But VMC Satellite ALIGNS themselves with them to EARN MONEY off of innocent victims of the 2 company's scams. That fact became apparent after Mike Lausten, representing himself as a "VMC manager" failed to follow through on his PROMISE to have the situation straightened out after calling me a couple of times in my home! Not only did he NOT straighten ANYTHING out, his company sent me a threatening letter today! VMC SATELLITE is just as ruthless and dishonest a company as the company they affiliate themselves with---Dish Network. What a surprise, huh? The fleas are jumpin'!

I stand corrected. I erroneously implicated DirecTV in the last paragraph of my report. I MEANT to implicate DISH NETWORK.



I also was contacted by a VMC manager as a result of this written report & promised that I'd retract any erroneous comments made about VMC, and I do so, as follows...



VMC is NOT owned by EchoStar/Dish Network, as I erroneoulsy implied or stated. VMC is merely an "authorized distributor" FOR Dish Network/EchoStar. They have an on-going "business relationship" but it is not OWNED by Dish Network OR EchoStar, as represented to me by this manager, whom I'll leave unnamed.



UPDATE:

To date, I have still been unable, after 5 months of TRYING, to get to the bottom of the billing errors and miscommunications with Dish Network.



First, Dish Network provides no PHYSICAL business address in my state either on the bill or anywhere else. An inquiry as to a physical address for the company resulted, once again, in my being hung up on by Dish Network. I am forced to contact Dish Network via my NY State Attorney General's Office.



Second, I am STILL unsure whether my "certificate"---- which I paid VMC Satellite $49.00 for--- was properly applied at Dish Network. I have been unsuccessful at trying a logical approach with Dish Network. VMC Satellite's Manager called me and stated he'd "help get to the bottom of the problem within 48 hours" after his receipt of my detailed chronicle of events, which was e-mailed to him on 4/23/02. Upon inquiry to him via e-mail last evening as to why I STILL received no reply after a full week elapsed, his tersely worded e-mail instructed me that he'd not help unless or until I removed the derogatory information about VMC Satellite from this site.



Consider it done.



I'm still not SURE where the blame lies, and nobody has followed through on promises, except to point the finger elsewhere. At least 2 reps from Dish Network informed me that my certificate was not applied because they "don't accept 3rd party offers"; One rep told me that my certificate was erroneously applied. VMC manager? Which is it? I still do NOT know after 5 months.



One thing I DO KNOW----I'm one of over 3600 UNSATISFIED CUSTOMERS of Dish Network. Some of the unsatisifed customers name VMC Satellite, some don't... But if somebody begins to solve PROBLEMS instead of pointing the finger ELSEWHERE, maybe communication would IMPROVE. Maybe even business...and customer relations would vicariously improve. Happy customers don't malign "GOOD" businesses. Is this such a HARD concept to grasp?

So you say that every single person that you have spoken to hangs up on you when they cant handle your problem. Now i think that would be an assumption becuase the largest call center has close to 2,000 people working for them and take in mind that we have 5 call centers in the U.S., so even if you called in a hundred times i now that all 100 times you did not get hung up on.



So what you are saying out of the the thousands of people working for echostar that they will all hang up on you. Hey what ever makes you feel better is all i can say. you might call me a lackey but i think that it is a great company so great that i have it in my home and i have reffered lots of people to it and they are happy also. Now, i have never and will never hang up on a customer i try to resolve the issue or at least give them all the correct information and if they get upset at me cause its not what they wanted to hear, hey im sorry. But im here to provide you w/ the correct information. I will never tell a customer something they wanna hear just to make them happy and then it never happens. i will tell them what is going on and what will happen. i cant say that i know everything about anything in dish network that is just impossible but i give the best information possible to my customer and hey guess what. almost all the customers that i have spoken to are very happy w/ dish network.

Adam,



It is obvious that you are just sucking up to your company like the lackey you are. I have documented evidence that your customer service personnel routinely hang up on people...not when customer are rude, but when they just can't handle the ethical problems your company puts you in, or you get caught in your lies.



I also have documentation that you people lie and conveniently fail to document critical issues raised by customers. Additionally, when someone is promised something and it is not delivered, that person is conveniently no longer part of the company and no one knows anything about the promise.



What do you have to say about that?

Now you say that you were charged from programing that you never ordered now before you set up you are given a paper telling you what you get in that package. If you see channels that you know that you did not subscribe to then why didnt you call in to remove them? Were you looking into getting something for nothing???? Now as far as why you didnt get the free 3 months i do not know, but if you got it this promotion on line or through a local retailer they might have not submitted the correct information for the promotion discount. Now did you ask why you were not given the discount and if you did what was their answer. i know that they just wouldnt give it to you something might have happened where you didnt get it. Now usually when i hear that someone was hung up on at dishnetwork is when the customer is yelling and swearing and does not let the suporvisor talk. Now i have seen some of your reports i seen how you talk, maybe you didnt call up being nice to the rep and you were yelling or perhaps not even letting them speak. in my experiance customers get irrate when they dont hear what they want to hear. but take in mind all we are telling you is what is in front of us on that computer screen.