Dish TV & Phone "Service"--Run Away!

Okay—we all have opinions about mobile phone companies and service; and you can feel free to post your experiences. This posting is to warn you about Dish, including, but not exclusive to their satellite television company that is attached with their mobile phone company. The bottom line is this—DO NOT DO ANY BUSINESS WITH DISH.

I am retired, but have worked for all the major carriers, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint; so my opinion should rank a little higher than a typical consumer’s. Dish recently purchased a part of the former Sprint mobile phone network and is getting into the cellular business. In addition to not using their TV service, no one should even consider signing up for their cellular service.

Not to bore you with all the details, I have had an ongoing problem with my Dish satellite service. For months, and in a variety of ways, I have tried to contact Dish; but their contact setup makes it virtually IMPOSSIBLE to talk with anyone, let alone a person who could fix my problem. Note also, I used to be a bill collector, so I know how to get around roadblocks better than most. With great experience and time wasted over two or more months, I can conclude, Dish has zero customer service. None—and they take great pains to insure they make it impossible for a customer to get anything resolved…UNLESS…

As I indicated, as a current customer, I have found it impossible to get through to technical support. The best I have done is to get far enough through the loopholes to receive the automated voice who says, “the wait time for your call is greater than 45 minutes…if you would like the first available representative to call you back at your number, hit ‘1’…” I hit “1” at 3PM one day, and received a call about noon the next day, only to be told by that representative, after hearing my problem, that she was not the proper department, but she would transfer me to the correct one. She did—and I got back into the same rabbit hole as when I dialed in myself and was unable to talk to anyone.

BUT—we received a Dish TV promotion in the mail—sent to everyone in our town, I’m sure, showing a promotion for new subscribers. I called that number and was talking to a real person within 30 seconds!!! New suckers can get in right away, but good customers are figuratively given the finger.

Conclusion: Dish satellite TV is impossible to deal with; but they are now also venturing into the cellular business. If anyone thinks they will get good cellular service from Dish, they are an idiot. DISH - RUN AWAY!

IPTV for television and Tmobile, ATT or Verizon for cellular. That's it.

Years ago we moved to a new home.
Of course, that's means getting set up with all the utility providers in the area.
We decide to give Dish a chance.
It was, without question, the worst reception I ever had and we just had problem on top of problem.
It was so bad that I started telling all my neighbors, friends, co-workers, etc to stay away from Dish.
It was so bad that I started making the comment - "It doesn't even need to be raining for me to lose signal. I swear to God, if the weather man simply mentions rain in the forecast I'm losing my signal."

We have Direct tv.....its been good.....it does give us a 5 min warning on heavy storms hitting us.....and snow in process... but we have been reasonably pleased ... the female unit called annually to get some price credits and does get to a live person

JayDubya said:

It was, without question, the worst reception I ever had and we just had problem on top of problem.

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Who installed it? You, or someone else?

Just wondering how well your dish was aimed.

Ttazzman said:

We have Direct tv.....its been good.....

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Yea, good ol' DirecTV. Back in the late nineties, I worked with a guy who knew how to program the cards they used to access service. All ya had to do was go to Best Buy and get a unit. (paying with cash, of course) Had to have what was called an HU card.
Would end up getting well over a thousand channels. It pretty was every channel they had on the system.
Sometimes it'd take so long to figure out what I wanted to watch, that by the time I did, the show would almost be over. Lol

Now, I don't watch TV at all. I guess I od'd on it back then. Lol
....and yea, I know it wasn't the rightest thing to do, bit it was fun for awhile.

IPTV gives all the channels including PPV for $100 annually.

Anybody doing IPTV currently?

Been using Verizon for around 12 years for home (triple play) & cell. No complaints so far.

nickndfl said:

Anybody doing IPTV currently?

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Hey @nickndfl would you mind telling us more about this?
Could you please describe your current setup?
Is there any ancillary items/services necessary (ie a signal converter box, or special proprietary DVR)?
Does one need an internet provider, streaming service (ie ROKU) etc?
Any details you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks

I am not doing IPTV, but am familiar with the service. It's tv over the net. Many recommend an Android box and then enter in a channel list that opens up 1000s of channels including movies and porn. Some use an app on a smart tv to bypass extra equipment, but that can be more prone to freezing and buffering.

There are many options available online, but the most reliable service is usually purchased face-to-face locally. Don't believe the option that you can buy a lifetime sub online for about $125. It will be as reliable as a Chinese Rolex.

JayDubya said:

Hey @nickndfl would you mind telling us more about this?
Could you please describe your current setup?
Is there any ancillary items/services necessary (ie a signal converter box, or special proprietary DVR)?
Does one need an internet provider, streaming service (ie ROKU) etc?
Any details you could provide would be appreciated.
Thanks

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Get a VPN set to server outside USA, I use NordVPN.

Learn more here:

Works!

DirecTV to acquire Dish Network, Sling TV for $1​

Satellite TV provider DirecTV has agreed to buy longtime competitor Dish Network, throwing a lifeline to the troubled Colorado-based broadcaster that helped pioneer the industry.

The proposed consolidation, announced early Monday, highlights the challenges facing traditional television. DirecTV agreed to assume Dish's net debt and pay just $1 for Dish's satellite TV business and streaming service Sling TV — a startling admission about the fading prospects of the once prominent satellite television provider and its Englewood, Colo.-based parent, EchoStar Communications.

The deal is expected to unfold in two separate transactions. Private equity firm TPG plans to acquire AT&T's majority stake in DirecTV, giving TPG full ownership of the El Segundo-based company.

Separately, DirecTV agreed to assume $9.9 billion of Dish's debt at the close of the EchoStar transaction. The proposed takeover, structured as a debt exchange, would allow DirecTV to boost its subscriber count with Dish's more than 8 million homes. DirecTV currently has about 10 million subscribers for its namesake service and U-Verse.

More:

This is the end
Beautiful friend


Reminds me of back in the 1980s when long distance phone carriers consolidated. The SEC even refused one deal which sank MCI.

As soon as Musk completes the Starlink network there will be no need for Direct TV. It's old technology.

A month later I love my IPTV provider Solu tv. I get 8k channels USA, UK & Canada. I recommend it 100%.

searcher said:

DirecTV to acquire Dish Network, Sling TV for $1​

Satellite TV provider DirecTV has agreed to buy longtime competitor Dish Network, throwing a lifeline to the troubled Colorado-based broadcaster that helped pioneer the industry.

The proposed consolidation, announced early Monday, highlights the challenges facing traditional television. DirecTV agreed to assume Dish's net debt and pay just $1 for Dish's satellite TV business and streaming service Sling TV — a startling admission about the fading prospects of the once prominent satellite television provider and its Englewood, Colo.-based parent, EchoStar Communications.

The deal is expected to unfold in two separate transactions. Private equity firm TPG plans to acquire AT&T's majority stake in DirecTV, giving TPG full ownership of the El Segundo-based company.

Separately, DirecTV agreed to assume $9.9 billion of Dish's debt at the close of the EchoStar transaction. The proposed takeover, structured as a debt exchange, would allow DirecTV to boost its subscriber count with Dish's more than 8 million homes. DirecTV currently has about 10 million subscribers for its namesake service and U-Verse.

More:

MSN

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Update.

$9.9b for 8 million subscribers? That's ~$1,237 of debt per subscriber. Seems like an expensive way to grow the subscriber base. They would have been better off watching Dish go bankrupt and trying to entice their customer base to switch with incentives.

The hardware is not compatible with each other. If one died it would need all new equipment other that the wires.

I remember going to Best Buy 25 years ago and getting a receiver for $89, then hacking the card to get every channel for free. Was well over 1000 channels.
Those were the days!

Now there is IPTV which is less $ and gets all the channels without the down time.