This story first appeared in the April 12 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. In , a few months before Charlie Ergen co-founded the company that would become Dish Network , he and a gambling buddy strode into a Lake Tahoe casino with the intention of winning a fortune by counting cards. Ergen, then 27, had bought a book called Playing Blackjack as a Business and studied the cheat sheets.
Unfortunately for him, a security guard caught his pal lip-syncing numbers as the cards were dealt. The two were kicked out and subsequently banned from the casino. More than three decades later, Ergen, now 60, again stands accused of cheating the house — but this time the house is here, nestled in the confines of executive suites from Burbank to Beverly Boulevard. With increasing frequency, Ergen has engaged in ugly, high-stakes games of chicken with Hollywood. But all that was just preamble to the Hopper.
The networks want a judge to grant an injunction, and Fox is appealing the denial of a shutdown while making a renewed attempt to enjoin the Hopper — after Dish added mobile capabilities amid the legal challenge. The broadcasters reject the assessment.
Not surprisingly, Hopper has become extremely popular. The year before Dish began offering the service for free to customers, the company lost , subscribers.
Since then, Dish added back 89, We always get out of it. We want to win. Networks hope that if research agencies like Nielsen start placing emphasis on those who watch programming a week after an initial live telecast, it will help keep advertisers in line. Interestingly, such TV carriers as Time Warner Cable and DirecTV, though presumably in possession of the same technological capability, have not provided products that have triggered such industry venom.
CBS is trying to rescind its licensing contract with Dish by claiming that Ergen and his top lieutenants fraudulently hid their plans for the Hopper in contract meetings in Even among these threats, though, Dish represents perhaps the most aggressive and well-funded disrupter. Ergen now is gearing up for a fight that could answer that question.
The coming talks between the companies represent the first major negotiation since the introduction of the Hopper. Disney hardly wishes to bless a tech product like the Hopper by renewing its deal with Dish. This friend-and-foe dilemma is the essential conundrum Dish presents.
After Spectrum got me hooked up and running, I called Dish to cancel my service. I have a lawyer ready to sue Dish if you don't cancel and screw me. He said, "I understand" and cancel my service, said, "I send boxes to you and you can send back the equipment," I had Cox Cable and Spectrum before and they never screwed me or lied to me or ever had blackout stations, disputes, maybe a service interruption due to weather, but that's it.
Horrible service!!! We are moving into a new home that does not currently have a satellite dish and we decided we did not want a satellite dish on the house and would try a streaming service instead. When I told the representative we were going to cancel, he was very polite and as expected, tried to persuade me not to cancel. When he realized he was not going to change my mind, the tone of the call changed completely. I was assured that I would receive a prorated credit.
Then I was informed about the termination fees and excessive charges to return equipment! Neither my wife and I recall ever contacting DISH about any changes to our subscription and do not believe it was true. The representative insisted that we had signed up for a new package and would not agree to cancel our service until we gave him a credit card to pay for all the additional fees!
Think before subscribing. No gift card. If your internet is satellite you're going to have problems. I've got upgrades with internet and Hopper 3. Same problem 4 months now. Can't be fixed.
They of course blame each other leaving you in the middle. They don't tell you that you need the highest broadband available to review 4k. Dish just wants to upscale you promising that buy this it will fix your problem.
They made a sucker out of me. Still no gift card. I had faulty equipment so I called tech support and we tried everything but the equipment was bad. So they sent me out new equipment. I received an email from them stating I did not have to send back the equipment I could recycle it.
It took me a month or so to go to Best Buy and recycle it. I handed it over to someone at the Best Buy Customer Service counter in the original box Dish sent my replacement equipment in with all kinds of stickers.
The girl took it from me and away I went. I received an email from Dish stating they were going to charge me for my unsecured equipment. I didn't think anything about it since I had already turned it into Best Buy and I had a letter from Dish saying I would not be charged for the replacement equipment. They didn't care about the first email or even asked me to send it to them. They do NOT have good customer service! Where to start this nightmare.
My brother was paying for Spectrum internet because he was living with me. So when he moved out he turned off the internet service. This was when I started looking around for a deal.
I found two. One was for And I would still have to pay for the stations I was getting through Google Play. I also found a deal Dish was offering. This deal was a bundle deal with Windstream. You picked out which Dish package you wanted and to add on Windstream internet it would So I thought I would go for the America's Top channels for Also they offered a gift card for signing up.
Anyhow long story short. I was told that they did offer this bundle deal in my area. That Windstream was in my ZIP code. So they set everything up with Windstream. And both Dish and Windstream technicians came to. At the same time. So I was happy until I got my bills. This company needs to have emails and recorded calls audited and investigated along with unauthorized charges that is what collections is for and reporting to credit agencies.
I work nights and signed up with Dish because they advertised 24 hour tech support… Turned out not to be true was at one time but not any more. They took off the On Demand feature…again no warning. Terrible customer service!!! They sell you on features they subsequently remove without warning…24 hour tech support, Dish on Demand, channels that go away etc… Terrible customer service!
I was a Direct TV customer for 12 years and left because customer service was so poor. Been with Dish for seven now… They are no better. Bad experience! Had to go through all kinds of hoops in order to cancel services. Wish they would just let you cancel like most other services.
It felt like I was dealing with a used car salesperson from 20 years ago. We have a digital fireplace channel…no real channels since local networks are free. Cant watch a local ballgame without paying premium. Look at local cable first!
Dish service is a NO GO!!!!! I had a job change from Georgia to Florida and the customer representative said that I can put account on hold and when I get it turned back on that I would be right back where I was just that my contact would extend for the months I was on hold.
Nothing was said about loosing my credits or my bill going up. Now that I have called to reactivate the account they said bill will be going up that I have lost my service credits. Called to talk to a supervisor and he was rude and would not listen to anything that was said. Seems like they are there to not help or to get anything completed.
I have DISH in my home as well as in my motorhome. A DVR is not recommended in the RV due to heat when stored and bouncing the hard disk when on the road, so a receiver does the trick.
If you connect it to USB drive or put a laptop hard drive in it, you can schedule recordings on it. I have had DISH for about 12 years, using it first in my motorhome. DISH also allows you to pay for it a month minimum at a time, which is useful if you only use your RV a few months a year.
They upgraded my DVR receiver to the Hopper, an amazing device. I hear a lot of complaints and threats to change providers here. Which of the other providers would you claim was a better choice? I would bet I would find similar complaints if I were to check out directv reviews. Do Not Even Ask what their pricing is to sign up for service.
They will make Not one but TWO hard inquiries on your credit report guaranteed to drop your score. Because if they can drop your score it lessens your chance with other competitors, then they are your only option. You will have to use a spouse or someone else to check with any other providers of cell, internet, landline or satellite services.
Dish sucks so bad it is like I went back in time….. Directv does not do it nor does U-verse. Their quality sucks and I would never go back to Dish once my contract is up. During the install the idiot fell through the ceiling and they have yet to reimburse me for the repairs and it has been almost a year. This is easily the worst TV service I have ever tried to watch. Im just trying to watch my local NBA teams game on tv and usually they do not even have Comcast sports net to watch the Celtics so its not even an option.
Also the channels are terrible and I am constantly losing connection. I do not recommend DISH to anyone ever, I hope they go out of business to save everyone from them ruining there entertainment. I signed up with dish little over two years ago, usual story, package went from 80 to dollar as promotional period ended, l called dish to give an opportunity to give an opportunity for me to stay with them, given new customers receive an alexia device upgraded equipment and a dollar prepaid card, I called to ask what they do for existing low maintenance customers.
Reply from dish, you can pay for upgrades to equipment and promotional rates are for new customers only….? Loyalty has now value, if you sign a contract with us you can we can reduce your bill by 20 dollars. Well that showed how relevant we were as a customer.
I have now canceled service and they are asking me to pay 15 dollars to ship equipment back to them??? Once you cancel customer service tone changes emensley I am absolulty discusted I was ever a customer.
Lousy service. They initially let me record shows, then cut that off for Sirius XM. That was a major reason I chose Dish. Too bad. They said they would upgrade my service but erased all my recorded shows and all I got was a bigger guide screen so I could see more of their garbage channels. Then service stopped for no apparent reason. It said no signal. A tech from a subcontractor came out and it was fixed for about 2 days. I called him back, he promised a new receiver that weekend: nothing.
Broadcasts cut out all the time so you never get uninterrupted service. I called customer service. Their useless advice was to call or chat about whatever error message showed on screen. But there is no such message — just interrupted service, with bits and pieces of each sentence so broadcasts are a total joke.
Dish is a bunch of ripoff artists and crooks: They are unresponsive, expensive, and utterly worthless. I would quit but they soak you for that. This is service from a third world country. I would never recommend Dish to anyone unless I was mad at them. Dish is a 4-letter word. Signed up because as a Direct TV customer for 15 years, My new home location is blocked by huge trees. No signal. Signed with Dish 2 months ago.
Tech installed TV. Works great. Once finished showed me onscreen the TV with the Hopper directly attached , with a 25 Mbps plan, I was receiving at that time I signed and was promised 25 Mbps, getting about 2 or less consistently now.
If anyone else is having issues with customer service and needs help. Consider this. If at anytime the provider does not perform at the level agreed to at the time of the contract initiation and agreement. They have breached the contract. That breach makes the whole contract null and void. You will win in court if you take them there. I have, but not with dish. NOTE: Read your contract. Yes the fine print. There will be all sorts of disclaimers you signed to. Some will matter, most will not.
So they will be held accountable if what they promised does not occur, regardless of the disclaimers. Hoping they will honor their contract for my internet. We will see. I have been a customer of dish for 12 years. I also have my elderly mother on dish services. Two days ago her receiver finally went out.
I called dish to get it replaced. Wait a minute, this is your receiver that we pay a monthly fee for. We have had it 12 years and it needs to be replaced. That covers service except for a trip fee and deductible. Okay, fine. There has to be better options than this. Poor customer service and charges to customers.
I just wanted to warn anyone else interested in dish to beware and be aware. Obviously, this is a review paid for by Dish Network. Dish has a standard policy to have their customer serivce people lie to their customers on phone calls. Dish never stands behind what they commit to on their phone calls with customers. This is a business practice and procedure. One that is clearly making Dish money at their customers expense. Dish flatly refuses to back up conversations with documented proof of call.
Make sure when dealing with this company you record the phone calls! Take notes with documented time and date, the rep you spoke with and all details. These will stand up in court. Hi Wrace, we are not paid for the review itself. Here is our Disclosure page if you have any questions. While we do not have any jurisdiction over how the companies we review run, we certainly do not encourage bad customer service or lies. Dish has plenty of sports channels. I was a customer for 8 years.
Paid my bill on time. I called to complain several times. Their pricing plans following their initial two year plan are outrageously high. Furthermore, I have mps internet service and yet their service was super slow on my receivers and literally took several seconds to even respond whenever I selected anything and then would often hang for up to a minute, if not indefinitely, when trying to access one of my DV-R recordings.
Dish Network has terrible customer service and no one was willing to discuss a mutually acceptable resolution of this issue. I had to ask multiple times to talk to a manager before they transferred me and when they finally put one on the manager was just as hostile.
They are all about gouging the customer and make no effort to resolve valid customer concerns and complaints. I strongly recommend that anyone considering satellite service not consider Dish Network for all of the above reasons as they will end up being extremely disappointed with their surprisingly substandard service.
I would rather pay twice as much with another satellite company that has better customer service and will never consider going back to them at any point in the future unless they refund me their fraudulent charges. I am leaving dish! Worse customer service EVER. Wrose company they can raise your rates anytime they want if you cancel they charge you extra before your two years are up my friend move in with me they would not let him bring his box for a second tv now they making him pay 20 till July now they raised it to 24 and he not useing the box where is this fair.
Dish network in saint louis area is horrible, I watched a tech do an install for me, he had to call his boss to ask a question and was on the phone having to call multiple people for over an hour. I was told 3 hours and took 7. When ordering asked for internet TV bundle. Was lead to believe that I was going to receive the bundle package. Tried to cancel account but they told me that I signed a contract. Informed them that no, I signed up for the bundle not just tv.
Had to escalate call to the Office of the President to try to get a resolution. Agent tells me that she will have to listen to sales call and get back to me. I then informed her that I was going to call any and all investigative reporter that will ALSO look into this matter.
Dish is crap. Went to cancel my service and I have to pay a service fee. I now have to pay them over to cancel. Dish sucks nothing but a bait and switch organization.
When i called to shut off service they told me that I would lose all promotions. I told them to cancel they then wacked me for These people are the worst run……..
There are people who are happy with Dish and there are those who hate it. I know a lot of people who have Dish and they all are satisfied with Dish.
Paul, we try to provide the most up to date information about each product and let everyone comment and air their grievances with companies. While we can laugh at ourselves, we take our content seriously. Dish reception is really sketchy. There are frequent freeze-ups, dropouts, pixilation of the screen, and the audio stops as you miss portions of the program.
Dish simply does not seem to know how to fix the problem and deliver reliable reception to their customers. Yet the cost continues to increase. When a loyal customer uses up their allotment of discounts, their bill can double!
I felt duped! Dish is total crap here yet again the send reps to your home to talk about all of the good things they have well dish bundled with frontire.
I was completely confusing from installation. My room cable didnt work for more then two weeks with a tech being sent out to firgure what the problem is. Then once my contract was up the tv kept freezing then it went out completely.. Then they leave out the most valuble info dont send back the frontire router!!! So i send everything back to dish now they cant help ne there is no number to contact the returns dept make no sense at all im never ever goimg back to dish and everyone i see with dish will here how terrible their service is.
The hopper has a mind of its own!! I called to check the tv packages and they asked me a lot of information to make sure I would get a better price. One of the things was a credit card just for them to have it on file.
After the phone call and 5 transactions on my bank account including 1 for Now I have to go through the bank to try to dispute those transactions.
I have never had problems with dish until this time that I signed up for service. When I first called to inquire about prices, i asked for service in 5 rooms. I decided to go with the package that was presented only to find out that the technician came for installation with a work order for only 4 rooms.
A couple of days into the contract we were having problems viewing shows in the 4th room and when I called to see what was wrong, the agent said that with the hopper and 3 joeys we could only view 3 rooms and the 4th room had to join one of the other rooms viewing.
Technically that is only 3 rooms. Why cant they just be up front with customers? This has me so angry!!!! I have two Dish Network accounts, one in Indiana and one in Florida.
After returning to Indiana I have made 6 calls to Customer Service in 2 days and have had 1 home service call just to restore service from vacation pause. They will soon be history. I also have Dish in Florida with the hopper receivers and have had no problems. They will probably lose both accounts as a result of their poor business practices. I have to go to Dish America to get the channels I want.
I can get the channels I want on Directv Select package. I cannot get all these on Dish without going to a higher package. I get all the sports , which is football , my favorite teams only, on Locall channels. Tricked by Dish. Was told weather was really not a problem anymore.
Was told I was signing installation papers. It was a 2 year contact. Out of the past 16 days, 8 of those were without service. Yes another sad dish story. Never again!! Last month I decreased my serviced because I cannot afford — and this month I received double bill , I want to cancel my account but I cannot. It is manipulative language they r using when called. Secondly, I had three dish sitting on my roof , they cannot remove this — so I tried to remove by myself and I went on roof and I felt.
It was lower roof so dint get much hurt. Now what I hv to do , please suggest Nivpatel gmail. The picture quality is terrible. Do not get me wrong I have no love for DirecTV but I just cancelled DISH because there picture quality is bad, it is like streaming off the internet which is really weird because it is suppose to be coming in off the dish but the images are choppy and laggy as well as the resolution looks more like or when it is suppose to be I got Internet TV today and I am saving a bundle even with the early cancellation fee.
Make sure you scrutinize your channel listing when they talk you into a great deal because it will be channels you never watch. I could not watch any football or hockey and we could only stream one device at a time online. The customer service representatives are the rudest people I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with.
I am glad to be done with Dish and never will come back! After 6 months they started billing me and after phone calls I straighten it out went okay for 3 months then started billing me again and when I called and explained and ask them to listen to the conversation of when I was signed up they hung up on me after more phone calls and 1 hour on the phone fighting with these people they finally conceded that they indeed had promised me one year and was so happy to inform me that they were going to give me what they promised me in the beginning.
I should not have to fight and argue for over 1 hour to get what I was promised totally ridiculous and unprofessional. In addition dish receiver is constantly freezing up and after multiple phone calls they finally replaced it with one that freezes up even more.
As soon as you get into the two-year agreement they forget everything they promised. If they start giving you promises to sign up make sure to get it in writing. With Dish, have to go with a much higher package to get all the channels I want to see.
The American Pk. DirectTV has the better channel lineup. Sorry dish! Let me know when you get humans back in the work force… Direct here I come. Dish is a nightmare on this end. They sent the return box to the new owners because that is the address on file. My new home is under construction, so no address except a P. Box which is unacceptable to Dish. They said they would email a return label to use with my own box, but did not.
Seems they are eager to soak me for equipment returnable only by their rules. They honestly have no idea what they are talking about and say about anything to get off the phone. In my opinion this prevents anyone from being responsible for information being put out there! What can I say same ole thing just a different day and people getting the coals hot!
I can basically do everything online except cancel my service. I completely believe that this message will fall on deaf ears, if not please contact me. Around 6 months ago I opted to renew my contract for two years. At that point I should have dropped Dish for the totally unfriendly business practice of not providing an upgrade for a long time steady customer who had other options on the Satellite market. I had to make a decision to either drop Dish for their unfriendly business position or deal with disruption of service and contact DirectTV.
So now on a weekly basis I get updates talking about how great the new features of Dish including voice remote which I wanted etc. I am just pretty disgusted with corporate approach to business that if you have a customer by the balls why be nice to them. I actually recommended to a new neighbor Dish as a provider. Lots of come ons and promos…no backup. I will be uploading this complaint to the customer complaint blog. Your rep was nice yesterday but supervisor who dealt with my request was adjunct and stiff.
Not who I want running my business. I basically like Dish and its features. Your treatment of long time customers is deplorable and I will no longer recommend your business to anyone! Ed Gage Texas. Dish is pure, unadulterated, crap in terms of viewing experience. If you operate two TVs, simultaneously, the second tv is a slave to the master tv. I wish I had read these reviews before signing up for Dish Network!
First of all a hour install took 9 hours to complete! I have had this service for 5 days! I have read the information booklet they left for me front to back numerous times trying to figure out how to use this STUPID system and have failed! Dishnetwork Sucks!!!!
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