Can We Talk 2

Tv & Satellite Service

         Have I complained lately about satellite service? Well, I'm going to whine some now. Dish let us go on using the same obsolete equipment for years without offering to replace it, but collected monthly fees anyway. We were accumulating "credits" by paying on time for so long, but they didn't tell us about them, until we quit our service with them. We hooked up with Direct TV for a special deal. Dish wouldn't suspend it when I requested, so we ended up paying for 3 weeks when we weren't even connected. If I wanted to pay Direct for breaking the contract, we could use the built up credits on New Dish service (with a new contract).

         There were two free or included channels on Dish that we don't get now. I have to call around May 9 to cancel the free trial, and hope that the channel we like the best is not in that bundle. I think it is, because it's one of the STARZ networks, but only reruns old movies. We still haven't gotten the $200 gift card we were promised. It came with no instructions, so I haven't figured out how to record, or how to remove the unavailable channels from my list when I'm surfing. And I can't connect to my Internet, which is also new and more expensive than promised. I was told I had WI Fii, but I'm not savy of these things and can't watch TV anywhere as promised.

         I feel like they're all liars, refusing full disclosure. I asked for something in writing from DISH. All they sent was an advertisement by email. How can I compare plans and prices. They will not divulge any info that allows you to make an educated choice. We only changed because we wanted to reduce our monthly bill. That went up because of the overlapping services, but should even out next month. My Internet improved, but instead of going up $10, it went up about $40 because it's tied in with the phone, which was not explained to me.

         Where are the honest business people? Or is that an oxymoron? Reaching them with anything other than a technical difficulty is pretty difficult, too. You always are told you have the wrong department. And the numbers are in another state. No one local has any idea what is going on. Make things simple for the consumer. Spell out what you offer, what it costs, what are the terms, how you can be reached, how to terminate your relationship, etc. And I have to get rid of the obsolete equipment. I can't sell it. I am not supposed to send it to the dump. But I am not going to drive to another town to recycle it. It seems like that should be Dish's problem.