In this review of Dish Network (the satellite television program service) and its bundle package, I’ll share my personal experience with you. First, we had previously been using Time Warner Cable and Roadrunner. We were fairly satisfied with them, except for the fact that our bill would show a slight increase every month, and in the course of just over a year, the total had risen $17 a month. In this recession economy, my husband and I are looking carefully at every bill.
How does the Dish Network bundle compare to Time Warner in terms of cost?
One Saturday afternoon, a young man came door-to-door selling a telephone/Internet/satellite package. He was offering the Dish Network America’s Top 100 Satellite TV Package, Frontiernet unlimited high-speed wireless Internet, and Frontier phone with call waiting and caller ID ALL for $50/month less than what we were paying. In this recession economy, how great is saving $50/month!
To sweeten the savings pot, he told us that if we signed up we would get the $50 satellite installation for free plus $150 of Master Card gift cards, for a total value of $200. He also went on to say that we had a 90 day grace period in which we could cancel our contract with no penalty except to give the $200 back.
I have now found out that this is not true. First, we never received the $150 in Master Card gift cards. Secondly, the installation was $99 (of which we did get a $50 discount, but obviously had to pay the other $49). And lastly, when we called to cancel (because of no TV reception) we were told that we were going to be charged a $230 cancellation fee.
How does the Dish Network bundle compare to Time Warner in terms of quality?
First, the Internet:I use Frontiernet at work and could never tell the difference between the Frontiernet there and the Roadrunner at home. So I had no problem with the idea of switching Internet service providers.
In reality, having Frontiernet at home was a nightmare. It never worked properly. In the less than two week period that we had Frontiernet, the longest I was ever on the Internet was 22 minutes. Unbelievable. I called customer service every day, and was finally to the point where I said to them, “If you can’t provide this service in my area, just tell me.” To their credit, the customer service reps were very polite and professional. However, the same can’t be said of the technicians. The first technician tracked mud through my house and parked on the grass, leaving a huge rut in my lawn!
Needless to say, we no longer have Frontiernet.
We’re still using Frontier for the phone, though.Service is lousy, it always has been- we have overhead wires (which all the phone providers would use) and we call for service periodically. Sigh. It’s just part of living here. My girlfriend got digital phone and she says it’s even worse, so I’ll stick with the enemy I know.
Now for the television part. I know that satellite has a bad reputation for losing reception when it snows, so when the dish was installed I requested that it be put on the lower of our roofs so that I could easily access it if need be. (Losing reception wasn’t the biggest deal to me, sometimes we lose cable.)
The satellite tech insisted that it had to be put at the uppermost point of our highest roof in order to work. The problems here are: #1: It didn’t work where he put it, and #2: I can’t possibly access the dish without a 30 foot ladder, which I wouldn’t be willing to climb anyway.
When I called to report that we had no service from the satellite, I was told that the tech could place the dish elsewhere. I then had to tell the phone rep that I was told by the tech that the dish HAD to be placed where it was. (What bothered me about this was that I’m sure Dish Network would have installed the dish at any of my neighbor’s ranch-style houses, so the span and height of my house shouldn’t make a difference.)
Customer Service for Dish Network Bundle
Then, to add insult to injury, I made several phone complaints only to be told that no one knows who the company is that sells the Dish Network/Frontiernet package. What? It’s not Dish Network. It’s not Frontiernet. Odd that they knew to come to my house when I signed up, but no one can field a complaint because it “wasn’t them”.
Clearly, this was not what we signed up for. I also take issue with the fact that Dish Network is going to charge the cancellation fee to the credit card that we used for the deposit. Even though it may be legal, it’s not ethical.
In conclusion, I do NOT recommend the Dish Network/Frontiernet/Frontier Phone Bundle.
This has been a very bad experience for us. First, we were grossly mislead by the sales rep. Secondly, we were mislead by the tech about the placement of the dish. Third, we had no television reception. Fourth, no Internet service. Lastly, Dish Network customer service was more concerned with defending themselves than in resolving the problem.
I have tried repeatedly, through phone and e-mail, to have this resolved to my satisfaction. (Yes, I canceled and returned to Time Warner/Roadrunner.) My only recourse at this point is to let other people know about my experience in hopes that no one else makes the same mistake.
