dish

—>A sneaky DirecTV marketer has bought up toll-free numbers that end in "DISH." When DISH Network customers call up, the operators make it sound like they're from Dish and offering them a free service upgrade, but in reality, they're switching the service and slamming the Dish Network customer into a DirecTV service contract.  More »

—>A California Superior Court judge has just been given the go ahead to a class action lawsuit against DirecTV over their practice of charging early termination fees.  More »

—>A lawsuit has been filed against Dish Network by the U.S. Justice Department (on behalf of the FTC) alleging that the company violated "Do Not Call" rules by phoning potential customers without their permission.   More »

—>Like anything that's cool and people use to organically connect to one another, companies have rushed into Twittering. To take advantage of this, reader Justin says he's started following all the companies he gets service from on Twitter. When he saw @dishnetwork tweet about an area getting local HD channels, he asked in reply when Cincinnati would get them. @dishnetwork replied back that Cincinnati should have them and asked for his account for so they could check into it. Turned out he needed a different Dish and the rep agreed to have it installed at no cost instead of the usual $60. "The tech showed up this morning, and I have local HD channels for free," writes Justin. "I'm finding tracking companies on Twitter is useful because they people monitoring the accounts are ones who can actually do something."  More »

—> An 'Authorized Dish Network Retailer' is preying on the confusion surrounding the DTV transition to sell its satellite television services, suggested in lieu of cable companies because of "Complaints" and "Lack of HD Channels". Full copy of the letter inside.  More »

—>Inside, email addresses, phone numbers, and addresses for over 100 different companies to inject your customer service complaints into their corporate executive offices, and get it well on the way to success.  More »

—>Meet Brandon. He canceled DirecTV after less than 24 hours (the agreed upon time limit to avoid a fee, apparently), only to see that DirecTV debited $446.60 from his checking account.  More »

—>If you have a problem with DISH and regular customer service isn't working, try these folks:  More »

—>The FTC fined a Dish Network telemarketing firm $75,000 for hanging up on customers, reports the Deseret News. The company used teleautobots to dial peoples' homes, which were then supposed to connect to a live telemarketer when someone picked up. However, the system would sometimes get more live customers than there were telemarketers, leaving some customers with a silent line. Federal regulations stipulate that if you use teleautobots, you have to connect the customer to a person within two seconds. The FTC made this law because people, in particular women and old people, were worried they were being stalked when they answered the phone and no one was there.  More »

—>  More »

—>This is Round 29 in our Worst Company in America contest, Countrywide Home Loans vs Dish Network. Vote which sucks more, inside...  More »

—>Here's a new sales tactic from Dish Network. When they interrupt your dinner to sell you satellite TV, and you politely decline, they will win you over by telling you to shut up.  More »

—>Lots of companies are pushing deals for their bundled internet, tv and phone plans, but which are best? Consumer Reports surveyed its readers and here's how they ranked the service providers:  More »

—>Dish Network customers can get the Cinemax movie channel for one cent for year if they switch to paperless billing. Here's how:  More »

—> Like all decent Americans, I loath Time Warner and decided to cancel my cable and get satellite service through AT&T, who are a Dish Network reseller.   More »