Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Dish Network: Poor Customer Service, Self-Limited But Heavily-Promoted Features


I just posted the following to Dish Network following an online chat. Sorry, I'm bored with it now, so I don't want to re-type the chat text, but it's pretty clear.
1 - The agent asked repeatedly about my issue when I had given clear information: "I am having difficulty getting my newly-installed Hopper to skip commercials." "I understand you have questions about your Hopper." "Uh, yea..."
2 - It seems that, contrary to the impressions given in the promotional materials and SEVERELY limiting the feature's benefit, the new automatic commercial skip only works on network TV, only with programming recorded with Primetime Anytime, and only after 1AM of the day after the material is recorded. That is to say, this highly-touted feature is almost worthless since most viewers will want to watch new programs the same day as they are aired - and those willing to wait until the next day can already watch most programming with reduced commercials the next day on Hulu.
To add additional restrictions on the new features, Primetime Anytime also does not work the day of installation, but requires a second full guide download at 1am after install. Keyword search: Same - doesn't work until the next day. Blockbuster @ Home: Also doesn't work until the next day. Pay-per-view: Yup, not until the next day.

Now, don't get me wrong - the Hopper has a lot of improvements over the ViP922. The ViP922 that I just paid a $200 upgrade fee for. The buggy, seemingly code-bloated ViP922. Which I was told had a 1TB drive, but really had the same 500GB drive as the one that didn't have an upgrade fee. Which I was told could record over-the-air programming, only to find that the ability required an add-on. And which NEVER worked correctly, with regular lockups, skipped programs, and programs with errors that wouldn't play. And which I have now upgraded to a device that they are giving FREE to new subscribers, but had to get escalated to a manager to avoid yet another $100 upgrade fee. Too bad they aren't about to refund me the $200 upgrade fee, since I don't have two million readers. But at least this one seems to work, and so far, seems to work more smoothly.

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