While the kid's asleep I thought I'd post something else I was meaning to rant about. This is a small part of the misery that was last week. When we moved into the condo a year ago, we hooked up with Time Warner Cable with a deal to do our cable/phone/internet. The contract lasted one year which was up last week. We researched the possibilities and figured out it would be cheaper if we went with Cincy Bell for high speed and phone [they force you to get the phone too, but it's not a bad deal] and then find someone else for television. Dish Network was running a sweet deal including 2 DVRs so we went for it. I had it all engineered to happen on the same day: phone/internet in the morning and television in the afternoon. It was brilliant.
The Cincinnati Bell guy was in and out in no time. So then it was waiting for the Dish guy to show up. We had a four hour window, waiting for them between 1pm and 5pm. By 6:00 no one had showed up so I called Dish to check the problem. After hours they transfer you to a call center in India which means it's extra difficult to communicate with their broken English. Example: the operator asked me, "What time does your clock say?" and repeatedly called me, "Ma'am." Anyway, the guy set me up with a new appointment so we would have to wait a couple of days.
So the second install time came and went. Called the Dish people up [this time an American call center] and was told there might be a problem with the install. I was given a local line to call. The local guy informed me that their installers actually stopped by our place on Monday and saw that it would be impossible to install without climbing over our neighbors' roof. This is where I got really ticked. Let me roll it off for you.
1) The installer did not stop by. Our condo faces the street, allowing me the opportunity to witness all the cars that come by. Also, our deck resonates footsteps and every time I heard them that day, I checked to see if it was them. They did not show up to my place. The best they did was a drive by. So I was lied to.
2) It should be noted that my neighbor has the dish in a more precarious place than us. So the "impossible" deal I'm just not buying.
3) When I asked if they would send another person out to confer with me personally and check about the installation, they said they wouldn't do it. Dish must be doing well enough that they don't have to sell units to stay in business.
4) The local guy I talked to was more confused than the Indian guy I talked to, and this was without the language barrier.
5) Of course, they had already charged our credit card for the service before they installed it. So that was one more thing we had to clear up.
So we had to re-up with Time Warner for the cable but were able to get the DVR while still getting a better deal than if we used them for all the services. So all will be right with the world. I won't have to learn any different channel numbers.
But I will tell everyone I encounter to the end of time that Dish screwed us over and is not a good company to do business with. It was bar none the worst experience I've ever had with a company.
Just thought you should know.