Avoid, Avoid, Avoid
Written: Apr 10 '04 (Updated Apr 12 '04)
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Pros: Good technical Service
Cons: Very bad customer service
The Bottom Line: Only go with DISH if you don't really care about getting good customer service.
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| kblier's Full Review: JVC TU-DP301DU Digital Satellite Receiver |
I have had DISH for nearly a year now and I cannot wait to get rid of them. Why? Well, let's start from the beginning...
We switched from Digital Cable to a satellite system because we were sick of the ever increasing prices and poor service in our area (construction messed with the feed too often). Everything seemed to go well with the installation and we were quite happy at first.
EQUIPMENT
What we received for equipment was the basic "301" line of introductory receivers. This line is labeled as standard "DISH," "Echostar," "RCA" and "JVC." Lest anyone think that there are any differences between the equipment, the installer informed me that they are all made by the same company and marked with the brand tag depending on where they are shipped (Radio Shack, for instance, sold RCA before they stopped selling DISH, Sears sells JVC, etc.)
The description of this item is as follows (directly from www.dishnetwork.com):
DISH 301 is DISH Network's entry-level feature-rich satellite receiver with a sleek, slim-line chassis design. DISH 301 uses the DISH Home Interactive User Interface and offers interactive features that enhance your television viewing experience.
FEATURES:
DISH Interactive Electronic Program Guide (EPG) and interactive capabilities
Favorites lists, program information, themes lists, program browse
Parental control locks
Closed-Caption Support
Caller ID
Infrared (IR) 4-component universal remote control – can be programmed to operate (via IR) up to three additional components, such as TVs, VCRs and DVD players.
My husband and I found the equipment easy to operate, although a little buggy at times. Overall, it was quite good and intuitive. We only had to read the instruction manual once to reset the satellites after a storm. The Caller ID feature is actually quite nice - especially when watching a pay-per-view movie - we can see who is calling and choose to answer the phone or not without even getting off the couch. Keep in mind, though, that this feature will not work without a subscription to your local phone company (the standard caller id package works on the box, too).
There aren't a whole lot of extra features on this box, but they are fine for us and comparable to what we had with Digital Cable. You can sort programs by name, type, etc., the box keeps favorites lists (which we have never done), allows you to search for a program, and has parental lockout functions (which we have never used, either). The sort and find features were nice; however, the guide on this box loaded a little slowly each time you turned the box on. This tended to be a little frustrating as you cannot change the channel while the guide is loading. It would sometimes even take 2 minutes to load. Once loaded, however, it ran quickly and produced results several days in advance (I would have liked to see a week minimum for easier recording and to plan out my viewing earlier).
This box also has a nice feature on it that I use often - VCR Blaster. This option sends a IR Blast to your VCR (it bounces off of an opposite wall or object, so you have to make sure to position it correctly), thus allowing you to set up a record in the Satellite box without having to program your VCR. The satellite box will turn itself on automatically, but your VCR will not, so you will need to leave it on. We only had three things that we didn't like with this feature: 1) If a program is bumped for another feature (i.e. Alias on Sunday nights gets bumped for movies a lot) then it will record the other show. No problem, just like another VCR, except that it will start recording at the time you designated (9:00 PM), even if the movie started at 8:00 PM. So if you want to see that movie anyway, you have to reprogram the box and then program the box back for the following week. Again, I guess this is like a VCR, but I had the same feature with my Cable Box and it was smart enough to capture the whole program that encompassed the time slot. Because this box is digital, I would think this could be an option. 2) It could be buggy at times. We found that sometimes it did not go off, but could not find a reason - tape was rewound, VCR was on, everything checked out, but no show. 3) Unlike a VCR with Cable, you can not record a program on one channel and watch a show on another channel. For those people only record a show when they are out of the house, this will not be a problem. However, for my husband and I, who like different shows at the same time (i.e. Charmed on Sundays at 8:00 PM and Simpsons at the same time), this is a problem. We have to decide which of us gets to watch our show instead of being able to record one and watch the other. Unfortunately, programming directly through your VCR will not fix this problem. I understand this to be fixed by allowing two feeds into the box (I know that DirectTV does do this)from the satellite, but DISH does not offer this option.
On a side note, the remote does make a very good all-around controller. I wish it had more universal buttons because it works better than a lot of the universal remotes I've used in the past and it is not a battery hog. I only just changed the batteries after 11 months of use.
The satellite dish itself went out a few times within the first month of use; however, a friend of ours told us to apply RainX to the dish and re-apply every 6 months; however, one application of RainX seemed to cure that problem. We are subject to a LOT of heavy duty storms off of the coast of Florida and we have not had an outage since this application. Also, my husband had one complaint about the dish that does not bother me, but might bear mentioning. In order to get all of our local channels, we have to have two dishes attached to our roof. I understand that this has to do with the signals coming from different directions, but my husband hates the way this looks and has noticed the our neighbors, who have DirecTV, don't need two dishes and get more local channels.
OVERALL the box and service work rather well. I would question the longevity of the box, however, as we are starting to have problems with ours. About once a week, we our guide disappears and shows black where it should be and we get yellow wavy lines across the screen. I have not had time to explore this as we are switching to a different provider, but it might worry me otherwise.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
This is where I really had problems. I realize that this is not directly related to the equipment I am reviewing, but when it comes to television service, I feel that the whole thing is a package to create satisfaction. Let me detail my experiences for you:
My first issue with DISH came about a month into my 12 month contract. I signed up with a package that gave me two $50 credits: 1 for signing up with a friend and one for being a new customer. The only problem was that, even though I had the deal in writing, the service people kept telling me I didn't get the credit. It took me three months and 6 service people to get them to give me my credit. Not a big deal, but frustrating.
My second issue came when I was having technical problems. My box kept scrambling the feed. I called and was disconnected twice before reaching someone who said they didn't really know what was going on, but to call back in a little bit if I still had the problem. After calling back, I spoke with someone who told me how to reset the box. From then on, I reset it myself when I had a problem.
The third time, I received a RF modulation box (where you can change the channel with the remote while you are in another room) from my mom. When I called them to set it up, they couldn't figure out which box I had, how I needed to set it up or what I needed. After talking with three people who gave me different stories of what the box did and did not do (they did have the model number), I gave up.
The last time I dealt with them, I was debating whether or not to switch to DirecTV because I wanted a PVR. I spoke with DISH and they told me that I could get a PVR from them that recorded one channel while watching another and would not require a 12-month commitment. I double checked that with her three times because I knew that they did not previously have any deal like this. She verified this with me three times.
The night before my PVR installation, I received a call from the installer to verify the appointment. He told me that I would need to sign a 12-month commitment in addition to completing the commitment I was already under (which had 1 1/2 months left). I asked him if he was sure and he said yes, but he offered to conference in the 1-800 number. When talking with the 800 number, a girl there told me that she did not know why I got the "misinformation" but that I would need to sign a 12-month agreement and that the box did not do what the other girl said. She said that they would not honor what their employee sold me and that "this is what the box does. If you want it, fine, if you don't want it, fine. I really don't care what you decide." Yes, that is a quote. At my request, she put her manager on the phone. He spoke with my husband because I was too upset to talk. The manager told my husband that the previous agent was in error, but that he also didn't care what we did. The deal was 12-months or not at all. They wouldn't talk or budge. In fact, not a single person offered an apology. We told them to cancel our account as soon as the contract was up. They told us that we could only cancel it on the day of and they would not do anything to make a note of cancellation before that.
I must say that I have never had a customer service agent tell me they didn't care before (after all, we do pay quite a bit a month). But after the hassles I've had with DISH customer service, I'm really not surprised. Needless to say, I am willing to pay whatever it costs to go with another service so that I don't have to deal with this again.
Finally, when trying to deal with the company throughout this year (for billing issues, the above issues, etc.) I tried various approaches, including email. I have sent them 4 emails this year and have not had a response back on any of them. I know they are busy, but why have an email option of the emails are just going to be ignored?
Overall, the equipment gave us some problems, but worked well enough and since DISH is cheaper than DirecTV, I was happy enough with the technical service to stick with DISH Network long-term; however, the Customer Service was horrible and I have no place in my wallet for people who do not appreciate my money. So, when choosing a satellite service, look at your priorities. If you don't care about customer service, just dish service, go with DISH Network. Otherwise, stay away - far, far away.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
kblier
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Reviews written: 12
Trusted by: 4 members
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