Upgrading to DISH HDTV last week quickly descended into a comedy of errors. Eric and I have had DISH since we moved to Durham three years ago. Over that time, I have had numerous discussion with the always-helpful DISH technical line explaining minor issues such as: the DVR erased its entire hard drive; the DVR could no longer fast forward; and the DVR spontaneously decided to start and stop recording.
Although these experience have been frustrating, I have always been impressed with the DISH technical service department's ability to quickly sent out replacement DISH receivers.
Two DISH receivers and one brand-new HDTV later, it was time to upgrade to the DISH HDTV satellite and DVR receiver. Since most of our previous problems had been with the DVR and not the DISH satellite itself, I figured that this would not be a problem. I made an appointment for a service appointment and we waited, and waited. Finally, I called DISH at the end of our 5 hour window asking when I might expect the service technician. I was informed that I had sent him home. Apparently, he went to the wrong address where someone told him that they hated DISH and were planning on switching to Direct-TV. No one ever called to confirm this.
After frantic calls to the DISH 1-800 number, I was told that my local office would be calling shortly. Although a call never arrived, a serviceman did. He then spent the next 4.5 hours talking on his cellphone. At the time, my husband and I figured that he must be getting help with the installation. Around 10 p.m., the serviceman finally fled our house. After his departure, we quickly figured out that only about a quarter of the channels worked. I love sports, but I didn't see myself watching the adrenaline HDTV sports channel exclusively for the foreseeable future. The next day we had an additional surprise when we looked on the side of the house and realized that there were wires handing everywhere. The cable from the satellite to the box was not buried and the DISH box was hanging precariously off our house.
After our serviceman left, I called the 1-800 number again and was told that my best hope was to schedule the next available service appointment. The next service appointment was 5 days later, but they assured me that my local office would call to schedule an earlier appointment. My local office never called.
Four days later, after taking a day off work to wait for the DISH guy, a DISH contractor arrived in an unmarked van. When he got out of the car, I figured that this man must be lost and asking for directions. When I asked him why he wasn't wearing any DISH clothing, he put on a DISH hat and got to work. Despite his lack of DISH attire, he did a fantastic job. He also explained that the work our previous technician had completed was a mess. Three hours later, our DISH HDTV satellite and DVR were working perfectly.
Although I am happy with the final outcome, this experience has made me seriously doubt DISH's commitment to good user experience and customer service. After some investigating, I found out that J. D. Power and Associates ranks DISH Network as the best satellite service provider. If DISH is the best, I am afraid to see the worst.
What made the DISH experience so frustrating is that there seemed to be a total disconnect between the people I spoke with on the phone and my local office. The technical service support via 1-800 DISH is fantastic, but they seem to have no control over the local offices. When I asked for the local office phone number, I was informed again and again that they had sent an e-mail. I don't know whether my local office was ignoring the e-mails or just making paper airplanes out then, but some messages from headquarters clearly were not communicated.
If I was running the DISH customer service department, I would make the following changes to assure a better customer experience:
1. Provide customers with a phone number and contact person for their local DISH office.
2. Revamp the phone system so that it is easy to ask non-traditional questions. When I called to ask if there were any earlier appointment times available, I accidentally deleted my existing service call.
3. Provide information about service calls on the DISH website. I should be able to log-in and see my upcoming service appointment and also see if there is an earlier appointment that is available for switching.
4. Double check when something out of the ordinary occurs. I can't imagine that a DISH service technician is told every day that the customer hates DISH and is switching to Direct-TV after arriving for an installation appointment. Someone should have called me to verify that this was the case.
5. Give customers a meaningful form to sign at the end of an installation. Before signing off on a job well done, the customer should be aware of what the technician's objectives were. A simple list with check boxes and options like "outside cable buried" and "all stations working" would help the customer assess whether the job is completed and erase the need for a follow-up appointment.
6. Set aside special appointments for unique situations. Part of what made my experience so frustrating was that after the first technician screwed up we had to wait 5 days for someone to come and clean up his mess. We spent that time getting increasingly angry at DISH. If the company had sent a new technician to our house promptly, we would not have spent the next 5 days badmouthing the company.
Although this had been a frustrating experience, I am still a DISH customer. However, I no longer have any loyalty to the company. In a competitive industry like satellite and cable TV, I would imagine that customers are very valuable. Over the last 3 years, I have convinced at least 5 people to sign up for DISH. Yet, I am no longer a DISH advocate. I can't wait for our 18-month contract to expire so that we can switch to cable.