Posted on 12/05/2010 2:47:53 PM PST by Las Vegas Dave
Washington, D.C. (December 5, 2010) -- Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen sometimes brags about his days as a Blackjack 'card counter' in the casinos of Las Vegas. In fact, the young Ergen was so good at skirting the Rules of the House that he was banned for life from playing in Sin City.
As a reporter who has followed Ergen and Dish Network now for nearly two decades, I have to say that the wheeler-dealer still acts as if the rules don't always apply to him. Or at least his company does.
Over the years, Dish has gotten entangled in numerous business relationships that have provoked charges of deception from partners and customers, and sometimes even judges, attorney generals and federal investigators. The company's executives have never been charged with a crime, but like Ergen's card counting, Dish's modus operandi is bending the rules, leaving people to question whether it's trustworthy.
In Dish's defense, the satcaster's questionable tactics are often designed to keep subscriber costs down or enable it to provide a more viable alternative to satellite rival DIRECTV. But that doesn't excuse what is sometimes a breathtaking disregard for the truth and commonly accepted industry behavior.
The latest example of this "what can I get away with?" philosophy came last week when Dish Network issued a press release saying it was adding the MoviePlex channel to its 'HD Platinum' package.
Now the HD Platinum package is supposed to be a package of high-def channels for HD subscribers. (In fact, I called Dish's 1-800 number on Friday and they assured me that every channel in the HD Platinum package is in HD; they also assured me that MoviePlex was in HD.) But as it turns out, MoviePlex is not even available in HD; it's a standard-definition channel.
However, by saying in the press release that MoviePlex was only being added to the 'HD Platinum' package, Dish left the impression that the channel is in HD.
Why would it do that? The HD Platinum package costs an extra $10 a month; the more channels in the package, the more likely that people will subscribe to it. (Plus, Dish and DIRECTV are engaged in an HD channel war; each service is trying to create the perception that it has more HD channels than its rival.)
Dish spokeswoman Francie Bauer told me via e-mail on Friday that the channel will also be added to Dish's America's Top 250 package, which is not a 'HD centric' package. However, she did not respond when I asked her why that fact wasn't included in the press release. She also didn't respond to two inquiries as to whether people would think MoviePlex is in HD if it's now part of the 'HD Platinum' package.
Now you might say the MoviePlex dust-up is not a big deal. But, folks, I'm just getting warmed up. This is only the latest chapter in a long history. For instance:
Lying About HD Channel Counts? * In April 2010, Dish Network issued a press release saying it now had 200 HD channels. However, when a few reporters (including yours truly) asked for a list of the channels, the company initially refused. But it later relented and it turned out that the 200 HD channel count included 57 HD PPV titles. That's right. Dish was (and still is) counting a single PPV movie as a channel.
Destroying Evidence? * The Denver Business Journal reports that a New York state court this month sanctioned Dish Network for destroying emails that was considered evidence in its lawsuit with the failed Voom TV service. (Voom is seeking $2.5 billion in damages from Dish because the satcaster dropped its 15 HD channels from the air; Voom, which soon closed its doors after the channels were dropped, claims that Dish violated its contract to carry the channels.) The judge's sanction means that the jury in the Dish/Voom case will be told that Dish destroyed evidence.
Patent Violations? * Dish has been involved in a six-year patent battle with DVR company TiVo. (TiVo says Dish violated its patent by installing similar software in its DVRs.) In 2006, the satcaster lost a jury trial in Texas, requiring it to pay TiVo more than $100 million in damages. But the judge also ordered Dish to disable its DVRs because of the patent violation.
Dish has since filed numerous appeals, as is its right. However, the judge in the original case has filed a contempt order against Dish (which Dish is appealing) and many neutral observers would say that Dish's legal strategy is largely a stall. Since the case began, TiVo's subscriber totals have fallen from 4.4 million to 2.3 million and the company has been dramatically weakened by the lack of a resolution in the case.
Breaking Federal Laws? * The Federal Trade Commission ruled in 2009 that Dish violated federal law when its customer service reps called people who had signed up on the 'Do Not Call' registry. The agency also said the company made 'robocalls" (automated messages) in violation of the federal telemarketing rules. Dish blamed the calls on third-party partners, but agreed to offer restitution to eligible consumers. (In part because of the FTC decision, the Better Business Bureau has given Dish Network just a 'C+' rating for overall trust issues.)
Not Playing by the Rules? Last month, at Dish's request, a federal arbitrator ruled on the impasse between Comcast and Dish over how much the latter should pay to carry SportsNet California, which broadcasts San Jose Sharks and Sacramento Kings games. The arbitrator ruled in Comcast's favor, but instead of accepting the ruling, Dish removed the sports channel from the air and it's still off as of today.
Dish was not required by law to accept the ruling, of course, but it's odd for a company to reject an arbitrator's decision when it was the one to actually request it. It's also doubtful that the federal arbitrator would have intervened if it had known that Dish was simply 'gaming the system' -- if it had won, it would have accepted; it lost, so it didn't.
Unfair Business Practices? Dish Network last year agreed to pay $6 million to settle charges that it improperly marketed, promoted and sold its products and services. The case was brought by attorneys generals in 46 different states; the state officials claimed that Dish hid certain restrictions in promotional advertisements. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said after the settlement: "This settlement should send a clear signal that companies must treat their customers fairly."There are more instances of similar behavior that go back several years, but I'll let you consult Google to learn more. There's also the fact that Dish has been involved in lawsuits with numerous companies over the years, from DIRECTV to TiVo to News Corp. to ESPN to Sonicview to the Federal Communications Commission. For some reason, the company has trouble reaching resolutions without legal action. Every company has reason to sue (or be sued) from time to time, but Dish's lengthy history of legal snafus again suggests the company doesn't like to play by the normal rules.
And there are even more reasons to wonder whether you, as a consumer, can trust what Dish Network says and does. The satcaster has gotten involved in several fights with programmers over the last year, which forced it to drop some popular channels from its lineup. For instance, Dish viewers were without their favorite Fox regional sports channels for nearly a month and they have been without four Disney HD channels since early summer.
Dish believes in playing hardball in programming renewal talks so you just never know when it will drop one (or more) of your favorite channels.
Bottom Line: Dish Network now has more than 14 million subscribers and it has done many admirable and innovative things to stay competitive with larger rivals, such as DIRECTV and Comcast. The satcaster has also been a consistent supporter of HD, adding channels in the last several months when DIRECTV would not.
But the company needs to stop playing fast-and-loose with the facts, getting involved in frequent lawsuits and engaging in so many fee fights with its programming partners. The constant turmoil -- and questionable promotional tactics -- only leaves current and prospective customers feeling uneasy and asking the question:
Can Dish Network be trusted?
That is just what I need.....Dallas wins !
We have had DirecTV since 1998. Never had a problem they did not solve right away. I think their customer service is great.
Damn close though!
Squeeker indeed ......
Try to get their free HD!!!!
Dropped dish in 2003 when we got the high speed internet up and running on our country property. Sold the house in town, put up an antenna for local news and weather and life is good.
Dish got the boot mostly because they liked to surprise us with activated premium channels frequently popping up things that we really don’t want the kids to see. My wife called and told them to knock it off, they told her that they would give us free movie channels from time to time and there was nothing she could do to stop it. They were wrong.
I don’t feel righteous, I just try to feel good...in spite of it all.
207-546-2136
Congratulations for posting to a thread that does not concern you.
I've had it about that long as well. But, I miss the VOOM channels; and it does look like DISH screwed then over.
As a former employee of Dish, I can say that I have never seen a company that treats it customers, and employees worse. I would go without TV before I would be a customer of theirs ever. Not a single promise, even those in writing, was honored by the compnay to any employee to my knowledge. I also know of two employees who were honored by the regional VP for creating a way to increase customers bills for things DirectTV does for free.
My advice, spend your hard earned money elsewhere.
I liked VOOM (our first HDTV sat service) also, had it for approximately one month and they went out of business...!
(We have two working VOOM boxes in the basement if anyone is interested...)
The whole VOOM thing is interesting. VOOM (HAD) an uplink facility in Piedmont, SD right off I-90 interstate. Dish kicks them off their programming, shortly thereafter, DISH owns their uplink facility and I would bet at considerably less than it cost to build it. Since that time, two more large antennas have gone up at the site. Don’t know the whole story but wish I did. The site is unmanned, meaning control is from one of their other uplink sites. Cheyenne, WY or Gilbert, AZ or both.
PS: If I am not on the HDTV ping list already, you may add me please.
I've never had Dish but I applaud their stance of fighting back against the PP's blackmail tricks to get subscribers paying ever higher prices for programming.
Currently we have Time Warner and they are in a battle with 2 networks over pricing. Every prime time show I watch in HD on either of those channels has to run a stream of text at the top of the screen explaining how we need to contact Time Warner to keep these channels. What is annoying is that to do so they must reduce the picture size from full HD screen to a cropped boxed screen.
Very annoying!
You stopped watching Dish Network when you could no longer steal it? Is that what you said?
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No I didn’t say that ,, your assumption is wrong, you see DN can still be “stolen” , it merely became a bit much of a hassle. When DTV gives you the keys to the DN kingdom , or when DN gives you the keys to the DTV kingdom it is rude to refuse the gift.
The self-righteous comments by the “I don’t own a TV” collective on an HDTV thread are curious.
How different is this from declaring that “I don’t vote!” on an election-based thread, or stating that you don’t eat meat on a thread about BBQ?
As for Dish, I loved their DVR box, and had been told by people who had TIVO that it sounded a lot like their interfaces when I described what it would do. They’d be out of business if they lost their DVR because the signal outages were enough to chase me away a few months ago after 4 years with them. I despise my Scientific Atlanta cable box (it’s hard drive is 20% the size it should be) but at least I always have a signal now.
Are you in Central Ohio or is that happening in other parts of the country too?
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