Read a Bunch of DISH Network Reviews Before Deciding

When considering dish TV service, it’s always a good idea to check out the dish network reviews out there to get the general consensus.  DISH has been around for decades so they are plenty of opinions around. For the most part, folks are attracted to DISH Network because of the wide variety of options available at a price that’s usually lower than that of cable or other premium television services. It’s not the sports powerhouse you get with DIRECTV, especially for NFL fans so keep that in mind as you go along. Some of the key features to focus on during your research are the number of channels offered, their current prices, extra fees, receiver leasing charges and customer support. 

DISH is perennially rated #1 in customer satisfaction

With most TV providers, customer service is pretty important, especially if you’ll be calling in often with pay-per-view requests, plan add-ons and the like. If other problems arise (especially tech-related), of course, it’s the customer service department that’ll make or break the process and eventual resolution. Ever since DISH launched under the Echostar brand, they’ve prioritized customer service.

If there was ever a problem with the reception or receiver, support was a quick and un-aggravating call away (can’t really say the same for most internet/TV companies of the time). They didn’t outsource much either. Nowadays, it’s still a top priority within the company. As a result, DISH is routinely named #1 in “Overall Customer Satisfaction” by J.D. Power (ranks at the top of the pack for customer reviews and feedback) – it’s one of their advantages over DIRECTV and just about every cable company out there.

Don’t get gouged by fees

Nobody digs hidden fees.  You agree on a price over the phone, get your first bill and fees tack on an additional 30%. Ugh. There’s way too little government oversight over the surcharges so the onus usually falls on you. For example, for some home services, there might be an extra charge for the installation itself, or an hourly charge for any repairs that need to be made.  Some companies charge extra if they need to run a cable beyond a certain length or do any type of extra wiring.  While these are legitimate and often necessary charges, the customer should always be informed of the extra fees ahead of time.

With DISH, they simplified everything a few years ago with their “price-locked” plans. That is, ALL fees and charges were included in the advertised price. We’ve been a DISH customer for years and can attest to the new policy. Absolutely nothing is added. If the plan price with 2 receivers is $75, that’s all you’ll pay, period. And if it wasn’t, there’d be plenty of negative DISH network reviews getting the word out.

DISH’s DVR (Hopper) is world-class

DISH’s technology has improved substantially over the last decade.  In the early 2000s, DIRECTV had a tangible lead in the DVR arms race with the Genie. It was sleek, easy to use and very intuitive. Fast forward a few years and DISH caught up…in a big way. With the launch of the DISH Hopper, they had the largest-capacity and most tuner-compatible receiver on the market. Toss in commercial skipping with Auto-hop and folks were leaving DiRECTV just for the Hopper. To this day, it remains the cream of the crop and while the Genie is just about as good in many ways, it’s still our preferred DVR for the following reasons:

1. A ridiculous 16 tuners vs 4 for DIRECTV or cable
2. 2 TB hard drive that stores over 1,500 hours of programming
3. Autohop lets you automatically skip commercials
4. Awesome user interface makes it easy to find or do anything
5. Powerful parental controls keeps kids in-line 24/7

So what’s the general consensus of DISH Network’s Reviews?

Like with any home service or provider, doing your research by combing thru a ton of DISH Network reviews makes a lot of sense. A full meta analysis of the feedback from DISH customers is overwhelmingly positive. Sure, you’ll find disgruntled customers (most happy ones don’t post) but J.D. Power doesn’t give out customer-service awards for nothing. DISH caters to its customers, no matter the situation. Toss in competitively-priced plans, quality programming, lack of fees and a sweet DVR, you can’t do much better than DISH. Nowadays, streaming plans are definitely cheaper but if you still want local channels and a full channel line-up, we’ll gladly pay a bit more for DISH.

About the author

George Levint

George is the senior editor at DigitalFind and an expert in how technology at home impacts our lives. From funky analog radios to AI devices that try to out-think you, he's usually unfairly critical until proven otherwise. He also enjoys spending the occasional weekend off-grid to keep Skynet guessing.