[Updated] DISH network looking into authentication or login issues ('System is currently unavailable') affecting multiple users

New updates are being added at the bottom of this story…….

Original story (published on December 7, 2021) follows:

There are many pay-TV providers available on the market. One of the most important is DISH Network, the first largest provider in the United States.

The company has more than 8 million clients. Therefore, a failure in their platform can be massive.

Having said the above, many DISH network customers are reporting authentication or login issues that do not allow them to fully enjoy the service for which they have paid (1, 2, 3).

According to multiple reports, many users of DISH network services are facing issues during the authentication or login process to the company’s platform.

When users affected by the problem try to access the DISH network system, all they get is a ‘System is currently unavailable’ error message.

@dish
why is your network always down? Trying to watch MNF on ESPN but in classic fashion all I’m getting is “system is currently unavailable”. Same on your website Cara sin expresión. I should be expecting a day credit on the bill then, yeah?
Source

Notably, this issue has been affecting DISH network users for much longer than expected. For example, there are users who report not being able to access the DISH network services for 10 days.

@dish_answers
who is your auth provider? This is the third time in roughly 10 days where I can’t access services due to auth issues. Need to get this worked out and more reliable else I’ll have to look for another service provider. And yes, I’ll try logging in again later.
Source

Meanwhile, in other more serious cases, reports indicate that there are users who have suffered from the aforementioned problem for weeks. Therefore, the situation is even more frustrating for them.

DISH network support team responded to some of the reports confirming that the company is already aware of the problem that many of its users are suffering.

Hello, we understand your frustration. Our engineers are aware of these reports and working to get the login issues resolves as soon as possible.
Source

Although it is confirmed that the DISH network engineers are already working to try to resolve the login issues, there is no mention of how long this may take to complete.

Finally, for the moment, users of the service can only wait for new related developments to emerge. When that happens, we will update this article, so stay tuned.

05:05 pm (IST): Recent reports indicate that the company is charging a ‘late fee’ to users who were unable to pay their pending bills on time due to outage (1, 2).

02:12 pm (IST): DISH support has revealed that subscribers will receive a bill on paper in March. It will show details including a 16-digit account number, amount, and due date.

Moreover, they can pay their bills using the 16-digit number by heading here.

DISH customers will be sent a paper bill in March. This bill will show your 16-digit account number, amount due and payment due date. This information can be used to pay your bill using a secure link. (Source)

05:00 pm (IST): Due to ongoing outage, there are users who have been unable to cancel the service, even through phone calls to the support team (1, 2, 3).

06:40 pm (IST): According to a report, the ransomware attack on Dish Network will have a significant short-term economic impact.

Also New Street Research estimates that the hacking-related costs would be near USD 75 million, while the cost of bad debts from outages will be about USD 70 million.

Company’s consolidated revenues for this year would decline by about 325 million dollars overall.

06:20 pm (IST): According to a cybersecurity specialist, AgencyMDR, the ransomware attack affected 10 million Dish subscribers and also leaked their data including names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers.

On February 28th, DISH confirmed a ransomware attack hit them. Nearly 10 million DISH subscribers are affected by this attack since their customer information (names, dates of birth, email addresses, phone numbers, and social security numbers) is on company servers.
Source

They also claimed that access to employees’ credentials may have allowed the cyber attack to succeed.

If your employees use DISH as their internet provider or have Boost Mobile phones, your company is at risk of a cyber attack through the compromised employee’s credentials. Hackers move laterally to infiltrate companies through credentials that leaked from similar cyber attacks.
Source

06:32 pm (IST): DISH team only states that they will be able to assist ‘once the systems are back up’ in response to subscribers who are facing ‘late fees’ for failing to pay their pending bill as a result of an outage or lack of service.

Hi, Fay. We’re sorry for the inconvenience. We’ll be able to help you out once our systems are back up, and we’ll work with you, so you do not pay for additional days of service. Keep checking http://spr.ly/60183C0gr for updates. Mona G
Source

This is not very helpful because users will need to pay these late penalties on their bills in the meantime in order to maintain the status quo of their present contracts. It is particularly aggravating given that there is no ETA for a fix.

Your paperless bill is charging me a late fee for when we couldn’t pay our bills last month – this after you stated you wouldn’t charge late fees as we customers had no control how to pay. I wont pay it. Come get your equipment as am done now.
Source

05:23 pm (IST): Reports related to users’ futile efforts in contacting Dish customer service for contract cancellation and other things continue to emerge.

I think you don’t understand that I cannot get in touch with the Customer Service, I have been calling them everyday and waited for several minutes and after that the calls dropped. Thanks for not helping me
Source

The Dish team, on the other hand, insists that they have ‘more agents’ to handle these cases. However, it appears that it is failing because users are still forced to wait for hours on end for a response.

Hey! We continue to have more agents helping customers every day with changes to their service. We’re working hard to restore all of our customer experiences, but it will take a little time before things are fully restored. – Vivi U.
Source

12:18 pm (IST): Some users suggest that DISH is intentionally preventing the voluntary cancellation of contracts, which is affecting those who had the ‘auto pay’ option enabled since before outage.

They believe that because the company is canceling the contract of users who have not paid (‘auto pay’ disabled), but DISH does not allow customers to cancel the contract by contacting the support team (1, 2).

Some even have had to take extreme measures such as canceling the card linked to DISH auto pay.

05:47 pm (IST): It seems that Dish TV has repaired several of the systems impacted by the issue that occurred in late February. You can check out the official message as shared by the team below:

Featured Image: DISH on Twitter

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