One unhappy and frustrated camper (long)

TomVA

New Member
Original poster
Jul 17, 2004
3
0
I'm am having a really bad time with my install and was wondering if anyone has any suggestions; if not just ranting might make me feel somewhat better.

On May 31st I buy the 0$ install 0$ equipment ($10 rental/month) deal for Voom from Sears. Sears guys tell me that Voom will soon call to finish arranging the installation and what not. Two weeks go buy without a call so I call Voom - they have no clue as to what I'm talking about. Took me 10 minutes to go round and round with the CSR that I already bought the service from Sears so no I don't want to buy the Voom service, I want to know when my install is going to be scheduled. Evenutally I think we got on the same page (though she did require me to give my credit card again -- if there is a charge on that puppy I'm gonna be p*ssed).

So the install is scheduled for the end of June for the morning. Oh well. The day comes and I kept my laptop home so I could do some work at home. The guy shows up at around 5:30. Not feeling all that great, but hey its here, I'll finally see what HD will look like on my TV. Boy does this installer hate Voom. He wasn't there 10 minutes while unpacking the std and he had said "Well I'll be back in a month to pack everything up" at least half a dozen times.

I should note that I have 2 E* stb's but only one Voom stb.

He asks me to come outside so he can explain something to me. I have E* with 2 separate dishes - one separate dish pointing to my locals that conveniently is close to (or the same?) bird as Vooms. Since he's "just gonna be back here in a month anyways", he'll use the existing dish. Well since I'm canceling E* and the Voom stuff isn't mine and its 4 less holes in my exterior, sure no problem. Then he adds, "Oh and got to tell you, with this crap that Voom sends out, you're probably not going to pick up any OTA... especially if I have to run through the diplexor... and if you don't have an amplifier." Now what do I know about any of this OTA stuff, last antenna I've seen was when I was in grade school. He continues, "now we only get paid for one line, we charge $25 to run the second line which you'll need for the antenna but since I'm using the existing E* line I won't charge that as I'll be still be running just one line.. and I'll cut you a deal on the amplifier." What a great situation to be in from my perspective. I have no clue (I'll freely admit that on many levels) what an amplifier costs so am I gonna to have to shell out alot more for something that I'll probably need if I say no? Great, ok $59 sure whatever, do it - hey I'm saving $25 anyway right? I go back in to continue working.

He works some outside, comes in, hooks up the stb... nothing. "See told you this stuff was crap". Fiddles with some stuff, goes out side fiddles some more, comes in side fiddling, calls his boss, "... I only got the one box... but how am I gonna get paid?... Ok, yep, bye." Looks at me, "the box is broken, I'm going to finish putting up your OTA, and then hook your E* back - you won't get locals though - and we'll call in a service call. Good thing is service calls are done fast so coupla days me or someone else will be back out here. Come out here and I'll show you what needs to be done when the service call is made in case its not me." He leaves, I'm disappointed, and not really pleased that the $0 install isn't really $0. But ok just a couple of days.

So a week goes by and I call Voom to find out about my service call. They have no clue what I'm talking about. Lovely. Explain everything to the CSR. Setup service call for July 16th morning. Ok.

July 16th gets here, before I head of to work I expain to my wife what the installer told me. Took her outside and showed her what cables needed to be coupled and everything would be great. The (different) guys get there at around 10:30am. I get a phone call, they are majorly confused. They have on their sheet "Replace box" but it looks to them that there isn't anything installed! So I come home to tell them what the original installer told me. They are not happy campers, "where's the Voom dish? Oh its your E* dish?" and I go in to call work that I will back later than I thought, good thing as my wife has to head off to work. The two of them are out there for a few minutes then they come in, hook up the new box - doesn't work. Hook up the old box - BINGO! works. WTF?! One guy goes outside and fiddles with the dish a bit... 97 signal, beautiful. All the while the main guy is griping about the first installer, "who was this guy? blah blah blah. Oh he no longer works for the company, blah blah blah." After everything is setup, he shows me how everything works and we're having a grand old time, he's loving the TV the picture is awesome and I say "Ok lets see the locals." He looks up, "You don't have the locals, the antenna's not hooked up." Well of course I want locals!

Out they head to hook up the antenna, I follow out after a bit. They have a diplexor hooked up to the original OTA cable with the dish and OTA feeds! WTF?! "But I won't get any OTA with the diplexor." Confused stares. Oh great. We go inside, "hey look CBS, PBS, ABC?? wow thought I was too far away for that, aww no NBC which is strange since its the closest..... hey where did the satellite channels go?" Signal strength 0.

Out the main guy heads with the second guy calling out "0...0...0...0...0...97...97...97...0...0...97...0". The main guy is standing under the open window and I hear him on the cell talking to his boss, "this is screwy, I hook up the meter and we get a 97, I take it off and 0... uhuh..uhuh...i don't know... yeah..." and he walks away coming into the house. "Ok got off the phone with my boss, we're getting interference, probably from those power lines, so we have to move the dish." What?? We had 97 right there! We walk out side he walks over to this part of the yard and says "This would be awesome right here". Does a sighting, "Oh yeah this is a great site. Or the roof might be ok but this is the perfect site." Well of course I want the perfect site. "Its a pole mount, Voom doesn't reimburse pole mounts. It'll be $50. Up to you. The roof might be ok." Aaaarrggghhh! It was right there, I saw it for 20 minutes! Alright $50 for the perfect spot, "Go ahead." It's 12:30, this 10 minute box switch is now in its 2nd hour, lets get this thing done, I have a staff meeting in 30 minutes.

In goes the pole, down comes my dish, coax gets unreeled and I realized I'm not going to make the staff meeting. I go in to talk to the folks at work. They get everything setup, got my satellite channels, got my CBS & ABC, "oh I cut this first run too short <wink><wink>, no good to use we can't use it, but you know it's plenty long enough to run your antenna to your roof, you should get all the OTA channels up there... we'll just slap some connectors on it for you. All you have to do is bury the cable." Man, I have to bury the cable, d*mn that's an expensive pole. "And this one tree limb is one that you'll eventually want to get rid of." Off they go, off I go back to work (having missed the staff meeting).

Friday evening we enjoy our new HD. Hmmm, some of the upper channels seem to be pixellating. That's strange. Lets see how did they get to the signal strength... ah here it is... 74? Oh just shoot me now. Whack! Down comes the tree limb. 76! Whoopie! There is nothing in the way where did my 97 go!?!

I'm in bed trying to get to sleep and really not pleased, not pleased at all. Then it hits me.... where's my dual LMB from my E* dish? I don't believe it, one of the two install teams took it. Wait it couldn't have been on the dish this morning. Great now I have to find the install company and tell them that someone who no longer works there stole a dual LMB from me. Yeah I'm sure I'll see that go anywhere.

Saturday comes in with a bit of a breeze. I call Voom to get the installer company and while I got you on the phone do you actually not reimburse for pole mounts? "Let me check on that, sir.... Here's the company, and according to my supervisor pole mounts are extra, we don't pay for them." Call the installers, they're closed.

Time to knock out some of my honey-do items. Hmmm, looks like clouds are moving in... yes a front is moving through. Starts to rain slightly - not a thunderstorm, just a gentle rain. I've lost my satellite channels... I'm out $109 and a dual LMB for a $0 install, but I still got CBS and ABC.

Tom
 
Tom,

welcome and sorry to hear all this stuff. Send an email to "Wilt Hildenbrand" wilth@optonline.net. with the above story. He'll make the right thing for you and you may even get reimbursed for your troubles and get the dish re-peaked.
 
Stomach turning! :down :down :down Installs can be brutal. Usually not as bad as this.

I am sure Wilt will get you going. The best is yet to come.
 
Remember, VOOM hired the loser installer. It is a reflection of Voom and how they choose to do business.
 
Seawaves said:
Get out before you waste anymore time- DirecTV has some new deals.
If you want local HD you will go through the same pain. Dont think that the above post means Directv can give you local HD. They cannot without an antenna. If you live outside the grade B reception contour you may be able to get local HD in 2-5 years by satellite MAYBE.
 
Gr8Reb8 said:
Remember, VOOM hired the loser installer. It is a reflection of Voom and how they choose to do business.
This post just kills me. Voom has a contract with installs, INc so does directv and echostar. INSTALLS INC selects the subcontractor to send to your home. Its the luck of the draw and the above poster knows it. The reason for these nightmares is the OTA antenna installation that these installers do not have experience with. Voom is giving you something that most directv customers have to figure out on their own as I did before I got Voom after buying about 4 different antennas with my money and labor, not vooms.
 
I have always installed my own DirecTV equipment. Voom would prefer to not do business but FORCE the use of these so called "professional" installers. I know you have read many messages on this and the Yahoo forum. I certainly recall reading many posts were similar install horror stories occur. When the customer calls for support and begs Voom to send someone else, who shows back up? That would indicate that even though they are made aware of these installers, no effort is made to train or replace these all to many looser (oh, professional), installers.
 
Sean Mota said:
Send an email to "Wilt Hildenbrand" wilth@optonline.net. with the above story. He'll make the right thing for you and you may even get reimbursed for your troubles and get the dish re-peaked.

Thanks for that, I have done so. I guess I'm in a just see what happens mode now on that front.

Seawaves said:
Get out before you waste anymore time- DirecTV has some new deals.
Uhh yeah right, these guys weren't Voom employees. BTW, the first installer does installs for all three and said I should go to D*... so that's great company you got there.

No rain today just overcast. Got about a 72 signal strength and looks like we have our channels back. Might be able to get up on the roof to install the antenna later today, maybe I'll get the missing OTA channel.

And oh man, sorry about the typos! LMB -> LNB, std... which was probably freudian -> stb.

Tom
 
We can say all we want about using another service. The fact of the matter is that anyone plays russian roulette with whom they get to do their local installation. The same happens with DirecTv and Dish Network. My local installers here in NY who does Dish Network I would not let them in to my house. I rather fix the problem myself. I do not know the specific how Installs Inc works but I am sure there is a reason why the same installation company is used.

Of course, when we say so many installations horror stories, we only talk about the bad ones but never talk about the numerous ones that have been done and everything has worked. So take with a grain of salt when people try to down play that this is a general problem and not a VOOM specific problem. I can tell you my horror story with DirecTv, Dish and VOOM as well. But if I decided not take matters into my own hand, I still will be cable today. None of them present a 100% solution that would guarantee that one of these will not happen. People who think otherwise are fooling themselves and others.
 
shouldnt 2 runs of RG6 be free with the install?

also the diplexor should be free as well, if they charged you for both, they STOLE YOUR MONEY as those should be free!!!

Vooms is a good service but the installation (by usually incompetent techs) suck major ass sometimes, like others said, its just luck

another question, did you get all of your cables? (DVI, S-video, Component, Composite & phone line (I thinkt hats all) you should've gotten those as well for FREE!!!

good luck man
 
Not that it will do TomVA any good, but in case someone else reads this - before my Voom install, I had read up quite a bit on this forum. I knew on install day what I was entitled to from the installer, that the installer had no right to take away any of the cables in the box (whether he used them or not) and also how to treat the installers (nicely!).

On installation day, I was set for an 8-12noon window, and at 10:30 I got a call from the installation company that the installer had "had an accident" over the weekend and wasn't coming. Without picking out all the obvious holes in this story, I knew from that one experience not to use that installation company. I immediately called Installs, Inc and demanded to know who their premier installation company was in my area and insisted that they give me an appointment with that company.

The second attempt was not perfect - the installer had arrived with no dish. The third appiontment was better - got nearly everything working, but still needed to swap out the STB. The fourth attempt was the charm.

I could complain that it took 4 appointments to get the equipment installed and working. But I look at Voom as a startup, and knew that if I decided to keep Voom and drop Comcast, I would need to be more patient with them because of that fact. As they grow, I expect them to address their shortcomings, but so long as I'm getting the product I'm paying for - decent picture, the OTA channels I care about, and minimal interference fromthe weather, I'll deal.

So, all this said, I'd suggest a call to Installs, Inc to complain about the subcontractor. Voom Support may be difficult to work with for this situation, and you'll probably have better luck pursuing this with Installs rather than with Voom...
 
I have both Voom and Directv and I will say that I have the same rain fade issue with Directv. Both will go out even when light rain or very cloudy.

I e-mailed Wilt and they're supposed to set up a new 24" dish for me.

Directv basically told me they didn't care that it was something on my end. Nice.
 
DRAKO said:
shouldnt 2 runs of RG6 be free with the install?
After reading faqs on this site... yes 2 runs are included.

DRAKO said:
also the diplexor should be free as well, if they charged you for both, they STOLE YOUR MONEY as those should be free!!!
No, neither one charged for the diplexor.

DRAKO said:
another question, did you get all of your cables? (DVI, S-video, Component, Composite & phone line (I thinkt hats all) you should've gotten those as well for FREE!!!

good luck man
Yes I got all the cables... I think; I don't remember seeing the S-video cable but wasn't really paying attention to that. I do remember seeing the DVI cable.

Appreciate all the feedback folks. Is there a contact at Installs, Inc?
Thanks

Tom
 
Tom,

the best person to contact is Wilt. We lost a good contact at installs. Go with Wilt he'll take care of you.
 
Sean Mota said:
We can say all we want about using another service. The fact of the matter is that anyone plays russian roulette with whom they get to do their local installation. The same happens with DirecTv and Dish Network. My local installers here in NY who does Dish Network I would not let them in to my house. I rather fix the problem myself. I do not know the specific how Installs Inc works but I am sure there is a reason why the same installation company is used.

Of course, when we say so many installations horror stories, we only talk about the bad ones but never talk about the numerous ones that have been done and everything has worked. So take with a grain of salt when people try to down play that this is a general problem and not a VOOM specific problem. I can tell you my horror story with DirecTv, Dish and VOOM as well. But if I decided not take matters into my own hand, I still will be cable today. None of them present a 100% solution that would guarantee that one of these will not happen. People who think otherwise are fooling themselves and others.

Yeah, We'd all rather take matters into our own hands. Who stops us? Voom!

This is a Voom problem until they change poilcy and allow DIY installs. The Voom installers are poorly trained, period.

Sean, you either say "all the SAT companies have this problem" or write to Wilt. That's not good enough.

We need Voom to fix what is broken- i.e., lousy installers.
 
Seawaves said:
Yeah, We'd all rather take matters into our own hands. Who stops us? Voom!

This is a Voom problem until they change poilcy and allow DIY installs. The Voom installers are poorly trained, period.

Sean, you either say "all the SAT companies have this problem" or write to Wilt. That's not good enough.

We need Voom to fix what is broken- i.e., lousy installers.

Seawaves,

you don't understand that this is not a VOOM problem but others have it as well since Installs Inc also does the same installation for Direct and Dish. Just go to the Dish and Direct forum and you will find similar stories. What else do you want me to do? Wilt has been there to take care of these problems and has been there to support everyone. I rather have Wilt than to have no one at all from Dish or Direct. DIY -- I am not against it but Voom it's since it brings all sort of problems as well.
 
Seawaves said:
Yeah, We'd all rather take matters into our own hands. Who stops us? Voom!

This is a Voom problem until they change poilcy and allow DIY installs. The Voom installers are poorly trained, period.

Sean, you either say "all the SAT companies have this problem" or write to Wilt. That's not good enough.

We need Voom to fix what is broken- i.e., lousy installers.
Why not let directv and dish fix the lousy installers. O thats right, they only install antennas for Voom......for free. In any case they dont work for Voom, they work for installs inc, so it will be a slow process. Voom will have to complain to installs inc and it may take quite a long time before installs inc fixes their problems. In the mean time it hurts Voom customers. What would you have Voom do? issue pink slips to employees who do not work for them? Threaten to give the install contract to another nationwide installer clearing house? who? and if their was another one and there probably isnt, you dont think we would see the same problems? You do not think they would use the same outfits? Im sorry but the reality of it now is, work through it or leave, its your choice. But what everyone is failing to mention is how aggrevating finding and installing the correct antenna in the correct direction can be on your own. And from all the crying on this forum I doubt many of these people could handle it. LMAO At least then they could blame the the real culprit in many cases, the trees blocking their antenna reception instead of the installer and voom.
 
I am starting to wonder why Voom installs are such problems for such a small customer base compaired to E* and D* via a % rate
I know it is the same installers for all systems,but what is the problem they(installers) have with Voom.
Money?(do they get paid more with D* and E*?)
Hard to find signal(This is hard for me to believe because I found 61.5 for E* with ease because I read what I was to do and I run a furnitue store)
Hard to hook up units-OTA,STB,Sat.Dish,LNB(then why are they in the business)
Overworked(a two hour install for E* or D* becomes 4 hours and they say forget about the Voom install)
Crappy Workers(there is good and bad everywhere)

I think the answer is money based on everything I read(I think E* and D* pay more)I agree that if you agree/take a job you should do the job but based on my second Voom attempt-when he thought he was to install E* he was all too happy about being there but once he found out it was Voom(their mix-up) he got real sh*tey about it, made a excuse to get out of it and was gone five min. later ,I guess to get to the next job that was paying more.
 

My Voom Anniversary

VOOM, this is how all of your movies/channels should look

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