Hi everyone,
Well, it's been three weeks since the start of my Voom installation, and today it finally finished. I have to say first that I think Adant Satellite is the worst company I've ever dealt with. Their installers were unprofessional and they had no idea what they were doing. Their home base in Merrillville is also unorganized and, at times, rude as well.
Here's a recap:
- July 4th: I order Voom from their web site. I was able to schedule an installation for July 12th in the morning. I got lots of email confirmation messages from Voom regarding the time, as well as phone numbers for Adant. So far, so good!
- July 12th: The install is scheduled from 8-12. The installer calls at 11:40 and says he's on his way and will be there shortly. He arrives at 1:45 p.m. (it's a good thing I took a full day of vacation). He begins the setup, and does a nice job with the dish, but a poor job with the antenna. I asked for an attic installation, but the guy said that wasn't possible with digital antennas, and that they had to be mounted outdoors. Instead, he mounted it on the lowest corner of my house near the gutter. It was obvious that the 350 pound guy didn't want to climb up on my roof or into the attic to do it properly.
After the hardware was installed, he (and his wife... ) came in and tried to get the box set up. Even though I did all the wiring to my RPTV, we weren't able to get an HD image through the component inputs. The coaxial input is working fine, and he insists this is good enough and his how he's hooked up all his other customers' hi-def Voom systems. Uggh.
We reboot the box, and the component output is working fine. I try to explain how the different outputs work to him, but he's obviously looking to leave since it's almost 5:00 at this point.
The Voom channels look great. The HD is awesome, and the SD is so much better than Comcast. From the antenna, I'm only receiving WISH 8 (CBS) at this point. The installer assures me the rest will magically start tuning themselves in later (read: I want to go home).
July 14th: I call Adant, and tell them about the problems with my OTA signal. They have me call Voom to get authorized for a SquareShooter antenna upgrade,which I do, and then they schedule the same installer to come back on Friday the 16th in the afternoon. Since I have a 9-5 job, I ask that the installer call me when he's on his way, so I can leave work and meet him at home. I also ask for my cable TV to be reconnected so I can run limited basic cable service into the TiVO. No problem they say - $50 charge but they can do it.
July 16th: I wait all afternoon for the phone call. Nobody calls. At 4:45, I call Adant, who in turn calls my installer. The installer had already come to my house while I wasn't there, relocated the existing antenna to a higher point on the roof, and left. No SquareShooter, no testing of the change, no cable wiring. Luckily, I'm now able to receive a few more OTA channels, but not all of them. Sigh.
July 19th: I call Adant, yet again. Explain it all. "Eddie" will call me back.
July 20th: Eddie hasn't called me back, so I call again and ask for a manager. I explain things again. Manager seems dismayed, and promises to send someone else out who can finish the job. We schedule for Friday, July 23 between 12 and 5, with the installer instructed to call me at work when they are on their way. Yippee!! Progress!!
July 23rd: I wait all afternoon at my desk. No phone call. I call Adant at 3:45 and ask why I haven't heard anything. They contact the new installers, and tell me that they are on their way as we speak. So, I sped home and managed to get there before they arrived. The two installers arrived (one of whom had very strong body odor) and started to work. They had a new antenna (though not a SquareShooter), and installed it. They also ran my cable lines. Curiously, they mounted the antenna directly behind my chimney, so it was nearly completely blocked in the direction of the towers. Installer #1 explains that he's new to antennas, and doesn't really know much about how the digital ones work. I ask him if he's done many Voom installs, and he said he's hooked a few up, but he just hands the customer the user guide and the remote since he has no idea how the system works. Nice....
So, we check the OTA reception. Signal strengths are lower across the board. The installer gives me the sage advice that I should just wait for awhile, and that the channels may start coming in later. You guessed it -- it's going on 6:00 at this time and it's clear he wants to go home (installer #2 is sitting out on the porch with his head between his hands, perhaps napping).
I let them go. I've got my cable reconnected to the TiVO now, which is good. But the OTA reception is far worse than it was, and my house stinks. I vacuum the entire place and spray Febreeze throughout.
July 27: I contemplate calling my friends at Adant back, but I just don't have the time or the inclination to waste any more time. I call Ovation and ask for some help with my OTA antenna installation, and they refer me to a guy named Jim Daniel at Attic Antenna. I give Jim a call, and we set up an appointment for today (Saturday, 7/31) at 9:00.
July 31: Jim arrives on time. I show him what's been done. Jim goes to work. Two hours later, he has installed the OTA antenna equipment completely in my attic (nothing outside or visible), run the cabling neatly down my garage wall on the inside, next to the furnace, through the crawspace to the back of the house, and connected into the Voom equipment. All the wires are completely hidden, and it's clean and neat. I can now receive every Indianapolis channel with very strong signal strength, and he removed the old antenna from Adant along with their sloppy wiring that ran down the sides of my house.
Yeah, I had to pay for Jim's service, but now everything is working perfectly. You get what you pay for, I guess.
I really hope that either Voom or Installs, Inc. wise up and realize what a racket Adant has going. These bozos must be getting checks for every service call they make on behalf of Voom, but they clearly don't know the product, nor do they instill a sense of professionalism in their employees.
Thumbs up for Voom.
Thumbs WAY UP for Attic Antenna, Inc. and Jim.
Thumbs WAY DOWN for Adant Satellite.
Jeff
Indianapolis, IN
My installer said the he hasn't known anyone to get 4.1. Maybe in the future ..... I thought I'd start this thread for all the Hoosiers out there.
