Voom/Installs Inc. please get it together

vader

Well-Known SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
May 28, 2004
33
0
Despite the total nightmare with installers I have thus far been a happy Voom customer. I am posting this for 2 reasons. One - I hope that someone from Voom or Installs Inc. would read it. Two - information for other's like you about some policies.

I ordered Voom back in March. I am not going to name any installers partially because I don't even remember. The first guy came 7am Saturday morning. It was a cold misty day. He got out of his van looked up in the sky and told me that I don't have a clear view of the required elevation and left.

I did not give up and purchased a satellite compass. After about 5 minutes of searching for the spot I found it in the yard about 50 feet from the house. Before I could make another call for installation Voom called me back and set up another appointment with a different installer. I give Voom A for trying.

When the next guy arrived I did not tell him about the spot I had found and let him climb around looking for it. He indeed found the same spot. Of course he was not prepared for post mount installation. My choice was to put the post up myself or pay him $80 to do it. I told him just to go ahead and put it in. He promised to be back the next day.

Days came and went. After a week he showed up again at 7pm for "noon to 5pm" appointment. He put the post in and poured concrete. It got dark so I told him to rush and install the dish and worry about the OTA antenna later. Here's where everything fell apart. He had a box but no remote, antenna but no amplified board in it, no grounding blocks, wrong diplexer (as I learned later). He "finished" the job got the picture up, drank a beer I offered, took my $80 and I never saw him again.

After 3 weeks of complaining about unfinished business Voom finally sent over a new installer from a different company. In the mean time I had bought my own ground rod, ground wire, grounding blocks, the right diplexers and hooked it all up.

The new guy had everything he needed. He checked all connections gave me diplexers so I could return the $50 worth of bought stuff back to radio shack, changed the board in the antenna, put it on the roof and even gave me a separate amp in case I chose to disconnect the diplexers (which I soon did). I'd give that guy an A if he had tighten up the dish bolts.

OTA antenna was pretty much worthless since the mapping was so screwed up that I could only tune into one local channel. I was fully aware of the OTA problem and had sent Sean an e-mail in hopes to get the right channels added.

After 2 days of Vooming I lost the satellite signal completely. At this point after talking to dozens and dozens of Voom CSR's who were dumber than my dogs I decided to check the dish myself. Sure enough the nuts were loose and after 15 minutes of tuning I got better signal than the installer left me with.

Once my channels were mapped (thanks Sean) I had a new challenge to get that signal right. I decided after getting tired of climbing the roof all weekend that the rotator may be a good investment. So life was good with 10 local channels and satellite signal of about 87...

...until it started raining...

I decided to wait until v6.01 was available so that if both the dish and the antenna end up being changed, it would be a one service call. Once v6.01 came I realized that I have a pretty good chance to receive another 5-6 OTA channels - most of them showed signal of 76-81 but not enough to lock in.

So I called Voom back. I tried to be as articulate as I could about the bigger dish and a bigger antenna. The girl kept asking me 3 times if I put my box on standby during the night time even after I told her that I have 6.01 already downloaded. She finally got Installs Inc. on the phone and scheduled the appointment for TODAY.

Saturday I got a message from the local installer (same as the good guy who had all the parts) stating that he cannot keep the appointment since he needs a extra cost approval from Installs Inc. for bigger antenna - no word about the dish. I immediately called Voom back and ran through the whole thing again and inquiring why was the work order issued without approval. Voom said that Installs Inc. needs to sort it out with the local guy.

TODAY - the local guy calls me and warns me about the antenna which is "big and needs to be 15' above the roof". I asked what type of antenna is it (because by now I know all about them). He said that he needs to do research. I told him that the channels I have trouble with are in different direction and I have a rotator to deal with that. I also mentioned the dish issue. He agreed that the bigger dish would help but was also wondering if the post has moved. I assured him that I have occasionally "fine tuned" the dish if I see a gradual drop of the signal. At this point he started reading me some Voom regulation that basically states that the Owner is not suppose to do the things I did - install rotator, touch the dish. He said he needs to figure out how to get "around this problem". I did not know that it was "a problem". For me it had been a SOLUTION!

This just did it for me. After all the hassle, after finishing half of the installation myself, after taking numerous hours off from work, having to buy splitters, connectors, grounding cables and rods, being on the phone for hours trying to make sure that I won't waste another day waiting for a guy to show up with no antenna and dish thinking that all he needs to do is "tweak"...

This better not cost me more money because Voom will void the warranty. I would have had to touch anything if it wasn't for the morons answering the phones and high school dropouts installing equipment.

Wilt, please take a notice.
 
I also "touched" my dish when three trips by installers to peak the dish still left me with a 75 signal. After moving the dish ever so slightly I am now proud to say I am a steady signal around 92. Don't tell VOOM I touched it or they might cancel my antenna upgrade tomorrow ;)

Seriously, how large is the information gap between VOOM, Installs Inc. and the local installer? I have had so many problems with just a simple install that it is comical, but I know I am not alone.


kaw
 
I had the same problem with Installation, I called to cancell and received vavavoom free for 1 month, then i asked what degree the OTA shouild be pointed to. the CSR read that to me and i told him one more smartass comment like that i would gurantee i would literally throw this equipment out of my home into the street and cancell my cc. i WAS TRANSFERED TO A SUPERVISOR THAT KNEW INSTALL INFO AND DEGREES. .

In my experience its not voom its installs inc. I have also had the visits that were supposed to be for a bigger antenna or dish and when they showed up they said they were there to tune my equipment (no later of course). i HAVE ASKED INSTALLS inc TO READ MY WORK ORDER that they received from VOOM and its usually word for word. i THINK iNSTALLS iNC. IS MILKING voom AND THAT NEW INSTALL PRICE IS A DIRECT RESULT.

imo...mr.C
 
Watch there work closely. make sure they ground your dish and antenna,, some installers are great tech's, Pay attention how your tech hooks up your stb's , you might be changing things after he leaves (i.e to get better PQ or more OTA ch's)
 
Technut said:
Watch there work closely. make sure they ground your dish and antenna,, some installers are great tech's, Pay attention how your tech hooks up your stb's , you might be changing things after he leaves (i.e to get better PQ or more OTA ch's)

Well I plan to regardless ;)

I hope I get a good one.
 
Well I just got off the phone with Installs Inc. The lady was very apologetic and told me that all the subcontractors are authorized to make upgrade decision in the field. Also they can call up Installs Inc. anytime since their office is open until 7pm EST. So I have no idea why is this back and forth "approval" issue going on. She also told me that if I don't get a call back from local installer by 5pm I should call her back and she would get me another installer. This is a significant improvement form their part since I have had so many dead ends before.
I actually liked that subcontractor and hope that Installs would not end up sending me the first bozo who was late and did half the job. Really don't want to deal with him again.
It would be an half an hour job for them and my existing rotator would make their life so much easier. I don't understand this "warranty issue". I wish they just UPS me the antenna and dish and I probably would not call them back about the same issues ever again.
 
In my opinion Install's Inc. and the local installers have too much power. I was approved by VOOM for an upgraded antenna. Well it turns out the local installer checked my zip code with antennaweb.org (which only lists me getting one digital channel even though there are 5 within 50 miles) and decided I did not need an upgraded antenna because it would not be worth the effort for me to only get maybe one channel. He reported back to Install's and they politely cancelled my antenna upgrade (how nice of them). Anyway, after a few calls to VOOM I am supposed to be back on for tomorrow. I will keep my fingers crossed.

kaw
 
Antennaweb is not very reliable source. If I put in my full address it shows only 2 stations and neither of them are major networks. If I type in only th zipcode it shows 14. Currently I don't get them all. But I do get some that are not even listed. So go figure.
 
I also think that Installs, Inc. will be the undoing of this satellite service, if my experience was typical (and it sounds like it was). I posted a detailed recounting of my installation headaches to the Voom In Your Area/Indiana forum, but here are some of the highlights:

- 3 visits scheduled by Installs, Inc./Adant Satellite, and none of the installers knew anything about Voom, antennas, or how to set them up properly.

- The original Adant installer was going to leave me with a coax connection from the receiver to my RPTV. He was convinced that was all that was necessary for an HD picture ("That's what I've always done with my other Voom installs").

- After three trips, they couldn't make any progress on the OTA reception. I called a local antenna expert, and paid him myself, who did an awesome attic installation with no exposed wiring, which pulls in all the local stations with a signal strength between 96 and 99 (out of 100). Yeah, I had to pay for it, but the perfect installation and the equipment is mine and part of the house, regardless of what happens to Voom in the future.

I'm glad I went with Voom during their nothing-down promo. The PQ on the high-def channels is great (I don't know what all the complainers are smoking), and the standard channels look far better than my old cable installation except for the sparkles on a handful of the channels.

I think that there is too much complaining overall. Had I taken all of the online complainers seriously during my research phase, I wouldn't have ordered Voom, which would have been a mistake. The problem with the Internet and forums such as this is that they can obscenely amplify the voices of a small minority of people. Nowhere is that more evident than in these Voom forums.

The reviews of Voom in the New York Times, and on CNET, were the most valuable to me, and it was their favorable reviews pushed me into taking a chance with Voom. I'm very glad that I did, despite the hassles with Installs, Inc. and Adant Satellite.

Jeff
 
I cannot help but to continue this thread.

Let me first say that I am perfectly satisfied with Voom picture quality and even the troublesome Motorola box. It's the continuing agony with service calls and thickheaded installers.

Like I was afraid of the local installer called my house during a day (not work as I had told him) and left a 5 minute ranting about the info that he got from antennaweb.org. Like I mentioned earlier that site shows only 2 available channels for my full address. So he is proposing some gigantic $300 antenna on a tripod and refusing to set up the appointment without a serious dialog. I left him yet another message stating that I don't need anything that big. In fact something like CH 3020 would do as long as it's large directional for 60-100mi range. Still no confirmation on 30" or 24" dish replacement which Installs Inc. already confirmed for automatic approval.

It's this kind of unprofessionalism that is killing me. Even when everything is set up and approved. All he needs to do is change out the dish, throw the antenna on the same mast that I currently have the Stealth and go home. I won't let him scan the channels with my rotator anyway. That's the fun I want to keep for myself. ;)

If I did not know that Voom honors upgrades I would have bought the $100 antenna myself.

What gives here?
 
Similar problems seem to abound...
On my initial install, the installers mounted the dish and Winegard Sensar on the side of my house. I have never gotten above an 80 satellite signal quality, and only after the software upgrade have I been picking up my 1 out of maybe 15 OTA channels somewhat well. The software was a mixed blessing as now the satellite picture constantly (every 10-15 seconds) freezes during the day. Only after maybe 9 P.M. does it not freeze. I am scheduled for an antenna upgrade tomorrow morning. I plan on suggesting to the guy that installing both the dish and antenna on the chimney would probably help tremendously. The reason I say this is because whenever cars drive by my house, the picture on OTA freezes and sometimes the satellite picture will freeze. This will make my second service call. The first was to tune OTA, and replace STB. I don't want to move the dish myself, because of warranty issues. However, if what I have read holds true and the guy doesn't bring an OTA upgrade, I might move dish and purchase the antenna myself, send Voom the bill (my time + equipment) and demand they credit me for it. They will probably be surprised at how much more I value my time than they do.
 
Good luck getting the installer to do anything that isn't printed on his work order, at least that is my experience. When the guy came out to install my OTA antenna the first time (after the first guy left without even assembling it) I wanted him to mount it on the roof. He said they have to mount it on the dish, that is the only place he could mount it, even though my dish is only 6' off the ground on my fence. He looked at my two story roof and said "oh no, I can't put it up there", "It has to be on the dish". I said "what about if I get an antenna upgrade, or they going to put a huge antenna on my fence?". He did not seem to care about that problem. Of course that was the same guy who said he would not bother setting up my SD tv's with OTA because SD tv's cannot receive digital signals from the antenna. What a load of bull...

kaw
 
The saga continues.

The local installer called and argued that he cannot install the "bigger" antenna because my local channels are within the mileage range of CH 3010 (stealth). One of the channels that I'm missing is 20 miles away and only has 1.9KW transmission tower (yes I can get reception but not enough to lock in). He said that increasing the mileage range will not help to get the signal.
Also he said that vhf does not transmit HD or digital. The digital part is BS because I can see the picture. STB won't display analog. HD I am not sure about. But that's not the point. Voom was suppose to provide antenna that gives the customer ALL local channels HD or not.

I am going to buy my own and test this theory.

Any comments anyone?
 
Call VOOM, they tried the same stuff on me as I posted earlier. I demanded to have what I was promised. The local installers are lazy and/or don't like dealing with VOOM for some reason (this is my opinion at least). All of the sudden Installs changed their tune after I called VOOM and told them antennaweb.org is not that accurate. Don't let them screw you out of the antenna upgrade, mine is scheduled for today and I will report back here if it goes up without a hitch. And if the upgraded one doesn't work I will demand a better one that does. You have the right for an antenna upgrade no matter how close you live to the towers.

kaw
 
AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

The local installer called a few minutes ago, get this, I can't make this stuff up: Cancelled because I can't recieve local channlels according to antennaweb.org.

Is this Deja Vu? Have I gone back in time a week and am having the same conversations again. Why can't the installers just come out and spend VOOM's money and put up my stupid upgrade antenna they are told by VOOM to do without checking that website and deciding it is a waste of their gas? They have the antenna, they have the work order, just do it.

I have been contacted three times this week to confirm that we are still on schedule, yesterday was the latest, they just wanted to make sure I knew they were coming out from 11-2 today. How come all of the sudden they decide to check antennaweb and cancel an hour before they are supposed to get here. I called VOOM and said tell them to bring it out today or come get anything with the VOOM logo on it today.

kaw
 
Deja vu it is...

I spent 1/2 hour arguing with the installer. He plugged my address into antennaweb.org and like I mentioned before saw TWO channels. I told him to remove the address and leave only the zip code. He refused and said that Voom only accepts channels that this stupid site shows with the FULL address. I told him that I have 11 locals. He could not believe me!! He said that I cannot possibly be getting those. When I listed all the major networks except ABC and UPN that I have trouble with, he said that those are analog. I disagreed because STB does not take analog signal. Then he said that maybe it's digital but definitely not HD, I told him that he is dead wrong. He asked HOW DO I KNOW IT'S HD???? At that point I almost lost it.

I am not making any progress here. I already bought CM 3020 and the amp from Lowes and will hook it up this afternoon.

Will keep you posted. Someone will have to pay for this!
 
Ok, after spending my lunch break on the phone I was finally able to find someone who "says" he is going to fix it. I had to call Install's Inc., the local installer has cancelled the same antenna upgrade three times in a row (mine) because he/she does not know how to use a computer apparently. Attention Local Installers:There is more than one website besides antennaweb.org., the guy at installs checked the NAB site and indeed confirmed that Monroe has more than one digital channel (like I have told them repeatedly). He says it won't happen again and he knows how to fix the problem and is going to call me back. Stay tuned....

kaw
 
vader said:
The saga continues.

Vader I feel like sending you my phone number this is the exact problem I'm having with getting an OTA exchanged every installer like freaks out. They have to pay it out of pocket then Voom reimburses them which just like pops their vein or something. I actually had a guy tell me that he thinks I should be able to get all the local channels with a coat hanger and a rotor.. HE ACTUALLY SAID THIS. I called VOom and switched tech companies.

Stick with it it's not Voom's fault its the local jerkasses who don't know what they are doing.
 

Volume on FNC (412) unusually low tonight????

Moving with Voom

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