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If there was any one thing besides Wall Street's gloom and doom projected onto Voom that drove it to its present situation it was their relationship with Install's, Inc.; the most decisive factor in the equation.
Install's, Inc. was and is the outsourced contractor for Voom's installations nationally. They subsequently scheduled and distributed actual installation assignments to yet other groups who are established regionally who acted as go betweens in the process. Eventually the installation process would assign an independent contractor servicing a small geographical area to do the actual installation. And, unfortunately that independent contractor had little training and experience, especially when it came to capturing OTA (over-the-air) signals.
Another factor was Install's, Inc. lack of overall supervision, training, and monitoring of the installation process. There was little on going in regards to Q and A (quality assurance). For a company who's sole existence is dependent on servicing providers by facilitating the actual installation process to Voom and many other clients, it would appear Installs, Inc. was seemingly only interested in the revenues it could generate but failed to satisfy both client and end-user. Again, seriously alarming when you consider their sole existence is predicated on the aforementioned.
Hence, dissatisfied customers churn and abuse from primary all the way down to independent contractors.
Who really made money off this Voom venture? Well, Install's, Inc. and those that have or had relationships with them seem to have faired pretty damn well.
How?
My personal experience with the installation process finally ended a week ago, successfully I might add, after 11 (eleven) installation visits. Eleven! Eleven intrusions into my life, eleven schedule changes, eleven inconveniences, and countless phone calls to both Voom and Install's, Inc. Eleven times Install's, Inc. went back to Voom and billed them for absolutely incompetent and unjustifiable services. This process initiated in March of 2004 ending in January of 2005; eleven months later.
If it were not for the fact I was relentless in asserting as to making damn sure I got what I had paid for I would have canceled long, long ago. Just as those other Voom subscribers did.
In the process I made absolutely clear to Install's, Inc. what they were doing to Voom and end users was a crime and that they would ultimately be responsible as to the demise of Voom.
But, let's be real here. The buck doesn't stop there. What the most the painful aspect about all of this is that Chuck Dolan and the board at CVC had no one, and I mean absolutely no one at the helm that was qualified to see this venture through.
When CVC issued IPOs in an attempt to spin off Voom as an independent entity it read as a suicide note.
As of this writing, Voom is still viable and operating yet, the CVC board met Monday, January 31, 2005 suposidly to put end to Voom's fate and ultimately the bleeding of assets from CVC's vault. Indecisively, they now intend to meet tomorrow, Friday, February 3, 2005, which in turn, may seal the fait of Voom once and for all.
How will the FCC handle the sale to Echostar of Voom's physical assets such as the satellite, Rainbow 1, its orbital location, uplink facilities in South Dakota as well as the 11 frequencies? It's anyone's guess at this juncture.
Echostar's past attempts to acquire DirecTV and other frequencies have fallen on deaf ears at the Commission. What would make this attempt any different?
No one has a crystal ball that can predict the future, but I will say this… if Voom is taken down, its assets dispersed, no one person or entity in there right mind will enter this arena again without Walls Street's screws saying, remember, I told you so.
Need I remind you, Wall Street made the same assertions as to viability when Chuck Dolan began HBO and Ted Turner with CNN, and in the end, who prevailed?
Voom, for all its worth, is stunning, in both concept and presentation. With 39 HD channels including specialty programming of the likes of, but not limited to GalleryHD, EquatorHD, UltraHD, RaveHD, and the scheduled expansion in March'05 to over 70 HD as well as hundreds of SD channels, was without exception an exciting and a much needed option, not only to the HD market but SD as well. Voom is a real addition in an extremely limited marketplace. It brought jobs, tax revenues, stimulated growth, technology and ingenuity. It could have even helped stifle inflation in regards to fees and kept the DBS and cable industries in check. The benefits are countless.
What a very bitter pill.
Install's, Inc. was and is the outsourced contractor for Voom's installations nationally. They subsequently scheduled and distributed actual installation assignments to yet other groups who are established regionally who acted as go betweens in the process. Eventually the installation process would assign an independent contractor servicing a small geographical area to do the actual installation. And, unfortunately that independent contractor had little training and experience, especially when it came to capturing OTA (over-the-air) signals.
Another factor was Install's, Inc. lack of overall supervision, training, and monitoring of the installation process. There was little on going in regards to Q and A (quality assurance). For a company who's sole existence is dependent on servicing providers by facilitating the actual installation process to Voom and many other clients, it would appear Installs, Inc. was seemingly only interested in the revenues it could generate but failed to satisfy both client and end-user. Again, seriously alarming when you consider their sole existence is predicated on the aforementioned.
Hence, dissatisfied customers churn and abuse from primary all the way down to independent contractors.
Who really made money off this Voom venture? Well, Install's, Inc. and those that have or had relationships with them seem to have faired pretty damn well.
How?
My personal experience with the installation process finally ended a week ago, successfully I might add, after 11 (eleven) installation visits. Eleven! Eleven intrusions into my life, eleven schedule changes, eleven inconveniences, and countless phone calls to both Voom and Install's, Inc. Eleven times Install's, Inc. went back to Voom and billed them for absolutely incompetent and unjustifiable services. This process initiated in March of 2004 ending in January of 2005; eleven months later.
If it were not for the fact I was relentless in asserting as to making damn sure I got what I had paid for I would have canceled long, long ago. Just as those other Voom subscribers did.
In the process I made absolutely clear to Install's, Inc. what they were doing to Voom and end users was a crime and that they would ultimately be responsible as to the demise of Voom.
But, let's be real here. The buck doesn't stop there. What the most the painful aspect about all of this is that Chuck Dolan and the board at CVC had no one, and I mean absolutely no one at the helm that was qualified to see this venture through.
When CVC issued IPOs in an attempt to spin off Voom as an independent entity it read as a suicide note.
As of this writing, Voom is still viable and operating yet, the CVC board met Monday, January 31, 2005 suposidly to put end to Voom's fate and ultimately the bleeding of assets from CVC's vault. Indecisively, they now intend to meet tomorrow, Friday, February 3, 2005, which in turn, may seal the fait of Voom once and for all.
How will the FCC handle the sale to Echostar of Voom's physical assets such as the satellite, Rainbow 1, its orbital location, uplink facilities in South Dakota as well as the 11 frequencies? It's anyone's guess at this juncture.
Echostar's past attempts to acquire DirecTV and other frequencies have fallen on deaf ears at the Commission. What would make this attempt any different?
No one has a crystal ball that can predict the future, but I will say this… if Voom is taken down, its assets dispersed, no one person or entity in there right mind will enter this arena again without Walls Street's screws saying, remember, I told you so.
Need I remind you, Wall Street made the same assertions as to viability when Chuck Dolan began HBO and Ted Turner with CNN, and in the end, who prevailed?
Voom, for all its worth, is stunning, in both concept and presentation. With 39 HD channels including specialty programming of the likes of, but not limited to GalleryHD, EquatorHD, UltraHD, RaveHD, and the scheduled expansion in March'05 to over 70 HD as well as hundreds of SD channels, was without exception an exciting and a much needed option, not only to the HD market but SD as well. Voom is a real addition in an extremely limited marketplace. It brought jobs, tax revenues, stimulated growth, technology and ingenuity. It could have even helped stifle inflation in regards to fees and kept the DBS and cable industries in check. The benefits are countless.
What a very bitter pill.
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7103 views
Vickibradley said:It isn't absolutely one thing that caused the demise or potentially of Voom. This is my personal experience. Two Install's, Inc. techs stood in defense of their operation. I gave them credit. What I did say, that was not my experience in my geographical location. I was simply expressing my utter frustration as to the unprofessional behavior. If it appeared I have been too callous, I apologize. BUT, I do feel installation experiences and installer's lack of experience and motivation have played a substantial part in the demise of Voom. Agreed, but it just sounded to me like you were aiming your arrows at TYORK.
I think most of you will agree 11 visits is a little over the top. Again, agreed 100%!
Vicki, if they had applied a pre-amp to your situation, chances are, you would still be a happy Voom client. Don't know for sure about this one, as that was a long time ago, and I haven't yet tried to refresh my knowledge picked up from the folks here when I was going through my install problems. I'm going to go up on the roof and get a clear picture of what was installed initially before I set my next install date, then I'll be back on the board asking questions and getting clear on the answers, so that when the next installer comes, I will be able to closely supervise him (if need be) to insure a proper installation. Personally, I know I should not have to do that...but I really want my VOOM back, and if that's what it takes, so be it!
I am not bad mouthing anyone as those are my real experiences.I didn't say you were bad mouthing anyone, just that it appeared to me you seemed to be trying to shoot a very helpful messenger. Firing your questions at Installs, Inc. mangement would be more appropriate and far more productive.
Glad to hear you're a happy Voomer now...
Bradley,
I hope to be in your same boat come 2/22!!@party Thanks for the input on the antennas.
I'm going to crawl up on the roof and check out what was left from the prior installation attempts, and will undoutedly be back with more questions prior to 2/22!! Gonna have to re-read all my old posts as well, because it seems like a long time ago, and I sometimes have to be retrained after coffee breaks!
Vicki
Bradley,
I hope to be in your same boat come 2/22!!@party Thanks for the input on the antennas.
I'm going to crawl up on the roof and check out what was left from the prior installation attempts, and will undoutedly be back with more questions prior to 2/22!! Gonna have to re-read all my old posts as well, because it seems like a long time ago, and I sometimes have to be retrained after coffee breaks!
Vicki
Supporting Founder
Really excited for this season with Kentucky having a new coach and some really exciting recruits. Probably won't last long, but here's hoping this season is great.
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1314 views
College Football Playoff nears agreement on 24-team expansion that could end title games
The College Football Playoff field is about to get much more crowded as the conferences near a deal to double the size of the field to 24 teams starting next year
www.cbssports.com
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
I created this thread on the original Edgecutter Cutting Edge Forums site. It's simply a place for those to review the latest software available for those using Windows 10 and Windows 11. To date it has received 112,559 views. I have been asked by staff to continue this thread here.
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47135 views
To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.
For niche use cases, yes I agree. Kali for ethical hacking and security testing, and running a Cacti server for network monitoring are the two things I have experience in. Plus thousands and thousands of other things, but for every day use I just can't see it. The owner of the GMRS repeater that I pay to access is changing the Tx DPL tones tomorrow, while Chirp is available on Linux, the software to program my MXT500 is not.To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything.
I run Fedora and Ubuntu in VMWare, honestly I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows. The cartoonish dock at the bottom of the screen reminds me of Apple products.
As I said above, and, FWIW, I run Win11 Pro and Arch on separate 250 GB NVME drives, using F8 to select which I boot to, with a 1TB SSD for storage, accessible to both OSs and a third formatted Nvme I want to use to learn Kali. It was much faster to setup Arch than it was to strip down Windows. Windows still takes much longer to boot.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Hard getting used to the new younger Gibbs, Mark Harmons son had the right look but I understand he didn't want the role.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
Still I'm enjoying, pretty good job with Franks.
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4200 views
Pub Member / Supporter
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2 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
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2670315 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Wasn't exactly sure where to post this. Just had a customer come in inquiring about internet. He has HughesNet and had heard good things about mine. He asked if we provided email addresses and it kinda caught me off guard. I said he should be able to keep whatever email he had been using....my sister in law is still using a BellSouth email addy and they haven't been around here for many years. He said he had gotten a letter from HughesNet stating that they had until Nov 16th to save, move, forward, whatever, their Hughesnet emails because they would lose them after that date.
I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.
Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
I have never heard of a company simply mass-deleting email accounts (the customer still has his HughesNet service). From what I understand, in the past, the company who was ditching their email service simply sold the customer base to a company like Google.
Anyone else getting this letter. He said he would show it to me tomorrow when I go out there and set up his internet.
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112 views
Still the same number of years, just more Sunsets…Wouldn't we then die of old age sooner?
Lifetime Supporter
Starting a thread klang !
After an amazing first 2 seasons and an 8 episode 3rd season still coming this year, season 4 has now been greenlit.
After an amazing first 2 seasons and an 8 episode 3rd season still coming this year, season 4 has now been greenlit.
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927 views
One episode into season 4 that dropped today...
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.
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298816 views
Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.
I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.
edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
As I recall you have the Flex package. Do you sub to multisport? -02 is FS1 and -03 is ESPN. -01 is Fox so you would get that if you sub to locals.Hmmm, I'm not seeing anything like those events in our Hopper 3 guide for tonight or Saturday.
I went into the Tools menu and requested a Guide Update. I'll try looking at it after the update completes.
edit — I now have the 148-01 4KFox events for Saturday, but not anything for 148-02 or 148-03 which don't even show as available channels. I do have 148-04 4KUSA.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5R5Aw27yr0
Direct YouTube Link - A State Cyber-emergency in Japan
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5R5Aw27yr0
Direct YouTube Link - A State Cyber-emergency in Japan
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
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6 views
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmNun8Ms4s
Direct YouTube Link - AI and Mathematicians
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEmNun8Ms4s
Direct YouTube Link - AI and Mathematicians
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
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3 views