Day 1 of dish...off to a bad start.

[Acerbean]

Much better to do the job right the first time not matter what it takes, then have to send 3 techs. If Dish wants to make some strides in the PR Battle they need to make a promise to the Customer that when the tech leaves the house upon install, they will be able to watch Dishnetwork, no matter what it takes. If it takes carrying extra dishes/receivers/overhead/Sat Finders in the van, then so be it. There is no excuse. I am a bit amazed that DN got 3 techs there in 2 days. When my father got installed, he literally tokk off work, sat on his patio (50 feet from the street) all day, only to call Dish at 4:05 and be told the installer reported that he was not home. Needless to say, he was a bit pissed as he had 3 dogs, so even if he was in the bathroom or otherwise predisposed for 30 seconds, he would have heard the dogs. He tells everyone he meets about it.

I know such a policy could have implications for the many retailers out there, but Charlie needs to step up his game, stop trying to nickel and dime, and play ball. You get what you pay for. A customer telling a non-subscribing friend, "Hey, you should see this new Dish Network I got, install went great" than a Customer who has a bad experience and then tells everyone they meet about how incompetent Dish Network is. That is just marketing 101. Bad experiences do a lot more damage to your image than good experiences help. That is why you have to do everything you can to make them good ones.

The rule is 1 unsatisfied customer will pollute or disparage you(DISH in this case) to a minimum of 10 others. Almost like a salesman will make a sale to 1 in 10 ups or contacts if lucky, in the old days anyway, don't know about now.

 

[Andrewwski]

I'm not sure. Will look into that tonight. The TV 'sees/says' it's 1080i.

By bad quality, I mean I'm seeing a lot of compression issues. We get our locals OTA, and they look a lot better than the stuff I'm seeing on HBO and the like...but maybe that's typical with cable/satellite period, and that OTA will always look better.

In the end, all 3 guys were good guys. The only gripe is the first guy leaving and ME having to call to find out what's going on. If I hadn't called, I don't think I would have gotten it set up last night.

OTA always looks better, whether it's cable or sat, they both compress them.

 

[reddice]

OTA always looks better, whether it's cable or sat, they both compress them.

Too bad it is not that reliable.

 

[Andrewwski]

Depends on your market/location. For me it would be more reliable than sat.

 

[kb7oeb]

I didn't see mention of a DVR but if you don't subscribe to locals dish hides the antenna channel guide information.

 

[Liquidforce88]

What is so unsafe especially since the customer was there??? I did my own solo back in early 1999 for cripes' sake.



Folks need to understand they service one customer at time and that customer is THE most important customer at that moment, especially when Dish is losing customers at the rate they are. What is so hard about that, we expect it at McDonalds when we spend $4, why not a company where you spend upwards of $1400 a year let alone whatever install fee you pay for the occasional incompetent person that shows up. Don't tell me about how their underpaid, they have an f'ing job, unlike millions of others, DO IT!!! The next guy usually will understand scheduling issues with a courtesy call, they may not like it but....

Acer

You have no clue what happened to this installer. You obviously also have no clue of the things that installers have to go through. NO installer no matter how good he is can be prepared for every situation. There are just to many things that can happen that can mess a techs whole day up.

Maybe you should give people a break. Things happen that can't be accounted for. Although I don't like that it took 3 techs to get the job done, atleast it was done. Could have been a new tech that is still learning the job.

 

[joeyjojojnr]

OTA always looks better, whether it's cable or sat, they both compress them.

Well, the kids are watching Disney HD right now. It looks like I'm watching the show through a frosted window pane. It's awful. It looks like the resolution is half of HD and is just being blown up.

Is that really typical across-the-board?

It is a shame. PBS HD OTA is amazing.

 

[joeyjojojnr]

I didn't see mention of a DVR but if you don't subscribe to locals dish hides the antenna channel guide information.

We have the 722.

So, if we cancel the locals on dish, we also lose the directory for the OTA? Ugh. That sucks.

Granted, the directory for OTA kind of sucks already as it also lists the main stations (non of the sub-stations).

 

[joeyjojojnr]

Maybe you should give people a break. Things happen that can't be accounted for.

I have to agree with the original poster.

Like I said, the 3 guys I had out were all great PEOPLE. But there's still no excuse for the company to do what they did...abandon a customer half-way through an install.

Again, I'm not really upset or anything...I've had much worse from Qwest, for example. I don't knock people for companing, though.

 

[tsduke]

Well, the kids are watching Disney HD right now. It looks like I'm watching the show through a frosted window pane. It's awful. It looks like the resolution is half of HD and is just being blown up.

Is that really typical across-the-board?

It is a shame. PBS HD OTA is amazing.

Dude, sat HD is compressed, but it ain't that bad. Something isn't set up right.

 

[tawhite]

You have no clue what happened to this installer. You obviously also have no clue of the things that installers have to go through. NO installer no matter how good he is can be prepared for every situation. There are just to many things that can happen that can mess a techs whole day up.

Maybe you should give people a break. Things happen that can't be accounted for. Although I don't like that it took 3 techs to get the job done, atleast it was done. Could have been a new tech that is still learning the job.

You have to be kidding, right? Unless the first guy died in a horrible traffic accident then someone should have at least called the customer and advised as to the status of the install. This feel sorry for the installer crap is played out. The CUSTOMER should be taken care of, period! This is a big part of why Dish is getting the reputation for sh*t service. This is why you loose customers and potential customers. As stated before, people talk, expecially about bad experiences! This is a customer service business. The key words here are CUSTOMER and SERVICE!

 

[kb7oeb]

Disney HD does not have all that much HD, try HDNET they are always in HD.

We have the 722.

So, if we cancel the locals on dish, we also lose the directory for the OTA? Ugh. That sucks.

Granted, the directory for OTA kind of sucks already as it also lists the main stations (non of the sub-stations).

That is correct, the information will be replaced with the text "Digital Service". You can still program VCR style timer recordings without locals subscription.

 

[okiekevn]

joey, keep in mind if you have the t200 or above, your bill will go up by 98 cents if you remove locals. on the dishdvr advantage you dont pay the 5.98 dvr fee on t200 or above. so if you remove locals, you will then no longer be on dda and have to pay the 5.98 dvr fee.

 

[joeyjojojnr]

Dude, sat HD is compressed, but it ain't that bad. Something isn't set up right.

I hope so. I'll sit down tonight and play with the menus. I'll also use HDnet as the litmus test. (good suggestion!)

 

[joeyjojojnr]

joey, keep in mind if you have the t200 or above, your bill will go up by 98 cents if you remove locals. on the dishdvr advantage you dont pay the 5.98 dvr fee on t200 or above. so if you remove locals, you will then no longer be on dda and have to pay the 5.98 dvr fee.

Ya know...one of the installers said something like that.

Hmm...OK, well, I'll have to study the bill. Obviously, if I'm paying less with them, then I might as well keep them!

 

[Mark0]

I have to agree with the original poster.

Like I said, the 3 guys I had out were all great PEOPLE. But there's still no excuse for the company to do what they did...abandon a customer half-way through an install.

Again, I'm not really upset or anything...I've had much worse from Qwest, for example. I don't knock people for companing, though.

Aren't you the original poster?

Anyway, I find it amazing that you're giving them crap for going home on a Sunday night. I guess I'm spoiled. I'll never work on a Sunday night. Especially outdoors in your neck of the woods this time of year.

 

[joeyjojojnr]

Aren't you the original poster?

Anyway, I find it amazing that you're giving them crap for going home on a Sunday night. I guess I'm spoiled. I'll never work on a Sunday night. Especially outdoors in your neck of the woods this time of year.

I was referring to the poster who brought up that we're paying customers.

And I'm giving DISHNETWORK, the CORPORATION crap--not the fine guys that showed up to work.

What frustrated me is Guy #1 takes off at 1pm and says "i'll be back within an hour to finish".

*I*, the PAYING CUSTOMER, have to then call after he doesn't show up after 3 hours and ask WTF is going on. Only then do they realize that the job wasn't done and send out 2 other guys an hour later.

Again, the ground folks that showed up were great...but whatever communication they have going on internally up the chain is obviously broke or non-existent.

And while I applaud them for working on a Sunday, I've long ago learned to never ask for a week-day install if you can avoid it.

I can't afford to miss a whole days of work only to have large companies completely screw up their hard-working ground crew (yes, I'm mainly pointing at Qwest as I say all of that.)

 

[joeyjojojnr]

Dude, sat HD is compressed, but it ain't that bad. Something isn't set up right.

Well, I found the HDTV set up option in the 722. It's set to 1080i at 16x9, so that looks right.

Admittedly, HDNet looks pretty good. So, I'm guessing Dish just compresses some stations more than others (or the source is worse?).

 

[Mark0]

I was referring to the poster who brought up that we're paying customers.

And I'm giving DISHNETWORK, the CORPORATION crap--not the fine guys that showed up to work.

What frustrated me is Guy #1 takes off at 1pm and says "i'll be back within an hour to finish".

*I*, the PAYING CUSTOMER, have to then call after he doesn't show up after 3 hours and ask WTF is going on. Only then do they realize that the job wasn't done and send out 2 other guys an hour later.

Again, the ground folks that showed up were great...but whatever communication they have going on internally up the chain is obviously broke or non-existent.

And while I applaud them for working on a Sunday, I've long ago learned to never ask for a week-day install if you can avoid it.

I can't afford to miss a whole days of work only to have large companies completely screw up their hard-working ground crew (yes, I'm mainly pointing at Qwest as I say all of that.)

Here are a few things I've learned over the years you might want to consider.

The squeaky wheel gets the grease, unfortunately sometimes they bring the wrong kind of grease and if you really want it done right, DO IT YOURSELF. Its sad but true. I've had Comcast, Verizon, RCN, DirectTV and now Dish Network. I'm also a homeowner, engineer and a big fan of HD tv. So when I notice a problem, I usually fix it myself.
When I moved out of my condo to my house, Direct TV told me I wouldn' t be able to pull a signal (trees). They had said the same thing when I lived in the condo (buildings). Instead of fight them I installed it myself. It just took a bit of reading and creativity. Anyway, have always had problems with my Comcast. Even when they told me the problem was mine I finally convinced them to string me a new line from the pedistal. Turns out that was the problem all along. It's frustrating, but when you're a perfectionist and a nut, I've found that they are all incompetitent to a certain degree. So nowadays I save my breath and do things myself. With things becoming so complex these days, you really need to. But in the end you will be happy, and when things go wrong, you know how to fix them.

The techs all companies send out are jsut average people like me and you. Keep that in mind. I give them credit working as hard as they do. But I also know I'm a PITA. So I try to remind myself of this whenever things go worng.

There are a lot of people who complain about Dish, but being a guy whose had all types of service, I'll tell you that the quality and value of Dish beats any other service out there. Sure their customer support sucks, but if you know what you are doing, there's really no need to deal with them.

 

[joeyjojojnr]

Well said, Marco.

THese days, I just ASSUME dealing with a company will be a futile and frustrating experience. Going into it with that attitude, it's a lot easier to just take it in stride and keep the blood pressure down.

Again, no big beef regarding the install. Yea, it took a while, and they left me hanging, but the guys that were out here were nice guys and did work hard getting it all set up.

And, I find, that's usually the case. Call centers are probably the worst way to deal with a company. The grounds crew...the best.