Extremely frusterated with Directv in Alaska

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slates23

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Jul 5, 2007
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Hello everyone,

First time user and subscriber to this website and to Directv and let me tell you that your site is doing much better than Dtv is. I am about to tell a story of a journey that I have been suffering though that most would have given up on long ago. My patience is near it's end and I am not sure who else to go to for the exception of the Better Business Bureau. It all started in Feb 2007 when I made my first call to Dtv's 800 number. I placed my order to a rep and everything went fine. She said that I would get a phone call in the next 72 hours from a installation tech. The next day I received an email from them which had my order on it and I believed that all was good. So 3 days goes by and no call from the tech.... I decide to be proactive and call Dtv to ask if there was any problems. This is where it starts to go really bad....

The rep that I talked to stated that because of where I am at (Fairbanks, Alaska to be specific) that there was a massive backlog of users that needed installation due to Alaska Wireless going out of business. Because of this, my installation appointment was scheduled for June 12th 2007! Yes that is right... 4 months later. So, believe it or not, I stuck with it. I thanked the rep for the information that she gave me and prepared to wait. Now some people would ask, "Why didn't you just go with Dish network?" Well from what I have researched, Direct seems to be the better option. Not so sure about that at the moment.... So if you are still awake it gets deeper. :) The end of May rolls around and I am starting to get giddy about getting the service. I call up Dtv to verify that my installation date is still the same. Yup, still the same. I go along carefree waiting for the 12th of June. So between 8 - 12pm I wait at home on the 12th. 10am rolls around and I start to get worried that there was a problem with the address for the house. I call Dtv again and speak with a rep that tells me my account has become cancelled due to inactivity. Hmmmmmmm do you think so?

An inactive account because I was told that the installers wouldn't be out there for 4 months. So how was it that I was able to verify my account to be installed just 2 weeks ago in the end of May? Frusterated, I sat on hold while the rep talked with several supervisors. I believe that I sat on the phone talking with different people (who couldn't find my account due to inactivity....I became quite good at telling me story) for 3 hours before I was told that a service rep would call me in 72 hours. More waiting and... yup you guessed it....they never called. I called back and talked with someone in the Dtv installation dept. who read the account history log. He was absolutely shocked to see that I had a account number with a install id number that had expired. He told me that the best thing for me to do would be to start all over to get a new install id number. *Sigh* So I do it. I get a credit refunded back to my credit card and he transfers me to a sales rep so that I can start this wonderful journey over again. (Several explicits were yelled as I listed to choppy elevator music while the phone was on speaker)

After a while a rep answered and I was happy to hear that Dtv recognized my troubles and offered to give me 32 months of discounted satellite tv. We will see if that sticks. So at the moment, I sit calling nearly 3 times a week asking if I have acquired a installation date from an installer that is like a ghost. I call the local number (907)264-0097 for Micro communications (the Alaska installer) and it goes straight to a voicemail telling me to call a Dtv number if I need an installation. Ok so we are now at present day and here I am typing asking/begging/pleading if anyone else in Alaska is going through the same headaches that I am. If anybody has information about this company or a different phone number, I would greatly appreciate it. I know that Dtv is not really to blame for this but I would have guessed that (going by some of the other blogs from other Alaskans on here) they would have hired more installers up here to take care of this.

Ok I know that I have written a book about this but hopefully someone has some answers or this will get read by others that are experiencing the same frustrations.

Thanks for your time.

Charley Slater
Fairbanks, Alaska
 
Last edited by a moderator:
:welcome

I dont have experience with Alaska installs but I added a few paragraph breaks to help folks read your post. Its pretty long. I hope you dont mind and I hope it all works for you. Anyone out there that can help Charley?
 
Thanks Brewer for the edits. Sorry about the length of it but I really needed to vent.
 
Give it a couple of days and maybe someone will read this and be able to help.
 
Thanks ke4est. That is exactly what I am hoping for. Thanks again for the encouragement!

Charley
 
Why not do a self-install? It is not really that difficult to do. If not by yourself, maybe with a friend that's handy.

I did mine - picked up the stuff and had it done in under 2 hours.
 
Why not do a self-install? It is not really that difficult to do. If not by yourself, maybe with a friend that's handy.

I did mine - picked up the stuff and had it done in under 2 hours.

Thats how I learned as well. I've had both professional installers and self ones and both have worked out. Some folks may not want to run coax lines as that I find to be more difficult then the dish if there isnt a lot of prewiring. But give Directv another chance or go to your local beer store and lure some men/women to your house to help do an install. Just drink the beer after you get off the roof! ;)
 
Thats how I learned as well. I've had both professional installers and self ones and both have worked out. Some folks may not want to run coax lines as that I find to be more difficult then the dish if there isnt a lot of prewiring. But give Directv another chance or go to your local beer store and lure some men/women to your house to help do an install. Just drink the beer after you get off the roof! ;)



dont installs in alaska require much bigger dishes? maybe im just nuts.
 
Thanks guys,
I would love to do the installation myself but how do I get the gear from Dtv? I am not afraid of heights and would probably be more meticulous with the job then someone else doing it. Anybody out there know how to get the gear or is it as simple as just asking a rep from Dtv to ship it to me?

Thanks again gang!

Charley
 
There are a few on-line sources for sat dishes - and of course they also have the receivers, or you can go to your local Best Buy or Circuit City for those as well. i am PMing you with the link to one such source - I have bought from them in the past and they are reliable, but remember you can do a web search and see other similar companies as well.

Good luck, let us know how you do.
 
Thanks Scobuck!

So now the question(s) is, since I am going to be picking out the equipment myself (instead of Dtv sending it to me) what do I need to get? It looks like because I am in Alaska, I need to get an oversized dish. What size is that and what else do I need to get with it? Although I am a n00b at this, don't leave out the details because those are the important parts. :)

Thanks again,
Charley
 
slates - I am putting a link to the DirecTV web-page that tells you what dish (or 2 dishes, depending on the programming you want) that you will need to get.

DIRECTV - Alaska and Hawaii

I am thinking that a trip to your local BestBuy or Circuit City will get you all of the info that you need for your specific installation. The peeps there sell this stuff all the time - they should be informed to help you. I know they sell the receivers and the coax cable, not sure if they have the dishes - but that would be my move.
 
Lol, the dishes are a lot bigger. And the birds are a lot harder to hit. Our dishes point down to the ground here in Alaska. Lol. There have been a lot of installer problems in the fairbanks area. I'm not going to air dirty laundry here, but i have been in business for only 3 months and i can't even come close to keeping up. One of the reasons are that I do service call after service call cleaning up bad installations.

DTV is also a pain to deal with up here because of the equipment we use. It is nothing like what is used down in the lower 48 (dishes, LNBF, IRDs). Only in Alaska do you need to pack 3 dishes to the roof for someone wanting HD and international.

But, I do have a solution for your installation problem. Email me at: don_werhonig@bdcsatellite.com. You will get the best installation company in the fairbanks area. Sorry to hear your frustrations.
 
Hi Don and thanks for the comment. I since you own a business that is not related with Dtv I am guessing that there is going to be a installation fee. At the moment I am invested in Dtv for 100 bucks and that included the installation and the gear. You are right about the part that we have to point to the ground to get the reception. Isn't it like -8 to -10 degrees of inclination to get some of those guys up there? Anyway, I need to find out how to get the equipment from them and then I will have to figure out what I am going to be doing to install it.

Thanks again,
Charley
 
Actually, the install is free if we can get it on the roof. DTV pays me to install. If we have to put in on a pole, then yes we do charge for labor and materials.
 
oh ya, and yes it is 8 degrees for the 101, sitting at 105 on your compass, and a minus 17 degree skew so you hit all three sats.
 
Well I think that one of your guys just contacted me by phone to set up a survey of the property and a install appointment. Thank you everyone for your help and just plain listening to my complaints. This is an excellent forum and you have been bookmarked for me to come back to.

Thanks again!
Charley
 
Thats funny. I called one of the local (Fairbanks) installers and the lowest price I was quoted to install a 1.2-1.8 meter dish on my roof was $1500. The highest price I was told was $2500. When I as I already have the cable ran up to and on the roof. I think it's pretty outrageous since the only thing I need is a dish placed on my roof. I had one person tell me that I need to pay for the recievers to compensate him for the cost of getting them (free) from DN. I have talked to some employees of these companies, lets say it's not the labor that is driving up the cost. Any thoughts?
 
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