Frustration of phone people

[Greg Mueller]

Do they get these people from a stupid farm? They know absolutely nothing about the business they are in.

Here are my parameters
Choice Xtra
$7 DVR
HR24

What satellites do I need to see from my location in 98364 ?

Best answer I can get....... "They are in the south"

What is the availability of the HR24 in my area?

Best answer I can get....... "Any HD receiver will work. The installer will bring it out."

What is the name or phone number or the installer for my area?

Best answer I can get....... "We will contact them when you place an order."



Is this stuff secret?

I finally just hung up

 

[ryotgz]

Probably because they have no idea. The HR24 goes by whatever the installer has in stock. I finally found a local retailer who could tell me they would be HR24s. That and they really have no idea who the installer will be or who they are even if they are your house.

 

[tvropro]

You were dealing with a CSR. He only sells programming. You can ask to talk with the technical dept to answer your questions by calling and asking or have the CSR connect you. It is a bit frustrating if I know. If you don't like who your talking to hang up and call again to get someone else.

You need to see 99, 101 & 103w. 101 is SD 99 & 103 are HD.

As far as the HR24 goes you have to hope they bring it out from what I read here.

 

[Jimbo]

Probably because they have no idea. The HR24 goes by whatever the installer has in stock. I finally found a local retailer who could tell me they would be HR24s. That and they really have no idea who the installer will be or who they are even if they are your house.

D* DOES know who the installation company IS though.

 

[ryotgz]

D* DOES know who the installation company IS though.

Yea, but see if you can get them to tell you.

 

[Jimbo]

Yea, but see if you can get them to tell you.

I know who mine is and it's the same company each time and a different installer to boot.

 

[Blueridge66]

Greg typically the dish is aimed at 101. There are a number of online sites to aid in determining their location. I use: Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com
If you know your lat. & long this site will give a view of the location and directional location of the satellite. As pointed out you'll want to view 99 thru 119.
I plugged in a zip of 98364 into dishpointer. It shows 101's azimuth is 151.9 true north (134.9 mag). The elevation is 31.2 You can look up coordinates for 99 and 119 to get an idea of the "window" where you'll need a clear view. This should narrow it down to something more defined than "south".

 

[Greg Mueller]

Greg typically the dish is aimed at 101. There are a number of online sites to aid in determining their location. I use: Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com
If you know your lat. & long this site will give a view of the location and directional location of the satellite. As pointed out you'll want to view 99 thru 119.
I plugged in a zip of 98364 into dishpointer. It shows 101's azimuth is 151.9 true north (134.9 mag). The elevation is 31.2 You can look up coordinates for 99 and 119 to get an idea of the "window" where you'll need a clear view. This should narrow it down to something more defined than "south".

Thanks
Once I knew which sats they used I was able to figure where they were.
The easy way for me was just to swing the BUD over to birds right next to those and see where the window is. My problem was not knowing which sats in the first place.

 

[JAG72]

Your primary ones will be 99 and 103 for HD and 101 for SD programming.

 

[stonecold]

Do they get these people from a stupid farm? They know absolutely nothing about the business they are in.

Here are my parameters
Choice Xtra
$7 DVR
HR24

What satellites do I need to see from my location in 98364 ?

Best answer I can get....... "They are in the south"

What is the availability of the HR24 in my area?

Best answer I can get....... "Any HD receiver will work. The installer will bring it out."

What is the name or phone number or the installer for my area?

Best answer I can get....... "We will contact them when you place an order."



Is this stuff secret?

I finally just hung up

1. 99/101/103

2. We have no access to warehouse systems to know how many hr24s are in your area sorry if that makes us stupid. You are promised an HD/HDDVR not a speciffic model.

3. When scheduling an installer the sales department does not get to see who. Agents and Supervisors typically dont get to see it till 24 hours after the order placed ( time it takes to go from an order in our order system to a pending account in our billing system which would include the install work order which would list the company though we still wont have a number for them. There can be mutliple installers in a area. where I live there are 4 local people and one national company Mastec usually takes 99.9% of the installs down here Unless you order directly though that local person.


Sorry that you feel we come from the stupid farm but we can only provide you with the information we have access too.

 

[stonecold]

Yea, but see if you can get them to tell you.

We generally dont at time of ordering .

Usually for new installs it is 24 hours before we see who got the ticket.

On upgrades etc after your installed usually instantly but some time can take up to an hour before the hsp is listed on the work order.

 

[Greg Mueller]

Port Gamble is an extremely small "village"
The next largest real city is Poulsbo (10 miles) with a population of 8500. The next city is Silverdale (20 miles) with a population of 16,000. These are all on a peninsula.
I doubt you have more than one installer for this area. But if you do I have a pencil that I could write them both down with. Maybe even three

1. 99/101/103

Why wouldn't the person in your tech department know that?

2. We have no access to warehouse systems to know how many hr24s are in your area sorry if that makes us stupid. You are promised an HD/HDDVR not a speciffic model.

Fine
If you don't give me the service and equipment I want then you don't get my business. And if you were to show up at my front door with that attitude, you'd be sent on down the road. You're the one that wants my money remember?

Sorry that you feel we come from the stupid farm but we can only provide you with the information we have access too.

Then the company should provide better information to it's employees. If that employee does not have the information, then the customer should be referred to someone who does. I asked for the name of the local installer because I knew they would have the info I wanted.

This is just TV. You are not selling oxygen. Keep that in mind and try to remember that people like me are the ones who pay your paycheck. Also it would be good to remember that on this forum you are the face of the company you are working for. If you come off with a surly, combative attitude, this is the picture of the company people come away with.

 

[tvropro]

Don't get to upset by it Greg. It's just the way the system works. You are not committed till you sign after the job is done. If the installer don't have what you want you can send him on his way and thats it. I had a very good experience and did my homework before hand. My installer was cool and we talked about all my dishes more then Direct. The sales reps can be a pain, in fact the day I ordered I got some jamoke on the phone. I said screw this and hung up then called back and got a nice guy. It seems like allot of hurdles now to jump through but after the smoke clears away you'll probably be quite satisfied with it like I am.

 

[Jimbo]

Port Gamble is an extremely small "village"
The next largest real city is Poulsbo (10 miles) with a population of 8500. The next city is Silverdale (20 miles) with a population of 16,000. These are all on a peninsula.
I doubt you have more than one installer for this area. But if you do I have a pencil that I could write them both down with. Maybe even three



Why wouldn't the person in your tech department know that?



Fine
If you don't give me the service and equipment I want then you don't get my business. And if you were to show up at my front door with that attitude, you'd be sent on down the road. You're the one that wants my money remember?



Then the company should provide better information to it's employees. If that employee does not have the information, then the customer should be referred to someone who does. I asked for the name of the local installer because I knew they would have the info I wanted.

This is just TV. You are not selling oxygen. Keep that in mind and try to remember that people like me are the ones who pay your paycheck. Also it would be good to remember that on this forum you are the face of the company you are working for. If you come off with a surly, combative attitude, this is the picture of the company people come away with.

Greg,
Your the one that started this by grouping everyone at D* as being STUPID.

Of course the guy that works there is going to defend his stance.

Fwiw, StoneCold has help everyone and any one that has come to him with a concern, he may not have the answer for everyone, or the answer you WANT to hear, but he's done what he can whenever asked.

btw, where do you work, does EVERYONE have ALL the answers .... I bet not.

 

[Greg Mueller]

btw, where do you work, does EVERYONE have ALL the answers .... I bet not.

I am retired and I owned and operated a business for the last 30 years. If an employee of mine came off with and attitude towards a customer like that, they would have a hard time keeping their job. I expect to be referred to when an employee doesn't have the answers. Nothing else makes sense.
If it's your business you can operate under any kind rules you want. I always treated the customer with the thought in mind that they are ALWAYS right, even to my own detriment. Maybe that's one of the reasons I was in business for 30 years.
I don't deal with companies or individuals with a "If you don't like it, tough sh*t" attitude.

 

[Jimbo]

I am retired and I owned and operated a business for the last 30 years. If an employee of mine came off with and attitude towards a customer like that, they would have a hard time keeping their job. I expect to be referred to when an employee doesn't have the answers. Nothing else makes sense.
If it's your business you can operate under any kind rules you want. I always treated the customer with the thought in mind that they are ALWAYS right, even to my own detriment. Maybe that's one of the reasons I was in business for 30 years.
I don't deal with companies or individuals with a "If you don't like it, tough sh*t" attitude.

Pretty small company wasn't it.

In large companies you can't always have the right answer right away.

How would you have felt had the guy said, let me check on that for you and get back with you tomorrow on it ?
You would have still been frustrated and wondering.

I'm guessing that my post above went right thru you and you did not even consider what I said.

 

[Greg Mueller]

Pretty small company wasn't it.

In large companies you can't always have the right answer right away.

How would you have felt had the guy said, let me check on that for you and get back with you tomorrow on it ?
You would have still been frustrated and wondering.

I'm guessing that my post above went right thru you and you did not even consider what I said.

Yes it was a small business. And I have often marveled at people in business that I have helped to make big businesses that have an attitude that now that they are a "big business" they have to have a different attitude.

It would have been best if he would have just given me the name of the local installer. But if he would have said he would find out and get back to me I would at least respected that he was trying. As it was I got nothing except dead air and (I imagine) a blank stare

So why is it again I could not be transferred to someone who knew the answer?
If it's a big company then surely they have someone who can supply answers at any level. Are you saying that no one at DirecTV knows anything about the technical aspects of their business? As it was I talked to several people who knew none of the answers. So how do I come away from that experience? Well to me they sound stupid. Stupid for the answers they gave and stupid for not connecting me with someone who knew the answers. The supervisors of these people should be telling them that if the question is above their ability then transfer them to someone who has the ability and not just blow them off. Certainly they should be able to handle the very small percentage of people who know something and are interested in satellite TV and want to know more than how to turn it on and off.

 

[oldford]

I don't deal with companies or individuals with a "If you don't like it, tough sh*t" attitude.

You should probably cancel right now then...

GL, Eric

 

[Greg Mueller]

You should probably cancel right now then...

GL, Eric

There is nothing to cancel, I have not signed up. However if I get this attitude I will.

Another curious attitude. Why?

Do you think also the "Tough sh*t" attitude is appropriate? Do you also work for DirecTv?

 

[stonecold]

I really dont know what attitude your talking about. I help users here ever day I go out of the way for them but I am still limited by what the system will let me do.

If i could tell you with out you having a work order who would be installing your system I would tell you it alot easier then fighting with you.

Calling people stupid is not a way to help your self. If you called one of my agents stupid the next thing you would hear is me picking up the line and asking you to apologize if not I just report you to corporate as an abusive person.

You got questions I be more then happy to answer them if I have access to that information it is really that simple.

You can either keep going on with your rant, you can ask for help like an adult.