Horror Story with local installer

[hottub]

I am not sure where to start with this,but her goes. On Friday March 3rd we had a supervisor come out and do a realignment for us. In my conversation with him I asked about the new AT-9 dishes and the H20 Boxes. He then smiled and said oh yea we are already installing them would you like me to come back Monday and do yours at no cost. So at thinking here we go a good deal something for nothing i jumped at the chance and said yes see you on Monday. So Monday arrives and no one comes out so time to call the local installer. I get a hold of the same supervisor and he says I am sorry but we ran out of the poles needed to mount the dish they will be in Wends day. Its now Wends day and still no one shows so back on the phone I go and the excuse now is he left too early and the poles came in after he was already on the road, so now he says he will be out on Thursday. So now we see where this is going yes Thursday came and still no show this time he said I had to call D* and generate a Ticket which I did and got an appointment for Saturday. So on Saturday someone does show up from D* and tells me I have no poles but I can go buy one at a $75.00 charge to you and then I lost it. So I told he can just leave if thats the best idea he has and then I called retention. The lady and the phone was very nice after I had explained my story and went ahead and gave us a $99.00 cedit which was our cost for the H20 and a $75.00 credit for which th installer wanted to charge us for the pole. Now we had another appointment yesterday in which the local office was doing our install. So here we go again the guy show up and I see him walk to the back of the house where our dish is mounted now then he knocks on the door. Needles to say she showed up with no pole to do this job. So back to phone we go again this time I had D* on the phone with the local installer on a 3 way call. I thought the retention lady was going to die listening to the lies the local installer was telling me but still we got still again no install. So I called D* back again and got a supervisor and I told him how upset I was and that I am thinking that D* is not worth going though this and that I am just thinking of cancelling the service. So after missing 6 days off work this was he offer to me to keep us as a customer. A $20.00 missed appointment credit and $5.00 off our monthly bill what a joke. OH yea we still have another apppoint next Tuesday to get the install done and I told him I want the installer here at 1 and that he better plan on staying for at least 4 hours to do this job. BTW if anyone has a direct number to retention we would love to have it

 

[scotsmanron]

Sounds pretty bad. Here is the CR # 800/824-9081

 

[dragon002]

hottub,

im a tech, and what you went thru was BS. but why does he have to stay 4 hours for an at9 conversion??

 

[hottub]

Draggon just my way of making him waste his whole day like i wasted 6 days

 

[dragon002]

dude,

i feel for you, but he isnt staying 4 hours.

 

[Happy Camper]

Can't D*, or you, get another installer? Is there only one who can do it?

The second time a service person lies to me, I'm out on them.

This bad service is so bad that you are now just inflicting pain upon yourself by keepin' on asking them to come out-kind of like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown-he knows she's going to do it, but he tries to kick it anyway.

Look in the mirror and complain to yourself.

 

[posstefmikala]

same thing happend to me I just got another installer to do it right at there supposed expence $150.00 for a install me and my buddy did $50 fo my time wasted and $35 for a better deal that was on the internet. I would find myself a good installer in your neighborhood and have D* pay for there visit.

 

[chaotic646]

I am a new D* customer as well and Im having a similar problem as you. When my tech arrived, he immediately started trying to talk me out of the new KA KU dish. He said that he was not allowed to roof-mount it because of its weight. He told me to call D* and have them change his order to a 3lnb dish. I told him I didnt want the 3lnb, I wanted the KA KU for its mpeg-4 capabilities. He then told me that if I wanted it he would have to pole-mount it and that would cost me $75. I thought that was BS since they told me it was free installation. So I called D* and they said to pay him the $75 then they would credit it back to my bill. I said fine and asked the tech if he would take a check. He then said that he didnt think he could get a line of sight from a pole-mount and that I had no choice but to have the 3lnb put up. I said fine just get my dish going.

A couple weeks later a QC guy from D* showed up unexpectedly and said he needed to check the tech's work. I told him what happened and he said the tech was full of crap, the KA KU 5lnb CAN be roof-mounted as long as they put up braces for it. He also said that I had a perfect line of sight even if he would have pole-mounted it. Apparently, the tech just didnt want to have anything to do with the KA KU dish because it takes a lot longer to put up and align, and he doesnt get paid any more.

I called D* back and they apologized and said they would send a tech out yesterday between 1-5. I took off work early so I could be home by 1. The tech called me at 4:30 and said he wasnt going to be able to make it until 6-6:30. He finally shows up at 7:30 and kept emphasizing how hard it was going to be because it was dark. So I said "just reschedule it then, Ive went through enough BS as it is with you guys, one more isnt going to matter." So now they are supposed to come back out Monday after 2:30. So far, this is the most unorganized, unprofessional business Ive ever dealt with.

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

should have made him stay and do it in the dark. I would have made him mount it on a pole and gave him a check- but scan a copy first to send to D*. It is not your fault he messed up the 1st time, then made you miss work while he did not make the appointment time. I would also ask D* to "credit" u for the holes in your roof to the tune of 6 mouths free HBO-show-etc.

give it a try.

 

[vurbano]

Umm, I thought only Voom had bad installs? LOL
I guess its a roll of the dice. My first D* install, some south of the border type showed up late on a saturday, in a beat up, rusted old toyota or Datsun pickup truck with ladder and child in tow. He didnt know how to make the fancy Hughes HD reciever do HD either

 

[hottub]

might be time to switch

I am glad I am not the only one with horror storys with installs. Now D* wants to lease to us and 2 year commitment hmmmmmmm. Somebody down here sure loves us now BEND Over

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

the 2 year part is no biggie at all. The lease just replaces the mirror fee and keeps you from paying for the protection plan. I dont see it as that ad of an idea.

 

[wobbie]

Keep calling those 800 numbers people.... ever heard of buying local and getting local service.... I have no pity, just the way this business is going with the low paid overworked, undertrained so called technicians that D* and E* are have to hire nowadays..... they are installers... not technicians, sorry.

 

[dragon002]

Keep calling those 800 numbers people.... ever heard of buying local and getting local service.... I have no pity, just the way this business is going with the low paid overworked, undertrained so called technicians that D* and E* are have to hire nowadays..... they are installers... not technicians, sorry.

wobbie,

you are correct, there are fewer and fewer TRUE techs out there.

 

[walker]

i also had a bad experience with a d* installer.

we ordered our service in a bundle w/bellsouth when we moved into a new house and ordered everything we needed. in the time btwn the order and the install appt., we bought an hd tv, called and changed our order. cs didn't bother to tell us they were completely cancelling our old order and when the guy showed up he only had the hd box. the installation took FOREVER, b/c btwn the installer and myself we spent around 3 hours on the phone trying to straighten everything out.

the problem entered this picture while i was talking to cs finalzing our correct order. the installer was standing there and he was telling me to not worry about ordering or telling them we wanted our local channels in hd, b/c he could do it for free since we already had hd service for the other channels. well, needless to say to this day we don't have our local channels in hd.

his first excuse was he "had a trainee with him, but would comeback and do it." he never returned, except to retrieve his flashlight he had left and had another excuse that day. since that point, we have not heard from him and he won't return our calls. i really don't want to call directv and "tattle" on this guy, but what other alternative do i have? i am reminded of this EVERY time i'm watching a local station and HD shows on the screen. it infuriates me.

does anyone have any suggestions? i didn't mind paying for it in the additional order and was even planning on it, but his promise convinced me he could do this. if we call and order now we will have to pay like a new installation and i am refusing to do that on priciple alone. what kind of scam could he possibly be running, is he just lazy, or did he just promise more than he could do? i'm at a loss. i'm beginning to think he is either lazy or incapable. i purchased a new hdmi cable recently and while i was hooking everything up i noticed this guy had a setup like i would expect my grandmother to put together. even though there were s-video cables still in the boxes the receivers came in, he chose to use component cables to hook up our dvr in one room and a regular receiver in another.

we don't mind and are capable(we think) of installing this on our own, if it is at all possible. could anyone tell me how we may go about this?

i forgot to add - we have a H10 receiver

 

[ChrisPC]

does anyone have any suggestions? even though there were s-video cables still in the boxes the receivers came in, he chose to use component cables to hook up our dvr in one room and a regular receiver in another.

we don't mind and are capable(we think) of installing this on our own, if it is at all possible. could anyone tell me how we may go about this?

i forgot to add - we have a H10 receiver

Component is actually better than S-Video. Unless you mean composite, which is worse.

If you want local HD, it's easy. Just buy an indoor antenna and plug it into the back of the H10. You should be able to get some local HD. You could also hook up an outside antenna for even more local channels.

 

[walker]

Component is actually better than S-Video. Unless you mean composite, which is worse.

If you want local HD, it's easy. Just buy an indoor antenna and plug it into the back of the H10. You should be able to get some local HD. You could also hook up an outside antenna for even more local channels.

you're right. i meant composite, not component.

we've tried an indoor antenna without success. we are less than 5 miles from the tranmission towers, so the only thing i can think of that could possibly be impairing our reception is the fact we live in a hilly area. however, we don't have any trees around our house and i don't believe this should be an issue. i can even see the towers on the top of the mountain easily from my front yard.

also, if i use the antenna i have to switch to a different input and would have no access to my directv features such as the guide and others. if i'm completely wrong about this, please let me know. i'm a newbie to satellite and want to learn as much as possible about my system. my understanding of directv local hd is that i would have it coming in through my hd receiver and the channels would be integrated into the channels i have now.

if i sound like an idiot, i apologize. i'm really not at most things like this, but satellite is a new world for me.

 

[dragon002]

walker,

what dish did he install and did he install an antenna also?

 

[VIPERS-PIT]

If you can see the towers than a set of rabbit ears are all you will need to pick up the signal.

There is no way you are going to get a waiver that close to the towers. how long ago did this install happen? You should have got the H20 receiver if it was within the last 6 weeks. With the H10 you will not be able to get the HD channels over the dish when they start in your area (from D*).

Dragon - I'm guessing since he has an H10 that he got stuck with the 3 LNB unit.

 

[ChrisPC]

also, if i use the antenna i have to switch to a different input and would have no access to my directv features such as the guide and others. if i'm completely wrong about this, please let me know. i'm a newbie to satellite and want to learn as much as possible about my system. my understanding of directv local hd is that i would have it coming in through my hd receiver and the channels would be integrated into the channels i have now.

The HD locals should be integrated in the guide if you have an H10, but you have to first do a channel scan after you get your antenna connected. Go to Settings, Setup, Sat and Ant, Antenna Setup, then Scan for Channels. It'll take a few minutes, but they should then be in your guide.