I need somewhere to bitch and moan

Yeah Dish is at some fault on installs. But everyone needs to remember that Dish can not hold the hands of your local installer companies. Some installs will go good some will not go so good. It all depends on where you live some states have better install companies than other and some do better work than others. This is why if you can again will always depend on where you live. One thing to do is to try to go through a local company that does Dish installs that way you can setup your appointment when you want. Also you have a local contact to deal with things dont go well and so forth. This way you have more control of what company will be doing your install so forth. Just something to think about before going through Dish to setup installs.

Luckily I know the owner of a local Dish and Direct reseller or installer company and his techs do great work have never had any issues with them. But like I said this is not always the case for everyone one. Overall try to deal with someone locally in your area first and if that is not a option then go through Dish. Folks that have bad experiences like this should always report the company that the installer works for to Dish. That way Dish will not use them to do installs for them so always get the company information that is doing your install. This will help Dish plus prevent other folks running into the same problem with those particular install companies.


Good Luck On Your Next Install Hope Things Work Out! :)
 
I dont blame this guy at all for being POed.. Too many people seem to think the installer and/or the installation companies should be held to a different standard than the rest of us. When I have a meeting at my job, I cant just show up late and get a bunch of sympathy. The real world doesnt work this way. It doesnt matter how busy I am. These people are living in the stone age and need to get with it.

You need to realize that installation is not an office. We can't say this house is going to take 1 hour 25 min. then 17 min to drive to the next job and that will take me 1 hour 15 min. This is not the real world in installations.

You are living in a fantasy world, the installer is not in the stone age.

There is just so much a person can do sometimes. The installer was late, maybe his office forgot to call and tell the customer. Yes this is the bad service. Not the installer being late, they can't know what it will take to get their jobs done before they get there.

The other part of the problem is not just Dish. It is with any service company Direct TV, Comcast, Charter, At&T, you name a company that does service intallations that does not have these problems. The problem is the customers all want it free. So the company will load up the techs to push in as much as they can. Dish for instance will says that a four room install can take 5 hours. On almost any given day a tech will be scheduled for 2 of these jobs in the AM time slot.

This is not just a Dish problem, it's the way of the world that we live in. We created it, now we have to live with it. I am not saying it is right, and it sucks when you have to wait for an installer that is running late. What else can we do but deal with it.
 
jeesh, hope you dont make a doctors appt.

I look at it as they are scheduling you for that time frame cause they dont know how long it will take the other jobs before you. When I had mine installed at the house before the one I am living in now, they showed up at least an hour late. It was pouring outside, myself, wife and a few of my friends were in my man cave having some beer while they installed. When he and his wife were done with the install we invited them in and they accepted. They had at least a two hour drive home and I could have cared less if they were a bit late. I think you might have jumped the gun a bit by canceling it. They are upgrading me tomorrow and if they are late, so be it, I can sit with my wife and kids outside and wait for them. Enjoy a brew or 5 and look forward to stunning HD!

I like your attitude!
 
I like your attitude!

I totally agree. Since I am an installer that is how I approach ALL ppl coming to my house to do any service work. I meet them at the door with a smile and anything I can get for them to make their day a little easier. Drink, food, music .. Whatever I can do to help but most of the time all they need is ME out of the way LOL. But all kidding aside 99percent of the time late appointments are caused by OVERscheduling by managers.......

I Hope you next appointment goes well.
 
Maybe it was just the dude who installed my 622, but he had to take a picture of the sys info screen showing all my RO numbers and that all the sats had locked on. It might have just been his company's policy, but it seems to be a good one to confirm that the installer actually did the work. He also called to say he was going to be late by an hour or so, which was cool because I work from home so I wasn't going anywhere anyway. He also gave me his cell number to call if I had any problems (which I did) and he'd be out there ASAP (which he was, next day early in fact).

And being a small business owner myself, I do run late at times, especially when I have to drive across counties in rural areas, but I always make it a point to call the customer if I find that I'm going to be more that 10 minutes late.


Guess my point is there are the good and bad businesses out there. And it's usually the bad that get the most press.
 
Maybe it was just the dude who installed my 622, but he had to take a picture of the sys info screen showing all my RO numbers and that all the sats had locked on. It might have just been his company's policy, but it seems to be a good one to confirm that the installer actually did the work. He also called to say he was going to be late by an hour or so, which was cool because I work from home so I wasn't going anywhere anyway. He also gave me his cell number to call if I had any problems (which I did) and he'd be out there ASAP (which he was, next day early in fact).

And being a small business owner myself, I do run late at times, especially when I have to drive across counties in rural areas, but I always make it a point to call the customer if I find that I'm going to be more that 10 minutes late.


Guess my point is there are the good and bad businesses out there. And it's usually the bad that get the most press.

Its just a way for them to cover their butt so they know who to blame if there is a problem with the install.

We used to use a Sony Mavica camera and take pictures of every installation. Save the photos to a floppy disk and staple it to the work order in a little envelope. This way if we had a service call, we would then print up the photos to compair before and after.

My guys do good work, but it was more to protect us from a Dish Quality checking our work and from customers who modify their installations and try to blame the problem on us.
 
Well, this morning I had a message on my voicemail from the installer, actually a different one than the one who came on Tue, to confirm the afternoon appointment. He even left his cell phone number and said he would call when he was on his way.

That is good customer service, and all that I can ask for.
 
Well, this morning I had a message on my voicemail from the installer, actually a different one than the one who came on Tue, to confirm the afternoon appointment. He even left his cell phone number and said he would call when he was on his way.

That is good customer service, and all that I can ask for.

Seems you had an attitude change.

My upgrade install is today! I have the noon to 5 slot. Probably for me the later he comes the better. I will have consumed more beer and wont feel like following him around asking questions!!! :D
 
In my case, I really dont care who is to blame. You say before 5, you be there before 5. It could be dish's fault, the installer, the outsourced company.. whatever. The point it, something isnt right when this happens and this guy has every right to be POd.
 
Seems you had an attitude change.

Not a change in attitude at all. My attitude is that I still expect good customer service. I expect to, if not have an on time appointment, be notified that things are running late.

My mood is much better this morning, especially after getting that phone call. See how much a difference taking 30 seconds to make a simple phone call can make?
 
Not a change in attitude at all. My attitude is that I still expect good customer service. I expect to, if not have an on time appointment, be notified that things are running late.

My mood is much better this morning, especially after getting that phone call. See how much a difference taking 30 seconds to make a simple phone call can make?

I hear ya. The phone call is nice to get, but I guess it's to each his own. Good luck! :up
 
Not a change in attitude at all. My attitude is that I still expect good customer service. I expect to, if not have an on time appointment, be notified that things are running late.

My mood is much better this morning, especially after getting that phone call. See how much a difference taking 30 seconds to make a simple phone call can make?
I know what you mean. My installer was two hours past his 12-5pm timelframe for an upgrade, but he was at least thoughtful enough to call at 5pm to say he'd be late. And when he got there, he took the time to do a complete job.

What I'd like to see is an installer that will call me at work when he's an hour away, so I don't have to be sitting at home for four hours or more waiting.
 
Know what I'd like to see changes? This whole thing about having to accept Dish's subcontractor for ALL work once they've touched your system. I did my own original install many years ago. When I called Dish to upgrade they sent the local subcontractor. They have some good guys and they have a lot of sub-par hacks whose work I generally have to redo after they're gone. So I found a local guy who I really like. He's a dish dealer and a directv dealer and he's an absolute whiz with OTA. I understand he's not free, but I would GLADLY pay for his professional services rather than have the local dish subcontractor come back. The problem is... I can't. Not without canceling service and starting fresh under my son's name or something. As long as he's a dish dealer I should be able to call whoever I want.

That's my gripe and I'm sticking to it.

:)
 
Well, my install was at the noon to 5 time frame and they called a little bit ago and the guy that was supposed to come do it quit today. So they dont have enough people to make up for it, so they re-scheduled me for neft Friday afternoon. Ugh....
 
get over it. who cares if he comes while ur having dinner. least he showed up, even if its late. any utulity that comes to your home will have the same kind of time windows. when you take your car in for repairs, are you given a specific hour when it will be ready when you drop it off? most likly, you live in an area that will always make you the last on the route. techs have to drive to appointments in a logistical method. they cant drive across the county 6 times. get used to it, or do your upgrades through a local retailer instead.