Installation concerns may force me to leave Dish after 15 plus years

Jallen0

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Jan 5, 2015
54
34
North Carolina
I live in a small town and when we moved into a new house 3 years ago I did not have a "Dish" installer come out, but a local installer based 40 miles away. After having been with Dish for more than 15 years and experienced in installations this last install was the worst I have ever had.

Forget the fact that he brought his girlfriend and their new puppy, forget the fact that their new puppy created a stain on my brand new carpet, and even forget the fact that he had no idea how to hook up multiple 722K's to 4 rooms in the house. Let's talk about the multiple holes in the hardwood floors where he drilled in the wrong places, the cabling that is draped and hanging from the basement garage ceiling, and the overall worst installation I have ever seen. At the time I was there for the start but not there for the end. I called Dish immediately and they told me to call the local installer as they had no control over them. After 7 calls over 3 weeks they never showed when they said they would, causing me to miss several work days, and basically I was so frustrated I gave up.

OK, what does this have to do with today...since it's obvious that I have learned to live with it? I have been looking to go with a dual Hopper / Joey system for the last year however I just cannot deal with the installation issues again. Knowing that I cannot get a qualified installer out here is almost forcing me to go with the competition, even thought I love Dish.

So the question is...what are my options? Hire a private contractor for an obscene amount of money or go with the competition and hope they will take more responsibility for their sub-contractors? Has anyone else had these type of issues?

Thanks all for your thoughts!
 
Buy the equipment and install it yourself?

I can't figure out why you put up with what you did with the original installer though. I can understand if you didn't want to take him to court because that's a huge hassle, but bringing the dog in the house would've been RIGHT OUT with me. If he didn't want to do it without the dog, the company should've sent someone else. Or was he the entire company?
 
Did you ever call Dish directly? Since you are new here, Do you know about DIRT (Dish Internet Response Team). They are employees of Dish who are here to help us. I think you need to make 4 or 5 posts before you are allowed to PM someone. There names will appear in Red when they are online They may be able to help you find a good installer.
They Hopper installation is much simpler than multiple 722's. In my situation I have 3 cables going through a gromet into the basement of my house. They attach to a dual node. From the node, separate coax's go to 3 of my Hopper/Joeys. The other Hopper/Joey is feed by a single coax with a splitter(or whatever they call it).
Someone should be able to make someone from Dirt alerted to your post.
 
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dwarren2,

Thanks for the response. I did call Dish initially however they told me I had to deal with the local installer. It was frustrating being told that mostly because I never had an isue before, and I never had a non-Dish installer before. I thought it was just the way that worked.

The Hopper does seem more straight-forward. On the 722's I am using OTA modules to feed to all the TV's so I can view either 722 on any TV. I'll post some more so I can talk to the DIRT. I read about them during my search on this site but wasn't 100% sure about them.
 
Buy the equipment and install it yourself?

I can't figure out why you put up with what you did with the original installer though. I can understand if you didn't want to take him to court because that's a huge hassle, but bringing the dog in the house would've been RIGHT OUT with me. If he didn't want to do it without the dog, the company should've sent someone else. Or was he the entire company?


Jim,

Apparently it was a new puppy and we did not know he brought it into the house until after the dog "made his mess". We were in another part of the house while he was supposed to be wiring the other rooms. I have no idea if he was the entire company...all in all it was a very bad situation. Hence the reason why I am hesitant in having another episode like this ever again.
 
If you get an install, and the guy comes with another person, ask that they both produce company ID's, and then stay with both of them. If they both cannot produce ID's call dish on the spot, and ask for a reschedule with an FSM.
 
There are a couple of different ways to schedule technicians. It sounds as if this tech visit was completely set up through a local retailer. If that is the case, Dish does not know anything about it, it will not show up in Dish's system and all, and yes, Dish will refer you to resolve with the local retailer.

If an appointment is set up directly through Dish, and in handing out the job, a local retailer somehow gets it, that job will still show in the Dish system, and issues with the tech visit would be handled through Dish. When/if that is the case, a customer service agent will have a resolution process to follow for what is known as "technician misconduct" where you'll be transferred right to the corporate office, which will create a "ticket" to resolve the issue.

Just curious, why are you sure you cannot get a "qualified installer" to your house? Again, when you set up directly through Dish, Dish is responsible for the contractor's work. If you contact some contractor directly, or bypass Dish, Dish can't help with issues you have with them.
 
Sorry everyone for the confusion, I see where it became fuzzy. I did schedule this install through Dish and they were the ones that selected the installer that came out. When he arrived he was not a "Dish" employee...no Dish truck, no Dish badge. I was told when I scheduled the appointment that Dish does not have any "official" installers in my area (Boone, NC) and they had to use local resources. When I called Dish back they told me to call the local installer back.

As I stated, this is why I have major issues with upgrading to the Hopper. I will want everything the other person did ripped out and the install approached like a new install. Like I said, I have cables just hanging from my garage ceiling and bundles of cables running along my baseboards...it really is a mess. At the point where the feed enters the house I have 3 or 4 2-way splitters just hanging there against the wall.
 
If he had drilled holes in my floor..............he would be there till they were repaired or I had the $ in hand to repair them.
These are the very kind of horror stories that cause me much anxiety when adding or upgrading anything in my home
 
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I did schedule this install through Dish and they were the ones that selected the installer that came out. When he arrived he was not a "Dish" employee...no Dish truck, no Dish badge. I was told when I scheduled the appointment that Dish does not have any "official" installers in my area (Boone, NC) and they had to use local resources. When I called Dish back they told me to call the local installer back.
What phone number did you call ? Reason for asking is a lot of resellers/retailers portray themselves to be "Dish".

If you did call the "real" Dish, the scenario of them not having anyone local enough to help and then they contract the work out is plausible. If they did that though, it's their problem to resolve, not yours (by making you deal directly with the installer). I would tell them that you are working with the company that arranged this and that you didn't arrange this local installer.
 
If he had drilled holes in my floor..............he would be there till they were repaired or I had the $ in hand to repair them.
These are the very kind of horror stories that cause me much anxiety when adding or upgrading anything in my home

I agree...I was gone during the majority of the install (work) and did not see that until afterwards. Never again.
 
What phone number did you call ? Reason for asking is a lot of resellers/retailers portray themselves to be "Dish".

If you did call the "real" Dish, the scenario of them not having anyone local enough to help and then they contract the work out is plausible. If they did that though, it's their problem to resolve, not yours (by making you deal directly with the installer). I would tell them that you are working with the company that arranged this and that you didn't arrange this local installer.

It was the "real" Dish number. It's all I have ever called. They were the ones that told me to call the installation company directly. This was 3 years ago (at least) so I am not sure if their policy has changed...but I still don't see "Dish" truck in our town and I am guessing it hasn't.

What's the best way to get ahold of a DIRT and ask them about it?
 
Please start a conversation with me so we can address this situation. I will need the phone number and 4 digit security to access the account.
 
I want to say thanks to Jason, the DIRT that reached out to me, and thanks to everyone else as well. I have scheduled an upgrade to one Hopper with Sling, one Super Joey and two wireless Joey's for later this month. While Jason could not guarantee a perfect install (who could???) I am comfortable enough to believe that should anything go wrong with this install I have the resources already on-board that will help correct it should it go bad.

I have followed this site for years and am glad to be a vocal part of it now.
 
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