Installation Guarantee/Help From Dish?

[codee]

Good Evening Everybody?

Does anybody know if Dish has some sort of installation or service guarantee on the installations?

I am still unable to pick up satellite 119 most of the time, even though 110 is strong on the same dish 500. There isnt any trees in the LOS either. After the original install, where they didn't put wall jacks on but instead just ran the wire straight through the wall to the recievers, didnt caulk the holes in the side of the house, and didn't get the dish working totally they came out a 2nd time about a week later. The 2nd tech put on different wallplates with jacks but couldnt actually screw them in since the previous installer screwed into the drywall and not a stud. Lovely... He also couldnt caulk the whole in the house because he didn't buy any for that day. While trying to re-aim the dish, he actuallyt had a worse signal when he was done. Average signal level on 119 is around 35-40. He also took the 61.5 dish OFF the mount because he didnt think I needed it even though I have a 60" sony HDTV, a 942 and 2 811s (all HD recievers - i just MAY have voom/CHS HD...)

I spoke with the company I bought it from and they directed me to the company doing the installations. They can't come out again for 9 days at a minimunm. All this time, programming on the 119 satellite is pretty much un-watchable.

Is there anything a customer can do in a situation like this besides waiting and still paying for full services?

Thanks for any and all help!

Edit::The most amusing/ but also annoying part is that the tech told me to go into the point dish menu and pick a different transponder if the one that I'm on is having problems. I mentioned this to Digital Entertainment today when I asked for a tech to come out and the rep on the phone said that changing transponders on the point dish menu can help sometimes AS far as I know, that would NEVER help with a signal loss on a satellite....

 

[webbydude]

There isn't too much you can do until you can get a rep from that particular installation "group". I do believe that if you can muster up enough strength and put a chip on your shoulder, you can get a portion of your monthly bill reimbursed due to signal "quality". But that's going to involve either you playing the CSR roulette routine...OR asking for a supervisor and plead (demand??) your case. Either way, good luck

 

[Liquidforce88]

I personally would be on the phone to the install company. I would not get off the phone untill I had someone out right away to fix this problem. I would also demand that it be a manager of some sort, because it sounds like you have had some real hacks so far. If that did not work I would be on the phone to Dish raising holy hell untill this problem was fixed! There is no excuse for this type of service!!!!!

 

[Jared Twomey]

Call dish directly and have them schedule the service call, also mention all of the problems that you have had so far...
that way it is on record with dish that you have had problems with your system, also.. they will send the work order to the original installing company, and if for some reason they don't care of it, dish will go after them and charge them back for it...

and i'm sure i'm gonna hear something from retailers saying that dish shouldn't be brought into it, that the customer should deal with the install company directly, but so far it doesn't seem like that has worked...
after 2 "techs", and it's still not working, sounds like a bunch of hacks to me

a real installer doesn't leave a job until it is working

 

[codee]

I don't quite know how to quote multiple people in the same response, so I'll just do it this way

webbydude - I'm not one to be a "hastle" on the phone with CSRs. I've heard that some companies keep notes/comments about customers in their account and I don't wanna get a "bad rap" with Dish already by pestering them about getting free/discounted service quite yet. I did call them up the first time the problem occured, before the 2nd appointment and at that time, all they said was to contact the install company.

Dave nye - When the 2nd tech was scheduled, it WAS supposedly a Field Manager. If that is who they have as a field manager, then I don't know how they have a clean record with the BBB (I checked). This company is quite the joke in my opinion. My original install was 8-10 / "First AM" because I was supposed to work at 1 PM that day. They arrived at 11:30 AM. I say they, because there was 2 of them, the 2nd guy was on his 2nd/ last week of training. They informed me that they had 5 other installs to do that day and they didn't wanna do them so they were gonna take as long as possible at my install (they said this as 1230 which wasnt pleasing when I was supposed to work in a 1/2 hour). When they finally "finished" they said they spoke to their boss and that we would have to pay an additional $50 due to the length of the install. I wasn't pleased about that either but I was already 3 1/2 hours late for work. What could I do....


birddoggy - I tried calling dish once, and they said I need to give the original install company a "chance" to fix the problem first. They wouldn't say how long a "chance" was, or what they would do if it wasn't resolved but that's all I could get them to say on the situation so far.

I also think they found it funny to mount the dishs in the most noticeable and ugly place possible from the street. They put up a OTA antenna also (for Local HD) and it is in the middle of the dishs. I actually don't get one of the digital stations well, even though I did just holding the antenna in my living room. My friend thinks it may be a multipath issue or something like that due to the antenna being mounted between both the dishs. I will try to attach a few pics, hopefully this will work.

Thanks again everybody!

 

[Hall]

I'm curious why you went with a 3rd-party vs going directly with Dish ?? As you're discovering, it's hard to keep people accountable....

As for this add'l $50 charge, did they note this on the work order or just pocket the money ??

 

[cebps1]

I just went through a similar problem with my install. Dish set up the install in late April for 6/20. They showed up at 8pm and said it will take 2 hours, well 4.5 hours (MIDNIGHT) later they finally left and I could not get the 119. I asked them to come back out so they said next Sat. someone will come out and it must be from the original installer. I said ok, so I call Friday to confirm and they told me it was canceled! Still don't know who cancled the appointment and why they didn't notify the customer? Anyway, they said they could come out that night so I said fine but let me call you back to confirm so when I called back I left a voice mail on the installers cell and told him ok but before 4:30 pm. They never showed Friday night or called. Sat comes and I call Dish to complain and we agree on Sunday so I said fine but first thing (not after 10am). I hang up and about 6 hours later I get a call from Dish confirming my appointment between 12 and 5 pm! Called them back up and got loud with the supervisor and finally got my local guy out to fix the problem Sunday morning.

They also told me that they would have to give the original installer the first chance to fix the problem, but when I got loud with them (and for good reason) they let a local do the job. The local guy said he was going to back charge them for part of the job. I guess this is why the original installer needs to do the fix the problem.

Personally I don't care who does the job and don't think the customer should have to suffer while the installers hammer out who gets paid for what and how much. In my case they dispatched someone that was 50 miles away from the job which likely why I had such a hard time getting someone out. They should make it a rule that the installer must be within so many miles of the install.

 

[Frank Jr.]

First of all codee welcome to SatelliteGuys. From the way I understand it you have had this company out twice and you are not satisfied. I would recommend e-mailing DishNetwork's executive office and sharing all your concerns with them. Most of the time they seem to be very helpful and respond within 1 or 2 days. I personally do not like putting satellite antennas on a roof. Just my opinion. Sometimes however due to trees and or other obstructions there is no other reasonable alternative. Good Luck. OBTW individual channels are transmitted on assigned transponders. That cannot be changed .

 

[codee]

First of all codee welcome to SatelliteGuys. From the way I understand it you have had this company out twice and you are not satisfied. I would recommend e-mailing DishNetwork's executive office and sharing all your concerns with them. Most of the time they seem to be very helpful and respond within 1 or 2 days. I personally do not like putting satellite antennas on a roof. Just my opinion. Sometimes however due to trees and or other obstructions there is no other reasonable alternative. Good Luck. OBTW individual channels are transmitted on assigned transponders. That cannot be changed .

I was 99% sure about the transponders not being able to be changed, which is why I'm baffled as to why a install guy would tell me that, and just led me to believe that they are even more uncapeable!

 

[hokiecb]

The most amusing/ but also annoying part is that the tech told me to go into the point dish menu and pick a different transponder if the one that I'm on is having problems. I mentioned this to Digital Entertainment today when I asked for a tech to come out and the rep on the phone said that changing transponders on the point dish menu can help sometimes AS far as I know, that would NEVER help with a signal loss on a satellite....

If they told you that, and they work for an install company, they should be fired and shouldnt ever be allowed to touch or speak of anything dealing with a satellite again.

 

[codee]

I'm curious why you went with a 3rd-party vs going directly with Dish ?? As you're discovering, it's hard to keep people accountable....

As for this add'l $50 charge, did they note this on the work order or just pocket the money ??

We didn't actually even get a copy of the work order when they were done. The check was made out the the company though, Digital Entertainment which doesn't mean it was legitimate still I guess.

I talked to dish today, and they said that I could speak to the install company and mention that if they fail to resolve the problem more briskly then their current pace that they could suffer a "charge back" penalty or something?

So I called The original retailers (shock city) "Dish Network Corp office" since I can't ever get through to Digital entertainment and re-explained the whole situation. Amazingly, Digital entertainment called me within 20 mins. They said they can try for tomorrow between 8-12 even though they have 10 appointments booked. They said they may have to reschedule for a later date.

A more annoying development though, now the 119 satellite that was getting 35-40 is now getting just over 105?!?! the 110 is peaked out right around 115-120. Some of you may think this is great news, but I don't think it is. Why would it suddenly work fine? Something caused it to work at the install, then stop working and now suddenly start working again. The ONLY thing I can think of is that when the 119 stopped working is when it had been raining. I just assumed that rain = loss of satellite sometimes. But the 110 still was fine during and afer the rain, but the 119 was without a signal since it had started raining. I'm wondering if water is getting in the LNB or Connections and causing a problem? It hasn't rained the past few days now for the first time in a while up here. Anybody think moisture somewhere on the dish could be the problem? If they show up tomorrow and I have 100+ signal on all satellites I'm sure they will be as irritated with me as I am with them! I'd like to have somehow to justify the problem, as I don't know if the techs would come up with any possibilities on their own.

Thanks again everybody!

 

[bcshields]

A more annoying development though, now the 119 satellite that was getting 35-40 is now getting just over 105?!?! the 110 is peaked out right around 115-120. Some of you may think this is great news, but I don't think it is. Why would it suddenly work fine? Something caused it to work at the install, then stop working and now suddenly start working again. The ONLY thing I can think of is that when the 119 stopped working is when it had been raining. I just assumed that rain = loss of satellite sometimes. But the 110 still was fine during and afer the rain, but the 119 was without a signal since it had started raining. I'm wondering if water is getting in the LNB or Connections and causing a problem? It hasn't rained the past few days now for the first time in a while up here. Anybody think moisture somewhere on the dish could be the problem? If they show up tomorrow and I have 100+ signal on all satellites I'm sure they will be as irritated with me as I am with them! I'd like to have somehow to justify the problem, as I don't know if the techs would come up with any possibilities on their own.

Thanks again everybody!

My first thought is that you have a tree that might be in the way that you might not think is in the way. If it's happening when it's raining, maybe a branch is being dragged down into your line of sight.

Also, you have a DPTwin and a DP34 switch? Right? This means the 119 signal is exclusively on the cable from the 119 side of the lnbf to the switch could be a problem, as could the switch. check out connectors, see if water got in there, see if the stingers are corroded and or burned. Make sure that cable isn't kinked or stapled through also.

 

[codee]

My first thought is that you have a tree that might be in the way that you might not think is in the way. If it's happening when it's raining, maybe a branch is being dragged down into your line of sight.

Also, you have a DPTwin and a DP34 switch? Right? This means the 119 signal is exclusively on the cable from the 119 side of the lnbf to the switch could be a problem, as could the switch. check out connectors, see if water got in there, see if the stingers are corroded and or burned. Make sure that cable isn't kinked or stapled through also.

I'm not sure about the exact equipment, other then the DP34 switch. I have the dish 500 for 110 + 119 and then the dish500 single lnb for 61.5. There is 4 lines /2 cables running down from the roof though (the OTA HD antenna has a feed that gets diplexed into the lines from the switch output)


Is there a picture to give an idea of what angle the satellites actually hit the dishs at? The 61.5 dish looks like its aimed right at a bunch of trees and it gets almost perfect reception. The 110/119 dish looks to be in the clear, but maybe the satellite comes from some weird angle...

 

[Liquidforce88]

The other thing I would complain about and demand to be fixed is the Dishes install. There are supposed to be 6 lags in each mast. 2 in the center holes and 4 on the corners. Also from what I can see in the picture there is no sealent on the masts either. If you can get on the roof and check that they are sealed or it will leak.

 

[BobaBird]

The satellite signal hits the dish from 22.5° above where the dish appears to be aimed.

 

[JohnTenn]

We didn't actually even get a copy of the work order when they were done. The check was made out the the company though, Digital Entertainment which doesn't mean it was legitimate still I guess.

THIS IS A COMMON PRACTICE OF THIS COMPANY. THEY CHARGE FOR "CUSTOM WORK" BUT THE INSTALLER DOESN'T GET THE FULL AMOUNT. IF YOU PAID 50.00, CHANCES ARE THE INSTALLER GOT 20-25 OF THAT.



So I called The original retailers (shock city) "Dish Network Corp office" since I can't ever get through to Digital entertainment and re-explained the whole situation. Amazingly, Digital entertainment called me within 20 mins. They said they can try for tomorrow between 8-12 even though they have 10 appointments booked. They said they may have to reschedule for a later date.

AMAZING WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TALK TO EODN (EXECUTIVE OFFICES OF DISH NETWORK). I READ THROUGH THESE DAILY AND IT AMAZES ME WHAT CUSTOMERS ACTUALLY PUT UP WITH. IF THIS WAS YOUR ELECTRIC COMPANY, YOU WOULDN'T EXCEPT PARTIAL WORKING EQUIPMENT, SO WHY WOULD YOU FROM DISH, WHO IS ALSO CONSIDERED A UTILITY COMPANY.

A more annoying development though, now the 119 satellite that was getting 35-40 is now getting just over 105?!?! the 110 is peaked out right around 115-120. Some of you may think this is great news, but I don't think it is. Why would it suddenly work fine? Something caused it to work at the install, then stop working and now suddenly start working again. The ONLY thing I can think of is that when the 119 stopped working is when it had been raining. I just assumed that rain = loss of satellite sometimes. But the 110 still was fine during and afer the rain, but the 119 was without a signal since it had started raining. I'm wondering if water is getting in the LNB or Connections and causing a problem? It hasn't rained the past few days now for the first time in a while up here. Anybody think moisture somewhere on the dish could be the problem? If they show up tomorrow and I have 100+ signal on all satellites I'm sure they will be as irritated with me as I am with them! I'd like to have somehow to justify the problem, as I don't know if the techs would come up with any possibilities on their own.

Thanks again everybody!

It sounds like your connectors are not tight and water is leaking into the 34 switch. Also, I'd make them seal up the lag bolts on the mounts. Even a small leak could develop into a big problem and if not caught right away, Dish would reject any damage claim due to Time.

 

[codee]

Well, they arrived at 1:40 today, (had to be at work at 2, and they knew this) I told them the the symptons/problems. Signal was currently 100+ for all sats for some transponders. They decided that since it goes out when it rains and then after for a few days that there was water getting in the LNB for the 119 satellite. They think that since the lnb/dish is angled with the 119 more on the bottom that it was collecting water via a leak. They replaced the LNB and then checked the cable for any visible kings/pinchs from the tack job before. They said if it happens next time it rains to connect the 119 directly to a reciever and see if it works then. This would determine if the switch was the problem or not. These guys seemed more knowledgeable, hopefully this will no longer be a issue!

Thanks for everybodys comments thus far, I appreciate all the ideas and help!