Looks like the normal shaft job

[dishcomm]

My wife falls for the flashy ads for DirecTV. She calls them directly and orders some kind of package thats supposed to be special rates and no DVR charge for two years. She orders one DVR and one standard receiver. We already had DishNetwork that was a DIY installation when I moved here. Since I was planning on doing some FTA stuff, I left strict instructions that none of the existing dish, wiring, etc. was to be touched.

I get home and see a DirecTV dish on my mount with one tiny LNB on it. All other recent DirecTV installs I have seen have an elliptical dish with multiple LNBs. The installer used all my wiring, except he put in a new grounding block and tied it down neater than I had.

Then he brought in two standard receivers. My wife said she ordered a package with a DVR, he says she'll have to call customer service to straighten it out. He told her he had to use my existing wiring. If he ran any wire, he would have to charge extra.

When my wife finally got customer service on the phone, they tell her she is not eligible for the special package because she was an existing customer! Yeah, for about 30 minutes! After much arguing and getting bounced around, somebody finally told her they would get her a DVR. The only time the installer could come back was SUNDAY!

While they did send a letter acknowledging her order (for two standard receivers), she has yet to get anything in writing that tell her what all the charges will be.

If anyone has any tips for dispute resolution with these boneheads, I'd appreciate it.

Is this the normal way DirecTV does business? I sure feel sorry for their customers.

20-20 hindsight..You should have made arrangements to be home for the work..Ok, if you left SPECIFIC instruction that the existing cable was not to used, that info should have been on the w/o. The tech must use equipment listed on the w/o . Oh yeah, if you did not order HD programming, you got the proper dish..
Charges..if your house is dificult to wire, it can be considered custom work by the tech. His discretion. Has to work that way. However, in most cases if the cble work is standard and within the paprameters of a "standard" or "basic" install, the work is not chargable.

 

[Dwrecked]

Agree with others that the fault lies with you and your wife. If you want things done a certain way these days, you have to pay. I hope you realize that after this experience. Good Luck.

 

[dishrich]

Shortly they will change all programming over to mpeg4, your saying that the old single LNB will handle this ?

I GUARANTEE you it will be a LONG, LONG time before SD goes MPEG4 - AIN'T gonna happen! And, since it is NOT going to, NO need to put those expensive 5LNB dishes in for folks that will NEVER get any use out of them.

Now there IS an exception to this & that is in the local SD markets that are using MPEG4 birds for locals, such as Palm Springs & a couple others I can't remember. But those are exceptions.

 

[Van]

It'll happen sooner than you think now that Dish looks to be rolling out not just additional hd soon but also IPTV service to some of its receivers. Theres alot at stake with getting and keeping customers and it will be more than just who has how many hd channels it'll also be picture quality and additional channels and loclas of both types plus a better on demand than what both providers have now.