Nightmare in West Tennessee

[SteveEJ]

Installer goes to my daughters house in West Tennessee. 2 DVR's to be installed for free by D*. Installer shows up with only one DVR, says the install will cost $60 per DVR ans proceeds to gripe about the house. He then looks for access to the attic. Climbs on the wire shelves in the closet to get into the attic (no ladder) and BREAKS the closet shelving! He then says that she can fix it! Starts to install single run coax and my daughter asks her if the DVR's will function completely with just single coax (I prepared her for this) and he said "Not everything". She tells, and insists, that he install dual coax so that they would function as she was told and expected. He gripes louder now but does it. Now when he is going in and out he is tracking mud and dirt over the freshly cleaned carpet and stains it with red clay! There is more but I really am pissed and need to calm down!:mad:

It was so bad that the manager of the company is sending adjusters (insurance) out to take care of the problem. The BBB has been called as well.

One thing that really blew my mind is that the manager was not even surprised about the situation. He even expected it! Now WHY does D* tolerate this crap?:mad: :mad: Why was this installer, that purposefully stained the carpet and refused to use a ladder (yes refused!) when one was offered, even employed by this install company? This is completely unsatisfactory!

I feel like quitting D* as a protest! It won't do any good, I know..

[BattleZone]

Now WHY does D* tolerate this crap?:mad: :mad: Why was this installer, that purposefully stained the carpet and refused to use a ladder (yes refused!) when one was offered, even employed by this install company?

Bottom line: because DirecTV uses a handful of large contracting companies (called HSPs, or Home Service Providers) to run all of their installation work. The HSPs don't care about anything but making money, so they lower the pay rates for their installers far below a sustainable level, and regularly violate the law with illegal labor practices (and have lost many lawsuits as a result). All the experienced, knowledgable installers (most of whom are subcontractors) quickly figure out that they can't make a living, and leave DirecTV, and often the industry entirely. And this is exactly what the HSPs want.

The HSPs then recruit the left-over subs (the new ones or the ones who are so bad that they can't get a job anywhere else) and a bunch of brand-new know-nothings who don't know how badly they're being paid and make them in-house techs. The HSP keeps 2/3 of the installation money from DirecTV and forces the largely untrained, totally unsupported installers to do 12+ hours of difficult, often dangerous work 6-7 days a week for horrible pay. The predictable result is that the churn rate for installers is something like 50%/month.

And the installers, who could realistically do 4 installs in a 12-hour day are routinely given 7-8 installs per day (the HSPs always lie and overstate their tech count to get more work from DirecTV), and often penalized and back-charged when the customers they can't get to complain. They also get back-charged for not hooking up phone lines, even when customers don't have phone service, or even when the tech spends his time and materials to run a new phone outlet for free (phone company here charges $175/line for this work) and the customer immediately unplugs the receiver when the tech leaves.

But, these installers somehow manage to get enough installs put in that the HSPs are able to keep their contracts. Lots of back-door deals go on with the HSP owners and the DirecTV area reps. It's a huge mess.

DirecTV has a great product, but by keeping the installation side of the business at arm's length via the HSP program, it can be a nightmare for installers and customers alike. And since very, very few customers understand any of this, the blame gets placed on the individual installers, not the HSPs (though certainly some of those installers own a sizable chunk of the blame themselves).

[pacjag]

You contracted with DirecTV, not the HSP. You should be talking to them as well.
Call them now if you have not already done so.

[Redlinetire]

I feel like quitting D* as a protest! It won't do any good, I know..

It's stories like these that prevent me from recommending DirecTV to people.

That's beyond absurd. I hope they correct things to your daughter's satisfaction.

[bstntech]

Just want to let everyone know that not all HSP installers are this way, and to the orginal poster what part of west TN was this just the county if you would sir.

[CrazyforYeshua]

I would have been on the phone with D* in a heartbeat. Not only would they pay for the damage, but I would end up with a totally free install....and probably free service for quite some time. It is D*'s responsibility as the ones who hire these contractors to keep up with them. If they so shoddy work, and they keep using them, they bare the brunt of the damage.
Don't quit until you get satisfaction for your daughter-she was taken advantage of, and that is wrong!!!!

[SteveEJ]

Just want to let everyone know that not all HSP installers are this way, and to the orginal poster what part of west TN was this just the county if you would sir.

City of Oakland in Fayette County.

[kokishin]

Your poor daughter! She should have kicked the SOB out when he broke the closet shelves (probably before). My biggest issue wth DTV is their lousy customer service. When Chase Carey, CEO, came over from News Corp. in 2003, DTV's customer service began its decline. I know there will be posters who start ranting that this is not a DTV customer service issue. BS! DTV is responsbilbe for enforcing a very strong policy of quality and professionalism over their contracted field installers. This installer should be fired.

Try this:

1) Have your daughter call DTV and ask for a supervisor. Tell your daugher NOT to waste her time talking to the 1st level customer service people. Your daugther should be prepared to tell the supervisor exactly what she wants DTV to do to compensate her for this mess. MAKE SURE YOUR DAUGHTER GETS THE NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR.

2) Send an email to Ellen Filipiak, Senior Vice President of DTV Customer Service. Email adress: ellen.filipiak@directv.com.
Your daughter should tell her the gory details of what happened. If your daughter has already spoken to a supervisor, then let Ellen know the supervisor's name so she can synch up with the supervisor on your complaint.

Let us know what kind of response you get from Ellen and DTV.

All the best!


Installer goes to my daughters house in West Tennessee. 2 DVR's to be installed for free by D*. Installer shows up with only one DVR, says the install will cost $60 per DVR ans proceeds to gripe about the house. He then looks for access to the attic. Climbs on the wire shelves in the closet to get into the attic (no ladder) and BREAKS the closet shelving! He then says that she can fix it! Starts to install single run coax and my daughter asks her if the DVR's will function completely with just single coax (I prepared her for this) and he said "Not everything". She tells, and insists, that he install dual coax so that they would function as she was told and expected. He gripes louder now but does it. Now when he is going in and out he is tracking mud and dirt over the freshly cleaned carpet and stains it with red clay! There is more but I really am pissed and need to calm down!:mad:

It was so bad that the manager of the company is sending adjusters (insurance) out to take care of the problem. The BBB has been called as well.

One thing that really blew my mind is that the manager was not even surprised about the situation. He even expected it! Now WHY does D* tolerate this crap?:mad: :mad: Why was this installer, that purposefully stained the carpet and refused to use a ladder (yes refused!) when one was offered, even employed by this install company? This is completely unsatisfactory!

I feel like quitting D* as a protest! It won't do any good, I know..

[SteveEJ]

Well,
As a update, The second DVR was delivered the next day and the DirecTV CSR wanted another $100.00 to turn it on! This is after the Zero dollars free install quoted initially for new service. That was finally resolved but the insurance adjuster has not called or appeared at the door nor will the installers supervisor return calls! To add insult to injury, she just received her first bill!
I emailed Ms. Filipiak and hope to get a response from her. I gave her the contact information and install information since the daughter does not have email. We will also be contacting the BBB and State of Tennessee Consumer affairs office if the email does not work. She will probably have the service disconnected before 30 days are up if they don't make it right as well..

That's it for now! I hope DirecTV does what is right! Fix the MasterBR closet and clean the carpet from the red mud!

[HDTVsportsfan]

Good Luck Steve, I hope you can get this straightened out.

Not to add insult to injury, but you mentioned "disconnect before 30 days". What does this mean. You better get your game on.......because technically there is an early termination fee if you cancel. There is a 2 year commitment.

Hopefully she won't have to go as far as to cancel serivce, but if she does, hopefully you can use this terrible experience as justiification and have the ETF waived.

Good luck to you and your daughter.

[litzdog911]

I think you have to cancel within 3 days if you want to avoid the early termination fees.

[SteveEJ]

ETF is a contractual thing and I understand that BUT they are supposed to install in good faith as well. If they don't fix this mess that they created then we will see what happens! I think they will do what is right.. I hope they will anyway! We'll see!

[SteveEJ]

3 days of what is the question.. 3 days of service start, 3 days of 'satisfactory install' or 3 days of completed install.. That is a subjective question if the latter 2 are the case. The install is not satisfactory.. The Install is not complete.. and the Install has not been accepted..
Just something to ponder!

[HDTVsportsfan]

Well....First of all I'm on your side.

I'm not sure a crappy install over rides ETF and "contracts".
I think eventually DirecTV will get this straightened out. But if she's receiving service then they've met there contractual obligation.

Again, I'm not taking up for DirecTV and I think they or the HSP should fix this. I'm just giving you some thoughts from the other side of the fence. And I truly hope you get this resolved to your satisfsction.

EDIT: From what I understand, 3 Days from Activation of the receiver.

[SteveEJ]

Thanks Sportsfan.. We'll see what happens!

[SteveEJ]

Another update..
The evening that I sent my email to Ms. Filipiak a person from her office called my daughter. He had all of the details from my email and wanted to make sure that things were being done to correct the problems. He said that the closet would be fixed and the carpet would be cleaned. I'll send another update when finished.
I must say that the only thing better, at this point, from the VP's office response would be for it not to have happened in the first place. They directly had no control over that BUT could have a positive influence over this type of thing not happening again (or at least reducing the chances).
:-)
Edit: Their effort means a LOT in my eyes!

[HDTVsportsfan]

Good new, glad to hear it. Keep us posted.

[rsteinfe]

Send an email to Ellen Filipiak, Senior Vice President of DTV Customer Service. Email adress: ellen.filipiak@directv.com.
Your daughter should tell her the gory details of what happened. If your daughter has already spoken to a supervisor, then let Ellen know the supervisor's name so she can synch up with the supervisor on your complaint.!

Kokishin was spot on with that advice. In a case such as this, repeated head-banging on the CSR wall isn't going to help. They don't have the kind of authority needed to handle this type of problem.

Many folks seem to feel that they need permission from the CSR group to work their way up the chain. Bull! If you have given the first-level folks a reasonable opportunity to solve your problem, and are getting nowhere, I suggest the following:

1) Make sure you get the name and employee ID of the CSR who isn't solving your problem. Let them know that you appreciate that they cannot solve your problem, and that you will be contacting the office of Ellen Filipiak, the Senior VP for Customer Service for help with the problem the CSR cannot solve. Strangely, knowing that they may be brought to the attention of someone in the big offices will often allow the CSR to find a way to help solve the problem.

2) If necessary, send a snailmail (or email if you must) calmly laying our your problem, including details concerning what contacts you have already had with DTV attempting to solve the problem.

Believe it or not, the folks in the big offices want to keep their jobs. They pay very well, and the office furniture is comfortable. They need to hear about problems such as the OP's in order to do their jobs. Ms Filipiak knows that if she does not handle your problem, your next contact will be with the CEO, and she does not want to get a copy of your letter from the big corner office bearing the notation, "Why couldn't you handle this!?"

[kokishin]

SteveEJ,

Good to hear! Stay on 'em until your daughter and you are completely satisfied. Continue to keep us posted.



Another update..
The evening that I sent my email to Ms. Filipiak a person from her office called my daughter. He had all of the details from my email and wanted to make sure that things were being done to correct the problems. He said that the closet would be fixed and the carpet would be cleaned. I'll send another update when finished.
I must say that the only thing better, at this point, from the VP's office response would be for it not to have happened in the first place. They directly had no control over that BUT could have a positive influence over this type of thing not happening again (or at least reducing the chances).
:-)
Edit: Their effort means a LOT in my eyes!

[SteveEJ]

Wilco and thanks for the advice and support!

[jaguar325]

at the very least, if you feel like you are spinning your wheels with a low-level call center person, demand to speak to a supervisor.. I have never been refused on that point.

[SteveEJ]

Jaguar325..
We are well above that! :)

[TigersFanJJ]

at the very least, if you feel like you are spinning your wheels with a low-level call center person, demand to speak to a supervisor.. I have never been refused on that point.

Everytime I ever ask, they always say "I am the manager." :(