Does anybody keep their appointments anymore......

[mr4thofjuly]

I had an appointment set up today to upgrade my DTV dish to the slimline.....I took off work to be here and now the installer calls and says he cannot make the time I requested over 1 month ago.....so I had to call and change it to another date....what good does it do to make an appointment anymore?
mr4thofjuly........:mad:

[tcusta00]

It would be too polite these days to do what you promise. :D

Sorry you're having trouble... that sucks. It reminds me of that Seinfeld episode with the rental cars - Jerry had a reservation but they didn't have a car for him and he went off on a bit about "anyone can take a reservation, but the key is actually keeping the reservation!" Sorry, don't mean to laugh in the face of your frustration.

Good luck - I hope you get rescheduled soon. If I were you I'd call the retention dept and politely explain that you took time off work for this and you expect some form of compensation.

[grump]

My last two appointments have been that way. The last one, the tech was scheduled from between 8am and 12noon. Showed up at 4:30pm.

Apparently if you call Directv and complain, they have some sort of "on-time" guarantee, but I'm not sure what all that entails.

[Stuart Sweet]

I share your pain... but the world would be a far better place if DIRECTV installers were the only ones infected with this disease of tardiness.

Time is one thing someone can steal from you that can never be returned.

[RobertE]

A couple of points.

At least he called and told you rather than letting you sit there all day.

Also, this is a two way street as well. I've wasted far to many hours sitting at a customers home when they wern't there during the time frame.

[tcusta00]

It's not a two way street for those of us that have respect for other people's time and actually take the day off work and wait. It's unfair to say it's a two way street when this particular customer has done nothing wrong. Ultimately he is the customer and should be treated like gold.

[mstenbrg]

If you call and let them know you will get a $100 credit. I got 2 of the credits before the installer showed up on time to re-aling my dish.

[RobertE]

It's not a two way street for those of us that have respect for other people's time and actually take the day off work and wait. It's unfair to say it's a two way street when this particular customer has done nothing wrong. Ultimately he is the customer and should be treated like gold.

Nice negative twist. Thats not what I'm saying at all. I do feel for the customer. I'd be steamed as well if I burned a vacation day or took a day off without pay to have something done.

It is absolutely a two way street. Installers/repairmen/etc should be there within the time frame given. The customer should be there as well. Why should the customer be given a free pass not to be there in the time frame they picked?

[spartanstew]

This has been going on with all businesses for ages.

Heck, didn't Seinfeld have an episode about it with the Kramer and the Phone Company about 15 years ago.

[tcusta00]

Nice negative twist. Thats not what I'm saying at all. I do feel for the customer. I'd be steamed as well if I burned a vacation day or took a day off without pay to have something done.

It is absolutely a two way street. Installers/repairmen/etc should be there within the time frame given. The customer should be there as well. Why should the customer be given a free pass not to be there in the time frame they picked?

Negative twist? I took it how it was presented. This customer hasn't done anything wrong... why would you even bring this up as the other side of the street when this guy is just frustrated that he's taken a day off work for nothing. Sure you're looking at it from a macro POV, but for the purposes of this conversation this guy was wronged and needs to be taken care of. I feel for the installers, too, who have to sit there lying in wait for an MIA customer as well but you've added a level of argument to this conversation that unecessarily makes the customer think "Oh, it's okay, my installer didn't show up today because he's just thinking that he's had customers in the past who haven't been present for the appointment either - this is just payback."

IMO - It's the price of doing business for the company. In my company I have at least 10% of my appointments that don't show. I show for every one of my appointments on time, regardless. Only ever missed one for the birth of my daughter.

[JLucPicard]

RobertE,

For what it's worth, I took your post for what it was and did not take it as addressing or commenting on the OPs situation whatsoever. Just a statement that installers sometimes get stiffed on installs, too. I wouldn't want to drive 40 miles out in the boonies to do an install only to have the customer nowhere around.

[JLucPicard]

If you call and let them know you will get a $100 credit. I got 2 of the credits before the installer showed up on time to re-aling my dish.
My understanding is the $100 credit is for No Call-No Show. Unfortunately in this case, I don't think the $100 credit applies as the installer did call.

And yes, I've had times I've taken off work for an install only to have a few calls during the day stating "I'm going to be later - around xx:xx", then the follow up with a new time, then the inevitable "I'm not going to make it, you need to reschedule" call. Sucks, but it happens.

[njblackberry]

Call and see if you can get the credit. I got two. Tells you how difficult my Slimline installation ones. Three missed appointments, and one botched install.

I feel for the overworked installers, and my issue is with the contractors that DirecTV has chosen to do business with.

And we, as the customers, suffer the most! Poor customer service. And the installer/subcontractor comes our with a DirecTV branded truck!

At least you got a call. We have had to call over and over.

[Stuart Sweet]

If it's any consolation, I can tell you honestly and seriously that this is an issue DIRECTV takes very seriously. In addition to losing $100 every time an installer botches an appointment, the PR damage to the customer is immeasurable. I don't know what they will do to make it better in the long run but they are past the first hurdle... they admit the problem.

[brucegrr]

there is little respect for the time of others these days.

I have had six directv installs over the years. (e move a lot)
2-no shows, 1-4 hours late, 3-on time

One of the on time installs the installer refused to install the system because the ground was frozen. I waited 2 months for this install. (this was an HD ugrade so I had SD)

For me...........if someone is legitimately backed up and they call me.........no problem. It is when they don't call that upsets me. Or they lie and say they tried to call and no one answered. (all the while you have been there the whole time)

my kids have a paper route. I told them, from day one, you will deliver the paper, every paper, every day, on time. I hope by insisting on this they will develop good attitudes about time and the expectations of the customer.

[tcusta00]

my kids have a paper route. I told them, from day one, you will deliver the paper, every paper, every day, on time. I hope by insisting on this they will develop good attitudes about time and the expectations of the customer.

That's where it all starts (IMO). Good for you.

[TigersFanJJ]

If you call and let them know you will get a $100 credit. I got 2 of the credits before the installer showed up on time to re-aling my dish.

How did you get two of them if your installer showed up on time?

Kidding. :D

[PicaKing]

If it's any consolation, I can tell you honestly and seriously that this is an issue DIRECTV takes very seriously. In addition to losing $100 every time an installer botches an appointment, the PR damage to the customer is immeasurable. I don't know what they will do to make it better in the long run but they are past the first hurdle... they admit the problem.
It's not any consolation. I have yet to have an install, upgrade, or DTV problem correction go smoothly. Late, no show, don't have the right parts, don't have the right equipment, etc. C'mon already. If Directv were taking it seriously, there would be some signs of impovement by now. Its as bad or worse than ever.

They didn't clear the first hurdle, they landed hard right on top of it--if you know what i mean......

[mstenbrg]

My understanding is the $100 credit is for No Call-No Show. Unfortunately in this case, I don't think the $100 credit applies as the installer did call.

And yes, I've had times I've taken off work for an install only to have a few calls during the day stating "I'm going to be later - around xx:xx", then the follow up with a new time, then the inevitable "I'm not going to make it, you need to reschedule" call. Sucks, but it happens.

You may be right as both times I did not receive a call and had to call into DirecTV to find out if anyone was going to show up.

[mstenbrg]

How did you get two of them if your installer showed up on time?

Kidding. :D

They didn't, the first Saturday they did not show up at all. The next Saturday I had an 8-12 and they showed up at 5:30 after I called DirecTV several times to complain. I basically wasted 2 Saturdays waiting around the house.

[rudeney]

As much as I like to gripe about D*’s customer service and one-sided contracts, I have to say the installers in my area are fantastic. They are great guys and always show up on time, usually at the beginning of my 4-hour window. I had a bad LNB on my original dish and alter a bad multi-switch. The same guy fixed both and was absolutely first-class. When I added my first HR20, they had two installers and a supervisor show up to do the work. Although I think it’s wasteful that D* won’t ship an HD receiver or DVR to me for a self-install, the installer has always made it a painless process.
I think the worst service I’ve ever had form an installer was the last time when the guy didn’t call me until he was at my house (even though it was noted for him to call at least 20 minutes before arrival). He said it was no problem, he was running ahead of schedule and was familiar with my install so he had time to wait. He did seem slightly hurried to leave, saying he was concerned about *my* schedule. I kept saying it was no problem and I wanted him to stay until we verified everything was working and activated.
Now, if I could only get a CSR on the phone to provide service like this…

[Ext 721]

It's not a two way street for those of us that have respect for other people's time and actually take the day off work and wait. It's unfair to say it's a two way street when this particular customer has done nothing wrong. Ultimately he is the customer and should be treated like gold.

An ancient bible quote: no man may serve two masters.

Say you're an installer....you realize, after arriving to a huge house that the job will take an extra hour....pushing it, but then another complication happens halfway through.

do you 1: miss a scheduled appointment
or
do you 2: leave the job unfinished.

which way is treating the customer like gold?

It is a tough choice, and one that I have made many times. I finish the job.

Imagine being given 4 cars to fix in a day, and scheduling appointments for pick-up, but you have to schedule the customers to pick up their car before you are told what make, model, and year each car is, and without knowing whether any given one needs an oil change or a total rebuild of the motor and transmisison.

If you schedule for the average, you'll fall short exactly 1/2 of the time.

But trust me on this, customers do NOT EVER want to be treated like gold, because they're not made of it. If customers wanted to be treated well, Wal*Mart would not be the #1 retailer.

Customers want price price price. That is why they'll endure sales reps that don't even know that shoes come in "wide" rather than go to a real shoe store.

Despite what anyone says, almost no-one is willing to pay for the way they would like to be treated. If a TV provider suddenly had 100% perfect customer service all the time without fail, and charged $50 more a month, they'd promptly go bankrupt.

Go to a local non-HSP "mom n pop" type authorized dealer. Pay the extra $100-$200 or so for the install that they will charge over what D* will charge you. As the acronym goes: YGWYP4
Heck, call a home theatre company and pay an extra $300-$500. It'll be nice and neat, take all day, and I guarantee that extra $300 will buy an on-time appointment and peace of mind.

[captain_video]

There is absolutely no way to guarantee that an installer will show up at the appointed time or even inside the designated window without getting your name at the top of the list for the installer's appointments. Whenever you call for an appointment, insist on being the first customer he sees or ask for another appointment where this request can be satisfied. If he doesn't show up on time then call and raise hell with the office.

The one thing most people fail to realize is that installations are scheduled with an expectation that it will be completed within a specified amount of time. If an earlier installation takes longer than this set time it caueses every other installation to run late. Installers are notorious for overbooking and most installations that can be done within an hour on a good day end up taking 2 or 3 hours or even longer. The installations sceduled later in the day are always going to take the hit as a result. You can't always blame it on the installer because the homeowner failed to mention that he has a 3-story house and no easy way to run the wiring from the roof to every room he wants to install a DirecTV receiver.

In the 10+ years I had DirecTV I only had to interface with an installer on two occasions, both of which involved DVR installations for Tivos purchased from DirecTV. The 1st DTivo was scheduled for a window of 8AM to 12PM. The installer showed up at 5:10 PM for a job that took less than 10 minutes. I had everything pre-wired and all he had to do was hook it up and get it activated. I also burned a vacation day for this.

The 2nd installation was for a HDTivo that was scheduled for the same window. This time the installer showed up around 10AM but he treated my new HDTivo like the gorilla in the Samsonite luggage commercial. The first thing he did was plug in the power cable and then proceded to toss the HDTivo around like he was making tortillas so he could get better access to the rear jacks to hook up the rest of the cables. The HDTivo died exactly93 days later, just three days outside the window where I could get a new HDTivo as a replacement instead of a refurbished one. The installer also showed up with a preassembled dish expecting to put it on my roof. Ironically, DirecTV failed to mention that I had been a customer for about 8 years at that point with two other HDTivos on my account and the HD Pack so it would have been safe to assume that I already had a Phase III dish, even though they never asked when I ordered the HDTivo.

I switched to Verizon FIOS over a year ago. The initial installation took about 3-1/2 hours to complete and the tech told me that they only schedule two of them on any given day due to the complexity and time involved. In all the time with Verizon I've had at least a half dozen service calls, mostly due to issues I was having with my internet that turned out to be the cause of a bitt*rrent client I had running on my PC. Out of all those appointments, the tech showed up outside of the appointment window on only one occasion. In fact, most of the appointments were scheduled for a morning window of 8-12 and the doorbell usually rang at 8AM on the dot. On one occasion I called Verizon to report a problem with my router and they said they'd have someone come over later that day to replace it. I went out for about 40 minutes to run a couple of errands and found a note on my front door from Verizon when I returned that said "Sorry we missed you." I called Verizon back to reschedule and they sent someone out within an hour and a half to swap out the router. Try getting that kind of response from DirecTV!

[davejacobson]

Go to a local non-HSP "mom n pop" type authorized dealer. Pay the extra $100-$200 or so for the install that they will charge over what D* will charge you. As the acronym goes: YGWYP4
Heck, call a home theatre company and pay an extra $300-$500. It'll be nice and neat, take all day, and I guarantee that extra $300 will buy an on-time appointment and peace of mind.

Well said. We are a "mom and pop" outfit. Appointments are rarely missed or late. As the installer they talk to me before they schedual so no conflits come up. The customer can deal with me directly no middle man. Extra work no problem. Non standard install no problem.Need your home theater delivered and installed no problem.Of course you know the extras cost $$$ well spent.

[tcusta00]

Customers want price price price. ....

Despite what anyone says, almost no-one is willing to pay for the way they would like to be treated. If a TV provider suddenly had 100% perfect customer service all the time without fail, and charged $50 more a month, they'd promptly go bankrupt.

Go to a local non-HSP "mom n pop" type authorized dealer. Pay the extra $100-$200 or so for the install that they will charge over what D* will charge you. As the acronym goes: YGWYP4
Heck, call a home theatre company and pay an extra $300-$500. It'll be nice and neat, take all day, and I guarantee that extra $300 will buy an on-time appointment and peace of mind.

Which is exactly why I used a local "mom-and-pop" for my install. And it was worth every penny :D

And despite what YOU say, I am willing to pay for the way I want to be treated, hence, the $$$ I spent on the local installer, who is still in business and has been for decades.

[dbronstein]

My experience is that the installers are way overbooked. I upgraded to HD a few weeks ago and I had a very simple installation and it still took two hours. The installer just needed to put up the new dish on the side of the house at ground level, connect it to the existing wiring, and activate the HR20.

The other problem is DirecTV doesn't always provide everything they are supposed to with new STBs. My HR20 came with just the power cord - no BBCs, HDMI or component cables, etc. Fortunately the installer had extras on the truck.

[hasan]

There is absolutely no way to guarantee that an installer will show up at the appointed time or even inside the designated window without getting your name at the top of the list for the installer's appointments. Whenever you call for an appointment, insist on being the first customer he sees or ask for another appointment where this request can be satisfied. !

I tried that and it is an excellent suggestion....of course, it didn't work. I was assured that I was the first appointment...then the installer took it upon himself to take care of someone else first.

Of course, he was 6 hours late, didn't bring the required dish, and had to be forced into calling D*, wherein he was told to install as I had indicated. He was disgruntled, but took another dish he had laying around and did the install.

I've had three installs. Two have gone very well, on time, good work. The last one eventually got everything done, but many hours late after being assured I was first. I feel sorry for any "casual" D* customers who don't know how to assert their rights with some of these "less than committed" installers.

[hogon41]

Installers are notorious for overbooking and most installations that can be done within an hour on a good day end up taking 2 or 3 hours or even longer. The installations sceduled later in the day are always going to take the hit as a result. You can't always blame it on the installer because the homeowner failed to mention that he has a 3-story house and no easy way to run the wiring from the roof to every room he wants to install a DirecTV receiver.



Installer do not usually have the luxury of booking the appointments themselves. We work with what we are given and usually the sale rep sets up the appointment window with the customer. For most parts sales reps and D* customer service reps just go ahead and tell the customer that the installer will please their every whim, not charge anything for custom work, complete the install in 1 hour or less and of course complete 5 to 7 jobs in one day. Also appointment are scheduled in 2 4 hour windows 8-12, and 12- 4 or 1- 5 depending on the time of year.

Yes, the installers should call the customer to give them an ETA, but it is not allways possible to comply with the time frames.

[scott72]

Well said. We are a "mom and pop" outfit. Appointments are rarely missed or late. As the installer they talk to me before they schedual so no conflits come up. The customer can deal with me directly no middle man. Extra work no problem. Non standard install no problem.Need your home theater delivered and installed no problem.Of course you know the extras cost $$$ well spent.

This is absolutely the best way to go. I have a local company coming next week, which cost me some of the promotions being offered, but if I have any problems with the install later on they'll be back no problem. Plus a couple friends used this company for an install and are very happy. It's a lot better than not knowing who's coming and from where and if they'll give a crap what kind of job they do.

[scott72]

Which is exactly why I used a local "mom-and-pop" for my install. And it was worth every penny :D

And despite what YOU say, I am willing to pay for the way I want to be treated, hence, the $$$ I spent on the local installer, who is still in business and has been for decades.

Agree 100%. I'd be more than happy to pay extra for a solid install and to be able to rest assured they'll be back if I have problems. I have to have a pole mount and it's nothing extra and is included with my free install.

[ajc68]

Always choose to do a morning appointment as it increases your odds. The local companies are notorious for both overbooking and running late as installs take longer than the amount of time they budget for. I would call D* and let them know how the missed appointment affect your day and ask them what they can do to compensate you for your time lost. Hopefully they will give you some sort of credit. If you don't have any success with the first person, ask to talk to a superior.

[TigersFanJJ]

I tried that and it is an excellent suggestion....of course, it didn't work. I was assured that I was the first appointment...then the installer took it upon himself to take care of someone else first.

That's because, regardless of what a csr (and captain video) led you to believe, you are not guaranteed to be the first appointment. All the csr can do is schedule you an 8-12 appointment and put your request in the notes of the job. A request doesn't make it set in stone.

In the days before Seibel, the installer would set up their route to work their jobs in order according to distance, appointment window, etc. They would try to accommodate the first appointment request but sometimes it just couldn't be done. There is no way you would be the first appointment when the installer lives 50 miles away from you, has an AM job in between his house and yours (or in the opposite direction as you), has your AM job, then has another AM job or multiple PM jobs on the other side of where you live.

Now that the Seibel system routes the jobs, it is even more difficult for the installers to move the jobs around to accommodate the request. The routes are longer, planned start time windows are smaller, early AMs, late PMs, etc, etc.

None of this can be seen or controlled by the csr that assured you that you would be first appointment.

[JeffBowser]

I'm going to quote your entire post - very, very well said.


An ancient bible quote: no man may serve two masters.

Say you're an installer....you realize, after arriving to a huge house that the job will take an extra hour....pushing it, but then another complication happens halfway through.

do you 1: miss a scheduled appointment
or
do you 2: leave the job unfinished.

which way is treating the customer like gold?

It is a tough choice, and one that I have made many times. I finish the job.

Imagine being given 4 cars to fix in a day, and scheduling appointments for pick-up, but you have to schedule the customers to pick up their car before you are told what make, model, and year each car is, and without knowing whether any given one needs an oil change or a total rebuild of the motor and transmisison.

If you schedule for the average, you'll fall short exactly 1/2 of the time.

But trust me on this, customers do NOT EVER want to be treated like gold, because they're not made of it. If customers wanted to be treated well, Wal*Mart would not be the #1 retailer.

Customers want price price price. That is why they'll endure sales reps that don't even know that shoes come in "wide" rather than go to a real shoe store.

Despite what anyone says, almost no-one is willing to pay for the way they would like to be treated. If a TV provider suddenly had 100% perfect customer service all the time without fail, and charged $50 more a month, they'd promptly go bankrupt.

Go to a local non-HSP "mom n pop" type authorized dealer. Pay the extra $100-$200 or so for the install that they will charge over what D* will charge you. As the acronym goes: YGWYP4
Heck, call a home theatre company and pay an extra $300-$500. It'll be nice and neat, take all day, and I guarantee that extra $300 will buy an on-time appointment and peace of mind.

[mr4thofjuly]

Well I DID take the time off work and now my install upgrade is set for April 5...that is the soonest I could plan to be here...I sure hope that DTV is listening because I got the gee whizz sorry about that and see you later from the customer service rep when I called....and man I am TOP tier when it comes to forking it out.......over $300 bucks a month....I would have thought I rated better than that....we'll see what happens in 2 weeks...............
mr4thofjuly

[David MacLeod]

I used to install Primestars and we'd schedule 4 a day. there is no way to not affect the later appts. when the first ones run into trouble. stupid stuff like the home is rented not owned, without specific permissions we could not drill (we were required to enter the house inside a 1 1/2" pvc) into the sill area.
or the home owner thinks he/she can help the chances of getting it quickly by saying the house is 1 story when actually it is 3.
my favorite was being dispatched to a normal 1 story standard roof when in fact it was a 3 story A frame with approx a 12-8 pitch in February in Maine.
our insurance would not cover working that steep in those conditions so we refused, owner blocked the driveway to try to force us to install. we had 4 wheel drive and chains, we got that cleared. but then he and 2 sons came out with a bats, so we had to show the (properly bonded/licensed) handguns. sheriff arrived, they were arrested, but you can see how homeowners lying affect later appointments. luckily our later installs that day were very understanding, we ended up working at 9 pm on the last one and the owner fed us as thanks for agreeing to work that late.

[bills976]

If it's any consolation, I can tell you honestly and seriously that this is an issue DIRECTV takes very seriously. In addition to losing $100 every time an installer botches an appointment, the PR damage to the customer is immeasurable. I don't know what they will do to make it better in the long run but they are past the first hurdle... they admit the problem.

I disagree that they take this matter seriously. Actions speak louder than any words. If they truly cared, subcontractor use would be stopped, all installers would be DirecTV employees trained by DirecTV, and installers would be paid a living wage.

Think about this for a moment. The face of DirecTV to customers are subcontractors (sometimes even sub-subcontractors), not even DirecTV employees. When you're not employed by the company you're representing, do you really care about how you are representing the parent company? Especially given that they spit on you by paying you next to nothing?

I as a customer would be more than happy to shell out $100+ for installation if it meant that they would do it right. DirecTV's current system tells me that they care more about new subscriber acquisition (advertising low/no cost installs) as opposed to treating their customers the right way.

[mr4thofjuly]

Well had the 12-4 time slot today......the installer showed up at 2....20 minutes later...all done and working great!!!:D :D I should mention that about 4 months ago I bought an adapter on EBay that was designed by an installer to enable the arm that is installed on the 3 lnb dish to accept the fit of the slimline dish......the cost was 4 bucks....I showed it to the installer and the next thing I know he was asking me for the info about the EBay seller.....he said,"I could use a whole bunch of these...that thing is great!!!". It is basically a piece of PVC that is cut and split to fit over the arm and make it hold the slightly bigger mount of the slimline dish.....the installer told me it fit perfectly and worked flawlessly....if anyone needs the info pm me and I'll send it to you.....at least I finally have the 90 channels that everyone has been enjoying for a while now....I just watched the Red Sox in HD on the baseball package....amazing.......
mr4thofjuly

[GLJones]

I am in Orlando, Florida and ordered DirecTV about 8 weeks ago. I couldn't get an appointment for a week and a half but wanted a saturday so I had to wait 2 weeks. I had a morning (8-12) appointment so I got up early and got the TV areas ready for the installer by moving them out of the way and getting the cable boxes disconnected.

About 10 am the installer called to tell me he hoped to be there at about 11. No problem. About 10:30 he called to tell me he was about 30 minutes away but heavy rain was falling, how was it at my house. It was pouring and I pulled up the radar and it looked like it would keep raining till about 3 pm. We agreed he would come out around 2 or 3 pm. He showed up about 2:30 and it was drizzling. By 2:45 the rain stopped and he had already assembled the dish. He had to run lines (due to the two-tuner DVRs to the room upstairs and the main TV room. He reused the cable to the bedroom. He was very friendly and did everything right. The main TV is on a wall that has the garage on the other side. He asked if he could run the cable in the garage, then through the wall. I agreed cause the top of the wall is not accesable in the attic as it is under the floor of the upstairs room. I didn't see any other way to do it.
It was about 8pm and I was unpacking the DVRs and hooking them up while he ran the feeds. Got it all working with all transponders in the 90s and I was very happy.

He gave me his card and told me to call him during the first 60 days if anything happened (dish or bad receiver) so he could make a quick replacement instead of waiting for DirecTV to ship something. (Everything has worked flawlessly)

After reading the boards, I think I might be an exception to the installer problems everyone is having. Personally, I have had a great experience and would recommend my installer to anyone. His primary goal was to do the install right (grounded and run properly) and please the customer.

Of course, we tipped him for his great work and staying late because of the rain.

Jerry

[crashHD]

I can see 2 choices.

1) Roll up your sleeves, buck up, and DIY. When the goin gets tough, the tough install their own dish.

2) Whine about the installer that was courteous enough to call and tell you he couldn't make it. Then whine about your wasted day off, because the guy who works 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, fell behind schedule and couldn't make your appointment.

[marksman]

We had a problem with this once. A kindly rep managed to get us an appointment via the move/relocation team, who I guess are more punctual and able to get things done faster.

So there are some options.