[ben jammin]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike. I get "Searching for Signal" on all my receivers. I called DirecTV last weekend when my power came back on and I discovered this. They told me they couldn't even schedule me for a repair, and they'd call me in 72 hours. Of course, no call, so I called them back today and the first person I talk to tells me their repair offices here were obliterated by the hurricane and everyone evacuated and they haven't been able to bring new people in from elsewhere to start fixing things yet. This is two weeks later! I ask for a manager and she doesn't know anything either, says they have people working but so many people lost service that they can't even schedule me and don't know when they'll be able to.

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

 

[Davenlr]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike.
Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

Well, Ive been reading stories about how everyone there is helping each other out, so...I would contact your local ham radio clubs, and see if any of their members might be willing to do it for you. I know we do that sort of thing around here after tornados and snowstorms.

Other alternative would be to hire someone from a local tv/satellite dealer to do it for a fee.

Good luck. Hope you get your tv back in order.

 

[rahlquist]

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Unfortunately this is just about how its going to be for the time being. I'm certain the contractors and HSP's in the area are all overwhelmed and some of them may even be without homes themselves. I'd just try your best to be patient with them. Call back as frequently as you have tim until they get you actually scheduled.

Also D* does sell a $49 disaster recovery kit, its basically a dish on a tripod and may help you at least get some functionality going again. When youre done you may be able to sell it to a RV'er. It will only get reception from 101 satellite. But comes with all the tools you need and even a compass. Or you might even find someone local who has a surplus dish and could do a temporary pole mount yourself.

Good luck.

 

[Terry Kennedy]

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

I'm sorry to hear of your predicament. But having been on the other side of similar things*, at least they aren't giving you a bogus commitment date. As others have said, ask around and someone can likely help you out - there's lots of resources here to help someone doing an alignment.

* I used to work for a telephone company. When there was a disaster somewhere, we'd be "asked to volunteer" (if you've ever been in the Army, you know what that's like) to go help out. I've gone (with some other guys) to a CO halfway across the country that burned to get it working - 18 hour days and sleeping in sleeping bags on-site. And no customer-premise repair calls were handled until the CO was back (not that it would have helped - if our end of the wire isn't connected, re-connecting your end isn't going to do anything).

 

[lmunster]

This is just one reason to find a local satellite installer/tech who may do some work on the side for a reasonable price. After Gustav, I had the same issue but called a local tech who does this type of thing and was back in service in one day.

 

[Yoda-DBSguy]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike. I get "Searching for Signal" on all my receivers. I called DirecTV last weekend when my power came back on and I discovered this. They told me they couldn't even schedule me for a repair, and they'd call me in 72 hours. Of course, no call, so I called them back today and the first person I talk to tells me their repair offices here were obliterated by the hurricane and everyone evacuated and they haven't been able to bring new people in from elsewhere to start fixing things yet. This is two weeks later! I ask for a manager and she doesn't know anything either, says they have people working but so many people lost service that they can't even schedule me and don't know when they'll be able to.

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

Check Your PM's (Private Messages).....

 

[Floyd]

As a commercial DTV installer, I called DTV after the hurricanes crossed over much of Florida in 2004 to offer my services as a fill-in tech to help get people back on line.
They didn't know of any problems, didn't have a number to call to volunteer, ect.
After that summer, and all the following disasters, you would think that they would have devised a disaster plan of some type. They allready have a dealer website, so it would have been easy to get people on board for a quick(er) response. Of course, these are the same people that can't even design a dealer form with appropriately sized spaces to fill in info.

 

[monetnj]

Had the same exact problem. I posted about it here:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=140177

Short of it is, after several calls spread over the last few days, D* couldn't give me a date. Called All-Tech, a D* authorized dealer in Sugar Land. They came the next day and charged me the standard $80 charge. Called D* and they gave me a credit for that amount. Give that a try.

 

[RobertE]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike. I get "Searching for Signal" on all my receivers. I called DirecTV last weekend when my power came back on and I discovered this. They told me they couldn't even schedule me for a repair, and they'd call me in 72 hours. Of course, no call, so I called them back today and the first person I talk to tells me their repair offices here were obliterated by the hurricane and everyone evacuated and they haven't been able to bring new people in from elsewhere to start fixing things yet. This is two weeks later! I ask for a manager and she doesn't know anything either, says they have people working but so many people lost service that they can't even schedule me and don't know when they'll be able to.

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

I'm sorry that your having signal issues, but really, take a step back and look at the bigger picture.

Their warehouse (where the HSP works from) was damaged/destroyed. So one can assume that most/all stock was a loss.

Power is, as you know, spotty at best. You can't fix things if there's no power.

Curfews are still in effect in a good number of areas, are they not? DirecTv/Dish is pretty low on the list of people that get access to areas.

How about the workforce? Odds are, they are in the same if not worse situations than you are. You, for the most part, still have your house. The techs may not.

How's hotel availability? Lots of people lost their homes, some still in shelters.

It's hard to bring in people from out of town/state to do repair work when there is no:

Distribution system left
Power
Housing for the techs

DirecTv does care, but there is only so much they can do given the current conditions.

 

[MIAMI1683]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike. I get "Searching for Signal" on all my receivers. I called DirecTV last weekend when my power came back on and I discovered this. They told me they couldn't even schedule me for a repair, and they'd call me in 72 hours. Of course, no call, so I called them back today and the first person I talk to tells me their repair offices here were obliterated by the hurricane and everyone evacuated and they haven't been able to bring new people in from elsewhere to start fixing things yet. This is two weeks later! I ask for a manager and she doesn't know anything either, says they have people working but so many people lost service that they can't even schedule me and don't know when they'll be able to.

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

Don't be "exasperated". D* sends in emergency crews. The installers don't even have to have customer contact to fix it. You don't need a date. They will come. You are not the only one who has this problem. You are just the one complaining here . One day a truck will come. They juat can't say when.

 

[ncriley]

I keep a dish on a tripod in my shed for tailgating and it worked great after Gustav. Just order a dish on a trip from solid signal or someone and temporarily run a cable to one of your receivers. This should get you by for the short term. Then you will have a spare dish for things like this or if you ever tailgate.

 

[PennHORN]

I live inside the loop in Houston. My dish was knocked out of alignment by Ike. I get "Searching for Signal" on all my receivers. I called DirecTV last weekend when my power came back on and I discovered this. They told me they couldn't even schedule me for a repair, and they'd call me in 72 hours. Of course, no call, so I called them back today and the first person I talk to tells me their repair offices here were obliterated by the hurricane and everyone evacuated and they haven't been able to bring new people in from elsewhere to start fixing things yet. This is two weeks later! I ask for a manager and she doesn't know anything either, says they have people working but so many people lost service that they can't even schedule me and don't know when they'll be able to.

I've suspended my service so I don't get billed but I need my darn TV working!!! At least give me a date, even if its 6 months from now, so I know someone will eventually show up. No one at DirecTV seems to be puzzled by this. :eek2: It doesn't bother them that in the fourth largest city in the country they have no ability to serve their customers. :nono2:

Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can get this repaired? My dish is on the steep roof of my two story home so I can't get up there to do it myself and I'd probably break my neck if I tried. I am exasperated. HELP!

I found a guy on craigslist to come and re-align my dish for $25. He worked for an HSP (was wearing their t-shirt) and had the equipment to properly align it. It was worth it to me pay a little out of pocket to get things operational again.

 

[timmmaaayyy2003]

I was working at DTV after Katrina and I can tell you that help is on the way. It may take a while, but as the previous post says, a truck will come.

In New Orleans many customers told me that trucks came in a did whole neighborhoods in a day at no charge as long as the equipment was good. Just keep your eyes open for anyone aligning dishes in your area and see if they have time for yours.

 

[BattleZone]

I'm working with my business partner to send some techs into Houston to offer dish repointing services. Hopefully within a week or so. It'll be a private service, and not free, but I have no doubt that we'll have plenty of business.

According to some of my contacts in the area, DirecTV is going to be several weeks at best before they can start mobilizing.

 

[diggerg56]

My cousin lives down in that area as well. He lives closer to the Galveston area though. I don't know what cable company he has but they told him it would be 3-6 months before they get cable service back and they don't have any promises yet for electric or landline phone either.

It's going to be a long road back, including getting sat dishes up and running.

 

[davring]

After Wilma, in 2005, D*'s trucks were rolling through neighborhoods, they were everywhere. I was quite surprised as three days after the storm a tech knocked on my door and asked if I needed service. I had already picked my dish up out of the bushes and had it back up(no Slimline then). We didn't have electricity for two weeks and the whole area was without cable for up to a month. I broke-in my generator very well during those two weeks Best of luck.

 

[ben jammin]

Thanks to everyone for the responses and the PMs with offers of help. After spending about an hour or more on the phone with DirecTV being transferred from CSR to the next, I finally got a guy who gave me the number for their local contractor in Houston. I called them on Thursday morning and got right through, told them I need my dish realigned. They said they'd get back to me, and they didn't of course, so I called back a couple times throughout the day until I got the person who was supposed to call me back. She said okay, when did I want someone to come out? I said "How about tomorrow?" She said sure, what time? I told her the 12-4 window. The next day (Friday) the guy showed up early - about 10 am - and fixed me up. :grin:

Needless to say I was quite pleased to get my repair done so quickly, but its largely because I knew DTV had local contactors and I could go to the source (once I got the number). But it is so frustrating that DirecTV is telling people they can't even schedule things and it could be weeks, when the contractor has people available for service calls on less than 24 hours notice. Someone there needs to figure out why their logistics are so poor.

Oh, and just to be clear about my original post, DTV's contractor's office wasn't damaged, and their employees never evacuated. The City of Houston was never evacuated, and very few business were "destroyed" to the point of not being able to open. The person telling me that was a CSR who was very apparently completely clueless, and you could tell from what and how she was saying it that she was completely guessing and making it up cause she had no reasonable explanation. Of course if they didn't have power that would have been an issue, but as my experience proves, they do have power and are fully operational. Further, with cell phones, generators, etc, there still wouldn't be any reason they couldn't be making service calls. Sure, its only TV, but its DTVs sole source of revenue so you'd think they'd be showing a little more urgency. :nono2:

 

[CJTE]

After 'Natural Disasters' or 'Acts of God' this is actually quite the norm for DirecTV. There are several hundred people in your city with DirecTV. Youve just been hit by a disaster, as well as DirecTVs local contractor. DirecTVs local contractor consists of ~30 techs. Then they have out of area/state contractors who may pitch in to help, a little.

But, unfortunately, there is simply going to be a delay. It is rare that the CSRs get Direct contact from the HSPs during these situations. Just like trying to call the HSPs usually just gets a busy signal or no answer. HSPs report to the command center, the command center passes the word down to the centers, the centers pass it to the supes, and the supes pass it to the CSRs, if the HSP doesnt contact the command center, or anywhere else down the chain, the CSRs arent going to know much about the situation.

While it is frustrating that you're TV is out of service, you've just been through a disaster. Everyone is trying to recover.

If you can be patient, you may find that once DirecTV/The HSP get set back up, they'll start rolling trucks for free, like they did in the California fires, and Katrina.

 

[thrombus]

My cousin lives down in that area as well. He lives closer to the Galveston area though. I don't know what cable company he has but they told him it would be 3-6 months before they get cable service back and they don't have any promises yet for electric or landline phone either.

It's going to be a long road back, including getting sat dishes up and running.

Cable service has been far greater affected by the storm than DTV and Dish. Once my power was restored, I was able to get DTV - no realignment necessary. OTOH, my cable internet - by Comcast - was out until Monday the 29th.

 

[trekologer]

With a compass and using your receiver as a meter, you can re-allign the dish to be "close enough" that you'll get signal, at least for the legacy sats. I installed my Phase III dish twice (second time was after I moved) and Slimline dish that way.

Heck, you can even forgo the compass. Make sure that the mounting arm is level. The tilt and elevation is set via the measurement ticks on the mounting bracket. Then, point the dish in approxiately the correct direction and slowly rotate it until you get it set. This way you can get at least some channels in while you wait for it to be done correctly.