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Going to shoot the cable repair man!

1199 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  Richssat
OK we are having a problem with our cable on one of the TVs, the picture gets grainy and we get this crooked line down the left side. Well we called 2 weeks ago to get it looked at :rolleyes: and they came today. So the guy wouldnt come in because my name isnt on the bill or the account so they couldnt come in (bullsh*t). So I just said yea ok sure and he said suttin to me that got me angry and I yelled at him that the cable sucks, I asked what homeless shelter did they get you from, did they even bother to train you, and then I told him to just disconnect it all but dont touch the modem line (D* commin in 5 days :righton: ). Well he went and disconnected the wires comming from the road the wires going into the house, the wires going across the roof to the attic and ripped the wires off and ripped some siding off with it NEW VINYL SIDING :mad: . So I called the cable company and complained there response was "Did you actually see him do this?" I said no and they said "Well sir if you did not see him do this then we cannot take action" WTF like someone else with a ladder and wire cutters came right after he left? Or maybe I was so mad that I just went and ruined my house myself right??? MORONS! I HATE CABLE. ESPEACIALLY TELE-MEDIA CABLE ITS CRAP!!!:hi:
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aj-Next time the guy comes out, be sure you have an adequate supply of prozac. My cable company uses a subcontractor to do their work. When my local channels were ten times better OTA, I asked them to fix it. The first guy came and said, well that's analog for you! I waited ten days for that response??? On and on the story goes, but after two weeks and three techs, the problem was found and solved. It was an above ground cable that was over 15 yrs old in the desert sun. Everything looks good now, but this is what you can expect from almost every service industry. Whether it's the grocery store, the bank or a restaurant, service these days are the s#$%'s!!!
This cable company has given us ntohing but problems and the only thing stopping us from going to a dish was the matter of locals. The locals here come bundled with all the other channels in a 40 dollar package so it was actually more expensive to switch to dish. But now that Hartford is offered on D* we are making the switch. Nothing beats the time we got the cable modem installed. They came and hooked it up before the service was even offered so I wasted my first month free wit ha modme that didnt work. Did I get the month free? No!
Sorry to hear about your bad experience with what appears to have been a contractor. As a Cable/Broadband tech I can tell you that our company will not allow us to go in unless the home owner is there and under no circumstance are we ever allowed to go in when only a minor is home. However this does not seem to be your case.

On a customer disconnect we only disconnect form the tap (Pole or ground ped) and do not take out the cable lines at the house. This guy was pissed off before he got to your house and your conversation only made him more of an idiot.

The thing he should have done is taken a signal reading at the tap, then the ground block, and if no problem found there look for area's of ingress (splitters, old RG59 cable or bad F connectors or jumpers). The number one area I run into that customers complain about bad signals come from using those cheap push on coaxial jumpers or cheap splitters. We provide splitters at no cost when a customer needs one and will make new quality RG6 jumpers at no cost to our customers.

I also have been a Dish customer since 1999 and have had a Echostar 6000HD since they came out in 2000. Of course I also have digital cable (full package provided) and Broadband Cable Internet. It is very nice having all of these as one has features the other doesn't. Choice is good!

Again I am sorry you had a bad experience with that cable rep and I only hope that this guy finds a new career path.

Thanks
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I am a satellite tech and I am disgusted that things like this happen. Scary part is it is becoming more commonplace. Most of the problems I have heard about seem to be coming from the cable industry but I know there are some very incompetent, untrained, bad people out there that have no business installing satellite either.

The industry as a whole (cable and satellite) has to really start addressing the problems with it's technicians or we are all going to be in trouble. The biggest problem (as I see it) is the plummeting pay rates. Cable and satellite companies ( in a quest to maximize profit margins) have lowered the pay rates for it's installers to the point where it is difficult (if not impossible) to make a decent living in this skilled trade. As a result, many of the qualified, competent, ethical people have moved on to other careers. That leaves the bottom of the food chain, entry level, undeducated, uncaring and in some cases downright dangerous people to fill these low paying, highly demanding positions.

Until something on that end changes, these problems are going to continue.
Just my $.02

Rich
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