[mtnagel]

Obviously not. I'm not even going to post everything since I'm freaking tired. I woke up at 5 am for work today.

Anyway, install scheduled for 1-5. Guy shows up at 9 after a few calls. I really wanted it installed since it took 2 weeks to get this time and I took a half day at work and I'm running out. Plus I wanted to actually get HD on my HDTV.

I had to help the guy a lot. Hold the flashlight. Get my ladder and help install the dish. And it's 39F out now!

I had to recommend to put the multiswitch outside. He wanted it inside (which I will agree is probably a better idea), but without going into too much detail, it would have been a lot more work and looked uglier.

I looked after her left and the cables are all over the place. Would have been nice to tidy them up a bit.

And, he told me I couldn't get the HD locals because this was the 700S model and I needed an antenna even though it's not active.

Yes Directv will be getting a call. Definitely looking forward to some free HBO or something.

There's more, but I'm tired.

 

[litzdog911]

More of the story in your other thread here ....
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67197

 

[mtnagel]

More of the story in your other thread here ....
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67197

Thanks. I'll post more when I wake up more.

Initial thoughts. HD looks good. I have the FF bug and pixelation during 30 sec slip. Hope an update is coming soon.

 

[tstarn]

Obviously not. I'm not even going to post everything since I'm freaking tired. I woke up at 5 am for work today.

Anyway, install scheduled for 1-5. Guy shows up at 9 after a few calls. I really wanted it installed since it took 2 weeks to get this time and I took a half day at work and I'm running out. Plus I wanted to actually get HD on my HDTV.

I had to help the guy a lot. Hold the flashlight. Get my ladder and help install the dish. And it's 39F out now!

I had to recommend to put the multiswitch outside. He wanted it inside (which I will agree is probably a better idea), but without going into too much detail, it would have been a lot more work and looked uglier.

I looked after her left and the cables are all over the place. Would have been nice to tidy them up a bit.

And, he told me I couldn't get the HD locals because this was the 700S model and I needed an antenna even though it's not active.

Yes Directv will be getting a call. Definitely looking forward to some free HBO or something.

There's more, but I'm tired.

Same thing happened to me (installer showed up at 10:30 on a Sunday night), for my AL0/H20 install a few weeks back. I told him to go home, called D* and they gave me six months at $20 off and rescheduled with a supervisor for the install. The guy who showed up was great, and it went smoothly.

 

[mtnagel]

Same thing happened to me (installer showed up at 10:30 on a Sunday night), for my AL0/H20 install a few weeks back. I told him to go home, called D* and they gave me six months at $20 off and rescheduled with a supervisor for the install. The guy who showed up was great, and it went smoothly.

10:30 is pretty late. I figured it shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours, so I figured 11-12 would be fine. It was a Friday and the wife was working, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. $120 off. Not bad. Hopefully I'll get something like that.

Oh yeah, I just noticed he left the mounting arm on the roof from the old dish

If I remove that, what can I seal the holes with?

 

[Neil Derryberry]

I would remove the post and leave the mounting bracket.. resealing the holes may not last long-term.

 

[Knepster]

That's what I was worried about, so I also left the bracket up there.

 

[Zamps]

I would remove the post and leave the mounting bracket.. resealing the holes may not last long-term.

That's what they did during my install on Friday. They just left the bracket on the roof. Also installed the new dish closer to the edge of the roof so you don't actually have to get off the ladder.

 

[mirwin101]

10:30 is pretty late. I figured it shouldn't take more than 2-3 hours, so I figured 11-12 would be fine. It was a Friday and the wife was working, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. $120 off. Not bad. Hopefully I'll get something like that.

Oh yeah, I just noticed he left the mounting arm on the roof from the old dish

If I remove that, what can I seal the holes with?

You'd really need to replace the shingles.

 

[mtnagel]

I just removed the pole and left the bracket.

 

[mtnagel]

Alright, so I called retention to complain. He gave me 3 months of Showtime/Stars. Not bad.

Alright, here's the list of the installers ineptitude:

- Arrived at 9 pm; scheduled for 1-5; took a half day of vacation.
- Took over half hour to put the dish together on my living room floor.
- Took quite a bit of time mounting the dish; I had to hold a flash light in 40 degree weather because he was so late.
- Needed me to get up on a ladder to help attach the lines to the dish.
- Attached the 4 existing lines to the dish even though he needed to install a multi-switch, so we had to get back up and uninstall those.
- Seemed thoroughly confused on how best to set up the multi-switch with existing lines. He wanted to take the lines from my daughter's tivo and run them all the way to the other side of the house where he was going to put the multi-switch and then have to run all the way back to her bedroom for the tivo. I suggested he put the multi-switch outside and run 4 short lines (took half hour to make these as he didn't have the proper tool) from the dish to the multi-switch and then run the lines to the boxes.
- Drilled through my concrete basement at 1:30 AM while my wife was trying to sleep. To be fair, I requested he do that since it was a lot shorter run to the box from there, but I also asked to shorten the existing lines and run them through there, which he didn't.
- Didn't put any insulation in the holes in the house. The one he drilled and the other that had the existing run of cable, which he removed the insulation from.
- He left the pole and bracket from the old dish on the roof.
- Took 5 hours to install the new dish, multi-switch and run two lines to the new reciever.
- Told me that the new 700S model doesn't get the HD locals from the satellite and that I would need an antenna.

 

[PoitNarf]

This entire thread makes me laugh :lol:

 

[mtnagel]

This entire thread makes me laugh :lol:

Are you laughing at me?

 

[PoitNarf]

Are you laughing at me?

No, just the whole scenario described by you

 

[upnorth]

Alright, so I called retention to complain. He gave me 3 months of Showtime/Stars. Not bad.

Alright, here's the list of the installers ineptitude:

- Arrived at 9 pm; scheduled for 1-5; took a half day of vacation.
- Took over half hour to put the dish together on my living room floor.
- Took quite a bit of time mounting the dish; I had to hold a flash light in 40 degree weather because he was so late.
- Needed me to get up on a ladder to help attach the lines to the dish.
- Attached the 4 existing lines to the dish even though he needed to install a multi-switch, so we had to get back up and uninstall those.
- Seemed thoroughly confused on how best to set up the multi-switch with existing lines. He wanted to take the lines from my daughter's tivo and run them all the way to the other side of the house where he was going to put the multi-switch and then have to run all the way back to her bedroom for the tivo. I suggested he put the multi-switch outside and run 4 short lines (took half hour to make these as he didn't have the proper tool) from the dish to the multi-switch and then run the lines to the boxes.
- Drilled through my concrete basement at 1:30 AM while my wife was trying to sleep. To be fair, I requested he do that since it was a lot shorter run to the box from there, but I also asked to shorten the existing lines and run them through there, which he didn't.
- Didn't put any insulation in the holes in the house. The one he drilled and the other that had the existing run of cable, which he removed the insulation from.
- He left the pole and bracket from the old dish on the roof.
- Took 5 hours to install the new dish, multi-switch and run two lines to the new reciever.
- Told me that the new 700S model doesn't get the HD locals from the satellite and that I would need an antenna.

That's his mistake for showing up at that time and your mistake for letting him stay to do the job.
Obviously things are not going to go smooth in the dark and at that time of night
I would have been calling at 4:00 to 5:00 to find out where he was at
Sorry I cannot sympathize with ya.

 

[mtnagel]

That's his mistake for showing up at that time and your mistake for letting him stay to do the job.
Obviously things are not going to go smooth in the dark and at that time of night
I would have been calling at 4:00 to 5:00 to find out where he was at
Sorry I cannot sympathize with ya.

The company he works for did call at 5 and asked if I'd heard from my installer. Shouldn't YOU know where he is?

Someone called back and they said he was running late. They said he'd probably be there by 7 or so. They then called back and said it would be later. Like I said, I just wanted to get it done. I wasted a 1/2 day of vacation and I wasted time just sitting there waiting. I didn't want to put it off any longer.

How long would you expect it to take for what I described? I figured 2 hours, so that would have been till 11. I would have had no problem if he finished by 11.

 

[Mallard]

You'd really need to replace the shingles.

I would agree with this.

My installer initially put the dish on the east side of my roof, even though I wanted on the west. After two hours of fiddling with the adjustment, he called his supervisor, who asked if there was a tree to the right (west) of him. He said yes. The supervisor said the dish would have to go on the other (west) side of the tree (in other words, exactly where I asked him to put it.)

My installer just wanted to put that tar tape over the holes he made in my roof! I called a roofer who came that day and replaced the damaged shingles. DirecTV sent me a damage claim to pay for the roofer.

 

[Mallard]

Alright, so I called retention to complain. He gave me 3 months of Showtime/Stars. Not bad.

Alright, here's the list of the installers ineptitude:

- Arrived at 9 pm; scheduled for 1-5; took a half day of vacation.
- Took over half hour to put the dish together on my living room floor.
- Took quite a bit of time mounting the dish; I had to hold a flash light in 40 degree weather because he was so late.
- Needed me to get up on a ladder to help attach the lines to the dish.
- Attached the 4 existing lines to the dish even though he needed to install a multi-switch, so we had to get back up and uninstall those.
- Seemed thoroughly confused on how best to set up the multi-switch with existing lines. He wanted to take the lines from my daughter's tivo and run them all the way to the other side of the house where he was going to put the multi-switch and then have to run all the way back to her bedroom for the tivo. I suggested he put the multi-switch outside and run 4 short lines (took half hour to make these as he didn't have the proper tool) from the dish to the multi-switch and then run the lines to the boxes.
- Drilled through my concrete basement at 1:30 AM while my wife was trying to sleep. To be fair, I requested he do that since it was a lot shorter run to the box from there, but I also asked to shorten the existing lines and run them through there, which he didn't.
- Didn't put any insulation in the holes in the house. The one he drilled and the other that had the existing run of cable, which he removed the insulation from.
- He left the pole and bracket from the old dish on the roof.
- Took 5 hours to install the new dish, multi-switch and run two lines to the new reciever.
- Told me that the new 700S model doesn't get the HD locals from the satellite and that I would need an antenna.

Man, I wish my install went as good as yours!

So far I've had to take two full days off of work. I had an 8-12 time, and my first installer didn 't leave until almost 8PM. I had to ask him to leave because I had to go searching through the neighborhood for my dogs, who got out of my yard because the installer left the fence gate open. The first installer made such a mess of things that I had to have a second tech come to the house to clean things up. The second guy ended up redoing almost everything the first guy did.

After many emails and phone calls, I finally got a guy from retention. He said he'd give me $20 off for three months. However, now I need a third tech vist, plus I can't watch any HD currently. I feel like I'm getting the brush-off from D*. They say "we're sorry" and that's it.

 

[PoitNarf]

I feel like I'm getting the brush-off from D*. They say "we're sorry" and that's it.

That's the problem with outsourcing their installs to these companies. Some of these installers are a joke, but there are still a bunch out there that actually know what they're doing. After my experiences, all I trust an installer doing is aligning the dish for me.

 

[bluesjam]

I might as well share my story...

I asked the installer to call before heading to the house, I had a 1-5 install, got a call, couldn't understand him, had to call office to find out what he was saying. They called him and called me back and said he was at the house, this was right around 1 PM, so he was on time at least!

I get home, the guy doesn't speak any English, and I don't speak Spanish either, this is going to be fun! We waste an hour trying to communicate, calling the office to explain to him what I'd like done and to understand what he wants to do... by then, 2:15, it started raining! I called the office and asked them to tell him to come back in an hour, hopefully the rain would be over. 3:30 he starts the install, here's my list of issues:

- he spent most of the time on the phone during the install, even though I told him I had to leave by 6 to make it to a memorial service, and he promised he'll be done in less than 2 hours!

- He mounted the dish on the roof, and wanted to use both my old one and the new one! I told him no way, I don't need 2!!!

- He didn't ground the new dish or the 2 new cables he ran for me

- He left pole in place, and left me my old dish and cables in my yard to clean up! On his way out he left me a few receipts in my driveway since he thought it was a trash can!

- He couldn't understand why I needed 2 dvrs (HR10 and HR20) and laughed at me, had to call the office to have them explain that I wanted to keep both!

- When he was drilling a hole through the wall he must've hit an electric circuit cuz the power in the living room died! I reset the circuit and it seems fine now. Need to get an electrician to take a look at it. Now I have a nice hole in my wall that he left for me to enjoy, at least it's behind one of my speakers.

- He got done around 6:15 since I told him to leave cuz I was running late!

It was a great experience! I called D* and I'm waiting to hear back from the installer.

Mallard, I hope you found your dogs!