[VegasDude]

Hello all! I just had a question on getting an install date. I bought a couple of the new HR20's from Best Buy a couple weeks back since they were in stock, and called D* to get an install from them. I was a customer about 1.5 years ago, but was not current and am now in a new house. After running around their system for a while (trying to get me to talk to all the wrong departments), someone finally tried to set it up but couldn't schedule an install date right then. I was supposed to get a call within 72 hours. I called back the next week, and was again told the same thing. I waited again, and finally called back. This time was just after Christmas, and then they got me the great install date of January 28th which is just too far away.

I got fed up and started calling around a few local companies to see if I purchased a dish and multi-switch, if they could install it here. I had a little bad luck and got some lady who basically lied a little, and set me up with a new acct and an install for one basic receiver. She said since I had my own receivers here already, just let the guy know and he could amend the order. I made sure she was sending one of the new 5lnb dishes and she was able to get an appt for the next morning.

The installer came with the wrong dish of course, and the one basic receiver; it was then I realized what they had done setting me up for a whole new account. He said they had the availability, equipment, and time to do it, but just needed a proper job number to get paid for it. I called back D* and explained the situation, but they still can't get anything scheduled until Jan 28th.

At this point, I don't care who does it or how it gets done. I'll buy the equipment if anyone knows a Vegas installer who can get this done right for me. Or, does anyone have any tricks to getting an earlier install date from D*? If I could do it myself I would, but this is just too crazy for me.

ETA: I did call the installer back who came yesterday and gave him the job number. He said he'd see what he could do and call me right back, which didn't happen unfortunately

 

[Earl Bonovich]

Another thread on a similar theme.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74537

Either they are very backlogged...
Or the "calander" hasn't been flipped yet in the DirecTV system...
Or the installers are having "issues"

I would call back on Tuesday, and see if things have changed.

 

[joed32]

Have you called the installer that D* has you scheduled with? They often have open dates that D* isn't aware of. I was scheduled for Jan 22, called the installer and they changed it to Jan 2. It's worth a try.

 

[litzdog911]

Looks like LowandSlow was able to get an earlier installation date ....
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74537

 

[beavis]

In Chicago, HD upgrades & installs aren't til February.

 

[marksman]

The calendar flip thing seems to be the problem.

We ran around with them yesterday, when they were supposed to schedule the install when we got the Hr20 ordered, but they did not do it. Then they told us the 15th of January, which seemed silly at the time. Raising some fuss, a supervisor informed us that their system had not flipped over yet so they could not even set a date. Which is weird, because they previously gave us the 15th January date, which seems impossible if their computer could not do it.

Regardless we have to call back after the holiday. I am sure we are being run around, but we have been provided some consideration, so we shall see how it plays out. In the meantime, I use my new HR20 on my old dish and we will go from there.

 

[D-Bamatech]

NONE of these threads are due to so-called "Calendar flipping noise".

Winds of change ARE blowing by and the NO BID Installation contract holding monopolies are tasting DIRT. (hsp's Undermanned, No trained techs, overworked, a UNDER paid & slave driven with fines to TRY and keep up.
LAck of Quality and service calls ARE evident and on the increase Also as a result.)

The new yr brings A new interface,prices,packages AND............> (?)

Let the HSP's and DTV eat their OWN Articulated Racket of a money based mess while you customers suffer some more and wait on some body all day to never show up or Even have the tact to call, Or these month long waits ect.

Sorry to me its quite damn funny!

I saw a thread here about the pay these HSP guys are getting.. ha.. Should i say more of why you cant get a install? Turnover rates are astronomical and they beg for help all day every day with the Pronouncement of : "no experience necess" But yet they sale and promote professional installation after some "green ex restraunt worker" is a supposable qualified tech to use a drill in you home in less than 3 weeks ect ect.. What a freekin' Joke!

If you want DTV or service FORGET 1800 D and a HSP, Use a local retailer and Install company.

Why is it i can get the Cust NEXT day< and within 4 days if EQ has to be shipped? (weather permitting).. hmmmmm. and lol.. Way to Go DTV and your HSP bed brothers of corrupt roots... nice job packing those pockets and the continual "porK Back pating". Its working Just fine for one group though... a certain hand full of mongrels pockets and thats it!. Sure not these customers and the revenue generators, now is It?

 

[bpayne]

Everyone's free to believe whatever opinion they feel is right.








I'll say this, it's hard to find fault in an argument that is as well-crafted and articulated as yours.

 

[AnonomissX]

NONE of these threads are due to so-called "Calendar flipping noise".

Winds of change ARE blowing by and the NO BID Installation contract holding monopolies are tasting DIRT. (hsp's Undermanned, No trained techs, overworked, a UNDER paid & slave driven with fines to TRY and keep up.
LAck of Quality and service calls ARE evident and on the increase Also as a result.)

The new yr brings A new interface,prices,packages AND............> (?)

Let the HSP's and DTV eat their OWN Articulated Racket of a money based mess while you customers suffer some more and wait on some body all day to never show up or Even have the tact to call, Or these month long waits ect.

Sorry to me its quite damn funny!

I saw a thread here about the pay these HSP guys are getting.. ha.. Should i say more of why you cant get a install? Turnover rates are astronomical and they beg for help all day every day with the Pronouncement of : "no experience necess" But yet they sale and promote professional installation after some "green ex restraunt worker" is a supposable qualified tech to use a drill in you home in less than 3 weeks ect ect.. What a freekin' Joke!

If you want DTV or service FORGET 1800 D and a HSP, Use a local retailer and Install company.

Why is it i can get the Cust NEXT day< and within 4 days if EQ has to be shipped? (weather permitting).. hmmmmm. and lol.. Way to Go DTV and your HSP bed brothers of corrupt roots... nice job packing those pockets and the continual "porK Back pating". Its working Just fine for one group though... a certain hand full of mongrels pockets and thats it!. Sure not these customers and the revenue generators, now is It?

Gee, thank you for your expert knowlege about the Las Vegas, NV area :lol: :lol:

 

[etchasketch]

I have been reading these forums, and some others. Originally it was to learn more about the Pandora's box I'd opened (read: getting HDTV with HD feed installed by Christmas for family). Eventually I decided to post and contribute.

I have been a customer of D* for nearly (10) years. I ordered equipment upgrade late November. Like some other posters, no install call back. I phoned mid-December and had install scheduled for before Christmas. D* install canceled (postponed to mid-January '07) with less than 48 hours before my slot. I was told the equipment was unavailable.

I have been offered two credits since mid-December, to which I said nyet (since it diminishes my argument and it's hardware and service I want, not credits I can't use). In my opinion, having heard as much from an Install Supervisor, they (D*) were scheduling installs though they knew there wasn't product in the pipeline to make good.

The local BB had receivers and DVRs in stock. It seemed reasonable under the circumstances to buy from a box-store and get a credit from provider. I'd go (again) to BB, let the installer install, somebody figure out how to get my service hot and make me whole. I asked to provide my own receiver, since this was the equipment on back-order. No joy.

With this bidness practice, like an airline over-booking, the companies (probably all of them) were locking in customers as the wave of new HDTVs purchased over the Holidays needed installation. All the CSRs I spoke with were apologetic (except for the Install Sooper), but no one could help.

This is not posted to bash, just relate the facts, since for every poster here, or on the other HD forums, there are prolly hundreds or thousands in the same situation. Having had a week to consider, I sent off a hard copy letter to D* today by certified with return (NY resolution).

So, that's last years issue for me. Next year I'll find a service to deliver HD to my shiny new HDTV.

HNY alles,
etchasketch

ps - since this is a TV forum: it reminds me of the Seinfeld rent-a-car episode. They know how to take the reservation ... just aren't very good at keeping the reservation ;0)

 

[D-Bamatech]

Gee, thank you for your expert knowlege about the Las Vegas, NV area
__________________

I think Nevada is part of this nation still , right? Havent heard of any States succession from the USA either recently.

SO...A National problem IS Just that... wall to wall w/ Just some DMA's and HSp's worse than others. Regardless the whole Install network is a freekin joke and in shambles & I See and hear of it Every day over about 37 states.
(Btw do you have stock in DTv or those HSp racketeers? Lmao I Never have figured out which one from your PRO D* reconfiguration of posts here.)

Guess where I went yesterday While you sat and watched your TV?. Behind the Damn HSP , Again thats where. Its All month every month. The MSP part of this racket is even worse in great bounds at times, as it now is more common than the HSP debaucheries here recently. The problems I read of here ALL the time too are even more prevalent when you see them in person ya know. Here also The Hsp's are in such disarray they are subbing a large portion of their own work out to who ever will take it (this is also Nationwide, in EVERY DMA btw) because their "pretty little white vans" sit empty due to lack of installers and Definitely NO technicians.
("we" even have pictures of Hsp parking lots from all over this country in proof as a fact)

Not a real technician in their right mind isnt comin' back under a MSP Or a HSP title and this pay. None of us!". So ask those so-called 3 week and under wanna be's of a lie of a professional installation take care of it all .. and well.. this is what you got as a national installer base pretty much thus these Customer posts and these all month calls i get.

Call D* as a tech just ask the CSR's what they hear all month long.. it doesnt take my words they tell me everything i need to know without any eleberation(at first) from me whatsoever. Youd be amazed, what a supervisor will tell you when you go to a "red flagged" customer home and "make things right" after the MSP's and HSP's. Ya Might say "working as a spy" and never digging for an ounce of info BUT sharing quite alot in reply.. (lol) It happened yesterday, as i heard stories about Mastec, ironwood, Bluegrass, Bruister, D-tech as a fact in a 30 min convo after activation in a cust's house. Once they figure out my thoughts and the passion held concerning, well sometimes ill just say they take notes with the info provided between us.

Soo in summarry.. maybe watch that Tv and Post things about software or something.. Because the install network either you are so blind and stock bound that you dont wanna "see" .. BUT i grant you that i DO indeed Know what im talking about to a degree that you will never have No clue.

These people here have No clue who is showing up at their house either Now days, Its a articulated sub- a- thon for Hsp's to save their own ass practically and it Still doesnt do any damn good . D* thmselves mandates 85% in house to a 15% contractor ratio and this mess across this country is NO where near that. Not a single HSP in general meets that per the contract criteria and Yet D* keeps all these contracts intact and calls outfits Called Afs's to mop up the mess's also of what private install companies dont get on their own.. Its a pure mess by true definition.
.= You GET What you pay for and 45$ to the tech sure as heck "aint gonna get it done" and keep a workforce with tenure w/ these extreme turnover rates and Still suffice/pacify the customer base and reduce these calls of mine Nor will it reduce these Cust's posts written here! It has only gotten worse and here recently at alarming rates.

It amounts to : No Bid contracts and corporate greed to create price fixing and Monopolized control.. Nothing more......
( But a whole lot less in Quality and Extreme Insufficiencies in scheduling due to lack of a qualified and properly manned work force...seems to be the overwhelming prominent and tangible result as to the facts)

OR

We could just say.. it due to the New year calender or Y2K or something.. (lmao and TOOOO funny)

 

[etchasketch]

I am quite sure scheduling issues have nothing to do with some YE calendar problem ... though that might seem a convenient excuse to toss around. When my intended December date got scrubbed I was offered several dates in January. And, that would not account for the numerous people who were (in December) promised install would call back to sched in (72) hours, but failed to do so.

Harsh in delivery perhaps, but I suspect there is a lot of truth in what D-Bamatech is posting.

etchasketch

Seinfeld rent-a-car episode: they know how to take the reservation but aren't very good at keeping the reservation

 

[D-Bamatech]

I am quite sure scheduling issues have nothing to do with some YE calendar problem ... though that might seem a convenient excuse to toss around. When my intended December date got scrubbed I was offered several dates in January. And, that would not account for the numerous people who were (in December) promised install would call back to sched in (72) hours, but failed to do so.

Harsh in delivery perhaps, but I suspect there is a lot of truth in what D-Bamatech is posting.

etchasketch

Seinfeld rent-a-car episode: they know how to take the reservation but aren't very good at keeping the reservation

The Real Un tamed truth from "the trenches" maybe?

This tactless No call No show (as we techs call it) epidemic you guys face consistently is the worst display that any Biz could muster period IMO. Its Pure tactless and especially coming from an entity as a provider that is labeled as the Nations #1 program provider with this farce of a claim of "professional installation" to boot. Its simply a pitiful display of professionalism in any Biz..

Then the next thing i wonder is just how many potential cust's are told they cant have sat service or as we call it NLOS(no line of sites). I just went on one that the cx had 3 HSp trucks come and say such with one supposable "lead tech supervisor" who admitted he had only been on the job for 4 months but was the lead tech that is assigned to check on the NLOS's after the orig tech.. I got the call on word of mouth and the AT9 has 98% sig strength 101.. 99 on 119 ect ect.. For a NLOS that a heck of a signal wouldnt ya say.
I also just pulled over an HSp van and asked the guy what he was doing "over here". He said he had a job but had called it in as a NLOS after i got him laughing For:.. "too much stuff in the basement".
Yep, thats right. (lol) . Then one not too long ago where the HSp guy said "im scared of heights, to a cust And dtv finally gave this cust an alternative to the HSp themselves and referred them to a private retailer.

I see these all the time (make believe NLOS's) too but yet wonder how many potential customers believe these guys and never pursue further sat serv again.

So then the question of Just how much revenue is lost By D* due to these No bid contract holding companies anyway? (lol). Heck ever one i go on D* has already promised the cust the world in Free programming and such and all these give aways because of the Hell they have went through already. There again goes more revenue.

The whole thing is a mess as i said. and mess by its truest definition and from what i see it just makes No sense to a tech, the cust, or the provider BUT makes real good crooked sense to the Install company called the HSP's and all their "hand holding buddies" across this country.

You people really just dont know. And these HSP techs here really dont know as im sure they are filled with propaganda just like when the Hired Union Busters and propaganda was administered and the illegal employee firing went in full swing for union supporters within the HSp's.

Really , you people really ave No clue about what goes on and has went on involving D* and installations in the depth of it at all. It would make a heck of a Tv show , that i can promise ya.

 

[frank29]

I ordered DirecTV online Jan 1st and got a Jan 8th install date.

A friend said "Hey, you should have used me as a reference & we both would have gotten $50 in credits." Like a fool, I called and was told "If we cancel your order and reenter it, you & your friend will get the credits."

Everything was rocking right along untill we got to the install date. The best date offered was the first week of MARCH! When I mentioned that only 2 days ago there was multiple openings starting in 7 days and the schedule was almost empty 2 weeks out, I was told "Well, we've been really busy the last couple of days." Yeah, right.

I cancelled this second order and placed my third order on line. Got a Jan 11 install date. Pretty sad when any Joe Blow with a computer can get a drastically better install date than a DirecTV employee. What a joke.

 

[Pink Fairy]

This has been a common problem lately, my install date was for sometime in February for a new HD-DVR install. Then the person went into "the work order program" to look and see if there were other dates available, and there were! So yay for me! Now its the beginning of Feb, not the end

Meh but apparantly one thing says one thing, another has other dates

 

[Spoffo]

VegasDude -

You said "If I could install it myself"

Did you mean "If I were allowed" or "If I had the ability"? Most people don't have the tools or the ability, but there's nothing stopping you from doing it yourself if you feel you're up to it. It will cost you more money that having an install from DTV, because you have to buy the dish, but they aren't all that expensive. For example, the Slimline 5 LNB dish only costs $100. plus shipping.

You can order one here: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=AU9-S You can also download the installation manual and view the installation video there to get a sense of what's required.

If you understand what a good impedance match requires, if you're capable of doing good clean coax connections (using real compression fittings and the right tools) and if have a mounting location that doesn't involve risk to life and limb, it's perfectly possible to install your own DirecTv dish. You can even do the 5 LNB dish yourself, though you'll have to spend another $100 for a smart meter. After you have the dish up and aligned, you just call DTV to activate the service on the receiver(s).

I'm not recommending it as a casual DIY project. Most people who've done their own have some sort of engineering or technical background, but there are plenty of us out here.

 

[Chesney09]

NONE of these threads are due to so-called "Calendar flipping noise".

Winds of change ARE blowing by and the NO BID Installation contract holding monopolies are tasting DIRT. (hsp's Undermanned, No trained techs, overworked, a UNDER paid & slave driven with fines to TRY and keep up.
LAck of Quality and service calls ARE evident and on the increase Also as a result.)

The new yr brings A new interface,prices,packages AND............> (?)

Let the HSP's and DTV eat their OWN Articulated Racket of a money based mess while you customers suffer some more and wait on some body all day to never show up or Even have the tact to call, Or these month long waits ect.

Sorry to me its quite damn funny!

I saw a thread here about the pay these HSP guys are getting.. ha.. Should i say more of why you cant get a install? Turnover rates are astronomical and they beg for help all day every day with the Pronouncement of : "no experience necess" But yet they sale and promote professional installation after some "green ex restraunt worker" is a supposable qualified tech to use a drill in you home in less than 3 weeks ect ect.. What a freekin' Joke!

If you want DTV or service FORGET 1800 D and a HSP, Use a local retailer and Install company.

Why is it i can get the Cust NEXT day< and within 4 days if EQ has to be shipped? (weather permitting).. hmmmmm. and lol.. Way to Go DTV and your HSP bed brothers of corrupt roots... nice job packing those pockets and the continual "porK Back pating". Its working Just fine for one group though... a certain hand full of mongrels pockets and thats it!. Sure not these customers and the revenue generators, now is It?

I really think this is more of the issue than anything currently.. Based off of my hours spent trying to just get a repair order, not to mention the HD DVR I Ordered 3 weeks ago.

As I stated in another thread I started... I think due to D*, WallStreet and the bottom line.. D* is really squeezing the contractors HARD and it is costing them. D* needs to stop take a look around and find what is important... The customer.
There has to be a balance.

 

[tkrandall]

I am getting the general drift here, but can someone please elaborate on exactly what the acronyms like HSP mean?

I take it these are hired home installers, but there is obviously a lot more information to share. Has DTV drastically changed their practices around home installers versus 2003 or early 2004 timeframe?

 

[NYHeel]

I'm in Northeast New Jersey near New York City and I can't even schedule an installation for the new 5 LNB dish. I bought the Hr20 at Best Buy with a Directv credit and I already have the 3 LNB dish. I have an order with Directv for the new dish but they can't even schedule an installation. Something about my local installer not having any dishes in stock or some garbage like that. The whole thing makes no sense but I've called numerous times and gotten the same answer every time. Very weird.

 

[efface]

The saying goes...you get what you pay for.

Know those gas stations where you buy 8 gallons of gas and you get a free car wash?

Think I would rather take my car down to a detailer and pay for it. The quality you get for free is tech to tech and the same industry wide. D* Dsh, or Comcast, etc