[rsblaski]

On Wednesday last, I had an HR-34 added to my other three HR2x's. The tech was great and did an excellent job.
While moving an HR20 to another location and doing the install there, he accidentally knocked a Thermaltake BlacX with 2Tb drive off a shelf. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but later found that the drive was kaput. (It will start to spin but then it will click several times and then shut down.)
He was such a great guy, I would hate to cause him problems if I complain. Is there any chance this would happen? What could I expect as a response from D* if I did bring this to their attention?
I lost a lot of recordings on that drive, but nothing critical. Luckily I had the series finale of Chuck on another dvr.

 

[TomCat]

DId he leave a personal phone number? You could nicely tell him and he may pay for it or maybe has has the potential to get you DTV swag, like a year of ShowTime or something. If you just go behind his back it won't be worth it, because whatever you get will be overshadowed by how badly you will feel about it. Chalk it up; move forward I think.

 

[samrs]

Option 1 call the tech.

Option 2 call DirecTv get handed off to the damage claims department. Provide all the required documents and photos, keep in mind DirecTv doesn't pay for anything. A damage claim packet will be forwarded to the local installation office who will contact you to complete the investigation. The supervisor handling the investigation will decide if the tech was at fault. The odds are in your favor. I am insured by my company, the first $500 of any claim comes out of my check, plus I get a damage claim on my performance matrix for three months(blocks any inkling of promotion). Call the tech.

Option 3 it was an accident, in your house, use your deductible.

Option 4 the drive is still under warranty.

 

[SledgeHammer]

Good luck with that. How would DirecTV know the drive worked before the guy came in? How do they know he broke it? Besides, I think pretty much any time you have a worker come into your house, you sign something that says you need to remove breakables from the area. They might offer you 3 months of HBO or whatever to shut you up, but what else do you really expect? They aren't going to replace the drive or give you cash.

 

[Rich]

On Wednesday last, I had an HR-34 added to my other three HR2x's. The tech was great and did an excellent job.
While moving an HR20 to another location and doing the install there, he accidentally knocked a Thermaltake BlacX with 2Tb drive off a shelf. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but later found that the drive was kaput. (It will start to spin but then it will click several times and then shut down.)
He was such a great guy, I would hate to cause him problems if I complain. Is there any chance this would happen? What could I expect as a response from D* if I did bring this to their attention?
I lost a lot of recordings on that drive, but nothing critical. Luckily I had the series finale of Chuck on another dvr.

I doubt if D* would do anything about it, but that's what I'd try. You'll probably have to call many times because the eSATA function is not "supported" and many CSRs don't even know what it is. Call a few times and you'll be routed to the Case Management Group. They may be able to help you. The installers must be insured, so that might cover it.

That's the problem with HDDs mounted vertically. Occasionally someone drops one and the HDD is then shot. It happened to me. Just touched an FAP with something and it fell about a foot while it was running. Kaput.

Rich

 

[Rich]

Option 1 call the tech.

Option 2 call DirecTv get handed off to the damage claims department. Provide all the required documents and photos, keep in mind DirecTv doesn't pay for anything. A damage claim packet will be forwarded to the local installation office will contact you to complete the investigation. The supervisor handling the investigation will decide if the tech was at fault. The odds are in your favor. I am insured by my company the first $500 of any claim comes out of my check, plus I get a damage claim on my performance matrix for three months(blocks any inkling of promotion). Call the tech.

Option 3 it was an accident, in your house, use your deductible.

Usually $500 deductible on home insurance too. I don't believe I've ever had an installer leave a personal phone number, but there should be a company number on the receipt somewhere.

Rich

 

[Rich]

Good luck with that. How would DirecTV know the drive worked before the guy came in? How do they know he broke it? Besides, I think pretty much any time you have a worker come into your house, you sign something that says you need to remove breakables from the area. They might offer you 3 months of HBO or whatever to shut you up, but what else do you really expect? They aren't going to replace the drive or give you cash.

Yeah, that's probably what will happen. I've never signed anything regarding "breakable" items when using contractors.

Rich

 

[Shades228]

Just call and open a damage claim then follow the process.

 

[rsblaski]

Option 4 the drive is still under warranty.

Hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion. Checked through WD and found that it is, in fact still under warranty and will be replaced.
Now the only real loss, of course, will be the recordings on the drive.
And even at that, some old paranoia (and laziness) had some of the recordings duplicated on other dvrs.
Glad I won't call D* as the tech really was very helpful and friendly.

 

[Rich]

Hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the suggestion. Checked through WD and found that it is, in fact still under warranty and will be replaced.
Now the only real loss, of course, will be the recordings on the drive.
And even at that, some old paranoia (and laziness) had some of the recordings duplicated on other dvrs.
Glad I won't call D* as the tech really was very helpful and friendly.

How long is that warranty?

Rich

 

[CCarncross]

Sorry for you loss, the bigger question is why do you have it in a place that it can get knocked over...very very poor placement.

 

[rsblaski]

Sorry for you loss, the bigger question is why do you have it in a place that it can get knocked over...very very poor placement.

Rich: the drive is a WD20EURS and the warranty expires 12-17-13. It is a three year warranty.
CCarncross: We were in the process of setting up the dvr (and drive) in its new location. We had put the dvr and drive on the shelf where it would be located but not in its permanent position. When he moved the dvr to connect the cable, he accidentally pushed the drive off the shelf.
After installation, the dvr and drive were positioned where there is no danger of anything moving the drive.

 

[Rich]

Sorry for you loss, the bigger question is why do you have it in a place that it can get knocked over...very very poor placement.

Yeah, it's a hard lesson to learn.

Rich

 

[Rtm]

Well we don't really know if the guy was a bull in a china shop or if the drive was an inch from falling off, don't really know what your shelf looks like or exactly how it happened ie. confined space or what. A harddrive dock that leaves the harddrive exposed is exposed to easy breakage, in a enclosure this probably wouldn't happen. You can't ship a breakable item without padding then get mad when it arrives broken and expect insurance to cover it when it was padded correctly to begin with.

 

[Rich]

Well we don't really know if the guy was a bull in a china shop or if the drive was an inch from falling off, don't really know what your shelf looks like or exactly how it happened ie. confined space or what. A harddrive dock that leaves the harddrive exposed is exposed to easy breakage, in a enclosure this probably wouldn't happen. You can't ship a breakable item without padding then get mad when it arrives broken and expect insurance to cover it when it was padded correctly to begin with.

Happened to me with a Free Agent Pro which is an enclosure. Drop anything with an HDD running in it and see what happens. That begs the question: Why was the HDD running while the HR was being worked on?

Rich

 

[Rich]

Rich: the drive is a WD20EURS and the warranty expires 12-17-13. It is a three year warranty.
CCarncross: We were in the process of setting up the dvr (and drive) in its new location. We had put the dvr and drive on the shelf where it would be located but not in its permanent position. When he moved the dvr to connect the cable, he accidentally pushed the drive off the shelf.
After installation, the dvr and drive were positioned where there is no danger of anything moving the drive.

Thanx, any problems getting them to exchange it?

Rich

 

[Bartman94]

I had an installer punch a hole in my wall while trying to do a wall drop into a new room. All of his custom install fees were waived of course and he is coming back to try and match the paint to fix it. I have the tech's personal cell number and he's remained in consistent communication about getting it fixed.

I haven't called D* about it and don't intend to as long as it gets properly repaired. This installer really worked his tail off for more than 6 hours upgrading me to a SWiM16 for my new HR34, getting me a brand new LNB, doing the wall drop, repositioning my dish to get all of my transponders to 95+, etc. I could call D* and probably get some monthly credits for a while, but I know that telling them about it would put negative marks against this installer so I'm not going to do it unless I just have to.

So my opinion in your situation with your drive being under warranty is that you not issue any formal complaints about the installer. Especially since he did a quality job and this was just a pure accident.

 

[beer_geek]

Sorry for you loss, the bigger question is why do you have it in a place that it can get knocked over...very very poor placement.

Yeah. I can't believe you would have the drive anywhere near the dvr. You should have had it 30' away so this wouldn't happen.

 

[rsblaski]

Happened to me with a Free Agent Pro which is an enclosure. Drop anything with an HDD running in it and see what happens. That begs the question: Why was the HDD running while the HR was being worked on?

Rich

It wasn't running. It was on the shelf while the tech was connecting the dvr. He moved the dvr to get at the coax input, and pushed the drive off the shelf.

 

[rsblaski]

Thanx, any problems getting them to exchange it?

Rich

No problem. Still waiting for them to ship. They said a 2 to five day turnaround.