6th time is the charm for install (long)

[lewdog]

If you all remember my last post on this forum (I'm sure you dont) that I put up after a bad no-install I stated that I was going to give voom one more chance. Well I’m happy to report that 10 months and 5 installs later I think I may finally get Voom today between 12 and 5. My timeline is as follows:

April 14th ordered Voom - April 24th install date.
Tech was a now show no call- I called Voom and they promised to have installer come out by 5pm. At 3pm installer from Detroit (2.5 hours away) calls and says that his car broke down and he cant come out. Call Voom back in a fit, but after talking to you guys I try again.

May 10th new install date- no call no show. I call Voom and they say they never sent the order to a tech. So of course I’m pissed and I cancel.

September 5 decide to order Voom again with a sep 15th install. No call no show, so I cancel again.

November 15th. give it a go again. This time the installer claims that he called me but that they had the wrong phone number (kinda funny since I called him on my appt day and for the next 3 straight, I left him 6 messages with no return call. Call Voom to complain and they set a new date of DEC 16th with the same installer. Guess what no call no show and no excuse this time.

Whole new year, whole new outlook, so let’s try Voom again. Order Jan 12th Install set for Feb 7th, then for some reason moved to Feb 2nd. On Feb 1st tech calls and says that Voom has not sent him any equipment and he can’t come out, I call installs Inc and they say well he is a new installer so its not our fault. Anyway at least this guy calls me to tell me what going and says he will call back when he gets the equipment. Feb 2nd calls with the good news he has the equipment and will be here on Feb 10th. Yea.

The funniest part of this whole thing is that my install would be the easiest in the world, prior to my first appt I mounted a pole ran my cable mounted a switch, installed a HDTV antenna ran that cable to the switch. Everything is done all the tech has to do is give me the friggin box. Well let’s hope for the best today.

 

[Ilya]

Well let’s hope for the best today.

lewdog, do yourself a favor: call your installer this morning to verify that he has your equipment on hand. Just a couple of phone calls can save you hours of frustration. Unless of course your goal is to set a new record of missed installs...

 

[TYORK]

hope everything goes well today for you. If not let me know I can get ahold of the field Manger in your area and he will find out why they are putting you off so much.
I am the Qc tech for Indy and the field Manger in you area just happen to be my boss.

 

[riffjim4069]

Lewdog, I sure hope your install goes well...we're sending 'Good Vibes' your way!!!

 

[branchbouncer]

Reply to lewdog

We had the same problem in the begining,we started the sign up process in the summer of 2004 and had nothing but no-shows and no-calls for 2 1/2 months,canceled the install and said the hell with them.In December I started getting calls every few days from VOOM asking if I wanted to complete the install,I told them I would think about it,on 1/22/05 I said one more time I'll try if it is a no-show forget the install.Was set for the 1/31/05 install,had put an addition on the house in Dec and had run all new RG6 and speaker wire through out even had extra wires in case sonething happened during the construction,mounted the mast for the VOOM dish-RG6 in place everything ready to go,morning of the install I get a call from David (a Data-link sub)he doesn't seem to physiced about coming out,saying did I really think I had a clear view,and-this-and that.Told him that everything was ready and that the install should take less than one hour,by the way his voice sounded you could hear his thoughts"Right-here we go again",Okay I'll be there in a hour or so was his reply.He shows up and walks up to where the mast is mounted and gets a compass out-tell him that he can put that away and that if he mounts the dish and aims it above the vent stack on a distant townhouse we will have a signal,gives me the stb and I set that up inside while he mounts the dish-connects the RG6-we fire it up-signal is 95-download starts,we are done- 47 minutes.I think that a lot of the problems start when a installer goes to someones house for an install and finds that there is no way in hell that you can get a signal and that the customer has a good idea from the begining this is going to be the case and really doesn't consider that they are wasting someone time.David renforced this by saying that he has a 50 mile area from his home that he services,now 50 miles in the country is one thing but 50 miles around Northern VA is different,it can take you 20 minutes to go from point A to B one day and an hour the next day traveling around here is total joke,2 inches of snow-they shut down the Government .We also discuessed the location of his next install,Cameron Station(a development that has a HOA that would make Hitler weep) where the chances of completing the install were close to nill,in a way I feel sorry for him,he only gets paid for a completed install,so mine was a breeze,the next was probably not going to happen.Being a contractor myself I see everyday the lack of consideration that people show towards others peoples time and livelyhood,and think of nothing but how important they are(in thier minds)there are various areas throughout the Northern Virginia area that I will not work due to travel problems,HOA's,new developments with soil issues and other various reasons.So I guess that the moral is that"Sometimes we should step back for a minute and ask ourselves could we do better"I too have ranted here before about a botched install when I should have relaxed a little,though everone does deserve notifications about their install good or bad

 

[TYORK]

We had the same problem in the begining,we started the sign up process in the summer of 2004 and had nothing but no-shows and no-calls for 2 1/2 months,canceled the install and said the hell with them.In December I started getting calls every few days from VOOM asking if I wanted to complete the install,I told them I would think about it,on 1/22/05 I said one more time I'll try if it is a no-show forget the install.Was set for the 1/31/05 install,had put an addition on the house in Dec and had run all new RG6 and speaker wire through out even had extra wires in case sonething happened during the construction,mounted the mast for the VOOM dish-RG6 in place everything ready to go,morning of the install I get a call from David (a Data-link sub)he doesn't seem to physiced about coming out,saying did I really think I had a clear view,and-this-and that.Told him that everything was ready and that the install should take less than one hour,by the way his voice sounded you could hear his thoughts"Right-here we go again",Okay I'll be there in a hour or so was his reply.He shows up and walks up to where the mast is mounted and gets a compass out-tell him that he can put that away and that if he mounts the dish and aims it above the vent stack on a distant townhouse we will have a signal,gives me the stb and I set that up inside while he mounts the dish connects-the RG6 we fire it up signal is 95-download starts,we are done- 47 minutes.I think that a lot of the problems start when a installer goes to someones house for an install and finds that there is no way in hell that you can get a signal and that the customer has a good idea from the begining this is going to be the case and really doesn't consider that they are wasting someone time.David renforced this by saying that he has a 50 mile area from his home that he services,now 50 miles in the country is one thing but 50 miles around Northern VA is different,it can take you 20 minutes to go from point A to B one day and an hour the next day traveling around here is total joke,2 inches of snow-they shut down the Government .We also discuessed the location of his next install Cameron Station(a development that has a HOA that would make Hitler weep) where the chances of completing the install were close to nill,in a way I feel sorry for him,he only gets paid for a completed install,so mine was a breeze,the next was probably not going to happen.Being a contractor myself I see everyday the lack of consideration that people show towards others peoples time and livelyhood,and think of nothing but how important they are(in thier minds)there are various areas throughout the Northern Virginia area that I will not work due to travel problems,HOA's,new developments with soil issues and other various reasons.So I guess that the moral is that"Sometimes we should step back for a minute and ask ourselves could we do better"I too have ranted here before about a botched install when I should have relaxed a little,though everone does deserve notifications about their install good or bad

gee i have to say thanks to you . you are one of the few people that do understand what we installers go through in a day time which i don't have the problem that your installer has as far a travel in the hills of va but i have been there and i fill for him . So i just wanted to thank you for your post and hope more people will take a moment before dogging us out.