Bad customer svc re: Install - is this normal?

[Andrew B]

Hi Guys,
It has been years since we had any type of satellite provider. We started with DirecTV in the late 90's when they frist got their HD setup (installed within 2 days of purchase), then jumped on the VOOM bandwagon (installed the next day). Since VOOM went under, we have been living off the local HD channels.
Last week we bit the bullet and bought DISH. I was surprised to find out there would be a 1 week wait for install. OK, maybe they are SO popular and SO good that there is a backlog. We waited years, so what is another week...

The install was scheduled for today between 8am and noon. I got a call TODAY at 10:30am saying they don't have the 'Dish 1000' in stock and rescheduled for next Thursday (another week). The supervisors said that they "should" have them in stock by then.
What horrible customer service. They should have known yesterday that they didn't have this item in stock, and they should have called me YESTERDAY so I didn't have to take a 1/2 day off work.

Now (finally) I pose my 2 questions:

1) Is this typical of Dish's customer service level?

2) Are there independant installers out there that could get this thing in place and working in less than a week? I would be willing to cancel my order and sign-up again with someone else if I had to. We did the 250 channel package, with HD and locals, 18 month comittment, and 2 international packages. I bought at the kiosk inside Sam's club.

Thanks for your help in this one! We are located just outside Sacramento, CA, about half way up to the city of Placerville.

Thanks,

Andrew

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Call around to local installers. Someone probably has the dish in stock and wants your business.

I have always dealt with a local authorized retailer; always been pretty quick.

 

[Jared Twomey]

i work for a local retailer in missouri, and we normally do all installs within 2-4 days of a customer signing up.

 

[Chinatown]

I signed up yesterday...............It's being installed as I type this................

 

[chadzx11]

If you called dish, the wait is because of a few things:

A) they try to hog all the work for their inhouse techs. When I was a subcontractor, I ran accross customers with service calls who had been without TV for a week because dish hogged all the work. Meanwhile, I was pulling my pud with nothing to do.

B) their chargeback policies make it hard for them to keep anybody worth a crap.

Don't confuse calling dish with calling the local retailer. Retailer is the way to go.

 

[zebra2955]

I signed up with Dish through AT&T and when they said they would be here they were here

 

[Andrew B]

Quick update:
I cancelled my "Sam's Club" order and went to a local dealer (Sam's Satellite) who will be installing my system tomorrow morning!
The customer service at Dish's cancellation center was really great. They apologized over and over for the delays and inconvenience. It restored my faith in our Dish purchase...for now!

of course...it was like a scene from a sit-com as I tried to explain to the non-native speaker on the Dish line that I was trying to Cancel the Sam's Club purchase and going with Sam's Satellite tomorrow...
'Who's on first?'

Thanks for the input!

Andrew

 

[Van]

The install was scheduled for today between 8am and noon. I got a call TODAY at 10:30am saying they don't have the 'Dish 1000' in stock and rescheduled for next Thursday (another week). The supervisors said that they "should" have them in stock by then.
What horrible customer service. They should have known yesterday that they didn't have this item in stock, and they should have called me YESTERDAY so I didn't have to take a 1/2 day off work.

Now (finally) I pose my 2 questions:

1) Is this typical of Dish's customer service level?

The person that called was either a field service manager or a office person from the local dish installation office but then again its also possible that it was someone from a local guy who got the work farmed to him. Whom ever is incharge of the inventory is the first and most responsible person when it comes to notifying the rest of the office that there is an issue and then its the responsibility of the office to contact customers that will be affected while the warehouse personel order the needed parts.

(1) No its not typical but not uncommon of any company out there.

If you called dish, the wait is because of a few things:

A) they try to hog all the work for their inhouse techs. When I was a subcontractor, I ran accross customers with service calls who had been without TV for a week because dish hogged all the work. Meanwhile, I was pulling my pud with nothing to do.

B) their chargeback policies make it hard for them to keep anybody worth a crap.

Don't confuse calling dish with calling the local retailer. Retailer is the way to go.

Quite the image Chad, at one time all of you subs were the cheaper route for dish to go to get stuff installed but that changed a few years ago when the repeat service calls from subs skyrocketed far and above that of the inhouse techs. Until the sub industry gets together and starts working on cleaning up and bouncing out the rejects that have given the good guys a bad name I wouldnt expect to see things get any better soon.

 

[PKII]

Looks like they would have one in stock if they scheduled an appointment.

I've never had that issue with Dish Network installers. I just had the usual techs who don't know what they are doing problem. First installers were in such a hurry to get done they didn't bother tightening any of the cables they had anywhere on the dish. Surprise I had problems within 1 week.

Next guy tightened cables. (screwed the ends on) lol. But didn't check the setup job the first set did so it was still not alligned perfect. Signal would go out EVERY time it rained. Finally got fed up and got my own signal meter and re-did the entire dish allignment. (even though it requires a professional) I was just getting non-professionals coming. Its not hard at all.

My signal now is perfect as possible over 119 and it RARELY goes out when it rains.

 

[chadzx11]

Quite the image Chad, at one time all of you subs were the cheaper route for dish to go to get stuff installed but that changed a few years ago when the repeat service calls from subs skyrocketed far and above that of the inhouse techs. Until the sub industry gets together and starts working on cleaning up and bouncing out the rejects that have given the good guys a bad name I wouldnt expect to see things get any better soon.

Yeah, cause its cheaper for them to get noobs for $7 an hour and send us to fix them, right?

 

[chadzx11]

I've never had that issue with Dish Network installers. I just had the usual techs who don't know what they are doing problem. First installers were in such a hurry to get done they didn't bother tightening any of the cables they had anywhere on the dish. Surprise I had problems within 1 week.

Again, hourly techs with a production quota. But DNS techs are better.

OTOH, there are lots of douchebags out there installing for peanuts. 50/15, 60/15---whereas, I won't even consider anything less than 75/25. You get what you pay for, imo. However, I am not now, nor will I ever be again, a dish network tech (under any circumstances). Ergen does everything he can to get out of paying. I have been charged back for stuff that was all my fault:

Bad seperators that I DID NOT PROVIDE<----Seps are provided by DISH
Dumbasses putting their TVs on the wrong channel
Dumbasses tampering with the install, such as relocating TV's/recievers
Customer got a new VCR or DVD and couldn't hook it up right.

Yep. Sign me up for more of THAT program. :




NOT.

Oh, and I have been in the game for 10 years. I've seen it all and been behind all the sh!tty techs. Satellite people are so cheap, though. This is the only job where the longer you go at it, the less you make. That's why I am going automotive. I will use what I learned in the satellite game to limit my customers. If you want me to work on a sh!tty nasty car, there will be a clean up fee of about $150 on top of everything else. Just as I would charge a satellite customer who self installed a MINIMUM of 2 hours @ $55/hr to service a self install. Anyway, I figure the fee will keep the cheap bastards who don't take care of their cars the hell out of my shop. You should see the POS 82 F150 I am working on now. I drained all the fluids out, and the SOB is STILL leaking sh*t. WTF!?!?!?