bad sub contractor service

[ronfelder]

I have just received what I might consider the worse service ever from a
Dish subcontractor. This is my third in a month and am unhappy. First was
for a second dish install. Went well. Second is for an upgrade to a 522 dvr.
Third and the one I'm complaining about is for a replacement 522. CSR's were
ok btw.

It seems that I have a defective 522. The tech tried fixing it with a new
separator with no luck. It seems I only receive channel 343 on one of the
two tuners and it comes back saying no signal. I went through the normal
troubleshooting over the phone with no, and was told someone would come
out. I figured they'd come with a new separator and receiver for not knowing
which was bad. Well the tech today tried the separator with no luck. He
wouldn't change out the receiver for he said he had no spare 522s. The ones
on the truck were for new installs and he wasn't about to give them up for
me. I'm sure that's because he would have lost money on a new install and
I'm just warrantee work. I complained and wanted to talk to his boss but he
wouldn't let me talk to him. He left claiming he'd order me a replacement
one. Well I don't want to or feel I should have to wait for another unit.
Plus I truly don't trust him to place the order for a replacement unit. I
called Dish and eventually was told that installers don't carry extra
receivers. That makes no sense for he could have a bad one when he does his
new install. In fact this will make my third 522 for my first one when
installed was an out of box failure which was replaced immediately. I don't
know how you can make repairs with out all the parts.

The outcome of this is that Dish is sending directly to me a replacement
522. It's supposed to take 4 days to arrive. The alternative would be to way
another week when I could have another tech out here and have him replace
the unit. I don't feel I should have to do the install or setup either. BTW
I'm using the word tech for the person who came out here very loosely for I
don't feel he could trouble shoot his way out of a wet paper bag., and I've
been an electronic tech for some 30 years.

Opinion comments. Dish if you are monitoring this newsgroup I'd love to hear
your thoughts on this.

Ron Felder

 

[Liquidforce88]

Well I understand your pain. When I was a subcontractor we did not get any extra equipment. You got what you needed for your installs that day and that was all you got. Now that I work for the RSP we get all the equipment we want to carry on our trucks.

So the guy is probably telling you the truth.

 

[ronfelder]

Well I understand your pain. When I was a subcontractor we did not get any extra equipment. You got what you needed for your installs that day and that was all you got. Now that I work for the RSP we get all the equipment we want to carry on our trucks.

So the guy is probably telling you the truth.

David what happens when he does an install and finds that the equipment is bad out of box? he's stuck for he can't fix the problem. That turns into a disgruntled customer don't you agree?


What's an rsp?

Ron

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

David what happens when he does an install and finds that the equipment is bad out of box? he's stuck for he can't fix the problem. That turns into a disgruntled customer don't you agree?


What's an rsp?

Ron

That's just the way the industry works. Cable, DirecTV, Sears, and etc. Some have extras while some don't. If you didn't have the CSR put notes that it's a bad receiver, they likely will not bring extra for you. Not directly related to this topic but one time Sears took 4 tries and 1 month to get our washing machine up and running. Each time they ordered a new part and made us wait. Yes, customers do get angry as I was but if they allowed every tech. to carry every conceivable part, there'd be inventory issues. Techs would and should have LNBs and inexpensive switches on the truck but receivers are the most expensive and don't carry extras of those. If you had a LNB or dish reflector problem, you wouldn't post this right now.

 

[ronfelder]

That's just the way the industry works. Cable, DirecTV, Sears, and etc. Some have extras while some don't. If you didn't have the CSR put notes that it's a bad receiver, they likely will not bring extra for you. Not directly related to this topic but one time Sears took 4 tries and 1 month to get our washing machine up and running. Each time they ordered a new part and made us wait. Yes, customers do get angry as I was but if they allowed every tech. to carry every conceivable part, there'd be inventory issues. Techs would and should have LNBs and inexpensive switches on the truck but receivers are the most expensive and don't carry extras of those. If you had a LNB or dish reflector problem, you wouldn't post this right now.

Well i thought the csr had noted to bring a receiver. They ran through the test that they could do and said a tech would visit me. So therefor i assumed he would bring a seperator and a new receiver.

I'm just frustraed that i have to wait.

Ron

 

[chadzx11]

On a related note, I had a bad customer experience today. 1 work order for the day. Over an hour there to install 1 625 on 2 TV's. I called her twice, once on this end, and then when I got to her town. Both times I identified myself as "Chad with Dish Network". When I get to the house, I knock and am greeted by "WHO IS IT??!??!?!" DISH NETWORK, I replied to the still closed door. Point is, I identified myself 3 freaking times to these people. I get the install all but finished (just had to hook up the 625), when the directv guy shows up and all hell breaks loose.

Then I had a customer ripping me a new one like I'm some scammer. Hello. I am not the twit who ordered Dish AND DirecTv. I pulled my cable out and GTFOD'd.

What am I to do? I am out 3 hours of my life, AND ~$12 worth of gas. Plus, I got treated like I was six years old. What I am saying is it goes both ways.

There have been times when I didn't even have a switch for a service call. Getting Dish to RA a switch is like pulling teeth. Personally, If I have a service call, I am carrying everything that I MIGHT need, just as if it is an install, IF I have access to it. I run on service calls first (if possible) --even if it means not being able to complete an install because of it. Fortunately I've not been in that position much. The worst thing is, if somebody has to go help you hook up that reciever, the guy that came out today will get charged back, or just plain ole not paid.

Ha ha. Once I was assigned 2 primestar recievers for a service call and an install. I did not know that they were bad, and turned in without being labeled as such. I was able to take the customer's bad one, and my two (luckily, they all had different defects), and put together one that worked. Install didn't get done.... Them was the good ole days!

 

[webbydude]

To Ron, the bad part is, how DO you know it's your receiver that's bad? I had a situation not too long ago just like the one you're going thru now. TV#1 and TV#2 couldn't pull in some channels at the same time. Not all channels...just certain ones. Come to find out it was bad wiring between the LNB and the receiver. Swept testing requirements weren't met. I guess what I'm saying is that it sounds like perhaps your sub-contractor repair guy may have his vision a bit too narrow. Either way, good luck.

 

[ronfelder]

To Ron, the bad part is, how DO you know it's your receiver that's bad? I had a situation not too long ago just like the one you're going thru now. TV#1 and TV#2 couldn't pull in some channels at the same time. Not all channels...just certain ones. Come to find out it was bad wiring between the LNB and the receiver. Swept testing requirements weren't met. I guess what I'm saying is that it sounds like perhaps your sub-contractor repair guy may have his vision a bit too narrow. Either way, good luck.

I htought of that too. But you don't know unless you try. Easier to swap out a receiver than do a check of the cablin. All my cabling except what is in the wall was done when Dish originally installed the system in 2000. What's in the wall was installed by the builder of the house and though it could be bad I never had a problem with it before.

Ron

 

[Van]

Ron, what your builder may have installed could very easily have been rg - 59 coax let alone the correct swept tested rg - 6 coax. Like wise rg - 6 from 2000 wont be the same rated coax as what is used today, swept tested coax during 2000 would have been on the range of 1800mhz if it was installed by a desh network technician and if it was a sub that installed it well your luck may very well be about as good as with what the builder may have used.

 

[ronfelder]

Ron, what your builder may have installed could very easily have been rg - 59 coax let alone the correct swept tested rg - 6 coax. Like wise rg - 6 from 2000 wont be the same rated coax as what is used today, swept tested coax during 2000 would have been on the range of 1800mhz if it was installed by a desh network technician and if it was a sub that installed it well your luck may very well be about as good as with what the builder may have used.

why would it only effect one channel on one tuner? Everything else works fine but channel 343. If in the setup screen you see that you see the signal strength and switch from tv 2 to tv 1 then the main set looses channel 343 instead.


tech who put in the 522 and the tech who came out this weekend never thoguht of checking/changing the cabling previously installed. I believe builder used rg-6 for it is as thick as the rest of the cabling.


Ron

 

[Fredinva]

"David what happens when he does an install and finds that the equipment is bad out of box? he's stuck for he can't fix the problem. That turns into a disgruntled customer don't you agree?"

Here's how we do it: When our receivers come in from the distributer we hook up every one in the retail shop to "dl vital information" etc. So, we know every receiver is working when we do the install(same day/next day).
We don't need to carry extra receivers on the truck.

fred

 

[ronfelder]

"David what happens when he does an install and finds that the equipment is bad out of box? he's stuck for he can't fix the problem. That turns into a disgruntled customer don't you agree?"

Here's how we do it: When our receivers come in from the distributer we hook up every one in the retail shop to "dl vital information" etc. So, we know every receiver is working when we do the install(same day/next day).
We don't need to carry extra receivers on the truck.

fred

That is exactly what happened when the original installer installed my 522. Nothing was viewed on the 2nd tv. There was carrier but no visual or aural modulation. He fixed it by replacing the receiver. I'm glad the first installer had a extra receiver in his truck.That is the one that now has the problem of tv 2 tuner not receiving channel 343. Sometimes it gets it, but most of the time it says that satellite is trying to acquire signal but isn't recieving any. If in setup I swap tuners then the opposite looses channel 343.

The second installer should have had a spare receiver on board just for troubleshooting purposes. Should it not be the reciever i'll stick with my current reciever for there are recordings on it. Then i'll tell Dish to send out someone to check the cabling. I don't know how they would replace the builders cabling. It's in the walls and there is no easy way to run a replacement cable any other way. I live in a townhouse and there are no exposed side walls do to this. As I said neither installer questioned the integrity of the cabling.


Ron

 

[webbydude]

Ron, here's a trick I do a lot. Try centrally locating your receiver in the basement. Presumably all your in-house wiring is homeran. It may be a pain, but in the long run it seems to work for a lot of my customers who either have RG59 in their homes, or the RG6 is questionable. The modulated outputs don't have to meet Dish's swept-testing requirements. Just the incoming line(s) from the LNB.

If that clears it up, you'll just have to get another UHF remote for TV1 and program your menu settings to recognize it instead of an IR remote.

 

[ronfelder]

Ron, here's a trick I do a lot. Try centrally locating your receiver in the basement. Presumably all your in-house wiring is homeran. It may be a pain, but in the long run it seems to work for a lot of my customers who either have RG59 in their homes, or the RG6 is questionable. The modulated outputs don't have to meet Dish's swept-testing requirements. Just the incoming line(s) from the LNB.

If that clears it up, you'll just have to get another UHF remote for TV1 and program your menu settings to recognize it instead of an IR remote.

Problem with that is i use tv 1 with the s video output and the optical for the audio.

The other thing is that everything worked fine when I had hooked up my single tuner 510. Ao though it's possible I don't understand why the cabling would be causing this problem.


Ron

 

[mikethedishguy]

E* duel recievers need very good quality wiring. It is very possible for a line to work with a single tuner and not work with a duel tuner. If the line has been crushed by the electrition hammering a staple and the braid is partly cut then you could have the voltage be complete but one of the tuners not have enough wire to transmit signal. this is very rare but it has happened. The only way to test it is to dummy a wire in to the section that may be bad.

I would doubt that the reciever is bad, they usualy work or dont work but I have never seen one only fail to not recieve one channel. I am glad I am not trouble shooting this on site sounds like a tough one.

 

[ronfelder]

E* dual recievers need very good quality wiring. It is very possible for a line to work with a single tuner and not work with a dual tuner. If the line has been crushed by the electrician hammering a staple and the braid is partly cut then you could have the voltage be complete but one of the tuners not have enough wire to transmit signal. this is very rare but it has happened. The only way to test it is to dummy a wire in to the section that may be bad.

I would doubt that the reciever is bad, they usualy work or dont work but I have never seen one only fail to not recieve one channel. I am glad I am not trouble shooting this on site sounds like a tough one.

As far as I know the cabling is in good shape. As for the reciever we need to elminate it as the cause. If it isn't then i'll return the replacement and ask Dish to send someone out to check the cabling. The only part as I said before that can't be changed is buried in the wall, and to the best of my knowledge by thickness it's rg-6 not rg-59. When the installer upgraded me to a Dish Pro Plus he never commented on the wiring possibly being inferior.


ron

 

[XL721]

i always sent out my subs with extra equipment.
the more boxes they install, the more money they make.

 

[ronfelder]

cabling

Well I just checked the cabling that's in the wall and it is rg-6


ron

 

[ronfelder]

i always sent out my subs with extra equipment.
the more boxes they install, the more money they make.

the tech who came to troubleshoot my problem was in to much of a rush to get out of my house. Once he found out it wasn't the seperator he wanted out and on to his next install.

Ron

 

[ronfelder]

replacement unit

Well I received by UPS yesterday my replacment 522 receiver. I installed it and you guys were right in that the problem is still there. I still have the problem where I don't get on tv 2 channel 343. Sometimes it comes in and other times it says acquiring signal. I was on the phone for over one hour with Dish. Two different techs. The first tech was a step down in knowledge than the second. I explained what happend to both and I told them that no tech has ever updated my cabling. The first tech said as long asI have signal it doesn't matter. The second tech said it did. I can see it causing a problem if I was loosing multiple channels on perhaps both tuners, but just one channel on one tuner. It just sounds illogical to me. I have a new Dish Pro Plus on the roof. Any chance that this could be bad and causing the problem? They made a note for the tech that comes out to look into the cabling. He can change it all as I previously stated except what is in the wall. I don't want a cable running around the house to replace this piece of cabling. I plan on telling him that if he feelshe has to change the cabling change it all but that piece. If the problem still exists i'll exonerate them of the problem and sign it off that I except it as it is.

What do you knowledgeable guys think? I'm returning the replacement receiver.


Ron