Installation Hell

[whyme]

Well I decided to try Voom and have been very excited awaiting it.. And Waiting AND waiting..........

At the end of April I called and placed my order for Voom and they gave me the date of the 15th of May to do the Install.

So I anxiously await that day. The week of the Install I have recieved NO word about confirming the install. So I called the installer.. No answer.... So I called Voom and they called the installer.. No answer. The guy said he was able to receive a voice mailbox and left a message to contact me ASAP. I had also sent the installer an email that same day.

Night Before Install:
At this time nobody has called or emailed me back. Voom called and talked to Installs Inc and requested that the installer make the call. At 7:45Pm the installer finally called.
He told me that he needed the letter (approval letter) from the apartment complex faxed to him that night or he couldnt send a truck. I told him I couldnt get that until the morning because the office was now closed and I was told I wouldnt need it anyway because I already had a satellite dish installed (making it obvious I had permission for installations) The guy just kept repeating himself and was very rude. This same company BTW also serviced a friend and he told Voom to NEVER send them to his house again. (Warning to Louisiana subscribers who get the luck of having B&G Satellite do the install) Finally I asked the guy if I had it in hand would that work? He said no and we wasnt sending a truck.

I immediately called Voom they called Installs Inc and told them this was rediculous. Installs Inc told him that if I had that form on the 15 faxed to them then they would make sure the installer went out.

Day of Supposed Install:

The second my apartment complex opened I got them to fax the letters to both Installs Inc and B&G. And I called the installer... No answer again.. I called Voom and they told me to give them 4 hours and call them back if he didnt show. Well 4 hours went by no show.

SO I rescheduled my installation and requested a different installer which they set up. The only weekend they could do it (Since I refused to take off of work for the install error) The only weekend they had was this one coming up (memorial day weekend) So I cancelled my plans in order to have this install done. Everything was set up for this 2 weeks ahead of time and everything seemed fine. I now had Emerald Coast Installers scheduled which made me happy because my friend said they were really good. I also got my first month free from Voom.

Well its now the week of the install (learning from the last mistake) I called EC monday to confirm. Well they havent received the equipment.. Himm so I called Voom. Voom put me on a long hold and finally came back and said it was in transit.
Ok thats fine. Well Tuesday they still havent received it and told me to wait a day.

Wed:
I called Voom and talked to a CR there and I wanted to verify that the installer didnt go to the EC headquarters in Florida but to the Installer. She put me on a 15 min hold and I finally got the tracking number.

I tracked th order through FedEX while I had her on the phone and it showed that it had been recieved on the 18th of May??? Huh I thought it was in transit.

Today:
I called Emerald Coast (who btw has excellent Customer Service and they even answer the phone!) They said they still do not have the equipment. I told them about the tracking number and that it was received in NO on the 18th. They informed me that they do not have an installer in New Orleans but the guy doing it for me was in Biloxi. They gave me the number to Installs Inc.

Install Inc Call:
I was immediatly transferred to their distribution area when they read my profile
The lady I spoke with (Annette) was very aprehensive about helping me. She told me that it was shipped to the wrong installer. I informed her it went to the origional installer. However I know that the origional Installation date was not going to happen because he didnt get the equipment until the 18th So I asked why the installer claimed and Installs Inc claimed it could be done on that Saturday, Friday night when they didnt even ship the equipment until late Friday night? She couldnt respond but say that it was Voom's problem and that they couldnt ship any equipment to Emerald Coast to do the install because they dont have any equipment and Her and her manager (Janice) say I should contact Voom.

Voom Call:
First thing I do is request everything to be canceled and request the corporate headquarters mailing address as I will be sending them a letter. She comes back with the address and puts me on hold to talk to her manager.

Manager conversation:
I start from scratch and tell her the complete story. She appologizes and doesnt want to lose my business and offers to try to correct things and give me my second month for free. So I let her try and ask her if the guys in New Orleans still have the equipment can she see if they can just Fed Ex it overnight to the guy in Biloxi? She said she would try..

Manager Callback:
She informs me that Installs inc confirmed that the guys in New Orleans do still have the equipment but they cannot ship it to the guys in Biloxi as it goes against Installs Inc's policy. She did say that they could do the installation on Saturday IF I allow the B&G people to do the install. Reluctantly I agree as i dont have much choice other than to cancel. SOOO the bets are on... How will this get screwed up next??

 

[HeavyC]

VOOM needs to get these installs under control. It's getting ridiculous. The quality of installers being sent out is ridiculous.

 

[jmartinacevedo]

Install nightmare

This is absolutely ridiculous - you'd think that, after finally hooking up the customer with new service, VOOM would do anything in its power to complete the process smoothly and efficiently, including ensuring that only qualified competent and customer friendly installers are assigned these jobs.
Instead, it appears all bets are off after you sign up and then you are at the mercy of the installer.

There is no question there are professional, courteous and customer-conscious installers out there. There just seem to be the exception, rather than the rule.

My heart goes out to you. However, and assuming things finally work out, at least you'll get a couple of free months of service...(hope you ordered the Va Va Va Voom package! )

Don't give up just yet.
Martin-

 

[jgantert]

This sounds very familiar. Just wait till you repeat this experience with the OTA antenna installation...

On the positive side, once its installed and working, it's great stuff to watch!

-John

 

[whyme]

Well

I will keep you guys informed if it ever gets installed.

What aggrevates me the most is I cant do the install myself and get rid of this headache. I have installed alot of dishes in my past have a degree in EE and CSC and EVEN work for the company that built the VOOM satellite! Yet I have to wait for eternity for some idiot to come in my apartment and point a dish. I also have the lines already run and the mount already setup. So basically I am waiting a month for a dish pointer and antenna. But of course Im sure they have liabilty concerns.

 

[giveuspurehd]

wow! i feel your pain.it is sad you have to have the company your friend told voom was incompetent.i had to argue, and get down right nasty to get my installer to come out so i now what your going through.i would try and call voom if you think a small antenna will not cut the cheese.see if you can get a upgraded antenna setup before the installer shows, and maybe they can bring it along as well.it is worth a shot.

 

[occammd]

I've been waiting 2 weeks for my larger dish.

I too wish they would let us install our own. You've got to think that at least most of the people on this board would do a better job than the installers they send.

 

[NOHDjunkie]

Barry From B&G Satellite installed my VOOM.

He was great and did a great job. He did everything I asked of him, (Did not use Diplexer, used my existing OTA antenna instead of the CM) And had the same professional attitude when he came to swap out my dead STB a month later.

Funny you should mention Emerald Coast. Look through the other "install nightmare" threads for some horror stories about them.

 

[whyme]

The problem my friend had with B&G was that they never connected his OTA antenna. They also didnt bring a drill and had to borrow his.

MY PROBLEM was I have documented proof that whomever called me from B&G flat out LIED to me on the phone. My equipment wasnt received until the 18th of May yet he claimed he couldnt run a truck on the 15th until I had the approval letter faxed to him THAT NIGHT. He would not accept it in hand nor the next day when my apartment complex opened. Installs Inc told Voom that would have been fine. On top of all this he said I lied to him and that I never sent an email to them.. (Although I CC'ed myself and read the correct email address back to him) How does he respond? He hung up on me. B&G is obviously a Mom and Pop shop. Which I dont have anything against but at least have someone answer your phone. Just hopefully they can give me the type of service they gave you this weekend. I think the main problem isnt these guys its Installs Inc for giving contracts to incompetent people. And ultimately Voom for contracting Installs Inc. I am very pleased with Voom's Customer Service but I just worry that all these problems are going into a black hole and nothing will be fixed which will lead to all of us having a useless box next to out TV's.

 

[whyme]

"Funny you should mention Emerald Coast. Look through the other "install nightmare" threads for some horror stories about them."

Can you point me to at least one? I did do a search an It only came back with 5 links no bad reviews.

Also its more about the person doing the install than the company anyways. Emerald Coast has alot of installers. I heard that the guy from Biloxi was VERY good. Now Im not so sure about B&G because they are a local shop only. So the number of installers they have is going to be alot less. I just hope they have someone else other than the guy I spoke with come and do the install.

 

[DarrellP]

This is weird: After I kicked my roommate out, I called to deactivate a receiver but changed my mind the next day. The original installer called me and told me that Installs Inc had told them that I was cancelling my service because I had told Installs Inc that they had done a lousy job! This is BS! I told Voom through a follow up call that my installer was pure gold. He did everything right, was on time and new what he was doing. So where did Install Inc get this piece of crap information from?

 

[tscallions]

You should take a look at the crap I've been through.

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showthread.php?t=13991

 

[LOBO2999]

I got my 30" dish yesterday , the morning started with a call from Install Inc here in GA. I got the same person that came out to do the orginal install , he did a good job, I hook everything up on the inside and he did the outside, well like I was saying the morning of 5/26/04 I get a call from the installer ( George was his name) asking what was wrong becasue his papper work said I had rain isssues with my OTA, lol, I said no, so I told him I was getting the 30" dish , well he had to call his office , about 30 minutes later he called and said he was on his way, after getting here he told me that install inc never sent the 30" dish and if they did they never recived it and said he found a new one at his shop and took it, lol, (Hope it wasnt for someone else) anyway we worked together and got everything up and running , so some of the installers do go above and beyond at least the good ones. By the way good luck and hang in there.

 

[Mr. Biggles]

And just think, shortly folks will be actually be paying an installation fee for this BS.

 

[Clutch]

Wow and I thought that my installer being 7 hours late was bad.........well, it is!

My guy also forgot a drill as someone mentioned above....lol.

I wasn't very informed until I came to this site, I thought VOOM was going to send me the equipment and let me install it. All I can say is hang in there, I believe the programming is worth some install headaches, even though they are quite ridiculous.

Another interesting note..when my installer called to activate the receiver, the guy at Voom said that all Motorola receivers were down that night for 2-24 hours and couldn't be activated. My installer made him explain it to me personally because he had never heard of that happening, and he needed to show me the remote, and guide features, etc. but couldn't because the receiver wasn't working. After he left I sat down in my couch looking at a blank screen thinking to myself, this can't be right. So I came to this forum knowing that if "all Motorola receivers were down" there would be a few posts about it. Nothing. Well I called and got a CSR who was wondering what the heck I was talking about, and basically she had me hold the power button in for 6 seconds and everything was fine. LOL thank god someone had a clue.

 

[rexoverbey]

You think that is bad I'm still waiting inline to have Voom taken out. Twice rescheduled to take it out! Like I should take off work again for a take out!

 

[Seawaves]

cry a river for a guy who is leaving...comon!

 

[NOHDjunkie]

"Funny you should mention Emerald Coast. Look through the other "install nightmare" threads for some horror stories about them."

Can you point me to at least one? I did do a search an It only came back with 5 links no bad reviews.

Also its more about the person doing the install than the company anyways. Emerald Coast has alot of installers. I heard that the guy from Biloxi was VERY good. Now Im not so sure about B&G because they are a local shop only. So the number of installers they have is going to be alot less. I just hope they have someone else other than the guy I spoke with come and do the install.

look here

http://www.satelliteguys.us/showpost.php?p=68347&postcount=556

 

[whyme]

Ahh Thanks..

I guess no matter who you get there is a chance for disaster.

Barry called me last night. I was the same guy I spoke to before. I said he would accept a letter from my apartment complex in hand. I told him that I faxed it to him the 15th but he immediately denied receiving it. Also Installs Inc does have a copy and when they sent Emerald Coast the work order they sent a copy of the approval letter (I know because the rep read it while I was on the phone) So why didnt Installs Inc send him one?? Oh well I didnt push the fact as long as he shows up. Just incase Im going to get another letter from my apartment complex today and have them date it so there is no loophole he can use to back out.

 

[DragonLips]

The problem is installs INC. Voom contracted their installs to the lowest bidder, and the consumer suffers! VOOM'S installations DEPEND in the installer. The growth of their business depends on the quality of their installs, which seemlingly is something VOOM has little control over. They need to have some Quality Control over these installs, or they will go under! Thousands of potential customers have likely cancelled their sign-up due to installs inc! I need those customers to keep my monthly service fees lower!

I don't get this satellite industry. They are at the MERCY of their installers. THere has to be a better way. At least with Cable, the guy installing the service or fixing the problem has some skin in the game because he at least gets a regular paycheck from the service provider! It took me a month to get service. This is insane!