I recently moved to a new apartment that allows installation of satellite dishes and decided to take advantage of an offer I saw on the web through AT&T to bundle my DSL internet with Directv service among other stuff they offered. I ordered online and scheduled my installation with no problems until last Thursday when the installer showed up. Since I wasn't able to be there someone over 18 stayed for me as DTV requires that. So far so good. Well the installer shows up and explains to my stand-in that he can't install the dish because the restrictions don't allow him to mount or brace it to the metal railing on the balcony and that my only option was to use a 5 gallon bucket filled with cement and have a pole mount put in that to place the dish on. Given that I'm not there and this is being told on the phone I decided to get the installation rescheduled for when I could be there personally.
My stand in got the number of the company that is contracted out here to do these installations so I call them and the man on the phone explains that DTV restrictions prevent using braces on the railings, which as I told the man I found that odd given that I was surrounded by Dish Network and DTV dishes that all seemed to be installed with these brackets/mounts. The contractor said those were probably not done right and the concrete bucket pole mount was the only option. I asked how much this would cost me and he said around $35.00. I figured oh well better than nothing, so they said they would come out today (Sat) and install that way.
This morning the installer shows up and was Extremely rude to me. He basically starts to whine about how nobody told him anything about setting this up on a concrete bucket and that he doesn't have that and it's my responsibility to provide for this. His attitude at me really made me mad he acted like it was all my fault and that somehow DTV keeps them all in the dark, okay..
I call DTV via the 1-800 number and the woman explains that this is a line of sight issue and that I shouldn't be charged anything and that the contractor was wrong to suggest that. I call up the contractor whom I spoke to on the phone earlier and he beings to hassle me saying something about we had a deal I was going to pay for that. I proceed to tell the man that under no circumstances will I pay $35 for a cement bucket when DTV corporate has told me that is not something I'm responsible for and that he can take it up with DTV and that is final.
The contractor then agrees that he will get the cement and bucket and just as I am about to assume it's settled he asks me if I am going to be a bother to the installer when he's trying to do his job. I said no and hung up the phone and then proceeded to tell the installer that we were done for the day and that he could leave because I will be calling DTV to cancel the service.
My main concern is how hard will it be to cancel DTV service that was never activated? The only charge on my CC was the installation charge of like $19.95, I'd like a refund of that but if eating that charge means getting DTV away permanently then I'm prepared to do that.
Secondly, was what the installer and contractor telling me true that DTV no longer allows one to mount a dish to a metal railing even though every other dish around me was mounted to the railing? The installer said the wind will cause signal disruption for them but from my own look of the dishes they seemed to be held on fairly securely, plus I imagine in any situation with extremely high winds any dish would move somewhat regardless of how secure it was mounted.
I have to say this has been a very very frustrating experience, I will give DTV Corporate a hats off, the people who answered the 1-800 # this morning and spoke with me were extremely professional and apologetic about the whole thing. They scheduled me for another install attempt next Saturday but I'm calling Monday to cancel because they couldn't give me a guarantee the same people wouldn't be coming out to try again and I want nothing to do with them for sure!
My stand in got the number of the company that is contracted out here to do these installations so I call them and the man on the phone explains that DTV restrictions prevent using braces on the railings, which as I told the man I found that odd given that I was surrounded by Dish Network and DTV dishes that all seemed to be installed with these brackets/mounts. The contractor said those were probably not done right and the concrete bucket pole mount was the only option. I asked how much this would cost me and he said around $35.00. I figured oh well better than nothing, so they said they would come out today (Sat) and install that way.
This morning the installer shows up and was Extremely rude to me. He basically starts to whine about how nobody told him anything about setting this up on a concrete bucket and that he doesn't have that and it's my responsibility to provide for this. His attitude at me really made me mad he acted like it was all my fault and that somehow DTV keeps them all in the dark, okay..
I call DTV via the 1-800 number and the woman explains that this is a line of sight issue and that I shouldn't be charged anything and that the contractor was wrong to suggest that. I call up the contractor whom I spoke to on the phone earlier and he beings to hassle me saying something about we had a deal I was going to pay for that. I proceed to tell the man that under no circumstances will I pay $35 for a cement bucket when DTV corporate has told me that is not something I'm responsible for and that he can take it up with DTV and that is final.
The contractor then agrees that he will get the cement and bucket and just as I am about to assume it's settled he asks me if I am going to be a bother to the installer when he's trying to do his job. I said no and hung up the phone and then proceeded to tell the installer that we were done for the day and that he could leave because I will be calling DTV to cancel the service.
My main concern is how hard will it be to cancel DTV service that was never activated? The only charge on my CC was the installation charge of like $19.95, I'd like a refund of that but if eating that charge means getting DTV away permanently then I'm prepared to do that.
Secondly, was what the installer and contractor telling me true that DTV no longer allows one to mount a dish to a metal railing even though every other dish around me was mounted to the railing? The installer said the wind will cause signal disruption for them but from my own look of the dishes they seemed to be held on fairly securely, plus I imagine in any situation with extremely high winds any dish would move somewhat regardless of how secure it was mounted.
I have to say this has been a very very frustrating experience, I will give DTV Corporate a hats off, the people who answered the 1-800 # this morning and spoke with me were extremely professional and apologetic about the whole thing. They scheduled me for another install attempt next Saturday but I'm calling Monday to cancel because they couldn't give me a guarantee the same people wouldn't be coming out to try again and I want nothing to do with them for sure!
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