One unhappy and frustrated camper (long)

[vurbano]

I am starting to wonder why Voom installs are such problems for such a small customer base compaired to E* and D* via a % rate
I know it is the same installers for all systems,but what is the problem they(installers) have with Voom.
Money?(do they get paid more with D* and E*?)
Hard to find signal(This is hard for me to believe because I found 61.5 for E* with ease because I read what I was to do and I run a furnitue store)
Hard to hook up units-OTA,STB,Sat.Dish,LNB(then why are they in the business)
Overworked(a two hour install for E* or D* becomes 4 hours and they say forget about the Voom install)
Crappy Workers(there is good and bad everywhere)

I think the answer is money based on everything I read(I think E* and D* pay more)I agree that if you agree/take a job you should do the job but based on my second Voom attempt-when he thought he was to install E* he was all too happy about being there but once he found out it was Voom(their mix-up) he got real sh*tey about it, made a excuse to get out of it and was gone five min. later ,I guess to get to the next job that was paying more.

THE ANSWER IS WORKED BASED. NO ONE ELSE IS INSTALLING ANTENNAS WITH THEIR SERVICE. THE INSTALLERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE FOR INSTALLING VOOM IMO.

 

[Bruce]

THE ANSWER IS WORKED BASED. NO ONE ELSE IS INSTALLING ANTENNAS WITH THEIR SERVICE. THE INSTALLERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE FOR INSTALLING VOOM IMO.

Dude relax,I was not attacking,just trying to find a reason for the install problems.
My install had nothing to do with a antenna(already have one,cable already ran) and I was not going to use Voom for OTA just the Voom Service(already have a Samsung T-165 downstairs where Voom was going to go) he would not hear how easy my install was going to be,he was unhappy because HE thought it was going to be E* and thats why I think it is a money issue(more from E*,less from V*?)

 

[voomvoom]

THE ANSWER IS WORKED BASED. NO ONE ELSE IS INSTALLING ANTENNAS WITH THEIR SERVICE. THE INSTALLERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE FOR INSTALLING VOOM IMO.

How do you know they are not paid more... you must know someone who works for one of the installers... did they tell you this or is the assumption all yours... perhaps you asked the installer who installed your Voom service...

 

[kawdog]

I have had a hell of a time getting my VOOM installed right (it still isn't), after three "re-peakings" of the dish the signal was in the mid 70's and dropped out constantly. I finally went outside without any fancy meters and moved the dish around very slightly till the signal on the tv was at 95. If I were you I would try to pull in a little better signal on your own till someone can get out and help you, many installers mistakenly peak the Dish Network satellite instead of the VOOM since they are so close. I know despite how frustrating it gets, VOOM will eventually correct all your problems if you can wait long enough.

kaw

 

[vurbano]

How do you know they are not paid more... you must know someone who works for one of the installers... did they tell you this or is the assumption all yours... perhaps you asked the installer who installed your Voom service...

no your missing the point. These installers that are used to throwing up a dish and aiming until they can get a signal then calling D* to activate a service are now being asked to be experts in a whole new field.......OTA. selecting the right antenna, finding the right place for it and aiming it is much more complicated than installing dish. You can easily install an antenna and think you have it right when in reality you are picking up a reflected signal. Its like asking an ear, nose and throat doctor to now handle ER duties as well. These installers need more training and more money. And the Joe six packs in a pickup with no liscense just dont have the skill to install antennas.

 

[rang1995]

There are great installers and LOW LIFE installers..the industry seems to attract fly by nighters or professionals..it's not voom's fault the same installers work for all the SAT companies

 

[Bruce]

no your missing the point. These installers that are used to throwing up a dish and aiming until they can get a signal then calling D* to activate a service are now being asked to be experts in a whole new field.......OTA. selecting the right antenna, finding the right place for it and aiming it is much more complicated than installing dish. You can easily install an antenna and think you have it right when in reality you are picking up a reflected signal. Its like asking an ear, nose and throat doctor to now handle ER duties as well. These installers need more training and more money. And the Joe six packs in a pickup with no liscense just dont have the skill to install antennas.

And yet I as a furniture guy has installed all his dishes(except Voom,and I would have but they would not let me) and 2 antennas and did it without any problem.
The point of this is,what is Voom doing about it,they can talk to the Install,Inc. people and request better installers who know what they are doing(and I know they are out there) to do the job,keep records of the bad installers so Install,Inc does not use them again(and will save money on fewer re-trips to customers),if better installers balk at installing Voom(which happen to me)pay them more equal to what D* and E* are paying,but I have a feeling the problem is being ignore which is a old Caple Company way of handling problems.

 

[barth2k]

Bottom line: Voom has serious problems with their installs.

They can't blame it on the subcontractors and sub-subcontractors. Ultimately, they're responsible.

You say D* and E* have install problems? Well, I just haven't read this level of horrors with them. No D* and E* don't do OTA. But V* chose to take on OTA, knowing they couldn't deliver locals otherwise. They should've spent the time and money to do the job right, either train people or hire the people with the proper training.

Remember D* adds like hundreds of thousands of subs per quarter. V* is up to what, 30000 subs total? The incidents of bad installs are way too high.

You say we don't hear from the good installs. Well, what % of people with bad installs come to this board and rant, as opposed to just cancel and tell their friends to stay away?

 

[Tvlman]

Regarding Seawaves comment:"Get out before you waste anymore time- DirecTV has some new deals."

Direct TV has the same lineup they did a year ago - 8 HD channels max. If SD is your bag you are in the wrong place. If you want more HD a little inconvenience and an additional wait is worth it. It sounds like many of these complainers are ***** whipped and have to get HOme & Gardens for "Honey." Then go back to Dish or where ever you came from. VOOM is not for everyone.

suggestions:

-If install is bad make them do it over again. They have to. You are the client and they are working for you. Fire them and get another installer if it is not satisfactory. Would you let an auto mechanic give you back your car if it didn't work properly and go complaing to everyone you meet on the street? Don't run to this forum with hysterical posts when you can do something about it.

- Do your homework. Find out what you are buying. Read, read, read. This is not a cheap car with just stop and go buttons. It is more like a Mercedes. Know what you are operating.

- Get your set calibrated. If you do your PQ will be great.

-Buy the best component cables you can.

- Go on this forum and ask questions.

- If you really want the finest quality HDTV on the planet you will be a little more patient. And try to understand what HDTV is.

What bugs exist are being fixed. Meanwhile, try to enjoy life with VOOM.

 

[vurbano]

And yet I as a furniture guy has installed all his dishes(except Voom,and I would have but they would not let me) and 2 antennas and did it without any problem.
The point of this is,what is Voom doing about it,they can talk to the Install,Inc. people and request better installers who know what they are doing(and I know they are out there) to do the job,keep records of the bad installers so Install,Inc does not use them again(and will save money on fewer re-trips to customers),if better installers balk at installing Voom(which happen to me)pay them more equal to what D* and E* are paying,but I have a feeling the problem is being ignore which is a old Caple Company way of handling problems.

I installed mine myself with D*. At my expense. Actually I think I went through 3 antennas before I found the right one. And went through several locations and orientations. If you get it right in an hour then great, but most will not. Voom is offering twice the installation value (sat and antenna) than D* or E*. I cant help but laugh at all the complaints about getting a free antenna when I paid for several out of my own pocket.

 

[Bruce]

I installed mine myself with D*. At my expense. Actually I think I went through 3 antennas before I found the right one. And went through several locations and orientations. If you get it right in an hour then great, but most will not. Voom is offering twice the installation value (sat and antenna) than D* or E*. I cant help but laugh at all the complaints about getting a free antenna when I paid for several out of my own pocket.

Because Voom promised the customers with the antenna that they provide to get their locals where available,customers are not asking for them, Voom promised them as part of the install,now back to the installer problems Voom or Install,INC need to start keeping records of the bad installers,quit using them if you have a choice,I have read too many posts about "first installer bad,second installer good" stories.

 

[beast37799]

Just to correct a statement D* does offer an ota antenna for $49 installed which is what i went for .Granted u pay for the antenna but also granted the antenna they give u is great i live about 60 miles from both ny and phili and dont get all but some dt ota .i hooked up a rotar and added 5 1/2 feet to the height of the antenna so i can recieve both cities .my installer was professional did a great job . actually both my e*and d* installs went well and if its the same company that does voom as well makes me wonder what the problem is with voom installs ????

 

[Seawaves]

Why not let directv and dish fix the lousy installers. O thats right, they only install antennas for Voom......for free. In any case they dont work for Voom, they work for installs inc, so it will be a slow process. Voom will have to complain to installs inc and it may take quite a long time before installs inc fixes their problems. In the mean time it hurts Voom customers. What would you have Voom do? issue pink slips to employees who do not work for them? Threaten to give the install contract to another nationwide installer clearing house? who? and if their was another one and there probably isnt, you dont think we would see the same problems? You do not think they would use the same outfits? Im sorry but the reality of it now is, work through it or leave, its your choice. But what everyone is failing to mention is how aggrevating finding and installing the correct antenna in the correct direction can be on your own. And from all the crying on this forum I doubt many of these people could handle it. LMAO At least then they could blame the the real culprit in many cases, the trees blocking their antenna reception instead of the installer and voom.

Well, it just gets better and better. I recommended Voom to a neigbor in my complex. Same crappy installer as my botched install-botched his. Yes OTA.

So Voom sends out a tech to fix my neighbor- and the trying to fix the botched Voom install on the other side of the building- remove teh cable from my Voom dish. What the hell was this guy thinking?

I go up on the roof and he says "oh- sorry I had the wrong dish". I said isn't his OTA that has no signal? He says..."i'm not sure".

Unless Voom fixes it's problem with it's installs they will surely fail. The best part is, I have a service call in (called a week before my neighbor) and they still haven't fixed me.

 

[brotherg]

VOOM... Is it me, or can a company really be this bad?

I was just browsing google for some advice re: OTA HD antenna, and came across some (actually many) posts about VOOM at different sites. First let me say that I was elated with the picture I got after my VOOM install (for 2 days). VOOM has a great product! Second, while the problem in many cases may be the installer... it doesn't stop there. I hate to see any business fail. Lord knows that we have enough of those every day. My experience makes me think that VOOM is not going to make it in the long run. Customer service is key and VOOM hasn't figured that out yet. Please read on about my experience with VOOM. I am one of the folks that falls into the nightmare category.

I am a former DISH customer and had decided to make the switch to VOOM when we moved this June. I had VOOM installed on 6/10/04. The installer was here for about 5 hours. He indicated that I might not receive locals because of the terrain in my area. He also didn't hook-up one of my TVs because he said it couldn't be hooked into a TV with only a Coaxial connection (does that tell you anything?!?). !sadroll

He left and I began enjoying an outstanding picture on all of the sat channels. I called VOOM the next day and said that I wasn't getting any locals with the OTA and they scheduled an upgrade to occur on 6/26 (more than 2 weeks out). Oh well. "2 weeks, but an upgraded antenna" I thought. So I figured I would live with onlythe VOOM sat for a short period.

I went back to the TV that supposedly douldn't be hooked-up and made the connection myself (DUH!). To my amazement, I began to receive locals on that set. I figured it had to do with the location of the TV on the top floor and the short run of cable from the sat to that location. Returning to the main TV, I found that the OTA connection had come loose! I hooked it up and as I was doing so a storm came through the area. All VOOM and locals disappeared at that point. I could still get the VOOM screen, but no reception. I figured it must be the dish and OTA causing the problem. So I had VOOM for 2 days, then nothing.

I called VOOM to tell them that everything was out at this point. I was told that the next service call wouldn't be until July 5th! This did not make me happy and was the beginning of the end with VOOM. I asked if the technician that was going to do the OTA upgrade on 6/26 could take care of the problem and was told he could. Well that was certainly better than waiting until 7/5 so we went with everything being done on 6/26. At 7:50 AM on 6/26, I called to confirm the appointment and find out if it would be AM or PM. I was told AM. Then, I received a call at about 9:10 telling me that the technician wouldn't be able to come out that day. I was irate and told the individual that I wanted to speak with the supervisor and find out what we needed to do to get the problem resolved. The supervisor was in a meeting and was to call me back later that AM. No call. At 1:00 I called VOOM and they indicated that they had no knowledge of the cancellation. Apparently it was the installation company that had called to cancel. I understood that this was a communication problem with VOOM and the contractor and VOOM was to get resolution for me that afternoon as to what was going to happen to correct the problem. Well at 4:45 I still had no call from anyone. So I called VOOM to cancel service (mind you... I hadn't had service since 6/12). They said a tech would be out to pick up the equipment on 7/3.

The tech showed up on 7/2 and took the equipment. On 7/5/04, my VISA was charged for the first month of service at $65.92. I wan't expecting to be charged anything given the circumstances and certainly not the full amount for the first month since I only had service for 2 days. VOOM support told me they would have to escalate the problem. I have sent numereous emails to VOOM and was pleased when I saw that they had credited my VOOM online account. However, I did not understand why it was for $98.88. I called VOOM again and explained what had happened and said that they were crediting too much. Once again the issue had to be escalated. Then on 7/20, my VISA was charged another $65.92. I figured that the credit had gone through as a charge. But, to my dismay, VOOM had charged me for another month of service because they didn't get the equipment back until 7/13. Further conversation revealed that my online VOOM account had not yet been charged the 2nd time. So we end up with 2 charges for $65.92 and 1 credit for $98.88. That means that the total charge for 2 days of VOOM service is $32.96. VOOM refuses to investigate this fiasco they have created any further.

THAT'S NOT THE END OF THE STORY! VOOM has still not credited my VISA for any of these amounts. They are telling me that a refund takes 4 to 7 weeks. NOT ONLY THAT... THE REFUND IS NOT A CREDIT BACK TO MY VISA, BUT A CHECK THAT THEY WILL SEND! So I have the pleasure of incurring finance charges on the amount they have billed to my credit card. Granted... this is not a large amount, but it is an extremely unfair method of handling their billing practice.

So what am I doing about this? Well after the time that I have invested in dealing with this situation via phone calls and emails, the endless hours of frustration, and the questionable billing practices that VOOM is using... I have contacted the FCC, the Attorney General for the state of Washington, and the BBB (not they they really do anything, but the first two might). I have also contact VISA to dispute the charges. I'm just small potatoes, but you add up all of the billing and refund discrepancies that are taking place and you have a company that is taking advantage of consumers as a whole. The $$$ become significant when you multiply them over the customer base. Smells like class action suit to me.

Do you emember the Aretha Franklin song "Who's Zooming Who"? :shocked VOOM is ZOOMING me. I think they should change their name to ZIPPO cause that is what they provided! I wish things would have worked out because the product is good in many regards.

Direct TV and DISH will both improve their offerings and catch up on the HD programming over time. I have never had any problems with these companies from day one. To me, VOOM just didn't cut the mustard. They cut the cheese! Time to go and enjoy HD from my Direct TV.

gman aka brother g

 

[Seawaves]

Wow and I thought I was having problems with these guys! I signed up with DTV and will give Voom another month or so. I think it's pretty clear you were smart to get out.

 

[wasch_24]

brotherg,
If your interested, you can send your story to Wilt Hildebrand at wilth@optonline and he will likely take care of your refund immediately. Sorry this happened to you.

 

[voomch11attny]

Any way I look at it - Voom *IS* a great idea. They are, however, faced with a multitude of laws regarding the "must carry" for local areas which in all reality the FCC should just simply cut down to any major network that offers programming in their aspect ratio and only require it to be carried one time to conserve bandwidth (that is, after all, the fcc's motto - conserve a limited resource for the public good - and having 5 coppies of HSN at 6 MHZ a piece is definitely NOT in the interest of the PUBLIC good - perhaps the HSN Powell policital fund). For example - if Voom carried a feed for CBS HD, NBC HD, Fox Hd, ABC HD (In my order of preference based on HD programming for this season) then they would have a product that could be easily installed and wouldn't be beyond the level of the typical LSD dish installer (i.e. 5th grade math&reading skills). They could even go so far as to offer an east/west coast version for those of us who care and call it done. And to round out the package, they could include HSN-HD for free since HSN is carried in almost every major maket on some UHF station and has made the commitment to go digital. Having one copy of it is fair - same said for PAX provided they are digital too.

They don't seem to realize the reason people are interested in voom is NOT for the "gunslingers HD" channel or the "auction HD" channel but for the real, interesting shows that make up the 2004/2005 season - ALL of which are carried on the major networks (esp. CBS and NBC with a trickle of offerings from ABC and Fox). I have a tall OTA antenna that lets me receive 2 MTA's from the FCC with a rotor - so if a sports program is blocked in my MTA I just rotate the antenna to another one and grab the local show from their channels (HD or Digital)

After looking at voom's basic *HD* lineup, I have to say I consider it all junk - this is stuff that is made by voom for voom so there are no royalties involved, just profits. There are VERY few non-voom created programs listed.

Someone would have to be awfully bored to pay $80/mo to watch what is effectively a bunch of old films digitized in HD and a couple of home shopping channels on Voom when they could get he same *good* programming (HBO HD, Showtime HD, NETV (PBS feed free), etc from 4DTV for 1/9 the price) - yes - it does require a *real* satellite dish to receive it, but it's not double compressed like VOOM does (which looks pitifiul when viewed on a 14 foot diagonal front projection screen compared to the equivalent 4DTV original picture - VOOMs' real time HD compresssion engine leaves ALOT out to get them to fit in the handful of transponders they got allocated).

Please don't take this the wrong way - I'm not anti-voom - I was mad at XM saltellite radio when they wanted you to *PAY* to listen to commercials - I said "no thanks - I can get enough of those as it is" - XM finally transititoned most of their programming to commercial free format when customers complained that they were not going to pay to listen to commercials. That is, not altogether coincidentally, when I paid the monthly fee for XM. Voom needs to listen to what the customer has to say and not rely on marketing miracles to pull them through. It's not going to work on this technology - especially with installers saying they're doing temporary installs since they'll be back in a month to remove it! (at least *THEY* are honest about it)

As for me - I just ended up on 4DTV with a TV antenna + rotor on the roof and a samsung SIRT-T165 box which pulls in about 20 HD over the air channels for $0/mo. (a.k.a. FREE) - I get my cable channels from 4DTV for a whopping $$8/mo (yes - C-band is MUCH cheaper than LSD dishes when you do the math and buy 1 year programming packages) and my local HDTV from the samsung box for free, and I may consider buying a second samsung box for recording and watching at the same time (1 tuner is just that - 1 tuner - you can watch or record it - but you can't watch and record 2 different signals without a 2nd tuner - the reason you don't get 2 8-VSB tuners is they are expensive still)

So for all my Cable (cnn/fox/hgtv/e!, etc, etc, etc) plus my 20 HD signals from 2 MTAs, I pay $8/mo - and I have a studio quality feed on the 4DTV as opposed to a super compressed m/jpeg feed on the LSDs. Fed into a 14' (yes - foot - not inch - it takes up an entire wall) screen (16:9 diagonal) I get a beautiiful picture and sound any way I go except the 4:3 programming which has black squares on the sides. This is because my projector uses native 16:9 silicon panels)

Had Voom chosen to include untouched (i.e. not re-compressed) network feeds, plus again - not double compressed feeds of showtime HD and HBO HD (which you CAN see the difference on with Voom compared to 4DTV using an A/B swich) - then they might have a product that really addressed their marketplace. Right now they just irrirate their customers with outsourced installation companies who are not trained to handle an HD signal, who can not deal with a substandard terestrial antenna, and who perform as many removals as installations.


Tal

 

[TheTimm]

They don't seem to realize the reason people are interested in voom is NOT for the "gunslingers HD" channel or the "auction HD" channel but for the real, interesting shows that make up the 2004/2005 season - ALL of which are carried on the major networks (esp. CBS and NBC with a trickle of offerings from ABC and Fox).

Tal

If that was true in my case I wouldn't be interested in voom at all. I don't need voom for major networks -- I get them all quite fine on my own, thank you. And I don't get the fancy premium channels, so apparently the reason this person is interested in Voom is indeed "gunslingers HD" or "auction HD". I'll go ahead and continue to enjoy their "junk". I encourage you to continue to enjoy your setup. Frankly it's pretty obvious that you've never actually seen Voom, so your opinion on it really means very little to me. But welcome to the forums all the same. I look forward to years of you telling me why I shouldn't be enjoying the programming that I like.

 

[Tvlman]

SUGGESTIONS FOR NEWBYS IN HIDEF

1. Always re-confirm any service call. (Sometimes again & again)

2. When you use the phone to call a service be polite and threat them as you would want to be treated.(If you shout at the gas or electric company they will hang up on you and may turn off your service.)


3. Get your set ISF calibrated. (Or be prepared to never complain about PQ)

4. Any service can experience technical problems; computers, cell phones, satellite TV. (Example:My lights went out last night. Think I'll switch to candles)

5. Swapping 40+ HD channels for 9 HD channels because of technical problems is not the most brilliant thing I've heard. (Especially after spending $5,000 + to get HD and buying a Satellite or cable service that is 90% SD. That's like getting a Maserati for grocery shopping.)

6. HD is here. Enjoy.

 

[TYORK]

THE ANSWER IS WORKED BASED. NO ONE ELSE IS INSTALLING ANTENNAS WITH THEIR SERVICE. THE INSTALLERS SHOULD BE PAID MORE FOR INSTALLING VOOM IMO.

the installer does get paid more to install voom than the other companys d*and E* unless the company they are working for is not paying them extra but I can tell you I get Paid more for doing a Voom the D* OR E*