Requesting addition STB requires Appointment!?

[Huachipato]

I have a friend that will be staying at the house for a few months, and thought for an extra $4 it wouldn't be a big deal to just get another STB to set up in his room. I mean, how hard can it be?

Well, today I learned that it requires another appointment and to have a tech come out an install it for me...

I am techy savy guy, and I can figure out the power outlet, TV connections, and cable conections on my own (especially since my whole house is already wired). I'm disppointed that they require me to set up an appointmen based on a given 4 hour window instead. I can understand this may be required on an initial set up - but they need to get their act together in being able to help their current customers expand what they want without requiring them to be home half a work day.

 

[jgantert]

How much $$$ is the service call to do this?

-John

 

[garlandtxuser]

I have a friend that will be staying at the house for a few months, and thought for an extra $4 it wouldn't be a big deal to just get another STB to set up in his room. I mean, how hard can it be?

Well, today I learned that it requires another appointment and to have a tech come out an install it for me...

I am techy savy guy, and I can figure out the power outlet, TV connections, and cable conections on my own (especially since my whole house is already wired). I'm disppointed that they require me to set up an appointmen based on a given 4 hour window instead. I can understand this may be required on an initial set up - but they need to get their act together in being able to help their current customers expand what they want without requiring them to be home half a work day.

I am not sure how much they are going to charge you for this, but I assume zero. I think that what Verizon is trying to do is make sure that an install done by a homeowner does not generate serivce calls.

Imagine this scenerio. You install the other unit for your friend to use whie he is visiting. He is there one day watching NFL or something of the sort and the unit starts to drop. You go up to check on it and cannot find anything wrong. He gets mad because he just missed that last touchdown and you get mad because you are paying 4.00 per month for that unit and , by gosh, it should work. Now you call, stil mad of course, Verizon to find out why the box they are charging you for does not work. They schedule an appointment to come out to service it a few days later. Oh wiat, what do you mean a few days later. It is broken now and my friend cannot use it! Anyhow, now you get to take time off to meet the installed/technician. When he arrives he finds that there was a bad splice, bad t connector, bad patch cord that was causing your problem.

Now, by this time, your friend is disappointed that he missed the game, you have still taken time off to get service, and you have given the Verizon call taker a piece of your mind, all to find out that if they had come out and installed it correctly in the first place none of all of that would have happened.

Now for the good news. If you schedule a morning appointment they usually show up just after you get out of the shower. I have only had them out twice, first to install and then to service a failed unit. Both times they showed up on time and ready to work. I also know that I should not have any problems short of equipment failure because they have tested my lines and cables.

Sorry for the long thread, but sometimes it is good to look at the bigger picture.

BTW: I had to take time off for a service call and I also could have swapped the box. I have test tools and fairly in-depth knowledge as I am a senior network engineer at a fairly large company. I feel much better that Verizon cared enough about my recieving serivce to send someone to check everything, and he checked EVERYTHING.

 

[jgantert]

I guess I am just used to Comcast techs who come in and hook the HD box using RF. I must admit tho, the Verizon TV installer did a nice job. He actually used a signal meter to verify the cables to each TV were ok. Previously, when Comcast came out, they only measured the signal at the box outside, then called it good.

-John

 

[Huachipato]

I am not sure how much they are going to charge you for this, but I assume zero. I think that what Verizon is trying to do is make sure that an install done by a homeowner does not generate serivce calls.

Imagine this scenerio. You install the other unit for your friend to use whie he is visiting. He is there one day watching NFL or something of the sort and the unit starts to drop. You go up to check on it and cannot find anything wrong. He gets mad because he just missed that last touchdown and you get mad because you are paying 4.00 per month for that unit and , by gosh, it should work. Now you call, stil mad of course, Verizon to find out why the box they are charging you for does not work. They schedule an appointment to come out to service it a few days later. Oh wiat, what do you mean a few days later. It is broken now and my friend cannot use it! Anyhow, now you get to take time off to meet the installed/technician. When he arrives he finds that there was a bad splice, bad t connector, bad patch cord that was causing your problem.

Now, by this time, your friend is disappointed that he missed the game, you have still taken time off to get service, and you have given the Verizon call taker a piece of your mind, all to find out that if they had come out and installed it correctly in the first place none of all of that would have happened.

Now for the good news. If you schedule a morning appointment they usually show up just after you get out of the shower. I have only had them out twice, first to install and then to service a failed unit. Both times they showed up on time and ready to work. I also know that I should not have any problems short of equipment failure because they have tested my lines and cables.

Sorry for the long thread, but sometimes it is good to look at the bigger picture.

BTW: I had to take time off for a service call and I also could have swapped the box. I have test tools and fairly in-depth knowledge as I am a senior network engineer at a fairly large company. I feel much better that Verizon cared enough about my recieving serivce to send someone to check everything, and he checked EVERYTHING.

Speaking of game interuptions: I'm still also kind of ticked that I had to endure a minute long COMCAST commercial during the beginning of the final World Cup game. Not sure how that happened - especially with FiOS HD. Different story, but otherwise I have not had any service related issues.

I would not have been charged anything - I'd really be going off the handle if it did have a cost.

The senerio you mention is very unlikely to happen in my house. I know the wiring in my house very well - and if the signal is getting into room "B" - it sure as heck is getting into room "A" that is a lot closer to the splitter to begin with. The point is they don't have a way to distribute the boxes or to receive them. I have a feeling that IF I called to cancel the service, they would set up an appointment 4 weeks out or something just to disconnect and pick up the boxes. I do also understand I am not a normal customer in this regard, as I am more knowledgeable than most in this regard.

Verizon does have a shortage of techs though, and letting the customer take the first stab at an easy job would seem like a easy step for them to take (source: the tech himself told me there are more jobs than what techs can handle).

I can appreciate the cabling being an issue - but even in your senerio it was not a factor. At this time, if there was a short or bad splice or open in the cabling I would not be getting the basic "no box needed" cable in that room. I have a feeling that I could put one of the boxes I currently have in that room as a test to see it works to begin with.

I have had boxes sent to me multiple times from Dish, and there was no issue plugging it up, and then calling it in to have it activated. If there was an issue at that point, I can see a service call being made. I just cannot take another 4 hour window half day off work for a job that would take 15 minutes to do at the most. I would need that window narrowed down to a half hour or have even the aknowledgment that this is a simple job a tech could do on his way home one evening when he is in the neighborhood.

Thanks for the tip on when to make an appointment. I feel you are rather lucky compared to the timing I had on my appointment. I was set to have the tech show up between 1 and 5. For the FiOS TV installation he showed up at 5:05 and finished the job within an hour (all the cabling was already done before he got there - FiOS internet was already in place). I could have easily been at work the whole day, as I usually get home at 4:30. The pain in setting up a morning install is they say "the tech will arrive between 8 and 12, but will requre up to 4 hours to complete the job". In other words I can't really count on the tech to arrive right at 8, and would need to be there for "up to 4 hours" after he arrives anyways, so with a morning appointment I could technically be there all day if he arrives right at noon. For that reason I tend to favor the evening appointments, but I think I will need to give the morning slot a chance next time when/if needed.