Rule #1 Do not upset the customer....

[sundrop]

When he has not even had service installed yet

I just placed a new order today, and already had to cancel.

Apparently I can not apply a referral, cause I already submitted my rebate
(Which is what the website told me to do)

So...

I ordered from Directv.com but was told it was a dealer order.
I was given a different #

Now I am on the phone having to cancel and rebuild the account
so that I can do the referral first then the rebate....

 

[sundrop]

Ok well. A little headache dealing with so many people. However it appears the order has been canceled and modified.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Ok well. A little headache dealing with so many people. However it appears the order has been canceled and modified.

Stay tuned & report back!

When you say "do not upset the customer" that is good advice. However, there is a good chance that the person who arrives to do your installation will have a different customer. His customer will not be you. He will be a contractor who is making some Home Service Provider (HSP) happy.

So expect him to blow through...do exactly what is on the work order, if he can, and vanish.

Hope I am wrong.

Report how it goes.

Joe

 

[sundrop]

Stay tuned & report back!

When you say "do not upset the customer" that is good advice. However, there is a good chance that the person who arrives to do your installation will have a different customer. His customer will not be you. He will be a contractor who is making some Home Service Provider (HSP) happy.

So expect him to blow through...do exactly what is on the work order, if he can, and vanish.

Hope I am wrong.

Report how it goes.

Joe

Well Mr Contractor. Whomever you may be. You do not get paid until I sign that document stating I am satisfied with the service being provided. If it takes me calling 3 contractors like it did for me to find a CSR that was willing to help me.

 

[ranmic]

Wow, you're awful huffy not to even have service yet. Good Luck.

 

[stonecold]

Wait till he gets ahold of me. lol

 

[sundrop]

Install is complete.

HR-24 in LR
H-24 in MB
SD in GB

MRV installed. Apparently Ethernet disables the built in DECA on the HR-24 so they had to install an external DECA to the HR-24

Internal DECA on the H24 worked just fine.

*Even more good news. I ended up getting the SD reciever cause a third HD reciever would cost me $100. We are getting HD local only on the 16th of June, and once they go live, the system will flag for an auto upgrade on the SD reciever.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Well Mr Contractor. Whomever you may be. You do not get paid until I sign that document stating I am satisfied with the service being provided. If it takes me calling 3 contractors like it did for me to find a CSR that was willing to help me.

Glad you are getting a feel for how the game is played.

What has to happen early in an installation is the homeowner and soon to be Directv customer have to align their expectations with what the installer will do as part of the FREE installation. After that the rest is negotiation over cost.

The problems arise when some sales promotion or representative creates confusing or contradictory expectations.

Installers, as contractors, are quick to hit the road rather than hang around while these issues are resolved. I stopped doing installations because even after the new Directv customer is satisfied with the work and signed the little paper.....often with the same sense of importance you seem to have...the chances of getting paid for the work have
declined.

How would you like a mechanic's lien on your home because the installer didn't get paid?

Joe

 

[stonecold]

Dont mine Joe he just disgruntled installer which is most installers no mater if it cable/ dish / directv

 

[sundrop]

Well the installer that came out today did go above and beyond. Trust me, if we have any issues. I will call him directly. I would not like to see a chargeback on something that is not his fault....funny how failed equipment is a charge back on a installer...yet its not there fault

 

[jcrandall]

Dont mine Joe he just disgruntled installer which is most installers no mater if it cable/ dish / directv

That's true, the comment about no matter if cable/dish/directv.

Personally I feel these installers are some of the most abused and underpaid jobs around, yet I can see how it would be enjoyable. I always enjoying working on my system, and even some friends/family over the years.

But when you make people work in heat, cold, snow, ice, rain, a whole array of people's homes (unimaginable I'm sure), etc, they they don't get paid due to something completely out of their control, that is simply unfair.

 

[sundrop]

Yep me and installer had the good ol story "you work on weekends"
"you work on the holiday"
"you sure you want to install this in the rain"

 

[Davedirectv]

Dont mine Joe he just disgruntled installer which is most installers no mater if it cable/ dish / directv

Yeah, it sure is a fine line for the love of the job and the bs you put up with that makes you want to punch your supervisor in the nose.

 

[raoul5788]

Yeah, it sure is a fine line for the love of the job and the bs you put up with that makes you want to punch your supervisor in the nose.

Try working at the Post Office for 28+ years as a carrier. You talk about working in all kinds of weather with all kinds of customers!

 

[wildbill129]

Install is complete.

HR-24 in LR
H-24 in MB
SD in GB

MRV installed. Apparently Ethernet disables the built in DECA on the HR-24 so they had to install an external DECA to the HR-24

Internal DECA on the H24 worked just fine.

You should not have a DECA adapter on the HR-24. Why were they plugging in an Ethernet cable in the first place?

All they have to do is disconnect the ethernet cable, redo satellite setup from the beginning, reboot and it will begin using the internal DECA. The internal DECA is capable of higher speeds than the 100mbps of the Ethernet port. You want it to work right.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Dont mine Joe he just disgruntled installer which is most installers no mater if it cable/ dish / directv

Stoneman,

I didn't think it showed.

I have evolved to the position that if you consider all my installations and all the subcontractors I have dealt with, these several thousand interactions constitute a small fraction of one percent of all installations. It is not logical to form a conclusion based on such a small sample.

It is working. They are cutting back on my medication. They have removed the restraints. I am allowed to walk around the grounds under supervision. Yesterday they put another new blue shirt in my room.

Some day soon I could be back on the street.

Joe

 

[Jimbo]

Stoneman,

I didn't think it showed.

I have evolved to the position that if you consider all my installations and all the subcontractors I have dealt with, these several thousand interactions constitute a small fraction of one percent of all installations. It is not logical to form a conclusion based on such a small sample.

It is working. They are cutting back on my medication. They have removed the restraints. I am allowed to walk around the grounds under supervision. Yesterday they put another new blue shirt in my room.

Some day soon I could be back on the street.

Joe

I see they gave you your keyboard back .....
Surprised they connected it though !

 

[Joe Diamond]

That's true, the comment about no matter if cable/dish/directv.

Personally I feel these installers are some of the most abused and underpaid jobs around, yet I can see how it would be enjoyable. I always enjoying working on my system, and even some friends/family over the years.

But when you make people work in heat, cold, snow, ice, rain, a whole array of people's homes (unimaginable I'm sure), etc, they they don't get paid due to something completely out of their control, that is simply unfair.

Don't forget taking the wheels of the personal vehicles of the crooked subcontractors who tend to leave town with your money.

Opps!

I am trying to quit.

Joe

 

[stonecold]

Joe as a veteran installer you see it all and been #$@$@ over more ways then most by contractors and hsps alike. But some days I just surprised your still sane enough to type. But if you were in florida I would get you over here to do some work. I hate mastec.

 

[Joe Diamond]

Joe as a veteran installer you see it all and been #$@$@ over more ways then most by contractors and hsps alike. But some days I just surprised your still sane enough to type. But if you were in florida I would get you over here to do some work. I hate mastec.

Stoneman,

These things have a way of taking care of themselves. Word on the street is pretty loud to just avoid satellite work. At a time when the installations are getting more complex and will require techs with some skill, the industry has eaten the children it now needs.

As I write I look at an ad for Netflix....films without commercials. What an idea?
And TV from the phone lines; FIOS...another idea. Directv is about to learn the same lesson CATV grasped a little too late: keep good people around to keep your system running.

MASTEC in FL. Those are the guys who came up with the plan to explain how phone lines keep the receivers from exploding. These things have a way of taking care of themselves.

Joe