Both Voom and their Installers are saying business is going incredibly well. TOO well in fact. They say the reason why it takes so long to get an installation date is because the supply (hardware) can't keep up with the demand. I'm surprised by this in a few ways. First of all, no one I personally know has ever even heard of Voom, let alone ordering it. 2nd, Lots of people are knocking Voom saying that they will never be able to survive with so few people signing up. if there is such demand, why are they saying this? and 3rd, Why is there such a supply problem? was voom so pessimistic that they ordered or produced such a small amount of Hardware? Or is this a blatant lie and is business not going as well as everyone says it is?
Voom business going TOO well?
- Thread starter xtc
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xtc said:
Really no suprise to me. I know several people who have ordered the service or are planning on ordering after Voom's recent media blitz (ads all over the place). This same exact thing happened with Dish Network with their 811 and 921. Long long waits. Some people are still waiting on the 921 after 6 months.
More people have probably heard about VOOM than you think. When I was telling a friend of mine that I had HDTV he asked if I had VOOM. Another friend of mine called yesterday and I said I had a new satellite service installed the other day and she asked if it was VOOM. These were the two most unlikely people that I would have ever thought heard of VOOM, but they knew exactly what it was.
I must have been one of the few people that didn't have to wait long for an install. I ordered VOOM on Friday and it was installed on Tuesday. I was impressed it was only a 4 day turnaround. I had expected weeks or months. Perhaps I'm in an area where there is a surplus of equipment. The lable on the box my dish and receiver came in was over a month old, so it had been laying around for awhile.
I must have been one of the few people that didn't have to wait long for an install. I ordered VOOM on Friday and it was installed on Tuesday. I was impressed it was only a 4 day turnaround. I had expected weeks or months. Perhaps I'm in an area where there is a surplus of equipment. The lable on the box my dish and receiver came in was over a month old, so it had been laying around for awhile.
It's tough
It's very difficult for a new business venture to predict how well their product(s) will do. This, and the fact the stb/dish is made by a third party, make it very difficult to figure out just how much equipment they should order. Most new business ventures (like this) tend to have startup difficulties like this.
Also, I keep reading people saying Voom is having such a tough time with their customers. This is just hogwash. Just because there are posts here doesn't mean EVERYONE is having a problem. I, for one, am very happy with Voom. I want to see some improvements in some areas but I'm not even considering canceling my service.
Remember, people, by nature, will not tell you about the great products they use or the great service they got somewhere unless prompted to do so specifically. They will, however, be VERY quick to complain when something goes horribly (or not so horribly) wrong. People, by nature, will also only hear the bad stuff about a product or service they're looking into. How many people are afraid of a European car because it costs a lot to service it? I drive one and my friends always say, "Boy, must cost you a fortune for an oil change!" It's a great car, have had very few problems with it. It gets great reviews. But my friends only see the bad.
Same thing with Voom. Anything bad gets blown out of proportion. A few people have complained the pq is better on Dish while others have said it's as good (or better). What do the people say when they post their new, "The pq sucks!" post? They point to the few people saying it's not as good as Dish and complain. Forget about the thousands of us (yes, thousands) who are happy with our pq.
Bottom line is Voom is new. They're going through growing pains because they're growing fast. Are they growing at a record rate? Probably not but they've got a lot of people signing up every day. This puts a strain on a new venture and is very hard to plan for ahead of time. If they buy too much equipment or hire too many people and have to lay them off people complain about that. I'd rather see them have a few shortages now rather than have too much gear or have to lay people off. That's very bad for the bottom line.
The Rickster
It's very difficult for a new business venture to predict how well their product(s) will do. This, and the fact the stb/dish is made by a third party, make it very difficult to figure out just how much equipment they should order. Most new business ventures (like this) tend to have startup difficulties like this.
Also, I keep reading people saying Voom is having such a tough time with their customers. This is just hogwash. Just because there are posts here doesn't mean EVERYONE is having a problem. I, for one, am very happy with Voom. I want to see some improvements in some areas but I'm not even considering canceling my service.
Remember, people, by nature, will not tell you about the great products they use or the great service they got somewhere unless prompted to do so specifically. They will, however, be VERY quick to complain when something goes horribly (or not so horribly) wrong. People, by nature, will also only hear the bad stuff about a product or service they're looking into. How many people are afraid of a European car because it costs a lot to service it? I drive one and my friends always say, "Boy, must cost you a fortune for an oil change!" It's a great car, have had very few problems with it. It gets great reviews. But my friends only see the bad.
Same thing with Voom. Anything bad gets blown out of proportion. A few people have complained the pq is better on Dish while others have said it's as good (or better). What do the people say when they post their new, "The pq sucks!" post? They point to the few people saying it's not as good as Dish and complain. Forget about the thousands of us (yes, thousands) who are happy with our pq.
Bottom line is Voom is new. They're going through growing pains because they're growing fast. Are they growing at a record rate? Probably not but they've got a lot of people signing up every day. This puts a strain on a new venture and is very hard to plan for ahead of time. If they buy too much equipment or hire too many people and have to lay them off people complain about that. I'd rather see them have a few shortages now rather than have too much gear or have to lay people off. That's very bad for the bottom line.
The Rickster
It is particularly hard in the first year since you don't have good historical data to go on. As time goes on, they will get a better handle on the demand for their service and be able to grow as they need.
Also, overflow is much greater when you don't have the large staff like an established company. DirecTV, for example, can handle an extra several thousand callers per day easier than Voom because that is fewer extra calls per CSR than it would be with Voom, who doesn't have as many CSRs as DirecTV to spread the increase across.
Also, overflow is much greater when you don't have the large staff like an established company. DirecTV, for example, can handle an extra several thousand callers per day easier than Voom because that is fewer extra calls per CSR than it would be with Voom, who doesn't have as many CSRs as DirecTV to spread the increase across.
