VOOM Lies - Hidden $199 Installation Fee

[dschwarting]

Somehow I doubt anyone here always reads ALL of the, "fine print." For any of us to be saying this person is crazy is ridiculous. I just checked the Voom website to find this information and I did find it. It reads, and I quote, "$199 standard professional installation fee for each additional installation visit." Now, let's say I'm a potential new customer. I read this and think, "Hmm, I wonder if this means I'll be charged extra for another receiver install if I ask them up front..." So I call in, ask a csr about this and the csr assures me I won't be charged extra (for whatever reason). I take that as the bottom line because, bottom of the barrel or not, this is a csr and they work for Voom and are, inessence, Voom when I call in.

Now, a couple of weeks later I call in and find out I was given incorrect information (not saying lied to as the csr may have been misinformed). I'd be pretty pissed and I'm sure you would, too.

This is no different than buying a car and having the sales person telling you, "Sure! We'll give you a free oil change whenever you want!" Then you go in for your free oil change and they tell you the sales person was incorrected in telling you this. You'll be pissed but may have nothing you can do about it.

Sure, we can always beat this person up and tell them they SHOULD have done more research, they SHOULD have read the info on the website, they SHOULD have come to this website sooner. Hey, I'm all for research. I did some research before signing up for Voom but I didn't find this site until AFTER I'd signed up and had it installed for a week. I checked out Voom's website and all that stuff. What if I'm someone who DOESN'T have access to the Web and saw a commercial and called to sign up? What fine print would I be reading?

In short, to beat this person up for being upset they were given incorrect information is crazy. You say, "Why didn't you find this site sooner?" If I were them I'd be thinking I'm glad I didn't since I'd get beaten up for asking a question. Hey, the person made a mistake because they were misinformed. I'm sure you've made your share of mistakes. How about being a bit more friendly. You could have said something to the effect, "This has always been Voom's policy. It's a shame you were misinformed. Voom's a great service, you really should give them a chance." That would have been more appropriate than beating them up.

The Rickster

Some of you are missing the point there are NO references to self installation
rates on the Voom web sight.

 

[dschwarting]

Voom is a Reputable Company

Having managed support staff, I can tell you that a reputable company will usually stand behind the false claims of the CSR if you can prove it, or if the CSR admits it. If you ordered when you called in and got the incorrect information, then there would be record of who the CSR is. Management should be asked to look into why that CSR may have given out that false information. The CSR may fess up to having made the mistake - and may still be making that same mistake. The manager may have the authority to waive the fee to retain you, but then they are setting a precedence since you may well report it here.

Secondly, I totally disagree with the $200 charge given that the tough part of the install is done on the first trip - putting up and aligning the dish. On an add-on visit they have to run a cable, add a multiplexor, and plop down a receiver. Perhaps part of the $200 covers the $25 multiplexor and the cable run - but $100 would be much more reasonable - allowing them to recoup their costs.

My wife who is much calmer than I spoke to the CSR's this morning and
they agreed to a partial credit of the service charge. This partial credit is fine because they only promised me that I could self install additional receivers which would not include costs like the multiplexor. Despite what everyone else thinks I am not trying to gouge zoom. The $199 fee applies
to professional installation NOT to the self installation we were told about
when we signed up.

This will be my last post on this forum. I did not realize this forum would
be used for personal attacks. I came only seeking advice of this forum.

I still want to make this clear to everyone the VOOM CSR's in my opinion
have fixed any problems they may have caused. That is all I or anyone else
can ask. Voom is a very good product in my opiinion and I have no problems
sending them money every month. Also for those who have an installation
horror story, I read this forums FAQ before ordering and used the advice of
this forum and my installation went flawlessly.

 

[andrzej]

Some of you are missing the point there are NO references to self installation
rates on the Voom web sight.

There are no references because Voom doesn't allow self-installation.

 

[Sean Mota]

My wife who is much calmer than I spoke to the CSR's this morning and
they agreed to a partial credit of the service charge. This partial credit is fine because they only promised me that I could self install additional receivers which would not include costs like the multiplexor. Despite what everyone else thinks I am not trying to gouge zoom. The $199 fee applies
to professional installation NOT to the self installation we were told about
when we signed up.

This will be my last post on this forum. I did not realize this forum would
be used for personal attacks. I came only seeking advice of this forum.

I still want to make this clear to everyone the VOOM CSR's in my opinion
have fixed any problems they may have caused. That is all I or anyone else
can ask. Voom is a very good product in my opiinion and I have no problems
sending them money every month. Also for those who have an installation
horror story, I read this forums FAQ before ordering and used the advice of
this forum and my installation went flawlessly.

Don't take people's opinion too harsh. Everyone is entitled to an opinion. I would say that if you made some progress that's good because I agree with your assesment of being mad about the whole thing. Anyway, like I said -- if you feel you make progress that's good but if not email Joe and Wilt about it and they will make it right for you. This thread is closed....

Always come back because VOOM is always changing and we like everyone's opinion here whether negative or positive.

 

[rudolpht]

Let's all chill out. People typically do take the word of official representatives of companies. The Voom CSRs are much better informed than other services, but Voom policy has been to spring surprises which catch everyone off guard (even if this isn't one of them). I would try the cancel & resign route, but remember the day is fast approaching when all installs, even new, will have a fee. so caveat emptor on that approach as well.