I tried sending the following email today to wilth@optionline.net. The outgoing email was returned as not deliverable. I hope that Wilt will see this sad story and respond or someone may provide me with a more current and workable email address for Wilt Hildebrand. I am beginning to think he is my only hope to get a VOOM installation in Nevada.
Wilt,
I am an online subscriber to two internet forums: satelliteguys.us and hideffforum. I have had a two receiver VOOM installation since November at my house in San Diego. My wife and I both love the programming service and the picture quality. I have promoted VOOM to all my friends with HD TV systems.
As a result of our great VOOM experience in San Diego (I called on a Thursday morning and received a 24 inch dish installation the next day on Friday morning last November, great PQ, etc.), we decided to install two 24 inch dishes at our house in Carson City Nevada. I didn't appreciate how much difference having a good local VOOM dealer in San Diego made in that process. Calling VOOM directly is quite another story...
So far, we are less than impressed with how difficult it has been to get another VOOM installation for our Nevada house by dealing directly with the VOOM CSRs. I called the VOOM 800 number in mid December and scheduled a two 24 inch dish/two receiver installation to occur on Dec 27. The CSR said that it was not possible to get a 24 inch dish installed unless the 18 inch dish had proved unsatisfactory. When I said that was not always the case and had them look up my previous installation of a 24 inch dish in San Diego. The CSR checked with a supervisor and then made a note that I was to receive two 24 inch dishes in Nevada. So far, so good.
When the installer called at noon on Dec 27 to say that he was running about 7 hours late for my 9AM appointment, I said that would still be okay, but I asked him what equipment he was bringing for the installation. When he said that he only had one 18 inch dish and one receiver with him, I cancelled the appointment as it would have just wasted his time, my time, and your company's money.
When I called VOOM again the first time on Dec 27, they indicated they had no record of my dual 24 inch dish request. When I called back and spoke to a different CSR, he did find a record of my original request and gave me the work order number (#524-1004). I asked him to notify the installers of the dual 24 inch dish request and to have them contact me for another installation date once they had the proper equipment in hand. I also asked for the name of the installation company and for some phone numbers. I did receive a phone number, but it was constantly busy when I tried to call the number.
The installation company (Install Pro) apparently tried to schedule an installation on 6 or 8 January, but they never notified me by phone or by email, so these attempts never happened. When I called Install Pro on January 15 to see about getting my installation re-scheduled I was told they had no record of my 24 inch dish request and that they would be providing a single 18 inch dish. In several phone calls to Install Pro, I spoke to Jason (702-501-5602) and to Isis (702-501-5602). Isis reiterated that I was only to receive a single 18 inch dish and suggested that I call Steve at 888-248-2377. I said that was not acceptable and would be calling VOOM to get things corrected, in addition to calling Steve. When I called the 888 number at 3PM, about 1 hour before the recorded closing time, there was no answer on this toll free number.
After not being able to contact management people at Install Pro on January 15, I spoke to Josh on the same date. Josh is a VOOM CSR on the 800-GET-VOOM number. After initially telling me that it was not possible to receive a 24 inch dish on an initial installation, he checked my customer files and my work order and determined that I did have a 24 inch dish installed in San Diego (first visit) and that there was a record of my request for two 24 inch dishes for my Nevada house on work order #524-1004. He said he would make certain that this information was made available to the Install Pro people.
On January 17, I reached Steve of Install Pro on the 888-248-2377 number. He said that VOOM hadn't shipped any antennas for my installation and that he only had one receiver on hand for the installation. He said he would call VOOM and then call me back. Later that day, ISIS called me to say she would need to cancel the scheduled 18 January installation. I told her that no one had contacted me or my wife about an 18 January installation in the first place. At any rate, she said that they would need to cancel the installation because they had not received the VOOM equipment. When I asked her what they were planning to install and gave her the work order number (#524-1004), she said that this was for a single 18 inch dish, two receivers and a single "bat wing" antenna. Arrgh! I just gave up and was about to give up on VOOM completely at this point.
On January 25, my wife convinced me to call VOOM again and see if we could actually get an installation scheduled, as we had now been trying to do so for about 6 weeks. On this date, I called the 800-GET-VOOM and talked to Josh again. He confirmed we were still on the same work order number and that the installation was to include 2 receivers, two 24 inch dishes and 2 outdoor antennas. As I had done in my November San Diego installation, I had agreed to pay an extra $99 for the second satellite dish installation, because otherwise I would have long exposed wire runs with a single dish installation. Since I had experienced good performance at the San Diego house with the VOOM-installed Wineguard Square Shooter antenna, I requested that the work order be amended to show a request for two of these antennas to be installed in Nevada. Josh did this and gave me an installation date of 18 February.
In February, George from Wright Installations called my Nevada house (BTW, they were supposed to use my San Diego cell phone number for all telephone communications) and left a message with his phone number. He also indicated that the installation was still planned for 18 February.
When I called Wright Installations (775-219-6251) on February 16, I asked George what equipment was scheduled for my installation. He said that there would be one 18 inch dish, one OTA antenna and two receivers. I told him this was not acceptable as the bad weather signal strength/reception quality would not be adequate and that he should cancel the installation. I told him that I would again call VOOM to see what was on the work order.
On February 16, I called 888-987-3474 and spoke to Avis at VOOM about my often delayed installation and asked her to look up the work order number. She initially told me that I was to get an 18 inch dish and two receivers. When I told her that was not correct and cited a number of previous calls to VOOM about this same and now possibly cursed installation, she said that the work order did show that 2 Square Shooter antennas and two 24 inch dishes had been requested on the work order. She spoke to Tanya, who told her that "VOOM Corporate" would have to approve this installation. I told Avis that I would write to you about this series of mistakes and broken appointments and to see if you could provide the needed "Corporate Approval". Avis prepared an On-Line Request form with the needed information about the two 24 inch dishes. She was requesting "Corporate Approval" for the two dish Nevada installation to occur on February 21.
Wilt, I hope you can approve or at least intercede to help with my VOOM installation on Work Order 524-1004.
Sorry to be so detailed and rambling in this explanation, but if these problems are going to get fixed, I thought you might be able to use the extra information. I am not sure who is really at fault here, as there seem to be many mistakes on the part of the installers and by VOOM personnel. As far as I know, two different installation teams have yet to be provided with the correct installation equipment information from VOOM. It almost seems like the installers want to install equipment that they know will not work in the area and then bill VOOM again when they come back out to correct their previous "mistakes".
Thanks,
Steve, getting desparate in Nevada
Wilt,
I am an online subscriber to two internet forums: satelliteguys.us and hideffforum. I have had a two receiver VOOM installation since November at my house in San Diego. My wife and I both love the programming service and the picture quality. I have promoted VOOM to all my friends with HD TV systems.
As a result of our great VOOM experience in San Diego (I called on a Thursday morning and received a 24 inch dish installation the next day on Friday morning last November, great PQ, etc.), we decided to install two 24 inch dishes at our house in Carson City Nevada. I didn't appreciate how much difference having a good local VOOM dealer in San Diego made in that process. Calling VOOM directly is quite another story...
So far, we are less than impressed with how difficult it has been to get another VOOM installation for our Nevada house by dealing directly with the VOOM CSRs. I called the VOOM 800 number in mid December and scheduled a two 24 inch dish/two receiver installation to occur on Dec 27. The CSR said that it was not possible to get a 24 inch dish installed unless the 18 inch dish had proved unsatisfactory. When I said that was not always the case and had them look up my previous installation of a 24 inch dish in San Diego. The CSR checked with a supervisor and then made a note that I was to receive two 24 inch dishes in Nevada. So far, so good.
When the installer called at noon on Dec 27 to say that he was running about 7 hours late for my 9AM appointment, I said that would still be okay, but I asked him what equipment he was bringing for the installation. When he said that he only had one 18 inch dish and one receiver with him, I cancelled the appointment as it would have just wasted his time, my time, and your company's money.
When I called VOOM again the first time on Dec 27, they indicated they had no record of my dual 24 inch dish request. When I called back and spoke to a different CSR, he did find a record of my original request and gave me the work order number (#524-1004). I asked him to notify the installers of the dual 24 inch dish request and to have them contact me for another installation date once they had the proper equipment in hand. I also asked for the name of the installation company and for some phone numbers. I did receive a phone number, but it was constantly busy when I tried to call the number.
The installation company (Install Pro) apparently tried to schedule an installation on 6 or 8 January, but they never notified me by phone or by email, so these attempts never happened. When I called Install Pro on January 15 to see about getting my installation re-scheduled I was told they had no record of my 24 inch dish request and that they would be providing a single 18 inch dish. In several phone calls to Install Pro, I spoke to Jason (702-501-5602) and to Isis (702-501-5602). Isis reiterated that I was only to receive a single 18 inch dish and suggested that I call Steve at 888-248-2377. I said that was not acceptable and would be calling VOOM to get things corrected, in addition to calling Steve. When I called the 888 number at 3PM, about 1 hour before the recorded closing time, there was no answer on this toll free number.
After not being able to contact management people at Install Pro on January 15, I spoke to Josh on the same date. Josh is a VOOM CSR on the 800-GET-VOOM number. After initially telling me that it was not possible to receive a 24 inch dish on an initial installation, he checked my customer files and my work order and determined that I did have a 24 inch dish installed in San Diego (first visit) and that there was a record of my request for two 24 inch dishes for my Nevada house on work order #524-1004. He said he would make certain that this information was made available to the Install Pro people.
On January 17, I reached Steve of Install Pro on the 888-248-2377 number. He said that VOOM hadn't shipped any antennas for my installation and that he only had one receiver on hand for the installation. He said he would call VOOM and then call me back. Later that day, ISIS called me to say she would need to cancel the scheduled 18 January installation. I told her that no one had contacted me or my wife about an 18 January installation in the first place. At any rate, she said that they would need to cancel the installation because they had not received the VOOM equipment. When I asked her what they were planning to install and gave her the work order number (#524-1004), she said that this was for a single 18 inch dish, two receivers and a single "bat wing" antenna. Arrgh! I just gave up and was about to give up on VOOM completely at this point.
On January 25, my wife convinced me to call VOOM again and see if we could actually get an installation scheduled, as we had now been trying to do so for about 6 weeks. On this date, I called the 800-GET-VOOM and talked to Josh again. He confirmed we were still on the same work order number and that the installation was to include 2 receivers, two 24 inch dishes and 2 outdoor antennas. As I had done in my November San Diego installation, I had agreed to pay an extra $99 for the second satellite dish installation, because otherwise I would have long exposed wire runs with a single dish installation. Since I had experienced good performance at the San Diego house with the VOOM-installed Wineguard Square Shooter antenna, I requested that the work order be amended to show a request for two of these antennas to be installed in Nevada. Josh did this and gave me an installation date of 18 February.
In February, George from Wright Installations called my Nevada house (BTW, they were supposed to use my San Diego cell phone number for all telephone communications) and left a message with his phone number. He also indicated that the installation was still planned for 18 February.
When I called Wright Installations (775-219-6251) on February 16, I asked George what equipment was scheduled for my installation. He said that there would be one 18 inch dish, one OTA antenna and two receivers. I told him this was not acceptable as the bad weather signal strength/reception quality would not be adequate and that he should cancel the installation. I told him that I would again call VOOM to see what was on the work order.
On February 16, I called 888-987-3474 and spoke to Avis at VOOM about my often delayed installation and asked her to look up the work order number. She initially told me that I was to get an 18 inch dish and two receivers. When I told her that was not correct and cited a number of previous calls to VOOM about this same and now possibly cursed installation, she said that the work order did show that 2 Square Shooter antennas and two 24 inch dishes had been requested on the work order. She spoke to Tanya, who told her that "VOOM Corporate" would have to approve this installation. I told Avis that I would write to you about this series of mistakes and broken appointments and to see if you could provide the needed "Corporate Approval". Avis prepared an On-Line Request form with the needed information about the two 24 inch dishes. She was requesting "Corporate Approval" for the two dish Nevada installation to occur on February 21.
Wilt, I hope you can approve or at least intercede to help with my VOOM installation on Work Order 524-1004.
Sorry to be so detailed and rambling in this explanation, but if these problems are going to get fixed, I thought you might be able to use the extra information. I am not sure who is really at fault here, as there seem to be many mistakes on the part of the installers and by VOOM personnel. As far as I know, two different installation teams have yet to be provided with the correct installation equipment information from VOOM. It almost seems like the installers want to install equipment that they know will not work in the area and then bill VOOM again when they come back out to correct their previous "mistakes".
Thanks,
Steve, getting desparate in Nevada
