# Unhappy with DTV...what to do?



## mirko (Sep 16, 2003)

I have just had an additional Direct TV. Tivo unit installed. This is their third attempt at the installation. The first time they were sopposed to be here 8-12 AM and showed up at 4 without the proper equipment so I wasted a day of work waithing. Then they were going to show up Saturday at 8:30 AM. A guy shows up at 4 PM not knowing what is going on and again he does not have the proper equiment. Today, Monday, another appt. is set up for 8-12. Shows up at 2:30. My wife is here as I cannot afford to take any more time off work.

Installation is shoddy. Came thru the attic to the ceiling in the bedroom. Cable was in that room previously, run in from the outsde, nice and neat. I have two unsightly wires running down the corner of the room. Left an incredible mess of greasy hand prints, soot or whatever. My wall looks like a pig sty. Really radical. Plugged his splitter (?) into my exterior AC outlet. This outlet has a weather-proof cover on it, the spring-loaded kind with a rubber gasket. I use it for my smoker, plugg it in and unplug it at the end of the day. This area gets hosed down weekly, not meant for a transformer to be plugged in permanently. The also left the transforme lying on the ground, which seems unsafe. Plug in wire is extremely thin, does not seem exterior approved. Tranforme, which was left lying on the ground, outside, hidden behind a pot, is clearly labeled "caution, for indoor use only".

I am very upset about this and told DTV that either they fixed it or they can pick up all their equipment. As bad as Adelphia is, at least they were always kind, professional and shoed up on time. Always neat, too. The DTV guy told me that all their installers had some high felutin' certification. I told him he had no idea what the person that came to my house had in the way of certification. He told me he was sure all the installers had that. I called him a chump. Big mistake, he hung up on me.

What do I do? Does anyone know if I have to have this transformer plugged into my patio outlet? Can it be left just lying on the gound? What about the messy wall (it's radical, I have pictures)? Do I just give up on DTV and go to Dish? Adelphia?

Thanks for letting me vent


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## music_beans (Mar 21, 2003)

Oooh, da pix. Show me da pix! 

About the install though, it sounds pretty unprofessional to me, and also sounds like they sent a Hoppin' Mad Hillbilly to install it! (see http://www.hoppinmadhillbilly.com ) I would say that you email DirecTV through their website, and if they continue to give you trouble, just move on over to E*. They are a lot better.


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## Neutron (Oct 2, 2003)

E* is very professional when it comes to installs. Heck, the installers have taken their shoes off when they come in our house. They bury every cable they install on the outside. I am very pleased with E* and their service is nice too.


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## dishrich (Apr 23, 2002)

I'm almost afraid to post this HERE, but guess what - THERE ARE SLOPPY E* INSTALLERS OUT THERE, TOO!!! (I KNOW, cuz I have cleaned up behind them, TOO!) And, there are neat D* installers as well.

Bottom line - BOTH D* & E* equally have this problem - best best is to complain to D* & tell them if they CAN'T get it taken care of, come & pick up their stuff & they won't EVER have to mess with you AGAIN!


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## John Hodgson (Mar 28, 2002)

What ! 

Impossible ! 

E* has bad installer's too ? Tell me it isn't so!

:nono2:


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## music_beans (Mar 21, 2003)

Both D* and E* have bad installers. It just depends on luck I guess.


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## Bill R (Dec 20, 2002)

I know a guy that WORKS for the local cable company and does both DISH and DirecTV installs on the side (he is sub-contracted). I have never seen any of his "work" but it does seem like he has some conflicts.


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## durl (Mar 27, 2003)

It sounds like you're not happy with the installer, NOT DTV.

You should call the installer, tell them you're VERY unhappy with their installation (without calling them a "chump"). Take pictures to back up your story. Tell the installer that if they don't do a proper install, you'll report them to the Better Business Bureau and notify D* that they should never license them to do installs again. Then see if D* will offer you extra months of free programming (speak to the customer retention department) to make up for your frustration.

I was VERY happy with my DTV installer: ME.


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## mirko (Sep 16, 2003)

Well, it's a couple of days later now. I have had two conversations with DTV over the telephone. Each time they have promissed that someone will get back to me and straighten things out. so far...nothing. No, I do not want to get in touch with the installer directly. I have no deal or contract with the installer. My deal is with DTV. I ordered directly from them, they picked the installer, who has a del with them.

By the way, I only called the DTV guy a chump when he told me that he had personal knoledge that all their installers had extensive training and were certified. I know, I lost my cool, but he has been called worse before, don't you think? The second time I talked to them I was AGAIN very polite and left out the "chump" coment.

In the meantime, the "indoor use only" transformer sits out in the rain. You would think they would take care of that.

I'll call again today and see what develops. One more day of frustration and I go back to Adelphia. I don't need this.


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I cant believe an installer would actually run a drop from your attic into your ceiling and into the room!!!

Am I reading this right??

Show us the pics! This may go down as the all time WORST install ever beit Direct or Dish!


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## MagicConch (Nov 11, 2003)

re: your install. If I was in that situation I would find a wire guy I know or have been referred (it pays to keep friends of specialists IMO) and pay him to clean up the mess and finish the install just the way I want it. At this point switching back to cable still won't get rid of the mess that he has left. 

One thing to remember is that don't get too stressed, virtually everything is fixable. With a little work you can make your room look as good as new, and maybe better while your at it.

I was calling DirecTV about install, asking them what if I don't like the looks of the install outfit. I have heard so many horror stories. She basically said I was SOL in that case. I find it amazing that these people expect (1) for me to let anyone they like to do work on my house without me even knowing that person in advance, them having no pre-install verifiable references of any kind, and (2) they think I will go through with this w/o having detailed plans where exactly the dish and wires will go :eek2: 

It's like having Home Depot choose a contractor they want for you for installing their wood at your house, including the cost of the contractor in with the wood, and forcing you to live with whoever is the cheapest guy they can find to do it for you, since at that point they work for Home Depot and not for you. Insane.


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## mirko (Sep 16, 2003)

ibglowin said:


> I cant believe an installer would actually run a drop from your attic into your ceiling and into the room!!!
> 
> Am I reading this right??
> 
> Show us the pics! This may go down as the all time WORST install ever beit Direct or Dish!


Yeah, that's it! Two wires come out of the ceiling, run down the wall at the corner of the room (exposed) and down to the floor, then back up to the TV. All exposed. I was concerned with that part of it in terms of maybe it was something I have to live with. Do you think that type of install is sub-standard? He ran the wire into the attic through a vent close to where the dish is. I thought even running the wire through the attic and out another vent, then down the exteriour wall would be better than the cables exposed running down the bedroom wall. They are really noticeable running down the wall in the bedroom. Outside it's not as bad. If I don't get satisfaction I'm going to just run this all through the attic and down thruogh the inside of walls. Nice wall plate at the end.

My main concern has been with the darn "interior use only" transformer which they plugged into the outlet in my patio and then left it lying on the groound, along with about 6 feet of leads at either end. Sloppy and unsafe, since it is on the ground and exposed to the elements, outside. Do I even need a transformer? Is there a limit to the number of cables or the length of the run before you need a transformer? I have two TIVOs, two cables for each of those and a regular DTV receiver which I guess only needs one cable. Do I need a transformer? I have no faith in the installer at this point so I wanted to ask.

In any event, DTV never got back to me so I called them today. They say they will have an installer here on Saturday AM (this will be the 4th time, two times they showed up without the proper equipment and then the third time they botched up the install). I figure I'll tell them just how I want it done and then try to cut a deal to pay them a little extra for a good install. I really like DTV and the initial install was clean. it's just this new install for the additional TIVO that's botched up.

Hey, I'm willing to send pics of the install and the transformer as well, I just don't know how to post them here. Have digital camera and can make the files and I can email them to someone if you guys want.

I want to thank everyone for the advise I've gotten on this forum. The best advise was not to get stressed. You're right!

thanks again,

Mirko


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## ibglowin (Sep 10, 2002)

I think technically if your TV is on an inside wall all they have to do is run the cable around the eves of the house and then punch in from an outside wall. Its then up to you to decide how to get the cable over to the set. If your lucky, the cable can be hidden behind furniture, etc. No installer will fish a cable down an inside wall for free but to drop it down from the attic is purely insane. 

Can you get into your attic and work? It may take you an hour or two but its not all that hard to drop down an inside wall. It takes a good drill and bit and some elbow grease. Once you punch through the 2x4 stud at the top, all inside walls have no insulation so its then easy to snake it down and drill or cut a hole down low by your TV and fish it out with a coat hanger.

Perhaps you can work with the installer who comes out to do it right, you opt to do the grunt attic work and he helps on the easy end.

I retro fitted our entire house a few years ago (before wireless!) with 10BT ethernet cables in everyroom in the house. It can be done!  

Good luck!


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## mirko (Sep 16, 2003)

ibglowin said:


> I think technically if your TV is on an inside wall all they have to do is run the cable around the eves of the house and then punch in from an outside wall. Its then up to you to decide how to get the cable over to the set. If your lucky, the cable can be hidden behind furniture, etc. No installer will fish a cable down an inside wall for free but to drop it down from the attic is purely insane.
> 
> Can you get into your attic and work? It may take you an hour or two but its not all that hard to drop down an inside wall. It takes a good drill and bit and some elbow grease. Once you punch through the 2x4 stud at the top, all inside walls have no insulation so its then easy to snake it down and drill or cut a hole down low by your TV and fish it out with a coat hanger.
> 
> ...


Yes, I know it can be done. I just went down throough the walls to hook up my sorround speakers. Running the wire around the eves and then punchin in from the outside would also have been OK with me. It's the punching thru the ceiling and then having two exposed cables running exposed down the wall that I won't live with. I'll ge it worked out. Hopefully the installers tomorrow (4th time!) will get me close to where I want to be or even do what I want for more money. Either way, It will work.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

An update, Please!


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## mirko (Sep 16, 2003)

jdspencer said:


> An update, Please!


Well, the fourth time was the charm. A young man showed up at the door but things were still not going well. His work order called for a simple service call for which he said he got $22. My job called for cleaning up the other guys mess and doing a complete new install. He could not get DTV to authorize the install as they wanted the old installer to work it out with the new. I finally got on the phone and told them my whole tale of grief and told them that I would not wait for a FIFTH install. It was either now or never. A supervisor called back and worked it out with the new installer and he went to work. Nice install, although short from custom, which is OK. I'll still have to patch up the holes in the ceiling the other guy made and repaing the well where he left dirty palm prints.

DTV called a couple of days later to find out if I was happy. Told them yes and they said they were going to waive the whole cost of the TIVO and install, which was $99. I should have a credit on my bill.

It's important that everyone understand that I was not trying to get into DTV's pocket. The initial install was real crappy, this on the third try. I am happy now.

Thanks,

Mirko


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## DishDude1 (Apr 13, 2002)

I am glad to hear you got everything straightened out. From the sound of it you got a ridiculously bad installer who did very shoddy work but you were more than patient fair. I commend you for that.


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