morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | reply to Hookem99
Re: It's Like
4 trucks? wow. |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | No Big Deal, possably were traning outher tech's newly hired in. Also commond to have landline repair come out in bucket truck just in case they need to do something. |
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morbo
Complete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000
clubs: | that makes sense. i assume verizon fios installs were like this, once upon a time? |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs: | Still is, bucket truck for the overhead fiber drop (unless a contractor does it ahead of time) while theres a fios tech inside, and perhaps another outside working on the nid/ont |
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Tigerpaw509
Premium
join:2006-07-15
Huntley, IL | reply to OSUGoose
Hey Thats me |
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JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
1 edit | reply to OSUGoose
said by OSUGoose  :Still is, bucket truck for the overhead fiber drop (unless a contractor does it ahead of time) while theres a fios tech inside, and perhaps another outside working on the nid/ont That's not what my install was like at all. I got FiOS internet service in January of '06. I had one intaller. That was it. He ran the fiber from the pole to my house, installed the ONT, ran the cat-5, installed the router, and got me all setup. Granted it took him a little over four hours, but considering the work he had to do, that ain't bad (especially since he had to work around some stuff in my home - had to run an extra-long power cable for the ONT, and had to go into my crawlspace to run all the wiring/cabling).
When I got hooked up with TV service, about a year ago, again, there was one installer, and it took him about two hours (much of which was spent waiting for the s/w to download to the STBs - one STB wasn't plugged in correctly when he did the download, so after troubleshooting and discovering the problem, he had to redownload the s/w).
Both installers were excellent (without a doubt among the best I've had in my house), and really knew what they were doing. I don't doubt that some installs, particularly if they have to bury the fiber, can take a couple installers, but I didn't have that experience at all. |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs:
 ·AT&T Midwest
 ·Cingular Wireless
·Verizon BroadbandA..
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| Which is exactly why just because you have multiple installers there dosent mean they dont know what they are doing or anything. In some places based on the union only certan craft people can do certan aspects of the install. So to have 4 guys there could be bc the area has had some issues and the vaious trades/craft people are there instead of waiting hrs when they need to be paged. Plus they dont do the shitty work like some cablee and their sub contractos do, at&t and vz are both trying to have as need and clean installs as possable bc they care about their craft/work. And this is comming from an ex-directv installer here. When i first started i took the time needed, but then after time they wanted to cram more down my throat so my standards had to get tossed to get it done if i wanted to have work the next day. Needless to say i left. |
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JPL
Premium
join:2007-04-04
West Chester, PA
·Verizon FIOS
| said by OSUGoose :Which is exactly why just because you have multiple installers there dosent mean they dont know what they are doing or anything. In some places based on the union only certan craft people can do certan aspects of the install. So to have 4 guys there could be bc the area has had some issues and the vaious trades/craft people are there instead of waiting hrs when they need to be paged. Plus they dont do the shitty work like some cablee and their sub contractos do, at&t and vz are both trying to have as need and clean installs as possable bc they care about their craft/work. And this is comming from an ex-directv installer here. When i first started i took the time needed, but then after time they wanted to cram more down my throat so my standards had to get tossed to get it done if i wanted to have work the next day. Needless to say i left. Totally agree with you. The idea that DirecTV and Dish, and many cable companies have, of paying installers by the install is killing their service. When I had DirecTV, and I got a second DVR (I had to take the installation to get the DVR for free), they sent two guys to run one cable all of 10 feet to a multi-switch, swap out the old box and hook up the DVR. The one installer called in to activate the box, and they had him on hold. After a few minutes, he handed me the phone, told me what to tell DirecTV, and they left. They didn't even find out if the box worked! I was astounded. I personally didn't have an issue activating the equipment myself (I installed the prior DVR just fine), but can you imagine if you have a customer who doesn't know what they're doing?
As it was, the guy in the installation department couldn't get the information about the install correct. When I told him 'I want to cancel the box in my family room, and activate a DVR...' it was like I was speaking Martian or something. He ended up deactivating the wrong box and it took him several minutes to get everything straight. Again, what if I didn't know what the hell I was doing? The guy on the other end was nice enough, but I didn't think I was making some outlandish request.
The reason the Verizon installers were so good - they took their time. They wouldn't leave until they made sure EVERYTHING worked. Not only were these guys clearly well-trained, but it was obvious they took a great deal of pride in their work. I couldn't say the same for the last set of DirecTV installers I had (and I had some good DirecTV installers too). |
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OSUGoose
join:2007-12-27
Columbus, OH
clubs:
·AT&T Midwest
·Cingular Wireless
·Verizon BroadbandA..
·RoadRunner Cable
| Exactly, the issue DirecTV has in peticular, as i cant speak to dish, is that alot of the installers are subcontractors. Meaning they drive their own vehicle, use their own tools, supply their own wire, ect.. the only thing given to us is the dishes, recievers and switches and lnbs, and even some outfits charge the contractor for them then reimburse for them being put in afterwards. So nextime when you get an shitty installer, its not directv, its the company of the company that got to job to blame. For Example in this market, Columbus. ConnectTV is who Directv will say is comming to do the the install as they are the HSP, outherwise known as Home Service Provider, basicaly the first person that is getting the money from directv to install it, and yes directv asctualy spends several hundred dollars to get a new sub installed, average is 400-500. Then ConnectTV sends it to one of 8-10 "fulliment" companies, after taking a percentage from what directv paid, lets say 100. So now were down to the people who will be comming to install, lets say its Joe Shmo's Satellites. They will assign your install to one of their subcontractos that they will overwork that day, or route them several hours apart in jobs (a commond reason the installer dosent show or is late) who will get at the most 200 of that original 400-500 directv paid, bc the company he works for takes about half to cover their expences. Now rember out of that 200, he has to pay gas, supply the wire, connectors, ground blocks, ect to install plus his damage claim insurance insurance on his vech and unemployment. |
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