We ordered HughesNet satelite internet service, after seeing their television commercial and being sick of dialup internet.
The lady on the phone said that the latest she could schedule us for an appointment was 3pm. I went with an earlier appointment because our jobs (wife and I) don't let us out until at least 3:30-5:30pm anyway, and we're an hour from home.
We chose to have the installer (s) come out on Wednesday (today), and I took a day off from work so that I could be here when the installers got here. The installers got here on time, but were slow to admit that they didn't come prepared with the appropriate equipment to do the job. For starters, they didn't have the pole need (I doubt they even had the needed concrete mix, either).
The lady I spoken to on the phone KNEW that our roof wasn't a suitable location for the satelite dish, she and I both strongly agreed that having the installer dig the hole, insert the pole and pour the concrete was the best option for us (even if does cost a ridiculous $125 to do so).
The installers knew they weren't prepared, and tried to bully me into accepting their excuses, asking such questions as "are you going to work tonight?" and being so silly as to try and work around THEIR screwup by trying to get me to accept the silly suggestion of installing the satelite dish on our large garden shed (which would make it very ugly in appearance). Now, get this! The installers actually thought I'd buy the suggestion of installing the satelite dish on top of the doghouse (or maybe it was the rusted out basketball goal post) that was located at least 100 feet from my house. Did they seriously think they were going to dig such a long and deep ditch and bury the RG6 cable in it?
Then, the installers tried to play bully with me, and get me to feel sorry for them, explaining to me how they needed to get to such and such location (and that they could only get the required pole at Home Depot in Cincinnati, OH [about 1 hour drive from my home]), and that the earliest they could get back to me was around 7:30-8:00pm. How stupid. It was dark at 7pm, yet they swore to me that they'd have no problem doing the following in the dark:
- dig a hole
- level pole
- pour concrete
- install satelite dish
- run RG6 cabling from dish to home
- adjust positioning of satelite
All with a flashlight.in 20 degree weather. Uh huh. I decided to get on the internet (dialup) for awhile, as I was fed up with them and *knew* they wouldn't bother to show up. Later on, about 8pm I called them and was told that they'd tried to contact me several times but had no way to leave a message with me (true enough, I was on the Internet, shouldn't have been an issue in the first place). I asked them how things were going, whether they'd be down here on time. Of course, I knew they were bullshitting (or have awful organizational skills) because the guy was back in his home base area of Cincinnati, OH (I could hear some girl in the background laughing), and he was telling me that it would 50-55 minutes before he could get here. That sort of stuff doesn't fly with me, folks.
I'd told him earlier (when they promised they'd be here between 7-8pm) that if they weren't here by 9pm SHARP, that I would turn them away and cancel my contract. So, here is this guy on the phone being snarky with me (after I'd lost an entire day's income and time waiting around for these fools), saying something along the lines of "I'd hate to inconvenience you by showing up at 9:01pm, can't believe you'd turn me away just because I'm a minute late". I immediately told him "Don't bother showing up, I'm going to cancel". I got nothing but a "Uh, okay".
Great company, huh, folks? I'm really glad I won't be spending $125 per month on this pathetic company for service that arguably is no better than dialup Internet service. Someday soon, maybe SOMEDAY, the government will step in and force telephone companies to provide DSL service to all geographical locations.
It's bad enough that a satelite internet company wants to rape you with charges, as if their total lack of communication with their installers isn't worse.
Tom
Sadieville, Kentucky
U.S.A.
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