DirectTV - ProSat & Mike's TV
Dish Fell Over, Replacement LNB Delayed Over a Month

This is a long story, so I will start from the beginning.

On February 12 I had Mike's Dish (Michigan) come to my house to install my new DirectTV system from ProSat (San Diego). When they went to mount my dish, they informed me that they could not mount it to my house because I would not get reception (even though I later found out that the original owner of this house had his dish mounted to the house). They instead mounted the dish on a pole in my yard.

If anyone reading this is from New England, you know that the weather in February is cold. It was 7 degrees that night. After putting the pole in the ground and running the wires, they told me that I had a faulty LNB and was not getting local channels.

They explained that they could turn on the system anyway, that they would ship the LNB to me in four days, and they showed me how to change it. I agreed (just happy to be rid of cable) and sent them on their way.

February 19th - A week goes by and still no LNB, so I call ProSat and speak to Maureen (CSR). She looked up my account and said that nothing was reported and no LNB was on order. She apologized and said she would order it right away. I said fine and hung up the phone.

February 26th - Another week goes by and, guess what, still no LNB. I call ProSat again and speak to Susette (CSR), and again it was not on order. Again another apology, and she said she would have it sent right away. I again said fine and hung up the phone.

March 2nd - The weather warms up and the ground thawed, and the dish on the pole fell over. I called ProSat, spoke to Shannon and explained that my dish had toppled over and I needed someone to come and fix it. She called Mike's Dish and we made a date for them to come.

March 5th - Between noon and five PM is when Mike's Dish was supposed to be here to fix my problems. I took half a vacation day and waited. Finally, at 6 PM I called Mike's Dish and was told that the tech was running behind and would be there soon. I called again at 7:15 PM, this time getting a voicemail system saying that the voicemail was full. As you can guess, I got blown off.

March 6th - I called ProSat and spoke to a "supervisor" named Randy. I was told that again the LNB was not ordered (arg!), and he apologized about Mike's Dish not showing up. He could not call them until Monday because of course it was the weekend. After talking to him for a few minutes I said let's get the LNB to me first and then we can get Mike's Dish out to fix everything (I was able to prop the pole up with some cinder blocks). Randy promised that he would have the LNB sent NextDay UPS for Tuesday delivery. I again agreed and hung up the phone.

March 11th - Again no LNB (who would have guessed?). I called Randy, and he apologized to me (I am getting sick of those) and told me it shipped out regular UPS on Tuesday and should be there on Friday.

March 12th - The LNB finally arrived! I called Randy and got his voicemail (I decided to stick with one person because I was tired of explaining myself). I left him a message to call me.

March 13th - I decided to install the LNB myself and still had no local channels. I called again for Randy, got his voicemail and told him to call me because it was not working.

March 16th - Left another message for Randy.

March 18th - Another message for Randy.

March 20th - I ordered the NCAA Men's Basketball package because I could not get CBS in (go Huskies, but $65.49 down the tubes).

March 24th - Tried Randy again but got lost in voicemail. I gave up after 25 minutes.

March 25th - Spoke to another "supervisor," Tom Brody. He told me he would take care of everything. He could not look at the notes in my account because the computers were down, but he promised me I would get a call from him by Friday.

March 26th (Friday) - No word from Tom. I left voicemail.

March 31st - Message on my machine from Mike's Dish. They want to schedule a day to come out. I called back and had to leave a message in their voicemail.

April 5th - I left a message for Tom Brody telling him that I still had not spoken to Mike's Dish and for him to call me.

April 7th - I called Tom Brody and left him a long voicemail saying that I was very unhappy and that if he did not have this system fixed in one week, I would ship the system back to them and cancel everything.

April 16th - I called in and asked for Tom Brody's supervisor. Richard (CSR) told me she was on the phone, but if I wanted to wait I could. He also offered to let me talk to Tom Brody directly, and I told him I did not want to. After waiting for about 10 minutes I got the old "The supervisor is really busy, can I have her call you back?" I refused and spoke to a "supervisor" named Patricia. I let the poor girl have it. I told her I was fed up and wanted this fixed by Thursday (the 22nd) or I would cancel. She apologized and told me that Tom no longer works there (gee, your CSR was going to give him to me a minute ago) and said she would take care of everything.

April 22nd goes by and again no calls. I decided that I had had it and would call them on Friday and cancel everything. I even had my wife call and get the info on Dish Network.

April 23rd - I got a call from Atlantic Communications saying that they wanted to schedule installation of my DirectTV. I told her that I had already pulled out the receivers and was in the process of cancelling everything.

Now here is the kicker. I called ProSat and asked for an RGA so I could send in their equipment. I was told by "supervisor" Jeffery that I cannot send back the receivers because they do not handle "used" equipment, and if I cancel my DirectTV I will be billed $150 per receiver ($450 total). I told them they could try, but they have to live up to their end of the agreement, and that they could shove it.

I then called DirectTV and spoke to "supervisor" Pat and told her my horror story. I told her how unprofessional ProSat is and that I want out. She informed me that because I have not "fulfilled" my contract, she is going to charge me $150 plus an extra $10 for cancelling the service plan. You call this service?

Two and a half months: no local channels, a dish mounted on cinder blocks, half a day of work, $65 for an NCAA tournament that should be free, 18 phone calls that averaged half an hour each, and $45 for three antennas so my wife can see the local news and network programs. Give me a break. They should be paying me for all the problems.

If anyone has any ideas on how I should handle these fees, please let me know!

Company: DirectTV - ProSat & Mike's TV
Country: USA
Phone: 8006001914
Site: directv.com

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