Won't Install New Antenna on Roof

ComplaintsSatellite and Cable TV ProvidersDirecTv

Complaint

0
Unhappy
Country: United States
We currently have an old DirecTV antenna on our roof, in a place that is very safe to service.  I can get to it easily from a deck and I'm a 72 year old woman!  We ordered a new package, including a new TIVO receiver because we want HDTV.  When the installer came out, he said he couldn't go on the roof due to OSHA rules, and if he did he would be fired.  There is no other place where it can be installed due to reception problems if placed elsewhere.  We asked for a supervisor, he arrived, said the same thing.  They will not go out on a roof.  They said they can only work from a ladder, placing the satelite on the side of the building or within reach of the ladder.  Since our roof is three stories up, the ladder is far more dangerous then going out on our roof, which also has anchors for an OSHA approved safety harness system which we own and can be worn when working near the edge of the roof on the gutter system.  We certainly don't want ANY person to be injured but there is no danger involved to replace the old antenna with a new one in exactly the same spot where DirecTV installers placed it ten years ago.  Long story short - we still have the old system until we figure out what we can do about this.

Comments

  • 0
    Tristan
    Hello, may I suggest you simply ask them if you can buy the antenna from them. Then just find a technician that will be willing to go on the roof - everyone has a price.
    Those antennas aren't terribly complicated - simply a co-axial connection; most tv/antenna repairmen will know exactly how to connect it.
    FYI, typically the most important thing with installing antennas for which you need specific, company experts is to align it properly - fortunately you already have an antenna installed that just needs to be upgraded: Just tell the technician you hire to make a special note of the orientation of the old antenna and align the new one in exactly the same way.
    I know company policies like these can be frustrating but you typically cannot reason with them because its a company-wide blanket policy that will probably get them fired if they don't follow it, hence my suggestion to not try go through the problem but rather go around (all policies have loop holes)...
    Good luck :)
  • 0
    Kyle
    Same fricking problem.  My Hd dish is already installed.  Mastek, the Dallas Subs are idiots.OSHA BS.  I own a roofing company that does millions of $$ a year.  I asked him where his fall protection was and he said they were not allowed to use that either.  BS, I am shorting the stock and going to ATT U-Verse, even though I hate ATT
    Kyle in Dallas, Tx
  • 0
    LaRue
    What Directv needs to do is contact and order walk boards and work platforms from www.roofstep.com use OSHA approve harness and they can get on the shingle roofs. You can even connect 2 or more walk boards together for even steeper roofs.
  • 0
    Alan in Weatherford TX
    Although the DIRECTV technician replace a cable on the dish on my old house in Fort Worth less than a year ago... on two weekends now, two different techs said the same thing.  They must now work from an unstable ladder on loose muddy footing instead of being on the stable flat of a gentle sloping roof where the old antenna is because of OSHA regulations (claiming that they will be fined if a DIRECTV antenna is seen on the roof (despite every house in my neighborhood having them on the roofs).  Because of landscape gardening, shrubs and trees, the only viable solution DIRECTV came up with is to mount the dish on a pole 3 feet off the ground in a meadow that is 80 feet away from my house, requiring trenching and digging under a retaining wall and uprooting the gardening shrubs and trees.
    I asked if I could mount the antenna myself and take over responsibility of pointing the dish, and was refused because of OSHA finding their antenna where servicing must be on the roof...  I asked about a higher pole next to the house where it could be serviced from their shaky ladder, and was told no.  Mounting the antenna on a similar siding where the old antenna is and was told the antenna must stand up to tornado 80 mph winds and not cause damage to the house.  The tech and his supervisor came up with lame excuses for everything.
    I just think they want to get rid of me because I am on a very old grandfathered programing plan that would cost me 3-times to get the same number of channels.
  • 0
    Sandy
    Same issue.  My tv reception is sketchy or not at all on many channels. Direct TV installed the dish on my chimney per HOA but won't remove or fix it now. I am paying for service that is far less than acceptable. I called DISH today and they will go on the roof.  Why the difference?  Roofers installed my roof with no protection. Unacceptable.

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