damage to my home
Complaint
bob chenault
Country: United States
on nov 5th i had direct tv installed in my home the direct tv insstaller fell through my ceiling. i was told he would have to call his supervisor to come look at the damage and take pictures of it as well. his supervisor came out viewed the damage and said they would pay for it to get repaired as soon as i got an estimate of the damage. i did this nov 7 i got 3 estimates called nate faust whom was the supervisor i was to deal with he said fax all estimates and we should have it repaired within a week. i called each person that i had asked them to fax it to him. he called left a message on my answering machine letting me know that it was okay to have one of the companys come out and repair it then he would pay them. i called him back to let him know whom i had chosen and i wanted to know how this person would get paid he said call him back or he would call me back to let me know how it would be handled. nov 14 i called him he said everything was good and my claim was approved and he directtv would send me a check in a week for the damage to be repaired. i did not want to have the person fix my ceiling till i got the check. nov 21 called nate to let him know i had not received anything no answer just his voicemail left a message kept calling to let him know that i had company coming and needed my ceiling fixed no answer just voicemail. needles to say ceiling was not fixed before thanksgiving. kept calling nate after no return calls from him called his supervisor was told they would have nate contact me about this and if not him someone would call me . dec 4th nate finally returns my call with an excuse about he's the low man on the totum pole and he gave me ron andersons number told me to call him and he could help me. now let me tell you i have seven children and having this hole in my ceiling during the cold winter months was inconvenient to my family i went ahead and paid for the repairs to my ceiling because of them and because my heating bill was outrageous because of this i have yet to receive payment for the damages that occurred at my residence i still am having a hard time getting anyone at direct tv to help me they keep saying they did not get the fax of my damages i have pictures that i took of the ceiling they said send it to damage claims @ directv.com there is no website for this i am very upset i do not plan on staying with them after my year contract does anyone know who i can contact to get this problem resolved?
Comments
I have had renters who installed dish without my permission and Direct TV tells me they will not take the dish down! They installed the direct tv dish slimline without my approval.
Anyone know? Thanks....zoom@gvec.net
At a minimum, customers here need to take pictures of the shoddy, damaging work, get an experts written opinion as to the damage Direct Tv has done through its installers, and file suit in Small Claims Court. Direct TV will lose at least 90% of the time with a few good pictures and a reputable contractors statement who repaired the damage. It will just take perseverance on your part.
Thanks to everyone for the warnings and good luck with your claims. No Direct Tv for me.
Once the house was safe I called Direct TV to inquire what could be causing this. For the first five minutes they would not take any blame and indicated they have never heard such a thing. After about ten minutes they thought the smell was from the hard driving burning. All they would offer was to replace the DVR, no credits to the account for the inconvenience to my family for dealing with this horrible and probably toxic smell that took weeks to get rid of.
Being a busy man, I let it slide and figured maybe this has never been an issue for Direct TV, until tonight when it happened to another DVR in my house. The odor is so strong and it really is upsetting. I am glad I am home to catch it, and not asleep.
Now there is no way this is just coincidence! Something is wrong with this unit and I wanted to take the time out to inform any other Direct TV user that this is an issue!! The model # is HR23
As far as people blaming an improperly grounded system on their television issues, its very unlikely it had anything to do with your television or other electronics going bad.
Best thing you can do is get a good surge protector from a company such as Panamax. Its well worth the investment, and I rarely see an issue with a satellite receiver or television when used with a quality surge.
Some of the things I read with multiple holes being drilled that are not necessary I can believe, and I think should be repaired at Directv's expense.
However, I think most of these damage claims are simply blown out of proportion. If Directv did indeed screw up and your roof is leaking, you need to stop the water coming in ASAP while the damage is minimal, or at the very least do what is necessary to limit the damage. I see too many people do nothing, and let the damage build up to the point where it costs several thousand dollars, and thats where you run into the problems getting the claims paid.
If the installer did not attach a ground wire - a solid green or bare wire that directly attaches to the electrical service entrance of the home - he is in violation of the NEC and most local codes. Look for this wire and connection to your electrical service. If you've had lightning problems and there is no ground it's an install issue.
I'm a Professional Electrical Engineer and Electrical Contractor practicing in Florida the lightning capital of the world. So yes, an improper installation can destroy your TV, Home Theater, DVD player etc if they are electrically connected (by their shields - that are supposed to be grounded at the service) to one another.