Cable.
At least for now anyway.
Quick background here ...
I moved into a new subdivision about three years ago. Unbelievably, the local cable network had not made arrangements with the housing developer to install the cable backbone at the time the houses were going up. I moved into a house that couldn't get cable - because there was no cable infrastructure in the subdivision yet. I waited for three months and rejected repeated overtures from Dish companies while waiting for the cable company to get their product into the subdivision. After about three months - I gave up and took up an offer by a Dish Network salesman.
I like "hungry" companies. I was impressed with how tenacious the Dish companies were in pursuing my business. And I was not impressed with the cable company's lack of foresight and failing to have the cable backbone ready when new homeowners moved into my subdivision. Further - I was not impressed with the cable company's inability to tell me when the backbone would be available.
So I went Dish.
And I was a proud Dish owner. I felt like I was associating with a winner.
Hmmm ... I don't think so anymore.
First - let's talk about what a dish owner "puts up with"...
Outages - yeah, cable has 'em too. But every time a storm rolled over my neighborhood - my Dish Network went down. Not for very long - but it did go down for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.
Tech Problems - there are a lot of little tech problems that can happen with a dish. And the Dish Network website has a whole section of it's site devoted to helping YOU, the dish owner, diagnose your own problems. So as a dish owner - you tend to become somewhat of an amateur satellite TV technician. I thought this was kind of cool at first - but now I'm thinking - "don't I have better things to do with my time?".
I mean - it's Television folks. It's not anything that is ever going to cure cancer or put another man back on the moon - it's just entertainment for when you have nothing better to do. It should work when you want it - and it shouldn't require too much thought, or education, or work on YOUR part. Right?
Now I've had cable before - and I don't remember cable having these problems. Sure - cable goes down - and sometimes for a long time. But when it does - you're not the first line of defense in fixing it. And cable doesn't go down RELIABLY during a thunderstom like Dish ALWAYS does!
So now ... fast forward to today...
Two weeks ago I called the Dish Network and asked them to upgrade me to High Definition. This requires a couple of new receivers and a new dish - meaning I need a Dish tech to come out and do that install. I scheduled the installation appointment - and my wife took 4 hours off from work waiting for the guy to come out.
He never showed, and only called after he had missed the time window for the appointment.
No problem - we scheduled another appointment.
Same thing happened though - no dish tech showed and this time - NO CALL.
So I called Dish Network.
And got ahold of some customer service call center in India! Apparently Dish Network is one of those companies "outsourcing" it's customer service. The people I spoke with - couldn't speak English very well. Now, I generally applaud bilingualism and bilingual outreach programs but ... the majority of us here in the U.S.A. still speak English. It would be nice if Dish Network gave us someone that we could communicate with don't you think??
I was put on hold for ... like an hour ... while they tried to figure out why the tech hadn't shown up at my house. This was probably no "mean trick" for the guys in India - completely on the other side of the world from where the Dish Network Tech actually was.
And I don't know if they ever got an answer to where the tech was - because they wouldn't tell me anything except - "you'll have to reschedule".
That's when I asked for a supervisor. After another 30 minutes of waiting - they finally patched me through to one - one that dropped my call after only 2 minutes.
So I called back - waited another 20 minutes. This time the customer service rep wouldn't patch me through to a supervisor. His exact words were "You have no other option but to reschedule".
Heheheh ...
Nay, Nay, Sweet Toad ... THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS HAS OPTIONS.
I told him "Thanks - tell your supervisor you've just made another cable customer!" And I hung up and promptly called my local cable company.
I got ahold of a guy named "Dave". Dave spoke perfect English. Dave told me that digital cable was certainly available in my neighborhood now and they were giving out great deals for customers who were ditching satellite for cable. I got a whole line-up of premium channels that I would have had to have paid extra for on dish network. I got 'em free for 12 months.
Very happy with that. And VERY happy to see a cable company unabashedly targeting the dish network's business. I'm a capitalist ... and it's a real turn on to see this kind of rough and tumble competition going on!
So I signed with cable. The guy comes by the day after tomorrow to put it in. I thought about just how simple that installation is going to be. There'll be no dish to hang on the side of my house. No dish alignment. No satellite receiver testing. No satellite switch testing ...
No - the cable guy is going to bring in some boxes - plug them into my pre-wired house ... do some "cable-guy magic" and then ... fingers crossed ... I should have high-def digital cable with a lot less hassle than the dish network was.
I'll let you know how it goes.
But for me - Dish Network has lost the edge and the momentum is shifting back to cable.
See, that is what I LOVE ABOUT CAPITALISM!! The pendulum swings. A company enjoys success - it gets fat and lazy. It charges more for it's product because it's inefficient. It ignores the needs of it's customers ...
And along comes someone else to scoop up their customers!
One day I may be back with the Dish Network. Perhaps next time the pendulum swings their way. ;)
Quick background here ...
I moved into a new subdivision about three years ago. Unbelievably, the local cable network had not made arrangements with the housing developer to install the cable backbone at the time the houses were going up. I moved into a house that couldn't get cable - because there was no cable infrastructure in the subdivision yet. I waited for three months and rejected repeated overtures from Dish companies while waiting for the cable company to get their product into the subdivision. After about three months - I gave up and took up an offer by a Dish Network salesman.
I like "hungry" companies. I was impressed with how tenacious the Dish companies were in pursuing my business. And I was not impressed with the cable company's lack of foresight and failing to have the cable backbone ready when new homeowners moved into my subdivision. Further - I was not impressed with the cable company's inability to tell me when the backbone would be available.
So I went Dish.
And I was a proud Dish owner. I felt like I was associating with a winner.
Hmmm ... I don't think so anymore.
First - let's talk about what a dish owner "puts up with"...
Outages - yeah, cable has 'em too. But every time a storm rolled over my neighborhood - my Dish Network went down. Not for very long - but it did go down for anywhere from 5 to 20 minutes.
Tech Problems - there are a lot of little tech problems that can happen with a dish. And the Dish Network website has a whole section of it's site devoted to helping YOU, the dish owner, diagnose your own problems. So as a dish owner - you tend to become somewhat of an amateur satellite TV technician. I thought this was kind of cool at first - but now I'm thinking - "don't I have better things to do with my time?".
I mean - it's Television folks. It's not anything that is ever going to cure cancer or put another man back on the moon - it's just entertainment for when you have nothing better to do. It should work when you want it - and it shouldn't require too much thought, or education, or work on YOUR part. Right?
Now I've had cable before - and I don't remember cable having these problems. Sure - cable goes down - and sometimes for a long time. But when it does - you're not the first line of defense in fixing it. And cable doesn't go down RELIABLY during a thunderstom like Dish ALWAYS does!
So now ... fast forward to today...
Two weeks ago I called the Dish Network and asked them to upgrade me to High Definition. This requires a couple of new receivers and a new dish - meaning I need a Dish tech to come out and do that install. I scheduled the installation appointment - and my wife took 4 hours off from work waiting for the guy to come out.
He never showed, and only called after he had missed the time window for the appointment.
No problem - we scheduled another appointment.
Same thing happened though - no dish tech showed and this time - NO CALL.
So I called Dish Network.
And got ahold of some customer service call center in India! Apparently Dish Network is one of those companies "outsourcing" it's customer service. The people I spoke with - couldn't speak English very well. Now, I generally applaud bilingualism and bilingual outreach programs but ... the majority of us here in the U.S.A. still speak English. It would be nice if Dish Network gave us someone that we could communicate with don't you think??
I was put on hold for ... like an hour ... while they tried to figure out why the tech hadn't shown up at my house. This was probably no "mean trick" for the guys in India - completely on the other side of the world from where the Dish Network Tech actually was.
And I don't know if they ever got an answer to where the tech was - because they wouldn't tell me anything except - "you'll have to reschedule".
That's when I asked for a supervisor. After another 30 minutes of waiting - they finally patched me through to one - one that dropped my call after only 2 minutes.
So I called back - waited another 20 minutes. This time the customer service rep wouldn't patch me through to a supervisor. His exact words were "You have no other option but to reschedule".
Heheheh ...
Nay, Nay, Sweet Toad ... THE CUSTOMER ALWAYS HAS OPTIONS.
I told him "Thanks - tell your supervisor you've just made another cable customer!" And I hung up and promptly called my local cable company.
I got ahold of a guy named "Dave". Dave spoke perfect English. Dave told me that digital cable was certainly available in my neighborhood now and they were giving out great deals for customers who were ditching satellite for cable. I got a whole line-up of premium channels that I would have had to have paid extra for on dish network. I got 'em free for 12 months.
Very happy with that. And VERY happy to see a cable company unabashedly targeting the dish network's business. I'm a capitalist ... and it's a real turn on to see this kind of rough and tumble competition going on!
So I signed with cable. The guy comes by the day after tomorrow to put it in. I thought about just how simple that installation is going to be. There'll be no dish to hang on the side of my house. No dish alignment. No satellite receiver testing. No satellite switch testing ...
No - the cable guy is going to bring in some boxes - plug them into my pre-wired house ... do some "cable-guy magic" and then ... fingers crossed ... I should have high-def digital cable with a lot less hassle than the dish network was.
I'll let you know how it goes.
But for me - Dish Network has lost the edge and the momentum is shifting back to cable.
See, that is what I LOVE ABOUT CAPITALISM!! The pendulum swings. A company enjoys success - it gets fat and lazy. It charges more for it's product because it's inefficient. It ignores the needs of it's customers ...
And along comes someone else to scoop up their customers!
One day I may be back with the Dish Network. Perhaps next time the pendulum swings their way. ;)
