Problems
Lobstah said:
"Voom's not in the install business, Install Inc, and others are."
Sorry...I disagree. Who pays Installs, Inc? VOOM. Who selects Installs Inc? VOOM. They are most certainly in the install business.
"Self installations would only triple the amount of CSR's that Voom would need to handle the number of calls that would start coming in from customers that have no idea of how to set up a sat system."
Other sat services don't seem to have a problem with self installs. Back when I had Direct, I knew several other people in my area that all signed on at roughly the same time. 3 hired contractors to do the installs, 4 of us did it ourselves. At that time there was (probably still is) as self-install kit you could buy. You didn't really need it, if you knew what you were doing, but if you didn't, you could follow the instructions and be up and running.
At that time, the contractor option was around $200 for a "standard" installation...but the price varied depending on what you wanted done.
"Force them to hire their own techs and watch them run to D* and E*."
Actually, people have ALREADY been running to D&E, mostly because of ridiculous installation fees and the ass-ache of having to make an appointment, take time off, etc.
Take a walk through your local campground and take a loot at the RVs parked there. At least 1/2 of them will have a dish on the roof. Every time that RV moves, those people do a self-install.
Remember...most people who are signing up for this already have an HDTV that they've managed to connect various components to and get it all working. Some better than others, but they've done it.
It's not rocket science, and the cost of trying to manage it remotely, in an industry that has it's share of questionable participants, is asking for disaster, and that's what they have.
"Voom needs it's own inhouse installers that work exclusively on Voom installs."
The cost involved in doing this would be astronomical. You're talking about adding thousands of people to the payroll, with no control over utilization. You want to pay 4 installers in North Dakota to sit in the office day after day hoping that someone signs up for VOOM? Not a viable model.
They need to smarten up and change their policy if they want to survive. Every install that gets done costs them hundreds of dollars at a minimum. Send the equipment to the customer via UPS ground and be done with it for $25.
Lob
Voom pays installs and others to do the installs, that does not make them installers. On that note, how much does it cost them in the long run for sub-standard installations, no call/no show credits, loss of service credits, trip charges because local techs are either to imcompetant or E* and D* biased and the customer no longer wants them on their property. No, we're not talking about adding thousands of people to the payroll, we're talking about dropping thousands from the payroll, namely; sub-contractors, who, in my opinion, do crappy jobs just so they can get a return trip out of it. It doesn't happen on all jobs, but it does happen a lot. Again, no offense to Tyork and others.
Gimme a break on the RV park thing, it must have taken a lot to run a 15' cable and aim the dish. It really doesn't take a rocket scientist to know where sse is and reaim the dish until you get a signal. You know as well as I do that house jobs can be a lot more complicated than that.
Unless you purchase your equipment, there haven't been any major installation charges for quite a while. Last year, Voom waived the 199.00 install fee, then they went with the Holiday offer for $1.00 People are not running to D* and E* because of install charges, they are running because of lousy service, usually related to install and other problems.
Sure, some people are capable of doing their own installs, the majority are not. Hire a local tech? Does that mean if the system screws up it will be up to the cx to fix it? There goes the guaranteed service plan.
I agree with you in part about most people that are ordering voom have hdtv's, but there are a lot of them that only have standard def's. The one's with sdtv's look forward to owning an hdtv but just can't afford it yet. More than you think are on fixed incomes and Voom is a splurge. Should Voom be an elite service that only the people with high end systems can afford?
Your right, they do need to smarten up. Their marketing could be a lot better. They could tier their packages, which I'm sure, will come when more channels are added, they could install the right equipment for the area the first time and reduce return trip fees, not to mention credits for service out and retain credits. Maybe all of this will change when Charlie Co. moves away from James and his shareholders, I don't know.
What I do know is that I talk with a lot of Voom customers every day, a lot of the them are very happy with Voom because of Techs like Tyork, who take pride in the quality of their jobs. Unfortunetely, those are outweighed by the ones that get installers who are only in it for the money and don't care if the system works or not before they leave. I've even had several techs calling in asking how to set up the system, and they had instructions in hand! Nice guys all, but.
