1 year and 9 months and it's not fixed?! After 2 months, I would have gotten it fixed myself and sent them the bill.

I am really confused why she hasn't been more aggressive in this long time frame. At what point does she decide to file a claim? Seems like she could have called the local TV Investigative reporter to stir things up. Hell, almost two years later before trying a website?

I have to guess she signed up for EDT Energy too.

Lesson to anyone reading, DON'T DRAG ASS SO LONG!! Take care of it quickly. If they don't respond, then you just get it fixed and sue them for it.

That repair is about an hours work total. They can't get someone out there??

While you're waiting, why not tape a bag or something around the edges of the hole so you can avoid heating your attic.

@homerjay:

Nope that is a much larger and expensive job; they know it and are stalling! The fact that they only put a patch there and there is a gap leads me to ask is there vapour barrier there and if so they have all ready don't the job wrong.

The patch it self with cutting the hole bigger to tie in the vapour barrier and the use of sheetrock 20 would take about an 2 hours or so with drying and sanding but the textured ceiling can not be patched the whole thing has to be re-done or it will show.

Personally I would get it fixed properly and go the small claims route then trusting them to send some one out that will most likely lead to the lowest grade of work for the company to save cost.

@homerjay: Done properly, the repair is a lot more than an hour's work. I don't know if you noticed, but that's a textured ceiling. The texture around the patch needs to be scraped off, the edges around the patch need to be taped. mudded and sanded at least twice. Then that needs to dry and the ceiling needs to be painted with a textured paint. It appears that the texture was flattened with a trowel or something, so that will need to be done also. And, it will need to be blended into the rest of the ceiling.

The scraping and respraying the texture will create a mess, so plastic sheeting will need to be hung around it and there will be some cleanup needed.

Even if the ceiling wasn't textured, it's at least a 2-day job -- you have to mud and paint, and you can't paint on wet mud.

@homerjay: No way an hour to repair it. It would take that long just to get the new drywall installed correctly, Then you have to let joint compound dry, sand it, recoat....texture....dry...primer....paint...paint.

After about 1 week I would have become the #1 person on their phone lines and email. Everyone working there would know me by name, and I don't care WHAT they call me. :) Document it, have it repaired and SUE THEM.

For no - lay some wood or something else sturdy in attic to cover holes, cover with insulation. Won't affect looks, but will insulate it.

I'd have called a contractor and had it fixed, then sent them the bill. If they stalled on that, go to small claims court.

Who waits 21 months? The same type of person who pays $49 for "free installation" because it is "standard." Bad service continues because consumers continue to take "no" for an answer.

This same thing happened to my mother when she got her DirecTV installed. The difference, however, is that the damage was completely paid for by DirecTV. That was at least 6 or 7 years ago. I'll have to ask her if the company gave her any hassle about it.

Don't forget to add the estimated cost of heating / cooling that the gap has caused for the past 1.9 years, in your small claim!

I am not a lawyer, but this seems straightforward: hire a reputable contractor (not your Uncle Fred). Get the work done. Take the both Ironwood and DirecTV to small claims court. Show your evidence of having filed claims, and been blown off, and the judge will almost certainly award you the costs of the repairs, plus reasonable compensation for the amount of time that you've spent fooling with them.

Do NOT be so passive.

i would have filed suit the within the first 30 days this wasn't resolved. it's sad that consumers don't even know what their options are when being mis-treated by a place.

I sure as hell wouldn't sit around for more than a week without escalating.

Your letters are probably hanging in their bedroom for them to laugh at and high five each other over donuts.

This is the type of situation that lawsuits are designed for. What is amusing - their lawyer will probably deny that any record of mailing exists (because you probably didn't send certified) and you probably damaged the ceiling yourself to get a lawsuit going.

You'll feel violated, yet you'll keep paying them a monthly fee because you are a weak willed individual.

Please prove me wrong.

For god's sake, this should have been filed in small claims court 18 months ago! Evidently these companies have caught on to the fact that the complaintant is waffling and not doing anything. I'm starting to wonder whether the money can be legally recovered anymore since so much time passed.

You should also complain to the county you live in. For example, I had a sunroom installer drag their ass in completing my sunroom. After a month, I complained to Summit County, OH and they sent a letter revoking their license to work in the county. They also ordered all work in progress halted until they finish my sunroom. You mileage may vary...

The light fixture in their hallway resembles a female breast...

1.send a certified letter to Ironwood and direct TV. Get 2 estimates. The drywall patch will need to span from joist to joist. 3. After 15 days file in small claims. You will need your prior proofs of certified delivery to show the judge.

@cef21:

It might be a 2 day job, but just because you have to wait for it to dry on day one. Maybe a 3 "day" job, but each trip will maybe be 1-1.5 hours.

Heck, at least they didn't burn her house down.

Don't jump on HOMERJAY. I think he was talking figuratively. I know I'm always saying about an hour to do a job....then 3 days later.....
She should have been on them constantly.Like once a week.Eventually someone would want to make it go away. Reminds me though, back in 2004 WalMart dropped an impact wrench on my brand new alloy wheel leaving a huge dent. I need to call them and see if they're going to replace it.

Cable contractors are just that, they run cable, drill holes in walls etc. They are not a handyman, or drywall company and it's likely that they are not licenced/insured to repair a hole in your ceiling even if they wanted to.

If you want a repair done right open the phone book and find a handy man or drywall company who handles repairs and get a few quotes.

Then you can choose to have the repairs done and "Bill Ironwood" asking for compensation, straight up ask them to pay for the repair, or take them to small claims court.

The install tech should sue her for pain and suffering.

@topgun: It was more of a reference to "The Money Pit"
:)

Gee--I hope her agreement with Direct TV doesn't include an arbitration clause!

Her homeowner's insurance should cover damage like this. She should file a claim and let the insurance company deal with the cable people.

@cef21:

I'm thinking the same. An afternoon's work at most. I just had to do the same thing in my finished basement ceiling due to a water leak.

Square the drywall, cut out a new piece, (just cut it at Home Depot,) screw it in, seal with tape and joint compound and viola.

I have "popcorn" ceiling too - but the only bad thing is the texture spray doesn't always match perfectly. You might need to dirty it up a bit.

@kjherron:

I would NEVER file an homeowners insurance claim for something like this. You actually want a "ding" and pay the deductible when the supplies to repair are less than $20???

Yeah it sucks it has to be done - but still

p.s. if I come over and do it I'll install a new light fixture for you too.

@jerros: exactly. i don't really know why she's surprised that a cable company sent her a cable technician. i'm with all those who say she should've gotten it fixed & then filed to recover costs. & heck, if a *foot* was able to break my ceiling/floor, i think i might want my whole house checked out to make sure it wouldn't happen again...

I have zero sympathy for "Deborah" in this case - and where do you expect whining to Consumerist will get you? If you're willing to write a short book about the incident, get off your ass and sue the bastards.

@jamesdenver: well, sure, if you can fix it yourself and don't mind letting the installer off the hook, then that's an option. Apparently it isn't for the OP, or she would have fixed it by now.

Regarding insurance, if they collect from the installer, they should reimburse the woman's deductible. Or they may decide it's not worth trying to collect and waive the deductible. Worst case, the homeowner has to pay the deductible and then try to collect it from the installer, which is still a better position than she's in now.

It wouldn't hurt for her to at least talk to her agent. Hopefully the time limit to file a claim hasn't elapsed.

I have DirecTV and love it. It's probably because I don't live in Ironwood territory. This is one of many horror stories I've heard about them.

I would start the small claims court process, but also fire off an EECB letting them know that the small claims process was starting. Threaten to switch your cable, and let them know that your story has already been featured on the Consumerist. But you have to follow through with the small claims process, don't let them call any bluff.

I'm a bit surprised the EECB hasn't come up, I guess everyone was too busy blaming the lady.

Yes. I agree. Sue in Small Claims Court. If they don't show, you win.

A patch is pretty simple, I used to hang and tape drywall for a living. She shouldn't have let this sit around so long, should have gotten 3 estimates, and then sent the ceo of DirectTV a build, then followed up with a small claims suit.

I'm on the lack of sympathy board on this one. You don't wait almost 2 years to fix a small hole in the ceiling. You give them a time frame to fix it and when they don't, you get it done yourself, bill the one responsible for damage, and if they don't pay you take them to court. This is not a pricey job either so small claims court would resolve it very fast. Basic liability insurance would cover this and aren't all licensed contractors required to cover a minimum amount of liability insurance?

@kjherron: Probably a $500 deductible and then I doubt the insurance company would do anything towards Direc TV. My son had a 6 month old GM car catch on fire and totaled itself. I suggested that they pursue an engineering flaw since I saw a number of postings similar. No, they just yawned, paid the vehicle off and increased his premiums.

@sibertater: And the fun thing you get to do with an uncooperative defendant in a civil case is to pay for collection service from the local law enforcement. They tend to do things like confiscate their equipment, garnish their cash registers, and even padlock their place of business.

Don't complain; get even!

@armour: "is there vapour barrier there"

In the US vapor barriers aren't widely used between the ceiling and the attic.

@joeblevins: Uhm, she did call them, got advice to wait X days for processing, called back after that long, what's the problem with you people? She tried to get it fixed and tried to work with them. I guess that isn't good enough anymore -- if people don't jump into court on the first day, people complain. Then we want to know what this country is so sue-happy. If people would try to stay out of court until it was obvious nothing else would do the trick, we wouldn't have the aforementioned bad reputation.

I wonder if there is a case how like with Apartments when your renting and there is a damage how you don't have to pay till the manager fixes it.

I love americans. They bitch about the government not being able to do anything, but they let private entreprise screw-up mightily, saying nothing at all.

@armour: I was gonna say "textured ceiling = more than an hour". If you look at it every day, you'll always see where it's not quite right. Depends on your tolerance to stuff like that.

@segfault: I have the same light fixture. It's the breast of a female who was wearing a corduroy bra for far too long.

Yes, the installation company should pay for the repair. But if this is causing inconveniences and higher heating and air conditioning repairs, get on the phone to a repairman and get it installed and then get reimbursed. If you are afraid you won't get reimbursed and don't want to be out a large sum of money, repair it yourself. Look up "drywall repair" online for free, and then go to Lowe's and buy a pack of drywall repair clips ($4 maybe), a small $4 piece of patching drywall, and a $5 quart bucket of joint compound. You'll probably need some drywall screws ($2.50 for a box), paper tape ($1.50, maybe) and a taping knife ($5 or so). If you can afford that and then can set aside no more than half an hour a day for three days, you can do this job. The texture on the ceiling will mean that you don't have to worry about sanding your joints perfectly smooth. After you're done with all that, go buy a $25 gallon of ceiling paint and a roller/tray kit (maybe $15?). That's between $50 and $60 to repair it yourself--still a cost that the installer should cover. It beats all your hot air in the winter escaping through the hole into the attic.

@Buran: Um, most scams run the same way...just keep sending them money, they promise the repairperson is on the way! Yeah Yeah, that's the ticket!

90 days is enough due diligence to allow Ironwood/Dewrecked(sic)TV the problem. Escalating is a confrontational action. Most people avoid confrontation with the assumption that the threat of it is enough to make someone capitulate. Unfortunately, you are dealing with a company that does not get intimidated and does not value customer satisfaction with the same type of weight.

Small Claims court, the BBB, Angie's list (where applicable) are all avenues in which pressure, brought to bear by a larger entity is often enough to convince the defendant that resolution is far less expensive.

@armour: @DallasDMD: @sibertater: and others:
She can't sue in small claims. Well, maybe she can sue Ironwood, but not DirectTV. DirectTV still has manditory arbitration clauses in their "Customer Agreement," which you get stuck with when you receive their service:[www.directv.com]
See section 9,a-d inclusive.
By receiving their service, she's agreed not to take them to ANY court EVER...except of course for her constitutional right to participate in a class action.
Surprising no one caught onto this yet, since they got in trouble for sneaking shitty arbitration clauses prohibiting customer participation in class actions into their contracts a few years ago, and got their asses handed to them by the courts.

@kjherron:

I agree that the they should make the installer responsible - agree 100%. But having heard stories of homeowners insurance dropping customers I would never get them involved over something so benign. It just seems like a very bad idea.

Anyway that's a whole 'nother issue too: Insurance companies that get made and drop you after you file claims.

Get it fixed, gather all the information possible on the installer, then take Ironwood to small claims court, suing them for the cost of repairs plus difference in heating/cooling costs.

Well at the risk of being "master of the obvious". If an insurance company is going to drop a client for a $35-$40 claim it would probably be best for you to find a new insurance company anyway. If they drop you for a $40 claim imagine what would happen if you have a real serious problem which is going to cost thousands of dollars to repair.