Reader Mark ordered DirecTV and waited patently for the installer. And waited. And rescheduled. And waited. Luckily, Mark knew that he might want to order DirecTV in the future, and he’d made a note of CEO Chase Carey’s email address when we posted it.

A few weeks ago (or possible months) Consumerist published Directv CEO Chase Carey’s email address. I filed it away because I was considering a subscription to Directv for the future. Earlier this month I responded to an advertised offer from DirectSatTV, a Directv reseller, and had a bad install experience. I sent the following email to DirectSat Customer Service but used the Chase Carey email as a “cc”.

Message: Unbelievably Poor Customer Service So Far
I placed an order for a satellite system on 5/7/08. Installation was scheduled for May 20, 1:00-6:00. Agent called but did not come to my house after talking to me. I phoned again at 6:00 PM on 5/20 and rescheduled for today, May 26 between 1:00-5:00. No one called; no one came.

So far I have given up one-half day of work and one-half day of vacation waiting for an installer who never arrived. My prior television provider was disconnected May 18.

I am very disappointed in the lack of service I have received so far and to say the least, I am rather upset. Is this typical for DirectSat and Directv?

What must I do to get this system installed?

The next day I received a phone call from a nice lady who identified herself as “Michelle from Directv”. She told me that Directv was taking over my account from DirectSat and asked when could they have an installer at my house. I told her that the next day at 5:00 PM would be good. She told me that a “master installer” would be there—which he was. Michelle phoned me four times during the course of the install to check on his progress. The installer’s supervisor also phoned him numerous times to make sure the job was going well. The installer truly did an outstanding job going far beyond minimal expectations. I talked with him while he worked and he told me that “everyone” in their company saw my email. He said it was labeled OOP (Office of the President). I said to him, “I’m really ‘nobody’ other than an informed consumer”. He said, “Well, you’re somebody today”.
I could not be more pleased with the service I received from Directv after DirectSat let me down. I also could not be more pleased that I’m a Consumerist reader! I read the blog every day through Google Reader (RSS feed).
Thank you very much!
Mark
Dallas, TX

Hooray! If you’re having problems with a DirecTV installer, there’s no reason they shouldn’t hear about it. Here’s that contact information again.

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