Reader Synimatik became a DirecTV customer about a year ago, and the installer bolted the dish to his deck because it would supposedly work better. The problem was that the dish faced some trees, receiving its signal over the tops of those trees. The installer assured him that these trees wouldn’t pose any problem. And trees have this unfortunate tendency to grow. Not if you ask DirecTV, though–they insist that “there [was] no way for the to know the trees would grow.” So Synimatik has to pay to have the dish relocated.

Slightly over a year ago, I had directv installed. I asked the installer if he could put the dish on my roof, to which he responded “I guess so, but it will work better on the deck. I asked him about the trees across the yard being a problem and he said they weren’t. Cut to 13 months later, all my HD channels are non functional because the dish point directly at the top of some trees. Several calls to directv yield the answers “it worked fine for a year”, “just trim the trees” (which are my neighbors trees), and “you signed off and said it was ok”.

My issue here is that while I did sign off, I took the work of what was supposed to be a “professional” installer. Who talked me out of putting it on my roof (I believe it is because he didn’t feel like climbing up there since it was winter), and instead took the easy way out. If it were on my roof as I had originally asked, the would be zero issue. But, because it is placed low and off the side of my deck, it is now pointing at trees. I am being told I have to pay for them to relocate it, because “there is no way for the to know the trees would grow.” Mind you, I voiced this concern when he installed the dish and was told not to worry.

I don’t feel as though I should have to pay for an issue that is a result of bad information, and laziness on the part of a directv installer. But, it seems that for $50, they are willing to lose what up until this point, was a happy customer.

Any useful thoughts? Aside from the usual “that’s what you get for using directv” and “I blame the OP for not installing his own dish.

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