There are six words that you never want to hear from someone who’s doing work on your home: “Do you have a fire extinguisher?” That’s what an Ohio family heard from the man installing DirecTV in their house this week. Turns out that what they thought was drywall dust was smoke, and the installer had hit the house’s main power line while drilling in the garage. Oops. [More]
installers
Home Depot Leaves Me With A Concrete Condo Floor And An Awful Lot Of Supplies
By 9.13.12
Navid’s idea wasn’t bad: he wanted to install wood floors in his condo, and chose to hire installers from the store where he bought the flooring and supplies, Home Depot. This should be a simple transaction: he gives them money, they come over and put floors in his condo. It’s just that something that employees assured Navid wouldn’t be a problem suddenly became a problem. There’s a large dip and some cracks in his subfloor, and Home Depot’s original rough estimate for how much it would fix to cost the problem was much lower than it should have been. Navid agreed to pay that expense, and the contractors walked off the job anyway, saying that they wouldn’t be able to warranty the work. Now Navid is stuck with a lot of supplies and a ripped-up floor. [More]
Verizon Hold Times Inspire Song On M.I.A.'s Next Album
By 1.12.10
According to Rolling Stone, when M.I.A.’s new album comes out later this year, there will be a track on it called “I’m Down Like Your Internet Connection”–and it will feature “Filipino Verizon workers singing the hook.” [More]
Comcast Installer Robs Check Cashing Store
By 7.9.09
Hey dumb crooks, if you’re going to rob a place be sure not to wear a uniform with your company’s name on it and drive a van plastered with a nationally recognized logo. It makes it really easy for the police to catch you. On second thought, do just that, please.
Is This Rogue Installer Running A Scam On Comcast Customers?
By 6.26.09
If you live near Burke, Virginia, you might want to pay close attention when the contractor hired by Comcast comes to install your service. Rick runs a computer repair company and has twice run into the same problem with Comcast customers, where they can no longer access the Internet after an upgrade and are offered an off-the-books repair service.
Got A Verizon Installation Problem? Tell Us Where It Took Place
By 4.18.09
Might I make a suggestion for further Verizon Customer Issue articles? It would be helpful to know where the incident took place. As I’m sure you know, different parts of the county have different installation teams. Here in the New England region, installations are handled by real Verizon employees. Where in other areas, they contract installations to a third party that pass themselves off as Verizon. Also most regions have a VP email address for employees to help expidite such issues.
FiOS Installer Drills Through Wife's Wedding Dress
By 4.17.09
A Verizon FiOS installer showed up yesterday to install the service in Sam’s house, but misjudged the location of the laundry room by 4 feet and drilled directly into the closet where his wife kept her wedding dress.
Comcast Fixes Customer's Modem Problem After Stinky Installer Man Disappears
By 3.5.09
Earlier today, Jessica wrote to us about her Comcast horror story: there was something that smelled terrible, and the smell was coming from inside her apartment! He also hooked up her replacement modem incorrectly, so it still didn’t work, then said he’d be right back and drove off forever. Luckily, she was able to steal enough wifi to send an email to Comcast, and as of now the problem has been resolved.
DirecTV Installer: You Can't Have DirecTV. Stop Trying.
By 8.24.08
Mark had an impossible request for DirecTV: a one-line DVR and a SWM (Single Wire Multiline) Dish. Sure, it might seem like a normal work order, but the subcontracted installer, Bluegrass Satellite, couldn’t secure permission to install the necessary components even after several three-way calls with DirectTV. One exasperated installer explained that Mark wasn’t eligible to receive the equipment and gently told him: “[You] cannot have DirecTV and should stop trying.”
DirecTV Installer Faces Seven Years Behind Bars After Stealing $5,400 From A Customer
By 7.20.08
21-year-old DirecTV installer Arthur Christian faces felony grand larceny charges after allegedly stealing $5,400 from a locked safe while working unsupervised in a customer’s basement.
DirecTV Installer Arrives, Poops, And Leaves, But Doesn't Install DirecTV
By 6.18.08
It’s hard to fit everything you need to do into an average day, but this ingenious DirecTV installer found a way to show up late to his appointments, take a break for lunch, and drop the kids off at the pool—all before 5pm! Now if only he’ll remember to bring a ladder with him the next time so he can actually complete the installation.
