It’s a sad fact that often the only face a content provider has to a customer is the lowly cable installer. It seems that more often than not, said installer is not the best representative to what could be a good company. Of course, I’m not saying all installers will set fire to a house, sleep on a customers couch, or perform a sloppy install, but when those infractions happen, everyone finds out.
Take this Charter install at my mother’s house. She just got cable for the first time in her life, not for the TV service either but the bundled telephone service; she doesn’t watch TV past the occasional newscast. My mother keeps an impeccable house and yard though and this cable install downright frustrates her for several reasons.
One, the cable was routed around the basement window well covers when the cable could have been easily routed in between the plastic covers and the house. Screwing into her aluminum siding creating a permanent hole in doing so. Plus, it looks bad as these covers are seasonal and get removed a few times a year.
The other wiring mystery involves why Charter felt the need to install another cable line within her enclosed patio when there was already one there. The new installation was performed from the outside of the house, which apparently required drilling through the external walls instead up through the outdoor open wooden deck to install the outlet right next to the original cable run (which ran under the deck, btw).
Oh, there’s more. The digital telephone service was plugged into a switchable outlet that controls one of the only basement lights. My mom told me she has grown to live with not have a light in that area and just ensures that the pathway to the washer and dryer is clear. And Charter apparently felt the need to mess with her A/V setup and disconnected two of the front channels. Why they were even messing with the receiver is a mystery as she just had the very basic, non-digital service installed.
I realize that this isn’t the worst cable install ever. There aren’t cables draping across sidewalks and nor is there a spiderweb of them hanging all over. It’s hard to blame Charter directly for the bad install — it’s not like the bankrupt company can control everything its workers do. I don’t even blame the cable installers all that much as they are probably overworked and underpaid and could care less about my mother’s home.
But come on, installers are the face of the company and a little work ethic would be great. They are getting a pay check, which after all, is better than a lot of people can say — especially in my hometown of Flint, MI.
so yeah every installation is different and there are a billion reasons why something gets done the way it gets done and not the way you think it’s going to happen. if you talked to the guy who installed it there is a fair chance that he has a very good reason for doing it the way that he did
further, your complaints are kind of ridiculous anyway, people like you who nitpick everything should go jump in a lake.
That’s a load of crap. In my experience this sort of stuff is almost always done with the ease and convenience of the installer in mind, usually to the exclusion of anything else.
Expecting someone to do their job in a professional manner isn’t being nitpicky at all, it’s not like the installer was doing any favours, they were being paid to do their job!
Are you kidding me??? THEY INSTALLED A CABLE LINE ACROSS AN AIR CONDITIONER CONVER FOR GOD’S SAKES. That thing gets removed in the summer, I mean, nitpicking??? You must be related to the Soviets who designed auto manufacturing plants to be outdoors back in the day. When birds crapped on their cars, they painted over it. Sounds like you have about the same commitment to quality work.
well…it doesnt look like he went around the ac unit…looks more like a bungie cable holding the tarp on to me. And to be truthfully honest…i would have done the same thing with the basement window. I would have used a white cable though. Running it behind the cover just leaves more problems when the go and reinstall the cover in the winter…IE crimping the wire, etc. And the secondary hole?, well who knows, you cant tell from the pictures or the article if the tech even knew the first hole was there…I work down in florida, there are dozens of holes in customers houses usually, but i do plug them with bee sealant if I dont use them.
Rushed install…yes
completely sloppy….no.
I must agree with Simon. This installer was cutting corners, especially with the window covers. It might be ok to do a half-hearted job where you work sdf, but that simply isn’t the case for a lot of us. It really just boils down to taking pride in what you’re doing, no matter what the work entails.
Yeah, that’s what you get from people that work for someone besides you.
That’s why I always try to talk to people doing any work on my house, because if I TOLD you to install it into the existing service entrance and you did not, I am raising Hell. If it says it on the work order, you aren’t getting paid.
The way things are going, I would not be surprised if the cable company subbed the work out, and the subcontractor gets paid by the install instead of the hour. That’s why I paid someone to do my DIrecTV install instead of letting someone do it “for free”. TANSTAAFL – Chicken quesadillas ain’t free, baby. Someone has to pay, one way or another.
Hey, this is the new America. We’ve become a third world country, if you haven’t noticed. Get used to it!
Talk about bad, comcast installer cut my sister’s new home’s central network cables (ALL of 10 of them) to run one phone line and internet line to upstairs!
The verizon people already professionally installed ports in the box for the phone line and internet.
you are such a pussy. you damn well do blame the install company. I feel bad for your mom in that you are too scared to call the company and hold them accountable, so now your mom is left with this crappy install.
I’m more surprised he didn’t fix the problem with the telephone plugged into the light switch. If you can’t rewire the electricals, AT LEAST get a auto dimming light for her and not let her walk in the dark!
When the installers cut all the network cables,I had to call that day and yell at them till they finally admitted wrong and sent a guy over to fix the next day.
dumbest article i have ever read.
Most cable installers are contracted workers here where I live. They do a horrid job. Verizon Fios installers here locally set an appointment and tell you in advance that the install will take at least 8 hours. Thats because they do it right. The start at the street where they auger up under your drive way into your garage, where they run the fiber, they then install the termination box, connect the “router” then they will install 3 network drops into your house doing things very professional.
Unlike the Time Wanderer installer who ran the cable through the exterior wall, then put a splitter in my office closet, drilled a hole through the wall to my living room, terminated, then put a used discolored faceplate on the wall for the living room TV, then ran a second cable along the baseboard around my office to my desk, leaving 6 feet of extra co-ax for me to try and hide.
I am waiting for FIOS to be available. Watching them do it at my friends house was inspirational. Not to mention for 20 dollars less a month I will get 4Mb more upload a month. 15 down 5 up vs 15 down 1 up.
It looks to me like the black cord around ac is not any type of cable it is too small to be rg 6 yes charter does out sorce allot of their installs looks like installer took time to put a drip loop on house and around the window is correct the reason they probbly moved cable is because the new standards state it has to be grounded outside of the home to electrical box with a clamp so that is why they might have moved it and the installers do get paid by the job
If it was me, I would demand my money back. Cable is just useless.
My friend works for a subcontractor that does charter installs. When he is given a job to do, he is told how long it will take. Anything over their “budgeted” time, is docked from his pay. The guys works long hours and depending on the install, he’s going to cut corners so that he’s not losing money from his paycheck. Not saying that its right, but I can see how an installer would do it. Charter, of course, will deny everything because it’s their subcontractor that is doing it. I’ve gone back and forth between charter and directv. My worst install by directv outshines the best install done by charter.
Just call and complain… get some free months out of it. See if they can send a different person to correct the install. If not, insist on more free months and then do it yourself.