Technician not showing up for appointed time

Nope, DTV like other companies is still understaffed.

Me too.  Last two Mondays in a row... I had a technician appointment and they never showed up.

Between Dish and now DirecTV, this has happened to us FOUR times in the past month. I learned from one of the service reps tonight that these techs can pick and choose from what jobs they want to take and may or may never take yours. Meanwhile, their reps text us with guarantees of appointments and exact times of installation. They say anything to get us off the phone. 

I think these companies may want to rethink this strategy before enough of us get pissed enough to start talking to lawyers. 

Imagine ordering a pizza and the delivery guy can just be like eh whatever. I don't feel like taking that. That seems to be the business model we're dealing with. What kind of service makes the customer beg and plea to get what they are paying for, or trying to pay for? Why guarantee an appointment if the tech can just shrug it off and never show? We have now waited a combined 30 hours for a technician that would never come. 

@MillerFam4343 

Not to come out rude or anything but you clearly don’t understand how satellite technicians work. They get paid for each job they complete, not individually per hour. Next, they are required every day to perform a set of jobs in a satisfactory way, pleasing customers like you and me. Finally, they constantly deal with delays in equipment, installation necessities, and overall EPE. The life of a satellite technician isn’t easy, and I know it.

Now, to answer your question, as others have mentioned over and over, these companies are Short-staffed ever since the pandemic. DISH, DIRECTV, the local cable provider in your town, they all have issues. If that’s not your style waiting for a tech to come out, I suggest you try streaming. Quite cheaper and doesn’t need the constant waiting for techs to come out and fix error code 771 for example. Again, not trying to come out rude, just thought I’d explain to you what REALLY happens. 

AFAIK techs don't know what jobs they are going to until the computer tells them.

@shannon02 

Correct I was just telling the poster that the tech can’t just ‘choose’ what jobs to do and not do. Whatever jobs are assigned to them each day they must do in a satisfactory manner unless otherwise told. 

You are limited to binding arbitration so don't waste your money on a lawyer.

@detuch254 

Okay then, since you are the self-proclaimed expert, tell me why a customer service rep from the company just told me that they do pick and choose? Assuming you aren't an employee (why would we ever assume that?), was the service rep misled by what he saw on the tech side of their database? I was merely repeating what I was told. I think you need to provide more than opinion before trying to speak as an authority, because I spoke with someone who works there. Do you disagree? 

On your next point -- which is supposedly moot because techs "can't pick and choose," and the company definitely doesn't overbook their lack of employees; say, if my address is far away from the other customers and will cause them to get less jobs with other customers done, and therefore less money... Who am I kidding? You're the expert. There is definitely nothing neglectful or nefarious going on. If the techs have no say in what they do, why are they not showing up? Why do we receive texts telling us that the tech will be here within the next 90 minutes and then they don't come all day? Are you saying that the company is at fault by promising their arrival, and thus lying to their customers? Who is at fault? I just want the service that I ordered. 

You mentioned streaming. To that point, some of us live in distant rural locations without good options for internet, and that's why having the dish we ordered is just about the only option. This is why it gets extremely frustrating to wait day after day on no-show technicians. 

On this forum employees of either company are identified as such with a box saying they are employees and are here on their own time and can't speak for the company.  CSRs have no contact with techs, they may not be in the same state.  No one here knows why you where told that.

@shannon02 So why did someone reply implying that it was incorrect, if nobody knows? Look, I thank you for your input. I await word from an employee who can answer these questions. Why send a text message saying that the tech will arrive soon if no tech is coming? Why promise an  appointment if it cannot be fulfilled? If staffing is the issue, which I fully understand, why not ease up on the scheduling so that these appointments can be fulfilled? Why are we constantly putting our lives on hold to be constantly stood up? That is why I'm frustrated. There seems to be a very serious disconnect between sects in these companies. I'm a pretty patient guy, but after 4 all-day no-shows from these techs, holy crap I am getting fed up.

@MillerFam4343 

If you want official word, you call DirecTV. It is possible that a current (but on personal time) employee, or former one, might respond in the forum but it shouldn't be expected.

But from what has been said by employees before on the forum, and people I knew who did work for DirecTV, over the phone agents work with a scheduling system. They see a calander up to 30 days out and schedule and available slot. They have no interaction with the techs at all, only can see if any notes one might have left on an appointment.

As for the text, I can only guess on that. I do know someone who was an installer a while back, so perhaps he knows of some issues that might affect it, but that info I don't think will be helpful.

Unfortuantely the short staffing of techs, and I daresay the ration of quality ones to not, are a huge problem right now. And that is not just for DirecTV. It seem it will take a long time to get back to anything resembling normal staffing levels.

In normal circumstances, after 4 no-shows and prior complaints over the phone which hopefully were sent as a Field Service Request (FSR) complaint that goes to the techs and their leadership, I would suggest a BBB complaint. That goes to the corporate level and usually results in contact back within the near future. However, per the staffing issues that have discussed, I don't have high hopes of that making a big difference in this exact situation. But maybe it puts a bigger spotlight on a group of techs that are increasingly becomming a problem.

@Juniper Thank you. I'm giving it one more shot before going that route and hopefully it won't come to it. The reps I've spoken with have constantly mentioned that they were "sending notes," and whatever else. They've pushed our installation out another week again, and hopefully the guy will show up this time. Not getting my hopes up though. DirecTV sounds like a really sweet service and I am excited to watch my local sports teams. I just wish we could access it.