Installers arrived about 9 am. The team consisted of three men; two who did the work and another who arrived later and seemed to be tutoring them. I tried to keep clear, both to stay out of their way and to avoid putting them off.
It was pretty obvious that the installers didn't know what type of roof they'd be dealing with, nor the type of setup they would need to remove once they'd finished the new installation. At first, they wanted to take my VAST dish! I'd given that information when I first applied online and again by 'phone on 9 May. That the installers didn't know speaks volumes about the information management of both NBN™ and Skybridge.
The job seemed to go OK. I signed off and the installers left. Then I turned on my VAST satellite TV. The box reported no signal.
In retrospect, I had noticed that one of the installers repeatedly ran his climbing rope over the top of the dish. Every time that installer put weight on the rope, the dish took pressure. I think the same installer used the dish to steady himself a couple of times as well. He wasn't wearing a safety harness. The tutor sounded alarmed about that. It never occurred to me that the dish might have moved, until my TV didn't work.
First thing in the morning, lodged a complaint via the contact form on the Skyidge web site.
During the day, tried to find someone to come out and fix my VAST setup. Failing at that, I Googled how to do the job myself. Found the advice confusing. At my age, I'd prefer not to take risks climbing a 32°-pitched corrugated iron roof.
Around 11:30 am, followed up by 'phone on 1300881380. The operator identified herself a "Rachael". I gave my mobile number for contact and referred to the complaint lodged via the web, which includes email contact details.
Still not able to find anyone to fix the problem. Asking around, there's nobody local whom anyone is prepared to recommend.
Followed up in the morning via Skybridge's web form, then around 3 pm by 'phone. The operator identified herself a "Stephanie".
I said that, as I'd first lodged my complaint early Tuesday, the next step will be the ombudsman. Gave a deadline of 8 am tomorrow.
Operator put me on hold for a while, then came back with:
- supervisor is "looking into it" and
- will call tomorrow.
Couldn't give me a time.
I was later informed
that:
"Skybridge isn't a member of the
TIO so you can't lodge a complaint against them. I suspect Fair Trading
in your State would be the way to go if you can't get any satisfaction
from Skybridge's Manager. Consumers can't lodge TIO complaints against
Hills Industries, Ericsson or nbn co either."
Inspecting the dish from the ground, I noticed that the cable has been
dislodged.
One or two cable-ties are missing. The remnants of one are visible at the
right-hand end. Perhaps, flailing for a handhold, the installer only
managed to grab the cable rather than the brace to which it was tied.
Breaking a cable-tie takes considerable force, which increases the
probability of associated damage.
The LNB
on my VAST dish.
Intact cobwebs indicate that the LNB hasn't been disturbed. Movement of
the dish as a whole, however, may have compromised its skew setting.
Nearing 5 pm, with no contact from Skybridge, attempted to lodge a complaint via Fair Trading's online form. One of the questions is: how did you pay and how much?
Presumably, Fair Trading (in NSW at least) is only for goods or services that I paid for directly. In this case, I paid indirectly through the taxation system. Looks like NBN™ is my only option for lodging a complaint.
An extra little niggle. The wall plate has been installed upside-down.
Lodged 2:46 pm via Skybridge's web
form:
"I've not received the return call that
I was promised for Friday. The saga is documented at
<http://david.boxall.id.au/201605/>
Do you honestly want to take the risk of forcing this old bugger to climb onto a 32 degree pitched roof?"
Message on answering machine from "Simone" of Skybridge. Apparently, the team member that I took for a tutor is actually the employer of the other two members. He's also a qualified satellite TV technician. I'm to contact him (mobile number supplied) to arrange a time to "... come out ... to have a look ...".
Before I had time to make that call, he rang. Not able to give a definite time, but should be out by the end of this week.
I 'phoned Skybridge to confirm that the installer and I had spoken. The operator sounded confused; evidently, she couldn't find any record in Skybridge's systems, but agreed to pass on a message.
"Katerina" called from Skybridge to confirm that the installer had contacted me. It seems the message didn't get through.
Opting not to wait for a call, I texted the installer. His answer is that he expects be be here about mid day tomorrow.
Problem solved! Sort of.
Installer arrived about 11 am and got my VAST service working as well as
it ever has. In the process, he pointed out that a tree has grown into the
satellite aperture (the area of sky through which the signal passes) and
my low noise block is well past its use-by date. My service was probably
close to failure, so it didn't take much to tip it over the edge.
He agreed to come back to move the dish and replace the LNB. Without this incident, I wouldn't have known. As Monty Python sang, 'Always look on the bright side'. :)
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