Seems Twitter Has A Use After All

Somewhere around 5:30 last night we lost our TV satellite signal entirely. Seemed odd to me because the breeze wasn't that strong and the sky was a very lovely cloudless blue. A conversation with the uncle of a friend who also owns his own satellite TV company had lead us to believe the problem with the interrupted signal was the trees surrounding our house. What he said made sense since it fit the scenario of what was happening. However, I'm not looking forward to the high price of "new" Time Warner cable installation.  I found out that the cost of a standard installation is around $300. What will it be if we have to have cable brought to our home?

There are days when Twitter is terribly annoying to me. Makes me wonder sometimes, why I even bother with it. Fortunately for me I have an account so I know that Dish Network has a customer service account, and I'm one to feel that when you venture nothing you gain nothing. I contacted them with my problem.

It took just a few short minutes and someone with the initials RG was speaking with me. I ran a signal strength and switch test. The switch test indicated that I had lost all contact with one of the satellites and the remaining satellite was at a signal strength of 25%. It didn't change when the wind wasn't blowing which is an indication that the problem may not be the trees.

My girlfriends Uncle installs both Dish and Direct TV. However, he SELLS DirectTV equipment which means he makes more money from them. What he does is tell potential customers that Dish has a satellite that is lower in the sky so trees can be a problem. DirectTV has a higher satellite so the trees aren't a problem. I wonder how many customers he took from Dish that way? He doesn't do that to people who've all ready signed up through the 800 number, just to those who might call him directly, and to people like me with problems. He couldn't sell a system to me because I don't like DirectTV. They get you with a great introductory price and then nail you with bills that aren't the same all the time. Need to really read the fine print when it comes to DirectTV. My eyes aren't that good.

I had called him because although he wasn't the one that serviced us when we moved, he sold us our system to start out with. That was 12 years ago. I wondered, back in 2007 why Dish sent someone out from Syracuse to reconnect me but I never thought it was because of things he does.  It never occurred to me, given the time he spent on the original installation, that he wouldn't give this problem his best shot. I am now in the uncomfortable situation of knowing he's a bit on the shady side and I'm a very good friend to his niece. I'm not going to say anything to her, it's not her problem.

For the whopping sum of $15, I will be getting a service man from Dish Network to re-point my dish on The 4th of July, since that was the first available date. I'm also getting a new receiver shipped. The problem may not be the trees, it may be the receiver. Which I wouldn't have found out if I hadn't ventured to speak with Dish Answers via Twitter.

I'll know after Wednesday, which is fine with us since we aren't doing anything this year except staying home in the air conditioning. It's going to be hot summer week and I'm on shorter hours due to a client in the hospital. If we do have to switch to cable I'm going to have to bite the bullet and do it. Hubby isn't happy without his TV and he's only been without since last night. He missed Ice Road Truckers. I'm sure the next few days are going to be interesting. We will survive.