it has been my experience throughout the years that cable TV installers have less experience in their field than an 8 year old. Time and time again I can think of appointments with a cable installers where they caused more harm than damage. If it weren’t for needing them to authorize the drop, I would be better off installing my own cable for myself and my friends/family.
When I moved into my apartment two years ago, I already had my television and stereo system set up, with all A/V cables going through my receiver (so that I could change between cable/DVD/PS2 with one button press). I even left the s-video and RCA audio cables out and a spot reserved on the shelf for the cable box. Nope. The installer insisted on putting the box ON TOP of the TV, and using coax to connect it to the TV, despite my objections to his face. And then he wondered why he couldn’t get any audio afterwards (because the TV’s internal speakers were turned off)…after he left, I had to pull it all apart and set it up the way I wanted originally. Now, before I moved in, the house was wired for satellite. The previous renter left the dish on the roof, but I chose not to resubscribe to DirecTV. The cable installer’s answer to making the change - SLICING the line from the roof. It didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, since I wasn’t planning on using the dish, but now if I ever change my mind, or if a future renter chooses to use it, we’ll have to climb back onto the roof and install a new line.
Fast forward to this weekend. My dad just moved into his new house. The previous owner left a dish on his roof, and my dad intends to use DirecTV, primarily for NFL season pass, but also chose to get cable installed. He let the cable installer do his work, since he had other things to tend to. His house has three HDTV’s in it…they only hooked up ONE of them with a HDTV-compatible box, and STILL plugged it in with coax, so that he couldn’t even receive a true HD signal on the HD channels. Fortunately he still had the component cables leftover from before he moved, which I had to plug in when I was over there yesterday. Oh, and he ALSO sliced the satellite line from the roof, and unlike my apartment building, this is a 3 story house with no fire escape, so it isn’t exactly an easy task climbing up there and running a new line. I am recommending that he demand the cable company pay for the professional re-installation of a new satellite, as well as a new visit to the house to put HD boxes on his other two TV’s. If the installation wasn’t already free, he should have refused to pay for it.
Why the hell can’t these cable guys ever do ANYTHING right? Is the only thing they’re ever taught is “put the box on top of the TV, coax in, coax out, if you see a competitor’s wire, slice it”?