Failed quickstart install and odd Telewest policies

[squiggs1982]

Hi all,

Here's one for you. I got the quickstart install with Telewest on the 18th of January but, as could be predicted, it didn't work properly and I am still without a telephone line.

The engineer is coming to sort the line (finally) this Saturday, which should all be good, but I told Telewest that I wanted the TV Drive installed too. This, I admit, was the day after I had ordered the services on quickstart and was told that I would have to wait until I had activated the service and then have an engineer come out to upgrade the box as TV drive couldn't be done on quickstart.

Fair enough, I thought, not the end of the world and at least I know I won't (touch wood) have any problems with it.

However, this was before the phone line hassle. Now, I have an engineer coming out on Saturday to fix the phone line, but have been told that he can't install the TV Drive as he is a "different type of engineer"? I've been told that an engineer will come out on 16th Feb to install the TV drive.

Perhaps it's just me, but this strikes me as a rediculously inefficient way of working.

One, that Telewest has engineers who are only trained in certain parts of installs and secondly, that they then have to send out two separate engineers. They could probably halve their costs if they just multiskilled!

Anyone agree or have any idea why this might be the case?

Cheers,
squiggs

[Druchii]

Might be the case because the TV Drive is fairly new and not all engineers are trained in using/installing it?

[squiggs1982]

yeah, I suppose, but it's still a bit silly if you ask me.

Would it not have been cheaper to have paid the overtime for the engineers to come in on a course for a couple of hours, rather than send a separate engineer each time someone wants TV Drive?

[Rapid Dr3am]

Installs are not always done by TW techs they are sometimes done by outsourced partners.

Service techs repair faults and that's what they do all day, installs just put the equip in make it work (hopefully).

[Graham M]

Don't you get "Install Techs" and "Support Techs" that sort of thing, makes sense to me or they'd never get anything done.

[Gadgie]

The bloke who came to install our TV Drive box was really good, and when he was finished he took the time to show us all about it, even demonstrating it.
He even transferred that old box through to our bedroom for us, and we only pay an extra £5 a month for that as well.

[Quam256]

All the engineers and techs I know are capable of fitting all the services.
Probably the original problem you had with the phone has been booked to a service tech as a repair,the TV Drive would be booked as a install and as far as I know they dont mix the two as it causes problems with the work qouta for the techs .