I managed to pop around this morning, and discovered that -- astounding and unheard-of, I know -- they seem to have done a shoddy job. Not a job that I would have been satisfied with, at any rate.
Reading Sky's customer help installation FAQs (here and here), I'm not sure whether what the installer's done is unsatisfactory from Sky's 'standard install' point of view, or whether he was just being a miserable git.
If anyone has any insight, particularly with regard to the standards and practices Sky expect their installers to adhere to, I'd be really grateful to hear it. Judging from what my mother has said about the visit, I have a strong suspicion that the installer was taking advantage of her age and deferential demeanour to do the absolute least he thought he could get away with. I need to ensure I have all my facts straight, because if I have to contact Sky about it I'll be going in there guns blazing.
So here's what I could see from my brief visit this morning:
- It's a single-level house, but the installer refused to put the dish on the roof, citing 'labour laws' (quote). All other houses in the neighbourhood I can see have dishes on the roof, and they couldn't possibly have all been custom installs. Sky says "any decisions regarding the installation will be at the technicians [sic] discretion if the installation is not compliant with OSH regulations", but when everyone else has a dish on the roof, and there's nothing different or special about my mother's roof, do Sky really allow their installers to use this as an all-purpose get-out-of-work-free card? Do they have specific guidelines about when a roof install is allowed / appropriate and when it isn't?
- The installer sited the dish under the eaves of the small garage to the side of the house. It's fixed to the fascia with some sort of clasp. Unfortunately the hole where the underside of the clasp goes is too big, and there's now a 7mm gap (approx) that will certainly allow moisture in, and possibly actual rain when it's raining heavily. Is this acceptable practice?
- The location of the dish means that about a third of its line of sight is obscured by the eves of the house. The box is showing signal quality of about 50% (of the bars). Am I right in thinking that this will make the install more susceptible to rain fade? Again, is this acceptable practice?
On the plus side, the installer seems to have done a lovely neat and tidy job with the cabling!
Apologies for dumping all this information here and for the lack of photos! Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to take any, but I can do if it'll be useful.
Trusted
Vocus
