Have I been conned into buying a new ariel?

linni

My main TV was unwatchable - blurry, breaking up and 'no signal' appears. This was connected to a Sagem Digital HDR bought from Asda about a month ago (my third HDR from them, due to the last two being faulty, although they were different makes). My second TV screen was going round and round and connected to another Asda HDR (TV guy said it was loose cable presumably when I tried to connect a second HDR). Looking into getting a Freesat dish and receivers TV guy suggested checking existing ariel installation, which was only 2 1/2 years old. He checked both TV's and said there was no signal on the main TV and hardly anything on the spare. We couldn't go for Freesat because he said I wouldn't be be able to record onto my existing HDR's and it would be too expensive to buy 2 new Freesat recorders as well (I am unable to sit or stand for long so I tape my programmes and watch them in short bursts). He advised a new (better) Ariel which he installed. Still same problem. TV guy couldn't come back till next week so we swapped round the HDR's and found that the Sagem is faulty. Although TV guy did mention it could be faulty, but we assumed that being our third box (fourth if you count the Humax we took back because it was too noisy) it probably wasn't. Should TV guy have found the problem? Would a faulty box be the cause of getting no signal? I am going to return the box to Asda's today but is it partly their fault selling me 3 duff boxes? Is there anyting I can do about it? Advice urgently needed please .

scotsbob

I think you need to find out which is faulty the tv or the aerial.

Why not borrow a working tv from a friend or neighbour and see if it works in your home. That will let you know if your aerial is at fault or not.

Irrespective of what boxes you have, why not just connect the aerial directly to your tv and see if you get a good picture on terrestial tv that should tell you if the aerial is reasonable.

linni

It was definately the Asda Sagem as we swapped HDR's round after he had gone, and the second TV was then blurry, and the main TV was OK. He arrived here straight away, and so never had time to swap them, believing him when he said his signal meter showed there wasn't a signal. Should his signal meter have showed there was a signal, even with a faulty Sagem? Took Sagem back to Asda and they didn't care that it was our third faulty HDR, and had just wasted £200 on a new ariel. How long does an ariel normally last?

Edinburghlass_2

Incidentally the noisy fan on the Humax can be sorted with a software update.

scotsbob

linni wrote: »

It was definately the Asda Sagem as we swapped HDR's round after he had gone, and the second TV was then blurry, and the main TV was OK. He arrived here straight away, and so never had time to swap them, believing him when he said his signal meter showed there wasn't a signal. Should his signal meter have showed there was a signal, even with a faulty Sagem? Took Sagem back to Asda and they didn't care that it was our third faulty HDR, and had just wasted £200 on a new ariel. How long does an ariel normally last?

A signal meter is used on the aerial without a television or receiver of any kind being attached.
If he said he got no signal then the very fact that you were getting an acceptable picture on your tv would suggest that he was wrong.

£200 pounds is a lot for an aerial especially as you probably had a pole and/or brackets already in place.

Put this in context, a reasonable quality satellite dish with brackets and fittings is around £50.

Looks like he charged you an awfully high price for labour.

linni

That what I was thought. He didn't even run new cables. I think he was counting on us needing it straight away and we were well and truly conned. I did say to him that I couldn't see how a new ariel would make a difference. How long (roughly) should an ariel last? I was wondering whether I should try going through the Small Claims Court or is there anything else I can do? Should I report him to somewhere (is there an Ariel Watchdog!) He was recommended to me buy a local shop so we are really disappointed.

Pssst

Hang on ,hang on..now give the guy a fair hearing and dont slag a tradesman off just becuase he doesnt wear a suit.

Are we talking about digital terrestrial TV here?

Your existing tv aerial should be wideband and suitable for DTV. If it isnt wideband then you will have trouble with some channels and maybe a lot of channels if your in a fringe area or your antenna is for primary service area.

So then,does your antenna fit that requirement? If not it would probably need upgrading.

Whilst upgrading,it may or may not be necessary to upgrade the pole,brackets,downlead or any combination of the three.

Are you using more than one tv on the same aerial?

If so,you need to use a proper distribution amplifier not some kind of three way adaptor or similar.

Remember,we are dealing with RF signals here,not DC current.

How does all that check out?

Remember,tradesmen have overheafds and you cannot expect them to come to your house and do work for £20 or 30 over the cost of buying something in B & Q.

scotsbob

Pssst wrote: »

Hang on ,hang on..now give the guy a fair hearing and dont slag a tradesman off just becuase he doesnt wear a suit.

Are we talking about digital terrestrial TV here?

Your existing tv aerial should be wideband and suitable for DTV. If it isnt wideband then you will have trouble with some channels and maybe a lot of channels if your in a fringe area or your antenna is for primary service area.

So then,does your antenna fit that requirement? If not it would probably need upgrading.

Whilst upgrading,it may or may not be necessary to upgrade the pole,brackets,downlead or any combination of the three.

Are you using more than one tv on the same aerial?

If so,you need to use a proper distribution amplifier not some kind of three way adaptor or similar.

Remember,we are dealing with RF signals here,not DC current.

How does all that check out?

Remember,tradesmen have overheafds and you cannot expect them to come to your house and do work for £20 or 30 over the cost of buying something in B & Q.

As I understand it, he didn't charge £20 or £30 he charged £200 and there was no improvement.

linni

I had a proper ariel installed about 2 1/2 years ago, in preparation for the digital switchover. I was actually enquiring about having a Freesat dish when he offered to come and check out the ariel for me as he thought it would be easier to sort out but. after testing it, the choice was either pay £200 for a new ariel or £200 for a Freesat dish, + the price of two new (Freesat HDR) and he said that we would be better off going for just a new ariel as Freesat didn't give us more than we had already. I am not saying he forced me into it, just that I couldn't understand how a new ariel would solve the problem and I was right, it didn't, so I should have some rights for him charging for not solving the problem. The question was whether his equipment should have showed that there was a signal and this has being answered by Scotsbob. I am not accusing anyone, whether wearing a suit or not! I am just trying to find out whether I am justified in asking for a refund/discount as I took his word that a new ariel would solve the problem and it did not.

linni

In answer to your other part of the question, the original ariel had two seperate cables one to each room where there is a TV. I agree that his time should not be free but paying £200 for not sorting the problem and installing an ariel that didn't need replacing is a bit much.

Edit, old ariel was 13dbm AMP with 2 way splitter if it helps.

scotsbob

I think that you should firstly give him an opportunity to put things right. If that fails then you ask for a refund. The Small Claims Court is your resort if he refuses.