We have used this man Scoob Schmidt from Sundog Home Systems for years, so we called him when we recently moved to install and connect our TV and sound system. At the end of the day, we learned from our friends and a second repair technician that he took advantage of us by misleading us about what we needed to buy, and what was really wrong with the work he did that he could never seem to get working. First, he told us we needed a sound bar that was $1000, and when we pushed back that it was too expensive, he said the best he could find was $499 (even though we have since learned others are available for $200 or $300). When he installed the TV, it was never able to maintain a connection to the Internet, even after many months of return repair visits by him. Every visit by him meant a charge for a service call to re-do the prior call's work, and a purchase of yet another piece of equipment. He never was able to make the TV maintain an Internet connection. He tried everything - he said our computer was too far away from the TV, so we must need a booster. Then he said we must need a new router, which he installed but broke after just 3 months. He also insisted that we purchase an expensive, complicated Universal Remote. We told him it was more complex than we wanted, and we would never use all the features it offered. When I asked him why we needed to buy it, or if we could just buy something simpler, he said he absolutely could not think of any other remote that could possibly do this job, even though all we wanted was a remote to control the TV. Scoob insisted we really needed a complicated remote, and we kept insisting we didn't want any of that.
Meanwhile, the TV still couldn't maintain a connection to the Internet. Scoob of course said we had two choices - buy a new TV, or install two more pieces of equipment for $400. But we couldn't buy the TV ourselves; we could ONLY buy it through him, or he wouldn't install it. That's when we called another repair technician, Jeff Slosky.
Jeff fixed everything with two simple visits. He fixed our Internet problem, with two more reliable pieces of connectivity equipment (a booster and a router) for $200 each, and his repair has worked like a charm. He also said he would never have used the booster and router Scoob installed, or such a complicated remote, and that the Samsung remote that comes with the TV would work just fine. And it is. Scoob's very complex remote is sitting in the closet, another unnecessary costly piece of equipment he insisted we had to buy, even though the free Samsung remote is working perfectly now!
The second technician Jeff Slosky was so honest, he said we shouldn't even pay him until we're sure it all works. What a different experience from Scoob, who gave us only bad advice, bad equipment, and extra charges for unneeded service calls to repair his own faulty installations. Scoob could never make what should have been a simple TV installation work as easily as Jeff did with a single visit! read more
