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The good, the bad, and the ugly - discover what customers are saying about Ironwood Communications

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On this page, you'll find a comprehensive collection of reviews and complaints from real customers who have used Ironwood Communications's products or services. Our reviews are authentic and unbiased, providing you with a complete picture of the company, its products or services, and their customer service.

Whether you're considering doing business with Ironwood Communications, or you've already had an experience with them, our community's reviews and complaints will give you a valuable perspective on what to expect. Our goal is to help you make informed decisions about where to invest your time and money, and we hope that our platform will be a valuable resource for you.

Please feel free to browse our reviews and complaints and share your own experience with Ironwood Communications. Your feedback is an important part of our community and will help others make informed decisions.

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5:27 pm EDT

Ironwood Communications No show and lies

I had an appt for 12-4 today to fix a console that doesn't work. I received a phone call from someone stating a bunch of technicians called in; please call and unrecognizable number to reschedule. I called DirectTV at 4:30 and they conference called the installation company, Ironwood Communications. The notes the "operator" for Ironwood read from a work order states no one was home. I told DirecTV that was not true, I have not left my home at all today, then they told the DirecTV customer service that my second contact number was busy and they couldn't get a hold of me... I never gave them a second number. The operator was unable to get a hold of dispatch to find out what was going on and I asked that they call me back. I called back at 4:55pm and now at 5:30 I am still on hold waiting to speak with the dispatch supervisor and have no answers. The operator keeps getting back on the line trying to get me to reschedule and take a day off work and have me pay $100 for them to come fix their equipment that is not working! To top it off, they can not give me the number to dispatch because it is private!

I have seen six web sites with complaints regarding Ironwood for DirecTV installations, doesn't seem like DirecTV cares much, they have already billed me and marked my order as completed!

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lloyd
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Oct 06, 2008 10:35 am EDT

Ironwoods Communications has had so many complaints, over such a long time, that DirectTV must not care. Ironwood did to me yesterday (on 10.05.008) the same things I 've just read others' complaints about. Ironwood failed to show up during the 4-hour window I was told (by DirectTV) that they would be at my house to work on my DirectTV dish; then failed to show up during the subsequent 2-hour window, a DirecTV person had assured me they would certainly show up; then, an hour and a half after that second appointment time had passed, when it was too dark to work on the dish, a man banged on my door and was standing on my porch, apparently drunk (this man - Hugo - had a DirecTV identification badge on his shirt); and when I verbally expressed my extreme anger at Hugo's incompetence, he shrugged, said that he knew I was upset, that he'd done everything he could do, and left.

"Ironwood Communications" should not be allowed to be a fake, dummy entity-ruse-and-runaround for DirectTV. "Hugo", his supervisor "Isiah", and Isiah's supervisor "Dave" -- all employees of DirecTV -- should be fired. And/or DirecTV should be reported to the Federal Communications Commission.

But any remedy aimed at DirecTV or Ironwood is meaningless. DirecTV is an international corporation and considers itself above the law in the United States -- that is, above the criminal law, the civil law, and administrative law, in the United States. So I just say, if you live in Benicia, California, and need your DirecTV dish worked on, GOOD LUCK. And get used to calling DirecTV and rescheduling the work on your dish, until you GET LUCKY, and your schedule fits in with the schedules of the most incompetent and least responsive individuals working for DirecTV.

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V. James Flotta
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Aug 22, 2008 3:37 pm EDT

NOTE TO DIRECTV:
Incompetence is hurting your business. I googles Ironwood Install No Show. You try it. I was amazed at the amount of people who have the same story of no shows. You cost me $250 today. You insulate yourselves by hiring out contractors. I am contacting the local news stations with my story of a wasted day and 2 hours on the phone afterwards with zero results.

DirecTV is sorry this happened, but no offer to set up an install with a reputable company and get reimbursed.

http://www.my3cents.com/showReview.cgi?id=19660
The above link was my exact story. This is normal for Directv/Ironwood Communications.

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8:18 am EDT
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Ironwood Communications Completely inept

June 23rd: Subscribed to DirecTV; First available install date (by Ironwood Communications) was July 7th!

July 7: A kid (16-years-old, if that) comes to my house and says, "Man, this is going to be tough. Are you sure you don't want to go with cable?" I finally convince him that, yes, I do want DirecTV. Then he says, "Okay, well I won't be able to hook up the DVR." I ask why, and he responds "because I have to run a line from the satellite dish." Isn't that his job? He abruptly leaves; I call to reschedule appointment and the earliest date is July 14 (between 12-4).

July 14: I receive a phone call at 12:10 that says installer in area and needs directions. I immediately call back and provide directions. Operator says she will forward info to installer. I never get a call back. 6:00 rolls around, and still no installer. Ironwood says they can't get a hold of technician, the technician supervisor, or dispatch. They try to reschedule me for July 29th (over a month after subscribing). Still no resolution. DirecTV is a great service, but if it is being serviced by Ironwood Communications, avoid at all costs as they are completely inept!

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Jeff Paul
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Jul 27, 2008 7:38 am EDT

Follow up on my last post:

Well no one called me this morning not DirecTV CSR who promised to call me at 8:00am EST this morning to help insure everything gets straightened out.

So once I again (and by this time it is getting humorous to me) I called Ironwood and was told no one is available to come out would I like to reschedule? I laughed and said of course not!

My next call was to DirecTV to cancel my HD upgrade and to inform them I would be switching to Dish Network. Funny thing is that the CSR said he would call Ironwood for me to see if he can do something. I laughed even harder and said knock yourself out and I would hold for the inevitable answer...which I of course got.

I hung up and will be calling Dish and also pursing filing complaints with the BBB and any other consumer group I feel I need to.

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Jeff Paul
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Jul 26, 2008 8:59 pm EDT

Similar situation here just today. Had a scheduled 12pm-5pm window for a HD upgrade. No one showed, no one called to tell me they were going to be late or had to reschedule.

I called DirecTV at 5:15pm and told them the situation. They gave me the number for Ironwood. I called them but their response was they called the dispatch but cannot reach the technician. They assured me the installer would call me back with an ETA. Another hour went by and nothing so another call to them. Different person answered, same exact comment. I said No you will call the dispatcher and have them call me right back so I can talk to him or her. She said OK and after another hour, nothing again.

This time called DirecTV to log a formal complaint with customer service and did but was also passed along to someone who seemed willing to help. We both called Ironwood on a conference call, the DirecTV person gave instruction to the Ironwood person, she again said she would call the dispatch. While we were on hold I told the DirecTV person she would come back saying she could not reach them but left as message, same thing I was told 2 times previously. Of course she came back and said that and asked if I wanted to reschedule. I say I will not accept a "window" and asked if they did Sunday installs. She said yes so I said I wanted the first appointment tomorrow morning and will settle for nothing less. She said she will note that request but could not "guarantee" anything since the local installer's office was now closed.

So will wsee what happens tomorrow morning. The DirecTV person said he would call me at 8:00am tomorrow and we would place another call to Ironwood together to get this to happen. He apologized and confirmed they have been having issues with Ironwood. He said once we get this install all completed that DirecTV would compensate me somehow for the trouble.

I did find a email address for contact at Ironwood, comments@iwcom.net

Needless to say I already emailed them telling them how horrible their service and company was.

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12:00 am EST
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I received installation of a directv mount and receiver on march the 5th 2007. The installer called at 9 am to say he would arrive @1100am then did not arrive until almost noon. I then showed him where we had our old system which we removed so the new one could be placed there my husband also already had cable run through to the house and michael (the...

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12:00 am EST
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Ironwood Communications Lack of service! Brazen lies!

In posting this review I hope to be of help to others who are likely to suffer similar problems regarding Ironwood Communications and DirecTV. Do not believe them! They are incompetent! They have no regard for your time! Brazen lies!
Excuses-excuses-excuses!

First appointment: November 16th 2006 Ironwood's installer arrives at around 3:00pm There is slight rainfall and since the installation involves ( high work ) use of a ladder, the installer says that he is not comfortable working on a ladder while it is raining.I understand his reasoning as the satellite dish is just below the peak of our roof, two stories high.

He said that my wife and I should call to reschedule the appointment which we did.

Second appointment: November 21st 2006 As always is the case with this type of business you are given a window of time as to when you might expect the installer.This appointment was 8:00am-12:00pm and Ironwood's installer arrived around 10:30am.The installer informed us that he did not have the correct cable box with him so my wife and I should call his office to set yet another appointment with IRON-HEAD, I mean Ironwood. By the way my wife had phoned the Ironwood office in Pittsburgh Pa. the day before to verify two things. First was the type of receiver that was to be installed and second was that
a tall ladder was needed to complete the installation due to the height of the roof.

Third attempt, today... we had an apt scheduled between 8:00am -noon. The installer showed up around 9:30 and started to assess the situation. He looked around and then made a phone call back to his office. He told us, he would need a 40 ft ladder and that he did not have one. He also had the wrong information on the work order - again! He said we would have to reschedule.

By this point we had had enough. We called DirecTV and told them what had happened. They tried to help and said they would work to get an Ironwood installer back out there today. At the same time Ironwood called directly and told us the first apt they had available was on Dec 8th. We explained that we waited long enough and that we preferred an apt later today or tomorrow at the latest. We went back and forth numerous times. We asked to speak to a supervisor but were told she was not available.

DirecTV attempted to help resolve the problem but in the end all they really did was continue to put us in touch with the Ironwood call center to resolve the problem. Round and round we went with dates all of which required us waiting days. We were told people would get back to us, but we waited and waited, in the end we had to call them.

We have spent over 14 hours trying to get DIrecTV installed and all for nothing. DirecTV and Ironwood both have failed us and as consumers we will do all we can to discourage others from buying their services. Missing work, spending our time needlessly chasing customer DIS-SERVICE people to try and rectify this mess.

AND WE ARE HELD HOSTAGE BECAUSE OUR CHOICES ARE SO FEW. When will companies realize that WE ARE THE CUSTOMERS.

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sabinograd85
Paulden, US
May 08, 2009 1:05 pm EDT

Ironwood is back in arizona after failing once already not only does their customer service stink and their business practices you should see what they do to the techs.
if a tech gets paid 25 dollars to do a service call if anyone has to go back to do another service call they charge the first tech 60 dollars and that isnt the half of it.
Ironwood does not get charged by direct tv when you dont hook up your phone line but they charge the tech for every box that does not respond when they ping it, yes they ping your boxes to see if you are hooked up to a phone line and why not because it will affect your box from operating properly but because then you cant have your pay per view at the touch of a button. This is all for their financial gain...it doesnt matter how the customer feels about it or even if the customer has a land line to hook up to or not...in my area about 40 percent of the homes do not have land lines as they are second homes for the people that own them so all they have is a cell phone but that is not taken into consideration by ironwood they dont care they want their money one way or the other. I do believe if anyone had the time they would research it and find out that what they are doing is probably not legal after all there are two lawsuits right now that are going against them...oh well if anyone has a lawsuit going against ironwood in arizona let me know so i can join..

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dana
Paulden, US
Apr 11, 2009 1:54 pm EDT

they are back too.
And dont underestimate how bad they really are they go by DTVHS direct tv home services now but thier company name is on all their work orders...
They are as bad to their techs as they are to their customers...without any notice at all they took a lead tech position away from one of their best techs because the sub contractor under ironwood communications didnt want to pay this man what he was worth to coordinate all the other techs in the area...oh and by the way just for all you customers out there they also hold two paychecks for up to 90 days...in this economy can you imagine what would happen to a family of five if they arent getting a paycheck for 90 days...my suggestion go to another company for your business...they hurt the customer and dont care and they hurt the people working for them and they dont care so if you get lousy service from an install tech blame ironwood and direct tv...the techs only get paid 25 dollars for a service call even if it takes them the whole day to find the problem...can you imagine making only 25 dollars after working for 8 hours then have the company take more money from you because you couldnt fix the problem that was on someone else and you have to consider that the parts and supplies that they use on your house come from the techs pocket not direct tv...oh and also they charge the tech 20 dollars for each receiver that is not hooked up to a phone outlet...does any of this seem fair...in my area most people have a cell phone and dont have a land line as this is usually their vacation home...as soon as my contract is up i am going to get rid of direct tv and go back to dish network...

Dana

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Adam Farmer
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Aug 28, 2008 6:05 pm EDT

We have had Direct TV installed in our homes for years. But when we moved into our new house and had them out to install our new dish and boxes they destroyed our home. Each room has several holes where the installer started to run wire and wasn't able to do so and just left the HUGE hole in our ceiling. Ran cable from our kitchen into our living room, with cable going across the door way and piles after piles of extra cable laying on the top of our roof. This is the WORST service we have ever received! And now Direct TV is asking us to have someone out to give us an estimate of the damage, which we will have to pay for being our economy is so poor right now, no one is doing free estimates. And the lady on the phone told me she couldn't promise me we would be reimbursed for the charges. Are you kidding me? So we're paying for them damaging our home! Totally concidering switching to another cable provider...

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joe installer
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Jun 19, 2008 10:46 pm EDT

Sorry we still have a way to go I do know our office leads the conpany in installs recovered we do our utmost to take calls with in our office from customers to handle the situation that is still out there .. we are recognised as directv 's #1 home service provider and we aim to stay that way our office has the most completion rates and recovery rates for jobs that supposedly couldn't be done be it a post and concrete or multiple mounts and working with landlords we also are aware of laws to keep you from being a victem of landlord restrictions ...we also try to make it a practice to pre-call the customer to let them know our ETA and if it changes we will provide the customer with the new ETA and the office too! so if you call we can track the tech call him for a new ETA and see if this works for the customer
unfortunately we don't have just one AM on our schedule and due to high gas prices we need to adjust accordingly ... but... if it means losing a job our office will do our best to see the customer comes first I have been with this office for 4 years and this has been our practice sorry if some times you get a bad experience we will be the superior home service provider hands down in my opinion thanks for the patience and sorry if there was any inconvevience...MIWC

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Laura R.
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Jun 12, 2008 11:53 am EDT

It is so sad to google this horrible company, Ironwood Communications, and find nothing but complaints. They installed my HD dish on a PGE power pole and now won't take my calls to have it moved. Direct wants to charge me to move it, even though Ironwood admitted during a service call that it waa thier error. They refuse to take calls, and seem to outsource thier call center too! Ridiculous!

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Bruce S.
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Apr 01, 2008 9:42 am EDT

I found that in my area that Ironwood showed up just when they said they would, the job was to connect an additional receiver to an existing system. That was done in a timely and punctual manner. However, in doing so the installer knocked out my HD on my primary receiver, I've called Direct t.v. and they referred me to Ironwood directly. I called the main office three times now and nothing has been done now for three weeks. The main office won't give me the number for the local office so now I'm paying for HD service which I'm not getting.

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Travis
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Mar 05, 2008 3:50 pm EST

If you guys are in need of another company to service you for Directv, WildBlue, and Hughesnet. Go to www.TvDoneRight.com and click on the service call tab. We are an independent Directv, Wildblue, and Hughesnet authorized dealer with remote technicians in many locations across the US doing business a very different way than the company mentioned on this board. A few of our techs were once lead techs, qc techs, and managers for this company at one time or another. So there is not all bad to be said about (IW), however we have tried to cherry pick the best! Feel free to stop buy and use the service call tab and we will do our very best to help you.

And if you are a tech with an independent mind, an over all eye for clean installs done right, and ability to run the show the right way. The go to www.TvDoneRight.com and fill out the online application.

Thanks for your time. God Bless.

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Your Mom
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Feb 10, 2008 11:07 am EST

If you live in an area serviced by Ironwood Sacramento, there are options for you if you cannot get any satisfaction.

1. Local number is [protected]. When the line picks up, press zero. The local dispatch will pick up, but DEMAND TO SPEAK WITH THE Local Manager, Henry Dorsey. Do not accept anything less than Mr. Dorsey. If he is not there, ask for his cell number. If they won't give it to you, refer to step 2 and let Mr. King know about it. Dorsey pretends to care, but rarely does. If you bug him long enough he will get tired of hearing from you, and will eventually get you taken care of.

2. You can e-mail the Regional Director, Chris King at cking@180connect.net. He is a pretty decent guy who demands a lot. He hates to have complaints.

3. You can e-mail the Field Operations Manager for Direct TV, Mark Walsh at mwalsh@directv.com. I can almost promise a result within 24 hours, sometimes with this guy even coming to your house. He is very knowledgeable but hold a holier than thou attitude with everybody. His primary focus is making customers happy. He just needs some coaching on his tact.

4. You can file what is called an OOP (Office of President) complaint. This is filed either through Ironwood's Denver office of with DTV. This action causes a $1500 max charge back to the local office responsible. This motivates office personal within 2 minutes of it being received and you will probably get a call back shortly thereafter.

Tahoe, Truckee, Quincy, Chester is a thorn in the side of Sacramento's Operational Status. It is the most hated work in winter, the techs cannot get there in bad weather, and there is not a single 4X4 vehicle in the fleet. Maybe after a bunch of OOP's they will start to consider better options for this management area.

Hope this helps with some of the frustrations you folks are continuing to deal with.

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Sarah Gotschall
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Jan 30, 2008 12:35 pm EST

Wow I had no idea there were so many compaints so similar to mine. I am located in the Tahoe City area and have had no service for 18 days now. I have been dealing with Ironwood and they have canceled on me three times now. I hav been so frustrated with them. They lie to me about coming out and that the roads are closed when they aren't...ect.
The technician that originally set up my system had done a horrible job...he had put connecting wires on the ground, where then snow fell on it and put it apart. Dont know what to do.

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Nathanael cruz
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Jan 18, 2008 11:26 am EST

Buddy re-read the contract from 2005! the time I was raped by Ironwood as an in- house tech
I ended up paying them to work
Late checks or never getting payed! working a factuall and documented 112 hr average per week!
7 days a week
average of $600 in fuel per week
missing pay
un paid overtime!
do your homework first before you spout!
ever herd of Mastec?
Iron mountain?...the list goes on
the practice of illeagal activities by these companies is rampant!
mis labeling 1099's as employees ect.
mis managed routes that where by there own admission out of area! far far far more than a 50 mile radius
standard install is stated on the back of the work order! and is is stated specificaly per individule contract with the company that DTV gives the contract to!
Ironwood has one of the worst contracts out of them all! tech will get hosed any way you look at itthey are constantly in the court houses under suit for breaking the law
if you haven't had the joy of anything like this happening to you...be greatful and considder yourself LUCKY!
check this out it may open your eyes!http://groups.msn.com/SatelliteBroadbandTechnicians/myviewsonthesatellitebusiness.msnw

feel free to look me up
http://groups.msn.com/SatelliteBroadbandTechnicians/directory.msnw?action=view_list&row=55&viewtype=2&sortstring=

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