Met with the owner (James) of SlipStream to do an estimate. The experience was not very pleasant. His attitude appeared that it was an inconvenience for him to do the estimate. I also had several items leftover from my previous home theater that I wanted to incorporate which worked fine before, but he insisted that it would not work and insisted on pushing the equipment he was selling which was 5x the cost. He was charging $75 to run Cat5e cable 100 feet. You can purchase Cat5e cable on Amazon for $15.00.
While I was indeed planning to get a surround sound system installed, I actually prefer the simplicity of sound just straight from the television. I do not need to listen to every single item televised in surround sound so I wanted the set up to default and favor normal TV speakers. James became suddenly irate and berated me that surround sound is better and why wouldn't I want something that was better.
I was completely turned off by that and offended. He already said my existing system (which previously worked) was no good and would not work. His mark up was WAY too much and lastly, he was telling me how and what I should be listening to.
Customer service is very poor. While I can understand when you do no agree with a customer, you certainly do not voice it out and berate them. You're suppose to offer options and whatever the customer decides - it's your duty to accommodate.
Slipstream just seems to think they know better and if you're not on board with that they "tell" (not suggest - they TELL you what you need), they berate you.
Update: 08-05-12
After reading the owner's response, all I can say is - Wow! But I'll do my best to clarify.
1. Yes, I live 2 hours away from their home base. They didn't mention that it would be a drive for them, nor did they mention a travel charge or consultation fee was involved or being waived. I simply requested an estimated and they showed up. They were aware of the location and made the choice to come out there of their own accord. I could have easily gone with someone closer if it was indeed such a distance, but Hey! They chose to waive a travel charge/consultation fee which was never mentioned on the phone to begin with.
2. It was them, not me, that failed to mention that it was $75 per run per cable. Pricing was not mentioned during the on-site estimate (it never usually is because it they typically need to go back home and work on the numbers which is normal) and when the estimate was finally emailed, it merely said "CAT5 Cable - $75x3". 100 Ft of CAT5 cable on Amazon is less than $15, even cheaper if you need a smaller length. The longest run was probably 100 ft and the remaining two were less than 30 ft. Maybe it's just me, but it seems fair that shorter runs should be charged a smaller amount, again, this is just my opinion.
3. Lastly, the issue of berating. Yes, I was berated. Why else would I bother to take the time to write such a lengthy review if I wasn't so disappointed in the customer service that I received. So I'll clarify the points of dissatisfaction.
The initial meet & greet was less than inviting. No smile at all. The impression I got (and first impressions matter) was that it was more of a bother for him to come out. Granted, maybe he just got a speeding ticket or maybe he had to drive two hours (which I wasn't aware of), but I let that slide. The next instance was that I had a matrix switch box which I wanted to utilize. I gave him the spec and what it was capable of and he said it wouldn't work with my setup. I could not understand why because it worked previously at my friend's place who is an IT professional and is more than capable of installing a surround sound system (but he's in another state - otherwise I would have asked him) and he said that it WILL work because he's used it before in the manner that I was intending. Slipstream disregarded what I had and wanted to use a more expensive item rather than the existing item I had. (Guess what - new installers said it would work, they hooked it up and it works!)
The last turning point that turned me off completely was a phone conversation where I requested that I'd like the option of switching to normal TV speakers rather than the fancy surround sound. This is just personal preference to me, but I don't need to watch the news or occasional sitcom shows in surround sound. This is where the owner started becoming irate with MY choice and MY request stating "Why would you want to watch with normal speakers when surround is better?" I did not realize that I should be basing my decision on what he defined as better. I merely maintained my position that I don't need to watch everything in surround sound, yet he was irate at my choice. At that point, I felt he was not the right person for the job as it appeared that he was dictating what I needed rather than listening to the customer's request. read more
