DIGITAL THEATER SOLUTIONS

1. The preliminary estimate from DST came very slowly.  Apparently DST emails are spam filtered and therefore either do not arrive or do so several days later than expected.  So, communications from the start were not timely.

2. I asked DST for a written work agreement with a description of the work, a warranty, and payment plan.  They balked at doing this as an agreement is not required per the state construction code for work less than $2,000.  I was concerned about a warranty for the installation and insisted on a work agreement as I had not done business with DST before and at the time had no Angie Report on their reliability.  After I called Video Only (who recommended DST) and held delivery of the ordered items to DST, DST sent me a faxed copy of an agreement and we proceeded with the work.

3. As part of the bid, DST insisted that the work depended on my having the crown molding at  the back of the room removed to install the ceiling speakers wires.  I hired a carpenter to arrive the day of the installation to work on an option because I did not want to remove the custom molding for fear of damaging it in the process.  After 1.5 hours, the carpenter could not find an option to removing the molding, but Brian of DST cleverly thought of using the security wires to pull the ceiling speaker wires through the air duct space and that worked.

4. When returning for the follow-up service (1 hour's work), they did move the cable box, "reprogrammed" the remote, and then were helpful in explaining some of the non-intuitive uses of the remote with 3-D viewing.  In the future, it would be helpful if they would leave a brief written explanation of the more common (not custom) features of the remote.  Finally, they did not remove any of the packaging they brought with them as requested, other than their cable and remote boxes.

IN SUM: The Video Only equipment worked wonderfully and the installation finally was completed satisfactorily.  It would have been a better "customer experience" without the hassles described above.  DST is technically sound, but not customer-focused.  The feeling that is left is that they are only concerned about getting the job done quickly and then bolting for the door.

Two installers (Justen and Billy) showed up on time and went to work immediately. One worked on the sound system, the other on mounting the TV. Dustin showed up later and went to work on installing the second TV and programming a new remote to control all of the different componets. They cleaned up the mess when they were done. They did leave a large box with the unused mounting hardware. The work was fast and first quality. I would use them again without hesitation.