DirecTVs MDU leasing program

[Slowhand]

I am a SO in the Washington DC area. I am trying to figure out how to provide quality service in the MDU buildings that we have systems in with the new changes from DirecTV.

DirecTV is now putting out promo material stating "free installs", "no upfront costs", and "no equipment to buy". My question is who does DirecTV expect to pay for the SWMs, the FMC-6 chassis, the system power inserters, the power supplies, and taps? If I can't charge a SWM charge than my PPC will be less than my costs for the above parts.

Since they say "free install for four receivers" I am expected to provide the labor to connect these receivers and not charge the customer a connection fee. I don't charge much for my SWM fees and connection fee ( they are much less than my competitors) but they cover my costs so that I am not loosing money on the initial install.

With the receivers that are leased I am expected to service the reciever if there are any problems. I am supposed to go and check if the receiver must be replaced. If so then I request a replacement receiver to be sent the customer. Now if the customer can not reinstall the receiver I must come back out and reinstall the receiver. I know that is a possibility because many HD receiver connections are going to be too complicated for some people to do. What this means is if a person has a problem on Monday. Calls me on Tuesday. I show up on Wednesday and request a receiver to be sent to him. The receiver gets to the customer on Thursday and I again show up on Friday that means that the customer is out of reception for a least 5 days and most likely more. I don't think that this is going to make a lot of customers happy. If the customer has Comcast and if the box goes bad then there are replacement boxes in the truck that are immediately installed to get the customer's service restored. I thought that DirecTV was supposed to provide better service then Comcast not worse. Now I am aware that standard boxes can be replaced with new standard boxes but most of my customers have HD systems and I can't afford to give away HD receivers away for free when I have to pay DirecTV for them. Ideally, DirecTV would allow a SO to purchase a few replacement recievers that would allow the SO to immediately replace any bad receiver and have it later replaced by DirecTV to the SO.

My company prides itself on delivering quality service. But, there is a price for quality service. DirecTV has marketed its residential systems with "free installs" and it has been a disaster with horror stories of poor installation and service.

When questioning DirecTV and my MSO they have stated "be creative and you can come up with a way to charge customers". That is the same thing they stated with the residential installation program. Let the customer think that it is going to be free but then come up with a way to charge him anyway. I think that this is a bunch of crap. I don't want my customers mad at me when I tell him that there is a connection fee when DirecTV states that it is "free installs for four recievers".

People are pissed off at the cable companies for providing poor service, and DirecTV seems to be going down the same path where it will be impossible to provide quality, superior service with these changes.

Sorry about the long rant, I welcome responses from other SOs and DirecTV subscribers on this forum.

Slowhand

[BattleZone]

Bottom line is, you MUST charge a connection fee, or an ongoing monthly fee, on an MDU system, or you aren't going to make any money for the reasons you spelled out above. An MDU is NOT a normal residential home, and different rules apply. Tenants never like that, but it's a standard thing with MDUs.

If your site is registered as an official MDU, then residents who call DirecTV to try to order should be referred back to your MDU. You should be making money on system sales as new people move in. You should have a connect fee for existing customers who move in and need to get connected. And you should also have a standard service call fee that can be waived at your discretion (i.e., if it's a hardware failure). Customers who cause their own issues get charged. If that wasn't part of your business model from the beginning, you aren't doing it right.

You will always have people who want to end-run the system, and people who will put up their own dish, but most folks will learn and follow the rules, provided you have the building management on board with you. If they aren't on your side, you're in big trouble.

[egnlsn]

The upgrading of the system is the responsibility of the system owner, and D* is just finishing up a subsidy program wherein they subsidized the upgrade of MDUs to the tune of $50 per unit. MSOs have (and are currently) selling SWMs at about half-price for upgrading MDUs.

When you install advanced equipment for a new customer, you send your MSO a copy of the customer's invoice indicating the equipment and that their cost was $0, and your MSO credits your account for the purchase price of said equipment.

[DirecTv Chicago]

Slow Hand, I was concerned about the same things, primarily the lag with receiving the replacement receivers. I am going to warranty the receiver through my distributor for the first year and anything after the first year the customer will have to have replaced through DirecTV.

This way I can replace on the spot for a large percentage of the customers and not loose out on the cost of the receiver or the redispatch.