Confession from installer

[william8004]

Finally got my second HR20 today that I ordered 3 months ago. D* had my order down as needing an HD dish although it showed a $0.00 charge when I looked at it online. I told the installer, that I already had one. He said that most of the orders on the HR20 had dishes on the order too whether it needed it or not. He said he's seen that a lot lately . Here's the kicker. He said that a lot of installers were charging D* for the install of the antenna even when they didn't install them. Who is paying for this?

Can wait for comments on this one.

[veryoldschool]

Shall we say that some installers are trying to make enough money to make their time worthwhile. There have been several posts about installers charging for cable runs, multi-switches, and now antennas. Their "normal" line seems to be "if you call D* will charge you X, but I will sell it to you for half [X]".
I haven't had any personal experience with this, but my first installer was "straight off the boat" and showed very little use of his "gray matter", along with backing over my mailbox as he left [and not thinking I would notice].
I guess everyone should discuss what D* will be doing and how much it would cost, when they place their order.
I don't know how many people have dealt with contractors, and I'm not trying to say that they're the same. I had some bid for a sprinkler job that the bids started at $2,500 & went up, so I laid out what I wanted & said I would buy the material so labor was what I wanted in the second round of bids. The $2,500 turned into $5,000. The next bid was $3,000 but [with me buying parts] was $2,000. The complete job was done for $3,500. The top bid parts & labor came in at $8,500.
Welcome to the world of contractors. Some are good & some aren't. :)

[JLynn73]

the guy that did my dish install, had me write him a check for the OTA antenna...

of course when he punched a whole in my bedroom wall, it was 8" high.

professional install really means any joe retard off the street who happens to own a cordless drill.


now I have to patch at least the one hole, and do the job myself the way it should have been done. It wouldnt bother me so much except I rent.

I should have went with my gutt and gotten the hardware and did the install myself.

[eibook]

Welcome to the world of contractors. Some are good & some aren't. :)

Well I would agree that there are good contractors and bad contractors, D* is definately part of the problem.

If I tell D* that I only need the HR20, I already have the 5LNB dish, why do the have to send out an installer to plug the unit in? I can swap out the receiver, I've had to do it twice with replacement HR20s. So D* is just wasting the contractor's time.

[dallascontractor]

I was told even without drilling holes they would have to charge for cabling. I told them I knew better.

[tonyportale]

Shall we say that some installers are trying to make enough money to make their time worthwhile. There have been several posts about installers charging for cable runs, multi-switches, and now antennas. Their "normal" line seems to be "if you call D* will charge you X, but I will sell it to you for half [X]".
I haven't had any personal experience with this, but my first installer was "straight off the boat" and showed very little use of his "gray matter", along with backing over my mailbox as he left [and not thinking I would notice].
I guess everyone should discuss what D* will be doing and how much it would cost, when they place their order.
I don't know how many people have dealt with contractors, and I'm not trying to say that they're the same. I had some bid for a sprinkler job that the bids started at $2,500 & went up, so I laid out what I wanted & said I would buy the material so labor was what I wanted in the second round of bids. The $2,500 turned into $5,000. The next bid was $3,000 but [with me buying parts] was $2,000. The complete job was done for $3,500. The top bid parts & labor came in at $8,500.
Welcome to the world of contractors. Some are good & some aren't. :)


Let me preface, I'm not a Direct TV installer or contractor, however, I have one question. Would you take your eggs (from your refrigerator) to a restaurant and ask them cook them for you ?

[Mertzen]

Finally got my second HR20 today that I ordered 3 months ago. D* had my order down as needing an HD dish although it showed a $0.00 charge when I looked at it online. I told the installer, that I already had one. He said that most of the orders on the HR20 had dishes on the order too whether it needed it or not. He said he's seen that a lot lately . Here's the kicker. He said that a lot of installers were charging D* for the install of the antenna even when they didn't install them. Who is paying for this?

Can wait for comments on this one.

You know what. As an installer I'd charge them too. If they can't figure it out it is not my job to go call them our our office.
Would you say no to extra money??? It comes out of D* pocket but seeing the lousy pay for some other job types [ international upgrades for instance ] I personally don't feel lousy about it.

I don't respect installers ripping people off but in this case it really has nothing to do with the customer.

[HDTVsportsfan]

Well I would agree that there are good contractors and bad contractors, D* is definately part of the problem.

If I tell D* that I only need the HR20, I already have the 5LNB dish, why do the have to send out an installer to plug the unit in? I can swap out the receiver, I've had to do it twice with replacement HR20s. So D* is just wasting the contractor's time.

I undersatnd your point. But can you imagine how many people call up and don't know the difference and accidentally mis-inform D*. Then the installer comes out without a 5-LNB. Then the customer calls D upset. D* probably figures it's safer just to include.

[wmschultz]

When the installers come to my house to drop off my receiver, if it says on the order to install the dish, I ask the installer for the dish.

This way I have extras so if the LNB goes bad I can swap it out without paying for a tech visit or buying a dish online.

I had 3 of the old 3 LNB dishes until I upgraded.

[Rockywwf]

the guy that did my dish install, had me write him a check for the OTA antenna...

of course when he punched a whole in my bedroom wall, it was 8" high.

professional install really means any joe retard off the street who happens to own a cordless drill.


now I have to patch at least the one hole, and do the job myself the way it should have been done. It wouldnt bother me so much except I rent.

I should have went with my gutt and gotten the hardware and did the install myself.

So I'm not alone. Last summer I had the new AT9 dish installed along with the standard non-DVR HD receiver in my bedroom. 2 installers came out very late in the day. I went over exactly what I wanted as far as the location of the dish, wires... So I go back to what I was doing and an hour later they say they are done. I go and see that the box is working but also noticed a LARGE hole where they drilled through my house crooked and blasted out a chunk of plaster (about a 4"hole). I then went outside to see if they took the old dish down like I requested. NOPE. So I sent them back up there. I also noticed a disaster of a rats nest of wires laying on my roof. I said to the guys I don't live in some slum apartment I spent a lot of time and money to make my house look nice and I didn't appreciate the install job. So I went around back and noticed the 1 11/2" hole in my brand new siding and the 1" hole 5" next to it with the cable drilled through it and un-caulked. I told the guys to get the F-out and immediately called DTV. I had to call in an insurance claim and they sent a new installer out to fix the mess. I got the siding replaced and wires run correctly along with the wires neatened up and old dish removed.

Plus I got 2 $10 a month credits for a year, Showtime free for a year and Starz for 6 months.

[veryoldschool]

Let me preface, I'm not a Direct TV installer or contractor, however, I have one question. Would you take your eggs (from your refrigerator) to a restaurant and ask them cook them for you ?
To try to work within your senerio...
I don't go into someones place of business & tell them what or how to do their job.
If I'm contracting for work at my location, I have the final choice on how the job will be done.
So I don't think you question is relevant.
Want to try another?

[JLucPicard]

When the installers come to my house to drop off my receiver, if it says on the order to install the dish, I ask the installer for the dish.

This way I have extras so if the LNB goes bad I can swap it out without paying for a tech visit or buying a dish online.
I'm with you on that! If they're going to charge D* for the dish anyway, I want it. When I read the OP, my first thought was that they not only charge D* for the dish, but I'll bet they keep it and sell it themselves.

[islesfan]

Its getting like CSR roulette. I had a really great installer for my HR20 back in October, so when I recommended D* to my neighbor, the installer that came out was a complete and total idiot. He was able to put up the dish, but he wnet through 6 "bad" H20 boxes until he ran out and left. Of course, I then went in and finished the setup for my neighbor, and everything was fine.

[Mertzen]

When I read the OP, my first thought was that they not only charge D* for the dish, but I'll bet they keep it and sell it themselves.

Do you really think we have time to sell it. What we don't use we keep since the warehouse runs out of stuff frequently. :nono:

[Chazb]

When the installers come to my house to drop off my receiver, if it says on the order to install the dish, I ask the installer for the dish.

This way I have extras so if the LNB goes bad I can swap it out without paying for a tech visit or buying a dish online.

I had 3 of the old 3 LNB dishes until I upgraded.


Awww and I know where you live.J/K:lol: :lol:

[TigersFanJJ]

Do you really think we have time to sell it. What we don't use we keep since the warehouse runs out of stuff frequently. :nono:

Exactly. IF I were going to sell a dish on ebay, it probably would be one of 30 or so that I have in my garage and not one that I have already taken the time to load in the truck. Maybe it's because I handle so many, I don't know, but the dishes just aren't worth much to me.

I don't know if Dtv pays the install company extra to put up a dish (i doubt it since that's part of the job) but I do know most technicians don't get anything extra if the workorder calls for the dish and it isn't needed.

If I call in and have a workorder changed, it can take up to a few hours before the changes take affect. What this usually turns into is me burning up my cell phone minutes and my time trying to get the workorder closed out at the same time I am trying to get another job done. While I would get it changed when adding or removing something else to the workorder such as a receiver or multiswitch, it just isn't worth it to me to go through all that to get a dish removed from the order.

I will leave the dish if the customer wants it.

[Mertzen]

Thanks for typing out my exact response. It is exactly how I feel about this. Upgrade a workorder SURE more money for us. Downgrade is not worth the trouble. It rarely matters to anybody.

[D-Bamatech]

When I read the OP, my first thought was that they not only charge D* for the dish,....

JL.. hmmm. You JUST hit a nail here. Nice inclination Beyond the OP btw.

Who of the install Network gets Most ALL the upgrades?

D* IS Being charged for the Upgrade @ a DISH and INSTALL PRICE, Ya' think? (BILLED as per the wk order as a Dish & install (some times included as a BILLED MSW also whether you get one or not)

= the Truth of the actual install might not be so profitable for "THEM"... ::rolleyes:

More circles within their web of a ruthless racket, ..
Well in my opinion anyway ;)

[Ext 721]

Exactly. IF I were going to sell a dish on ebay, it probably would be one of 30 or so that I have in my garage and not one that I have already taken the time to load in the truck. Maybe it's because I handle so many, I don't know, but the dishes just aren't worth much to me.

I don't know if Dtv pays the install company extra to put up a dish (i doubt it since that's part of the job) but I do know most technicians don't get anything extra if the workorder calls for the dish and it isn't needed.

If I call in and have a workorder changed, it can take up to a few hours before the changes take affect. What this usually turns into is me burning up my cell phone minutes and my time trying to get the workorder closed out at the same time I am trying to get another job done. While I would get it changed when adding or removing something else to the workorder such as a receiver or multiswitch, it just isn't worth it to me to go through all that to get a dish removed from the order.

I will leave the dish if the customer wants it.

Ha. Easy enough as an installer to coach the customer to whine and get the full "4 room" they wanted by adding 2 additional receiver jobs, and getting paid for 3 run-outs (which paid $7.50 more than same-trip additional receivers, when my gas and truck rental was paid for)

Ten minutes spent coaching the customer meant $15 more from d*, without the drive, and my "fighting for the customer" got me tips.

And my HSP loved the fact that they got extra money from it, too...

but yes, I quit when I was the ONLY non-manager donig international installs with those huge legacy (metric system) round dishes. (pay sucked, partly because 1/2 hour of autodetection per receiver, with a 70% success rate...30% of those early d10-200's died on autodetect!

My skill at installing got me the hard jobs (2nd opinion installs, internationals), while the morons of the shop got easy work...and no extra pay for the 2nd opinion installs (foolish policy) And the legacy international dish that added 3 hours to most jobs back then got you $12.50 more.

easy to see how a shortage of overall labor can lead to a shortage of GOOD labor in this case.

Job just wasn't worth the hassle to anyone not a GOOD independant contractor.