Help with $700 Free Installation.

[eneg]

Am really looking to switch to D* from cable.
My cable company only has the 4 locals in HD, 3 of which are out now.

So, I get an installer to come over yesterday to tell me what I need.
Here's most of the list (I have 3 hd TVs.)
The Dish has to be mounted on a pole.
$50 to put pole in the ground.
My house has RG6 cabling (so he says.)
No cabling necessary except to run one line to our TV in the living room.
Want a DVR on that TV. $60 for that because it is not on an outside wall.
He says all receivers must be connected to phone line.
When I tell him that I have been doing a lot of reading and I don't think that is necessary, he tells me that as of Jan 1st, it is necessary. D* will charge me $5.99 for any receiver not hooked up to phone line.
Cost for 3 phones hooked up to wireless jacks = $70.
2 HDMI cables will cost $30.
DVR - $299 - $100 rebate.
2 HD receivers = 2X$100 = $200.

So, with tax, free install comes to $756.

Am I being taken?

Thanks for your help!

Eneg

[garn9173]

Why does it have to be mounted on a pole, couldn't the dish be installed on your roof?

You don't need to have your receivers hooked up to a phone line. Only E* charges the $5.99 per receiver per month if they aren't hooked up to a phone line.

[eneg]

Why does it have to be mounted on a pole, couldn't the dish be installed on your roof?

I should have explained.
I live in a retirement community. The association won't allow roof installs.
In fact, Dish & pole cannot be over 53 inches from the ground.

You don't need to have your receivers hooked up to a phone line. Only E* charges the $5.99 per receiver per month if they aren't hooked up to a phone line.

Well, that explains that!
Thanks.....

Eneg

[veryoldschool]

You have kind of a "gray" installation.
Standard is: dish, up to 125' of cable for each location.
What isn't in your first post: a pole mount, and a NICE cable run to the receiver not on an outside wall.
D* wants a phone connected to each receiver, but they work without them.

[veryoldschool]

BTW: :welcome_s to the forum. :)

[beavis]

Free install only includes standard IRD's, not HD, DVR, or HD-DVR's.
HDMI cables are a choice, not a requirement.
$60 for a wall fish is cheap, most are $75.

So no, you're not being taken.

[veryoldschool]

Free install only includes standard IRD's, not HD, DVR, or HD-DVR's.
HDMI cables are a choice, not a requirement.
$60 for a wall fish is cheap, most are $75.
So no, you're not being taken.
I'm not going to "knock" installers.
Could you tell me what possibly could be the difference between a standard receiver & a HD receiver, installation wise? I mean really what is this....
HDMI cable comes with the HR-20 [in the box].
H-20s, didn't, when I got mine. Do they now? I don't know. The $15 charge [each] was what I paid on-line.
Nice "fishing" of coax through walls, is not "standard".
Let's not get too much BS here.
Fair for the installer is one thing, but have it work both ways.
Be honest, charge a fair price for a good job, but not for what you shouldn't.

[mdavej]

- Get cables from monoprice.com to save a few bucks.
- Confirm you really get HD locals on D* since they haven't been rolled out everywhere yet.

[jimb726]

Unless I am misreading this, 400 of your 700 are the receivers, correct? Perhaps you can make a better deal with D* on those. I would not do the phone line, I have never even had one hooked to my receiver, unless the installer hooked one up for activation (I wasnt there), as far as the HDMI cables are concerned, your H20 should come with component cables, use those instead of buying the HDMI cables. That leaves the 50 pole charge and the 60 dollar wall fish. The wall fish is cheap, do that unless drilling through the floor is an option. Bottom line is, unfortunately it doesnt sound like yours is what is known as a "standard install" but for what they want to charge it isnt unreasonable either. Good Luck.

[hambonewd]

if he told you 5.99 per reciever not connected to a phone line. garn says only dish network does this. so be careful that the installer is not setting you up with dish network. their are some shady installers out there. and this scenerio has happened before: many installers install both dish network and directv. sometimes an installer will go to house to install directv but while they are there they will talk the customer into getting dish network instead. this means they will get paid for the install PLUS get the sale commission for signing someone up under dish network. a very shady practice. but it does happen. so be careful!

[Larry G]

Like jimb I see $110 for installation. Doesn't seem that unreasonable to me for fishing a cable and setting a dish. If you are handy, you can do these yourself without too much problems, tho.

[TigersFanJJ]

- Get cables from monoprice.com to save a few bucks.
- Confirm you really get HD locals on D* since they haven't been rolled out everywhere yet.

I agree. I'd hold off on the HDMI cable to see if it comes in the box with the receiver. If not, you can pick them up online for a pretty good price and they are pretty easy to connect and set-up yourself.

[veryoldschool]

Please don't say the pole was included for free. It tends to get others to expect to get a free pole mount mount, even though Dtv and the HSPs won't pay the installers to put it on a pole. What should have been said is that you got lucky enough to get an installer that didn't charge for a pole mount.
+1

[Tom Robertson]

Please don't say the pole was included for free. It tends to get others to expect to get a free pole mount mount, even though Dtv and the HSPs won't pay the installers to put it on a pole. What should have been said is that you got lucky enough to get an installer that didn't charge for a pole mount.

Along the lines of the threads "what was the best deal someone has arranged" I guess I think this too is fair game.

As are your reality checks that many times they won't be free.

Cheers,
Tom

[finaldiet]

Am really looking to switch to D* from cable.
My cable company only has the 4 locals in HD, 3 of which are out now.

So, I get an installer to come over yesterday to tell me what I need.
Here's most of the list (I have 3 hd TVs.)
The Dish has to be mounted on a pole.
$50 to put pole in the ground.
My house has RG6 cabling (so he says.)
No cabling necessary except to run one line to our TV in the living room.
Want a DVR on that TV. $60 for that because it is not on an outside wall.
He says all receivers must be connected to phone line.
When I tell him that I have been doing a lot of reading and I don't think that is necessary, he tells me that as of Jan 1st, it is necessary. D* will charge me $5.99 for any receiver not hooked up to phone line.
Cost for 3 phones hooked up to wireless jacks = $70.
2 HDMI cables will cost $30.
DVR - $299 - $100 rebate.
2 HD receivers = 2X$100 = $200.

So, with tax, free install comes to $756.

Am I being taken?

Thanks for your help!

Eneg

I would not pay $700 , nowheres close to that! Free install, HDMI cables come with HD-DVR receivers, have to run cables at least 125'. They will install up to 4 receivers, comes with install. Besides, your a new customer. I would ask for free receivers, free install, free multi-switch,free slimline antenna. You don't need phone connections. You will have a 2 year agreement with new installation. Her they will install pole in ground also. My son-in-law just had it done. Somebodys trying to take you for a ride. Keep calling DTV for offers till you get the right person.

[TigersFanJJ]

I would not pay $700 , nowheres close to that! Free install, HDMI cables come with HD-DVR receivers, have to run cables at least 125'. They will install up to 4 receivers, comes with install. Besides, your a new customer. I would ask for free receivers, free install, free multi-switch,free slimline antenna. You don't need phone connections. You will have a 2 year agreement with new installation. Her they will install pole in ground also. My son-in-law just had it done. Somebodys trying to take you for a ride. Keep calling DTV for offers till you get the right person.

Free install doesn't include fishing a wall, pole mount, hiding cable, connecting additional lines, connecting additional tv's to the output of a receiver, attic work, crawl space work, among other things that I know I am forgetting at the moment. Just because some techs (like myself) do some of these things at no extra charge, doesn't mean it is included as free.

With the free install you get a dish mounted ON your home, the dish and cables grounded, cables wrapped around the exterior of the home up to a MAXIMUM of 125' (not at least 125'), and holes drilled and cables enter through the exterior wall closest to the tv. That's it.

Also, as a general rule of thumb, the only receivers that are free are the standard receivers (D11/D12). Although you can a lot of times get a free upgrade to a DVR or a HD receiver, it doesn't mean all the receivers will be free.

[bonscott87]

I would not pay $700 , nowheres close to that! Free install, HDMI cables come with HD-DVR receivers, have to run cables at least 125'. They will install up to 4 receivers, comes with install. Besides, your a new customer. I would ask for free receivers, free install, free multi-switch,free slimline antenna. You don't need phone connections. You will have a 2 year agreement with new installation. Her they will install pole in ground also. My son-in-law just had it done. Somebodys trying to take you for a ride. Keep calling DTV for offers till you get the right person.

Well only $210 of that is actually install related, the other is just the cost of advanced receivers and shouldn't be counted here.

[bonscott87]

Am really looking to switch to D* from cable.
My cable company only has the 4 locals in HD, 3 of which are out now.

So, I get an installer to come over yesterday to tell me what I need.
Here's most of the list (I have 3 hd TVs.)
The Dish has to be mounted on a pole.
$50 to put pole in the ground.
My house has RG6 cabling (so he says.)
No cabling necessary except to run one line to our TV in the living room.
Want a DVR on that TV. $60 for that because it is not on an outside wall.
He says all receivers must be connected to phone line.
When I tell him that I have been doing a lot of reading and I don't think that is necessary, he tells me that as of Jan 1st, it is necessary. D* will charge me $5.99 for any receiver not hooked up to phone line.
Cost for 3 phones hooked up to wireless jacks = $70.
2 HDMI cables will cost $30.
DVR - $299 - $100 rebate.
2 HD receivers = 2X$100 = $200.

So, with tax, free install comes to $756.

Am I being taken?

Thanks for your help!

Eneg


I'll cover each item from my perspective:

Pole - $50. Not bad really. You can buy a pole yourself plus cement plus your labor of putting it in. Decide if that's worth $50 or not. Pole is much better then roof mount in my opinion.

Wall plate and fish - $60. Again, reasonable, I've seen charges a lot more. Do it yourself ahead of time if you want, it's not that hard or just drill a hole in the floor near the floorboard and bring the cable in, he probably won't charge for that (or again do it yourself).

Phone jacks - $70. The price is about right for 3 wireless jacks but as stated you don't technicaly need the phone lines (other then PPV). BUT installers are required to make sure all receivers have them. So just run some phone cord from the location to a phone jack (or even just into a closet, he's not really going to check). Who cares if it's 50 feet of cord running in the hall, installer won't care. He can check the box on his install sheet that phone line connected and that's all he cares about. Then after he leaves roll the cords up and forget about it.

HDMI cables - $30. $30 for 2 isn't bad at all. You can get your own if you like or just use component if you don't need or want HDMI.

The rest of your costs are for advanced receivers. Nothing to do with the install, just cost of equipment.

Overall the installer is quoting pretty good prices to you and you can avoid most if not all of them by either doing it yourself or doing enough to satisfy his check list (phone line).

Good luck!

[Mertzen]

Am really looking to switch to D* from cable.
$50 to put pole in the ground.

If pole mount is the only option then it is free. Pole mounts are not free when you request it when it can be roof mounted.

D* will charge me $5.99 for any receiver not hooked up to phone line. Load of crap.

DVR - $299 - $100 rebate.
2 HD receivers = 2X$100 = $200.

So, with tax, free install comes to $756.

Am I being taken?
You can't really take equipment cost into the cost of this.

[finaldiet]

If you get 4 receivers, they have to to run lines(4) to a multi-switch( which they have to provide) and then lines to your 4 receivers.( 2 lines to each) I don't see why( since he's a new customer) he doesn't get the receivers free. Doesn't DTV web-site say up to 4 receivers.( 4 separate rooms). And the guy that installed son-in-laws said thats what he was told to do on any install, 2" pole in concrete.Son-in-law never ask for it. My installer said he could do same when weather got better. He even gave me his phone number. DTV has always been great with me. I guess I just got spoiled but they have a happy customer.:D :D :D

[veryoldschool]

If you get 4 receivers, they have to to run lines(4) to a multi-switch( which they have to provide) and then lines to your 4 receivers.( 2 lines to each) I don't see why( since he's a new customer) he doesn't get the receivers free. Doesn't DTV web-site say up to 4 receivers.( 4 separate rooms). And the guy that installed son-in-laws said thats what he was told to do on any install, 2" pole in concrete.Son-in-law never ask for it. My installer said he could do same when weather got better. He even gave me his phone number. DTV has always been great with me. I guess I just got spoiled but they have a happy customer.:D :D :D
"Free" receivers aren't HD.
Digging a hole, filling with concrete & a 2" steel pole, isn't "Standard" [free].
Anybody that want to come here and dig through the granite, for "free", won't stay with the job long.
Now for all of you that had a pole mount "for free", understand how "nice" the installer was being to you, but don't tell everyone this is "normal", unless you're willing to do it yourself.
There are good installers, great installers, and some that are "trying to make a buck or two" and just need to be "honest" about it. Oh yeah and then "the installer from hell" that I had, who ran over my mailbox as he left, leaving it in the street & needing for all of his work to be redone by his boss [who fixed the mailbox too].

[ZoSoAir]

Lets face it shall we?

There are some on this board who were taken for a ride concerning installation and equipment charges while others were not.

Contrary to popular belief I believe that when push comes to shove I look out for #1....ME!

Call D* as many times as it take to find a CSR who is receptive to your argument. The old saying "the squeaky wheel gets the grease" is in fact still valid.

I received my new SlimLine dish, new Multiswitch, and new HR20 for absolutly 0 money out of pocket and no future charges spread over a three month period.

I had to call D* many times over a 2 day span but eventually I was lucky, as were many others.

[TigersFanJJ]

Oh yeah and then "the installer from hell" that I had, who ran over my mailbox as he left,

VOS, I hate that this happened to you, I really do. But every time I see you post this, it makes me laugh. I can't help but think, "What the heck was that guy thinking?"

It also makes me think about when some punk kid took a bat to my mailbox one night. My mailbox is one of those rubbermaid ones so it didn't crush like the metal ones that you see. However, because it was rubber, it flew into the neighbor's yard about 75 feet away. :lol:

Sorry mods, I'll get :backtotop .

[veryoldschool]

VOS, I hate that this happened to you, I really do. But every time I see you post this, it makes me laugh. I can't help but think, "What the heck was that guy thinking?"
It also makes me think about when some punk kid took a bat to my mailbox one night. My mailbox is one of those rubbermaid ones so it didn't crush like the metal ones that you see. However, because it was rubber, it flew into the neighbor's yard about 75 feet away. :lol: Sorry mods, I'll get :backtotop .
I'm not out to "out do" others who complain about their installation, just to give them some "perspective". Some times it's greener on the other side & sometimes [if you look first] it isn't.
It's been almost a year, the mailbox is still alive & well, and I didn't need to walk 75 feet [farther than the 150' to it] to find it. :lol:
Oh yeah: he wasn't thinking...duh! The whole install went that way, which is why he did what I told him to do. I just didn't QC everything until he left.

[mtsz52784]

I got these HDMI cables and have had no problems... http://www.supermediastore.com/hdmi-to-hdmi-cable-3-meter-3pk.html

[eneg]

Okay, thanks for all of the replies.

I am having D* installed next Thursday.
I've done a lot of reading all over this forum and the thing that concerns me most is the HR-20.
There seems to be many issues with it.

First, it's gonna be getting familiar with it.
Then, when it screws up, I won't know if it's me or the unit itself.
I'm sure that I'll be asking lots of questions!

Thanks Again,

Eneg

[swedishcancerboi]

I'll cover each item from my perspective:



Phone jacks - $70. The price is about right for 3 wireless jacks but as stated you don't technicaly need the phone lines (other then PPV). BUT installers are required to make sure all receivers have them. So just run some phone cord from the location to a phone jack (or even just into a closet, he's not really going to check). Who cares if it's 50 feet of cord running in the hall, installer won't care. He can check the box on his install sheet that phone line connected and that's all he cares about. Then after he leaves roll the cords up and forget about it.





I'm sorry, I must jump in here.

Don't do this to the installer. You guys must understand something. Most installers' pay is based on whether or not a certain percentage of their receivers are connected to phone lines. (Anybody remember the Florida Mastek incident???) If you run these "makeshift" phone lines for the installer, great, and we DO appreciate it. But for god's sake, please leave them plugged in for a couple of days until they make thier first call to DirecTV. I know a good number of installers that won't do an install (with supervisor authority) if the customer refuses phone lines. That one job missing 3-5 phones lines can cost the tech hundreds of dollars by dropping him to the next pay tier because some customer took it upon him/herself to unhook the phone lines after the tech left. I agree, why pay for wireless phone jacks if you are not going to use them. Why pay a tech money to fish phone lines down walls if you don't use them.

But please, OH PLEASE, if you don't want them, just let him/her hook them up. Even if it is unsightly for now. Leave them for a few days, maybe a week, then do what you please. You have no idea how bad these receivers are to tech's number when they show as a 'non-responder'.

And on the subject of not needing phone lines, Anybody have a Standard-def Tivo not hooked up to a phone line? Notice how your daylight savings time is wrong?
I think this is the first time I have EVER seen an adverse reaction to system performance from lack of a phone line.