New Coax Run...Why Do I Have to Bury it Myself?

[Jared Twomey]

:yikes


The ones who need to man up are the installers on here.

WAH! I don't get paid enough! Snivel Snivel!




I happen to agree that most don't get paid enough. Instead of screwing over customers, some of us have chosen to move on.

here's the thing... as the installer... they aren't MY customers. They are dish networks. I have been hired to do a job, I do the job that I was hired to do... I don't waste half my day to do work for free. If someone wants to pay me for it... (whether dish or the customer) sure, if not... i'm not doing it.

 

[webbydude]

here's the thing... as the installer... they aren't MY customers. They are dish networks. I have been hired to do a job, I do the job that I was hired to do... I don't waste half my day to do work for free. If someone wants to pay me for it... (whether dish or the customer) sure, if not... i'm not doing it.

Amen brother!

 

[Barry Erick]

Okay...a few answers.

First, on the dog...he's about nine months old, and has chewed through four (yes, four) extension cords (none plugged in!) out to xmas lights. Don't know if he'll mess with the coax; I coated it, using a sponge, with bitter apple before it got dark. We'll see.

Our puppies learned on 12v cords. When they started to chew, they eventually found a live 12 v (as no 110v cords are unprotected) and they would get just a little shock, let out a yelp and neither ever touched a wire/cord since.

 

[bobinstaller]

would you expect your telco co to run a dsl line to your detached garage @ no chg because you havent had a late payment?

 

[DirectDishNet]

I trench up to 25' only, Then it is $1.00 per foot..... Thats just me, I'm not 18 years old anymore so I draw the line at 25'.

As far as that guy complaining about the cable is not trenched, Well...... grab a shovel and bury it, Jesus Christ, I am getting sick and tired of all the wining customers bitching about every little thing. The damn install is free!!.....

Look, I'm sorry for the attitude, But I'm sure you called the 800 number by now and bitched about the cable and they set up a trouble call and gave you some free HBO or something, Then a different installer will go out and tell you the same thing, Then you will call the 800 number again and wine some more and they will send another tech out and give you some credits.......... Most of the installers they send you are contractors like me, They pay for there own gas and time, and if they did spend the 4 hours digging and cutting your tree roots, They will only get $30 - $45 dollars....Is that worth it?, Do me a favore?, Just burry the damn cable yourself!!..........

 

[DirectDishNet]

Oh yea, Just because you invested in the company and have been a customer for 80 years, Don't meen I am going to your house and kissing your @$$ working like a slave cutting your tree roots just so you can sit in the house and watch me work like a slave. Then tell all of your friends how awfull your life is cuz you had to look at the cable.

Worst investment of your life?, A few dollars?.........wow.........I wish I was that lucky.

 

[OoTLink]

Here's an idea:

1. Get hose, soak the ground where you believe the cable is good (or wait for it to rain really good)
2. Use a coupler to connect the new cable to the old one
3. Pull old cable.

XD

I have a feeling that could have a messy outcome, if all else you end up finding out how they ran that cable, on the best side perhaps the new one would slither into place?

 

[CubsWin]

First, on the dog...he's about nine months old, and has chewed through four (yes, four) extension cords (none plugged in!) out to xmas lights. Don't know if he'll mess with the coax; I coated it, using a sponge, with bitter apple before it got dark. We'll see.

Is he a lab by any chance? Mine is a year old and will chew through anything I allow him to, and bitter apple spray doesn't even phase him.

 

[JeremyL]

You guys sound like Randall in Clerks: "This job would be great if it weren't for all the customers."

News flash guys - These lazy, whiny customers are the reason you have a job.

News flash #2 - Your job title might be Installer or Technician or something similar, but part of your job is customer service.

Instead of insulting this guy, as some of you have done by calling him lazy and comparing him with whiny people, how about offering him some options? He clearly doesn't want to bury the cable himself. One person advised him to find a college kid home on break - that's a good, helpful idea.

What should have happened is the installer telling him he is only required to bury 25 or 50 feet (seems to be some disagreement on what is required in the free install), but if he would like him to bury the rest it would be X dollars and he could set up an appointment for another time, within reason. That's customer service, folks. Don't just flat out say no. Offer a solution, if possible. It probably would have kept the customer happy, and prevented him from posting the message that started this thread. Be reasonable with your customers, and, most of the time, they'll be reasonable with you. And, by the way, they're not only Dish Network's customers, they're yours, too. You're the face of Dish Network to them, whether you are an actual employee, or a contractor.

 

[WiCkeDuDe]

ok so if I want a 722 DIU from you and I want to be happy you will come over and install it all for me at no charge right, because if im not happy thats bad customer service?

Give me a break!

 

[iwc5893]

You guys sound like Randall in Clerks: "This job would be great if it weren't for all the customers."

News flash guys - These lazy, whiny customers are the reason you have a job.

News flash #2 - Your job title might be Installer or Technician or something similar, but part of your job is customer service.

Instead of insulting this guy, as some of you have done by calling him lazy and comparing him with whiny people, how about offering him some options? He clearly doesn't want to bury the cable himself. One person advised him to find a college kid home on break - that's a good, helpful idea.

What should have happened is the installer telling him he is only required to bury 25 or 50 feet (seems to be some disagreement on what is required in the free install), but if he would like him to bury the rest it would be X dollars and he could set up an appointment for another time, within reason. That's customer service, folks. Don't just flat out say no. Offer a solution, if possible. It probably would have kept the customer happy, and prevented him from posting the message that started this thread. Be reasonable with your customers, and, most of the time, they'll be reasonable with you. And, by the way, they're not only Dish Network's customers, they're yours, too. You're the face of Dish Network to them, whether you are an actual employee, or a contractor.

Newsflash #3 - It's not a job if you do the work and don't get paid for it. If it was, slavery would have been considered a job.

Customer service is part of the job, but a company can "customer service" itself right out of business by providing free things to customers.

As far as burying the cable goes, you can take a shovel and slit trench it to bury it down a few inches. I did a 110 foot run like this and it took all of 20 minutes. I was able to push the cable into the slit and then walked on top of the slit line. The grass didn't even die.

 

[bryanw20]

I'm confused if there are 2 runs all ready, 1 good, 1 bad, why the need for the 3rd? Can't you use the good one? I haven't installed a dish since before the dish 500 days, but had a 622 installed, and they only used 1 of my existing runs from Gilat/Starband dish to feed the RX. Put a little splitter/switch on the end and it works. (this is also pushing 300-350' on RG-6, so it can be done)
If you're not sure which run is which, a chepo pocket toner can tell you in a jiffy!

 

[cybertrip]

Because you presented an unusual situation, and DN won't pay for it. You could've tried and argued the case on the phone to see if they'd pay the installer for it, but when Dish has to keep paying for all these things it eats into their profits and then they raise the rates. :|

A cable company may run 250' of wire to your house, but that depends on the situation. I can almost guarantee you they wouldn't run 250' of wire say, from your house to your garage. LOL.

When I worked for the cable company we would run that 250' of wire from a house to a garage. However, you better have a conduit already buried for us, and you get to pay for the amplifier. Burying a 250' cable is alot of work, and would probably cost the installer more than they get paid doing the actual install.

 

[msa6]

Most of the installers they send you are contractors like me, They pay for there own gas and time, and if they did spend the 4 hours digging and cutting your tree roots, They will only get $30 - $45 dollars....Is that worth it?, Do me a favore?, Just burry the damn cable yourself!!..........

I have no interest in an installer (contractor) spending time at my house and not getting paid. Of course the contractor should get paid for his work. It's a question of who pays him! Me or the company. And I think the company should pay, since we're talking about getting their network to the place where I pay my bill from: the house!

 

[msa6]

Is he a lab by any chance? Mine is a year old and will chew through anything I allow him to, and bitter apple spray doesn't even phase him.

Good call! He's a lab mixed with brittany spaniel. Sweet, sweet dog from the SPCA. Just likes to chew stuff.

 

[msa6]

You guys sound like Randall in Clerks: "This job would be great if it weren't for all the customers."

News flash guys - These lazy, whiny customers are the reason you have a job.

News flash #2 - Your job title might be Installer or Technician or something similar, but part of your job is customer service.

Instead of insulting this guy, as some of you have done by calling him lazy and comparing him with whiny people, how about offering him some options? He clearly doesn't want to bury the cable himself. One person advised him to find a college kid home on break - that's a good, helpful idea.

What should have happened is the installer telling him he is only required to bury 25 or 50 feet (seems to be some disagreement on what is required in the free install), but if he would like him to bury the rest it would be X dollars and he could set up an appointment for another time, within reason. That's customer service, folks. Don't just flat out say no. Offer a solution, if possible. It probably would have kept the customer happy, and prevented him from posting the message that started this thread. Be reasonable with your customers, and, most of the time, they'll be reasonable with you. And, by the way, they're not only Dish Network's customers, they're yours, too. You're the face of Dish Network to them, whether you are an actual employee, or a contractor.

I appreciate your answer. Again, I'm not whining or complaining that a sub-contractor for Dish should spend unpaid time at my house burying cable. I think the company should pay the installer to do this work, plain and simple. Or they should simply never install a Dish further from the home than the distance they're willing to bury the coax for no additional charge.

Presuming I do the work myself, any thoughts on navigating around the existing, good buried coax? I did get the installer to leave me a decent length, so I suppose I could "swing wide" of where I recall the original run as having been buried. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[msa6]

When I worked for the cable company we would run that 250' of wire from a house to a garage. However, you better have a conduit already buried for us, and you get to pay for the amplifier. Burying a 250' cable is alot of work, and would probably cost the installer more than they get paid doing the actual install.

I'm not asking for a house/garage run. I'm asking for the equivalent of the run from the street to the house...the cable company doesn't charge for that, does it? Comcast's network comes close to my house, and then they finish it up with the drop. Dish's network comes close (out 250' from the house), and then I think they should finish it with the drop to the house.

And I'm all in favor of people getting paid for their work. I don't want anything done at my house by someone who's not getting paid. I just think EchoStar should pay for his time, not me. Or they should never install a dish further from the home than they're willing to bury the coax run.

 

[wmi]

You guys sound like Randall in Clerks: "This job would be great if it weren't for all the customers."

News flash guys - These lazy, whiny customers are the reason you have a job.

News flash #2 - Your job title might be Installer or Technician or something similar, but part of your job is customer service.

Instead of insulting this guy, as some of you have done by calling him lazy and comparing him with whiny people, how about offering him some options? He clearly doesn't want to bury the cable himself. One person advised him to find a college kid home on break - that's a good, helpful idea.

What should have happened is the installer telling him he is only required to bury 25 or 50 feet (seems to be some disagreement on what is required in the free install), but if he would like him to bury the rest it would be X dollars and he could set up an appointment for another time, within reason. That's customer service, folks. Don't just flat out say no. Offer a solution, if possible. It probably would have kept the customer happy, and prevented him from posting the message that started this thread. Be reasonable with your customers, and, most of the time, they'll be reasonable with you. And, by the way, they're not only Dish Network's customers, they're yours, too. You're the face of Dish Network to them, whether you are an actual employee, or a contractor.

They're my customers too??

Does that mean I should be getting a "residual income" from them each and every month just like Dish Network??

Yeah, right!!

Once again, Dish doesn't want us spendining our time "unproductive", and buring 200+ feet of cable FREE OF CHARGE is definitely unproductive. Get the job done up to standards and as productively and quickly as possible and get on to the next job.

BTW, I would have told the OP that he was SOL before I installed a dish 250 feet away.

 

[JeremyL]

They're my customers too??

Does that mean I should be getting a "residual income" from them each and every month just like Dish Network??

Yeah, right!!

Once again, Dish doesn't want us spendining our time "unproductive", and buring 200+ feet of cable FREE OF CHARGE is definitely unproductive. Get the job done up to standards and as productively and quickly as possible and get on to the next job.

BTW, I would have told the OP that he was SOL before I installed a dish 250 feet away.

Yes, everyone you come in contact with as part of your job is your customer, too.

Nowhere did I suggest he do this for free, or backup his next installation because of the time this would take. I said he could explain to the customer that the install only includes 25 or 50 feet, but he could bury the rest of it for a fee and come back at another time.

 

[JeremyL]

I appreciate your answer. Again, I'm not whining or complaining that a sub-contractor for Dish should spend unpaid time at my house burying cable. I think the company should pay the installer to do this work, plain and simple. Or they should simply never install a Dish further from the home than the distance they're willing to bury the coax for no additional charge.

Presuming I do the work myself, any thoughts on navigating around the existing, good buried coax? I did get the installer to leave me a decent length, so I suppose I could "swing wide" of where I recall the original run as having been buried. Any thoughts? Thanks.

If you're gonna do it yourself, I would probably swing wide a little. That's probably the safest and easiest solution.