Dishnetwork blasting its Contractors

[dishcomm]

I have worked in the Lenexa,Ks office for 5 yrs installing, this is problay the worse i have seen this place. EVERY job must be grouded, including apartments. It's not easy to find a ground source in a apartment, and today in the atm they starting going into fall protection. No matter what roof, must drill 6 3inch lags to secure your fall protection..lol The calenders are 7-10 days out, and we have to work on are days off now as well. You know i at one time enjoyed this place, but with new rules everyday it's getting hard to even get out of bed in the mornings.

"No matter what roof, must drill 6 3inch lags to secure your fall protection"..What does this mean?
"we have to work on are days off now as well"..and this?
Grounding has always been part of the job requirement..This should come as no shock to you...apartments however, we don't ground if there is no source..In fact we are prohibited by most apartment mangement companies from attaching a dish system ground wire to the building ground...You can get exceptions to any Dish network rule by getting the customer/land owner to sign off...

 

[dishcomm]

I agree 110% with Inspecting DNSC Employees work!

The fact of the matter is that there is no accountability on the part of the installer, they do a crappy install and someone else gets sent out to correct their mistakes!

I sell systems nationwide and im getting sick and tired of being charged back on customers who disconnect due to a crappy installation. Don't get me wrong, its not like this happens once in a blue moon, I get about 1-2 disconnects per week over this crap!

Attatched is the sheet they use to score your installation. I wouldn't expect you to program the recover button on every customers remote contron, but there should be no reason why you can't score 100% every time!

Ahh..This is sthe most irrtating part of being a high quality tech who takes pride in his work..I despise having to fix someone else's garbage install..Hate it..Not only do I have to do a reinstall for servcie call pay, I then own the job from that day forward...That's a double whammy..I get to these things I just want to ban everyone else form eveer touching a satellite system...GRRRRRRRRRRR!
BTW I don't mind programming the recover button.. I hate trying to explain how it works..I get the silliest looks from people..What I do is program the tv to display only the Dish reciver input channel..This is so the customer CAN'T change the TV channel...

 

[dishcomm]

I also agree! If you are a patient of a doctor during surgery you would want to make sure the doctor makes no mistakes! My case with a 3rd party installer was I had to take off of work three times to be home (Without Pay) and no installers ever showed! Also that 3rd party installers was listed on the "BBB" website as a low preforming business!

How on Earth can you equate a doctor's work to that of a dopey satellite tech..That is overkill..Please!.....Do you kill houseflies with a shot gun?

 

[dishcomm]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. They expect the job to be done, you don't do it, you don't get paid. Such is life.

Doesn't matter if you disagree or not..An employer is in violation of federal labor law to withold pay for work completed without due process. An employer under the law cannot make up rules that are contrary to federal and/or state law...
Unfortunately most people do not know this and if they did they would most likely be fearful of losing their job if they filed legal action..So they just put up with this criminal behavior...Now, do not get me wrong..If the work is not done to known specifications, the tech should(as is the case where I work) be permitted to correct the error on his own time....If that is impossible, then a reasonable amount can be witheld from the pay on the on that job..

 

[dishcomm]

If they want me to carry a torque wrench for lag bolts, I'm gonna need a little more scratched. Those are specialized tools.

I have never seen torque specs for a dish before. Talk about anal. Silly dish network! Torque Wrenches are for wheel bearings and lugnuts, not lagbolts!

Torque wrench for lag bolts....I don't carry one. period..Nor do I ever plan on carrying a torque wrench...That DNS QC guy can kiss my man sized ass..

 

[dishcomm]

I can't wait till Dish forces us to use ALL new wire. NO on-site wire allowed. Rip it all out and replace it. That would be GRAND. I had a customer like that just the other day... he was having problems with Time Warner, so when I show up to install Dishnetwork, he demands I run ALL NEW WIRE. Despite the fact that there is ALREADY RG-6 going to EACH location. Smart guy this man. I tried to talk him out of it, and explain the quality of the cable. He was adamant, so I pulled all the old stuff and I ran all new line. Too bad for him the Time Warner cable was better quality than mine. What an idiot.

That's when I make a hasty exit from the business..E* spends my money already with unfunded mandates...As for that customer you wrote of in this post, I would have put new cable into the home but it would be a very cold day Miami day in August before I'd touch the existing...The customer isn't going to utilize it , then to me it doesn't exist..I am not the hired day laborer

 

[dishcomm]

I suuuure did Chadzx11! LOL

I'm a sub for a local retailer, and this is the way we handle our quality... We are always sent back out to fix a problem on one of our jobs. Always! And we never get paid for it unless it's something the customer did or faulty equipment. It's that easy. Just keep sending the same tech back out until he gets it right. I think that's the fair, equitable, rational thing to do. If the customer complains and sets up a trouble call, then it's a big NO-NO and it goes on the tech's scorecard. If the customer's system is working and they are happy, then horray for everyone. I give my personal cell phone to each and every customer...

Sure, it's all fine and good that Dishnetwork QCs some stuff. Looks for proper grounding and all that. But if it's not 100%, SO WHAT? Just fail them for it, put it on their scorecard, and it will affect their workload in the future. There is ALREADY a sufficient motivation to complete a job to Specifications. It's like chopping off hands for theft or hanging people for stealin horses... The punishment doesn't fit the 'crime'.

And by the way webbydude, they DON'T include ANY of those RG59 jumpers with ANY recievers any more! I'm super pissed off about it. I SURE don't want them to take away the DPP seperator jumpers. But I agree with what you're saying about those cables being "lower quality" but still just fine and dandy to use in their respective places.

Here's what I do... Just refuse to abide by these rediculous standards. Set new terms for the contract. There are two parties involved here. If you don't like their offer, make a counter offer. If your contractee doesn't like the terms he can find a different installer or make another counter offer. I know the competition. I'm one of the top installers in my area. They are making to much money off me to just stop using me because of some random quality issue like the name that's printed on the cable you use. You've got a pair, use em!

E* isn't smacking thier own techs wiht these rules..They ar egoing after the subs...But it's up to each DNSC office how they do their QC's....The one here does them sparingly..My supervisor goes out before DNS does and gets the jobs QC'd so that when DNS fianlly gets around to them, they are all square..So not to worry..The local DNS office knows we QC our own stuff and fix the problems..SO they basically leave us alone.
To be honest, I don't abide by every little thing Dish wants us to ..It's ridiculous..They don't check it anyway..I know for a fact they don't pop open every interface box to look at the connections. If they see a ground wire, they check that..TheQC guy doesn't go on the roof to look at the dish unless it looks suspicious. Most of them use binoculors to look at the dish form the ground.They rarely go into the home....Look, it is my understanding E* wants all UL listed cable.I use it..Hmm. What a about he pre wire?..I asked our people about that..they say E* says it doesn't apply to the prewire. Ok, what then is keeping E* from mandating all UL cable on every job?....Nothing..The day E* tells us we can't use the prewire if we cannot determine if it's UL or not, I am so out of this business.
The only way we can make a decent living is if some of our jobs are prewired..If we had to run cable on every one, the costs in time and material would be prohibitive.
Isn't it ironic that the standards and expenses are getting tougher and higher but he number of quality installers is going down..Gee I wonder why..I can sum it up...No skilled tradesman( I believe we fit that category) likes being told how much thay can charge for their service and then micromamnaged in the process.

 

[rcdallas]

E* isn't smacking thier own techs wiht these rules..They ar egoing after the subs...But it's up to each DNSC office how they do their QC's....The one here does them sparingly..My supervisor goes out before DNS does and gets the jobs QC'd so that when DNS fianlly gets around to them, they are all square..So not to worry..The local DNS office knows we QC our own stuff and fix the problems..SO they basically leave us alone.

Do you really think DNSC technicians are not being hit by the same rules?

Your absolutely wrong.

Recently QA is now required to do two -in- home inspections / tech / month.

 

[CDifley]

I failed a QC when I did not put a bushing in the penetration through skirting on a mobile home. I did, however, integrate existing C-band service and a high def off air antenna together to make the customer happy. I am no longer a DNS installer.

 

[Stargazer]

Many customers wants their existing wire used because they put the wire in there themselves a certain way so that it does not have to be messed with again or the house was prewired and the wire cannot be taken out. Some are prewired because they do not want anymore holes drilled into the house again and have everything setup the way that they wnat it. I just think it is totally rediculous to replace wire that is already in place that is compatable and works with the satellite system if it is RG-6.

Pay has decreased for the retailer and installer (and the costs such as gas and material as gone up) but profits and the amount of money has increase at least 50% for the satellite companies with what is received from the monthly programming fee over the past 10 years. The amount of money that the retailers and installers receive should have increased accordingly but has not therefore the amount of money to be used per install has to be cut as a result.

If they are going to get too stern with installation rules then they will lose a lot of the long-term installers that have experience to rookies due to them leaving because of the decrease in pay or same amount of pay but more bull to deal with such as this. I already know of two installers that quit or were about ready to because of all the bull that they already had to deal with before this came about.

 

[dishcomm]

Do you really think DNSC technicians are not being hit by the same rules?

Your absolutely wrong.

Recently QA is now required to do two -in- home inspections / tech / month.

Never said they weren't..BTW based on what I have seen, the DNS techs break the rules just as much as the contrators...

 

[dishcomm]

I failed a QC when I did not put a bushing in the penetration through skirting on a mobile home. I did, however, integrate existing C-band service and a high def off air antenna together to make the customer happy. I am no longer a DNS installer.

Really?..I had no idea.I normally don't do underpinning penetrations. I just go underneath them..on outside wall pens I use silicine to seal the penetration..Never been told once this was not spec..Besides, I think having no device gives a cleaner look. All you have is the cable...I smotth out the silicone so it looks like it is part of the siding..Just like the electricians do when they install the cabling for tv and phone..

 

[chadzx11]

He was adamant, so I pulled all the old stuff and I ran all new line. Too bad for him the Time Warner cable was better quality than mine. What an idiot.

That's insane. I've had people pull that on me before, but if I run my own wire, I am NOT touching the cable company's or the customer's or anybody else's. Same with the dish. If they move into a house with an existing dish and I need to put mine somewhere else--I'm not touching the old one.

 

[chadzx11]

..This contractor is violating just about every labor law in the book and gettiong away with it...Such as back charging the entire job because the tech didn't put a company sticker on the receiver. Or if the customer calls dish with 12 days of his new connection for service for a service call the tech is fined for the entire job..Even if the equipment is defective..The best part is the supervisors are pocketing the money!....

That sounds like rocking r. No sticker, no pay. No pictures, no pay.

 

[chadzx11]

I failed a QC when I did not put a bushing in the penetration through skirting on a mobile home. I did, however, integrate existing C-band service and a high def off air antenna together to make the customer happy. I am no longer a DNS installer.

See, I wouldn't even note that. That guy was just a prick.

 

[Van]

I think its a good idea that should have been done a long time ago when sub contractors were charging customers up to $2,000 for a dual Echostar 2700 receiver install. The inhouse techs get job checked about 3 to 1 when it comes to the subs and retailers and they only get 3 strikes allowable in a years time, hopefully that will be the case with the subs now if its not.

The only jobs that I have ever come across that were almost always failable jobs have always been apartment installs because its rare to find an NEC aproved ground source at any apartment but during my time working for dish at the Wixom Michigan office and then the Ann Arbor Michigan office I was directed more than once to go ahead and do the install without the grounding at the direction of the installation manager and the now unemployed general manager.

I make no bones about it when it comes to how I feel about the work that the vast majority of sub contractors due thats best described as sh*t. I fixed more hack work done by several subs and a couple of retailers than I ever had that was done by anyone that I worked with. My favorite sub contractor quote that says volumes,

" I usually make about $1,800 a week working 5 days. Really? how many jobs a day do you do then? I usually do about 8 to 10 and Im home by dinner time."

 

[hdtvdeprived]

Sounds like DISH Network is stepping over dollars just to make pennies. Good luck staying in business.

 

[webbydude]

Really?..I had no idea.I normally don't do underpinning penetrations. I just go underneath them..on outside wall pens I use silicine to seal the penetration..Never been told once this was not spec..Besides, I think having no device gives a cleaner look. All you have is the cable...I smotth out the silicone so it looks like it is part of the siding..Just like the electricians do when they install the cabling for tv and phone..

I could be wrong, but I *think* the rationale for failing that particular job was due to the cable running, unprotected, thru aluminum siding. Most trailers/modular homes have that sort of siding.

I'll be honest, almost all (98 percent or so) of the installs I do on a trailer DO come thru the floor. It's just a pain in the butt to run lines out the outside wall when I could just simply hide the wires and have everything underneath and hidden behind skirting.

 

[dishcomm]

That's insane. I've had people pull that on me before, but if I run my own wire, I am NOT touching the cable company's or the customer's or anybody else's. Same with the dish. If they move into a house with an existing dish and I need to put mine somewhere else--I'm not touching the old one.

Same here..I f the customer pays me directly and signs off to hold me blameless of anything that may happen as far as leaks or any other damage for the life of the home(I am not kidding) then I will remove the dish..Anything short of that, it stays...

 

[Van]

Sounds like DISH Network is stepping over dollars just to make pennies. Good luck staying in business.

Your kidding right? Ok look at it like this.

Over the time that I worked as an inhouse tech I had rolled on roughly 100 jobs that I was the 10th + tech to come out on because the system was not working as it should. In the worst case I had to do a total reinstall on about 3 of these while the majority were a few things such as replacing a few things but there were enough in there that it was something so simple as loose connections.

The majority of calls I went on were due to someone not doing the job right the first, second, or third time if not more while the rest were a mix of customer caused, equipment failure, act of god or something that a wild/domesticated animal did to the sytem. Regardless though its the majority thats at issue and its not just Dish that is spending way to much on repeat service calls its all of the dbs and cable providers ( I've been with charter since november and have had 16 service calls to fix the same issue, 7 missed calls, 3 set top boxes replaced, 5 splitters replaced, rg59 replaced with rg6, telephone system reinstalled twice ) because there are to many techs that dont care and there are to many companies that pay to little and put to high of a demand for work to be completed on the techs ( cable techs average 9 - 15 jobs a day ).

The reasons for bad jobs are varied but generaly can fall into simple categories and can be easily fixed by the industry and the techs themselves but the fix rests mostly on the shoulders of the companies themselves to stop pushing for quantity and instead focus on quality.