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rcdallas said:

Contractor vs In-House - In my mind does not mean squat. I've seen shady work from both, and likewise I've seen quality work from both.

Wallplates and bushings, It's possible to run out of both - been there done that, you do what you have to work with. Warehouse can run out of things, coax, switches, LNBs, fittings, zipties, silicone you name it they run out of it.

HDMI cables, at my shop we give them out, if we have them, doesn't guarantee you'll get one.

Not trying to be rude or smart but it is what it is.

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kmmcdonald said:

I installed our original system myself. I bought it from our local Dish distributor, who worked in a smoke-filled store and tried to cheat me out of every accessory (e.g. free Dish installation kit) to which Dish said that I was entitled. But I successfully completed the installation myself. They were also incapable of communicating any technical information to me in a way that I could understand, and I am an electronics engineer by profession.

Eventually, we had to have a dual LNB installed, with a bigger dish, and more wiring, along with a SW64. Actual Dish technicians handled that, and they were very professional. Later, when I got our first DVR through a Dish promitional offer, Dish technicians handled that. Again, they were very professional.

So, when we recently wanted to upgrade to HD, we requested that Dish send us a genuine Dish technician, and not a subcontractor. They agreed. Dish told us that the $200 installation fee included everything we needed to get up and running, including a new switch if we needed it, and the HDMI cable.

On the installation day, someone showed up wearing a Dish shirt, but not driving a Dish truck. He immediately proposed that he connect a second Dish, directly to the single room where our single HD set was. (We have internal cable installed to four rooms, which we have been using for standard view up to this time.) He said that Dish did not have a new switch on the work order, and that he did not have one in the truck. I insisted that I wanted HD capability in each of the four connections, and he questioned whether we would ever use it. Again, I insisted that I wanted HD capability in each room, and that Dish had told us that our fee included everything we needed to complete the installation.

All of a sudden, he found a DP34 on the truck! He said that it normally costs $150, but he'd do us a favor and install it. Then he proceeded to drill holes in walls to bring in additional cables, using only grommits on the inside and outside, instead of wall plates and connections. Fortunately, it was not necessary to install a second dish, but to replace the existing one. Eventually, he insisted that the installation did not include an HDMI cable (which may have actually been true, but contradicted what Dish had tole me on the phone.) He sold us one for $50 (check made out to him personally).

He left all of our outside unused cabling unterminated and unprotected from the elements, hacked off an unused cable entry at the outside wall to install a new cable which he thought would fix an initial problem with the second TV (which it did not and everntually fixed by using a lower channel), and he made off with our original SW64, which although we do not need it anymore, I nevertheless owned.

It took him 5 hours to complete the installation. He did seem to work hard, but I feel that I had to monitor what he did the whole time. Also, I feel that he tried to mislead us originally about the DP34.

Everything works, though, and I suppose that I should be grateful. I supposed I should adopt the attitude that he worked hard and that it went smoothely.

Keith

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