Even if he is only a "one man installing company" he probably is still a retailer, just with one employee. The third party contract sounds normal. The reason for it is that if you cancel within 12 months it costs him money. After he gets you activated Dish Network pays him for installing the system for you, this is how retailers make their money. The retailer (installer in this case) gets those payments taken away later if a customer is deactivated within 12 months for any reason (even not paying their bill). The amount Dish takes back from the retailer can vary but many retailers just charge a flat fee for everyone to avoid confusion and having different contracts (the company I work for charges $399 so this guy sounds pretty reasonable to me). This is why installation companies are forced impose a third party contract with customers. They are essentially taking a risk on every person they install.