DirecTV Installer!!!GRrrr

[igator99]

The company only pays for standard work
you are a custom.....If you had it on a roof it would be standard.
Now if you want it on your roof then the ticket will say to relocte dish with upgrade
Keep in mind Directv will charge for a relocate.

Trust me i have been doing this for 16 years. and i have delt with
idiots for tecs and idiots for customers. I am a contractor who gets paid by job
"not hourly" and directv is responsible for standard installs only.
If you want custom work done then you will pay..
it is that simple.

A real pro techie showed up today. It goes a long way if you explain to people in a honest fashion why they can or can't do something. He is going to relocate my dish and have to dig a ditch. I offered to pay him for running another line (It appears DirecTV screwed up the work order all it told them was to show up this morning to do the original install) but he wouldn't do it. He explained that he needed a work order from DirecTV. I have a question for you guys. According to him DirecTV is going to pay for the relocate and the burying of the cables? From what you have told me they will not do this. Is there some sort of exception? He said he would call me back with a date.

 

[sksatellite]

That is depending what company send the young kid to your home at first, if they are contractor and got your work order from other company which I believe so, this kid will sure get pay by the job and maybe this is an upgrade on the work order, this is not going to get anything if he do extra work, considering the hour to done the job. I knew some company only pay $39 for a upgrade which is bad bad to anyone who take the order, and $19 for service call which is not even enough to cover the gas and time.

Relocate the dish and dip a new pole, if DTV come out to do this, it sure will charge you more then the local dealer.

 

[igator99]

That is depending what company send the young kid to your home at first, if they are contractor and got your work order from other company which I believe so, this kid will sure get pay by the job and maybe this is an upgrade on the work order, this is not going to get anything if he do extra work, considering the hour to done the job. I knew some company only pay $39 for a upgrade which is bad bad to anyone who take the order, and $19 for service call which is not even enough to cover the gas and time.

Relocate the dish and dip a new pole, if DTV come out to do this, it sure will charge you more then the local dealer.

I called DirecTV and since it is an upgrade to a new dish they will cover installation charges. Now might be the time to upgrade if you think your current setup will not hold the new dish.

 

[wobbie]

In defense of you and the tech that will come out, remember, most of these guys are contractors not employees. If he is working for a HSP he will only get paid for an upgrade... probably about $30 - $40 and will be expected to do any and all work required to install the new dish for free. Now as a customer being told by DirecTV that they will cover installation charges.... of course they will.... they will write up a work order for a Dish Upgrade... send it to the HSP and the tech will be expected to do any and all work to get the Dish Upgraded. Now in defense of the installer.. I have been to jobs for a "Dish Upgrade" when it ois required to relocate the dish due to line-of-site issues... DirecTV nor the HSP will not pay a penny extra for the extra work... that is when the tech will walk. Hope this helps.

 

[stevo/65]

In defense of you and the tech that will come out, remember, most of these guys are contractors not employees. If he is working for a HSP he will only get paid for an upgrade... probably about $30 - $40 and will be expected to do any and all work required to install the new dish for free. Now as a customer being told by DirecTV that they will cover installation charges.... of course they will.... they will write up a work order for a Dish Upgrade... send it to the HSP and the tech will be expected to do any and all work to get the Dish Upgraded. Now in defense of the installer.. I have been to jobs for a "Dish Upgrade" when it ois required to relocate the dish due to line-of-site issues... DirecTV nor the HSP will not pay a penny extra for the extra work... that is when the tech will walk. Hope this helps.

Not all Hsp are the same.
I personally do not work for HSP anymore... but i have to say
they do pay lousy now....but the Hsp i worked for will not
do custom work that is required, for free.
That is the only one thing good i can say about MAZTEC.
Most of the good techs are now working for local dealer.
and knuckleheads "rookies" are working for Hsp
that will work for that price..you got to learn somewhere.
It use to be the other way around.
If you want quality and the job done right the first time go retail "local Dealer"
if not you will keep getting the runaround "just my opinion"

 

[igator99]

Not all Hsp are the same.
I personally do not work for HSP anymore... but i have to say
they do pay lousy now....but the Hsp i worked for will not
do custom work that is required, for free.
That is the only one thing good i can say about MAZTEC.
Most of the good techs are now working for local dealer.
and knuckleheads "rookies" are working for Hsp
that will work for that price..you got to learn somewhere.
It use to be the other way around.
If you want quality and the job done right the first time go retail "local Dealer"
if not you will keep getting the runaround "just my opinion"

Both Dish and DirecTV are willing to do the job with a commitment. How much would you charge to do the following installation?
1) Mount dish to a pole and securing it with concrete.
2) Dig a ditch to the house. About 20 feet.
3) Bury the cable
4) Run the lines into the existing lines and add one more line.

It sounds like a considerable amount of work. I would guess someone that knew what they were doing and had the right equipment (like a ditch witch) they could get it done in three hours at the most. How much is DirecTV going to give the person that is doing the upgrade?

 

[wobbie]

DirecTV will not give the persom anything extra for the pole mount and trenching the cable. Unfortunately the tech.. is he does the pole mount will have to hand trench the cable. They will more than likely pay them for the Dish Upgrade and additional receiver. If I was you I woud offer the tech $40-$100 for the pole mount and cable trench. If you want to save a few $$$$'s tell him ypou will trench the cable. I'm sure some on here will say pay more... but $40 to dig a hole add cement and supplies is well worth it.

 

[rockaway1836]

If your going to be trenching, you may want to lay some conduit as well. Should you ever need to upgrade or change your cables, it's a whole lot easier shooitng them through a piece of pipe than it is to dig another trench. Just remember to leave a drag line for the future if to decide to do so.

 

[igator99]

DirecTV will not give the persom anything extra for the pole mount and trenching the cable. Unfortunately the tech.. is he does the pole mount will have to hand trench the cable. They will more than likely pay them for the Dish Upgrade and additional receiver. If I was you I woud offer the tech $40-$100 for the pole mount and cable trench. If you want to save a few $$$$'s tell him ypou will trench the cable. I'm sure some on here will say pay more... but $40 to dig a hole add cement and supplies is well worth it.

That is slave wages. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't treat their people better than that. One guy and a shovel is going to be a job. I live in an area that has red clay which can get as hard as rock especially in the Summer time. When I had my DSL line dropped two guys showed up with a ditch witch and they were threw in less than two hours. I know two people that work for Bellsouth and they are paid very well for their work.

 

[stevo/65]

That is slave wages. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't treat their people better than that. One guy and a shovel is going to be a job. I live in an area that has red clay which can get as hard as rock especially in the Summer time. When I had my DSL line dropped two guys showed up with a ditch witch and they were threw in less than two hours. I know two people that work for Bellsouth and they are paid very well for their work.

I use to do the same thing for Verizon..and you are right the pay is good
especialy when you can get a couple of jobs that you will need to bore.
it was $1 a foot on bore job.
your hand "helper" would average $800 and i would average $1,500 after paying my help.
But that was putting in phone lines only fron net to D-mark.
if customer wants any inside home wiring... it was up to you and the customer on price.
That all changed when competition with your labor was now from mexico
and was willing to work harder and for less.
I did not speak spanish ..so i eventually i was $hit out of luck.

 

[stevo/65]

That is slave wages. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't treat their people better than that. One guy and a shovel is going to be a job. I live in an area that has red clay which can get as hard as rock especially in the Summer time. When I had my DSL line dropped two guys showed up with a ditch witch and they were threw in less than two hours. I know two people that work for Bellsouth and they are paid very well for their work.

I use to do the same thing for Verizon..and you are right the pay is good
especialy when you can get a couple of jobs that you will need to bore.
it was $1 a foot on bore job.
your hand "helper" would average $800 and i would average $1,500 after paying my help.
But that was putting in phone lines only fron net to D-mark.
if customer wants any inside home wiring... it was up to you and the customer on price.
That all changed when competition with your labor was now from mexico
and was willing to work harder and for less.
I did not speak spanish ..so i eventually i was $hit out of luck.

 

[stevo/65]

Both Dish and DirecTV are willing to do the job with a commitment. How much would you charge to do the following installation?
1) Mount dish to a pole and securing it with concrete.
2) Dig a ditch to the house. About 20 feet.
3) Bury the cable
4) Run the lines into the existing lines and add one more line.

It sounds like a considerable amount of work. I would guess someone that knew what they were doing and had the right equipment (like a ditch witch) they could get it done in three hours at the most. How much is DirecTV going to give the person that is doing the upgrade?

Let us know how things turn out for you

 

[uboatcmdr]

That is slave wages. I can't believe that DirecTV doesn't treat their people better than that. One guy and a shovel is going to be a job. I live in an area that has red clay which can get as hard as rock especially in the Summer time. When I had my DSL line dropped two guys showed up with a ditch witch and they were threw in less than two hours. I know two people that work for Bellsouth and they are paid very well for their work.

Please keep in mind that Bellsouth workers are covered by the CWA (Communications Workers of America) union while your local Directv HSP does not have any union (if I am not mistaken Bruister is the HSP for your area) and has fired people in the past for trying to organize one. I was fired by them (along with three others) for trying to organize the office we worked out of in our area. I heard that the New Olreans office was trying organize a union but that everything stopped for them when katrina hit and many of the techs were displaced.
If the tech who originally showed up was in a Directv van then he was paid by the hour not by the job. And if he was paid by the hour he was proably making around $10-$12 per hour. Pretty soon all Bruister techs whether using their own vehicles (POV) or those owned by the company (COV) will be getting paid hourly (the POV techs will get $0.44 per mile additional to cover the cost of their vehicle, maintenance, fuel and commercial insurance, the company naturally will keep those tech's routes tight so they can pay as little mileage as possible). So after the pay change I wouldn't expect there will be too many experienced tech available to come out as many of them are not going to be willing to take the nearly 50% cut in pay they would get going from piece rates (pay per job) to hourly rates. They will most likely quit and look for a new line of work. So you will be left with all the FNG's whose only experince serving customers is asking "do you want fries with that" while they were working the drive through at Micky D's.

 

[igator99]

Please keep in mind that Bellsouth workers are covered by the CWA (Communications Workers of America) union while your local Directv HSP does not have any union (if I am not mistaken Bruister is the HSP for your area) and has fired people in the past for trying to organize one. I was fired by them (along with three others) for trying to organize the office we worked out of in our area. I heard that the New Olreans office was trying organize a union but that everything stopped for them when katrina hit and many of the techs were displaced.
If the tech who originally showed up was in a Directv van then he was paid by the hour not by the job. And if he was paid by the hour he was proably making around $10-$12 per hour. Pretty soon all Bruister techs whether using their own vehicles (POV) or those owned by the company (COV) will be getting paid hourly (the POV techs will get $0.44 per mile additional to cover the cost of their vehicle, maintenance, fuel and commercial insurance, the company naturally will keep those tech's routes tight so they can pay as little mileage as possible). So after the pay change I wouldn't expect there will be too many experienced tech available to come out as many of them are not going to be willing to take the nearly 50% cut in pay they would get going from piece rates (pay per job) to hourly rates. They will most likely quit and look for a new line of work. So you will be left with all the FNG's whose only experince serving customers is asking "do you want fries with that" while they were working the drive through at Micky D's.

The were Bruister techs that came out. The guy on Friday was very young and he didn't seem interested in doing a big job. The guy that came out on Saturday was much older and seemed to know what he was doing. If I'm gett ing it right a Bruister tech shouldn't care if it is a big job because they are getting paid by the hour and not by the job. Right?

 

[uboatcmdr]

The were Bruister techs that came out. The guy on Friday was very young and he didn't seem interested in doing a big job. The guy that came out on Saturday was much older and seemed to know what he was doing. If I'm gett ing it right a Bruister tech shouldn't care if it is a big job because they are getting paid by the hour and not by the job. Right?

If they are in a van with a large Directv logo on the side or a Bruister & Associates logo then they are paid by the hour. If they are in a personal vehicle with a small magnetic sign on the side then they are currently paid by the job (Bruister is planning to make everyone an hourly employee soon). Judging from the descriptions of the techs I would bet the first guy was an FNG who just didn't know what he was doing (or doesn't like putting in the KA/KU dish) and the second guy was probably one of the lead techs.

 

[wobbie]

igator.... have you ried calling sopmeone local... out of the phone book maybe. This is why I always stress dealing with local people... no internet and no 800 numbers. Keep us posted.

 

[igator99]

igator.... have you ried calling sopmeone local... out of the phone book maybe. This is why I always stress dealing with local people... no internet and no 800 numbers. Keep us posted.

I've called someone local. They are suppose to come out tomorrow. How much should I be willing to pay for a custom job? From what I've gathered they are going to have to plant a new dish about 15 feet from the house and bury cables. The wiring except for one room is already there.

 

[stevo/65]

I've called someone local. They are suppose to come out tomorrow. How much should I be willing to pay for a custom job? From what I've gathered they are going to have to plant a new dish about 15 feet from the house and bury cables. The wiring except for one room is already there.

One Million Dollars....

 

[igator99]

One Million Dollars....

Funny stevo. I will not pay a lot. I will keep my setup and give cable TV a shot before I laying out to much money. The true problem is the difference between what they pay techs and the work they are doing. This is the only industry that wants an arm and leg to put an install in that will benifit themselves in the thousands each year. There are options and many of them. I'm just surprised that either company will not pay to have new customers.

 

[wobbie]

igator....you yourself said the trenching would be tough... especially with a hand dig. As far as what you should pay... that would be between you and the company coming out. Be fair but not overly generous, though I am sure the installer would appreciate the generous part. I'm in Nebraska... good ols black dirt here. If I was going to do a pole mount and trench 15 feet of cable... I would be in the $50 range. As far as the additional outlet... I would guess they are getting paid for that already, but ask them and find out. I myself.. if I was being asked to run an additional outlet... outside wall penetration.. no wall fish... $40. My wall fishes start at $60. If really want to find out a good price range, call the local cable company or phone company and ask them what they charge for extra oulets. Hope this helps... and keep in mind, a happy installer usually results in a happy customer. Good luck and keep us updated.