Really dumb install question...

Timmernator

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Oct 14, 2004
62
5
I have a 2-hopper + joey coming. Current system is 2- 722s, one with the second tuner feeding an SD TV in an upstairs bedroom. The problem is the bedroom is a complete mess, and I would be embarrassed as hell to let an installer in there. Yes, the easy solution is to clean up but long story, don't ask...

Since there's already a connection in there, do you think the installer be cool with me just hooking it up myself? Is there anything "special" he'd have to do to the wall outlet?
 
I am a dish tech and I have seen the worst of the worst. I actually declined to do a job because of several inches worth of animal feces all over the home. Customer called in to complain that I wouldnt do the job, so I called my FSM and he brought the QAS with him. They told the customer either clean it up and reschedule the appointment or forget about getting Dish because our techs are not working in those conditions.
 
Won't you be just as embarrassed asking him to let you install it yourself because you don't want him to see the room?
To answer your question, the guy that does my installs puts a "coax tracker", a little thing that goes on the end of the coax and sends signal back to the main box so he can tell which wire goes where. He'll probably need to do that at least.
 
Ugh, nothing as bad as animal feces, lol - just a ton of boxes, clothes and other junk. In the process of swapping my daughter's room & a den/"storage" room and most of the stuff is still in the room.
I'm inclined to use the old "hey, let me help you with that, I'll just run upstairs & plug it in"... I'm no installer but do know my way around TV tech.
 
Ugh, nothing as bad as animal feces, lol - just a ton of boxes, clothes and other junk. In the process of swapping my daughter's room & a den/"storage" room and most of the stuff is still in the room.
I'm inclined to use the old "hey, let me help you with that, I'll just run upstairs & plug it in"... I'm no installer but do know my way around TV tech.
then the tech more and likely wont have an issue with it just as long as the cable jack power plugs and back of tv is easily accessible.
 
I think you're fine. Like bigjohnok said, most techs have seen worse. When I use to go on appliance installs I ran into some instances where I almost threw up. There was a time I was taking the power cord off an old electric range and found a mouse skeleton on the electric terminals. The mouse got fried crawling across it and had been there for years. That's just one of numerous stories I have.
 
When my installer came with our 2 Hopper/ 3 Joey setup he "let" me do a lot of the install. First off I had all of the necessary wiring run with 3 home runs from the dish to a central mounting board in my basement where the duo node was going, and 5 home runs from there to the rooms that were getting the equipment. He only had to connect the 3rd wire from the dish to my node and set the equipment in each room. I unpacked most of the equipment and even connected a couple of the TVs that got Joeys. The one thing he insisted on was making sure all of my wall connectors had 3 Ghz bullets in them. If you know your way around TV tech you should be able to "help" install the Joey. But then again it all comes down to the installer.
 
As a past tech myself - It was very important to verify the whole system was working before leaving. Normally you had good customers that wouldn't stab you in the back but now you have them stab you in the back for anything and everything such as getting free service or whatever. Granted this happens even if you didn't do anything its always he said vs customer said and Dish always let the customer win and rip the tech off later down the road from pay. I would clean the room or make a nice path to the hook up and let the tech do his/her work.

As bigjohnok noted..>Iv'e seen some of the most horrible houses, horders, roach infested, urine soaked (no pets around) floors and holes in a roof to see daylight yet these people were die hard wanting that TV hooked up so they couldn't miss whatever lame shows are on today. Nothing could surprise me now..NOTHING!
 
As a past tech myself - It was very important to verify the whole system was working before leaving. Normally you had good customers that wouldn't stab you in the back but now you have them stab you in the back for anything and everything such as getting free service or whatever. Granted this happens even if you didn't do anything its always he said vs customer said and Dish always let the customer win and rip the tech off later down the road from pay. I would clean the room or make a nice path to the hook up and let the tech do his/her work.

As bigjohnok noted..>Iv'e seen some of the most horrible houses, horders, roach infested, urine soaked (no pets around) floors and holes in a roof to see daylight yet these people were die hard wanting that TV hooked up so they couldn't miss whatever lame shows are on today. Nothing could surprise me now..NOTHING!

Customers have changed a lot over the years. It's not all their fault though. It's the way they've been raised and it's how they're taught. I'm tired of the consumer reports magazines and talk shows that tell people how to complain in order to get their way and get lower prices.
 
Customers have changed a lot over the years. It's not all their fault though. It's the way they've been raised and it's how they're taught. I'm tired of the consumer reports magazines and talk shows that tell people how to complain in order to get their way and get lower prices.
I was never raised that way. Expect to be treated fairly at a fair price.

It wasn't until I came here did I learn how to complain majestically. ;)
 
I was never raised that way. Expect to be treated fairly at a fair price.

It wasn't until I came here did I learn how to complain majestically. ;)

I've read articles now that tell people to buy from local businesses because they provide the best service but they are the most expensive. They say to haggle on price since the local places will be willing to work with you since they need your business.

You have no idea how much this makes me mad. You you want to buy local then you need to pay the prices they have listed otherwise your really not helping at all. Selling a product at a lower margin really doesn't help, of course it's better than not selling it at all but it's frustrating. It's like people are being taught to give a business an ultimatum. We just had a customer come in today saying this, they said they really wanted to buy locally from us but they don't want to spend that much. The funny thing is they were not happy with Lowes even though it was cheaper and that's why they want to deal with us. I'm sorry but you have to be willing to pay for better service, that's what sets us apart from the big box stores and it's worth something.

Edit: Sorry for the rant. We just had a crappy day with a couple bickering over prices today.
 
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The installer will want to make sure that each Hopper or Joey is functioning properly. He wants to make sure the Joey is paired and each unit is named. If something goes wrong with your attempt, it may reflect negatively on the installer.
So swallow your pride or use this as an excuse to clean up.
 
Sorry for the rant. We just had a crappy day with a couple bickering over prices today.
Back in December the AC/Heat Pump unit on my rental property went out. I shopped around on price (and word-of-mouth recommendations) and one lesser-known company undercut the other quotes by almost $1000 on a 3.5 ton unit (slow time of year). So I went with them. They were attentive and professional.

Fast forward 6 months, and my own AC unit was freezing up (low freon). Considering the unit was 16 years old (ancient in this area when running 10 months out of the year both heating and cooling), and its poor efficiency, I decided it was time to get a new, more efficient unit. After the due diligence of estimates, I ended up going with the same company again even though a much bigger, more prolific company came in $300 lower.

That should cheer you up.
 
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clear a path to the tv and the installer won't care what the rest looks like

if you try to set it up yourself and then need a service call on it, they would need to get in there anyway
 
Customers have changed a lot over the years. It's not all their fault though. It's the way they've been raised and it's how they're taught. I'm tired of the consumer reports magazines and talk shows that tell people how to complain in order to get their way and get lower prices.

People are people no matter what year it is...when most of the population around rural area's that I had to service are living off welfare then they will do anything and everything to screw the tech over to save a buck.
So as a tech I would want to make 100% sure everything was workign before I left so you have to have things cleared up - the instructions prior to a visit clearly say this. I would refuse jobs where pets weren't put up or I couldn't get to a location I needed to. People would get mad but that is what it is and they should have listened to the pre-visit instructions.
 
People are people no matter what year it is...when most of the population around rural area's that I had to service are living off welfare then they will do anything and everything to screw the tech over to save a buck.
So as a tech I would want to make 100% sure everything was workign before I left so you have to have things cleared up - the instructions prior to a visit clearly say this. I would refuse jobs where pets weren't put up or I couldn't get to a location I needed to. People would get mad but that is what it is and they should have listened to the pre-visit instructions.

I will agree that people have always been that way but I think there are more than ever now. The biggest thing I've seen is how many more people feel entitled to things. That's more of how they were raised. I think there are many more spoiled people than there ever was but that's just how the world has changed. I live in a smaller community but it's known to be more of a spoiled one. Sometimes it's the ones with the most money that are the cheapest, lol. I guess there's a reason why they have the money they do. ;)
 
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Glad to hear that it went well. Remember to give it about 48 hours to be completely updated and running to full potential. Not everything will work out of the box until its had time to update.
 

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