Tipping Installers

[dishcomm]

Its the people who EXPECT the tip that never seem to get one from me.

You do your job well .. good for you... so do I ... But you turn up EXPECTING a tip - and you will probably go away disappointed. Pretty much everyone out there can do the job that they are hired to do on a daily basis .. only when you do something above and beyond should you expect to get a "bonus" for it.

You want to work for tips .. go get a job in a bar or restaurant... and as long as my food arrives in a timely manner and my glass never runs dry .. you will be tipped handsomely.

I am one of those who never expects a gratuity. To do so is uncouth. When a gratuity is offerd I never refuse. That would be insulting to the one making the offer. Also the gratuity is the last thing on my mind when I am working. I get paid. Thtas why I do what I do. If a tip comes along, it's bonus coverage

 

[DirectDishNet]

Del Webb sucks, Wall fish city. RG59 terrority there. 2 hours of remote education. and gotta have that antenna hooked up (ariel as they call it).... I love it though they can be your best source for work there.

 

[DirectDishNet]

Yeah, think I've seen you there. I'm either in a 93 GMC Suburban or a 98 Nissan Frontier. I'm always wearing a DishNet polo or grey DishNet t-shirt.

hmmmm...... sorry I never pay attention to anyone except the blond girl that takes my order.....lol...... Anyway keep intouch alwayse good to stick together.

 

[Mainstreet]

Come to think of it, this was probably my strangest tip ever:

 

[dishcomm]

Tip for cable/dish installation? I can't believe what I'm reading. People actually tip for this? I've got to tell you, with 4 installs in my life of home ownership, the thought hasn't once even crossed my mind. Yikes...the first one, at my previous home, the Charter guys was there all day! And, this next house only had cable in one room, when we moved in and had DirectTV installed in 6 rooms. I wasn't there, all day, but I'm sure that took some time. Tip? Egads.

That's their chosen profession, and they get paid for it, is how I look at it.

I don't tip plumbers, electricians, or any other kind of workers that do work for us either. Am I supposed to? Even if I was, I wouldn't.

I don't think that makes me cheap. The whole tipping thing has always been a huge turnoff for me, anyhow. If I get bad restaurant service, I feel no tip should be given. I've always just carried my own luggage. I don't need their help. I am legendary in my bad tipping at bars. I always felt drinks were expensive enough. Why should I be forking over even more?

Mainly, I guess I don't like feeling as if I owe anybody I don't know, anything, without having a price set beforehand.

I've offered workers a drink before, but almost invariably, it was turned down. So, I've stopped doing that. But, cable installers, I wouldn't even think of that sort of thing, or tipping.


P.S. Boy, there sure are a lot of cable installers on these forums!

Face it. You're cheap. You don't go to a resatuarant bar and not tip the help. Ever. Please do not: eat out,go for drinks or call service people to your home. You are what we in the service business refer to as a cheapskate.
None of us installers expect tips. Most of are very gracious when one is given.
When I see what you wrote, I shake my head on disdain.
A gratuity is the customer's choice. But to arrogantly believe you are exempted from tipping bar/ restaurant help because you think you pay enough as it is? That is just indecent.
Ok if you don't want to tip the help, don't go out to eat/drink. Those people depend upon tips for their income. Here's how to tip . This according to restaurant and food critic Anthony Dias Blue for WCBS news Radio 880 and several national publications. For substandard service; 10% for standard service 15%; For outstanding service 20%. Even if the service is no good, never stiff the staff. If the food/.service is that bad your recourse is to not return and tell your friends neighbors and relatives the same.
But I am probably wasting my time.

 

[Bruno]

I have also gotten several tips the most being $100. I always had an old 89 Chevy Suburban that the grey paint was coming off. The guy that gave me the $100 told me that he could tell i was not charging near enough.

Believe me I always figured my tip in the final bill....

 

[jokeworm]

Those people depend upon tips for their income. Here's how to tip . This according to restaurant and food critic Anthony Dias Blue for WCBS news Radio 880 and several national publications. For substandard service; 10% for standard service 15%; For outstanding service 20%. Even if the service is no good, never stiff the staff. If the food/.service is that bad your recourse is to not return and tell your friends neighbors and relatives the same.
But I am probably wasting my time.

If i get crappy service from wait staff I will generally leave $1 no matter what the bill was ... if i can pull it together in coins so much the better. I know several people who wait tables and a $1 tip or a "few coins" hits home harder than no tip at all - if you leave no tip at all they just assume you are cheap .. if you leave change - they know that you thought the service sucked

If they depend on the tip as income - they should make sure they "earn" the tip from me. I don't go to work and still expect to be paid if i sit there looking out of a window all day. If i do no work .. i don't get paid. Simple as that.


I always liked the method I saw in a Sitcom once (can't remember which one it was) .. before you even start ordering - take out 10 - $1 bills and let them know that the tip is there to be earned ... tell them - each time your glass runs dry you are going to take a dollar away .. each time you have to ask for something that they should get right the first time .. you are going to take a dollar away .. if the food is not served in a timely manner .. you take a dollar away .. if the food is cold or overcooked you take a dollar away.. you get the idea ..

If only I had the b@lls to walk into a restaurant and use this approach in real-life.

 

[duckydan]

I always liked the method I saw in a Sitcom once (can't remember which one it was) .. before you even start ordering - take out 10 - $1 bills and let them know that the tip is there to be earned ... tell them - each time your glass runs dry you are going to take a dollar away .. each time you have to ask for something that they should get right the first time .. you are going to take a dollar away .. if the food is not served in a timely manner .. you take a dollar away .. if the food is cold or overcooked you take a dollar away.. you get the idea ..

If only I had the b@lls to walk into a restaurant and use this approach in real-life.

Why is it that I have a feeling that your food may not be too sanitary once the 2nd and 3rd bills disappear

That said I have only tipped an installer once (a voom guy who decided my tv needed ot be calibrated)... he was there so long my mom was going to ask if he wanted to stay for dinner back when I lived with them. Usually I find myself trying to throw the installers out as fast as possible, especially the comcast ones who told me that S-Video is better than the DVI connection my old tv had.

At a restaurant I have always given a very generous tip but have once walked out of a restaurant without leaving a tip after it took an hour and a half to get our food with only one refill of a drink... my 3 yr old was quite antsy by that point as well... the service should dictate the tip and great service = great tip, piss poor service = no tip, the in between is case by case (i.e. if D* installs your satellite and leaves he got paid for that, if D* installs your satellite, hooks up your dvd player, and adjusts your receiver he gets a tip)

 

[skottey]

I'm the type to tip a restaurant waitperson 20% of the after tax amount on a consistent basis. But I have never tipped a cable or satellite guy and the thought of doing so has never even crossed my mind. While I tip some other services aside from waitpeople, it is rarity that I am in a position where I need to tip. I don't take taxis or limos. I don't use full service gas stations. I'll tip the bag handler at airports or a courtesy van driver at the car dealership but nope, never crossed my mind to tip a cable or satellite guy.

Now that I have thought of it because of this post, I have come to the conclusion that I still won't tip a sat or cable installer. I come to this conclusion for many reasons.

First of which is that I too am in professional service, and have been doing service calls for computers for years and have had very few tips. I have had a handful over the years. I am my own business owner but do the Geek Squad geeks get tipped? I do the same thing and really don't get tipped or expect to. I guess it boils down to a professional job that it takes a professional to do (computer repair, cable/sat install) doesn't warrant a tip, where as a lemming job like waiting tables or loading bags has you dealing with somebody you know is low paid, and that depends on that tip as part of their income. I doubt seriously a Dish installer calculates his projected income based on an average amount of tips plus salary. I don't calculate tips for myself at all with my service business when it comes to projecting my income. I just consider I need to do X amount of hours and I'll make Y. I never think, "oh and the tip too." If it happens, great. There are other reasons I feel this way too. I just don't think I need to be tipping these guys.

Some may call me a jerk or cheap but they are the service people that are fixing my plumbing or dish, not waiting on me at Carrabas or unloading my airport bags from the car onto a cart and calling me "sir".

 

[aegrotatio]

Tip minimum of $20 for more than an hour's actual work, and minimum $30 if a ladder is involved.

I noticed my dish repoint boys arrived at 8:30 AM and seemed that they drove in from at least 100 miles away.

On a SUNDAY.

They got $30.

ALWAYS TIP THE NO-CHARGE SERVICE CALLS.

If I am not being charged they automatically get $20 because I know they are paying for it out of their pockets.


My Terminix technician, on the other hand, violently refuses tips on calls that I initiate. I really want him to take tips for service calls that I initiate, but he refuses.

.

 

[skottey]

Tip minimum of $20 for more than an hour's actual work, and minimum $30 if a ladder is involved.

I noticed my dish repoint boys arrived at 8:30 AM and seemed that they drove in from at least 100 miles away.

On a SUNDAY.

They got $30.

ALWAYS TIP THE NO-CHARGE SERVICE CALLS.

If I am not being charged they automatically get $20 because I know they are paying for it out of their pockets.


My Terminix technician, on the other hand, violently refuses tips on calls that I initiate. I really want him to take tips for service calls that I initiate, but he refuses.

.

I guess I don't know enough about Dish. Why wouldn't the techs get paid by Dish for a no-charge service call? Doesn't Dish eat the cost.

Here is another example. I use computer repair contractors that I send out on service calls. On the rare occasion that they screw something up or the customer thinks they did and I have to send them back for a unbilled fix, I still pay the technician. I eat the cost as the company owner.

So you are saying, if I have a problem with my Dish and I call tech support and they tell me that they are sending somebody out, the guy coming out isn't getting paid if I am not paying Dish anything? That makes NO SENSE. What kind of business practice is that?

I think most of us out here would just assume the Dish tech is getting paid no matter what. Just like the cable guy. When I have a problem with cable, the cable guy coming out gets paid even if I don't pay the cable company a penny. The company eats the cost, not the tech.

I can certainly see your point about tipping a tech if they aren't getting paid their hourly rate to come out. But it sure sounds like the techs are taking it up the *ss from Dish, no the customer. Dish, pay your techs!

 

[DirectDishNet]

So you are saying, if I have a problem with my Dish and I call tech support and they tell me that they are sending somebody out, the guy coming out isn't getting paid if I am not paying Dish anything? That makes NO SENSE. What kind of business practice is that?

In the case of subcontractors, when the customer calls dish to set up a service call, dish sends the info to the local hub or to the sub contracting company that did the install. (in most cases) The Subcrontracting company gives the work order to the installer that did the install. Most subcontracting companies won't pay the installer to go back because they feel that the contractor should of done everything right the first time. So the sub is stuck going out on his/her own time, his/her own gas. On top of all of that, The sub may get back charged for the original job (that depends on the company). Added to the mess, The sub that did the original install gets a strike, meening everytime there is a "Trouble Call" within 12 day's of the install, it is a black mark on the installer. Too many of those, he/she could get fired.

Now that's worse case scenario but it does happen all of the time now day's. I know many many insallers that this happens too, and know of many sub contracting companies that do this kind of practice. Dish is in the business to make money, Sub contracting companies are in it to make money and the one who gets screwed in the end is the customer and the tech.

 

[skottey]

In the case of subcontractors, when the customer calls dish to set up a service call, dish sends the info to the local hub or to the sub contracting company that did the install. (in most cases) The Subcrontracting company gives the work order to the installer that did the install. Most subcontracting companies won't pay the installer to go back because they feel that the contractor should of done everything right the first time. So the sub is stuck going out on his/her own time, his/her own gas. On top of all of that, The sub may get back charged for the original job (that depends on the company). Added to the mess, The sub that did the original install gets a strike, meening everytime there is a "Trouble Call" within 12 day's of the install, it is a black mark on the installer. Too many of those, he/she could get fired.

Now that's worse case scenario but it does happen all of the time now day's. I know many many insallers that this happens too, and know of many sub contracting companies that do this kind of practice. Dish is in the business to make money, Sub contracting companies are in it to make money and the one who gets screwed in the end is the customer and the tech.

That is insane. Sh*t rolls downhill in corporate environments. Managers blame and punish employees. Never mind that it isn't always the installers fault that there is a problem. I wouldn't last long as an installer for a Dish subcontractor. I'd be in a fight with my manager the minute he or she asked me to go fix something off the clock. I suffered corporate abuse long enough and started my own company in the early 2000's. I lost way too much sleep over the missteps of my last manager who blamed me any chance he could. I certainly sympathize with the installers about this. I have never had to have Dish back out since install, but if I do, I will ask the tech if they are getting paid to fix me. They better be or Dish is going to get a nasty call from me. I take care of my contract employees, and so should Dish! Jerks!

 

[aegrotatio]

If I am not paying them I'm tipping extra.
From the information I've been able to see, these service calls pay them hardly more than what the fuel costs. I am not sure it was even worth the trip.

I don't see why you wouldn't tip a repair/service technician.

.

 

[TomT223]

My 2 installers showed up right on time and spent almost 3 hours setting up my new install a couple of weeks ago. They ran all new cable (left my existing for use with an OTA antenna) and ran a phone wire down with the cable so I could hook up the phone line later. I thought they did a great job so I gave them $50. (And let them use my ladder so they didn't even have to get theirs off their truck.)

They said they were not allowed to splice into the phone cable. No big deal since it took me maybe 5 minutes, but is this standard for all installers?

 

[skottey]

If I am not paying them I'm tipping extra.
From the information I've been able to see, these service calls pay them hardly more than what the fuel costs. I am not sure it was even worth the trip.

I don't see why you wouldn't tip a repair/service technician.

.

If they are not being paid by the job or hour, this is a problem. These installers should not be counting on tips. They have a profession that not just any idiot who can wash dishes or jock a register can do. It takes some skill. They shouldn't have to rely on tips. Dish needs to make sure they are paid. This is crazy.

 

[Mainstreet]

They said they were not allowed to splice into the phone cable. No big deal since it took me maybe 5 minutes, but is this standard for all installers?

Yes. This way the installer can't be blamed for poor phone quality after connecting a new line into the phone network. There are also issues with alarm systems, lifelines, 911, and other devices that rely on the phone system. There is too much liability connected with messing with the phone system.

We used to run and connect phone lines for satellite installs, but no longer do it based primarily on the issues above.

 

[Jared Twomey]

If they are not being paid by the job or hour, this is a problem. These installers should not be counting on tips. They have a profession that not just any idiot who can wash dishes or jock a register can do. It takes some skill. They shouldn't have to rely on tips. Dish needs to make sure they are paid. This is crazy.

i totally agree with you.... problem is, everything is free, free, free nowadays. The value of quality installations has definately went down.
Thats why a lot of the really good installers either go to commercial work, or expand into other fields.
I personally am still installing primarily... but I set my own prices, and charge what I feel is appropriate. If I didn't, I would have quit a long time ago. Plus I do new constructions/prewiring, structured cabling systems, and computer repair and networking on the side.

 

[Dgenx321]

It's bull that I don't get paid extra to do a pole mount, but the company does.

So even if I do a pole mount I don't tell them.

No need for them to make more off of me and not pay me a dime more.

 

[vegassatellite]

I get paid on service calls where it isn't my fault. Either the retailer pays or the customer pays. The only time I eat it is when it is my fault. I had to eat one today in fact. I did some work behind a receiver and the optical must have got unplugged while I had the unit turned. The customer called and said he had no surround sound. So, I go out and check it, and it had come out somehow. Oh well, no charge. He offered to pay for the visit but I told him I won't take money when its my fault. Teaches me to make sure I look that stuff over next time.