You Have To Be Kidding Me

[vismich]

I just worte the CEO email line because I needed a dish moved on a pole....which I did...


The technician that had come out told me that he "doesn't dig holes"
for dishes on a pole. Instead he looked to get it on my roof...But
there were trees in the way, which is why it was on the pole to begin
with.

The technician told me that if I wanted to have it moved, I would have
to dig the existing pole out and dig the new hole for the pole. I told
him fine, because I wanted it done. So I un-dug the old pole, and dug
the hole for the technician to install my dish. I did all this with MY
OWN pick axe and shovel.

On top of that, there was cement on the bottom of the old pole, so it
wouldn't sit flush in the new hole that I dug. He asked if I had
cement, because he didn't have any with him. I didn't have any, so he
decided to use small rocks from around my yard to lock the pole into
the hole snug. He asked me to gather rock around the woods in my yard
with him.

Not only did I did all the holes for the technician, I also collected
rocks in the woods to finish the installation!

 

[papalittle]

Wow I wish I could find suckers like you to do all my work for me. lol just kidding, i would of sent him on his way and called for a different installer.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

This guy needs a swift kick in the butt. You should've sent him out of there though you'll have to reschedule and take another day off from work if that's applicable to you. That installer was in no doubt lazy and unprofessional. If he had health problems preventing him from collecting the rocks (a big no-no) or take the old pole out and put a new one in, he shouldn't have shown up at work at all.

 

[vismich]

This guy needs a swift kick in the butt. You should've sent him out of there though you'll have to reschedule and take another day off from work if that's applicable to you. That installer was in no doubt lazy and unprofessional. If he had health problems preventing him from collecting the rocks (a big no-no) or take the old pole out and put a new one in, he shouldn't have shown up at work at all.

Well, his excuse was he is...And I QUOTE HIM, :Too Old and too Fat to dig holes"

 

[muher1]

Some sub-contractors pay their tech's $30.00 for a service call. No offense, but burning your own gas to get to the job, digging a hole, setting the pole and using concrete you had to buy for $30 dollars is not fun. (I have done this). The work order prabably said "move dish".

 

[jhamps10]

muher, you got to be kidding me, if I wanted the dish on a pole, then I should. IT'S CALLED CUSTOMER SERVICE PEOPLE!!!!!!

 

[GFiRe]

Some sub-contractors pay their tech's $30.00 for a service call. No offense, but burning your own gas to get to the job, digging a hole, setting the pole and using concrete you had to buy for $30 dollars is not fun. (I have done this). The work order prabably said "move dish".

Another reason that Dish should use all employee techs instead of subcontracting.

 

[papalittle]

Some sub-contractors pay their tech's $30.00 for a service call. No offense, but burning your own gas to get to the job, digging a hole, setting the pole and using concrete you had to buy for $30 dollars is not fun. (I have done this). The work order prabably said "move dish".

I charge an extra 40.00 over the service call to put a pole in, this covers my costs and labor.

 

[papalittle]

Another reason that Dish should use all employee techs instead of subcontracting.

yeah like dish would beable to keep tabs on all their employees scattered all over the place. you put too much faith in dish

 

[webbydude]

If memory serves, a pole mount isn't the 1st thing a DNS or RSP tech is going to do. At least with the RSP I'm associated with if a roofmount is viable, then that's what you're going to get. Pole-mount is custom work and as such, is custom-billed...separately.

 

[hobojoe]

i agree there should be an additional charge. but the supplies are not $30-40. the pole is $6 the ready-mix is $5 the 6" stick of re-bar is $1 and the conduit elbow (weed-waker gard) is another $3 total = $15.00. and a extra 30-45min to dig and mix. now your time at hard labor is $20/hr so $30-40 is fair for the extra work. not $75-100 that some say!

 

[foghorn2]

i agree there should be an additional charge. but the supplies are not $30-40. the pole is $6 the ready-mix is $5 the 6" stick of re-bar is $1 and the conduit elbow (weed-waker gard) is another $3 total = $15.00. and a extra 30-45min to dig and mix. now your time at hard labor is $20/hr so $30-40 is fair for the extra work. not $75-100 that some say!

@ 25 bucks an hour, and gas @ 3.00/gallon, the time waiting for the mix to dry, the labor, time and gas to get the materials, and the physical labor, I'd charge $100 or more for that kind of work.

If its too expensive, do it yourself!

 

[Jared Twomey]

i agree there should be an additional charge. but the supplies are not $30-40. the pole is $6 the ready-mix is $5 the 6" stick of re-bar is $1 and the conduit elbow (weed-waker gard) is another $3 total = $15.00. and a extra 30-45min to dig and mix. now your time at hard labor is $20/hr so $30-40 is fair for the extra work. not $75-100 that some say!

wow, where are you buying poles? At the local Lowes, or the local hardware store.... the cheapest 1 1/4 pole 7' or 8' long is about $25

 

[topcats69]

Another reason that Dish should use all employee techs instead of subcontracting.

They do and pay by the hour around here is call Dish DNS. I that what tech told me that he was employee of Dish. And get paid by the hour so it don't matter to him how long it took to set up my system.

But not areas are that way.

 

[vismich]

I CANT BELIVE some of you are defending this.

Do you think I give a crap how much a pole is?

Do you think I give a crao how much Cement is?

It may sound insensitve...But like any sane customer, I am PAYING FOR A SERVICE and for a job to be done. It's not my fault that the techs arent getting paid well....I'm paying Dish good money for the service...Why the hell should I care how much a pole is?

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

I CANT BELIVE some of you are defending this.

Do you think I give a crap how much a pole is?

Do you think I give a crao how much Cement is?

It may sound insensitve...But like any sane customer, I am PAYING FOR A SERVICE and for a job to be done. It's not my fault that the techs arent getting paid well....I'm paying Dish good money for the service...Why the hell should I care how much a pole is?

You're right. The confusion you see here is that retailer installations don't do pole mounts for free and bill them as custom work. And we can since retailer installations list pole mounts as custom work. But on the other hand, DNS guidelines say that pole mounts are part of a standard installation. I know since our company did some work for the RSP (DNS-related) and when poles, cement, and tools are given to us to do pole mounts, you're supposed to do pole mounts when applicable. Same for apartment installations. The pole, cement, and bucket are within standard installation guidelines for DNS. DNS is who you'd get if you ordered directly with DISH Network and not through a retailer.

When I called DISH to get a 2nd dish for must-carry locals at my home (Why not? I'd rather have it for free than use my own dish ), the tech came from DNS who was paid by the hour and did the whole pole mount for free upon request of a pole mount. I helped him out so that it'd be up to my standards but he did a decent job. Our guys at my company do a better job than many DISH employee techs and subs but DISH doesn't supply us with poles, cement and tools to do these free so we charge for 'em and make sure they're done right to keep us separate from the DISH guys.

So the bottom line is: some of the retailers (we sometimes get referred service calls like yours) and subs here that work for retailers and DNS are venting at you because of the ridiculous pay that DISH gives us. It's not directed at you, it's at DISH. Don't take it personal.

 

[SummitAdvantageRetailer]

If memory serves, a pole mount isn't the 1st thing a DNS or RSP tech is going to do. At least with the RSP I'm associated with if a roofmount is viable, then that's what you're going to get. Pole-mount is custom work and as such, is custom-billed...separately.

When our RSP in the area contracted us to do their installations, they showed us DISH Network DNS guidelines that stipulated that pole mounts, bucket mounts, and wall fishing were included in the standard installation. Of course, we're given the materials so the only thing we're missing out is the extra labor incurred in the job.

Now, the same goes for retailers that get referral work from DNS from time to time. Those customers also get DNS professional standard installation even when we have to foot the bill on any extra materials that'd be needed to do the installation (DISH doesn't supply us poles or cement on these). But it's work and it's better to keep our techs happy. So I think those customers that were referred to us by DISH Network get the best of both worlds: expert installations from a local retailer with many otherwise custom labor and materials thrown in for free within the standard professional installation guidelines. I'd hate to give my tech a DNS job where he has to fish all the lines for the TV's AND pole mount AND trench 25' (25' is the maximum allowed) AND do an attic or crawl space crawl.

 

[shodobe]

I recently moved my dish to a pole I set in the ground myself. I was told by the original installer that the reception I was getting near the house wasn't good enough because of a very large tree. The installer did not offer to do this or give any suggestions on where I should put it. I installed the post myself, which I would have rather done anyway because I KNEW it was done right. I then called Dish to have the tech come back out to re-point the dish. The CSR then told me it would cost me $40 because Dish had not moved it themselves! OK, I accepted that and paid the fee. That was 6 weeks ago and next Monday will be the 3rd time out to re-peak the signal because they can't get much better than 40-50% on the 129. I lose signal and reception quite abit on the HD channels. I will just keep them coming out every 2 weeks or so until they wise up and give me a second dish pointed at 61.5 I love those 30 day warranties!

 

[Claude Greiner]

Wanna hear something even better?

About a year ago I had a customer in Pennsylvania who was handicap and wanted to get new service.

The installer shows up and told my customer that there where too many trees and the Dish needed to be mounted on a pole. The installer told my customer to dig the hole and the trench for the cable and to call him back when he was done and he would complete the installation.

This was un-accecptable, so we called DISH Network executive offices and they called the RSP who was doing the Job. They agreed that the customer needed a pole mount and sent the installer back to the customers home.

About 20 minutes later the installer calls my customer and says "Sir, did you finish digging the hole yet" the customer then tells the installer that it was his Job to dig the hole and mount the pole and the installer hung up on him.

So we did another 3-way call the Executive offices and this time we did a 4 way call with the owner of the installation company. I pretty much told the owner the following...

Sir, we work very hard to sign up new customers such as the one I got with me on the phone right now so you would get an installation and to keep your installers busy. There is alot of time and effort that goes into signing up a new customer and I do not appreciate your installers not doing what they are being paid to do. I would suggest you get another installer out to my customers house and complete this Job according to DNSC rules. If I loose my sale because of your lazy installer, I am contacting several people I know at corporate and I guarantee you will not be doing any more work for DNSC.

Needless to say, 20 minutes later there was another installer out there that did the installation with the pole mount!

 

[damaged]

Wanna hear something even better?

About a year ago I had a customer in Pennsylvania who was handicap and wanted to get new service.

The installer shows up and told my customer that there where too many trees and the Dish needed to be mounted on a pole. The installer told my customer to dig the hole and the trench for the cable and to call him back when he was done and he would complete the installation.

Wow, what a scumbag, I hope the jerk got fired.