522 Installer charge?

[Ed_A]

Yesterday I called a local "retailer" (off of the dishnetwork website) to get Dishnetwork and the 522 installed. It's a company that provides dishnetwork sign up and installation. I told them I knew what I wanted....two tv setup with the DVR 522. The installer said no problem, but there is a $80 charge for the additional hookup of the 2nd TV. He said they charge this because even though the 522 is a two tv receiver Dishnetwork does not reimburse them for the 2nd TV hook up....and it takes them extra labor to do the work.

Is this right? or is this guy trying to swindle in making an extra buck?

BTW, it's not Radio Shack....just a local retailer.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[boba]

The retailer is allowed to charge any fee that he wants. DISH is not paying as much as that retailer wants so you the customer are being charged for the cost. If you don't want to pay shop around. But remember in many cases you do get what you pay for.

 

[Ed_A]

Thanks boba. I see the "free install" pitches all the time so when he said there would be an extra charge it didn't make sense.

Has anyone tried ordering through dishstore.net? Looks like they offer free install.

Thanks,
Ed

 

[SimpleSimon]

$80 for a second feed is pretty steep - I gross less than that for the primary, and only a pittance for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th TVs.

 

[Hall]

I'd suggest finding a different installer who will do the install like Dish advertises it. No one with a reasonable mind can interpret a multi-room system with free installation as charging for any rooms beyond the first.

I ordered directly from Dish Network and they contracted with "Digital Dish" to do the work. They did an excellent job, IMO, and I have no complaints. They gave me extra cable, mounted the dish where I wanted it, mounted the switch where I said, etc, etc -- and I didn't have to "slip the guy a $20" to do it either. I have no "contract" with Digital Dish either. I've seen mention of some local resellers/installers binding you to a contract contrary to Dish's "no committment" advertisement. Okay, technically, you don't have a contract with Dish....

 

[Mainstreet]

Yesterday I called a local "retailer" (off of the dishnetwork website) to get Dishnetwork and the 522 installed. It's a company that provides dishnetwork sign up and installation. I told them I knew what I wanted....two tv setup with the DVR 522. The installer said no problem, but there is a $80 charge for the additional hookup of the 2nd TV. He said they charge this because even though the 522 is a two tv receiver Dishnetwork does not reimburse them for the 2nd TV hook up....and it takes them extra labor to do the work.

Is this right? or is this guy trying to swindle in making an extra buck?

BTW, it's not Radio Shack....just a local retailer.

Thanks,
Ed

The retailer is getting paid exactly the same amount to do a 522 2 TV system as he is for doing a 510/311 2 TV system. However, it does require more work than just having two receiver, as a second line to the primary receiver, and a line going to the second TV is required. Most of the time existing cable can be used, though, so it's not too bad.

The retailer may have never done a 522 system, and may not understand the economics, either.

Keep in mind that phone work is NOT included in the "free" installation, so you will need to pay for that separately if you don't already have a phone connection behind the TV.

Move on to the next retailer on the list. You'll find one that will provide the service as advertised.

 

[Hall]

...it does require more work than just having two receiver, as a second line to the primary receiver, and a line going to the second TV is required.

Don't most installers use dual-cable when necessary ?? They'd only have a single "run" to the receiver (made up of a dual-cable) and a single "run" to the 2nd receiver. No more work than a "normal" 2-room setup.

 

[SimpleSimon]

Don't most installers use dual-cable when necessary ?? They'd only have a single "run" to the receiver (made up of a dual-cable) and a single "run" to the 2nd receiver. No more work than a "normal" 2-room setup.

Absolutely. Dual RG-6 costs maybe 2 cents more per foot. That's maybe $1 for an install. If the installer is that cheap, he's probably using cheap crap crimp-on connectors, too. I find that unacceptable.

Also, sometimes, if everything falls into place, the existing single RG-6 can be used for the TV2 feed - if the customer buys into having the new receiver in the 'other' room. Sometimes you need to use diplexers, but they pretty much pay for themselves in time saved.

 

[Stargazer]

The retailers are now getting paid less for additional receiver/tuner activations than what they were getting paid before when the amount that was being paid before was not very much before anyways. This is not counting the shipping and c.o.d. charges the retailer has to pay and the retailer pays full retail price for the receivers.

The thing is that most retailers sees the profit on the first tuner as a way of making up for the labor/cost of putting in the additional tuners. Basically the retailers would not make any additional profit on additional tuners/receivers by the time an installer would be paid and the materials used, but just make the same amount based on getting a sale (unless the retailer charged extra). Just to note, the retailer does not get a chargeback on the additional outlet fee he gets paid for (which includes installation) like they have in the past, so any additional money spent on installing that receiver would not cost the retailer any additional money than it would have if it would not have been installed in the first place, giving the retailer no additional risk to having them installed.

 

[Hall]

That sounds like a problem between the installers and Dish... This isn't a customer's concern and as I said, Dish advertises "free install" and that's what customers should get (I understand charging add'l for a non-standard install and have no issue with that).