A message on behalf of techs to customers

[Mr. Carter]

Just as every install is different, so too is every customer. I've had very helpful customers, and then very "helpful" customers. I step into a home as a professional and conduct myself in such a manner that most customers are pleased with. All installers are not created equal and neither are all customers. Pick and choose your battles OP don't assume you know it all. Be more objective and don't make broad generalizations. And to the customers do the same please, not all installers are half-a-s-s-ed imbeciles. Just because I work for an install company with a few crappy techs I get bunched with them, don't appreciate it. Just because there are a few crappy customers I don't expect them all to be. I don't see anything wrong with having an open dialogue with the homeowner/renter let them know what you're gonna do and if their opinion doesn't match yours find a middle ground.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[tinydoughboy]

I personally have had great tech service ......however it sounds like you guys on here are a bunch of cry babies. I agree with you on a few points, as far as having a clean home, and pulling out the tv/entertainment center so you ccan do you job. But if I want to watch you...that is what I am paying you (Dish) for...if I want to follow you around, well damn it's my house...I'll do what I want.....if you have a problem with customers....then QUIT!!!! I am sure there are people that don't have a current job will be glad to do what you do.....

 

[skyviewmark]

For the record, I have been a DN subcontractor for 2 years, and NOT a SINGLE customer has "taught" me a damn thing that would improve or be useful to my technical abilities.

Also, I strongly believe, this community has a counterintuituve and unfortunate affect of fostering "know-it-all" customers.

Customers, satellite is my trade and livelihood; this is why I consult this site. Sure I am interested in the architecture of my apartment, but this does not mean I hit up a bunch of architectural forums and then up with a million questions to bother the builder who is constructing an additional wing of my building. William Shatner said it best: get a life!

Wow.. As a Dish Dealer and Satellite Installer for over 20 years going back to the BUD days, I have to say that you are truly in the wrong business. I never do a job that I don't ask for customer input on. I ask him where he would prefer the dish, and try to get it there if it's possible. I will give alternatives if needed and let him choose. If he/she wants to follow me around, I welcome it. After all, he/she knows their house better than I do most of the time, and sometimes offers a way to do things that I didn't see because they know their house. I love what I do and love being an independent that can work on my own schedule. I give more to the customer than many, because they are the ones that are going to recomend me to the next guy. If I walked in to a job with an attitude like you, I would be out of business in less than a week. The customer is my boss when I get there, and I will do whatever it takes to make him happy within reason.

 

[lawnmowerman]

...I never do a job that I don't ask for customer input on. I ask him where he would prefer the dish, and try to get it there if it's possible. I will give alternatives if needed and let him choose.

This is my policy as well. I'm pretty good with my customers. Incidentally, I would also like to add that if you are a customer and I ask you where you would prefer the dish and then you say "wherever." Please do not complain afterwards or to dish network about the location of the dish.

And QC guys, FSM guys-- if there is nothing technically wrong with our jobs, why would you QC them. DO NOT go to customers homes, show them where the location of the dish is and get the customer all riled up because its not exactly where you would put it. I always ground my installs, but the dish does not have to be grounded for it to properly operate. Don't get carried away with QC failing our jobs.

Where on the same side.

 

[polaris]

in my case cant speak for anyone else its not crying its telling it how it is, I have been a tech 8+ yrs enjoy it and most people are ok just puttin some things out there on how it is

 

[stardust3]

Wow.. As a Dish Dealer and Satellite Installer for over 20 years going back to the BUD days, I have to say that you are truly in the wrong business. I never do a job that I don't ask for customer input on. I ask him where he would prefer the dish, and try to get it there if it's possible. I will give alternatives if needed and let him choose. If he/she wants to follow me around, I welcome it. After all, he/she knows their house better than I do most of the time, and sometimes offers a way to do things that I didn't see because they know their house. I love what I do and love being an independent that can work on my own schedule. I give more to the customer than many, because they are the ones that are going to recomend me to the next guy. If I walked in to a job with an attitude like you, I would be out of business in less than a week. The customer is my boss when I get there, and I will do whatever it takes to make him happy within reason.

:up + 1

 

[DNS_lifer]

tips for the customer

Customers, unless you are receiving error messages on your tv please do not call dish network for a trouble call and a technician to re-point your dish.
**** There are some problems that come up that do not have an error message. I advise to call Dish if you think you are having a problem. ie, the picture suddenly pixels on all channels. Usually it can be resolved over the phone. If the tech gives you his cell phone number, call dish anyway. If you have a problem down the road and the tech does not answer....or will not answer at least if you call dish there will be notes on your problem if it persists in the future.

Customers, please don't disconnect, cut, or modify any of the wires that run from your dish. And if you do, and your system stops working, please don't call dish network and blame the last technician on-site for your problem. ***** Call dish anyway whatever the problem. Our job is customer service.

Customers, if I tell you there is no line of site, that means there is no line of site. No matter how many times you call dish network again, calling and calling is not going to cut down the trees surrounding your house. ***** I would call and get a second opinion on a No Line of Sight. Sometimes second set of eyes might be able to find something the last tech missed.

Customers, please let your technicians work in peace. Do not follow them around and watch everything they do as they work, and do not plop down on an arm chair in front of your patio window and watch me put up your dish in -15 weather. **** Watch away. The tech is a stranger in your house. I don't mind being watched. I like to explain what I am doing to curious customers.

Customers, if your technician pulls up in a personal vehicle this means he is a sub contractor. A sub is paid by the job, not by the hour. I am not going to hook up your surround sound system or re-wire an entire house. If your tech pulls up in a dish net van he probably will re-wire a pre-wired home, and he can set up your home theater system.[/quote]
** I am a DNS tech and may have to rerun cable if it does not meet dns standards. I have hooked up a few surround sound, for a few bucks of course.

If you have a problem with your service or equipment, call in ASAP to Dish Network. If you are unhappy with the way the cables or dish is installed or even the tech himself, call in ASAP.

 

[DNS_lifer]

I am a dns tech. There are a few subs and a few of my own techs that when I look at their name on the Work Order I cringe because I know I will most likely spending the day at the house fixing the work. The only thing I can say about the customers is that if your house has cockroaches or smells like cat or dog pee/crap, I will refuse the job.

 

[hendrix04]

I have had 3 dish guys at my house total... The first guy was very smart and knew what he was doing. I followed him around so i could learn and help if needed... Guess what, if I had not been following him, he could have spent hours on a problem he wouldnt have needed to. When my 722 wasnt getting signal properly, i asked if a splitter would cause it, he said yes, so i showed him where the splitter was (he never would have found it in a million years).

The next guy that came to my house to install my 61.5 wing dish, he couldnt get signal... he left to "get a part", came back and still couldnt get a signal... He left again and never came back. Had to call back to get someone to come finish the job (a week later). the problem was, the dish wasnt pointed in the right direction. I was amazed at the difference between angles from the guy that couldnt get signal, and his boss...

Moral of the story, the OP needs to get off customers backs and look at some of his fellow installers. No matter which group you look at, there are going to be good and bad people, so get off your high horse.

 

[cyranos]

new to the forum but learning a lot.

 

[dishcomm]

i understand where you are coming from on your statements, but this one did happen to me. i signed up on the website, they sent out a tech. i greet him at the door and before i can say hi, he says that i won't be able to get an install because of no line-of-sight. well i take him to the southside of the house and he says that those trees over there will be blocking the signal and he also mentioned that he remembered this house specifically because he had been out here previously about 5 years ago. that was just an all out lie since we have lived in this house for the past 18 years! so i called dish and asked them to reschedule another install. sent the same tech out, same bs. i said ok, i will figure something else out. well i go down to my local electronics store, they have dish and direct. the sent a tech out(inhouse, in town tech mind you) with me as i left the store. got to the house. we went to the back of the house and he started looking around and said that he probably wouldn't be able to mount the dish on the house but he could mount it on the tool shed i had back there, trench the lines from the dish and bury them and then run them under the house and to the cable box on the outside. works perfectly and i receive signal strength between 80-50 on most sats. no issues since, that was about 2 years ago. so, yes do call back. this installer just thought the job was too much i think.

Questions....what is the distance from the shed to the house? Is it more than 25 feet? Did your job require any wall fishes?. Did you require hardwire phone lines to be installed? Did the tech use more than 200 feet of cable from HIS truck?
The reason is all the above items are NOT part of a standard basic install and as such are chargable to the customer and payable at the time of service.
Perhaps this guy called a NLOS because he did not want to bring up the subject of money. Some techs are uncomfortable with that. And some do not want to get into a 60 minute verbal sparring match with a customer who thinks "free install" is an absolute.
Or perhaps he had an especially heavy day that day (not your problem) and didn't want to get stuck on a job that would have delayed his arrival at his next 5 jobs.
I have heard just about every excuse under the sun to call a no line of sight.
99% of all No line pof sights are legitimate. But here's what I do. If the customer is uncpomfortable wiht my expertise I offer them an oppotunity to ask for a second opinion. In my view there are times when two sets of eyes are better than one.

 

[dishcomm]

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah.. DO not call dish and get me into trouble for bein lazy waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why should we not watch you while you do an install? what if you steal something from me? Should I just let you go walkin around my house without me keepin an eye on you?
waaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!

this makes no sense? Customers, unless you are receiving error messages on your TV please do not call dish network for a trouble call and a technician to re-point your dish. if it pix elates who do we call the pixel fairy?
Waaaahhhhh!!

Your post is uncalled for.
And misses the point by a time zone.
How would you like it if your boss hovered over your shoulder watching your every move all 8 hours of your work day.
How would you like it if your boss blamed you for stuff that other people did?
I don't want you watching my every move with suspicion and distrust. Look, genius you called US to your home to do a job you cannot do yourself. WE are responsible for completing a quality install. We are professionals . Just like any other trade. If you think you are better qualified to do our work then by all means have at it.
Do us all a favor. Do not EVER call a service company to your home. Do it your damned self.

 

[dishcomm]

No. You're nuts. We will NOT re-wire a pre-wired home, if the wiring is RG-6. There's no reason to do something like that. We don't waste time and materials doing things just for the heck of it. Secondly, we will NOT hook up surround sound or anything else like that. Maybe a VCR or DVD player. Just because we're paid hourly doesn't mean we're the customer's bitch. There are things we are required to do, and things we aren't allowed to do. Us hourly guys have goals and jobs to meet. We can't and won't waste time doing things on a job that aren't part of the installation. I've been both a sub and hourly over my career.

Correct on all points.
I will hook up these devices if the customer asks and he will compensate me for my time. AT thta point I remind them that I am assuming no liability or plaicng myself in a position oi fresponsibility to show them how to use the equipment .Nor am I repsonsible if the system does not function propperly. If they agree, I accept the offer of compensation and connect the system. Usually though, the moment money is mentioned the customer becomes a do it yourselfer.
On the other hand we have gotten complaints from customers who think we are there to whatever they demand.
Once a tech form our shop was almost let go becuase in the words of the customer "he just handed nme the remote and the manual". The bgoss assumed the customer refering to the Dish Network system.
My supervisor went to investigate. He found that the tech successfully installed and demoed the satellite equipment. And as a courtesy the tech quickly hooked up the new surround sound system that the cust had pulled out of the box.
The tech handed the remote and the manual TO THE STEREO SYSTEM.
The customer was the one who got all pissy because the tech did not show HIM how to work HIS equipment..
This is qwhat I believe the OP is trying to convey. Although he missed the mark by sttaing that an hourly tech would do this where a contractor would not. DNS techs won't do this either because it isn't part of the job.
My polciy is.. If it isn't Dish equipment , I won't touch it. The moment I touch it the customer assumes I am at that point responsible for it, forever. Screw that. I have too mucjh to worry about as it is wihtout concerning myself with a person who throws users guids in the drawer and would rather whine like a schoolgirl that they can't work the equipment they purchased.

 

[dishcomm]

Check out this professional installation and then say that again:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/directv-forum/129643-how-do-i-get-d-repair-damage.html

Watching the tech or not would have not made a difference. This guy violated Dish policy which customers are not privy to.
I remember this thread. You got a raw deal by a sh!tty tech.
Here's my issue with htis. When stuff like this is reported is it supposed to be a learning experience. However the complaint is used by the customer to impugn the entire industry . They do this because they are angry. So instead of placing the situation in the proper context , their anger allows them to throw the entire profession into a bad light. Are all building contractors the same? All plumbers? Electricians? No to all. But some assume we are all the same. That we are all slackers and want to get jobs done as quickly as possible and without regard to quality.

 

[dishcomm]

I have had compentent installers at my house and had useless installers. All installers are not the same. I will follow any installer to be sure that he is doing a neat job or ask him to get off MY property. I own it and can do anything I want on my property. That goes for Dish or the gas company or a contractor. Maybe the OP needs to find another job.

There is a subtle differnce between hoivering obver a tech that you cannot trust due to emotional issues and just hanging out and asking questions.
Actually I rather enjoy and appreciate a customer who wants to learn about what I am doing and why. It is god that customer wants to know how their system will finction. I can easily answer questions while I am owrkiong. If the question requires a visual demonstration I ask the customer to hold those questions until the appropriate time. If he wants to hand me tools are help me pull the cable or carry the receivers into the house, he's welcome to do that. If he is aksing me questions while allowing me to work, that's fine as well. But if one is the type that trusts no one and looks for the slightest little thing to complain about or asks qustions in the form of a challenge then perhaps they should ask the tech to leave. But guess what, He taking the dish down and confiscating the equipemnt and you can bet your bottom dollar that he will be alerting his manangement that this customer has issues with service people and that will spread like wildfire. That person will find it somewhat difficult to get another perosn to their home to perform work
This entire industry works only if there is a modicum of trust. If one wishes to gurad their property as if the enemy(tech) has arrived, then by all means, they need do the job themsleves.

 

[dishcomm]

Technicians, please note a few messages for you:

If I call Dish and they contact you to repoint my dish, It's because I was having problems with my picture and the CSR(s) I talked to determined that I needed a technician to repoint my dish. We aren't smart enough to know what needs to be done, just smart enough to know that no picture or crappy loss of signal pictures means call Dish to try to get my money's worth of tv.

Please don't reuse crappy wiring in my home and then wonder why I call Dish later on because I am having problems. If my 25 year old home has aluminum wiring or spliced, hacked up RG59, run a new piece of RG6 and whine to Dish if you don't get enough money to make it worth your while.

If you tell me I don't have LOS, show me so I can understand and be less likely to call Dish and more likely to find a way to create a LOS. Be polite and quickly yet properly informative so I will understand why you have said I can't get any signal. You are not that much smarter than me, just slightly more experienced.

It's my home I have invited you into. If I can't watch what you are doing and ask questions while you work, you need to find another job and don't ever have any kids. Maybe we are watching you work in -15 degree weather because we are worried that you might hurt yourself and want to be able to make sure you get help immediately when you fall to your near death.

If you come into my home and I ask you about other wiring beyond your scope of work, have a business card ready and a polite explanation that Dish pays you to establish a proper connection to your equipment and nothing beyond that but here is someone recommended to help you with the rest of your wiring issues. It could even be you as a side job. Professional and polite technicians usually score extra work that might just pay better.


Glad the forum has been of help to you!

Good points. I have as you say, scored, extra work by doing exactly that.
Look. Let's not take this out of context.
Here are examples of what I think the OP is refering to.
I have had customers literally follow my every move throught the entire job. This is after I have taken the time to show the customer what I will do, where the dish will go, how the cable will be routed, drill penetrations'(if applicable), etc. This is very annoying to have someone invite me into their home and them act as though I am about to film a slasher movie and they are the victims. I make sure one the first things i do is throw out what I call an "ice breaker". This is some exampole of commonality I may have with the customer. Do I see a set of golf clubs in the garage?. Yep Bingo, I am a golfer so there's the conversation piece. I look around the house and tell the customer I like the way it looks or think the house is desinged well. Or anything i can find that will put the custoemr at ease and think to themselves " hey , he's a nice guy".
Also. I think the OP was refering to customers who may buy a new tv and can't figure out how to hook it up, so they call the satellite company and complain. This generates a negative service call and it not only goes as a negative on the company's record but the tech's as well. Customers should not be calling the satellite company on issues regarding equipment the customer purchased that have ZERO to do with the satellite system
Another issue. If the customer decides to move a receiver from one room to another even after they have been advised not do so, then call the satellite company and demand a tech come out and fix the mess free of charge. You must remember if the satellite compnay does not charge the cutsomer for customer caused issues THE TECH does not get paid because his employer does not get paid. This issue will be an ongoing battle for the rest of DTH satellite's existence.
And then there is the customer who demands free repair of pet chewed cables. This one takes the cake and the candles. I would like to know what in Sam Hill gives the customer the notion that their negligence( allwoing their pet to chew thorugh cabling) is not their reposnsibilty?
Now some of you out there who are in my view "defnding your turf" may think we in the service business you think we dislike people and think customers are all a**holes. Not true. Most if us do this becuase we want a career that involves contact with the public. We enjoy interacting with people in their homes. We enjoy outdoor work and being out of the confines of an office cubicle.
So before some of you go assuming all this negative stuff, take a deep breath and think about how you'd make out in our world.

 

[dishcomm]

It is a really sad affair to listen to a tech complain about working!! He should consider himself lucky to have a job!! perhaps the sub contractor can make a little extra money hooking up stereos and home theater systems..but then u need a high school education to do that kind of work

Hey juan, ya missed the point by a few decades. Calm down.
The OP is commenting that there are customer who demand this stuff be done without additonal compensation. It happens all the time.
When I call a NLOS it's because in my opinion there either is No line of sight or due to tree growth there will not be one in two years or less. But I always offer the custeomer the courtesy of requesting a second opinion. If I miss a shot, so be it. I fess up and get it done.

 

[dishcomm]

well this lovely exchange makes me not want to ask my installer next week who is running a new coaxial line to also do me a favor and run two ethernet lines through the same space with the coaxial; i was planning on offering some cash but i might tread lightly now considering this exchange

Holy crap.. Is anyone reading the OP's comments? He was clearly stating that there are those customers who want the extra stuff done free of charge.
Sir, by all means ask away. If it were me I would no doubt take the time to at least explore the extra work and if we agree on a price, then I will do it. I will not ignore an opportunity to make some extra coin and make a customer happy.

 

[dishcomm]

Just who do you think you are? The Editor of Good Housekeeping magazine? Thanks for the tip Oprah!

Ok..Dial it down to defcon 4 ...You should walk a mile in our shoes. I can tell you stories of cluttered homes, roaches, chicken droppings in crawlspaces, customers who place family heirlooms and antiques on or near their tv and act like I just broke all their crayons because I asked them to please protect them from damage by moving them. I have climbed over rubble, piled up clothes in bedrooms. junk in yards, dug trenches thru yards where the grass is 18" tall, trudged thru dog crap, garbage, briars, overgrown shrubery. All kinds of stuff
This is not typical but it is what we face. So don't go thinking we are criticizing YOUR home.

 

[dishcomm]

My house is only 2 years old, the installer told me that I lived in an HOA community(which was news to me) he could not install the service because there was no outlet where my plasma was. The outlet was on the other side and he could not run exterior wires, because of HOA rules. I said fine. I called Dish and resceduled, they sent another sub-contractor and he did an awesome job( 2 622's and 1 612). He ran a room wrap along the base board, grounded the dish properly and took time to show my whole family how to use the service. That guy got a $50.00 tip for his excellent customer service. :up:up

Now see IMO that is a lazy installer. And guys like that make all of us look bad.
Personally I don't like room wraps because they look crappy. I would have done the work outside unless of course you wanted the inside stuff done.
In my world I won't do anything to a customer's house that I would not do to my own.