A question for Dishpointer

[stevo/65]

Dishpointer, since you are in the legal profession, is there a way for all installation techs (dish or direct) to form some kind of union? The reason i am interested in getting all the techs together on this , is to protect them from having to continue to take paycutts on a career that was at one time a great one , that seems to be dwindling down to the equivalency of minimum wage. Right now HSP get most of the installation MSP `s are up and coming for direct and DNS for dish , and all are demanding that there techs be SBCA certified in order to install a satellite system professionally for them. Since techs are required to be certified and pay fee`s every other year to stay qualified , can techs pay a fee to an organization to keep the above HSP,MSP,and DNS guys in check the next time they threaten to give us another paycutt. Direct and Dish give these guys their installs knowing that the techs do a quality install that will pass QC therfore they get most of the installs,so to keep busy in the satellite industry (if you are not a retailer) you have to work for one of the above companies and it seems they know this. So if you are a tech who wants to continue to install satellite systems , you take a paycutt or find some other career. Quite a few quality techs moved on to other careers and it looks as if the quality is going with them. I myself would be moving on to another venture if they ask me to take another paycutt. I feel that alot of techs would agree with me on this one. So Dishpointer, would you be interested in getting a union started for us techs? Or would you know of anybody else who would be able to help or point us in the right direction?

 

[stevo/65]

Do any of you techs out there have any comments or suggestions on this?

 

[HCI]

I believe some B&A techs in Tennessee tried and voted on the subject but most of them declined. I may be wrong.

 

[chadzx11]

I hate unions, but I think I'd be all for it in this case. The pricks I work for keep charging us back for BS. I was getting nailed for customer education by way of hooking up 4 room systems for customers without 4 TVs. In response, I started having equipment that wouldn't be hooked up to a TV IMMEDIATELY dropped from the work order, whether the customer liked it or not (idiots! if you order a 4 room system, its common courtesy to have 4 dang TVs!!). Now I am getting charged back under the 7 day rule for these second trips. That pisses me off, because I am one of their most productive (high close rate) techs, so now I am going to walk off any job where the required number of TVs aren't present (damn their close rate). Screw 'em. Let them get anther tech to pick up my slack. I'm tired of taking the hit for this worthless job.

All that, and I'm still getting slammed for customer education---mostly, its old people who are Fing up their TV 2s, sometimes after they've had it months. Hell, last pay period I got nailed on a customer who I didn't install, and who had his equipment well over a year.

IMO, chargebacks should be for when techs screw up, not when the customers screw up.

I'm an E* installer, do D* installers have to deal with this BS?

 

[stevo/65]

Right now it is harder for a DNS tech then a HSP tech. Free wall fishes and custom work are a requirement to work for alot of DNS systems. That is why i no longer install for E* DNS systems , i will for retailers though.

 

[woodybeetle]

This is a growing trend in this industry, the HSp and DNS will continue to provide D and E with a "Quality" install while taking 30 to 50 percent of what should go to the installer. Now I know I am about to incite some issues here but lets look at this logically for a moment.. If you work as a DNS or a HSP employee, not contractor then you put yourselves there. They also have a bunch of benefits that you take for granted. For the record, I refuse to work for a DNS or HSP. When the going got rough, I increased my certifications and schooling and became a commercial system operator, now I am the boss, If I dont like my pay, I get mad at myself. The first benefit of working for them is the fact that they get you your work, try going for weeks looking for work as a contractor, it happens. Second, they provide you with the supplies to do the job, this can get expensive, trust me or ask a contractor. Third, they are supposed to provide you with advanced training, I cant say this happens but it is supposed to. They are the easy way to get your foot in the door in this buisness and get trained. Yes the rates they pay you are going down, it sucks, but as D and E put more control into THEIR installations through the use of DNSP and HSP vendors they ultimately are making them more accountable for the bad installs that happen in the field. I understand the misjustice that is falling upon the shoulders of my brothers in the satellite industry, but I ask you to take a look at how many truely BAD installs you see in a week, then think to yourself, why is it the DNS and the HSP have such large overhead. Could it be the myriad of QC inspectors they have to keep on staf. Yes thats part of it, for each 1 of the QC guys out there they are having to pay him roughly 1000 a week not to do installs, they are going to get that money back somehow. I did not say it was right, and I agree there will always be a wrongful backcharge, but most times they are just. One last thing that turns my stomach in the current day industry, since when is it ok to "train" some poor slob for two weeks and then brand him a Tech, I am insulted. I refused to even refer to myself as a Tech til I had been in this buisness for three years. There is no real standard of training at this point. The SBCA and the FSS testing is a joke, it is a book smart test, no real world experience needed. When the industry get sick of butchering customers homes, sending out untrained or piss poor trained "Techs" and paying out millions a year for the wrong servicecall diagnosis(training) then maybe something will change. It will not be more talk of a union, I have been listening to this since the day of 100.00 for the dish and 1 reciever and it will still be out there when 25.00 for the dish and a reciever comes and goes, it will never materialize. This is the reason I left the residential side of the house and went MDU and commercial. I have 6 true Technicians that work WITH me on our installs, I know their training by looking at their work, their work is a direct reflection of their professionalism. Until the day things change on the Residential side of the house, I wish you luck and remember, how many bad installs did you see today?

 

[stevo/65]

One last thing that turns my stomach in the current day industry, since when is it ok to "train" some poor slob for two weeks and then brand him a Tech, I am insulted. I refused to even refer to myself as a Tech til I had been in this buisness for three years. There is no real standard of training at this point. The SBCA and the FSS testing is a joke, it is a book smart test, no real world experience needed. When the industry get sick of butchering customers homes, sending out untrained or piss poor trained "Techs" and paying out millions a year for the wrong servicecall diagnosis(training) then maybe something will change.

It is going that way , due to not being able to keep techs long enough (poor pay). I myself have been in this buisness 16 yrs. Yes been a retailer, commercial, ect. My point is the installer (the indian) the really good one`s who have been doing a great job for 3 plus years or even much more , are the guys loosing out. Granted you have management (chiefs) , yes they get a salary and yes they also get a pay raise along with the time spent with an organization. I also noticed there seems to be even more management (chiefs)in these organizations nowadays. Its kinda like too many chiefs are running the show and not enough indians (quality ones). If you are new in the buisness inhouse/contractor, then i can see the payscale starting lower, but these payscales for the installer(indian) again the really good ones (and not enough) are getting lower , i think(my opinion) to pay the management(chiefs) and getting to be too many, thier pay raises. All i am trying to do is look out for the little guy(like myself).