After reading so many stories of bad installs i had to add mine! We bought a home theater package from a big chain store. (They) sent out one of there installers for the tv, dvd, and radio, he spent 2 days doing the install! After he was done all we had was a mess! he drilled holes from from the attic and let the wires hang down to the speakers that was not mounted level. the sound was not right. you couldn't hear the back speakers at all! so on and so on. Next came the satellite installer... dish on roof, wires running over the gutter and down the wall from there he ran them on the wall to each side of the house. it was not good to look at. all was ok until the rain!!! you guessed it, no satellite!! we called and complained twice! they sent them out again TWICE EACH!! not much was done. still had the same thing. wires looked a little bit better..... a friend of ours told us about a guy on the other side of the state that "FIXED FREE INSTALLS" said he was hard to get him out because he stayed so busy but was well worth the wait.. so we called. it did take him three weeks but he called every week to let us know he was still coming. and low and behold he showed up on the day and almost the exact time he said he would. he showed us everything wrong and got to work. he took everything out and started over. when he was done with the dish all you could see was about three inches of wire. as for the home theater it was night and day. he measured the living room and remounted the speakers. he re ran the wires IN THE WALL to each speaker. he spent about a hour just adjusting the picture. when he was done we were at a lost for words!! it looks and sounds better then any movie theater we have been to. To top it off he charged us less then the over the phone price!!! if any of you live near or in tennessee and need your free install fixed call this guy. his name is Bobby Beard and the name of his company is satellites cells and more. his cell phone number is 615-975-8973 i have his card some where if you need his store number.
a real installer story
- Thread starter ksims
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I am a professional installer/electrican with over 40 years experience. I used to do "fulfillment" installs. I would refuse to do more than two a day. They don't call me anymore, because I refused to do shotty work just to hurry out to get paid.
Now, all I do is "fix" other people's work. I went out to a one day job to repair a "fullment" install a week ago, and still have a days work to do. I ran 5 "in wall" phone outlets, three an three DirecTV outlets, re-located the dish, ran two separate 120vac outlets to other walls in two bathrooms off the existing GFCI, ran a dedicated circuit to the NEW Culligan water softner in the basement, installed a floor outlet between floors in the living room, installed a ceiling fan brtween floors in the den (no ceiling power existing) and more. I even replaced the plastic flexible dryer vent installed by Sears. I replaced wit with a rigid steel vent pipe. Flexible plastic dryer vents have been banned by the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission) and UL. I still have to go back and redo the flush drain on the Culligan water softner. They are draining the "salt" discharge into the septic tank, which will ruin it. SUCH PROFESSIONALS!
I get more business than I can handle.
Now, all I do is "fix" other people's work. I went out to a one day job to repair a "fullment" install a week ago, and still have a days work to do. I ran 5 "in wall" phone outlets, three an three DirecTV outlets, re-located the dish, ran two separate 120vac outlets to other walls in two bathrooms off the existing GFCI, ran a dedicated circuit to the NEW Culligan water softner in the basement, installed a floor outlet between floors in the living room, installed a ceiling fan brtween floors in the den (no ceiling power existing) and more. I even replaced the plastic flexible dryer vent installed by Sears. I replaced wit with a rigid steel vent pipe. Flexible plastic dryer vents have been banned by the CPSC (Consumer Products Safety Commission) and UL. I still have to go back and redo the flush drain on the Culligan water softner. They are draining the "salt" discharge into the septic tank, which will ruin it. SUCH PROFESSIONALS!
I get more business than I can handle.
How about this for a nice install story, I was installed 6 months ago, walked around with me, properly grounded to the ground rod, wires were hidden under the siding, drilled one hole, asked me which existing wire to use, diplexed my antenna, hooked everything right, showed me how to use my 508, and in heavy rain... i might lose signal for seconds. During the hurricaine that hit Virginia (I'm in Delaware), I lost signal for about 30 minutes. Other than that, I lose signal in heavy rains, only momentarily.. like not enough time to reach for the remote.
Depends on the tech, and whether the company is willing to keep crappy techs. We have a high turnover rate, but if they last more than 3 months, they are worth their weight in gold as installers.
Complaining is the only way we install companies know our techs are not doing their job right. Do it until you're blue in the face, and climb the supervisor chain until it works.
Depends on the tech, and whether the company is willing to keep crappy techs. We have a high turnover rate, but if they last more than 3 months, they are worth their weight in gold as installers.
Complaining is the only way we install companies know our techs are not doing their job right. Do it until you're blue in the face, and climb the supervisor chain until it works.
My original retailer installer was terrible. He was there for like 3 or 4 hours to do a balcony installation! After he left, I had to re-mount everything.
The DNSC guy that came for the "must carry" install was a nice guy, and certainly more knowledgable and better-equipped than the retailer guy, but still fairly young and green. I had to show him a bunch of stuff.
I wish they still offered a self-install like in the old days.
The DNSC guy that came for the "must carry" install was a nice guy, and certainly more knowledgable and better-equipped than the retailer guy, but still fairly young and green. I had to show him a bunch of stuff.
I wish they still offered a self-install like in the old days.
ksims said:
Where in Tennesse is he located. I live the St. Louis. MO area. Any idea if he lives close to the Missouri border, does any work in MO, or is willing to travel. I am about 3 1/2 hours from Memphis.
615 is Nashville I think. I could be wrong though. I live right outside of Jackson. My installer for the 811 was good. He didn't know much about the IRD, but he replaced every connection I had. Even the ones on my OTA. He got hiw latter out and did it. Also in my attic the cables that I was not using had no ends. He put ends on all of them. He also made jumper wires to go in every bedroom, even though I'm not using them. He said it was so I got some good cables and didn't have to buy them. I was very pleased
I had an upgrade install recently. The original installer (3 years ago) was lazy and complained too much, he did an OK job. The upgrade installer was excellent. He was not happy with the original install and replaced everything except the dish itself. He put new ends on all of the wires and made sure everything was nice and neat. I asked him about my original installer and he said that he was "let go" shortly after Dish took over the install services. He said that Dish took over the install services because of so many complaints of installers not showing up, multiple rescheduling and shoddy work. So, Dish was losing customers left and right. I guess Dish kept one of the good ones because my install tech was excellent. I was shocked to learn that Dish took over install services in my area and are managing it on their own. :shocked
For under $250 to have someone actually come into your house, and fix all the problems you talk about is a very good price when you consider the following things:
1) The amount you spent on the hardware
2) The amount of time you will be using the hardware.
Since I know a pretty good amount about hardware, etc. when I built my home theater, I installed everything myself. This included a 92" screen, Sony Projector, 8 speaker runs that were installed in the walls during the framing process, etc. The room sound and looks great!
I initially was going to have the projector mounted, but was quoted over $500 to just mount the projector and the screen. It ended up taking me around 2 total hours to build the correct mount for the projector mount, and install that (and a little bit of math to correctly place it centered in the room). The screen was very simple to put together and install, probably took 2 hours also. Actually it was kind of fun for my wife and I to install the screen, as we kept trying different placements on the wall before we decided on exactly where it should go.
Reedl
1) The amount you spent on the hardware
2) The amount of time you will be using the hardware.
Since I know a pretty good amount about hardware, etc. when I built my home theater, I installed everything myself. This included a 92" screen, Sony Projector, 8 speaker runs that were installed in the walls during the framing process, etc. The room sound and looks great!
I initially was going to have the projector mounted, but was quoted over $500 to just mount the projector and the screen. It ended up taking me around 2 total hours to build the correct mount for the projector mount, and install that (and a little bit of math to correctly place it centered in the room). The screen was very simple to put together and install, probably took 2 hours also. Actually it was kind of fun for my wife and I to install the screen, as we kept trying different placements on the wall before we decided on exactly where it should go.
Reedl
Well, I don't want to pay a dime. The complete install should be free and should be done right. They should keep coming out until the customer is satisfied. I have had them back two times and they are coming back a third time next week to fix an "extra"
hole the installer made in the outside of my house. I guess the hole he made was to small for the wiring so he just made another hole right above it but left the other hole
there. I am glad that I did not sign any contract and I went through SBC DISH.
If they refuse to fix a problem or they do not do it correctly I will simply cancel.
Same goes for ANY install of ANY equipment I buy.
hole the installer made in the outside of my house. I guess the hole he made was to small for the wiring so he just made another hole right above it but left the other hole
there. I am glad that I did not sign any contract and I went through SBC DISH.
If they refuse to fix a problem or they do not do it correctly I will simply cancel.
Same goes for ANY install of ANY equipment I buy.
I think we are talking about two different types of "installs" here. The first kind is the install for a service like E* or D* or V*. These are usually very easy to get right (I know there are very crappy installers, but in most cases it is done right). The other type of install, namely the one that ksims was more complaining about was the install of a home theater system, in that there are many more variables to the install, and what is "standard" by one company is "optional" from another company.
For example in-wall wire runs are probably not included with many companies simply because it takes too much time, or is impossible with some houses.
That is why I have no trouble having a company come install my dish and that wiring (if it is included), but I never let them touch the entertainment stuff because I understand it much better than they ever will.
As to ksims and his home theater cleanup, I was just saying that the price he paid was a very good one since most "experts" in home theater here in Mass will not even come to your house for under $300.00, much less completely re-install a system for that. The major problem in my mind is that since alot of people do not understand how it all works or do not know how to set it all up, the "experts" charge big bucks because they want it to seem complicted.
Reedl
For example in-wall wire runs are probably not included with many companies simply because it takes too much time, or is impossible with some houses.
That is why I have no trouble having a company come install my dish and that wiring (if it is included), but I never let them touch the entertainment stuff because I understand it much better than they ever will.
As to ksims and his home theater cleanup, I was just saying that the price he paid was a very good one since most "experts" in home theater here in Mass will not even come to your house for under $300.00, much less completely re-install a system for that. The major problem in my mind is that since alot of people do not understand how it all works or do not know how to set it all up, the "experts" charge big bucks because they want it to seem complicted.
Reedl
Everyone likes to complain about the bad installers but it's good to remember there are a lot of good ones as well. When I had my second dish for locals installed, the guy Dish sent out had never seen a 721 before and couldn't get it to see the side satellite. So they sent out another guy a week later and he was awesome. He upgraded my switch, replaced a cable run I did myself, and cleaned everything up at no charge.
Dennis
Dennis
I agree that the money was worth the job he did and if you are spending a lot of money on a system its worth a little more to have it installed correctly. You really cannot cut corners with this stuff.
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