DirecTV's Plans for 2006/2007
- Thread starter Scott Greczkowski
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I wish somebody would have these guys move their saga somewhere else. I keep thinking there is some new news related to Direct's plans but keep finding you guys arguing...
vurbano is wrong about the commitment- getting out of the commitment with the lease equipment, with the lease equipment you return the reciever and the commitment and the penalties are the same as before $150 12 mos commitment buth with advanced products like the dvr and hd rcvrsa it is a two year commitment $12.50 a month uncompleted penalty. for some one who espouses they know so much they are dead wrong I work for d
vurbano said:Its really sad how truly ignorant you are on this subject. Why dont you go look it up. All sorts of flunkies call themselves "engineers" because its in their job description although in many cases unlawfully. Such as an "audio engineer", etc. Getting advice or an opinion from many of these "engineers" is like getting medical advice from an intern, actually, in the engineering profession, less than an intern because some "engineers" may not only be unlicensed but uneducated as well.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Engineer
Professional Engineer
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Professional Engineer is the term for registered or licensed engineers in some countries, including the United States and Canada.
The earmark that distinguishes a professional engineer is the authority to sign and seal or "stamp" engineering documents (drawings and calculations) for a design or a structure, thus taking legal responsibility for it.
The term Professional Engineer is a legally protected title; the practice of engineering is protected in both Canada and the United States, and only registered Professional Engineers are allowed to use the title or carry out the work of Engineering. Common equivalents outside these countries include Chartered Engineer, Incorporated engineer and European Engineer.
Some states and companies use the term Registered Engineer, which carries the same professional and legal responsibilities as Professional Engineer.
Titles
Post-nominal letters used vary by location:
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- P.E. or PE are used in the U.S.
- P.Eng. is used in Canada except the province of Quebec.
- Eng. (French:Ing.) is used in Quebec.
- E.I or EI Engineering Intern (future professional engineers).
- E.I.T. Engineer-In-Training (also future professional engineers).
- CEng and IEng in the UK & Republic of Ireland.
- CPEng in Australia
- In?. in Poland (pre-nominal letters)
Registration and regulation
Each country or state/province has specific procedures and requirements for the license or registration. The procedure in the U.S. and Canada is significantly different.
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United States
In the United States, registration or licensure of Professional Engineers is performed by the individual states. Each registration or license is valid only in the state in which it is granted. Many Professional Engineers maintain licenses in several states for this reason and reciprocity agreements between states can make it easy to gain a license in one state based on a license in another state without going through the full application process. The exact licensing procedure can vary from state to state, but the general process is:
In a few states it is still possible for an individual to bypass steps 1 and 2, and apply to take the Professional Engineering Examination, as long as he or she can find a P.E. sponsor and substitute work experience for academic experience. The years of experience may also vary, for instance, in California it is possible to take the Professional Engineering examination with only two years of experience after a bachelor's degree, or one year of experience after graduate school.
- Graduate with a degree from an accredited four-year university program in engineering.
- Complete a standard Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) written examination, which tests applicants on breadth of understanding of basic engineering principles, and optionally some elements of an engineering specialty. Completion of the first two steps typically qualifies one for certification in the U.S. as an Engineer In Training (EIT).
- Accumulate at least four years of engineering experience under the supervision of a P.E.
- Complete a written Professional Engineering Examination, testing the applicant's knowledge and skills in his or her chosen engineering discipline (mechanical, electrical, civil, etc.), as well as engineering ethics.
Some states issue only generic Professional Engineering licenses. Others, known as "discipline states", issue licenses for specific disciplines of engineering, such as Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering. In all cases, however, engineers are limited to practicing in their area of competency, which is usually a small portion of a discipline. While licensing boards do not often enforce this limitation, it can be a factor in negligence lawsuits.
As regulation of the practice of engineering is performed by the individual states in the U.S., areas of engineering involved in interstate commerce are essentially unregulated. These areas include much of Mechanical Engineering, such as Automotive Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, and Chemical Engineering, and may be specificly exempted from regulation under an "Industrial Exemption". An industrial exemption covers engineers who design products such as automobiles that are widely sold outside the state in which they are produced. It would not, however, exempt an engineer who designs a structure which houses an automobile assembly line.
Civil Engineers account for a large majority of licensed Professional Engineers, and many of the remainder are Mechanical and Electrical Engineers whose practice involves areas that states regulate, e.g., HVAC systems and power engineering. However, some engineers in other fields obtain licenses for prestige even though they are never required to stamp design documents.
The title "Engineer" is legally protected, meaning that it is unlawful to use it unless permission is specifically granted by a state, through a professional engineering license, an industrial exemption, or certain other non-professional engineering licenses such as Operating Engineer. Employees of state or federal agencies may also call themselves engineers if that term appears in their official job title. Businesses can not use the term "Engineering" in their name or offer engineering services to the public unless they employ at least one Professional Engineer.
In many states, Licensed Land Surveyors are regulated in a similar manner, and are required to pass a Fundamentals of Surveying (FS) exam, perform a period of internship and then pass a Practices of Surveying (PS) Exam. A four-year degree in engineering or land surveying may also be required. In a few states licensed Civil Engineers may also perform land surveys.
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Canada
In Canada regulation including registration is accomplished through a self governing body (Association of Professional Engineers) that is given the power to register and discipline engineers as well as regulate the field of engineering in their province. Many of these associations are also responsible for regulating other related professions (such as Geoscience). The process for registration is generally as follows:
Engineers are not registered in a specific discipline, but instead are prohibited by the Code of Ethics from practicing beyond their training and experience. Breaches of the Code are often sufficient grounds for enforcement, which may include the suspension or loss of license, as well as financial penalties and now, through recent changes to Canadian Law, could also result in jail time should negligence be shown to have played a part in any incident in which there is loss of human life.
- Graduate with a degree from an accredited program in engineering or applied science,
- Complete an Engineer in Training program under the direction of a P.Eng. (This is normally a four-year program)
- Review of work experience by the Association,
- Pass a professional practice exam (essentially an engineering ethics and law exam).
The Canadian Engineering Licensing model is unique in that Engineers are not tested on technical knowledge during the licensing process, but instead the accreditation of schools and their accredited degree granting status are tightly monitored and controlled. Unlike many countries where accreditation processes are typically quite broad and simply ensures a low minimum standard, leaving the ultimate testing of the Engineer to the licensing stage, the Canadian system ensures a that a very specific and regimented curriculum is offered and tested with strict accordance to set national standards. This streamlines the overall licensing process and ensures a firm national standard on the quality of Engineering in Canada. This accreditation process is governed by the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers through their active group the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board. The accreditation process is continuous and enforced through regular accreditation reviews of each school. These reviews typically include the review of the school's curriculum (including marked final exams and assignments), interviews of current students, extra curricular activities and teaching staff as well additional areas the visiting board may feel need addressing. The specific areas considered are Curriculum Content, Program Environment, and General Criteria.
Legislatively, the Code of Ethics is legally binding on Professional Engineers.
Ya know what..I don't care.....I have a special term for those who are well behind in an argument who must bring up their resume as an offset to their unenviable position in said argument..It's called insecurity......
If you are as educated as you claim to be, how is you missed the meaning of "end of discussion"? Miss class that day?
For advanced equipment its a 2 year commitment. $300 dollars, 12.50 a month. Did I say otherwise? its a horribly long thread and Im not going to sift through 31 pages. But you lose the $499 upfront fee for the HR10-250 and have to return it. Thats a ridiculously high price and equates to a 500 to 800 dollar loss for the subscriber depending on when he cancels. Where is that "dead wrong" mr D employee????????edchuckndoug said:
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scotsmanron said:
I think the bigger problem is, there probably wouldn't be a 2 year commitment, if people were not ordering equipment and then constantly shutting it off and on after they buy it. Example is, people were doing this for the NFL football package.
After the season is done they shut their system off. After D* had spent money for installation and and given them the equipment, it only is used a few months, it takes them longer to recoup their expenses.
I hate to see the commitment as much as anyone else, but they had to find some way to get their costs back. It is a worse for D* than E* because of the football package.
But when you look at it, in the long run it may be better. If D* can make up their costs quicker, they may not have to up prices for their programing as often, and be able to add channels without extra costs.
IF PQ were great I would not mind the commitment. But the lease deal would still be a killer. I want to own it and do whatever I want with it.
Like adding a HD-SDI output on it, God knows DirecTV's PQ needs all the help it can get.vurbano said:
lou_do said:
Maybe they should charge for their equipment and then offer a nice big rebate at the end of a year of continuous service. Not a lot of difference, but it's a better situation for the consumer I think. Who knows though, maybe it would cut down on who got in because that keep them from even trying it. Maybe a combination of rewards for staying in the system? Right now I don't feel like much of a valued customer at all. I think D* could not care less if I took my business else where.
Perhaps if the PQ improved people wouldnt be cutting off their service when Sunday ticket ends? Duhh The problem is self inflicted if you ask me. HD PQ dropped severely when ST went into HD and HD DNS was added so that D* could collect more money and gain more subs. So what do they do to offeset people turning off thier service after ST ends for the season? and after robbing the normal HD consumers' PQ already? They come up with another way to raise prices for that consumer with ridiculous 500 dollar upfront rental fees, lease fees, a 2 yr commitment and a 300 dollar termination fee.
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Very true!! PQ is the key!! Why does a sub leave at the end of Sunday ticket? Because they think that they have something better or cheaper!!!
scotsmanron said:
OR because they only wanted the football package, in the first place, and had no intention of keeping the service. With the ST cancelation issue, PQ is not the issue, if it was they should have canceled during football season. It doesn't get any better or worse before or after the season.
Maybe a better solution, for people that want only the ST package, would have been to allow the person to purchase his equipment and pay for installation outright. Then, allow him to purchase the ST package and shut it off until next football season.
That would work I would think. They could advertise a Sunday Ticket Only package and if a football nut wants it he would be happy.
D* Saving Money by really srewing installers
I was a contract installer for D* systems a few years back. I still have friends that are doing it on the side. D* is really screwing private contractors. They are back charging the the companies that provide those nifty sunday morning paper adds. As much as $100 for "customer education" or in english "grandma doesn't/forgot how to use the DVR" So then the sales company will backcharge the contractor. So if the tech got paid $90 for a 2 box install he could pay back $100! $10 more then he got paid. Time and materials lost! thats alot of money D* might as well hold a gun to their head.
I don't know how they have managed to get this past the lawyers but its happening. The HSP will come out and fix it and won't even say what they fixed. There is a little more too it then this but basically D* is tryng to get rid of the contractor hacks that leave lines just hanging and what not. But it's really dancing on the backs of the brused to get there. And with no accountability or recourse; D* is giving itself alot of power over the independent contractors paychecks.
I was a contract installer for D* systems a few years back. I still have friends that are doing it on the side. D* is really screwing private contractors. They are back charging the the companies that provide those nifty sunday morning paper adds. As much as $100 for "customer education" or in english "grandma doesn't/forgot how to use the DVR" So then the sales company will backcharge the contractor. So if the tech got paid $90 for a 2 box install he could pay back $100! $10 more then he got paid. Time and materials lost! thats alot of money D* might as well hold a gun to their head.
I don't know how they have managed to get this past the lawyers but its happening. The HSP will come out and fix it and won't even say what they fixed. There is a little more too it then this but basically D* is tryng to get rid of the contractor hacks that leave lines just hanging and what not. But it's really dancing on the backs of the brused to get there. And with no accountability or recourse; D* is giving itself alot of power over the independent contractors paychecks. Digital Dude said:
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