Installer says it can't be installed.....wtf.

[dishcomm]

I've been with E* almost a year now and have had a couple NLOS's. I myself while walking to a customer's house check out my compass/inclinometer and see what it will take. I do what I can for the customer and for the company I work for. When I believe it might be a NLOS I usually build a test dish hook it up to my meter and walk around and try different spots either on the floor for a pole, on the roof...just about anywhere on the customers property. If I walk around with the Dish for 1-2 hours then I call it NLOS. I do this because I love to see myself as a platinum tech and the pay for it. Also, in my office any NLOS has to be verified by an FSM.

With all that said I still take my well being over giving the customer tv. I do not go on roofs that have ice on them or heavy amounts of snow. I call it in as incomplete due to weather conditions. I have also seen tech's install 3 dish's on a customer's roof in completely different spots just to get the job done. This to me seems like a little much to me.

With all that said, I know there are a set of lazy tech's out there and would call in and ask for another tech for a second opinion.

1-2 hours?..You must be kidding..no situation is that complicated that it takes that amount of time to determine whether there is a LOS or not..
Sorry, Pal but we don't have 120 mins to build test dishes and all that other nonsense to determine LOS..Our experience and instruments tell us that. Usually within 15 mins I can tell whether or not there is any use in remaining at the home..
If I have a close call I will get on the roof if it's safe to check it out..I will leave no stone unturned if I think it'll go in..It's entirely stupid to leave a job that can be done because if it doesn't I make ZERO dollars..I will not compromise my safety for anyone..If they want satellite tv that badly they can put the thing in themselves..I didn't sign up for a 6 week stay in the hospital so some butt wad can watch WWE Slamfest...

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

I've been with E* almost a year now and have had a couple NLOS's. I myself while walking to a customer's house check out my compass/inclinometer and see what it will take. I do what I can for the customer and for the company I work for. When I believe it might be a NLOS I usually build a test dish hook it up to my meter and walk around and try different spots either on the floor for a pole, on the roof...just about anywhere on the customers property. If I walk around with the Dish for 1-2 hours then I call it NLOS. I do this because I love to see myself as a platinum tech and the pay for it. Also, in my office any NLOS has to be verified by an FSM.

With all that said I still take my well being over giving the customer tv. I do not go on roofs that have ice on them or heavy amounts of snow. I call it in as incomplete due to weather conditions. I have also seen tech's install 3 dish's on a customer's roof in completely different spots just to get the job done. This to me seems like a little much to me.

With all that said, I know there are a set of lazy tech's out there and would call in and ask for another tech for a second opinion.

1-2 hours?..You must be kidding..no situation is that complicated that it takes that amount of time to determine whether there is a LOS or not..
Sorry, Pal but we don't have 120 mins to build test dishes and all that other nonsense to determine LOS..Our experience and instruments tell us that. Usually within 15 mins I can tell whether or not there is any use in remaining at the home..
If I have a close call I will get on the roof if it's safe to check it out..I will leave no stone unturned if I think it'll go in..It's entirely stupid to leave a job that can be done because if it doesn't I make ZERO dollars..I will not compromise my safety for anyone..If they want satellite tv that badly they can put the thing in themselves..I didn't sign up for a 6 week stay in the hospital so some butt wad can watch WWE Slamfest...

Hmmm.....which installer would I prefer attempting my install?

 

[Hall]

Hmmm.....which installer would I prefer attempting my install?

The one who gets paid by the hour (it would seem) or the one who gets paid by the job ??

 

[velasco581]

Dishcomm, I spend the 1-2 hours to try to get the job done. My local office wants me to do it that way and I don't mind spending a little time there but that would be because I am by the hour not the job. I'm sure if I were a sub it'd be a different story. Until my offices complains about me taking too long for NLOS's I will keep doing it the way I do it. Above all, signal surprises me a lot of the times. The 148 bird to me always seems like it won't catch until i do the test and it does come in.

If you are experienced enough to accurately eyeball it then congrats to you though.

 

[pulltab]

Yeah, I really have time to spend 1-2 hours on a NLOS. As painful as it is to the customer, I guess that is why I am making money as an independent contractor, NOT WASTING ANYBODY'S TIME !!!!

If it ain't goin' in, IT AIN'T GOIN' IN.... for anybody. I have been doing this for 9 years, and I get a little peeved when I am called out for a "second opinion"....Yeah, especially on a North facing, 1st floor apartment...RIGHT, I am gonna spend 1-2 hours there.

I guess that is why I am in business. To grab the slack and do the real installs from DNS tech's walking around NLOS locations....

 

[ZandarKoad]

To dishcomm and velasco581:

I am a subcontractor. When I only had less than a year's experience (as velasco581 does) I too spent 1-2 hours attempting installs where line of sight was difficult. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. But it was worth my time because the 2 hours I would have saved would have been spent playing video games after getting home early. But dishcomm is right. After three years (for me) I don't have to mess with NLOS anymore. I know before mounting anything. Of course, all this is besides the point because velasco581 is by the hour! Who needs experience when you've got all the time in the world?

My office will send me to other tech's NLOS jobs from time to time because they know I will pull it off. And they also know when I say NLOS: There's NLOS. I once even challenged the DNS regional office on a D1000 upgrade I had been too... There was a D500 onsite that was clipping some trees, with signal strengths in the high seventies on 119. I knew 129 was hopeless. "If you can find LOS for 129, I'll go back out there and do the job for free." They never called back. I did sweat a little on that one though... It was a 80 mile drive to get there.

 

[velasco581]

Yeah, I really have time to spend 1-2 hours on a NLOS. As painful as it is to the customer, I guess that is why I am making money as an independent contractor, NOT WASTING ANYBODY'S TIME !!!!

If it ain't goin' in, IT AIN'T GOIN' IN.... for anybody. I have been doing this for 9 years, and I get a little peeved when I am called out for a "second opinion"....Yeah, especially on a North facing, 1st floor apartment...RIGHT, I am gonna spend 1-2 hours there.

I guess that is why I am in business. To grab the slack and do the real installs from DNS tech's walking around NLOS locations....

For apartment buildings with NLOS facing north would be a no brainer. I only do the test dishes for close calls, installs that are a maybe. I only down jobs and refer the customer to sub-contractors if the job will not pass a QC inspection. If I call it NLOS and I am wrong then it counts against my name. I do whatever I can to the best of my knowledge to do the install. I do agree with you that there are lazy DNS tech out there. If they do the job or not they still get paid.

Though the way you say you do your NLOS's is pretty interesting. It'll just take more experience but I know I will get to doing them within a half hour just like you and some of the other "super-tech's" around. Just understand its a learning process and that this is the way my office wants it done.

 

[pulltab]

1/2 HOUR!!! You don't get out your compass to get the "approximate" location of the satellites right away? I also go through the motions and do a "complete" survey, but NO SIGNAL IS NO SIGNAL....period .... no 6 foot elbow brackets, no 50 foot poles in the middle of the yard, no trapeze acts on edges of roofs or gables.

It is not your responsibility to figure out what the sales people asked the customer, and what the customer told the sales people. ("I asked him if he could see the southern sky?" or "I told that salesman I live towards the north.") Sales folks lose money too, and want you to go to the location "FOR FREE", and try to "figure it out".

IMHO, it is spinning your wheels and the customer's time.

 

[HDTVFanAtic]

The one who gets paid by the hour (it would seem) or the one who gets paid by the job ??

No, I'd prefer the one that gives it his all.

 

[ZandarKoad]

No, I'd prefer the one that gives it his all.

Cliched and (probably) not true. I've known enough techs who try their hardest, spend many hours onsite, and still pick horrible mounting locations and cable routes. It's not all about effort... Most jobs I don't even have to try. It's so automatic that I honestly can't remember even being at most of my jobs a month later. And my customers are CONTENT. I know, because I give every one of them my personal cell phone and make SURE they know they are supposed to contact ME with ANY installation or technical issues.

 

[dishcomm]

Dishcomm, I spend the 1-2 hours to try to get the job done. My local office wants me to do it that way and I don't mind spending a little time there but that would be because I am by the hour not the job. I'm sure if I were a sub it'd be a different story. Until my offices complains about me taking too long for NLOS's I will keep doing it the way I do it. Above all, signal surprises me a lot of the times. The 148 bird to me always seems like it won't catch until i do the test and it does come in.

If you are experienced enough to accurately eyeball it then congrats to you though.

We just do not have the time..We have other customers to serve and those jobs are every bit as important as the one that has the slimmest of a chance..We have to make EVERYBODY happy..So If any of us spends an inordinate amount of time on one job, all customers suffer...We just have to make judgement calls..Again,it is in our best interest to do the job.
I don't just "eyeball" the job....I use my compass inclinometer and my experience to make the call...but I am not able to spend up to two hours to get the answer..It's just not feasable. I don't get bvery many NLOS..

 

[thataway5000]

if he was in a dish van, then most def have a professional come back out and check it out. a professional would be a sub contractor.