Is my installer jerking me around????

[sideshow11]

I had him come out to look at my setup (2 DirecTIVOs and 1 standard receiver, 4x8 powered multiswitch, triple LBN dish) but he didn't do it at the time because the equipment supplier neglected to send the standard receiver. Long story short - he wouldn't do the wiring the way I wanted it done anyway for reasons unknown and he indicated that the dish needed to be pole mounted to get reception. As a result, I have run all the wires needed into the house myself and I have set the post for the dish.

My question is this - should a standard insall that includes two advanced receivers and one standard receiver include him doing the following:

1 - install dish on post
2 - run wire from my existing cable hook up on my house to the post about 30 feet away - I will trench to bury the cable at the completion of the job myself
3 - attach multiswith which includes drilling though the well immediately behind multiswitch to get to the power source
4 - hook up all wires to my cable box which is adjacent to the new multiswitch
5 - set up receivers to ensure all work and satellite gets the proper signal
6 - anything else that comes with a standard install that I may have left out unknowingly

I feel that this should be considered a basic install and I should not be charged anything extra.

At one point, I believe he indicated that the wire that would be buried costs him like $2 a foot (2 coax 1 ground wire), but looking on the web this does not sound accurate) and he wanted to pass that along to me. My feeling is that if he had to mount the dish on my roof that the amount of cable needed to do it (which is included in the install) is the same amount that I would need to bury so I don't understand the charge.

What do you guys think? I need to call him back shortly to get my appointment set up so I can get the install done by the weekend.

The funny thing is, I would have paid the guy to do some of the wiring that was custom, but I thought it was strange that an installer doesn't even carry a wall fish or clips to nail wire into my concret slab with him when he does a job (he wanted to staple the wire to the siding or charge me extra to drill holes in the concrete so he could screw in wire holders)

Thanks for the help,
Sideshow

 

[Claude Greiner]

First of all some installers are not allowed to let the customer trench and bury their own cable. The problem is that customers simple do not do it and will let the cable lay on the ground, and what happens is that they cut it with a lawnmower or something and it generates an un-necessary service call which most customers refuse to pay for and then blame on the installer.

As far as the additional receiver, they don't get paid to install it unless they are activating a receiver to connect it to.

It could be a ligitiment reason not to do the Job, I do find that many times these installers are underpaid and would much rather take 2 easy jobs over 1 hard job.

 

[sideshow11]

Claude - I probably should have indicated that I understood why the installer originally left (missing receiver, need time to get materials for post mount, I wanted to do the wiring myself) and that my post really had to do with what happens when he comes back to do the job as listed in the areas of my post with the #numbers#.

I forgot to mention that the installer suggested that I bury the cables myself because he would charge me $70 to do it. I understand your point though.

 

[dishjockey]

direct burial wire is more expensive than reg. rg-6.
I never give away db wire it isn't included in a basic install .