Need advice from some fellow contractors

[OkSatPro]

Took my kids into Radio Shack today and the manager and I got into a conversation and it was asked what I do ... I told Him I installed Dish and ofcourse they sale dish..


He then said I need to come back this coming week to speak with the owner that She is looking for a tech in this area to install for them....

Ok, my question is this...... What do you advise as a good install price

I have an idea but want to here from others that might be doing the same or simular...

 

[Fredinva]

RS will get the commission on the reciever sale and get the residuals.
Dish will pay RS $100 for a single recvr install. If you have your own truck, and all your own tools, I'd ask for the entire $100 install. You would probably have to supply all cable and connections too.

fred

 

[Jared Twomey]

it depends on what all they are providing... wire, coax, ect...
the company i worked for paid $75 for a base 1 receiver install and $10 for each additional receiver. The company provided all materials. We had our own tools and trucks though. I'm not sure what a radio shack would pay.
One of our competitors here in town is a guy and his son that run the place and they have 1 or 2 installer's that (at least last time i talked to his installer) he pays them $10 an hour. He provided the van and tools and all materials... but still way underpaid in my opinion

 

[dishcomm]

Took my kids into Radio Shack today and the manager and I got into a conversation and it was asked what I do ... I told Him I installed Dish and ofcourse they sale dish..


He then said I need to come back this coming week to speak with the owner that She is looking for a tech in this area to install for them....

Ok, my question is this...... What do you advise as a good install price

I have an idea but want to here from others that might be doing the same or simular...

I would charge at least $80 for the first receiver then $25 for each additional tuner..For example a 4 tuner with out wall fishes or pole mount would be $155 or so..Don't price yourself out of work....Keep it below the magic three figure number for a single ..Get the work....it's better to charge a little less and get the jobs then dig your heels in for a price and get nothing. my business philosophy is, a quick nickel is better than a slow dollar..As far as extras are concerned....Mark up your pole and concrete at least 100%..SO if a pole is 7bucks and the concrete three, chrage 20 bucks fo rthe material and probably another 40 for the labor Let the cust have the first 50 feet of burial for that price...anything over 50 feet charge $1.50 per foot..Burying cable sucks so get your price.....Keep in mind that the standard DN rate is I believe $59 for a pole mount..Wall fishes should be paid directly by the cust...as well as hardwire phone lines...$40 -$50 is fair for a wall fish....I charge $60 for a hardwire phone line.....
Keep in mind, this is assuming you are providing alll materials,tools and vehicle....

 

[chadzx11]

You need to find out more info first. I work for a contractor, and have done radio shack installs. We actually provide the equipment on those, so you want to find out if they are sending the customers out the door with the equipment or not.

I get $75 for the first reciever + $25 for each reciever/tuner after that one. I have to supply everything except dish parts/lnbs/switches/recievers. I have to deal with BS from the people I work for and dish.

I wouldn't do anything that would require me to do business directly with dish. They are bastards. They will literally charge a customer for a non warranty service call, instruct the tech to fix it at no cost, and then not pay the tech for going out, for whatever reason they can make up. Customer education is a good catch all for them. I can only imagine the games they play with equipment reimbursments. The company I work for is only marginally better. A month ago, they decided to charge me back $272 for some equipment THEY misplaced---they did it, not me, I have my reciepts for turning it in, and they still haven't refunded my money. Naturally, they couldn't be bothered to call me and ask about it FIRST.

I'd give my left nut for a job at one of the casinos sweeping the parking lot right now (and yes, I have lots of applications in).

Anyway, be careful. Contracting is a game that it is very very easy to get burned at. It is all fun and games until somebody goes out of business owing you money.

 

[dishcomm]

it depends on what all they are providing... wire, coax, ect...
the company i worked for paid $75 for a base 1 receiver install and $10 for each additional receiver. The company provided all materials. We had our own tools and trucks though. I'm not sure what a radio shack would pay.
One of our competitors here in town is a guy and his son that run the place and they have 1 or 2 installer's that (at least last time i talked to his installer) he pays them $10 an hour. He provided the van and tools and all materials... but still way underpaid in my opinion

$10 an hour?!!!!!!!!! I would not open one eye to look at the alarm clock for that!....
Hey, if he's getting quality work for that amount of money, God bless him.....However, I doubt he's getting work done to spec paying that..Nor are his installers very well experienced and he probably has trouble keeping them....JMO....

 

[chadzx11]

I would charge at least $80 for the first receiver then $25 for each additional tuner..For example a 4 tuner with out wall fishes or pole mount would be $155 or so..Don't price yourself out of work....Keep it below the magic three figure number for a single ..Get the work....it's better to charge a little less and get the jobs then dig your heels in for a price and get nothing. my business philosophy is, a quick nickel is better than a slow dollar..As far as extras are concerned....Mark up your pole and concrete at least 100%..SO if a pole is 7bucks and the concrete three, chrage 20 bucks fo rthe material and probably another 40 for the labor Let the cust have the first 50 feet of burial for that price...anything over 50 feet charge $1.50 per foot..Burying cable sucks so get your price.....Keep in mind that the standard DN rate is I believe $59 for a pole mount..Wall fishes should be paid directly by the cust...as well as hardwire phone lines...$40 -$50 is fair for a wall fish....I charge $60 for a hardwire phone line.....
Keep in mind, this is assuming you are providing alll materials,tools and vehicle....

That's good advice, but I could never get the customer to pay for any of that stuff. I always get the "free install" people. They want the extra work, they just don't want to pay for any of it. Then you have to choose between the job and the extra cash. I quit even offering phone lines, after being unsuccessful at $35. Screw that, let them pay the phone company! When I quit that, I still had most of a reel of phone cable left, so I used it for an am antenna. Worked pretty good, too!

 

[dishcomm]

That's good advice, but I could never get the customer to pay for any of that stuff. I always get the "free install" people. They want the extra work, they just don't want to pay for any of it. Then you have to choose between the job and the extra cash. I quit even offering phone lines, after being unsuccessful at $35. Screw that, let them pay the phone company! When I quit that, I still had most of a reel of phone cable left, so I used it for an am antenna. Worked pretty good, too!

I f you have issues,sometimes I do as well, with getting custs to pay for extra work, expalain that any work outside of the scope of the w/o is chargeable..If the cust balks at paying, don't do the work....Let them know that they are entitiled to a free STANDARD install.
A word of info....If the job is a DNSC job ,pole mounts and wall fishes ARE NOT chargeable.....If the job is sold by a retailer, they are chargeable....The sales people at the store should have informed the cust already of this..You are not there to sell the job....
I do not "offer" phone lines either..But if the cust needs one I tell them it's $60 per, or I don't run it...Again, the customer should have been told this at point of sale..Many times you'll get this ...."Well ,THEY said...."..When a customer says "THEY"..I politiely interrupt them and let them know that "THEY " are incorrect....If the customer says it's too much moiney, let them know that the phone co. will probably charge as much as 3 times that..That usually seals the deal right there...
to be honest, I don't have any p[rob;lems getting people to pay up for stuff outside the scope of the w/o...it's all about learning to 'handle" people..one thing i learned is cust service, never lose control of the situation...Make sure you are doing the talking....DO not let a customer push you around...If you are a contractor, you are essentially in business for yourself..Act that way.....

 

[dishcomm]

You need to find out more info first. I work for a contractor, and have done radio shack installs. We actually provide the equipment on those, so you want to find out if they are sending the customers out the door with the equipment or not.

I get $75 for the first reciever + $25 for each reciever/tuner after that one. I have to supply everything except dish parts/lnbs/switches/recievers. I have to deal with BS from the people I work for and dish.

I wouldn't do anything that would require me to do business directly with dish. They are bastards. They will literally charge a customer for a non warranty service call, instruct the tech to fix it at no cost, and then not pay the tech for going out, for whatever reason they can make up. Customer education is a good catch all for them. I can only imagine the games they play with equipment reimbursments. The company I work for is only marginally better. A month ago, they decided to charge me back $272 for some equipment THEY misplaced---they did it, not me, I have my reciepts for turning it in, and they still haven't refunded my money. Naturally, they couldn't be bothered to call me and ask about it FIRST.


Anyway, be careful. Contracting is a game that it is very very easy to get burned at. It is all fun and games until somebody goes out of business owing you money.

If you have proof the company eroneously took money from you, let the owner know on a daily basis that you are looking for the money in your next paycheck....If you are getting the runaround, seek legal advice.........since you are a contractor, you have options....As long as you have written proof you will get your money....Go straight to the top...By pass the mamngemnet and go to the owner of the company....Be a bee intheir bonnet. But don't be a n ashole about it wither..You earnd that $$ fair and square..There are laws to protect us against this type of fraud....And yes, it IS fraud...
You could sue in small claims court. Of course you would have to look elsewhere for work.