I'm not suggesting it for everyone, but as an option to the "professional" installation.
You missed my point. If you're going to choose a professional contractor, why choose Mastec?
Not really, and I don't think Mastec is a bad company, and have no idea why they chose them for the installs, but I do think $150 for a basic installation is too much.
If you offer self installation as an option, you must have the resources support it. Suddenly you go from a customer support staff which only needs to know menu screens and remote operation to requiring a technical team with installation and advanced troubleshooting experience.
From my own experience, I have to disagree somewhat, I've done networking, cable TV, and satellite installations, and my rates are not that high... based on my experience I can do those types of installs generally in less than 2 hours, so $75 @ hour is a bit high to me.
Do you include the equipment along with your hourly rate?
depends on the project... bulk cabling is cheap, and and most of the people I deal with prefer to purchase their own equipment, or it was included in whatever they bought. Which is what I like, the entire package, then decide if I want an installer or not. And if they are able to outsource their installations, then they should be able to also outsource technical support as well, including for DIYers. Is Mastec going to provide the technical support after the installs? Included or as an extra fee? Or is Orby TV going to provide tech support, also free or extra fee? What if the dish needs repositioning? That's what I concerned about... still a few unanswered questions.
Well that all depends on the quality of the materials, if they are like most of the China made products, it would be a lot less than that, cheap LNBFs less than $5 and OTA antennas less than $10 @ in bulk. I've even seen dishes similar to the ones they are using for less than $20.
As I remember Mastec, they used to have their own people. I guess things changed after DIRECTV got involved.
I only charge $25 @ hr, but that's my choice. It more than covers my labor IMHO. Sometimes less for repeat customers. I tend to get more repeat business that way. The rest I leave up to the customer, I don't try and sell them the most expensive equipment, just what they need to provide what they want. I only make suggestions if they are planning on expanding in the future. I'm not out to become a millionaire, I'm more interested in making people happy and taking pride in what I do. So far I haven't had any problems that couldn't be resolved quickly, and most of the time I don't charge them for a re-visit unless they damaged something and it needs replacing, then I generally do it at cost. And I've even did free reinstallation for people after big storms or hurricanes to get them up and running again. Most of the time they will insist on offer something for coming out, so I'm not walking away empty handed by no means, not to mention all the great friends I've made in the process. Far more priceless. Plus I don't generally do commercial work. Except for a select few that have small at-home businesses or agriculture. I don't do this full-time anymore, by choice, I consider myself semi-retired, I enjoy spending time at home with family.
Hasn't happened to me yet, but only do local, and by word-of-mouth only, no advertising, so would make a difference. Plus I also do the same for PC & Mac repairs... Also I'm completely self taught, no certifications, of any kind. Just a willingness to learn all that I can. Still learning new stuff everyday. I've had a lot of people tell me I'm not charging enough, but I get a lot of satisfaction from helping people. Quite a few on the people I deal with are senior citizens, and I have the upmost respect in them. And I've received so much help for things I needed in exchange for far less that what it would normally cost me, because of people they know, so it all works out great in the end. Guess it's kind of my own way of bartering, LOL
