Hi there everybody. I'm one of the dirty thirty that went to that studio and got fired. Let me explain our stance. We were required to have at least 53% of our receivers respond (plugged in) otherwise we would be backcharged $5 for every box that did not respond. We were given no customer sign off sheets for those cx's that were cell only or refused to have the phone connected. We also took an immidiate reduction of $2 per box two months ago when Mastec started to enforce this policy. So on a four set we were alreay down $8 on that install. Here was the catch. If the box responded, we were paid $3.35 for the connection. Essentially they were paying us $1.35 to connect the phone and or run the line. Keep in mind WE PAID FOR THE SMALL PARTS! WE ARE EMPLOYEES, NOT 1099 CONTRACTORS.
So, would you run a phone line to a box when the customer doesn't even want it hooked up knowing you are only being paid $1.35 and the customer is going to disconnect it? You ran it for free and got charged $5. Sure you can get under 47% non-rsponsive every once and a while, not always. So are you just going to eat that $200 to $800 deduction or are you going to exhaust every avenue available to you within the company. After doing that and your told policy is policy, what do you do? Keep in mind that DirecTV sells the service to millions of cell only customers. Why am I and every other tech being held responsible for something that isnt even a requirement?
Theres no excuse for that. What happens when the workorder has the cell number listed, not the home line? What happens if the customer disconnects the receiver from the jack? What happens when that POS H20 and D11 modems crap out? What if the customer didn't pay the phone bill? What happens when they're using a specific alarm system working on a similar frequency not allowing the modem to dial out(been on many of these service calls)? Cell only? Apartment? Doesnt want to pay for the jack or doesn't want a hole drilled in their brand new home? Why is any of this crap the responsibility of the technician?
Don't ask me to lie to get your f'ing receiver hooked into a phone line. I won't. I'm not butchering a customer because my first two installs were cell only. I wont even get into the OTHER charges and backcharges that were a weekly occurrence. HSP's are out of control. This is only the beginning. keep your eyes on the headlines. The Teamsters are in Orlando, soon Detroit and many other places.
Re: Have you seen this follow-up story???
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