CABL Forum - Re: CAVO Communication

I worked for these guys for three years, when they were known as SZF, they had an office in Oak Forest, but closed it down, the first year I was there, was 2001, we were in the middle of an audit, everything was cool, no bonus, no trucks, contractors or employees, 2nd year I was there, was so so, business was dropping off, nothing but disconnects, and digital upgrades, hardly any HSD, or Telephony, all in bad black neighborhoods, we always got our routes the same morning we walked in, most of us were out the door late, nine am, sometimes ten am,

In 2003, the bottom really fell out, people were laid off, a lot of times you would show up, and no routes for low men on the totem pole, and for some reason this company always got bottom of the barrell as far as work orders, their main competitor was Pirtano and at that time they were comcast favorite, not us

The owner of the company is Bill Valentino, he has offices in Beaumont texas, and Ft. Myers florida,

He is a decent dude, but unfortuneately, those years I was there, the company was getting **** for work, he did pay your cell phone bill, but people abused it, so he stopped, he did pay for housing but people abused it so he stopped, several guys who worked for him, ten plus years, left when the drought came, he did have a lot of 1099 guys, his trucks, are little chevy's with alum caps, he did offer benefits, and still does, I think, unfortuneately in Chicago area, there are thousands of homes, not up to code, so you will be doing a **** load of work in really ****ty weather, in 2001 he paid 4.99 for AO, 1.30 for audits, 3.99 for disco's, thirty something for hsd's, I worked an average of 50 hours a week, six days a week, and made only 400 to six hundred for TWO WEEKS, it was pretty sad,

I was the guy who started the habit of taking pictures of my work and handing them in every morning with my paperwork, next thing you know the whole company had to get cameras, and do the same thing. QC was rough, and charge backs were many,

One problem this company has, and I believe they still do, is the south surburb and NW indiana territory, is all **** holes, Im talking all ghettos, another problem with this company, is all of sudden, there is no work, you show up, you go home, now they drug test which they never did before, and they are cliky, meaning if you dont get along with the sups, you get **** on,

They are a great outfit to work for in the warm weather, lots of supplies, very liberal workdays, you can make your own hours, I like to work at night,

A funny story with this company, is when they tried to open an office in Crestwood Illinois, out of a rental type garage, the main guy at the time was Dave Ballard, a very decent dude, very decent, well the crestwood police, and the city would not allow the company to work out of the garage, and warned them repeatldy, well needless to say, time went by, and one morning Dave showed up to work, and the cops arrested him, and shut the place down, Dave had worked for him, for ten plus years, and quit the next day, and came to work with me, for a Direct TV hsp, called Apex digital, which is now Direct Sat USA, I had been there for a year already, so my boss, became my junior.

I dont know how much has changed with them, but I would be cautious...Comcast has a very bad rap, in Chicago, triple play or not, people hate them, Dish and Direct, are beating them big time......

Example, silver digital, with HD, a customer is paying a hundred plus a month,

Plus there are a lot of people in Chicago, who steal cable, I mean a lot, take pics of everything you do, including tags, otherwise your history.

I ve never worked for anybody, while this triple play thing has been around, it might be different, but I do know a lot of people are cancelling their phone service with them, soon after you install it, Plus we have another company out here, called WOW, and they are available, at the same time Comcast is, and they are always cheaper than comcast, but they have no HD,

In chicago, side jobs, and private custom wiring are your only saving grace, Little Guys electronics, Tweeter, and ABT, are the main sellers of electronics, and they pay their installers well, but guys like me, who work for themselves, are cutting them out,

People in Chicago, are very racist, white customers, reject you at the door, if you appear, sloppy, or if you are other than white,

I make a living finishing their jobs, a lot of customers, wont let you in, they make you drop the stuff off, and then they hire me to complete the job, they dont want house boxes, or NID's on the back of their house, or even ground blocks, they want it all inside or in the basement, plus most customers know about the HSD, and Phone not working so well coming off the main drop, and insist on two or three aerial drops, coming from the pole to the house, considering there are still thousands of RG 59 drops, still being used, plus on demand service calls are thru the roof, sometimes custs are waiting three weeks, before we show up,

Another thing is saturation, there are three installers, for every cust, I mean the streets are flooded with vans, hooptees, with ladders and orange cones driving around and dont forget, chicago is sixty percent black, and ghetto......I worked for Cavo for two and half years before I got my first white cust, in a nice neighborhood.

What I do is work for UPS, at night, then drive around and do service calls, pass out flyers, and rely on word of mouth,

NOBODY wants a Comcast Cable Guy In their home...........I mean they hate Comcast Cable with a passion, just two months ago, two techs, black, were in Copland West, a neighborhood around midway airport where cops and city workers live, and they raped and killed a woman, there are very few mixed neighborhoods in Chicago, and god forbid if you should find yourself working on the Northside or North Burbs, you will spend more on gas, and travel, then anything

Traps, everybody knows what traps are, and they climb up and yank them off, right after you leave,

There are tons of in house guys, who have figured out how to steal internet and it is rampant, plus WOW cable hasnt upgraded to digital yet, and pirate boxes sell like hotcakes,

If you come here, come after march work until Halloween, and leave, the weather and the hoods, made me quit and go to satellite, and then the mandatory trucks, made me quit them, to become independent, and unless you are a regular chicago dude, and know a lot of people, and are single with no kids, then you have a chance.

Good luck in your decision

INSTALLATION

CONSTRUCTION / TECH

OFFICE / OTHER

Re: CAVO Communication