CABL Forum - Re: Give poles that I buy away for free?

Hey Joe,
Below is from a Hughesnet PDF. If you want to send me a email I would be happy to send you a copy of the PDF

Techs,
Attached is the latest revision to the Standard Installation rules that we just received from Hughes. This takes effect on all orders that are placed starting Monday 10/25. For any orders placed before 10/25 the old rules stay in effect. Please watch the order dates on your schedules that our office gives you to differentiate between orders that are still under the "old rules" versus orders that are under the "new rules". Anything with a date of 10/25 or later must follow the new rules.
Please read the attachment to fully understand the changes.
For those of you who are opposed to reading a lengthy document, the following is a summary of what it says:
Hughes has taken money from the US government to try to get rural American on High-speed
Internet. The government funds come with the rules that nothing can be charged for installation. So - starting with orders placed 10/25 you will see 2 different types of orders:
1) Recovery Act orders
2) Normal orders
The office will differentiate them on your schedule and cover sheets.
1 of 310/24/2010 5:03 PM
Standard Install Changes (URGENT & IMPORTANT)
For Recovery Act orders — there can be no additional charges by techs for anything but routers or networking.
For Regular orders — there can no longer be any additional charges for anything but the following:
Routers
Networking
Excessive time to meet customer-directed requirements (excessive time must not show regular time spent on site when looking at the arrival & departure time)
Special materials, molding, or cosmetic hardware to hide exposed cables
Removing or repairing previously mounted HughesNet systems
Multiple site surveys requiring extra visits
The standard installation for both types of orders now include the following:
Mounting the antenna to the home using a tri-mast roof or wall mount
Running cable from the dish through a single point of entry through a wall jack to an adjacent interior room
Up to 125 of cable
Connecting cable from the wall jack to the HughesNet modem.
If there is no line of site or the building materials are no suited for a wall or roof mount then an HNS approved pole mount must be installed no further than 25' away from the home. This must be done when it is the only remaining option to get the customer's system in.
Grounding with a ground block to an NEC approved bonding point.
Compression fittings with dielectric grease & weather seal at all outdoor connection points
Hardwire system from modem to a single computer.
Under the new rules there is never a time where Hughes says it is okay to charge a customer for the following:
Pole mounts
Non-pen mounts
2 of 3 .10/24/2010 5:03 PM
Cable trenching
Attic / wall] other cable fishing
If Hughes fmds that a customer has been charged for the above items they will refund the customer and the money refunded will be charged back to the offending party.
With these changes, payment for installations is being increase by $20 per job. This is meant to help off-set the cost of the poles etc. While it does not cover the entire cost for a pole all on one job — the accumulation of the additional money over all jobs is meant to help cover the cost for the poles, non-pens, etc.
It is not an option to refuse any job that needs a pole due to line of site or building style. If you accept the additional funding per job you will also need to put in a pole when required.
pd
.

3 of 310/24/2010 5:03 PM
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HughesNet'''
New Standard Installation — Recovery Act Requirements
Next week Hughes will launch the Recovery Act program and a new, higher paying, "Standard installation" order. The new "Standard Install" will include pole mounts as well as the occasional wall fish and attic /basements cable pull. We're confident that these two initiatives will significantly improve your business opportunities through increased order volume and higher completion rates. This communication helps define the new Standard Installation and highlights important requirements of the Recovery Act Program.
Standard Installation — Normal Non-Recovery Act Orders
Starting Monday, October 25"', we want customers to be able to order a HughesNet standard installation with the expectation that there will be no costs other than that published in our sales material.
Results of customer pre and post sale surveys show that one reason for our customers either not ordering or canceling their order are the unexpected costs associated with the installation of their system. For example, pole mounts, wall fish, attic and basement cable runs, trenching in excess of 25ft, and other, relatively minor miscellaneous extras.
We've tried several ways to try to reduce the cancelation rate through scripting both at the time of~the
placed order and in the driveway when the installer talks to the customer. But nothing seems to work. And both the installer and customer have that unpleasantness of negotiating, documenting and defending, unexpected costs.
Customer survey data suggests that we could have had somewhere between 5 and 10% more install completions this year if we simply installed the system without any discussion of extras. That's a significant opportunity loss to both you and Hughes. And if that weren't enough, both your and Hughes' reputations suffered as a result, driving other potential customers away by word of mouth
Starting Monday, together, we will establish a new industry standard that will set HughesNet Dealers apart from the rest, giving customers only one real choice to get the highest quality product, the most reliable service, the most choice in plans, at a price they know won't change, Hughe Net.
We've defined the difference between a Standard and Non Standard Installation below. Unfortunately, to realize the intent of providing almost all customers with an install that has no additional charges, there is no way to have hard, fast, and undisputed definition.
So let's start the definition of a standard installation as one that results in no additional charges.
Below is our "Customer - Facing Description of Standard and Non-Standard Installation. It is worded to give the Dealer / Installer the greatest flexibility and control in discussing the standard installation

INSTALLATION

CONSTRUCTION / TECH

OFFICE / OTHER

Re: Give poles that I buy away for free?