In the past contractors have been asked to do upgrades at low rates for DirecTV. The upgrades were approximately 25% of our job load in the past. We did not make much money after parts and labor, but did the upgrades to help DirecTV and the customers.
Now DirecTV has begun taking advantage of the situation saving themselves millions of dollars which would have been spent completing service calls. Instead DirecTV now turns every service call possible into an upgrade work order, garnering more profits for the corporation in High Def. fees, DVR fees, more On Demand ordering, and more. Now the Upgrades are 50% or more of our daily work load.
DirecTV also CHARGES the customers for upgrades, such as the $385 they charged the customer whose home I did today for an upgrade, then they charge additional fees on the customer’s account, plus tie the customer in for a longer lease. Meanwhile the contractor makes about 1/3 of minimum wage for a low voltage contractor.
If the customer has a protection plan and calls and for a service call they are offered an upgrade for free. Instead of being able to repair one simple problem a technician has to go on site and do a full reinstallation at less than ½ of the cost of an installation. The technician will be expected to realign and/or replace satellite dishes, repair or replace rg-59 or bad cable lines, replace receivers, update and download software to all new and existing receiver boxes so they can talk to each other on the Whole Home System, hook up internet deca devices, and much more.
The “Swap Replace” designation is incorrect. Most receivers being swapped will not be the same type as the type that came out. The new systems being installed call for clients and Genies the old systems had the D12s and HDDVRs. This is not an upgrade but an installation of a new system. The new receiver requires basically a full installation with new power cord, new HDMI being attached the television, new programming being downloaded then downloaded again so it can talk to the system. New remote controls have to be programmed and set up for the televisions. The customer has to be we educated due to the fact the receiver is a totally different receiver than they had before. A swap replace means you replaced the exact same kind of receiver with all the same type cords. This is not what we are doing. Today I found that even if you are moving, say, eight receivers at a customer’s home (customer requested) a contractor can expect $0 for this action. So you go to a home for a whole home dvr plus four clients upgrade on a home with eleven receivers. You make about $25 for the upgrade, plus maybe $15 for an odu upgrade. So for forty bucks you spend four hours “swap replacing” receivers, changing out all power cords, output lines, switching systems, downloading eleven receivers, tying them all into the whole home system and network, re-align the customer’s dish, (usually this was the reason for the original call), and putting all new remotes in the home, which need to all be set up, then you can begin moving the receivers around free of charge to whatever location the customer desires, all free of charge. Now DTV is saying that it is only a "swap relocate" if the receiver is in a NEW location. Really, so moving the existing receiver to a new location is not relocating it? Really?
The pay for upgrades is way too low. It is so low in fact that DirecTV has decided to give everyone a free upgrade instead of paying for Service calls. The current low cost of Upgrades allows DirecTV to have a whole new system put in and dish at aligned at a cost of about half or less compared to a service call or an actual installation.
As contractors it is our job to ensure our family security and financial well-being. DirecTV has taken advantage of us by a moving their protection plan service calls and regular service calls to upgrades. This is intentional disregard for the well-being of the contractors.
I have been writing the actual reason the customer called DirecTV on all my upgrade work orders. In each case I ask the customer why they had originally called DirecTV and in 99% of the cases it was due to the fact they needed some type of service. Instead of getting the service call they requested they get talked into an upgrade. This is an intentional misrepresentation of facts by DirecTV which has lead to an enormous financial loss by many contractors across the country and internationally. DirecTV has demonstrated the intention of bleeding contractors dry while getting upgrades done at less than the cost of a service call to boost their profits.
I’m calling for each technician to ask their customers why they originally called DirecTV and if they were talked into getting an upgrade. Write this on the front of the work order where it is visible for everyone to see and make a copy to email to me so we can verify. Please do this on each upgrade you have so we can establish a pattern of redirection by DirecTV.
On a separate note, I want to discuss also the fact that DirecTV has been forcing contractors to give away free pole mounts. When a DirecTV employee does a pole mount they are compensated with a free pole, installation kit, bags of concrete, and it $32.00 payment. When a contractor does the same pole mount he pays for his own pole, his own concrete, and his own installation materials, yet he is expected to bill $0.00. I don’t know where you came from but where I grew up that’s bad business.
This business has become harder and harder on us contractors. The “requirement” for the SBCA tests and Jones NCTI are largely ignored by companies who hire untrained workers because that is all that they can find willing to work for the low pay they offer.
I am looking for comments concerning this post. We the people need representation and help.
Directv's Contractor Pricing for Upgrades/Swaps
Member #: 63723
Registered: 12/2/2008
Posted:
43
Name:
Work Hard -- Get Paid
Company:
Self
Occupation:
Sweep, Ingress, Install, Service, Satellite=SBCA.
Location:
USA
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