So reading the thread I can't help to chime in. I worked for Dish for 5 1/2 years, what is being said by the techs mostly is not their fault. The "wrong wire" statements are because Dish requires that the coax be one of the approved cables on their list, there's also a good reason for it. I went to so many houses that had RG6 installed that was not 3GHz cable (which is required for Hopper systems due to the frequency requirements) and had to replace it. As a Dish tech, I hated to have to do this because: 1)My route for the day was set before I ever left the shop 2)Promotions are partly based on PPH (points per hour). Every job was given a certain amount of points and drive time was not really calculated so every time you had to reinstall cable in the house or replace the cable from the dish because it is corroded, the squirrels chewed it up, or it cracked and water got in the line it completely screwed you. I have been in the business long enough to know good coax and wouldn't replace it if it was 3GHz.

So what happens when the techs don't follow through with replacing non approved cabling...The Quality Inspectors that randomly pick houses to check come across the "bad" cable and fail the tech which negates any promotion they may have received and typically it would take 3-6 months to get back in the position to receive one.

As far as the products on the van, the sound bar was decent but never meant to replace a surround system. I understand the reason this tech would have tried to talk the customer into it though, it's because of the pressure that Dish corporate puts on its techs to sell add ons. The amount of sales not only are tracked but they now also figure in to promotions. My bread and butter were screen cleaners (pretty decent quality actually) and surge protectors.

So what happens if you don't meet your monthly "goals" for sales? You don't get promoted, oh yeah you can also get fired. Seen it several times. One of the best techs in our office (met every other goal, was a trainer, installed sat internet, etc. which adds up to a lot of money invested in him and a lot more to replace) was fired for not meeting sales goals.

From the outside it's easy to say the techs are scum, but being on the inside would have given you a whole different outlook. The techs are trying to make a living and typically do what's best for the customer. If you want to point fingers and see put blame on anyone for what the techs are doing in your customers' homes go a little further up the corporate ladder.