I was given a job recently that was to re-wire and repair a HORRIBLE job. Now get this. Our client went out and bought 3 Ultimate TV's and the dish. He calls for the nearest authorized installer and tells them he needs 2 coax to each location for each reciver in one location on the 2nd flr, one on the 1st, and one in the Bsmt.. The installer told him that he was not eligable for the free install because of the work involved but would be glad to do it for $600. Now this man worked at this house from 10am until 5pm. So if my calculations are correct that comes to $85 per hour. But this is the bad part...Not only did he not snake any wires through walls like he told the client he would, but he only ran one wire to each location. Now this is a multi-million dollar house, and he left wires hanging in closets poking into walls to a plate on the other side...Drilled a 1" hole through the side of the house for the dish's wires and didn't even make a drip loop, and then ran the wires out the opposite side of the attic down, the side of the house and into a first floor closet. Picture this...Four black coax hanging down the side of a beautiful 2 story house only ziptied together as high as he could reach (about 7 feet). When the client came home and saw the disaster he quickly called the bank to cancell the check but it was already cashed. Don't people have pride in their work anymore? I would be embarrassed to do something like that.

that's why we all do CUSTOM work, and the satellite companies do FREE installation...

They hire whoever they can get off the streets, don't properly train them, and couldn't give a rat's ass HOW they do the job, so long as it WORKS when they're done.
They only care about getting the system operational as quickly as they can, not about getting the job done RIGHT.

I'd take those bastards to small claims court, but it's probably not cost-effective for your customer to do so (when guys like him take time out of their schedules to even make a simple phone call to one of us, it costs them major money in wasted time)

Yeah, I knew a guy who was making $78 an hour (he claimed that was the national average for skilled audio/video installation) fixing free installations. He averaged one to two per week. This is why.

Umm, Is $78 alot of money per hour?

Didn't even make a drip loop! It would be that straw that broke the camels back. Not the rest of the crap he did.

He will be telling his mates about the nice houses he is paid to work on and how he did such a good job.

Oh well, at least you got some work from it and hopefully a grateful client who will reward you with further business.

Dave.

P.S. How high did you cable tie the cables?

like a fruit of the loom

I didn't...I ran them inside the walls like he should have, and said he would.. It took us a lot longer to do it right, but the client was willing to pay for it done the right way. It took us 4 2" holes in a closet, and one in the basment to get the wires to all locations. Once we patched and painted them you couldn't even notice we were there. The client is very pleased and we have been continuing to work there for the last week installing a Niles ZR4630 for 5 rooms.

Small claims court : It is cost effective because your client can sue for property damage. When the installer made the deal he should have informed the client exactly what would be done. With a multi million dollar home most clients would rather patch dry wall from floor to floor than have cables draped down the side of the house. Pictures are worth more than a thousand words at court.

This is nothing new, lots of hacks pulling wire and not just DSS installers. Add cable, phone & alarm companies to the list. Even when i bend over backwards to provide connection locations for these companies so everything looks neat they screw up cable management by taking the quickest route. Example.. i provide an "in/out" for the alarm company. Instead of using this they splice a cat5 at the pbx. They cant even run the cable thru the ties so the door will close properly.

Currently , on new construction i make it very clear that i dont want anyone bringing wire into the house. I would rather spend a few hours doing thier job than a few weeks trying to clean up after them.

I have also had problems with sub contractor wire monkeys. Instead of following the blue prints they "decide" i dont need 2 cat5 & coax and instead run one of each. Damaged cables? You dont wanna know! I have not hired a sub since.

The upside when doing things correctly is that.. The clients can tell the difference. Repeat business & referrels are important.

$85 or $78 or $100 Is not "a lot" of money per hour especially when its retro fit or when your fixing someone elses mistake.

It sounds like McNasty it squared away with the closets but even if there are no easy routes.. Tell the client what his options are before you begin.. Most of them will opt for the dry wall patching vs exposed cables and at least they will know what to expect.

Brijaws asked: <>

Actually, when I asked this sub why he chose that number, he said it was the nationwide average for audio/video installation. I thought it was a bit lower, especially as this was three years ago.

BUT -- that $78 will be earned for three to five hours on a given day, and might take half a day to prepare for. Don't count how many dollars they pay you to cut down the tree without counting how long it takes you to sharpen the saw!