Sky installation worries

[smiddyboy1]

instal

I just got the guy to fit the dish and run the cable straight along the floor to the digibox and leave me plenty of cable so that i could take time and do a proper neat install,
Ive saw these guys in action before with a hilti gun (drill) and going right through ceiling cornice, although sky did pay for the mess and the repair it was a pain in the Ar*e sorting it out- thankfully it was my friends and not mine and luckly for them he's a patient guy!!!!
Do yourself a favour, just get them to leave more than enough cable and DIY it, much safer & less hastle. they're paid job and finnish so the quicker they're out the better for them - but not for you.

 

[john18715]

Sky installers can't be expected to be meet exactly what the customer wants for such a small wage per install but, then again, some are just cowboys. I stood watching my next door neighbour getting Sky put in and the dish was other side of house from living room. The guy just threw the coaxial cable over the roof (it is a detatched bungalow with loft conversion so not exactly hard to go round the guttering), driller the hole in wall and was done in 10 min. He left with white coax hanging from both sides of the roof. : shocked2

 

[cov]

why are you worrying, the sky techie will have done hundreds of installs and will find the easiest route to run the cable for you

 

[digidude]

i worked for sly for years, starting before digital was available and still installing systems now. when digital first came out the average working day was four quality installs, fitting a single reciever and one dish to four customers each. now they are expected to do at least 6 installs a day, one install might just be one box, the other 5 could be sky plus and 2 more boxes, all with phone lines, for customers who dont move a single piece of furniture or ornaments ready, who want wires hidden in walls and a perfect installation for their money

which by the way, they get for free, look on skys website, free installation

the average sky engineers day starts at 6:30 am, he has to drive to pick up his work, then he has to plot it all out to see whats the best ropute to get round them all, this may be 250 miles in a day, then he has to ring them all witn an ETA even though he doesnt know what each job entails, he has to check all his stock has arrived for the days work, make sure he has enough cable clips tape connectors etc, all the little things as well as the unexpected things for the awkward installs like poles and brackets etc. every job and every reciever has a mountian of paperwork to go with it, but a lot of engineers leave this untill the end of the day. they go about their day, with scotland phoning them all the time, their managers sending autopmated voicemail messages every hour or so then when theyre done they have to ring it all in, with damn good reasons why any jobs not complete have not been done, then go home and do all their paperwork. by the time the paperwork is finished it can be 10pm

if sly dont fook up the wages (which is as rare as free box office) the take home pay for a sky engineer is roughly £45 a day for being one of skys mushrooms (kept in the dark about everything and fed constant sh1t)

if the skys the limit im so glad i aim low and now work for myself (the boss is still an arse though lol)


just to explain why some sky installers dont seem to care too much or be too fussy when fitting your dish, me and my old partner STILL hold the record for a complete install in 5 and half mins complete and that was done nearly 6 years ago

 

[bert1]

dude...some considerate customers stick the ladders up ready for u....:Clap:

 

[Qwerty1979]

I'm finally moving into my new house so rang Sky to arrange the install.

The installer came on Saturday (30 June), had to wait in all day and he finally turned up at 3.50pm and told me he couldn't do the install as it was Skys policy not to drill through internal walls and I would need to get an independent installer to do it.

Got home today to find my next door neighbour (who lives in an identical house to mine) has had Sky installed in exactly the same position we were told it was not possible to install in.

Words cannot describe how pissed off I am with Sky!

 

[pinkhelmets]

Yep but to be honest if installers get a hard time they will make their excuses and not do a job. I do not mean that in an offensive way Qwerty1979, but from your posts I would say that all along you were going to be 'fussy' with this installation- hey I dont mean there is nothing wrong with that either. All I'm saying is that anyone here has done installations before could see this was going to happen m8, read these previous posts . I have thought all along that you will not get this done by sky and will have to get a private installer to do the work.

Like I say I mean no offence and I am making assumptions that the guy decided to leave because it was too involved, but I'm just talking from experience and from reading your previous comments. I am sure your neighbour just accepted whatever the installer offered and everyone was happy. However, to get a job done nice and tidy and to your requirements you need to find an independant and pay for something that you will be happy with and thats why so many independants exist.

Best regards

 

[Qwerty1979]

I understand what your saying but I believe the guy that turned up on Saturday had no intention of doing the job before he even got there.

When he called me in the morning to tell me what time he would be arriving he moaned saying it was miles from his area and he didn't know why Sky had given him the job, then he turned up 50 minutes after the latest time he'd given me.

I would have been happy with the dish being put up and cable brought through the external wall (at least I could have been watching Sky), I'd have drilled the other hole after he'd gone but he said he couldn't leave the cable loose because of health and safety.

Some other things the guy told me where:
1) You can't bend the cable as the picture can't travel around corners
2) You can't tack the wire to anything other than skirting boards

 

[pinkhelmets]

You are right Qwerty it does sound like he just didnt want the job in the first place. Some installers really are like that because they just get paid such small amounts that thet just only take the easiest nearest most simple jobs. All those excuses he has mentioned to you are very common excuses that you learn to back out of a job without the customer smaking you in the gob . Its all bo110x but all very usual excuses m8.
I'm not sticking up for him, its the way Sky work is the real problem, they pay peanuts they get monkeys (no offence to monkeys out there lol). You do get some good guys but its rare and your neighbour just may have been lucky. Anyone decent at their job will usually quickly move on and either work for an independant or for themselves.

Your choices are- Phone and re-book a new installation; Find a local independant to install (may not be anymore expensive); Install the cable yourself then arrange an installation.

Since you are planning on subscribing I would find your local independant supplier that do installs themselves, because they still heavily discount prices as they get paid commision for signing new customers to Sky. Even if they charge you a small amount and you dont get 'free' installation it really is worth the small amount because you then get the aftersales care and someone local to call if you have a problem. Sky aftersales and their indian call centres for 'help' are very well known for poor service, so do what others do and go elsewhere m8 .

Regards

 

[digidude]

as pinky says, most of the good sky installers no longer work for sky as once they have done it for a while the realise they can get paid more than the £10 (roughly) that sky pay them per job, it is possible to earn more then 10x that per install by going independant, then when youre fitting 5 a day you really do give a shit if the customers happy with the install and try harder to complete it as in 2 days you can earn a months sky wage without all the extra hassel that goes with it

 

[Kris]

I'm finally moving into my new house so rang Sky to arrange the install.

The installer came on Saturday (30 June), had to wait in all day and he finally turned up at 3.50pm and told me he couldn't do the install as it was Skys policy not to drill through internal walls and I would need to get an independent installer to do it.

Got home today to find my next door neighbour (who lives in an identical house to mine) has had Sky installed in exactly the same position we were told it was not possible to install in.

Words cannot describe how pissed off I am with Sky!

Had problems like that with them before. Drilling internal walls is just an excuse because they did on the installation at my place. One installer that came to install Sky+ for me said he couldn't do it because he'd forgotten his safety harness. This was after about 15 minutes of standing in the garden complaining that he had to go behind a bush.

Next installer that came got on with the job but would have been a right bodge job if I wasn't watching him. He wanted to run the phone line ON a door and straight over the top of plug cables. Had a right attitude when I commented on it.

 

[Qwerty1979]

How much should I be paying for a full Sky install through an independent?

I've asked the guy I used to fit the motorised system at my parents house to come and have a look, just don't want to get ripped off.

 

[digidude]

the actual install fee is paid to him by sky, so really you're only paying for the extra time its going to take. an 'average' sky install for a pro will be done in about an hour so as long as no extra cable or brackets are needed id say about 40 quid, but get a price BEFORE work starts

 

[pinkhelmets]

yes agreed, hopefully he is an agent that gets paid from sky and gets the free equipment etc. So then with those sky subsidies you should only pay £30 ~ £60 max in total.

 

[Qwerty1979]

I'm not a new subscriber, I'm just moving house.

I've got a Sky+ box and a quad lnb so I'll be paying for a dish and cabling and then the install fee.

Just been quoted £103 (inc VAT).

 

[Kris]

I'm not a new subscriber, I'm just moving house.

I've got a Sky+ box and a quad lnb so I'll be paying for a dish and cabling and then the install fee.

Just been quoted £103 (inc VAT).

That's roughly what the place I used to work for charged.... (£120). Way too high I think. £30-£60 seems a lot more reasonable.

 

[andywhitt2]

You could run the cable in some thing like this http://www.d-line-it.com/

 

[henrik67]

Getting Sky installed soon but am worrying how they are going to get the cabling to my TV.

I've attached a layout of my house any suggestions on how the cabling may go?

This is the worry,a customer with a layout plan of cabling.

Try buying the cable then putting the cable in then no plan/post or hassle for anyone.

Engineer put dish up,drink tea say bye and all happy.

Show a plan to an engineer on a busy schedule which does,nt even meet their plans makes things a little awkward.

Cheers.

 

[jordanb]

i had sky installe about 2 years ago, guy wasnt going to drill through the wall at the top of my skirting board for some reason, so i told him to give me his drill and i done it lol, also ran in a bt line and box for him cuz i know how rough they are, after working in a lot of houses with sky,

Better of getting the sattelite co-ax cable, some bt wire or 6-core cable and run the wires in yourelf to save any hassel.