Cost of getting a dish realigned

excollier

scaller wrote: »

I am not on a Witch Hunt. Can you prove to us how you can Justify charging €30 for a call-out fee to realign a dish and also deduct your Diesel, Tax and Public liability insurance from the €30. It seems that the only person that could do this is someone who has a different job with income and is working at dishes in his spare time.

Absolutely correct, any problem with that? And I was registered and legit, and paid my taxes, before you keep on at me.
If you had bothered to read the whole story, I did say that I stopped installing last year.
Lets call a halt to this shall we, it is a bit silly now. I put my hands up to that, my fault.

excollier

Tony wrote: »

Great debating skills there




Correct but according to your logic travelling expenses do not come into play


Theres no such thing as a simple realign if the job is to be done properly . The only thing "simple" here is your farcical arguemnt that has no basis in the real world.


How does it knock the arguemnt on the head since you refuse to answer the questions put to you. Do you even know what the threshold is for VAT registration ?
You have yet to answer the question as t whether you carry public liability insurance , perhaps you consider than an optional extra which a part timer does not need ?

I refer you to the answer above, and the vat threshold is about €60000 turnover, way out of my reach as a former part timer, I was never in danger of earning that much.
Now lets call an end to this, and get you back to the big boys corner

St Senan

excollier wrote: »

Absolutely correct, any problem with that? And I was registered and legit, and paid my taxes, before you keep on at me.
If you had bothered to read the whole story, I did say that I stopped installing last year.
Lets call a halt to this shall we, it is a bit silly now. I put my hands up to that, my fault.

I did read the whole thread and there is no mention that you stopped installing all you said to Darth Maul is that you de registered last December.

Tony

So I take it from your refusal to answer that you do not in fact have public liability insurance ?

excollier wrote: »

I refer you to the answer above, and the vat threshold is about €60000 turnover, way out of my reach as a former part timer, I was never in danger of earning that much.
Now lets call an end to this, and get you back to the big boys corner

excollier

Tony wrote: »

So I take it from your refusal to answer that you do not in fact have public liability insurance ?

Open your eyes and read!
I have stated, I am no longer trading, since last December.
No point on a part time basis. Not as though that's any concern of yours.
I am, though, still allowed an opinion. Even if it differs to yours
Let it go, please, and look after your own business, I'm sure it needs your undivided attention.

Tony

I have been reading but its impossible to read something you have not written IE an answer to a straight forward question which you have failed to answer.

If you had made this known at the outset we could have judged exactly what you meant by doing a realignment for 30 euro, yet you have the audacity to call others dishonest for suggesting that 30 euro was not enough.

So to summarise what you meant was 30 was fine and the customer had to take a chance on being liable for any accidental (or otherwise) damage or injury which might have happened.


It is a concern of mine when people like you seek to damage the very business I make a living from .

You said €30 was a sensible price. What's sensible about working on a customers house without insurance ? You say anything more than €30 is greedy yet surely it is greedy on your part not to pay an insurance premium . I would have thought you needed it more than most since you think its ok to "walk up a ladder" and spend only ten minutes at the dish.

Thanks for your suggestion but I already do look after my own business and my customers do get my undivided attention.

[QUOTE=excollier;72079936 I gave a sensible price for just that, any number of other problems could have occurred, surely, but just walk up a ladder to re-align a dish, plain and simple, €30 would be plenty, any more would be just plain greedy.
End of.[/QUOTE]

excollier wrote: »

Open your eyes and read!
I have stated, I am no longer trading, since last December.
No point on a part time basis. Not as though that's any concern of yours.
I am, though, still allowed an opinion. Even if it differs to yours
Let it go, please, and look after your own business, I'm sure it needs your undivided attention.

excollier

I suggested it would be dishonest to tell a customer that to align a dish to the three main satellites (28.2, 19.2, 13 ) is difficult and long winded, it's not.
So please, pay attention.
I was insured, to answer your main niggle. But on a part time basis, it was very difficult to maintain, not enough population up here to support yet another full time installer, work is very thin on the ground, unlike the large population, in a relatively small area like greater Dublin.
I only initially suggested that €30 would suffice for a short journey, and a very simple re-align.
How far does a gallon of diesel take you? I know all about city traffic,belive me, but how much does it cost to cross the city? One gallon? Two gallons? Half a gallon at €6.50 a gallon?
Right, I will say now that I obviously know nothing about the price of fuel, insurance or the real cost of satellite equipment. I quit the business with a very small profit and with a tax bill to pay, and no complaints.
If that upsets you, then that's just too bad. You are, undoubtedly, happy to see someone get out of the trade.
And I have never damaged the trade, only tried to get established, and share in the profits, but there simply is not enough to go around.
I bow to your all knowing superior knowledge, and I will say no more on the subject, not beaten, but I have better things to do with my time than argue endlessly with you about a few euros of extra profit.

Tony

excollier wrote: »

I only initially suggested that €30 would suffice for a short journey, and a very simple re-align.

You said no such thing.

excollier wrote: »

I think it would be expensive if you were charged more than €30, it,s only a ten minute job, after all.

If you were in fact insured then why did not you not simply answer the question . Your resort to insult simply weakens your argument

excollier wrote: »

Right, I will say now that I obviously know nothing about the price of fuel, insurance or the real cost of satellite equipment. I quit the business with a very small profit and with a tax bill to pay, and no complaints.
If that upsets you, then too bad.

Thats correct you know very little about running a satellite business. I'm not upset at all , I'm glad you are no longer in a position to damage our trade.

STB

excollier wrote: »

Calm down everyone.
I am no chancer, I simply answered the original question how much to realign a dish - €30 if it is straight forward and it takes about ten minutes. Which usually it does
And by the way I was using a good quality meter, a Satlook Micro G2, but the Lacuna which I also used is good enough for Astra 2.
Did I call anyone a chancer?
Thanks Darth-Maul, you are rid of some competition up here, I de-registered last December. More money for you and ISAA, eh? Good luck.

I didnt call you a chancer. I was sarcastically refering to the installers themselves that you and may others seems to begrudge making a living just because some know how to point a dish. Unfortunately that is a chosen profession for some people and they dont take it lightly that someone else can charge cheaper because they have "some" know how. Its irrelevant how much you know above that of joe public. Its the same with any trade. A little knowledge can be dangerous!

I did wonder if you had a public liability insurance myself. Especially if you are going to go to somebody elses property and would take such chances for €30.

If you think about it, we could all do something cheaper with shortcuts taken. And I say this not being a sat installer by the way, although I have installed many dishes myself for myself. I still respect that it is a chosen professional business for some.

I am sure many ex sparks have seen it as a way through the recession, but the money isnt as great, and you cant break work down below a call out charge that a plumber would charge just for a reckie!

excollier

Fair enough. I hope I appear suitably chastised now.
I was fully legit and tried for three years to break into this trade full time, but there was never any more than part time work volume available to me.
So if I chose some loss leader tasks, with little
or no capital expense, then that's what I did.
I always used the best quality equipment, and only ever installed B&Q kit or similar if a customer provided it.
I regret posting an opinion that upsets anyone, and I resent the implication by one poster that I "damaged" his industry, I did no such thing.
Anyway that's all

dmm1000

excollier wrote: »

Fair enough. I hope I appear suitably chastised now.

to me and im sure to many others reading this thread excollier you appear to be suitably "bullied" more than chastised
those who are attacking you must realise that there are thousands in various trades throughout the country who are semi qualified / legit and that thousands of customers are prepared to take a chance on them to do jobs that little bit cheaper possibly of lesser quality (possibly as good quality) - many customers are happy with the results of these jobs

You have been attacked as if you were interrogated by some sort of official tribunal - some of the questions asked were none of his business the arrogance of this attack is plain for all to see - and it seems that this "bully" gets a kick out of ganging up on someone like yourself - the only mistake you made was engaging him for as long as you did

FACT - there are thousands of unqualified individuals in all trades in this country - those who wish to use them have a choice

icdg

Take it to PM guys.

oconnorw

Having read all the comments I must say that I agree with DMM1000's analysis of the situation.

Tony

Something strange going on here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=2266363&postcount=25

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52136927

FRIENDO

oconnorw wrote: »

What would the average cost be in the Dublin area
Thanks

I answered your question in post 16 of this thread (65 - 70 Euro approx).


Mods, I agree with Tony "Something strange going on here"

Craigels

i have 2 boxes a +box and a normal one my +box is the main box and the last few weeks keeps tellin me no sat signal being received but my other box works find been on the phone loads went through all the routine procedures and they couldnt fix it now they want me to pay 100 for a guy to come out and if the box is at fault i will need to buy a new one its about 2 years old a pace model.

i think its a crazy price to pay

FRIENDO

oconnorw wrote: »

Having read all the comments I must say that I agree with DMM1000's analysis of the situation.

DMM1000's did not answer your question

STB

dmm1000 wrote: »

FACT - there are thousands of unqualified individuals in all trades in this country - those who wish to use them have a choice

And so signs on it dmm, we have a lot of badly built, wired and plumbed houses and apartments to contend with through unscrupulous developers. This was partcularly evident during the boom!

When I read about tragic stories about houses burning down etc its the first thing that comes to mind. There were a few over the last couple of weeks whose fault may lie with such choice.

I think the difference here is that people have no regard for those who have persisted at the sat & aerial game as a way of living and those who think they can reform it by entering a trade with suggested bargain installs.

I know my own limits when it comes to plumbing for example! I certainly wouldnt be offering my services to anyone as a sat installer or a plumber !

Lets face it these bash the installers threads are becoming as boring as the TV licence threads.

tmcw

Seeing the mentality on display here makes me glad that figuring out how to install aerials and satellite dishes has been simple, and isn't the black art that some installers claim it to be.

One thing that struck me about the hostility to the €30 "quote" was that, ok, maybe no profit in that, but it may lead to repeat business or referrals; isn't that a part of what business is about?

Tony

It is a crazy price to be asked for if you are paying a monthly fee to sky. Some people have had success by ringing up to cancel and in many cases sky have agreed to make everything right for free.

Craigels wrote: »

i have 2 boxes a +box and a normal one my +box is the main box and the last few weeks keeps tellin me no sat signal being received but my other box works find been on the phone loads went through all the routine procedures and they couldnt fix it now they want me to pay 100 for a guy to come out and if the box is at fault i will need to buy a new one its about 2 years old a pace model.

i think its a crazy price to pay

St Senan

STB wrote: »

I think the difference here is that people have no regard for those who have persisted at the sat & aerial game as a way of living and those who think they can reform it by entering a trade with suggested bargain installs.

I know my own limits when it comes to plumbing for example! I certainly wouldnt be offering my services to anyone as a sat installer or a plumber !

Lets face it these bash the installers threads are becoming as boring as the TV licence threads.

A Very true post STB.

Tony

I agree that business is about offereing good value but €30 is so far of the mark that I would suspect that its black economy without proper insurance which puts the customer at risk.

tmcw wrote: »

One thing that struck me about the hostility to the €30 "quote" was that, ok, maybe no profit in that, but it may lead to repeat business or referrals; isn't that a part of what business is about?

St Senan

Tony wrote: »

Something strange going on here.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=2266363&postcount=25

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=52136927

It seems that way all right Tony. The OP seems to be Knowledgeable in Satellite dishes.

Owen

excollier wrote: »

So if I chose some loss leader tasks, with little or no capital expense, then that's what I did.

Hang on, you're saying that at 30 Euro, you were making a loss in the hopes of getting new business? Then how is 30 Euro a reasonable quote?

St Senan

I was at the TRADE seminar for Saorview a few weeks back and Mary Curtis the head of Saorview said a service call to an Aerial will cost €60. Now are we going to get Part-time installers and Diy chancers driving to a Two storey house climb up to the chimney realign an Aerial and charge €30. Or will they leave it to the Installer who has a neck for heights all the Proper equipment and is covered by Pl Insurance.

FRIENDO

excollier wrote: »

Now come on, he asked for a dish re-alignment, I gave a sensible price for just that, any number of other problems could have occurred, surely, but just walk up a ladder to re-align a dish, plain and simple, €30 would be plenty, any more would be just plain greedy.
End of.

"Just walk up a ladder to re-align a dish, plain and simple"

I believe your above post is bad advice and misleading. Please find below notes on the Work at Height Regulations.

Working at Height
These are briefing notes on the Work at Height Regulations - and some of the things you should be doing about them.

What is work at height?
Work at height is work in any place, including a place at, above or below ground level, where a person could be injured if they fell from that place. Access and egress to a place of work can also be work at height.

Examples of work activities that are classified as working at height:

Working on trestles
Working on a flat roof
Erecting false work or formwork
Working on a ladder
Working at ground level adjacent to an excavation;
Working on formwork within an excavation
Working near or adjacent to fragile materials
Our key messages
Carry out risk assessments for work at height activities and make sure that all work is Planned, Organised and carried out by a competent person
Follow the General Principles of Prevention for managing risks from work at height – take steps to avoid, prevent or reduce risks
Chose the right work equipment and select collective measures to prevent falls (such as guard rails and working platforms) before other measures which may only reduce the distance and consequences of a fall (such as nets or airbags) or may only provide fall-arrest through personal protection equipment.
Requirements for employers
The Work at Height Regulations require employers to ensure that:

All work at height is properly planned and organised
A risk assessment is carried out for all work conducted at height
Appropriate work equipment is selected and used
People working at a height are competent
Equipment used for work at height is properly inspected and maintained
Risks from fragile surfaces are properly controlled
The risk assessment should include a careful examination of what harm could be caused from working at height with a view to taking the effective steps to reduce the likelihood of this harm occurring, either through avoiding the activity or, where this is not reasonably practicable, by carrying it out in a safe manner using work equipment that is appropriate to the task and the level of risk.

Cantona's Collars

Just one question-Did the op ever get his dish realigned?

I can realign a dish no problem and have done it but only as favours for family and friends.If someone else asks me then I pass it on to a qualified installer as they are properly trained to do it and then the person wanting the work done is covered if there's any issues.
No point crying afterwards when 'the guy down the road' makes a hames of the job.
Would you get a guy to service your car on the cheap because he can change the oil in his and has a box of spanners?

I partly sympathise with Excollier as he had to give up his trade-but quoting ridiculous prices for work will be met with contempt.I've had instances with people wanting work done for free but when I explain what's involved and ask are they prepared to do it themselves they soon change their tune.

excollier

Well, wasn't that great fun?
Now that I have been found overwhelmingly guilty, might I ask Tony to decide on the my punishment.
And please, show mercy, your honour.
(At this point, excollier bows head and tugs forelock)

Tony

I'm not a moderator, my guess is though when one comes along the thread will be closed.(it was closed yesterday and re opened) At this point its far from certain why it was started in the first place.