Re: DirecTV installed dish & coax w/o permission

Re: DirecTV installed dish & coax w/o permission by Anonymous on January 5, 2017 @01:04

Most satellite tech's are paid by the job rather than by the hour. This creates an obious incentive for them to get the job done as fast as possible and move onto the next job. I was a tech, manager and quality control inspector for Directv HSP (Home Service Provider), Premier Communication for several years. Premier was a corner-cutting company that did all it could to milk as much profit as they could from DTV until their contract was eventually revoked due to shotty service and repeat service calls. Their tech's went through a month of training but the pay system was again a formula for bad service.
DTV requires that the installer get landlord permission and provide the customer with a site plan before doing any work. If wiring needs to be replaced or installed on the exterior of the building it can be done in a professional manner. In vinyl siding, the cable-clip screws should come in from the underside of the siding (so if removed the hole is just another air vent or they could even use the existing air vents), the cable can be neatly tucked under the siding using the corner flanges or at the top of the siding. Or, when possible, the cable can simply come into the building at one spot and be run through basement or crawl space, then fished into the walls. There are a lot of possibilities to make the cable inc=visible and to cause negligible "damage" to the building. Any roof penitration through a shingled roof is required to be done using "Bishop" tape (mastic) that actually coats the screws with a rubber like substance as they are installed. If the dish is removed later, the "foot" is left, along with the mastic and your shingles will wear out long before any leak develops. Steel and rubber roofs should never be penetrated unless done by the roofing system installer so not to void your warranty. Done right, a dish installation will not cause any damage to your property but installers that are paid by the job have little incentive to do it "right".
During my short time as an installer followed the rules but I made a lot less money because of it as there were other installers doing twice the installs as I was able to get done.
Now that DTV has taken over the HSP's in most areas the quality control is better because one more greedy middle man was removed (like Premier Communications from OKC, OK) but the pay system has not changed.
My advice to landlord would be to have one dish installed and RG6 cable swept to 3GHz run to every room and terminated to a central communications box. If a tenant wants a different satellite service in their unit, require any new dish to be installed on a pole in a designated area (with an unobstructed view of the southern sky). Then make sure every new tenant understands your policy. It might cost a bit to run the cable but you will then be covered under FCC OTARD rules and won't have to worry about damage and having unqualified, untrained people drilling holes in your siding!
If you run a complex you might want to consider an MDU system and high-speed internet for your tenants. You can pay for the system and provide an incentive to attract quality tenants who you want as renters.

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Re: DirecTV installed dish & coax w/o permission - Landlord Forum thread 349961