# Let's Talk Satellite Dishes...



## nmarshall603

Okay not sure if everyone is having the same issue but lately when we have replaced roofs that have a satellite dish we have had problems with the customer getting a signal without Dish or Directv having to re-set the dish...

We are being paid $125.00 to remove and reset.. but the sat companies are charging the customers 49.99 plus tax to reset the programming. This wasnt the case until they changed some technology.

We generally have our people tell their customers that they will not have service until it's reset but they need to call their provider.

It seems to be a good idea to have our crew either cut the cable and take the dish down or to leave it and not reset it.

My hope is to get other companies to start asking the insurance company to pay for this $49.99..

In a few cases the dish was reset and after dish came out and did their thing they moved the dish, leaving holes and our new roof wont pass inspection.. it is additional cost to have our crew return and fix this problem..

Hopefully we can resolve this issue as a community and get the insurance company to recognize this as a legitimate billable expense.


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## dougger222

Xactimate used to pay $200 to D&R a dish then it went to $125ish. Now it's at $33 which isn't worth my time!

As far as success rate? Only had 1 not work after remounting. Homeowner was not in town to set signal and adjuster thought it was an illegal set up.

Funny thing is the longest it ever took me to reset a dish was the one I bumped into on the ground!

If your customer is paying $50 for the provider to reset if they threatened to cancel they would pay $0. They could also sign up for the maintance plan and have it done for free too.


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## nmarshall603

My post is more about bringing it to the insurance companies attention...

Were getting 125 to detach and reset.. the problem is when we reset they have to come out anyway and we should get more money for it.. if more of us worked together to demand that we get paid more or things get paid for then we can force the changes we want and become more profitable!


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## BrandRoof

I specifically exclude it myself. I have no idea how to repoint one of those things.


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## vtroofing

dougger222 said:


> Xactimate used to pay $200 to D&R a dish then it went to $125ish. Now it's at $33 which isn't worth my time!
> 
> As far as success rate? Only had 1 not work after remounting. Homeowner was not in town to set signal and adjuster thought it was an illegal set up.
> 
> Funny thing is the longest it ever took me to reset a dish was the one I bumped into on the ground!
> 
> If your customer is paying $50 for the provider to reset if they threatened to cancel they would pay $0. They could also sign up for the maintance plan and have it done for free too.


*This my friend is the Xact (pun intended) why EVERYTHING needs to be listed on Estimates- all the $10 remove and resets dropped that cost from $200 down to $125. 
*


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## Grumpy

We tell the customer upfront there is a 50/50 chance they will have to call their provider to recalibrate. 

Not seeing the problems that you are mentioning, truly that 50/50 is closer to 30/70, with the 30% being on the side that they'll have a lost signal. Perhaps careless installers, or perhaps the technology hasn't made its' way here yet. 


Insurance company... LOL I won't go there. Mother Eff the insurance company and their pay schedule and what they are willing to pay for. If they won't pay for it, the customer will. I'm not. 

And BTW I don't want the installer up on MY roof hacking it up putting screws all over. I'd rather my guys reinstall the dish and let them just point it where ever it needs to point.


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## booker

Grumpy said:


> And BTW I don't want the installer up on MY roof hacking it up putting screws all over. I'd rather my guys reinstall the dish and let them just point it where ever it needs to point.


Exactly, what I wanted to say.


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## Soldierboy

"Insert Company Name" assumes no liability for change in signal status of Satellite Dishes. "Insert Company Name" will mount a Satellite Dish in the same general location of existing placement.

Charge for the removal and Re-set of the Dish. Have the homeowner backcharge their insurance company for the dish to be reset. 

Have the homeowner pay you to install the new Dish holder that resembles a box vent. Then you have no holes in the roof area.

Roofers "Start working for the homeowner and get paid by them" Most of us can't stand working for insurance companies as the back end of the paperwork is endless.

Just my two cents


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## nmarshall603

actually you dont want your crew resetting the dish if the dish or directv guy comes after you.. they are likely to move it and youre out of the loop until you fail the inspection because they wont patch the holes... now that comesout of your pocket and job cost because the inspection is on you..dish and directv dont care...

we now are leaving the dish unattached, it actually works better because the customer usually gets a new dish and sometimes the latest DVR receievers with it so its win win for everyone..

I just think we need to get the insurance company topay for it and that means everyone in our business should start demanding that.. they cant say no to us forever..




Grumpy said:


> We tell the customer upfront there is a 50/50 chance they will have to call their provider to recalibrate.
> 
> Not seeing the problems that you are mentioning, truly that 50/50 is closer to 30/70, with the 30% being on the side that they'll have a lost signal. Perhaps careless installers, or perhaps the technology hasn't made its' way here yet.
> 
> 
> Insurance company... LOL I won't go there. Mother Eff the insurance company and their pay schedule and what they are willing to pay for. If they won't pay for it, the customer will. I'm not.
> 
> And BTW I don't want the installer up on MY roof hacking it up putting screws all over. I'd rather my guys reinstall the dish and let them just point it where ever it needs to point.


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## dougger222

I had to do a repair once after a dish installer installed a dish on a 3 month old house/roof I shingled a few years ago.

The house was prewired for sat in most rooms. The cables were run into the garage attic for easy hook up. At the 8th hour the dish guy brought a big light onto the roof. The homeowner decided to look out the window to see what was taking the guy so long and he spotted a huge burn mark were his light was sat on the roof! He yelled at the guy to get off his roof before he further damages it. The installer then accused him of being prejudice. Had no problem charging the sat. provider good money for the 20 minute repair, they paid it...

Again, we have a very good rate of reinstalling the dish as we put water and ice over the old holes and mark them and put the dish back in the same holes. I modify my Xactimate charge for the D&R to $125.


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## MGP Roofing

dougger222 said:


> Again, we have a very good rate of reinstalling the dish as we put water and ice over the old holes and mark them and put the dish back in the same holes. I modify my Xactimate charge for the D&R to $125.


Thats how I do it too. I have even successfully re-installed when replacing the deck by removing dish, cutting old deck in the centre of where the base was then installing new deck abutting old. Screw dish base into 2 remaining old holes, then into new deck. Remove again, then install remainder of new deck. then reinstall as above. Sometimes a extra layer of shingle under one side or other of the base is needed if changing from 3 tab to laminated, depends how the base falls on the shingle pattern. Only times i've had to get the provider out is on tile to shingle reroofs (and I will for my own place when I get it hooked up, but thats because the house has been rotated 180 degrees and moved 200km!)


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## Grumpy

nmarshall603 said:


> actually you dont want your crew
> 
> resetting the dish if the dish or directv guy comes after you.. they are likely to move it and youre out of the loop until you fail the inspection because they wont patch the holes... now that comesout of your pocket and job cost because the inspection is on you..dish and directv dont care...
> 
> we now are leaving the dish unattached, it actually works better because the customer usually gets a new dish and sometimes the latest DVR receievers with it so its win win for everyone..
> 
> I just think we need to get the insurance company topay for it and that means everyone in our business should start demanding that.. they cant say no to us forever..


Nothing is on Me, it's on the home owner. I didn't put the holes. I didn't not patch them, and I get paid when we're done, not wiating for any inspections. As I said Mother Eff the insurance company. They aren't my customer. The home owner is. Everything costs money. Nothing is free. If the TV guys hack up my roof the customer pays me to fix their mistakes. Where they get the money, I don't care, they can sue direct tv or file a claim against direct tv's insurance. I don't care. I get paid.


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## dougger222

Ya, new price list in my area D&R sat. dish $30. For that price you better be able to get it off with the pitch forks and just let it fall off the side of the roof!!! 

From $225 to $30, F the insurance co like Grumpy said!!!


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## Interloc

for those f#$%^#@ lowballers..this is good,,


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## Fly Roof Guy

So for those of us looking to help get the Xact pricing back to the 125-225 range: What is the correct way to bill the 125-225 and justify it to the insurance company?


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## roofermann

We no longer try to reset the dish, we tell the HO in advance to have the service provider come out to reset them. While doing our best to coordinate schedules so the HO is without service for the least amount of time.


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## yanceyman1

Here at Yancey, we Project Managers who do a "pre-site" on each job before it starts. Go over the contract, color choices, styles, customer expectations, ect .. On average the pre-site takes place 2 to 3 weeks before each job. One of the things we discuss, and the homeowner initials, is the dish. We have our own go to Guy with in each of the sat companies. We have manufactured and provide to our sat Guy an under-the-eave mounting bracket. We give the owner the option of having our Guy dismount, remount and readjust using this mount, for a fee of $125. Our guy comes out a week in advance of our start date and does his thing. No service interruption, no holes in our new roof, rescheduled inspection, haggling with insurance people, blah blah.. And everyone is happy.:thumbup:


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## dougger222

My sider found the line item to get adjusters to pay more for detaching and resetting the dish. 

1. Detach and reset dish $30
2. Align dish $90

On my Xactimate program the the align line item is right below D&R dish.

Asked an adjuster to pay both line items the other day and he looked at me funny. Told him for $30 it was not worth getting out my tools to take the dish down. For a measly $30 said I'd just tear it off with the shingles and let it fall off the roof into the siding or perhaps a window. I then said for $30 D&R and $90 to align it again would be very careful! He then said to just have the dish guy come back out and he'd do it for free. After I told him none of my customers like being without dish for more than an hour he simply said he'd pay the $120.


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## PalmBeachBuilder

As long as the customer is aware of the charges that may occur. There is not much you can do to avoid it if the company is going to charge for that. I believe that you can also purchase a plan from DirecTV that will cover any changes that need to be done in the future.


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