How good is the quality of Sky installs?

jedbo

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Hi, I am thinking of getting Sky HD to complement my new set up, but I am worried that a couple of half witted teenagers are going to turn up at my door and want to start running cables where I can see them, If this is the case I would sooner run the cables myself, being an electrician it won't be too hard, if sky were ok with it that is, also I understand that I may need a telephone outlet in the tv area, any advice or clarification would greatfully received. thanks for reading.
 
Difficult question to answer.

Luck of the draw, would dictate what kind of installers turn up.

When we had sky installed originally the installer was fantastic, had slip on covers for his shoes, drilled good hole in the wall and finished it with a protector. Very friendly and chatty aswell.

Move on a few years to Sky digital. Completely uninterested installer, trawls through the house in dirty shoes, drills a hole not near the existing hole and leaves it completely open, not even any sealent!

Now the only difference is that when we had Sky originally, it was from a TV shop and the installers were their own. Second time was through Sky and installers were the Sky installers.

Now this is only my experience, so I am not saying all installers can be tarred with the same brush.
 
Hi, I am thinking of getting Sky HD to complement my new set up, but I am worried that a couple of half witted teenagers are going to turn up at my door and want to start running cables where I can see them, If this is the case I would sooner run the cables myself, being an electrician it won't be too hard, if sky were ok with it that is, also I understand that I may need a telephone outlet in the tv area, any advice or clarification would greatfully received. thanks for reading.

if you install the cabling yourself the engineer/installer will be made up as you just removed half of the work he'll have to do!
 
Got Sky HD installed recently...everything worked fine but not happy with the installer's knowledge and installation. First, he could not get off the old transponder from the dish, so he hammered it out and loosely fit the new one. then he just bluntly drew a hole through the wall close to the existing hole without even checking if it was safe to do so and then did bother to seal it/cover it at either end.

After the box was installed, he did not do the recommneded software upgrade. The box definitely had an old version because it was showing HD Channels in place where you expect to see Anytime option. So did the upgrade myself later. He claimed that the box indeed had the latest software because he could see few things which are only availbale on the latest version....:rolleyes:I wonder what he saw?!!

So overall, had a mixed experience. Glad that everything is working fine:thumbsup:...but the installer was funny and potentially lethal :oops::thumbsdow
 
I would fit it myself - our "engineer" cut the cable short and had to use connectors to extend it and only used two of the four fixing holes to fix the dish to the wall :mad:

It took me longer to repair his poor work than it would to do it myself.
 
had sky HD and Sky digital before installed.

both times, drilled a hole straight through wall (not sure if they checked if safe or not, but i presume so), ran cables straight through no sealant or anything.

Now as far as im aware when they drill the hole, there supposed to fit a plastic cover over the hole ?

the holes in the front living room, are ok, as they come in right next to where the tv is.

However we had it also installed in the bedroom (multiroom), and the tv is oin middle of room (plasma on the chimney breast, so that bit of wall sticks out leaving alcove type thing either side, instead of drilling in the corner where it would be out of view, the drilled the whole level with the chimney breast and the wire goes across the front of the alcove to the sky. (hope that makes sense), which is a bit of an eye sore.

so a mixed experience really, however on the plus side, they checked it all worked, was updated and the remote worked with the tv. on the flipside of it working after being told to wait 2 hours for the Hd channels to start to work, they didnt come on, so had to ring sky and get them to enable the sky hd channels lol

hope the above helps you decide :)
 
I was an electrician in a previous life, and after I had my wiring installed for my hd box, I had to reinstall it. The cable was lane in the gaps in my decking and a new hole was drilled in the wall adjacent to the hole for my old sky box, real bodge.

Albeit you've paid for the installation and your paying again for the cable, if you want the job done properly I would do it yourself.

I believe you can get a double core cable now, makes installation even easier.
 
I have been an aerial rigger for 20 years and cant still believe people are still using sky. I guess it comes down to price.
 
i had sky hd installed on tuesday morning.i was worried when he turned up as he looked about 14:rotfl: but he was fantastic.i have a cordless phone to which my bt box is in my bedroom (i didnt want it in my lounge).he said it was no probem ran a cable outside so it wasnt running through my house and cleaned up after him self.hd picture is amazing and had no problems at all.maybe i got lucky
 
hi had sky fitted just before x-mas upgrade from standard to hd.(£99 comet offer :thumbsup:
sky fitter was first class used shoe covers every time he came in,cleaned all his mess up. he even found me a brand new hd remote to use up stairs with link. full run through on using sky+ . i think it comes down to the fitter that turns up on the day.
good luck hope all goes well.
 
Most sky customers think they have had a good install because they have nothing to compare it to (cables fed through lofts, under floors, under carpets, cavity drops and a 20 minute demo)
I bet if they saw an independant install they would be prepared to spend a few pounds more.
 
I installed the cables myself as i was worried about having them tacked onto skirting boards etc. This allowed the engineer more time to spend on the actual box set up which was fortunate as the first box had a slight fault which the engineer spotted and replaced. I ran a phone extension to the tv area and wrapped it up after the install as i don't have multiroom.
 
I heard that the sky installer are paid £25 per install so there is an element of 'you get what you pay for'. I had a recent upgrade from sky to HD and the bloke turned up at 8pm (after saying 9am) and proceeded to work outside in the dark fitting the second cable. I ended up getting out my extension light and holding it up so he could see what he was doing. To be fair he did spend a good 2 hours with me and got everything up and running correctly. Fortunatly I had already identifed the cable route indoors and removed skirting etc to make it easy for him to hide the cables.
I think a large part of it is the installer and his mood at the time. Best to get someone early as they will always be running late after the first install.
 
if it where a scale from 1(don't you dare touch my house with that pnewmatic drill) to 6(excelent) it'd be like throwing a die.
 
Most sky customers think they have had a good install because they have nothing to compare it to (cables fed through lofts, under floors, under carpets, cavity drops and a 20 minute demo)
I bet if they saw an independant install they would be prepared to spend a few pounds more.

Easy to say that after 20 years of work and experience!!!, But fair play to you. But most of these guys SKY or subbie are trying to make a living and have to learn on the job cut them some slack, MOST people slag off the engineers for limited knowledge, not having over shoes etc well try to help yourself!!!put some thing down on your carpet, explain to the engineer what you would like if it's possible maybe they will do it run your own cable etc.

You guys need to understand that this the way they are trained by SKY trainers and accredited trainers the cousre is written by SKY they set the standard of what you get. However you need to consider the quality of the engineer personally if the guys a fool it's down to you to suggest what you want and use your people skills to drive the install, or cancel it.

But like haf63 said you get what you pay for.

If it was all for free some people will still whine.

Stop moaning use Simon he's clearly the man:rotfl:
 
Be careful, if you run your cables for instance in the attic or under the floorboards and you have a problem later on, Sky won't even look at it if you call them out.

This isn't apparently "a standard install".
 
Be careful, if you run your cables for instance in the attic or under the floorboards and you have a problem later on, Sky won't even look at it if you call them out.

This isn't apparently "a standard install".

Or worse still your dish is attached to the chimney as this is a job for the special team, as normal installers dont carry roof ladders anymore due to health and safety.

When I was having Sky+ installed in my new house a couple of years ago the first guy turned up, took a sharp intake of breath and shook his head saying that was a special team job and told me to re book it with Sky and left. So when i eventually got through to sky I was given a date 2 weeks later, and you can imagine my surprise when 2 teams turned up with 6 blokes, turns out it was their xmas party that afternoon so they were double teaming to get the jobs done quicker, quite how I dont know as only 2 of them done anything ;)

As I didnt want to see the cables either, I had already drilled holes for them to feed the cables through which they were delighted with as you can imagine. They even swapped out the existing cable that was there for normal sky and ran the two new cables through the holes to the box, and set everything up as expected including replacing the phone line from the box to the BT point for free. Top bunch of lads.:smashin:

Although Sky HD was a different matter, as this installer didnt check any of the connections to the dish etc, just unplugged the SKY+ box and plugged in the HD Box, gave it a quick check to see it worked and was on his way as it was 5.30. I reckon he was in the house for 15 minuts tops.

It's the luck of the draw and it all depends on who turns up, so if you want the cables in a certain place then either prepare the holes yourself, or make it clear before they start where you want them, otherwise they will put them in the most convenient place for them and its no point complaining afterwards.

Dave
 
normal installers dont carry roof ladders anymore due to health and safe

Im sure it looks like that, But i can assure you that all engineers have to carry roof ladders as part of their kit and is not agaist Health and safty.
Special heights are used as a blag unfotunatly.

A standard installl from SKY comprises of a Dish mounted to a wall and cable's ran to the box location, phone connection and demo, It has never been said that cables should be ran under floors or cavities what else you may think.

Guy's the average install from SKY may be free or £20 do you really think you will get a premire service????
 
When I had my new HD install done a couple of months ago, I stood there watched every move the guy made, he was ok and happily changed a couple of things when I asked. I was prob being a pain, but I wanted it done how I wanted, not as fast as it could be done
 
My installer (dont think that engineer is the correct description) said I didnt have an HD plasma (it has a DVI connector) plus he didnt even bother to cover drill holes in internal walls.
Suggest stand over him when does job.
 
Got nothing wrong to say about these blokes.......yes mine did have lack of knowledge, but thats nothing compared to my lack of driving skills.

I only have 2 blokes that can call out, the last one was a bundle of fun. I have a harmony 525 and forgot about getting the offical remote out. So when he called to have a look he said whats this ? After a very quick demo, he then said oh got to get one of those the wife will love it.

He checked everything and replaced the sky dish as it looked a bit old compared to the rest of the street. :eek: He did also state that I should have told him that there could be dog dirt in the garden......opps!<Its good for the grass ! I was then nice enough to wash his boots with the hose.

While installing I said to him the box sounds a bit strange !!!! You know I'm sure thats a HD noise. Its ok its just new...."My dad says that!! :suicide:" 2 weeks later I had a new box, the HD failed. Got to say the new box is perfect, I have paid for 1 call out and now had 4 free ones.
 
The "engineer / installer" used to work for City Link 18 month previously. Now works directly for $ky. No previous knowledge prior to this.

Sais it all !!!!!!
 
So whats your point DIgitalfife???
Do you need to know everything about SKY to work for them...I think not !

Have you moved to another knowing everything ??? I think not...

Have you read the whole thread...2 side's to every story, Most of these guys have to start some where oh yeah getting commented on by you.;)

I take it your in the trade then by your comment???
 
So whats your point DIgitalfife???
Do you need to know everything about SKY to work for them...I think not !

Have you moved to another job knowing everything ??? I think not...

Have you read the whole thread...2 side's to every story, Most of these guys have to start some where oh yeah getting commented on by you.;)

I take it your in the trade then by your comment???
 

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