DirecTV, Mastec, Advanced Technologies It's not any better working for Mastec New Bern North Carolina
I know a lot of contractors get rear ended by DirecTV and Mastec on a regular basis, but it's no better working for Mastec. Mastec has more shady business practices than I've ever seen from a company!
They set unrealistic goals that you have to meet just to keep a higher pay rate. It's seems like every month or so Mastec changes the required numbers a tech has to meet for their benefit. One of my favorites is all techs' have to make a certain hourly rate to be lead tech. We get paid by the job so hours compared to jobs are how you get your rate. At the same time I get 4 to 6 hours of drive time everyday 4 or 5 days a week. This pretty much makes it impossible to meet unless you lie about your hours. Funny how all this went in to effect after Mastec settled a class action suit for not paying Tech's overtime at the sum of a couple million dollars.
Another fav is repeat service calls.
If another tech has to go out to a house after you within 60 days, you get a charge back for a repeat service call for $17.00. It also goes against your so called numbers to keep your current pay rate. So every piece of crap receiver that goes bad, DirecTV sending software downloads that knock out everyone's local channels, freak lightning storms, customers dog's chewing cables, kids playing on the dishes, or random acts of god. We as techs not only get charged back hard earned money for stuff out of our control, we get demoted! Management's come back for that one is to leave your number with every customer and take care of it on your own time before another service call is generated. I guess 70 hours a week isn't good enough, I should now go out on my so called spare time and do more work without getting paid. Last year I was getting a lot more repeat charge back than usual on a couple of checks. I asked my supervisor to pull up each account to see the reasons for the charge backs. We found that more than half of them had never had another tech go back out behind me.
I could go on and on but this company already takes most of my time for not much more than nothing.
For what I and every other tech I work with see is this company is good at one thing, Screwing anyone to get more profit.
That's what makes this country great, big business always gets away with it.
Anonymous
greensboro, North Carolina
U.S.A.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
Edwin H
Richmond,California,
U.S.A.
I will suggest to all Directv contractors to think about quit their jobs or look for something different to do.
#3UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sun, March 29, 2009
I was a Directv installer for 3 years and a half working as a subcontractor for Connectv, inc and former Ironwood communications. I know how hard this job it is, how difficult it is for people who just started. It makes me feel sad how people are lied and taken advantage and get involved on working as subcontractor for this company. 12 of my co workers didn't get paid for two months full of work on December and November last year. It's really sad that authorities are not willing to collaborate or take steps to correct this injustice where people are deceived, which is also a violation of civil rights, practically speaking people are deceived, to put money upfront, sometimes up to $1,500.00 or more for the tools and material, at risk of being underpaid in a high risk job where OSHA safety standard are not meet nor applied. I know people who have died in attics because of the excess of heat, have heart attacks or fell from ladders and not able to have medical care, become disable for years and labor commissioner does not do anything because they say we are independent contractors, not employees. Authorities e.g. police, say this is not their jurisdiction, but to go to the small claims court, but at small claims court, the contractor can file bankruptcy and go away with the money, or not able to pay because they are a small or medium size bussiness. if we do a job and provide quality of work, it's fair that we should get paid, but their contractors advertise about making more than a $ 1,000.00 a week but never say that you have to pay your own taxes, that you have to buy additional material and not expect to be reimbursed, that you have to work long hours, sometimes up to 80 hours per week, that you sign a contract were you agree to indemnify your employer (it means to pay for their wrongdoing and mistakes) .
The best thing to do will be to quit this horrendous job and get training in a different industry. I know times are tough, but with the proper skills everybody could land in a better and more fair job.
you work hard and lot of customers you installed don't appreciate your hard labor and don't care that you didn't get paid, same as Directv who doesn't care.
Kyle
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
Not as bad as Aerosat USA
#3Consumer Suggestion
Fri, March 20, 2009
Its normal practice for direct tv contractors to dig in your back pocket, to pay you less.
I worked for Aerosat USA and Ironwood for 2.5 years. When Aersosat came into town, at first they didn't chargeback anyone. But it has gotten rediculous.
$43 chargeback for any service call within 90 days. There are only certain codes that create the chargeback but I am sure that the service techs are told to use those codes. So, pretty much if you have been working for these guys for more than a couple months, its guranteed that you will have chargebacks on almost every check. I have seen guys lose as much as $400 + on one check.
Not to mention, if you do not get 25% of phone lines connected, you get charged $5 for every non responding box.
And on top of that, they QC almost 50% of all jobs, any failed QC is a $25 backcharge, and they CONSTANTLY change the rules, and even go beyond the actual direct tv code to try and fail you on a job.
I am personally taking these guys to court, the subcontractor I was working for as well as Aerosat USA themselves.
The whole system is corrupt. Its all about money. They blame it on everything else, but every time it gets busy, the backcharges slow down, but when times are tough, they are worse. I would like to see them get sued, a class action suit would serve them right.