Surprise $65 Installation Charge Costs DirecTV $1752!

by Nick Nichols, B2B Pre-Qualified Sales Lead Generation Expert

I changed my Internet service to AT&T U-verse and they offered to set me up with DirecTV at the same time. I asked if there would be an installation charge and DirecTV said no. To my surprise, when the DirecTV tech showed up he wanted $65 on the spot to install my dish. In the tech’s presence I called the DirecTV installation phone number and demanded to know why, suddenly, there was a $65 installation charge. I was shuttled around to a supervisor who rudely told me that somehow my situation required a special mount that would cost $65.

In the DirecTV tech’s presence and on speaker phone, I called Dish Network to ask about their service. The Dish sales lady assured me that there wouldn’t be any installation charge. I asked the DirecTV tech if he would waive the $65 charge to get my business and, after calling his supervisor, he said he couldn’t waive the charge.

I asked to speak with the supervisor and said, "Let me get this straight. Your service is $73 a month and I have to stay on it for two years to get all the special offers. That’s $1752 total. Are you telling me that you’re willing to give up $1752 over the next two years because you won’t waive the $65 installation charge that I was told I wouldn’t have to pay in the first place?" He said there was nothing he could do. I told the DirecTV tech that I would go with Dish and he left.

Assuming a 33% profit margin on the $1752, DirecTV’s inflexibility cost them around $500 plus the tech’s wasted time on an installation that never happened.

Plus, it will cost DirecTV $500 in lost profit for every reader of this post that avoids DirecTV in favor of Dish.

Moral of the story: Don’t be like DirecTV! Look at the big picture and when it makes sense to forego a small profit today to get a big profit in the future, do it!