installation technician

smart home technician

satellite installer

field technician

field supervisor

Via Satellite Inc

Sales, sales, sales, that is all you will hear about. No interest in how you do as a technician, no interest if you are well, not a lick of concern for your safety, only concern is; are you pushing sales and getting good customer scores (csat)? This in turn hurts your paycheck because of their ridiculous metrics system they have set up for hourly pay. They push the idea that the metric system is set up to increase pay but it in fact screws you. It is only possible to make good money there if you work 12 hr days 5 days a week with no time off for holidays (forcing you to use pto just so you can have a holiday off) no holiday pay and very little concern for work/life balance. oh and did i mention your pay goes down per hour after your initial trial period. This pretty much forces you to focus on sales and working late into the night (like 8 or 9 pm -with a start time of 6:30am so say goodbye to any life you had). You are left scrambling as quickly as possible to install cable and dish because now the only way to make have a nice paycheck is to make lots and lots of sales.  Also, tons of inconsistent scheduling and routing changes in the middle of a job. Always being out of products and spending extra time to drive to pick it up which could cost you an hour or more of drive time. You have your "own region" which means you are suppose to work close to home but you will constantly be sent an hour or hour and a half away.  
All in all, great place to work if you are single no kids dont go out after 9pm, ever, have no family or friends, love stress at work, very poor communication, a pay system that does all it can to screw you out of money, and upper management who only cares about sales numbers because it makes them look good. Otherwise, terrible place to work. Avoid it at all costs. 

Via Satellite has one goal and one goal only: Via Satellite. That may sound standard in American business, but rest assured that if you aren't a company man you will struggle.

As a tech, your pay will suffer consistently, and the only argument to be made in that regard is encouraging you to move product. Once upon a time, a technician was paid for their labor quite well, and there was an understanding of demographics, economic hardship, and compassion. But recently, with a change in management, the focus has moved almost entirely to sales, sales, sales. 

If you are applying for the management position: good luck. There is a level of unwieldly nepotism that creates nothing but chaos and confusion. It is a family company, and the family will be 100% willing to use that to compel anyone to follow their new, sometimes questionable policies. There are constant, repetitive meetings that serve only one purpose: to shift the blame of team shortcomings onto one person and remove all accountability on themselves for reckless business practices and underpaying of technicians. They will run you ragged, they will curse you out, and they will absolutely fire you without warning or hesitation. The only thing they respect is tenure, and those tenured employees will share in their mindset to protect the image of Via before anyone or anything else.

They will promise you money, bonuses, prestige, and family-like atmosphere. But you will come to find quickly that Via and their owners reserve most of those perks for themselves.

I do NOT recommend anyone ever work for this company. You will waste your time.

This job is absolutely terrible. There are constant route changes throughout the day. You have the ability to see your route day before. Soons you go to start it changes  giving you an hour and half commute back home. They encourage sales even if your work quality is not good. And right after that you as what the call a “TC” they 

take $24 from you when that happens. They do not care if it was your very first day out in the field by yourself. You are held accountable and penalized for it. They also get check wrong every single week. You have to take it upon yourself to keep up with your time and hours plus sales. I’ve never worked for a company where I had to find my money that I’ve already earned due to there faulty system. This happens every single week. There’s only a selected few who see a reasonable heck every and believe me something there is fixed. you can work the same amount of hours as the next guy still receive a lower amount on your check. It’s not worth climbing roofs and risking your life because they don’t care about there techs. Communication is also bad after u comeplete you’re route at 4 there throwing more jobs on you not allowing you to get home until 8-9 every night. No one take accountability there men who act like kids because ther scared to address another man. They let one of the techs catch COVID-19 from the OFFICE. They didn’t even let the other tech know it came from out of there office which is terrible that’s life threatening. 

If I could go back in time and quit before I wasted a year of my life with this company I would. After the first three months their true colors started showing. Early call times, if you needed to be at the shop you’ll have to wake up as early as 5:30. And several late nights. Even in my early days as a tech they would send me to the middle of nowhere with no other tech within 50 miles of me and I’d be stuck until dark waiting for people to call me back to give me answers I need. There is ZERO work/home life balance the two days I’d get a week were filled with catching up on sleep and icing my body from how hard they expect you to work with terrible pay for it. At least once if not two or three times a month you work 6 days. Their dedication to the customer over your health and safety is outstanding I’ll give them that. You could pass out from heat in the middle of the day and they’d ask you to just finish up the job. If you don’t sell all of your customers at least $100 worth of product at every job your check will be well below what expected with the jobs you work. You can’t move up unless you want a cut in pay. Do not work for this company. Take your soul while you have one literally anywhere else. 

Beware of this company. They will paint you sunshine and rainbows at first and make you think you're going to make decent money. However, that is not the case. With poor pay on installs and near criminal pay for Ontech jobs, 3 to 4 hrs of average daily drive time, you'll make between $10-$15/hr. Sometimes less. You'll have to rely on sales to reach anything over $15/hr. Management cherry picks jobs and provides good pay for their favorites. You don't get paid drive time. Literally the only pro to this job is a company vehicle and gas card. They don't care about anything else but sales numbers. They congregate about and talk bad about you when you aren't around. They expect you to work for free almost. I've only been employed for 8 months and have already seen like 10 different technicians come and go. Poor customer service. You'll sell something and then get an appointment set up to install and they'll not even schedule. They'll send you on jobs you don't possess the proper training for by yourself.  Both my FOSs are miserable. I'm not sure how this company is even still in business. 

What is the best part of working at the company?
The best part is working with customers, meeting new people and having a work van

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
After 6 months, the pay goes from $15 an hour to Commission. Being top 10 in sales and customer satisfaction, my weekly check went from $600 a week to $200-$300 a week 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
It's a revolving door and they don't care about their employees and hire new employees every week. They focus on sales over correct installation causing returns that subtract the amount paid for the job.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Wake up, check my route for the day, stop by shop if material is needed. Arrive a 1st job between 8am and 9am, and depending on size of install, the job could take 3-6 hours not including a 1 hour product overview to upsale the customer. You will have atleast 2 installs and 3-4 troubleshooting jobs that pay $25, dive time does not count after 60 days. Work 50-60 hours a week for less then $300

Via is a great place to consider if you are looking for fulfilling and rewarding work - not just monetarily, but which also provides you satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. Being a tech oriented company with cutting edge equipment and technology, there is always something to learn. There is a fair amount of physical installation work as well as customer interaction, but there are processes and procedures for everything which when learned and followed make the tasks flow smoothly. Every day is a new experience with different challenges. Technicians have the ability to substantially increase their income by promoting additional products and services. Technicians always have management support in the completion of their work and is only a phone call or field visit away when needed. If you are responsible and dependable, enjoy helping people, thrive working independently, and want a challenging career in a tech related field that's never dull or boring, Via is the place to be.

When you interview they will tell you numerous times that you’ll be home by 6:30 every evening. Most days are from 6am to 9pm though. Your day will be spent climbing ladders onto roofs in 40mph winds and rains, driving company vehicles two hours to a job you spend ten minutes at even though other techs were closer, crawling through crawl spaces filled with snake skins and mud, and walking into some of the most downright disgusting homes filled with animal feces and urine to the point you can’t breathe inside. Most days once you’ve completed your jobs dispatch will throw an assist call on you an hour away (even if you’re right beside home) to go help another tech where your day will extend another hour or two on site not including the hour drive back home. You can make a ton of money on this job but you’re never home to spend it. 

Once you're out of training they start you at $15 hr. Which is okay, but after 6 months they cut you down to $13 hr and task oriented pay. It's impossible to earn more than $15 just by doing jobs, because the amount of time you get paid to perform a task is not at all realistic compared to how long the task actually takes. The only way to earn is by berating customers into buying inferior products at high markups. Management promotes telling customers anything to make a sale including outlandish warranty claims. Jobs are distributed randomly and dispatch may run you back and forth across your district wasting your time. Often times when you finish early you will be sent to assist other less talented technicians with no additional pay for you. Claimed you could turn your tools back in and receive a refund. Never saw a dime. Don't trust this company.

Job was okay the people I worked with were good people however some aspects of VIAS policies punish workers while other hinder income. Working through many homes some pleasant others I would not let my dog sleep is also a negative. Work orders sometimes were incorrect and you have to spend 30 minutes to an hour on the phone to correct it that you don't get paid for. They provide a van granted but when your job is an hour and a half away to make $35 is not very productive. Three hour drive plus an hour spent on the job is about 4 hours therefore you're making $8.75 an hour and that is below minimum wage. There were times I make less then that, Also customers sometimes decline work once you arrive on site and explain what needs to be done then you're out of pay and travel time. So if you don't mind these things and many other issues VIA is for you.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Installation technician 344 salaries reported	$20.03 per hour
Smart home technician 74 salaries reported	$20.05 per hour
Satellite installer 57 salaries reported	$20.77 per hour
Field technician 13 salaries reported	$20.00 per hour
Field supervisor 1 salary reported	$52,500 per year

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