We've long since known that
professional installation services were, at least in large part, another form of highway robbery, but this is just absurd. Zip Express is looking to prey on the confused, unsuspecting geriatric set by promising to completely save one's TV from death and destruction by taking care of all of their
DTV cutover needs. The price? Just $199, which includes a presumably well dressed individual connecting two wires on a $50 DTV converter box and promptly leaving. Oh, and for another Benjamin, you can get an undisclosed (but likely low-end) Logitech Harmony universal remote "installed and programmed." Shameful, yet clever. But mostly just shameful.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
lee @ Feb 10th 2009 3:23PM
People are dumb, a fool and his money are soon parted
Juhda @ Feb 10th 2009 3:33PM
If they're jumping on the roof and installing a perfectly aligned antenna that might be worth $199 to some people. If all they are doing is plugging in a cable converter box than they are definitely scamming people.
Mike @ Feb 10th 2009 7:32PM
I don't see how they're deceiving or lying to people. It's a higher price than I would pay (I'd just do it myself), but I have a feeling readers of Engadget, who are mostly pretty knowledgeable about technology (isn't that why we read it?) aren't their target customers.
We can't all be car mechanics or computer technicians, sometimes you gotta pay if you want the service done.
kcmurphy88 @ Feb 10th 2009 3:56PM
Maybe they use Monster Cables to justify the cost.
Randall Lind @ Feb 10th 2009 4:08PM
No need to fear we will just keep delaying it every 4 months until people don't care any more. ROFL
Chillwinston @ Feb 10th 2009 4:10PM
If I don't have to pay in advance I would schedule an appointment only to not be there when the "technician" arrives.
Ken @ Feb 10th 2009 6:17PM
If people are too stupid to figure this out on their own, what is wrong with charging to come out and fix the problem?
Do people really pay a plumber $75 to unclog their toilet? REALLY!? They should go to jail for that! Oh, pay a place $100 to change your oil and do some other BS - ARE YOU SERIOUS!?
You have to pay for services if you cannot be them yourself.
FWIW, Best Buy charges $100 for this service (not including any hardware).
Eric D-J @ Feb 10th 2009 9:34PM
Best Buy charges for 4 boxes to be setup with your antenna for $100. Not a single box.
Jennifer Newcomb @ Feb 10th 2009 6:18PM
Darren -
We here at Zip would like to share our perspective regarding some of your strong statements about our DTV offers in your recent blog post. Essentially – we respect your opinion and your right to express it – but we also think we offer important services and deliver value in ways you overlooked.
We understand that you disagree with our pricing – but our services and the situations in which our professional installers work are much more complex than simply “connecting two wires”. Imagine – it’s raining. You have a grandmother or relative whose television is no longer working. Perhaps they live in a rural area – down a long, secluded road. They need help with their TV ASAP. When the installer arrives, it isn’t just two wires that need connecting – there is a bird’s nest of tangled wires on the floor. Not only does the customer need devices connected, but they have questions and need help understanding how to work new equipment. They need someone to walk them through the changes in their living room and lives. Who can help them – anywhere in the country, the next day, with professional, courteous service?
Pricing for our services is quite on par with our competitors – and we think we offer more. When a Zip installer arrives at somebody’s door, the customer can be sure that they are a certified CE professional. All of Zip’s installers have undergone a 7 year background check. Every installation is covered by a one-year warranty. If it’s not right, if it doesn’t work, if someone has questions – we’ll be right back – anywhere in the country. Zip will unpack whatever needs setting up, install it correctly, manage the wires and make sure the area is tidy, connect whatever components also need to be set up and remove the packaging.
From our perspective, it’s certainly not about taking advantage of a very confusing consumer environment regarding the DTV switch – it’s about offering fast, professional solutions that solve hard problems for people.
If you’d like to hear more about Zip, our services or what we can do and are doing with the DTV conversion, I’d be happy to speak with you.
Happy to know that Engadget is aware of Zip. Obviously, a little disappointed with how we were portrayed – all except for the part where you call us clever.
Best -
Jennifer Newcomb
Team Manager, Zip Express Installation
Brendan H @ Feb 10th 2009 6:48PM
They'll also give you cash for your useless old gold!
Xyzzy @ Feb 10th 2009 6:50PM
I like when vendors make posts on the forums about their company.
That said, what exactly does this mean:
'the customer can be sure that they are a certified CE professional."
What type of certifications do your installers have? I'd be interested in knowing their actual credentials.
To those who think Zip is ripping people off (and I personally think they are), it's no different than places like Geek Squad or, as Ken said, paying outrageous amounts of money to the plumber to use a plunger on your toilet. Services have always been expensive. If you think you can do better than Zip, then open up a business and charge only $150.
I started to do just that by offering PC support -- but most of my calls were so elementary that I'd feel bad charging anything at all. One woman called me because she "lost all of her email." Turns out she just dragged the inbox pane off the side of the window so it wouldn't show up anymore. She was so excited that I saved all of her email and asked what she owed me. I told her $10 (because I didn't actually DO anything), and she was floored and got mad at me -- and gave me $50 instead.
It looks like Zip is ripping people off because everyone on this site is intimately familiar with this stuff. But if you don't know and don't care, then it's easier to just pay someone a certain price to come and fix it for you.
Mike @ Feb 10th 2009 7:19PM
@xyzzy
Let's remember that making money's not a bad thing. Her paying you $50 doesn't mean she's a fool, it just means she's ready to give you a lot of money for a service she thinks has a lot of value. If she feels $50 is definitely worth paying to avoid frustration and inconvenience then that's what it's worth, and it clearly has a lot of value to her (if she's so eager to give you $50, she might find $60-70 a fair price, too).
It's shocking to those of us who find this kind of service so easy to do that people would pay that kind of money. But the customer isn't paying for someone to hook up their TV or fix their e-mail, they're paying for the peace of mind that somebody who really knows what they're doing can help them out whenever they need. That's worth $50, especially if you're computer illiterate like most people.
DEEZNUTZ @ Feb 10th 2009 9:29PM
LOL... Darren got called out on his own post.
Anyhow, good on Zip for their reply. "Rip-off" is relative, as others have pointed out. To the majority of us, we are already tech savy enough to say its easy. Others either have no time nor patience nor interest to figure it out, and are content paying someone to do it.
For those that learn about OS' and applications, and someone has a problem with their inbox, or spyware, or viruses, and you spent time studying and learning it, wouldn't you want to be compensated for the time and research you spent learning how to address certain computer issues? It may be easy for you, but for the person who is a small business owner who wakes up a 6AM to open up his business, and works non-stop until 9Pm, he has no time to worry about learning IT stuff, he's better off paying for someone to come and make sure his business PC is running smoothly.
H Choi @ Feb 10th 2009 6:51PM
Is you for real? You essentially reinforced the idea that all you guys do is connect cables to a box, only adding that its a whole tangled mess of cables instead of two cables. Also, how could people be possibly confused on how work new equipment. Push power on the box and TV and you're good to go.
Mike @ Feb 10th 2009 7:27PM
We both know there's more to setting up a DTV box than just pushing power, and a lot of people look at all the wires in the back of their TV sets and get confused. So much so that there's a market for people to set it up for you if you need help. It's a pretty profitable business. It's not exploiting people, nor is it greed. People are willing to pay for the service, and they're happy to have it. I think $199 is definitely pushing the limit on what I think people will pay to set up a DTV box, but I don't care what price they set. It's their business, if they charge too much, people won't buy from them.
H Choi @ Feb 10th 2009 7:50PM
Well, if there's a market for it, I certainly won't blame companies for trying to make money. But charging $200 for something that any average schmo can do irks me.
Mike @ Feb 10th 2009 7:09PM
You don't like the price, don't pay the money. But there's plenty of people out there who will pay it and pay it gladly. For those of us who know how easy it is to do their work, it does seem like a rip-off. But for the vast amounts of people who are technologically illiterate, who are constantly confused by each new turn of technology, the peace of mind you get by paying the money once and always having somebody able to come out to you if you need help is most definitely worth the money. Everything is worth what the purchaser will pay for it.
And if most people end up thinking the price really is too high and not enough people buy the service, Zip'll either adjust their prices or go out of business, so if you're right about the price they'll get theirs in the end.
I'd be interested in knowing what kind of customer gets their TV service through OTA signals and does not yet have a digital TV because I'm willing to bet that the more techy amongst us probably already have cable/satellite, a digital/HDTV, or both.
GhostDoggy @ Feb 11th 2009 5:30AM
You can buy a standard definition digital TV for $129.99 from Best Buy. Its a 20" unit and will look far better than the analog counterpart. I guess people can afford one habit and not another.
nick @ Feb 11th 2009 4:46PM
this is ingenious
HC @ Feb 11th 2009 4:58PM
I've seen people pay upwards of $50-100 to get their oil changed, to get their brakes changed, I've seen people pay $30 to have their lawn cut etc... Why? Because obviously some people dont know how or cannot do it themselves. That's the reason. Us geniuses at engadget scoff at a ploy like this. Its the same as geek squad. But obviously there are people out there willing to pay for this.
Zip Express Installer @ May 5th 2009 7:28PM
It's funny how zip installs say all there tech have CE certificate?
What CE certification that qualify as TV installer, you using computer technicians to do TV installs, they have no insurance, they don't guarantee there work. Does your insurance cover it.
I hate companies that lie to look good.
I am going to place an order and refuse to pay, because you lied completely.
You don't even have employees to cover this, you use us Independent Contractors.
Get real, and stop scamming people. I can post 1000 of negative experiences with you