Does Sonic use independent contractors for residential installations?

[tyrodom3]

Last week at a friend's Oakland house, I watched a Sonic technician install and activate fiber internet. The installation went well.

I believe that the technician was an independent contractor rather than a Sonic employee because...

-- Instead of Sonic decals, his plain white van had a magnetic Sonic placard on the door.
-- His ethernet-to-USB-C adapter didn't work with his laptop.
-- As he left, I asked if he was headed to another job and he said that no, unfortunately, he was not, which led me to suspect that he's paid by the job, not by the hour.

I could be wrong, of course.

Does Sonic use independent contractors for residential installations?

[dane]

Yes, we use both in-house and outsourced installation today. At times, our team cannot keep up with the total volume of orders for new service while meeting a delivery goal of 1-2 days for new service installation along with same and next-day for repairs, so we have a company we contract with for some of our new service installations in some geographies and some housing types.

[tyrodom3]

Thanks for the information.

I asked Sonic tech support and Sonic sales whether Sonic currently uses independent contractors, and both said no. I suggest that Sonic make them aware.

I'm thinking back to a few Sonic appointments that I've overseen in the last year. My hunch now is that some of those were filled by independent contractors. In one case, the installer wanted to terminate the fiber in a bedroom very close to the drop, whereas the customer wanted it in the living room, where the existing internet service terminated. The installer's response was so rude that my client told me that she didn't even want this man in her house. We cancelled the installation and complained to Sonic, which rescheduled with a different installer, who was great and did it right.

On that appointment and the Oakland appointment that I mentioned above, I suspect that because independent contractors are paid by the job and not by the hour, they were both keen to finish quickly. (In the Oakland case, he wanted to install the ONT behind a very large dresser, but relented when I told him that he must mount it three feet away, where my client could see it and access it. If I hadn't been there, he would have saved himself five minutes and installed it in the inappropriate place.)

For any future installation, I'll urge my client to have Sonic place a note on the order, requesting that a Sonic employee perform the installation, with the stipulation that if an indepedent contractor comes instead, the client may cancel on the spot and reschedule.

[dane]

My preference would be that we address the overall problem, rather than try to work around it. Our contracted installation firm is a single regional company, so we’re not dealing with a large number of independent contractors. We monitor their work quality as we do with our own team, and we address issues if they arise in the same way we do with our staff.

So please, regardless of who does the work, if you have suggestions for improvement or you need a problem addressed, please let us know at the time it occurs and we’ll get it taken care of.

[robquiett]

Thanks for the information.

I asked Sonic tech support and Sonic sales whether Sonic currently uses independent contractors, and both said no. I suggest that Sonic make them aware.

I'm thinking back to a few Sonic appointments that I've overseen in the last year. My hunch now is that some of those were filled by independent contractors. In one case, the installer wanted to terminate the fiber in a bedroom very close to the drop, whereas the customer wanted it in the living room, where the existing internet service terminated. The installer's response was so rude that my client told me that she didn't even want this man in her house. We cancelled the installation and complained to Sonic, which rescheduled with a different installer, who was great and did it right.

On that appointment and the Oakland appointment that I mentioned above, I suspect that because independent contractors are paid by the job and not by the hour, they were both keen to finish quickly. (In the Oakland case, he wanted to install the ONT behind a very large dresser, but relented when I told him that he must mount it three feet away, where my client could see it and access it. If I hadn't been there, he would have saved himself five minutes and installed it in the inappropriate place.)

For any future installation, I'll urge my client to have Sonic place a note on the order, requesting that a Sonic employee perform the installation, with the stipulation that if an indepedent contractor comes instead, the client may cancel on the spot and reschedule.

Thank you for the feedback here. My name is Robert and I am the Director of Field Service here at Sonic and oversee the installation team in the field. Even if it is one of the subcontractors doing work in the field, they are contracted to do the work at the same standard as one of our in-house employees. Please feel free to continue to provide feedback like this so that it can be addressed appropriately with the individual doing the work for Sonic. If you can send me a PM with the address or username of the above-mentioned instances, I will make sure that my team addresses the issues with the techs involved.

[annamatteo]

Yes, we use both in-house and outsourced installation today. At times, our team cannot keep up with the total volume of orders for new service while meeting a delivery goal of 1-2 days for new service installation along with same and next-day for repairs, so we have a company we contract with for some of our new service installations in some geographies and some housing types.

WOW! A delivery goal of 1-2 days seems a bit optimistic. I signed up for service today 3/8/24 and my installation was scheduled for 4/4/24. I have no problem at all with the delay but I was surprised to see this 1-2 day goal so recently posted.

[dane]

Yes, we’ve recently become far busier, due to activation of lots of new network in Alameda and San Leandro - and very strong pre-order backlogs in many of the neighborhoods which result in a big surge in installations when the region activates. I’m hopeful we’ll get back to near that goal soon.