Re: Monitronics monitoring assigned to Apex

["Jim" <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

R.H.Campbell wrote:
> Interesting ! I see Jim (Alarminex) is as ignorant as ever, so I'm not even
> going to answer his usual invective.

You don't  have an answer it is the real reason .......

But anyway   .... I see that in your way of thinking, I'm ignorant and
rich and you're just ignorant.

That works for me.


>Clearly Mark was baiting him with that
> last conciliatory post.....good one !.....saves me having to figure out how
> to "unblock" someone in Outlook Express...

Nah. Markie just tried to be a smart ass and it almost backfired on
him.

>
> But you sir, do make some good points. No offense meant, but I've been down
> this road so many times, frankly, I'm getting a little bored with having to
> respond to the same old industry self serving practices.

Well the soulution is for you to stop pontificating at every
opportunity you get and mouthing off at end users, who come to this
Newsgroup, about your stupid and erroneous policy regarding contracts.

> I fully intend to
> run my business to my customers advantage regardless of what the accepted
> industry practices are. This may have been an acceptable way to operate
> years ago, but informed consumers expect more today and that is what I will
> give them.

Again you twist the truth. It is simply YOU who gives away the equity
of your company in trade for a simple alarm sale. YOU are the one who
offers the no contract sale. There is not an end user in the world who
would go out looking for an alarm system with the highest priority
being ..... no term contract. YOU make it an issue and of COURSE the
client is going to take something for nothing. You don't give away
"free" alarm systems. NAHHHH! what a misleading fraud to perpetrate
upon the public. Instead, YOU give away a piece of your company, with
every sale you make.

>With the advent of the "direct to consumer $10 monitoring" (which
> is excellent btw - I know and deal with two of these companies myself), and
> the coming amalgamation of less expensive monitoring services on cable and
> satellite services, the companies that will suffer the most will be those
> with overpriced, long term contracts. Just like ADT, they'll keep their
> customers until the end of the contract and then lose a good many of
> them.These changes in the industry are coming more quickly than not !!

What an idiot you are. Nobody is losing customers because of cable, DSL
or any thing like you're predicting. If people have a good alarm
company and they have an opportunity to get monitoring at a lower
price, do you think that they will all, en masse jump for the lower
price? Some will, but it will be all those that don't have a brain in
their head to begin with, (who's going to service their systems) or
those that don't pay well and are looking for something for nothing,
just like those that buy the "FREE" alarm systems.

> (which is why it is important that security companies diversify into other
> related fields rather than depend upon RMR for their revenue flow). If lack
> of a long term contract is so bad, then my attrition rate should follow, yet
> it is one of the lowest rates on our station with over 300 dealers.

You haven't been in business long enough to know. And as long as you
give away service for nothing why should they change to someone who
will charge them? Why should they care if you are willing to give them
something for nothing ..... and again, little by little, giving away
pieces of your company .... bit by bit. So lets see. I've got much more
then twice the accounts that you do. I DON'T give service away for
nothing. I DO have five year contracts. My attrition rate is somewhere
around .02/.03 percent and in addition, I've got more dollars in equity
built into my company than you'll likely make for the rest of your
life.  Yep, I guess you must be doing something ........ wrong. But
......... Just call me ingnorant.

>In a few
> short years, my company has risen to become the 10th largest company here in
> town. I can sell my accounts for excellent value at the snap of a finger,
> because they are all well installed and most have been with me for many
> years. And our reputation in this business is sound !! Due diligence is MUCH
> more than the presence of a long term contract.

Yeah, sure, every one that you talk to BEFORE you sell your company
will tell you that they'd buy your accounts just as is. That is, until
the buyer of your company gets his attorney and bank into the act. Wake
up Campbell, you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Yet you
insist on misleading the people who come here, the same way that you
mislead your customers.

> But my son is now pretty
> much running things totally and the business will give him a future he can
> take anywhere he wants. If he chooses to operate differently, that will be
> his decision once he owns the business.

Yeah, he'll be able to take it anywhere ...... but to the bank.

>
> Different is not wrong just because it goes against the commonly accepted
> grain. I don't have to duke it out with any other company in town; clients
> flock to me because of it.

Yeah, they "flock" you alright. Because YOU give them everything they
never wanted nor would expect. But you just keep right on givin it
away, anyway.


>It's safe to say I wouldn't have 60% of the
> clients I do have if I forced them to sign contracts with unnecessary long
> term restrictions.

I'd venture to say that you've never given one of them the opportunity
to sign a term contract ......... so how would you know?

> And my clients are every bit as loyal as anyone elses
> believe me !! Referrals account for over half my new customers. My website
> gives me the other half. New ones coming in know I don't discount my systems
> artificially, but they also know they get damn good value for the money
> spent. We "mickey mouse" nothing !! They get the best panels, upgraded
> motions, largest batteries,and ONLY the high end LCD keypads. They also know
> I must give them exemplary service or face losing them.That's the way it
> should be in business.


Wow, that's really different. Why haven't all the other alarm companies
ever thought of that?

>And that's also why I get so many takeovers from ADT
> (who I don't hate by the way...). My client base is no different than anyone
> elses except they know they are not locked in past a month. That in itself
> is a great sales attraction when it is put up against other quotes they may
> have been given.

So ... giving away a piece of your company with every sale is not the
same thing as giving away a Free alarm system .........?

>It's a "no risk" situation, especially if they've been
> bitten before by a not so reputable company. That doesn't make these
> customers better or worse.....perhaps a little more discerning but nothing
> else. Monitoring is a service; nothing more, nothing less. If the client
> needs it, he gets it. If he doesn't need it any more, I'll be damned if I'll
> take his money for nothing given simply because he was foolish enough to
> commit himself when he didn't need to. I'll not let my customers make that
> mistake, I can assure you.

Even if they didn't know it was a mistake until you told them it was
....

>
> I wish you and your company well. Yours is the traditional approach, and I'm
> sure it works well for you.  I also hope it continues to work well for you
> given the changes that are coming. But it's not for me or my customers. I've
> always liked doing things differently (it's also worked that way in my other
> past businesses....) and I will continue to do so

Can we presume your "past businesses" were successful?