Re: Never had an alarm before but...

["R.H.Campbell" <rh.campbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting observation Bob !!  There's another breed of quasi "installers"
that can cause a lot of problems that I am starting to run up against. These
are people who have installed one or two alarms for friends and decide that
they are now experts, and have decided to install alarms "on the side" to
supplement their income. They generally know just enough to be dangerous.
And since there is no licensing or any restrictions whatsoever up here, the
market is wide open for this sort of thing.

I had two instances recently where the homeowners went to a chap who worked
installing alarms on the side in order to save big money over what I had
quoted for the installation. Then the client was going to come back to me to
save on the monitoring, since the guy that did the work wasn't interested in
the monitoring, didn't have an account with any station, and didn't want to
have anything to do with monitoring. Since I charge BIG time for the
installation so that I am able to save the client money on the monitoring,
the clients thought they'd get someone else to install it for far less
money, and then come to me for the monitoring vis a vis the same way as I
would do a takeover. This way they'd save at both ends....

Well as it turned out, the guy spent a lot of time with me on the phone just
getting the basics down...how to on keypad zones, programming etc. If the
two people hadn't been my customers in their old homes, I would have walked
away from everything, but as it was, I felt a bit committed. When I went to
put the client on line, I was flabbergasted at the poor quality of work, and
had him do a lot of it over again. Even his choice of panels and motions
left a lot to be desired (IMO).!!

So the client saved a few hundred dollars up front and ended up with a mess
of a system. I told him the systems were so poorly installed that my usual
complete warranty didn't apply for problems caused by poor installation.
Plus I'm going to insist we "trial" it on the station for a few weeks before
it goes live. And he is going to have to return to fix any installation
related problems that crop up before it goes off test..

Penny wise and pound foolish !!

RHC

"Bob Worthy" <securinc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:i2xxf.58981$Lb1.32994@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> "Bob La Londe" <usenet@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:ydSdnVMVv8eyHlveRVn-pQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> "mikey" <loismustdie@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:dq5q3j$20c$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> > These ingrates get free advice and have the gall to bitch about it...
>> > amazing indeed.
>>
>> That doesn't surprise me so much as that a lot of guys seem to think we
> owe
>> it to them.
>>
>> I don't mind giving a little free advice from time to time, but I sure as
>> heck don't "owe" it to somebody who's clear intent is to use it so they
>> don't have to buy anything from me or anybody like me.
>
> Makes you feel like you are shooting yourself in the foot doesn't it? They
> can't find a manufactures website to get their questions answered, tech
> support won't help them if they aren't a dealer (wonder why), so they come
> here. They are tinkerers that will mess with anything they can get their
> hands on, (did you ever take apart a clock or a radio when you were a kid?
> Were you able to put it back together and have it work as intended?), or
> hobbyist that will get tired of this new found pass time after about 20
> minutes in the attic, or just plain cheap asses that will risk family and
> fortune to save a buck, especially at todays prices. I'll help any other
> in
> the trade but won't give free advice to the public, which might lead them
> to
> believe they can install something they think is first class, get some
> monitoring center somewhere out of cyber space for $1.00 a month and cause
> more problems than the industry already has with the PD's. Either that or
> have poor little old Ms. Betty, their neighbor, go check their home
> because
> they received a "whatever" call on there cell phone, putting her in
> possible
> harms way. What are these people thinking. Whatever it is, I try to stay
> clear of them and their thought process. Don't take just this industry,
> but
> any industry, there is a very and I capitolize VERY small percentage of
> DIY
> work that is up to professional standards. The rest is pure garbage, not
> designed properly, easily recognized as DIY work, didn't pull a permit,
> doesn't get inspected, and is usually incomplete (forever). But hey, they
> saved a buck, passed some time and are proud to say, "Now I know
> everything
> about the alarm business. I read on this NG that its not rocket science
> and
> only takes a modicum of intelligence, so I'll do your system and save you
> some money. Hmmm....side business, extra money, ching ching!! Let them
> find
> bASS and keep an arms length away. I wonder if there might be some
> liability
> for given info if things go bad? I want to check on that.
>>
>> --
>> Bob La Londe
>> http://www.YumaBassMan.com
>>
>>
>
>


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