Re: Never had an alarm before but...

["Bob Worthy" <securinc@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Mr. Mugford and I, along with a third person in the industry, have been
appointed to a committee that is being formed by the Florida Police Chiefs
Association. The committee will deal with alarm issues in the State of
Florida. The type of activity, talked about here, will naturally be a topic
of discussion, as well as, the DIY market. I don't believe the Police
community  realizes that the DIY market exists and that the public safety
departments are being dispatched to alarms from some of these abortions. I
have always thought that a system that is put into service for police
dispatch needs to be inspected by city/county officals and a State Certified
alarm contractor before being activated to a CS for police response, whether
it is installed by a a company or an individual. IMO commercial applications
should never be installed by anyone other than a licensed company for
insurance reasons and for the health, safety and welfare of the public that
frequent these locations. If someone wants to tinker in their own home
assemblying something to make a noise, go for it. Enough wire, relays,
contacts, a siren and a transformer, one would get from their old electric
train set, will do. Don't bother the police departments with your inventions
and don't expect a professional to give away the store. I really get a kick
out of these guys that have purchased a HA system online and then come here
to ask questions after they get past the introduction section of the manual.
They would have had less stress and been much happier taking the money they
spent and gone on a nice vacation. Reminds me of someone building one of
those classic "kit" cars. They can't get it to pass the safety requirements
to get registered to drive on the road because it is a disaster looking to
happen.  It cost a lot of time and money, but it is doing nothing but taking
up space in the garage. Next project!!

"R.H.Campbell" <rh.campbell@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:vkyxf.20250$W03.624716@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> 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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>