Re: Contract Central Stations

[Joe Lucia <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Well, the letter ACM sent to their dealers called it a "strategic
partnership" but COPS is now calling it an "acquisition".

po-tay-toe, po-tah-toe

Crash Gordon wrote:

>So Bob sold ACM eh?
>
>
>"Joe Lucia" <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>news:120ugakb0e64h83@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>| Maria is the reason most dealers were fed-up with ACM in the first
>| place.  They were happy to see her leave.  Now they have to deal with
>| her at COPS.  We have heard many things about Maria's ability to manage
>| a Monitoring Center (from ACM employees as well as the Dealers), none of
>| it good.
>|
>| Crash Gordon wrote:
>|
>| >Read their dealer agreement...there's a scary one.
>| >
>| >Maria is a big muckity muck there you know - ran into her at ADI last
>| >summer.
>| >
>| >
>| >
>| >"Joe Lucia" <joe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>| >news:120ud69ia4jkc5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>| >| We have hear a Lot of horror stories about COPS Monitoring charging the
>| >| dealer just because the Customer didn't use the Automated System for
>one
>| >| thing or another.  Or, get this, they will charge the dealer $5.00 to
>| >| update the name or address of an account for the dealer over the phone
>| >| (misspelled name?  better update it yourself online because if the
>| >| Operator has to do it you will get charged.)
>| >|
>| >| I've not personally experienced this, but we've heard the same stories
>| >| from many dealers that are leaving COPS because the are getting
>| >| nickle-and-dimed for every little thing.  Especially since the dealer
>| >| can't control when the customer might call in to the C/S and,
>| >| heaven-forbid, need to talk to a live person for anything other then
>| >| cancelling an alarm.
>| >|
>| >| COPS recently purchased ACM here in Arizona.  We've been getting a lot
>| >| of new dealers because of problems with line moves and bad customer
>| >| service (dealers can't get any straight answers from COPS or ACM
>| >| regarding the move, many haven't even heard about the move and are
>| >| getting fail-to-communicates from multiple systems on a daily basis
>| >| now).  Boy have we heard it all.  It's amazing COPS is as big as they
>| >| are with such poor technical and customer support for their dealers.
>| >| Any, why ACM would sell to someone with such a bad reputation is beyond
>| >| me.  They never even Asked Us.  We get dealers moving over on a regular
>| >| basis now, they are just fed-up with the problems.  ACM was bad enough
>| >| (so they say), but COPS taking on ACM is exponentially worse (so they
>| >| say).  We don't advertise or do any sort of marketing, we just let them
>| >| come over as they see fit and they wonder why they waited so long.
>| >| We've had dealers say how nice it is not having constant calls from the
>| >| C/S for one thing or another (undefined signals, incomplete
>information,
>| >| etc.) because we take care of things for them (our supervisors actually
>| >| Understand the way things work and can handle most any problem without
>| >| bothering the dealer).
>| >|
>| >| I'm not trying to bash or brag, just telling you what I've heard from
>| >| the Dealers that have switched over to us during the COPS-ACM
>| >"partnership".
>| >|
>| >| Robert L Bass wrote:
>| >|
>| >| >>we don't charge the dealer $5.00 for talking to
>| >| >>their customer directly
>| >| >>
>| >| >>
>| >| >
>| >| >Wow!  I wasn't aware that there even were central stations that
>| >| >charge dealers per call.  Which CS does that?
>| >| >
>| >| >--
>| >| >
>| >| >Regards,
>| >| >Robert L Bass
>| >| >
>| >| >Bass Burglar Alarms
>| >| >The Online DIY Store
>| >| >http://www.BassBurglarAlarms.com
>| >| >
>| >| >--
>| >| >
>| >| >Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large
>| >| >groups.
>| >| >
>| >| >
>| >
>| >
>| >
>| >
>
>
>
>