Re: Any tips for a consumer about to purchase a system & contract?

["tourman" <rh.campbell@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I personally believe that an alarm owner has some serious thinking to
do before he elects to go to one of these discount stations. Bottom
line, I believe the customer is largely kidding himself if he thinks
his alarm is going to run forever without service. Service through
these discount stations is always subcontracted out to smaller alarmcos
in the client's area, who charge whatever they like. I know, since I
was asked to be one, and chose not to. However, IF he is able to
service his own equipment, and IF he doesn't need the professional
services of a dealer, and IF he can get the parts needed, then these
stations can be a very good deal for the consumer.

I ended up dealing with one of these large discount monitoring stations
in Toronto, by referring a DIY customer who came to me, to them. He
didn't want me to change the installer code, and these people don't
seem to care about that, so I sent him there. It ended up that I got a
considerable amount of business from them in return. What goes around,
comes around !! They do charge a full year in advance up front, so in
effect, you are not locked in; however, if you leave, you lose what
you've already paid out.

However, even they are going to end up in more of a price struggle,
when the cable company Rogers enters into the monitoring game shortly.
This is a good business proposition for them...they already have your
cable business, and often your telephone business, so what little extra
to add your monitoring business for $10 a month, three year term. Most
of their guys screw up the client's alarm BIG TIME when installing the
phone service (gotta go out Thursday evening to fix another one...) but
even if they sub the service out  to agreeable local alarmcos, they
still end up "cream skimming" more revenue for themselves. They win,
their customers win (in most cases), and the only ones who lose are the
bigger companies with rates in the high twenties / low thirties.

I do believe that unlike the telco's disastrous foray into the alarm
business, Rogers are smart enough to actually pull it off.

RHC

news.comcast.net wrote:
> > ABC should send a technician out to this man's
> > house, reprogram his system, test his system,
> > do paperwork, send signals, instruct him on it's
> > use, and then pay someone in admin to put the
> > account online for a guarantee of $20 gross to
> > assume this liability?
>
> Tom,
>
> It isn't a matter of whether ABC should or shouldn't do it.  The question is
> whether the consumer should accept a long-term contract.  Sure, ABC does
> better if they sell a 5-year or at least 3-year contract.  But from the
> consumer's POV, there's no gain to the long term agreement.  Additionally,
> if hew already has a functioning system (that wasn't locked out), he may
> elect to go online and order monitoring from 911Alarm.com or any of a host
> of other companies for less than $12 a month.
>
> Regards,
> Robert L Bass
> Bass Home Electronics
> www.BassBurglarAlarms.com