Re: the police was dispatched to ... the wrong house

["Robert L Bass" <RobertLBass@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Feel free to connect the dots anyway you like.
> I won't confirm or deny your connections. I
> don't feel like walking in Jim Rojas' shoes with
> the Brinks monster. Being right or reasonable
> isn't going to save the wallet from the legal
> cashectomy resulting from telling the truth...

I don't blame you at all.  Jim Rojas' situation
is somewhat different though.  While he is
morally and ethically in the right, legally he's
in the wrong.  He has also pretty much sunk
his own boat by mishandling the matter.  That's
a real shame since he's a nice guy and doesn't
deserve what they are doing to him.

The issue with Monitronics isn't so cut and dry.
If what you say is trye (and I don't doubt you for
a minute) they would be in a far less advantageous
position suing you for posting.  Even if it were a
complete lie like the accusations of Mugford, Olson
and company, it's an expensive and difficult process
trying to sue for libel over a Usenet post.  Were it
not so I'd have taken Mugford down years ago when
he started his crap.  Olson is a harder target since
he's not on US soil.  Sabodish would have been
easy to sue but he had no assets other than a
dilapidated house in a crappy town.

If you speak the truth about Monitronics' misdeeds
and have hard evidence to back it up they're not
likely to fight you over it.  Those are the kind of
lawsuits that bring major damages and punitive
awards to someone like you if you can show that
their suit was intended to stop you from speaking
the truth.

> I have not identified anyone or any company
> specifically here...

True, but we know it's Monitronics anyway.  It
figures someone like Leuck would find a home there.

> People are counting on us. When things break
> down like this I believe it is a message that
> everyone should take more into account and
> recheck everything to be certain nothing in their
> own house is in out of order...

That's similar to what I've been saying about doing
daily tests and checking Caller ID.  It is indicative of
the common mindset unfortunately that some people
react by defending the status quo rather than trying
to do anything to make things better.  C'est la merde.

> This is a details business. It means testing, and
> checking, and second guessing yourself and everyone else up and down the line, as often as
> you can...

It is for those of us who actually care about quality
and things like protecting clients.  For some it's just
a numbers racket -- trying to sign as many customers
as possible in the shortest amount of time and with
the least investment in labor and materials.  That is
why you'll always see people like Leuck arguing
against anything that costs an extra few pennies per
account per month instead of promoting better
practices.

> I learned a lesson here not to allow anyone else
> to fat finger a panel that you are ultimately responsible for, especially when you cannot quickly
> verify what was done or not done...

My situation is different from yours since I cater to
DIYers.  I teach them how to program their own panels,
explain what the various features are for and how to
implement them.  On Napco panels I literally walk
them through the programming, screen-by-screen.  As
best I can tell, I'm the only online vendor who does
that as a standard practice.

As to monitoring, there are more differences.  Most
DIYers don't want monitoring at all or want to DIY that
as well.  This is their choice.  I give them the names of
several reliable central station firms that are willing to
work with DIYers and encourage them to contact one.
Whichever way they choose to handle it, I still walk
them through the setup and testing of the system.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

=============================>
Bass Home Electronics
941-925-8650
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
=============================>