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

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

> The alarm panel was installed and activated as
> part of a deal when I bought the house (new
> construction) a year ago. In exchange for signing
> a 3 year contract with Westminster security,
> they would install panel/sensors/detectors for free.
>
> When I called the Central Station I learned that they
> are a separate company.  The guys that actually did
> the physical installation are a third company. There
> is a bit of finger pointing at this stage.

Arrangements like that are fairly common. Unfortunately,
because the installing dealer has no intention of
maintaining a long-term relationship with the customer,
he may be disinclined to pay attention to details. Their
objective is to sell and install as many systems per week
as possible.

> As you pointed out, the main issue is: the CS does
> not crosscheck incoming alarms with the caller ID,
> leading to a situation where a mis-programmed panel
> in another house is generating an alarm that SEEMS
> to originate from my house. I am not sure if this
> crosscheck is a "nice" thing that every CS "worth its
> salt" should have, or a "requirement".

It's not a legal requirement.  Common sense and sound
business practice dictate using it but there's no law
(at least none I know of) that requires them to be smart.

> I received a letter from the Phoenix police department,
> they are logging one false alarm against me, and after
> two "free" alarms I will be fined...

Forward a copy of the police letter to the alarm company
along with a letter stating that if they allow the situation
to continue unabated you will be forced to seek an
alternate provider.  They may try to fall back on a clause
in their contract which states that you can't refuse to
stay and pay due to false alarms.  Due to the high number
of bushed-up installations, alarm companies routinely
include such wording in their contracts.  However, this is
not a false aalrm coming from your system.  It is something
they messed up elsewhere which is almost certain to
happen again since they haven't a clue where the signal
originated.  This is a serious enough failing to constitute
a breach on their part.

Whatever you do, document every phone call and keep
copies of all correspondence.  Alarm companies can get
pretty nasty when a customer tries to leave.

> The police also sent me a list of the obligations of the
> alarm company, but the detail of whether or not they
> should crosscheck the Caller ID is not in there, so I do
> not know if I really have any recourse for A) terminating
> the contract with the alarm company / central station
> (my preferred approach at this point) or at least B)
> get them to change my account # with no expense for
> me.

At the very least they should be willing to perform (B).
It will only take them a few minutes and they should
be able to do it by modem from their office without even
visiting your site.

If they refuse, document that as well and take your
business elsewhere.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

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