Re: The latest Brinkle in Jim's life.

[Frank Olson <use_the_email_links@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Doug wrote:
> Since Jim didn't respond in a timely manner to prevent a default judgment
> and didn't show to the contempt hearing it matters little whether the claims
> are valid or not, he had the opportunity to refute them and he chose not to.
> The bottom line is that he should either have had adequate legal
> representation
> and played the game according to the rules or he should have thrown in his
> hand when
> he received the original cease & desist request.
>
> I wish Jim the very best, but I fear he is committing financial suicide with
> his current actions or inaction's.
>
> Doug
>


I can't speak to the "financial suicide" part.  From things I've seen
and heard (not personally experienced), defying a Court by telling them
that I'm disillusioned with "the system" *isn't* the best approach to
use.  An Injunction like this one won't stand a great deal of scrutiny
(IMHO).  All anyone has to demonstrate is that Brinks doesn't
manufacture their own equipment and that "the take over game" is one
that's played by any and all in the industry (some more so that others).
  I suppose Brinks has a point about their customers gaining access to
the installation and programming manuals, but that's really a
"non-starter" as well (with a large number of service companies).  We
always leave a copy of the programming manual on the premises (it's
tucked into a "stick-on" shipping wallet on the door of the main can).
If you have a customer that's moved into a house which happens to have
one of your systems and they're happy with their present provider then
why bother even trying to keep them?  If someone wants to take the steps
to perform a hardware reset and "take-over" one of our panels, there's
really nothing preventing them from doing so (we don't use the firmware
lockout).  The Ademco panels feature a more "robust" lock-out feature,
but on the few takeovers we've done where they're actually engaged, we
just swap out the main board and "Jim's your uncle".

The Brinks systems we've taken over are always upgraded to the Vista 20
(if the customer's used to extra button pushes) or a DSC 1832/1864 (and
contrary to what many have experienced with the latter, we've had pretty
good success with them).  We toss the keypads, main board, transmitters
and other goodies into a box and (to date) have left them on the
premises for Brinks to pick up at their convenience.  So far, not one of
the customers I've talked with has ever had a response from Brinks (or
had a technician request the return of the equipment).  What does this
say about their "defending" their Property??