Re: LOCKED PANEL

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

Doug, I know yours is a legitimate question and not one designed to
start an argument, so I can tell you the controls I put in place. I'm
sure Jim Rojas uses the same.

The vast majority of locked boards come to me during takeovers. The
client has bought the house and the panel is part of the transaction,
and ownership is usually clearly marked in the real estate advertising
of the home as going with the home. When the previous homeowner
cancels monitoring, it is his responsibility to finalize things with
his alarmco, and I doubt that the previous company would leave
anything valuable in place that didn't belong to the homeowner in. If
they do abandon it however, legally it goes with the home with the
transfer  whether anything is owed on it or not, and it's the
responsibility of the previous company to chase the previous client
for monies owed.  I come in as a third party to the contract, and as
long as I can verify that I have made a best effort to show that I
have tried to determine the right course of action, I cannot be held
liable in any way. However, I can usually further verify things a bit
further when I determine who the last company was that was monitoring
it, since most of the companies up here don't lease equipment (other
than Brinks and AlarmFarce) (I only takeover DSC and Paradox
equipment, so it doesn't apply in these two cases anyway). In a couple
of cases where it WAS clear the client had leased equipment (decals on
the can), I took the system out fully and boxed it up for the owner
company to come get it (saving him labour, and me the possibility he
would sabatoge the client's wiring ). In both cases, the previous
company didn't even bother to come get it (in one case even where I
knew the alarmco personally, and told them about it)

The other source of locked boards is from some of the large monitoring
centres in Eastern Canada. My biggest customer is one I have come to
know personally, so I take his word he is not defrauding anyone (and
I'm not helping him do so). His experience is totally the traditional
one where the clients leave because the previous client won't lower
the rate after the panel is paid for, and locks the board to spite the
next company. Since this situation is totally out of my control, this
is the point of greatest risk. But I know him to be an honourable
person.

There is no absolute, perfect answer to your question, nor any real
world guarantee that it can't happen. But I do make a best effort to
check that point. But most companies make no effort to salvage
equipment they own and if the truth be known, depend upon the honesty
and good will of the client to honour their commitments to them. And
most do. I only wish that some of the alarmcos did the same and didn't
abuse the hardware locking feature in alarm boards.

RHC

On Sep 2, 12:07 pm, "Doug" <n...@xxxxxxxx> wrote:
> How do you determine who the rightful owner is? The one with the $25 cheque
> in their hand or do you use some other method?
>
> You may think you are helping the legitimate owner, but in the absence of
> any means of verification, its also possible that you could be aiding an
> unscrupulous person in the theft of property.
>
> Doug
>
> --
>
> "tourman" <robercampb...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>
> news:1188738960.316881.218160@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
> > Hah ! That will be the day. No one is shown anything about how it's
> > done - ever ! All it is is returning equipment back to it's rightful
> > owner in a usable format after its service suitability has been stolen
> > by some unscrupulous company or individual. > RHC
>
> > On Aug 31, 8:38 am, "Jim" <n...@xxxxx> wrote:
> >> Is tourman next????????????!