Re: Brinks v Rojas Update Request

[Jim <alarminex@xxxxxxx>]

On Sep 20, 3:51?pm, "Bob La Londe" <nos...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Actually, I don't want most of the customers that buy into that to begin
> with.
>

Yeah, me too. Although I still do a few takeovers, Brinks is not very
popular here. I'd assume that Slomins/ADT so dominates the area, for
so long in that market, that Brinks doesn't think the marketing effort
would be worth it.

But, when/if I do come upon a Brinks/ADT/Slomins job, I never even try
to take over the equipment. I simply tell the customer it's locked and
I have to replace it. If they're not looking to upgrade, I tell them
they should stick with the company with that equipment. Usually, they
don't want the National, company but then, again, they're usually
coming to me by referral from my existing customer, so they have
reason to go with me instead. The system I install is always upgraded
to new equipment and includes doors and windows.

Here's one for you. I just took over a job that was installed about 10
years ago. A Radionics panel, three keypads, full house wiring with
both glass break and PIR's. Nice system. The people said that they
hadn't used the system for about 3 or 4 years. I asked why.   Get
this. The guy they had install it was a "friend" who did the pre-wire
while the house was being built. He worked for a "big" company as an
installer. ( later the client remembered that it was Diebold) He
installed the system and I guess hooked to to Diebolds central
station, "off the record"and was charging them $10.00 a month, paid
annually, for monitoring. Then one day the system tripped and no call
from central. Called the "friend" and he was no where to be found. No
record at central of them being an account.Seems "friend" no longer
worked for the company and no one even knows who he is. ( I'd guess,
that central had no official agreement to monitor the account and just
shut it down.) He wasn't responding to letters sent to the billing
address which was a PO box in NYC. They have no idea how long they
were paying him without monitoring. They also had no idea how to use
the system execpt to arm and disarm it.

Turned out to be a nice take over though. "Friend" did a pretty good
install, everything labled, aux power distribution was done right. He
just forgot to hook up the skylights. "Friends" are sometimes your
worst enemy.

Damn Radionics panel weighs about 40 freekin pounds. It'll make a
great anchor.

But typically the above isn't the kind of take over one usually finds.
The better installed jobs are usually retained by the original
installer I'd imagine. So I too don't consider people who want these
mimimum kind of installs to be my clients, when they're first in the
market for a system.  But it seems that once many of them have
experienced what a lick and stick company "isn't" doing for them, they
are willing to pay for a better system. So I always go and give a look-
see, to test the waters, even though I know it's a lick and stick
original install.

If they still want cheap, I give a quote and don't follow up. I can
usually tell.

As I'm writing this it occurs to me that most of the takeovers I do
are people who have older systems that haven't been used and who now
want to use the system and are looking to restart the system or
upgrade.

Hard to imagine anyone trying to make a living on doing takeovers,  in
my area, like Bob in Canada. But it could be I'm insulated from the
real market by my total dependence on referral work.

"It's good to be King"  Quote: Mel Brooks