Re: An ethical conundrum... Opinions welcome!

[mleuck <m.leuck@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Nov 28, 1:59=A0am, Effenpig1 <dirtyspicev...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Nov 28, 2:04=A0am, Frank Olson
>
>
>
> <use_the_email_li...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > We're hip deep in a major fire alarm system upgrade on two residential
> > high-rise towers with an interconnected parkade. =A0The old fire alarm
> > systems are being monitored by a company that obviously cares more for
> > the RMR than they do for the safety of their customer. =A0There are no
> > test signals programmed! =A0The service manager stated to me that test
> > signals are an additional cost which the customer opted not to send.
> > The company is charging the customer $22.00 a month for "basic" service=
.
> > =A0 The communicators haven't been transmitting for over two years (tha=
t's
> > when the electrician removed them from the wall and placed them neatly
> > in the corner of the electrical room). =A0The alarm company's invoice
> > supposedly has a reminder to "test your system monthly" and this is all
> > they're relying on! =A0The customer started refusing the invoices withi=
n
> > three months of the panel's disconnection. =A0Granted, he didn't send t=
he
> > company a proper notice. =A0The company suspended service on both accou=
nts
> > last year (November). =A0Are they entitled to two years billing or just
> > one? =A0Should any professional alarm dealer even offer to monitor a fi=
re
> > alarm system without a daily test signal? =A0I shudder to think of the
> > possible liability issues involved.
>
> I wouldn't monitor it without the 24hr test signals. If a customer
> said the extra cost was too much I would be happy to walk away, let
> someone else deal with them, because they will also probably think
> maintenance and inspection costs are unnecessary too.
>
> As for the monitoring fees, I think the original alarm company should
> just be happy the place didn't burn to the ground and they didn't get
> sued for everything they had.

The customer was told to test the system and apparently didn't and
some electrician removed the communicators yet it's the monitoring
station's fault?


> I've noticed a lot of high volume companies don't use timer tests
> on residential systems, usually because they want to cut down on
> service since they don't have anyone local.

Yea right