Re: An ethical conundrum... Opinions welcome!

[Effenpig1 <dirtyspicevent@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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 (that'=
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 within
> three months of the panel's disconnection. =A0Granted, he didn't send the
> company a proper notice. =A0The company suspended service on both account=
s
> last year (November). =A0Are they entitled to two years billing or just
> one? =A0Should any professional alarm dealer even offer to monitor a fire
> 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. In reality though, if the system was
disconnected by a third party and they were never notified, the alarm
company is probably entitled to the money. Interesting that the system
wasn't checked in that entire time, of course test signals would have
showed the problem right away (define irony). The whole thing sounds
shady, your obviously right, the installing company only cares about
RMR. 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.