Re: Looking for New Monitoring Company -- Problem with Next Alarm

[tourman <robercampbell@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Apr 29, 1:11=A0am, mleuck <m.le...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> On Saturday, April 28, 2012 8:12:53 AM UTC-5, tourman wrote:
> > On Apr 27, 6:50=A0pm, Jack <country...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > > I have been a satisfied Nextalarm customer for several years, but jus=
t
> > > recently they have told me that false alarms for panic alerts have to=
 be
> > > dispatched immediately to the police. This has caused me to have to p=
ay
> > > over the past two months a total of 328.00 to my local city because o=
f
> > > false alarms.
>
> > > The most frequent false alarm I have is when the keyfob is accidental=
ly
> > > actuated and this creates a panic alert. Up to 6 months ago, they wou=
ld
> > > call my house first to confirm it was a false alarm and that would be
> > > the end of it. No police would be dispatched. However, during the pas=
t 6
> > > months I have had 3 false alarms and the city only gives you two fals=
e
> > > alarms and anything over two will generate a 100.00 charge.
>
> > > Just this Monday on my way out the door with my two suitcases, I
> > > accidentally hit my keyfob panic button and got a call within 30 seco=
nds
> > > from Nextalarm. My wife confirmed that it was a false alarm and that
> > > there was no need to dispatch the police. Well 5 minutes later the
> > > police are rolling up to my address and I had to explain that it was =
a
> > > false alarm. Two days later I get a letter from the city for another
> > > 100.00.
>
> > > I obviously can't continue with this existing setup. My contact sheet
> > > specifically states to call my house number, my wife's cell and then =
my
> > > cell phone number BEFORE any police are dispatched and this setup has
> > > worked successfully for the past several years. However, Nextalarm sa=
ys
> > > their policy has been changed to mandate contacting the police for an=
y
> > > panic alarms, regardless to whether it was a false alarm.
>
> > > The guy I've been working with wants to convert my panic alarm signal=
s
> > > to a burglar type and this may get around the mandate of contacting t=
he
> > > police. Can someone recommend a monitoring company for the Ademco Lyn=
x-R
> > > panel that will allow my panic alarms to be triaged (by calling my
> > > contact list) BEFORE the police department is called? I have a phone
> > > line directly connected to the panel.
>
> > RHC: Sir, it seems to me rather than abandoning your existing dealer,
> > why don't you work with him further to solve the problem. There is
> > something basically wrong with a panic pendant design wise that can be
> > so easily triggered. I don't know the particular Ademco panic device
> > in question, but some other makes I am familiar with are shielded from
> > accidental activation, and most devices take a 3 second push of the
> > button in order to activate - pretty hard to do accidentally.
>
> > As I know it, most monitoring companies take pretty much the same
> > approach to manual panic alarms; these can be life threatening
> > situations and and are normally handled as such. Why do you wish to
> > totally abandon this company when the problem is in the panic alarm,
> > not the response, and perhaps not the alarm company either.
>
> > Don't " throw the baby out with the bathwater" so to speak; fix the
> > problem !!
>
> LOL my feelings exactly!

RHC: As an aside to this thread, I am absolutely astounded how little
loyalty many customers feel towards their dealer, even when they've
been treated superbly.

I recently has a long time client abandon me to another predatory
company. He had called me about VoIP and I told him that I won't hook
up on VoIp, and that I had cellular service available. Sometime later
I get a call from him for my installer code, because he went with
another company that enticed him to switch over to GSM radio and leave
me during a recent home show. Well, he didn't get the installer code
needless to say, but by this time he'd signed another long term
contract and was hooked. I lost a client, and bottom line he's paying
much more for his services than before, AND locked in needlessly.

Normally, if an active client from another company comes to me, I give
the company a call and a "heads up" of what's going on, to give them a
chance to save the account. Most of the smaller dealers do the same
hereabouts, since we all know and respect each other. I have a long
memory, and the day will come when payback time will also come for
this company, and he's now been "blacklisted" locally.....:((

I can only hope that one day he will try to bring me a load of boards
to be unlocked ! AND, he won't be getting any advance calls from me or
others in our informal group about his accounts !!

Prick !!!!  (sorry about the rant, but I feel better now.....)