The police failed to turn up – for about the third time, only this time it was really serious. Thieves had broken in through the roof of an up-market car importer and danced on the bonnets of cars like the Subaru Impreza. They had also done a great deal of damage elsewhere, and stolen the computer with the customer database on it.
When investigated, it was discovered that the alarm had activated OK but the police had failed to turn up because the Alarm Receiving Centre hadn’t informed them – it had “lost” the URN. This was the latest in a long line of mishaps and foul-ups that had occurred at one particular ARC since the introduction of a new computer; before that everyone was happy.
Catalogue of errors
To date, the catalogue of errors has included:
- Wrong URNs
- Wrong keyholder details
- Wrong people being contacted
- Failure to call police
- Lost URNs
- Complete files lost
This last one was only discovered when the engineer wanted to put a site on test and the operator at the ARC told him: “We have nothing on our computer for that site”. The installer then requested a report on all his clients and was appalled to discover 71 errors among 74 clients. Over the next four days a file was made up and double-checked on all 74 clients. The installer then drove the 150-mile round trip and delivered the file personally to the ARC head office. The faults still carried on unabated, as follows.
Sorry tales
In 1995 the URN was issued to a plant hire company (a regular target for thieves) and over the next couple of years there were no problems – activations were promptly acted upon by the police and losses were kept to a minimum.
After the installation of the new computer, the police were unable to attend because they were given the wrong URN (for an installation 20 miles away).
The alarm, by the way, worked perfectly: it activated the communicator to the ARC and, as instructed, held back the bells for 10 minutes. A fair amount of power tools were stolen and by the time the police got there (via an ordinary phone call) the thieves were long gone.
In another case, a shop's system was put on line in April and full details sent to the ARC. In May, an activation occurred and the police were not called. Several days later a letter arrived from the ARC stating that it had no URN for this system and requesting the information to be sent.
In yet another example, a father and sons run a large manufacturing business. Both their homes and the factory are alarmed by the same installer, who has been working with them for years. The latest alarm to go on line was the new home of the youngest son; all information was passed to the ARC last September. During October and November the alarm was activated twice by workmen – there were no losses but the police were not called on either occasion.
At the same time, negotiations were under way to supply and fit the new CCTV system to the factory (around £25k). That job has now gone to another company, because, the installer believes, the family has lost faith in his own company due to the failure of the alarm to call the police.
It was at this point that I was called in as the area inspector and asked: “What are you going to do about it then?” The truth is, there is little my inspectorate or I can do apart from giving the ARC an ear-bashing on the phone and offering the installer the benefit of our advice, which would be to report it to NACOSS for investigation.
It was duly reported and NACOSS assured the installer that it would look into it. Quite honestly, NACOSS did just what my inspectorate would have done and that is to say nothing until it had heard the other side of the argument.
The apparent lack of response did little to calm down the installer, however. It prompted him to send the following fax to the ARC (for obvious reasons, the names have been removed):
“Dear *****,
“Please please please will you update the URN details for *******.
“I have just been told by your rather efficient admin person that I cannot ask you to update the URN over the phone, it has got to be sent by fax. Well, can you tell me why, when I have already sent you this information by fax (see your fax log – [time and date supplied]) was it not updated then?
“Consequently, on ******, when poor Mr ***** had a genuine attempted break-in, surprise surprise Mr Policeman did not attend. Are our customers supposed to keep paying subscription fees for a service they are not receiving and, worse, have a false sense of security because you cannot get your act together?
“I am sick to death of taking the flack for errors that were caused by your oh-so-bloody efficient monitoring station. Remember that I am the customer’s first port of call when something goes wrong and it is me that has to smooth things over.
“May I remind you that, about six months ago, we had to drive all the way to your monitoring station with an updated copy of all our customers – including URNs and the lot – asking for all the information to be transferred correctly on to your wonderful computer system because of all the cock-ups? And hey, guess what? You still can’t get it right.
“I rang you this morning at 08.55 to speak to Mr ***** or Mr *****. Unfortunately, one had not arrived and the other was on another call so I left a message for one of them to ring me ASAP, and I am still waiting.
“Obviously, nobody seems bothered that things are still not right, even though you are ISO 9000 certified – funny, I thought that was an administration qualification.
“Yours,”
(Name and position in company)
In all fairness to the ARC involved, it may be having a boatload of problems with its computer and by the time you read this it may be all sorted out and running correctly. But the problems must be sorted out before long or the installation company will go down the pan.
Not the only one to complain
This is not an isolated case; I often hear complaints about ARCs, resulting in customers voting with their feet and taking their business elsewhere.
There is another case where the installer is refusing to pay for a service he has not received and wants to move to another ARC. But the first ARC will not release the RedCARE lines until the bill is paid in full.
In the meantime, the end user has paid for a service he is not getting. Perhaps the release of the RedCARE lines should be made compulsory in situations like this, to protect the end user, and then let the alarm company and the ARC fight it out in court.
Cover your back
In the meantime, what can we do to cover our backs and protect our customers? A few simple rules may help...
- Always check and double-check information going to the ARC before sending it.
- Always keep a record of any letters or fax transmissions that are sent to the ARC (or anywhere else for that matter).
- Always get confirmation of receipt of your communication and store it where it can be found again easily – such as in the customer’s file.
- After a suitable time, get the ARC to fax back the full file details and check that it has got the changes stored correctly. Save the fax in the customer file – it is your timed and dated proof that the information was correctly passed on.
Make sure you’re not in the firing line
If you think these rules are a pain, think of it this way: the insurance companies are not going to carry on coughing up to their customers if the alarm has not activated properly. They are going to use that as an excuse to unload their losses onto someone else, and if you have not covered your back by checking and keeping records (and, of course, doing your servicing properly, including test transmissions of all channels in use and testing the line failure mode by disconnecting one leg of the telephone line) YOU are right in the firing line.
No foregone conclusion
The one thing that has struck me recently is the number of installers who are asking about the “forthcoming” merger/takeover of the inspectorates (depending on which way you look at it). Almost all of them had read the feature in the May edition of Security Installer and had taken it as a foregone conclusion, not as a discussion point. What did concern me was that a couple of lads put forward the opinion that Graeme Dow had sold them down the river and were going to react by cancelling their insurance with Stafford Knight.
So, let’s put the record straight – Graeme was asked to do a consultancy job and he did it with his usual flair and thoroughness; it was nothing to do with his work for Stafford Knight. Cancelling your insurance for this misguided reason is a bit like finding that your wife has been unfaithful with the milkman so you go out and kick his horse. Stafford Knight is a very useful source of advice and information, so are you going to cut yourself off from what amounts to a free consultancy? Instead of cancelling your insurance, why not tackle Graeme direct and put your views forward? He is big enough to listen.
Better off behind bars!
I had an interesting e-mail which throws some doubt on the deterrent effect of prison:
In prison you spend most of your time in an 8x10 cell. At work you spend most of your time in a 6x8 cubicle.
In prison you get three meals a day. At work you get one meal break and you have to pay for it.
In prison you get time off for good behaviour. At work you get rewarded for good behaviour with more work.
In prison a guard locks and unlocks all the doors for you. At work you must carry around a security card and unlock and open them yourself.
In prison you can watch TV and play games. At work you get fired for watching TV and playing games.
In prison you get your own toilet. At work you have to share.
In prison your family and friends are allowed to visit. At work you can’t even speak to them.
In prison all expenses are paid by taxpayers with no work required. At work you get to pay all the expenses to go to work, and then they deduct tax from your salary to pay for prisoners.
In prison you spend most of your life looking through bars wanting to get out. At work you spend most of your time wanting to get out and inside bars.
In prison there are wardens who are often sadistic. At work they are called managers.
Source
Security Installer
Postscript
Mike Lynskey is an independent inspector of security systems, a security consultant and tutor. You can e-mail him personally at mike.lynskey@virgin.net
