Brinks Home Security Fraud

1. That never bothered you before, especially when you and your pals did the exact same thing.

Fuck off dead man.

Sniff .... sniff .............. Jeeeeeeze ..... smells like someone died in here!

RHC: Yes, I met Jim once and we have talked by telephone several times. We also swap technical information from time to time. He keeps it to the point.....

RHC: No, I won't touch them at all. It's the reason I explained before. As any businessman does, you have to decide which market niche you wish to serve. I make real security systems my "core business" - from locks, strikes, re-inforcement of doors, through educating the customer how to PROPERLY secure their home, and on to other physical security devices like bar arrangements, through to electronic security systems. Every customer gets the once over in regard to all these sorts of things, which they can then choose from. The alarm system is only part of the "whole house" security system, and the only one worth a pinch of salt is a monitored one (IMO). I just don't want to waste my time on a toy...

RHC: Sorry ! I should have said, I have few service TROUBLES - I didn't mean regularly scheduled service.

RHC: Yup ! I came back tonight from a match out of town, to my wife saying she had been getting angry calls from one of my customers about her keypad beeping all day and driving her up the wall. A quick visit determined she had turned the chimes on for her motions.....page 8 of the manual....go figure....

Lemme guess...No charge?

definately IS on topic).

and income. I chose at the beginning rightly or wrongly to provide an all inclusive service for a very reasonable rate with no long term contract. I wanted to be different rather than play in the conventional marketplace. The gamble paid off for me handsomely and makes it especially easy to compete against the large companies (there is no competition really unless they get suckered first by a smooth talking salesman). My warranty is 100% with no exclusions for ANY reason for as long as the alarm is monitored through me. The only "downside" is I don't install alarms at discounted prices, and I ONLY do automatic billing. If a client wants a system at a lower rate up front, and doesn't mind signing a contract, I refer him to other small dealers for service (as they do for me). It's perhaps an unusual market niche, but one I'm being successful in. I also know that I simply don't have it in me to insist on the client paying out a contract when he moves, and if I did business that way, and didn't, I would be losing money. So I recoup my equipment costs at the front end (and then some)

We offered clienbts the choice of a one- or three-year contract. The price was guaranteed not to rise during the term. In return they guaranteed they would stay with us. Sometimes people moved before the contact expired. If that happened we let them go with no penalty. Once in a rare while we'd lose a customer due to a competitor "selling" him a takeover. If that happened and the customer was current I'd offer to reprogram the system to the competitor's station. We gave the dealer programming code to the customer when the system was paid for. Since I didn't offer financing, that was always the same day we taught them how to use the system.

places. People have a lot of money, and are very fluid here in the high tech industry, and they move a lot from home to home and place to place. They like the freedom of no long term contract, and have the money to easily pay a fair market price for a system. There is little if any haggling involved. Other places, this formula might not work at all, and I understand that...

Actually, your approach could be made to work in almost any marketplace, given a few modifications. I mostly worked in West Hartford and the Farmington Valley area -- a wealthy area where most clients expected more than the "2 doors and a1 motion" that the big, national outfits offer and where they could easily afford to pay up front. In that respect our market places were very similar.

Now I sell alarms and home automation systems online to DIYers and I find that the vast majority (of those who call) can easily afford far more protection, given the elimination of labor and overhead costs, than is offered by the vast majority of alarm companies. Most want to protect every accessible opening and back that up with motion and glass break sensors. Most also include supplemental smoke detectors (over and above the ones the builder installed).

has forgotten my motto...."you own the system - we own the problems - period !!", and his system is fixed at no cost to him, most are rightly surprised, but pleased (obviously), and my phone is soon ringing with referrals and takeovers ! This approach would never work for any large company, or even a small one with large overheads, but for me, staying small and efficient, it works well. I work out of a home office, subcontract my monitoring and billing to a large but very good company, pay no advertising or up front promotional costs, and keep all other overheads to things that are totally tax deductible. The way I factor it is there is $1 a month in the monitoring rate for "warranty", which pays me $1000 a month whether I spend anything or not, and $2 a month for conventional service and troubles. The rest is income from $15, less the monitoring fee. So in a sense, I am being "paid" for my work, but not just in the standard way. Plus the two high end, full priced systems that I install weekly easily pay my son's salary plus profit for me. It's different, and does generate some flack from some other companies, but usually because they don't understand the cost structure, or are in the "free system" game, or just don't want to take the longer range view. And in some cases, they simply disagree with it, and that's fair ball.

decent service to the community, and enjoying my business. Bingo for all three so far (especially the first...:)).

That's the key. If you can make a living and feel good about yourself for the way you do it, you've made it.

because they lost their job in the high tech market. I have carried them while they get back on their feet, rather than see them mickey mouse their system, and like you, they have come back. Business is (or should be) all about two things - helping people and making money. Sometimes one reason takes priority over the other. But that's a rare situation, and you have to make sure they don't see it as a form of charity either....

You don't have to be an angel -- just a decent person. The rest will take care of itself.

natural given their market and the way they do business. I actually see that as one sign I'm doing things right, although I don't need any additional proof in that regard. The tax man reminds me of that once a year......

Yep :^)

No, I think we all understood what you meant.

Wha? Oh noooo! Ohhhhhhh noooooooo!

I'm crushed!

I would have treated this customer the same as you did, under those circumstances but not because I'd expect her to give me more referrals or have a better "feeling" about me. As a result of being in business so long, I've got a good percentage of "older" customers that I do "gratis" things for and not because I expect anything back from doing it ...... either.

However, as magnanimous as it sounds when you say or write it, ......... practically, ..... your " $1.00 equals $1,000.00 .... so that you don't have to charge for service and you get more referrals and good will " .... is Polyanna thinking..... which is something you're prone to do.

You are actually leaving thousands of dollars on the table that your customers would be more than happy to pay BECAUSE of the good serivice and follow up you do. You've only got the "notion" that you are getting more referrals and good will. This is something that you seem to be prone to doing. It's simply a "feelgood" reaction that you're having and has nothing to do with whether you actually DO get MORE referrals than anyone else who gives good service and DOES charge for service. It may make you FEEL like you're going the extra mile so you must be getting more out of it, but it just isn't practical from a business point of view. You don't seem to understand that even if you DID charge for service, and you also gave GOOD conscientious service and "threw in" those little extras while you were on a service call ( like not charging for a switch or a part, but did charge for the service call) that people actually EXPECT to pay you for your time and would be just as grateful and would refer you just as much as you're getting now. People are actually grateful to HAVE someone that they can count on to be there when they need help.They wouldn't be any less exuberant about you at all and are glad to pay for good service.

By doing what you do, you are actually doing the very same thing that you complain about the Nationals doing. You are demeaning the value of what you do, what you know, your expertise and also what all alarm companys do. You don't tell your customers that they are paying for the "free" service up front. Just like the "feebee" companys, you devalue what you know and your skills by giving it away for what the consumer sees as NOTHING! And if ya get it for nothing ........ it's worth nothing. Free is Free!

I can just see your customers when ever you do everything for them for free. They just look at each other, raise their eyebrows, shake their head and shrug their shoulders ....... thinking ..... wellll aaalllllright ..... coool .... I don't have to pay .... But would have thought none the worse if you'd have said .... "$75.00 for the call". And occasionally, "the parts are on me", or throw in a battery or whatever.

So instead of the feeling you THINK they have, they're thinking ...... How stupid is this guy? Well, hell, if he doesn't want to charge ..... thats ok with me! Hey Charlie, ya wanna good alarm company? THIS guy doesn't charge for service! How come? Hell Idono, but ya may as well take advantage of it while it lasts .... it's FREE .... isn't it?

Do you really think that they'd not refer you to someone else if you charged for service calls? The answer is no. As I say, it has nothing to do with how your customers react. You giving free service only has to do with how it makes YOU ** FEEL** And thats not good business, if for no other reason than it's not a good return on investment.

They're going to refer you whether you charge for service or not. Who the hell else are they going to refer someone to? They've only got you for an alarm company. Jeeeeeze!

I don't advertise. I have an unlisted telephone number. I haven't bought a box of business cards in so many years, I can't remember. I get approximately 2 to 4 referrals every week while I also get $95.00 per call. ( recently raised in anticipation of everything going up in the near future and to cover the cost of fuel) You're leaving THOUSANDS behind by not charging for service, in addition to devauling your company when a buyer sees that they have to give free service and that you've only got one month long contracts.

Sure, I can understand that you've got another source of income and that this policy works for you, but it certainly isn't practical and obviously hasn't, isn't and won't become a way of doing business in this trade, in spite of your fanciful dreams, and speculations that you make in this group.

What you do makes no business sense at all and its all only because it makes YOU feel good because you think your customers will like you better. What the hell is that? A self esteem problem or what? "LIKE ME, LIKE ME. See what a nice guy I am? While your customers are thinking .... Stupid, stupid, take advantage while I can.

(Someone please repost this .... just in case he really does have me filtered.)

gotta agree with you there, Jimbo.