KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and white list ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ************************************ Can UTC Dealers sue Carrier March 11, 2020 ********************** Can UTC Dealers sue Carrier *********************** Ken, As we all know, Carrier decided to get UTC out of the security industry at the end of 2019. Instead of selling off the brand so it could continue evolving, it was trashed and discontinued leaving millions of customers in limbo. We have been a loyal dealer for over 5 years and have witnessed the short coming of their shoddy engineering and execution. We have struggled with all of the software and firmware updates to most of their newer devices. The UTC shortcomings have been costly to our company and damaging to our reputation, but we stuck it out and stayed true to the brand. We are in a precarious situation right now. We are winding down a project that we started in 2018 and are having problems with the UTC video and access platforms we deployed, with absolutely no field support now. The project was approximately 500K and now we may have to rip the entire thing out because we can't get the system to perform as designed. I have no field reps and the only tech support is one guy in an office back east. I know we have a warranty period to return the product, but we are out thousands of hours of labor. We have struggled for years with the UTC systems we deployed in municipalities, water districts and larger commercial installations. We were a respected dealer who worked closely with our vendor only to be abandoned. I'm sure there are plenty of other UTC dealers that are having the same issue. I know there will be no more updates or patches for the product shortcoming we are still having problems with, so we will probably be on the hook for several large projects. The financial hardship and damage our reputation has been a struggle for our entity especially the employees. Is there a course of action that the UTC dealer network can take to get Carrier / UTC to honor the performance specifications of their equipment? If not, can you recommend an equitable approach to remedy our problems? We don't have the resources or the time to take on their legal entity. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Daniel Johnson Diversified Alarm Service, Inc. Monterey Park CA 800.252.7652 ************************ Response ************************ Wow, this issue brings me back almost 45 years to my first jury trial. I represented an alarm company [still do] that sued a manufacturer – I don’t recall which one – for faulty products that caused the alarm company damages for new equipment and labor. We won. To win however you will need to be able to establish all of the statements expressed above. It’s one thing to accuse a manufacturer of shoddy products and another to prove it. If you want to go beyond breach of warranty you’ll have to establish that the manufacturer knowingly continued placing its product in the stream of commerce after knowing the manufacturing problems. Your dealer issue is another matter. I’d have to carefully review the dealer agreement, because that’s where any rights you may have will be found. I also don’t know the relationship between Carrier and UTC. Might be little purpose pursuing a defunct company. Anyone have any interest or comment let us know. Dan’s contact info is above ******************* To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements, click here:www.alarmcontracts.com ************************* CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** NOTICE: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles *********************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE
This area is reserved for alarm classifieds, alarm company announcements, solicitations, offers, etc. There is no charge to post a listing here.Include your contact information, phone, email and web site. If you would like to submit a post, please send an email to ken@kirschenbaumesq.com. To create a reciprocal link to our website, click here. ************************************************ Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
