KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ
ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE
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Service Slip / Comments on why the alarm industry pays so poorly
July 26, 2019
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Service Slip
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Ken
            I have been using your All in One contract and am wondering if you have something that we could have the customer sign when we bill for repairs, changes or additions to an existing system with a valid contract.   
            I do most service on a per call basis.   
            Some wording added to a simple invoice form that refers to the terms and conditions of an existing agreement seems like it could be helpful.   I feel a bit uneasy when I bill for a battery with a generic invoice that doesn’t refer to any agreements and the Supplemental Agreement is focused on RMR and doesn’t have a clear place to create a one-time charge.
            Thanks for the aid you provide our industry
John
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Response
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            We have a Service Slip that can be ordered by calling our Contract Administrator Eileen Wagda at 516 747 6700 x 312.  This form is not on our Contract Order Form.
            The Service Slip is not a substitute for a Service Contractwhich is included in the All in One Agreement forms.  Once you use the All in One you can use the Service Slip for a repair on a per call basis, or a repair that is not included in the service plan under the All in One.
            New equipment and systems should be added with either a new contract or using the Supplemental Agreement that we provide when you purchase the All in One.
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Comments on why the alarm industry pays so poorly from July 20, 2019
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Ken
            I would like to make a comment on the article "Comments on why alarm industry pays so poorly"
            I think consumers are equally frustrated at the service they are receiving by alarm companies.  They knock on your door and sell you a "free" system.  Then you never see them again.  The installer disappears and you have to deal with the Alarm Company directly.  What's the point in dealing with a local installer when they long gone when you need support? 
            I think your comments about the internet are dead on.  I installed a septic system on my property by watching a few videos.  I did it for half of what a plumber wanted.  Incidentally he told me the system wouldn't work.  Three years later, no issues.
Jon
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Ken
            We have never extended our service into security guards but I have worked with companies that did.  It appeared they were often just a ‘warm body’.  I do not agree with that.  My oldest son runs the security company now and my youngest is a unionized security guard at the Federal Level.  They are paid about as well as my best technicians.  But I do not believe this type of job is the average security guard position.
            As far as any employee pay goes, it is what the market will bear.  It is an aberration to think its some moral obligation like Bernie wants us to believe.  Nor can we compare the possibility of being shot at with construction and technical work.  Unfortunately we seem to have failed to teach a person the best time to look for a job is when you have one.  In that way the truly good worker will find the best pay. 
            This dilemma was solved for us by providing employees more but demanding more (meaning we worked on efficiency and breadth of product).  Another level that affects this greatly is the type of security you are installing and to whom.  The further away from the ‘lick ‘em and stick ‘em’ crowd the better.
            John is correct.  When the big companies became finance companies as well, things change.  But some companies didn’t get that memo and remained selling systems for an up-front purchase price.  While that sounds almost ludicrous today, the process itself culled the customer base toward only those that understood value and saving.  The first time a millennial sales-call told me they had finished paying off something and had an extra $50 a month to spend for a security system, I told them to start saving it and call me next year.  Time for the old dog to ride off.
            Zeke
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Ken, 
            I wasn't suggesting that "associations" fix pricing.  How about the so called "NATIONAL" association organize and support lobbying for minimum/prevailing wages? How about the NATIONAL association NOT crying and stamping their feet when The NFPA wanted to create a burglar alarm standard/code which would have raised the bar as far as pricing and thus salaries but refused to create one itself because the "elite" members of the good ol boys club would whine and cry because they had to pay their installers / technicians more and that they could no longer afford to offer their so called "free" alarm systems. 
            Compare the fire alarm installation trade salaries to the burglar alarm trade salaries and wonder why there's a difference when electricians install fire alarm systems compared to non-electrician fire alarm companies. Aren't things like that what a NATIONAL association is supposed to be striving to rectify for the industry it is supposed to be representing? The NBFAA is a BS association, most people know it and only the good ol boys are still trying to defend it. 
            Look at the article in the July issue of Security Sales and Integration, page 10. "EAS to Cease State Chapter Program at Year's End". I guess that means that the NBFAA alias ESA was so successful at helping state associations with national issues that they decided they had accomplished everything anyone in the alarm trade could ever want, so they could now shut down the state charter program. Or---- wait a minute, ---- maybe it was because the state associations were dropping out one by one  for years because they weren't getting anything for their money. And get this ----- There were only 28 state chapters left out of 50 states? ? ? …. That's really some laudable record out of 50 states. The only amazing thing about that organization is that it was able to fool so many people for so many decades. Let's see how much longer it can fool "some of the people" 
            I'm guessing that the next article headline. will read " ESA disbanded. All Board Members Fell Asleep at Most Recent Meeting" . Or --- "ESA continues operation. The one remaining board member could not get a second to his motion to disband the association" 
Gene 
Reliable Alarm 
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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