Security Horror Stories

we have a jokes section, so i thought why not have have a section to relate classic laughs at your own or someone elses embarresment, and share them here - like darwinawards.com for the security industries? don't name the the poor sole/company or denegrate them - play nice please!. i'll do a new post to start it off regs Arfur Mo

Can we have a name and shame section please? Went to a job yesterday in Sale Moor, area with money etc... They say the power light is flashing on a Veritas 8C, no problem i think, power fault one would think.. System installed by A*ADE*Y security alarms, now ceased trading. Open the panel to find 6 core alarm cable used to power the system. Is this an acceptable practice as 6 core is cheaper than T+E. The worst part was he had only used 4 of the 6 conductors! He could of used all of them but no, must of been saving the other pair for powering something else like the fridge which was on the same socket.

Had an apprentice with me some years ago and was drilling from a garage into a house, sent the apprentice into the loft to watch for my metre long bit, On the phone he's telling me I can hear it "yeah, but can you see it?" "you must be able to see it you blind F****r I've got a whole metre in". "not yet he says" Me "your useless i'm coming round" as I climbed the stairs heading apprentice bound there smack bang in the centre of the bedroom wall was my drill bit.. Eating humble pie whilst appologising to the apprentice and explaining to the customer, who had only just rag rolled the wall 2 weeks prior... ARGHHHHHHHHH consoled the customer with a free contact on the back …

just come accross this that a guy ripped out of a thearter the lable has peeled back a bit but its marked 440v Nice!!

i got aphone call at 5.30 am from a private saying alarm goin off and cant stop it, said theyve disconnected panel battery and mains and it still rings. i get there at 6.30 to find theyve cut all the cables outside the panel, blown all the fuses cos the didnt wanna wake the neighbours. when i pull up , only the alarm of the house opposite is ringing. turns out it wasnt theirs at all. didnt charge for repairs, just made sure everyone they knew heard about it.

I was on a In house traing course last week, working on the Kentec Solo panel, I am new to the company and don't know a soul. There were three other engineers and the tutor, and me. "Time for a bit of practical" said the tutor. Setting up the demo panels. he pulled out a 1.5 mm flex with a Three pin plug and three crimped tags to connect to the primary input. He passed this cable to the so called commisioning engineer of the firm who in turn passed the crimped ends to another engineer.. Without giving him 2 seconds, the bloody twit PLUGGED the Three pin IN !!! and BELTED his poor colleague. I ask YOU. Its funny know but i think i would have punched him in the he…

Hey there guys, I know that this area doesnt get a lot of use but it is added to now and then. B) I love reading all these and think they are really interesting, so i am basically putting a call out for anyone who knows some more security horror stories to post there here. Guys, Regards, Ranger

i have just spent a week sorting out my garage put all my stock in boxes labled up made some new shelving looks the dogs boll#*cks. I can find anything right away. So to day i am out at work and my wife phones my to say my dad is calling round to use a saw, i say OK. I get home to find loads & loads of what looks like smoke from my garage ??? my dad is only using the grinder in the garage to cut some flags ready to fit at his house????. LETS JUST SAY I WENT MAD as all my stuff has about 5mm of dust on it EG DVRS cameras panels paper work ETC. i spent the rest of the day with the hoover. argh NOT GOOD ( Rant Over )

My Training engineer Colin R. and i were installing a catenary wire between 2 buildings which went fine until we attached the cable to it and it became to low due to the excess weight. so Colin in his wisdom decided that if he undid the wall bracket he could wrap a couple of turns of wire and then re-attach it, to his surprise and mine he was no longer on the ladders but being propelled thu the air, once he had landed i did'nt know whether to laugh or help him, once he had turned around his face was a picture, at this point i was past the helping stage. Hi Colin, remember ????

That buggered their wrist on the 7AH batteries with the watch on? :'( We have that picture hanging up on our bulletin board now in another country, and I recognized it right away from here.

All the confessions coming out now lol.... Anyone drilled through a wall and have half of the plaster fall off on the other side and had to do your own DIY repair quick smart? Happened to me about 6 years ago - talk about panick

yo all, driving through Lea Valley the road which goes between the 2 big resourviors, hot day crawling along in traffic, windows open. car comming other way flicks a fag out of his window which goes straight down the back of my shirt. well it starts to singe a bit, so i move forward a little trying to remove it, but it rolls further down, move a bit, further down it goes, imagine my pridicament the car is still moving and pressing break causes more pressure on fag and intence burning, handbrake on car is on dash (old morris ccowley) can't get forward to apply it, same for ignition switch to turn off engine. my frantic attemps cause the fag to finally reach point betwe…

Had a request from an engineer to set Pin 8 on Sentinal up as Telephone fault. Simple request, it took a few clicks. However, it didnt end there. He called back, asking what signals the ARC had received. Pretty much a default set 1 fire 2 pa 3 intruder 7 confirmed & all restores ENG: no telephone fault? Me: Nope ENG: oh, well it should have, i've set the digi up to send it. Me: ok, so if its a digi whats it going to send the signal on once the phone lines cut....? ENG: yea but you've set it up your end Me: yes, all set up here & would receive it too, if it was a dual com or red care ENG: naaa its just a digi Me: uses one phone line, to dial the ARC…

Here is the picture A large school, An ADE Ultimate panel, 59 zones in use 5 programe modes, 9 user codes and one shunt lock plus a copy of the system print out from one month before. Lets not forget the reason I was there to change the main softwear chip to enable confirmed signaling. I arrived on site at 3pm down powered the alarm,changed the chip and fully reprogramed the whole system.(all via the keypad) Fully tested, send signals to the monitoring station. Every thing was going great for once. It was only 6pm. Thought it would be a good idea do do a new print out to keep a copy at the office. (Bad thought.... very bad thought!) I pluged the printer onto the pane…

Hello All, just a word of advice if any one is thinking of emigrating to the USA, dont go into the Security Industry. I moved here 5 years ago, after working in the Industry in England, I thought the technology would be more advanced ( wrong ). I worked service for the company I joined here and found out there is no requirement for periodic maintenance.Wireless systems are very popular ( quick and easy to install ) but a nightmare for a service tech. The contacts were put on using double sided tape, the batteries in them quickly wore out. A lot of houses are pre wired at the start of the building process, hence when it comes time to install most of the wires are damage…