Maria Gill
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Posts posted by Maria Gill
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3 minutes ago, norman said:
@Maria Gill is this the same company who installed the system originally?
Yes it is
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2 hours ago, al-yeti said:
Your all assuming she's correct and engineers isn't .
There is nothing to assume. I have simply stated the facts of what happened and raised a genuine query so it's not a matter of anyone assuming I am correct. I am suggesting that the outage caused issues with the alarm and seeking a response to that. I don't understand what anyone would be assuming I'm correct about. I am not an expert so I have no idea.
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27 minutes ago, PeterJames said:
Or it could be that it was written that way because the customer was not there to show/explain too. (I am not defending the engineer, or the company but engineers and job-sheets are down to interpretation sometimes) We had a Fire alarm takeover recently, the landlord had had one or two false alarms and was unhappy with the incumbent co. We tested everything and replaced the batteries dated 2009 wrote everything clearly on the job-sheet stating that the false alarms may have been down to the batteries that had failed the drop test as well as being 8 years old. The landlord complained saying that the panel was only replaced last year so the batteries were only a year old. We sent a copy of the jobsheet and asked him if the false alarms had stopped, we got a cheque a week later.
Good luck Maria
I Gave a full explanation to three people over the phone explaining what had happened to cause the power outage prior to the engineer calling. He actually left all of the 'dead' batteries he had replaced as well as the rubbish from the new ones and when I dropped them none of them bounced. Thank you very much Peter
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18 minutes ago, sjsturner said:
Good luck with your complaint Maria,
Do remember we are not all bad :-)
18 minutes ago, sjsturner said:Good luck with your complaint Maria,
Do remember we are not all bad :-)
I'm sure you're not. Thank you :-)
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26 minutes ago, al-yeti said:
Ok can we see the invoice please , omit his details want to see comments
The invoice states:
Job description: Get alarm up and running
Comments:
* alarm not working due to not being serviced
* wireless devices had flat batteries
* nothing to do with mains being turned off
35 minutes ago, al-yeti said:Yeah they didn't change the battery on install , I wouldn't mind seeing the paper of why that occurred to , seems to me it was going to fail
One thing OP if he tested the main battery and it wasn't on your part to save money then it should be on the first invoice why it wasn't changed how he tested or if it was customer choice ?
Certificate doesn't prove anything on this situation , reality check think BBC call it
They said we didn't need to replace the battery as it was in perfect working order
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35 minutes ago, al-yeti said:
How about you put his invoice online here where we can see his comments , you can omit his details
You have been explained why it might not restart, you already stated they didn't replace a battery on initial replacement and your just going in circles , no offence intended , but your not saying much different than many other customers who don't service there equipment , it's all about cost at the end of the day , just like some don't service there cars until something goes wrong
No disrespect intended but we're not going in circles. Again no disrespect intended but I think you're missing the point. It's not about servicing or cost or being advised when we had the new system installed less than two years ago that we should keep our original battery as it was in perfect condition, it is about being told that the power outage had absolutely nothing to do with the alarm stopping working or the wireless lithium batteries failing at the exact same time. We just want a plausible explanation for the equipment failing. If it's not fit for purpose we want rid. We don't want a faulty system and we don't want a system that will not restore itself if the sensor batteries fail in another power outage (eg a power cut). On the balance of probabilities what is the likelihood of these events occurring at the exact moment in time? Very slim if not impossible I would say but I'm not an alarm engineer hence the original post. Thank you for your comments
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Thank you all for your kind assistance and comments. I will complain to the relevant body. The reason I posted in the first place was for feedback before making any such complaint. I obviously am not an alarm engineer, and regardless of whether it should have been serviced after 21 months, the engineer's explanation did not make sense and we feel it has been handled appallingly and that somewhere along the line we have been taken advantage of. At the end of the day, it's not about the cost, It's more about the principle of it and making sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. I'm not going to spend anymore time on this other than to make the complaint and provide a copy of the inappropriately drawn up invoice to the relevant body. Life is too short and there are far more important things to bother about but, again, as a matter of principle a complaint needs to be made. No disrespect intended but we will now find it very difficult to trust an alarm engineer. I appreciate you all taking the time out to comment and offer advice and hope I have not offended any of you by losing my trust as you have all been extremely helpful and obviously provide a sterling service. I'm quite sure this firm is probably a one off but once bitten twice shy. Once again, thank you all very much indeed.
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3 minutes ago, al-yeti said:
You stated they didn't replace the battery, cost saving excercise but even new batteries have been know to fail
Garages can charge Upto £65p/h or more dentists for 10mins even more to the nhs which you contribute to
What is there to understand ?
The battery will fail after a number of hours , some won't allow the system to restart , a service would have picked up possibly battery going faulty , although I would have insisted it should be new
Now you have new battery disconnect the mains it should hold for good 8 hours depending on system long lengths of time will discharge it to a point it would t restart system
We don't have a new mains battery. That was fine. He replaced 5 lithium batteries for the sensors which miraculously went flat at the exact moment the outside underground cable was damaged by the neighbours builders. What I don't understand is how he can claim the failure of the system was nothing to do with the underground cable being cut. You have to look at the picture as a whole and the way this has been dealt with, as explained in my earlier lengthy post. Thank you for your reponse
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13 minutes ago, sixwheeledbeast said:
I agree, I don't know the CPX well enough to know if polling would be an issue.
However, if polling where a part of the issue then I would say it's likely all the radio batteries would fail and need replacing.
It's more likely the system locked up when the power was restored as PJ says.
To move forward if you feel you have a complaint ask to speak to someone at the company and explain, if this does not give you a satisfactory resolution take it up with there inspectorate if approved.
Finally take a service contract up with another company that support your system, having a system without one is only asking for grief in the long run.
Thank you for your response. My earlier post explains what happened when I asked the engineer for an explabnation. It doesn't make good reading. Apologies for its length but I needed to explain everything so that folk will understand why I'm aggrieved and why I don't trust the alarm company or the engineer
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I must point out that from beginning I have received an absolutely appalling service from the firm In question. It took 10 phone calls on day one to arrange a visit , with their phone system not working properly. I spoke to 4 different women, each of whom gave me conflicting information. I confirmed the time someone could be there on the following day to let them in and they left me a voicemail message confirming it had been booked in at a totally different time than I had said. They phoned again to tell me it would be £25 for one battery, then called again to say the first woman had got it wrong and it would in fact be £50 for two batteries. This was all whilst I was at work and having to sneak out to take/make calls. I was exasperated at this point and pointed out that I was appalled at the way it was being handled. I asked one lady her name and she abruptly said ''it was Kim' clearly pointing out that she had already told me her name and yes, I know it was rude of me, but I said 'isn't it still Kim?' I was so fed up by this point. I had taken emergency leave the day before whilst a 5 foot by 2 foot deep hole was dug through my block paving, I had lost a freezer and fridge full of food and was now spending half my day trying to get someone out to look at my alarm. On day two when the visit had been arranged and my son changed his plans so he would be home, I received a call from the company asking for payment of £104 by card or they wouldn't attend. I said my son had been left cash and I didn't have my bank card to pay on the phone. They said they couldn't attend. I contacted my neighbour who had previously said he would pay as it was his builders who had caused all the problems. He made several calls over two hours to make payment on his card, experiencing tha same probl ms I had, and left me a message to say it was paid but they wouldn't commit to a time. I had to call them again to confirm the time. Again, this took a lot of time and about 10 calls on day two. It gets worse. As I said the invoice blamed lack of service causing the alarm failure and it went so far as to even say it was not due to power failure. I went to the alarm shop at the weekend and asked for the invoice to be reissued without the comment. I also asked if he could explain why he believed that the power outage had absolutely nothing to do with the alarm failure. He couldn't and was extremely rude and intimidating. I was perfectly pleasant and polite explaining that I just required an explanation as I needed to be able to rely on the system. He so happened to be the engineer that had attended. He said it wasn't the builders fault so they shouldn't have to pay and it was my fault. I told him I hadn't asked for any such opinion which he had no right to make and he said I was lucky he came out after how rude I had been to the staff ( believe me I hadn't considering!) . He then lied about my son saying he had been extremely rude to him when he attended the property. My son is 24 (probably same age as engineer) and was with his dad at the property and all he said was "hello, come in, can I get you anything?" And " thank you, bye". The engineer finished with "Get out of this shop". I was absolutely mortified by all of it. I had to stop my husband and several friends from going back to the shop as I think such individuals are dangerous and things would have just escalated with him telling more lies. It's all been so stressful and he had me in tears so I left the shop before letting him see me like that. Sorry for the long post but you might now all understand why I don't trust anything that has been said to me by the alarm provider/engineer. Thank you all very much indeed for your kind responses and assistance.
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18 hours ago, Hillbilly said:
Remember on the CPX the system needs time to recharge the battery up to 11.8v and over to function or you will get Batt/Fuse fault.
£114 to get the system serviced and new batteries is about the standard price Imo.
Yes that's the message we got but when the main battery recharged we had no choice but to call an engineer as it still wouldn't work. He said it was our fault for not replacing the wireless batteries which were dead. It wasn't our fault. The system was working perfectly fine until the power outage.
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13 hours ago, sixwheeledbeast said:
From what I gather on your posts above I would say:-
Not many systems are designed to last 30 hours with no power.
If the control panel battery is exhausted then your system may not power back up when the mains restores.
Your sensor batteries are separate from the mains failure/control panel battery failure, if they where failing you will never truly know now.
I would recommend radio sensors batteries are replace annually, they never last as long as the manufacturer claims.
There is no way I wouldn't recommand a full service to a non-maintained customer if it had not been serviced within 12 months.
If this isn't explained you'll be back again within 12 months to swap the batteries and the customer would expect this to be FOC.
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1 minute ago, Maria Gill said:5 wireless sensors I'm guessing with 5 batteries having been replaced. I just don't understand why the system didn't kick back in once the main battery recharged after the outside cable was repaired. He's absolutely adamant that the power outage was nothing to do with the system failure. We're now concerned that should there be a power failure again, the system won't kick back in once the main battery is recharged. None of it makes sense to be honest. What are the odds on the wireless sensor batteries failing at the exact same time as the power outage? Many thanks for your reply
The engineer said that the main battery had recharged itself and was fine but the wireless sensor batteries were dead due to not having had a service. A bit too much of a coincidence that they failed at the exact same time that the power was cut. As I said I don't believe that was the issue. Too much of a coincidence. We had no choice other than to call an engineer. We would not have purchased the system if it could fail in this way as its not fit for purpose. I get that it was off for 30 hours which is probably highly unusual but nontheless the main battery did recharge so it should have kicked back in. We don't want a system that, for want of a better word, is so 'flakey'. We also set it at night and not just whenever we're out and not just for security but also to comfort our son, because we were burgled in our last house when he was 5 and it caused night terrors that lasted 10 years.
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13 hours ago, james.wilson said:
I don't know the gear but was it all sensors or just 1 or 2
5 wireless sensors I'm guessing with 5 batteries having been replaced. I just don't understand why the system didn't kick back in once the main battery recharged after the outside cable was repaired. He's absolutely adamant that the power outage was nothing to do with the system failure. We're now concerned that should there be a power failure again, the system won't kick back in once the main battery is recharged. None of it makes sense to be honest. What are the odds on the wireless sensor batteries failing at the exact same time as the power outage? Many thanks for your reply
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It's not the price that is bothering me so much as the engineer saying the damaged outside electric cable had absolutely nothing to do with the system failure. That's far too much of a coincidence. He also put that on the invoice and also put that the failure was due to the system not being serviced and that the sensor batteries had failed because of lack of service. He had no right to put any of that. There is no way they are not connected. Cable gets damaged by builders resulting in power outage for nearly 30 hours and that is the reason for the alarm failure - not because it wasn't serviced after its first year. I just don't believe him and I need someone to explain how it could be sheer coincidence that these things happened at exactly the same time? I need a plausible answer please!
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18 minutes ago, al-yeti said:
doesnt make sense for them not to provide a new system battery if replacing main controls
however doesnt change the fact most would change all the sensor batteries and the system battery at this stage and £104 cheap fix
i seen some come back and say sorry panel or wireless repeater has been spiked i have to put a new one in cost total now £450 again , so he did well on that charge
Thank you for your reply however it still doesn't explain how the cut cable and alarm failure were in no way connected or why it didn't come back on once power was restored. Thank you any way
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Thank you all for your replies however I'm still none the wiser as to why the main battery didn't kick back in to make the alarm work once electricity was restored. There wasn't a fault with the alarm per se and there wasn't a repair. The underground cable was cut which resulted in the power outage. There is no way that that wasn't related to the alarm problems we experienced. Call me dumb but I just don't understand why it didn't come back on or why sensor batteries that were less than 2 years old suddenly ran out at the exact moment in time that the outside cable was cut. It' has to be all connected. I see no logic in any of it. I appreciate you all taking the time to comment though
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1 hour ago, al-yeti said:
Being a house basher it sounds about right
Regardless of power outage I would do the same change batteries in sensor and any others that need it
£450 is cheap for the system
And £104 for the repair is a very good price
Thank you for your reply. They upgraded the old (different) system when we bought it so they didn't provide the main battery hence the cost. I personally don't think it was a good price as it takes them less than 5 minutes to get to our house and it took less than 10 minutes to replace the batteries. That's all they did. It wasn't a repair. I don't understand how the 30 hour power outage could possibly have had no bearing on the system failing. I can understand the main battery running out because 30 hours is such a long time but when it recharged after having been reconnected to the electricity supply why didn't the system work? We were told the sensor batteries would last 2 to 3 years not 21 months. It's too much of a coincidence that the sensor batteries failed at the exact same time that the underground electricity cable was cut by the builders. There had been no issues whatsoever before that. I genuinely believe there is more to it but I don't know the answer. Having said that it concerns me that the sensor batteries can stop the whole system from working. That can't be right. What if they failed whilst on holiday?
1 hour ago, al-yeti said:Being a house basher it sounds about right
Regardless of power outage I would do the same change batteries in sensor and any others that need it
£450 is cheap for the system
And £104 for the repair is a very good price
Just now, Maria Gill said:Thank you for your reply. They upgraded the old (different) system when we bought it so they didn't provide the main battery hence the cost. I personally don't think it was a good price as it takes them less than 5 minutes to get to our house and it took less than 10 minutes to replace the batteries. That's all they did. It wasn't a repair. I don't understand how the 30 hour power outage could possibly have had no bearing on the system failing. I can understand the main battery running out because 30 hours is such a long time but when it recharged after having been reconnected to the electricity supply why didn't the system work? We were told the sensor batteries would last 2 to 3 years not 21 months. It's too much of a coincidence that the sensor batteries failed at the exact same time that the underground electricity cable was cut by the builders. There had been no issues whatsoever before that. I genuinely believe there is more to it but I don't know the answer. Having said that it concerns me that the sensor batteries can stop the whole system from working. That can't be right. What if they failed whilst on holiday?
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1 hour ago, al-yeti said:Being a house basher it sounds about right
Regardless of power outage I would do the same change batteries in sensor and any others that need it
£450 is cheap for the system
And £104 for the repair is a very good price
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I would appreciate it greatly if someone could advise me about an issue with the above system. We purchased this system 21 months ago which has worked fine up until neighbouring builders disturbed an underground electricity cable. We were left without electricity for approximately 30 hours until National Grid dug up our garden to resolve the issue. The alarm did not kick back in despite power being restored and the installer said it was nothing to do with the electricity cable being cut but that the failure was down to the system not having been serviced so the sensor batteries had gone flat. Call me cynical but that is a massive coincidence. Anyway, apparently the main battery was fine so he said he only had to replace the sensor batteries (5 small Panasonic lithium batteries for which he charged £50, plus call out (total £104 which we want off the builders)).
I was told over the phone that we would need two batteries at £25 each. I understood that the wireless batteries lasted two to three years. Is this correct? Also, why didn't the alarm start working again when electricity was restored? The engineer is adamant that it is our fault for not having a yearly service but I just see this a ruse to get more money out of us. Again, call me cynical! We have never had issues with previous (different) alarm systems and had one for 10 and another for 15 years with no problems. We have no intention of paying £104 a year to those guys to replace batteries when we paid £450 for the system.
Was as it the power failure (cut cables) that caused this or was it the wireless batteries (coincidentally) running out at the exact same time that caused the issue with the system? We just don't understand why the system did not kick back in when power was restored.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks
Risco eurosec CPX wireless alarm system
in Control Panels (Public)
Posted
They were recommended by someone who had used them 10 years ago and they were local