My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

[Mirch]

They say that since my alarm panel was hit by lightning I will have to pay to replace it as the contract I signed does not cover the act of God.

They are right about Act of God not covered by their contract but they will have hard time proving that panel was hit by lightning.

Their technician said that there was a power surge in our electrical system due to lightning strike but how does he know that the surge was due to lightning ?

In that case it is not a lightning which is to be blamed but electrical problem which is covered under their warranty.

The alarm panel is located in the most safe closet/cupboard of the house. Nothing is exposed to outside elements. So this panel will not be hit by lightning in any manner.

Now can some scientist/physicist/electrical engineer explain to me here that if the lightning struck my electrical system then the power surge would be so strong that it would fry some other electrical and electronic items too. Right ?

I googled and found that other customers also were ripped off by this company for exact same reason. But I do not know why those gullible people did not pose these questions to that company ?

How wrong am I in this case ? How can I fight this alarm company. I am bound by a 5 year contract rate with this company two more years are remaining. Can I blame the company for breach of contract and get out of this contract if they refuse to prove to me that the panel was damaged by a surge cause by lightning ? How can they prove that only one small chip was fried by power surge caused by lightning ?

Help me out people and give me some ideas before I make that phone call to their customer service department tomorrow afternoon.

[Mabrook]

Re: My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

hmmm...thats tricky. wat do u mean by bounding for 5 yrs? can u not swtich over to some other company.
ok do ur homework n then tell them
prove it was hit by outside element or change it.
or
i'll take it to court.
or
i'll finsih the contract n tell others how bad ur customer service is!

[Mabrook]

Re: My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

Also try hiring some electrician or some tech n take 2nd opinions.

[lil_ash]

Re: My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

tell em u did ur research and it cannot be possible thaat its struck by lighnting, now either change the alarm on ur expenses or ur sueing. ant tell em u got other customers of their wit same prob baking u up. I'm sure they will listen. take it to court dude

[Spock]

@Mirch

Their technician said that there was a power surge in our electrical system due to lightning strike but how does he know that the surge was due to lightning ?

In that case it is not a lightning which is to be blamed but electrical problem which is covered under their warranty.

The alarm panel is located in the most safe closet/cupboard of the house. Nothing is exposed to outside elements. So this panel will not be hit by lightning in any manner.

Now can some scientist/physicist/electrical engineer explain to me here that if the lightning struck my electrical system then the power surge would be so strong that it would fry some other electrical and electronic items too. Right ?

I googled and found that other customers also were ripped off by this company for exact same reason. But I do not know why those gullible people did not pose these questions to that company ?

How wrong am I in this case ? How can I fight this alarm company. I am bound by a 5 year contract rate with this company two more years are remaining. Can I blame the company for breach of contract and get out of this contract if they refuse to prove to me that the panel was damaged by a surge cause by lightning ? How can they prove that only one small chip was fried by power surge caused by lightning ?

Help me out people and give me some ideas before I make that phone call to their customer service department tomorrow afternoon.

This is an interesting scenario mirch...

Just to give you an insight, I design industrial electronics and know the inside outs out of isolation barriers, and alot of it has to do with lightning strikes. Firstly, that technician who told you that your panels toast because of a lightning strike might seem like hes making stuff up, but it could be and is probably true. You said your equipment is covered and lightning could not have struck the proximity. However, lightning strikes are usually nearby (most likely a transformer) and they send distributed surgewaves and cause damage. So in essence, the lightning must have struck somewhere else but still ended up damaging your equipment. Now we design a product that we do actually replace/repair in case of a lightning strike though we are not bound to. We do it solely because most of our clients are pretty big names and we would want to retain their business. In your scenario you are just one of the many home owners they service so they might not be willing to write that damage off. Now again, its not our fault as lightning strikes are pretty random and an 'act of god' and no matter how well our equipment is designed, we can only design it to protect a user from the surge but not to save it from total damage. As a consumer and a homeowner, I am with you, but as a design engineer I am compelled to side with that company whose refusing to budge in on this.

p.s. did they tell you its recommended to put some surge protectors to the system? if not, you have a way to convince them its their negligence in warning you that resulted in tihs.

[Mirch]

@Spock

This is an interesting scenario mirch...

Just to give you an insight, I design industrial electronics and know the inside outs out of isolation barriers, and alot of it has to do with lightning strikes. Firstly, that technician who told you that your panels toast because of a lightning strike might seem like hes making stuff up, but it could be and is probably true. You said your equipment is covered and lightning could not have struck the proximity. However, lightning strikes are usually nearby (most likely a transformer) and they send distributed surgewaves and cause damage. So in essence, the lightning must have struck somewhere else but still ended up damaging your equipment. Now we design a product that we do actually replace/repair in case of a lightning strike though we are not bound to. We do it solely because most of our clients are pretty big names and we would want to retain their business. In your scenario you are just one of the many home owners they service so they might not be willing to write that damage off. Now again, its not our fault as lightning strikes are pretty random and an 'act of god' and no matter how well our equipment is designed, we can only design it to protect a user from the surge but not to save it from total damage. As a consumer and a homeowner, I am with you, but as a design engineer I am compelled to side with that company whose refusing to budge in on this.

p.s. did they tell you its recommended to put some surge protectors to the system? if not, you have a way to convince them its their negligence in warning you that resulted in tihs.

Thanks for your insight. they did not recommend any surge protector that is one of my lines of arguments.

Also all the wiring and installation related to alarm was done by this alarm company and they did not include a surge protector so it is their fault anyway.

Now answer this. How can an integrated circuit cost that alarm company 495 dollars where as I can buy a decent laptop these days with many bells and whistles for much less than that ?

I would still say that the company is trying to rip me off as they have ripped many customers previously. There is some design defect in that panel and they do not recommend and install surge protectors to make some extra bucks this way to keep company profitable.
Since it is first house I ever bought so I did not know the pitfalls of how the alarm companies work and I signed a long term contract with them inadvertently to get a good monthly rate.

[Spock]

Thanks for your insight. they did not recommend any surge protector that is one of my lines of arguments.

Also all the wiring and installation related to alarm was done by this alarm company and they did not include a surge protector so it is their fault anyway.

Now answer this. How can an integrated circuit cost that alarm company 495 dollars where as I can buy a decent laptop these days with many bells and whistles for much less than that ?

I would still say that the company is trying to rip me off as they have ripped many customers previously. There is some design defect in that panel and they do not recommend and install surge protectors to make some extra bucks this way to keep company profitable. Since it is first house I ever bought so I did not know the pitfalls of how the alarm companies work and I signed a long term contract with them inadvertently to get a good monthly rate.

Yeah, I guess they are charging you 'retail' which they shouldnt considering your special situation, I mean if its not a warranty replacement, they should at least cut the cost down! They are doing exactly what most cell phone companies do, sign you up for 1-2 years locking you in a contract and giving you a great phone at a subsidized price. However, if you break or lose the phone, they'll charge you the outright price for a replacement.

If I were you, I'd stick to the fact that they never recommended or included any surge protection. Tell them as a consumer you didn't know about lightning strikes and have never had any equipment affected by it and it was their job, to inform you about it. Most states have their own electrical standards and bylaws, but most of them require you tell you about it, which they didnt obviously. Tell them if they dont, you'll contact the better busines bureau and inform them about this unpleasant experience in dealing with the. That should be enough to set their pants on fire and give you a free replacement.

[Mabrook]

Re: My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

wow Spock that's Gr8 advice. Good luck Mirch. i hope this works out.IA

[Mirch]

Yeah, I guess they are charging you 'retail' which they shouldnt considering your special situation, I mean if its not a warranty replacement, they should at least cut the cost down! They are doing exactly what most cell phone companies do, sign you up for 1-2 years locking you in a contract and giving you a great phone at a subsidized price. However, if you break or lose the phone, they'll charge you the outright price for a replacement.

If I were you, I'd stick to the fact that they never recommended or included any surge protection. Tell them as a consumer you didn't know about lightning strikes and have never had any equipment affected by it and it was their job, to inform you about it. Most states have their own electrical standards and bylaws, but most of them require you tell you about it, which they didnt obviously. Tell them if they dont, you'll contact the better busines bureau and inform them about this unpleasant experience in dealing with the. That should be enough to set their pants on fire and give you a free replacement.

Thanks for your great help Spock. I would stick to the surge protection not provided or recommended , which is true.

[Punjabee_in_USA]

Re: My alarm company is trying to rip me off.

^ If you have homeowners insurance, talk to your insurance company. They will pay to replace the panel. The security companies (atleast the big ones like ADT, Brinks etc) do not budge.

P.S. Speaking from personal experience :)

[Mirch]

^ If you have homeowners insurance, talk to your insurance company. They will pay to replace the panel. The security companies (atleast the big ones like ADT, Brinks etc) do not budge.

P.S. Speaking from personal experience :)

Please do share your experience. My home insurance has 1000 dollars deductible. I will fight to the end.
I am finding out when it comes to customer service and sales tactics the alarm companies suck.

[Spock]

I will fight to the end.

Thats the way to go! This panel to them costs just peanuts to build, and as part of customer appreciation they should be able to do this for you in a jiffy.