Maria Gill

They were recommended by someone who had used them 10 years ago and they were local

Yes it is

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.

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

I'm sure you're not. Thank you :-)

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 They said we didn't need to replace the battery as it was in perfect working order

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

T 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.

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

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!