WHAT IS AN ALARM DEALER?

Some people use the term alarm dealer to describe any company in the alarm business. But the type of alarm dealer that we are referring to here are companies which have their own legal name, and may be locally operated, but they actually locate new clients with the express purpose of re-selling them to a larger company.

In Victoria ADT and Voxcom each have a main office as well as separate offices run by authorized “dealers”. The relationship between the “parent” company and a “dealer” is usually as follows;

• a) The alarm dealer works exclusively with the parent company, all of the dealer’s clients will eventually pass to the parent company.
• b) The dealer solicits new clients by advertising under their own name but also displaying the parent company’s name. The dealer has the client sign a contract for services with the parent company.
• c) The dealer installs the system and connects it to the parent company’s monitoring station. The dealer is then paid a flat fee by the parent company for the client. In some cases a small recurring residual fee may be paid to the dealer as long as the client continues to subscribe to the parent company’s service.
• d) For a set time (about 3 to 6 months) the dealer must provide repair service to the client, after this period the dealer is no longer responsible for the client. From then on the parent company provides any further repair service required by the client.

In most cases the parent companies do not control the product selection or installation methods used by their dealers. Many dealers use sub-contract labour (installers who get paid a flat fee for each device they install, rather than being paid by the hour). In addition to this the dealer knows that they will not have to provide long term service for the client. These factors increase your chances of receiving sub-standard products which are poorly installed.

If you decide to use ADT, Voxcom, or another national or multi-national company it may be preferable to deal directly with the main office rather than through a dealer. In the end it is the parent company that you are signing a contract with, and whose services you will be receiving.

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Pandora Dental Group

I first had Quality Alarms monitor the alarm system in my house because of their low rate and I wasn’t asked to lock into a contract. Since that time, I have had them install an alarm system in my rental property and also switched the monitoring of our dental office. I do not hesitate to recommend them to anyone looking for an alarm system or looking to save money on alarm monitoring.

Stan L.