Protection One can suck my balls.

[AaronM]

I received a call at 3:34 today from Protection One informing me that a garage sensor had gone off and my alarm was sounding. Nobody was home and I was 10 to 15 minutes away. They asked if I wanted the police dispatched and I said yes. Told them I was on my way and would be there in roughly 10 minutes.

I got home expecting to have cops waiting for me but there were none to be found. I called Protection One back and asked where the police were. THEN they tell me that there is not enough crime in my area for police to respond to alarm calls. WTF? Then they tell me that because of this, they have contracted with a Rent-A-Cop company who has sent a patrol officer. OK, so where is he at? They give me the toll free number for the RAC's. I call them and am put on hold before I can say hello. I waited for 2 minutes, hung up, and called back. Was put on hold for 3 minutes. Hung up, called back...."We're sorry but your call can not be completed at this time" Got that 3 more times. Called back one more time: "Hello, can you hold please?" No, I can't. May I please speak with the company owner? They tell me to hold anyway and away they went.

Dude answers the phone says hes the manager and asks how I can help HIM. I say it's been over half an hour since my alarm company dispatched you. Where is your officer? They tell me they are not sure where he is. He may be stuck in traffic, delayed from weather etc... Then he says "I can't answer your other questions." What other questions? I only asked one.

Anyway, moving on with the story....

3:34pm Protection One calls me.
3:50pm I call Protection One.
4:05pm I finally get through to the rent a cops who tell me officer is on his way.


5:14pm rent a cop rolls in. Almost 2 hours after the alarm. WTF?

I asked the rent a cop what time he was dispatched. He tells me 4:47pm. They didn't even dispatch him until well over an hour AFTER the alarm went off!

WTF am I paying these assholes for?

I've got a signed copy of the rent a cops report with the dispatch and arrival times and will be filing complaints with anybody and everybody I can tomorrow. This is bullshit.

[baddog]

To protect and serve? Not enough crime to send a cop? Interesting.

[Si]

Fucking lazy in Canada man!

Seriously some of the emails i send to clients here don't get back to me for weeks!

Pisses me off big time.

[StuartD]

wow, that is beyond insane but I gotta know.... was the garage ok? false alarm?? Did someone break in or attempt to??

[StuartD]

Originally Posted by mobilefun1987

Fucking lazy in Canada man!

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by StuartD

wow, that is beyond insane but I gotta know.... was the garage ok? false alarm?? Did someone break in or attempt to??

Here's the thing....

I had been out shooting 2 days ago. I had a card table set up in my garage, less than 2 feet from the roll up door, where I was cleaning the guns. I had not finished the job yet so they were still sitting out. My bad.

So, I'm freaking out that somebody has opened my garage door.

A: Did they steal my shit?

B: When I get there, how many cops will be standing around looking at a table full of hardware?

Anyway, turns out it was the door between the garage and the house. It had not been latched fully and a little change of air pressure caused it to pop open.

That door is on a separate zone than the roll up doors. I wish I would have asked for clarification of which door was opened. The thing is, what if this was a real break in?

Guns are locked up now...I'll finish cleaning them one at a time.

[Sly]

Wow. Had this been a real emergency, I can see that things would have been taken care of nicely!

[Si]

Originally Posted by StuartD

I'm serious! the response i get from people over here is terrible.

Models, Clients, anything business related in general no matter what it is. the response times and waiting around is terrible.

[woj]

low crime = cops are bored = they should have checked it out just for fun....

[Sly]

I'm sitting here trying to think of what the crime rate has to do with anything. If the crime rate is low, odds are you have a decent value house and pay a decent amount of property taxes. There should be police available to investigate your situation. In a high crime area, I would think that there would be less police available which would make the rent a cop situation more plausible.

[HorseShit]

I had a stop and take a shit man, was hurting up in my bowels, didn't realize it would piss you off so much

[WiredGuy]

Thats BS that they didn't dispatch police. You wanted police and asked for it and apparently they had no intent on actually sending police? I'd call them out on that outright lie. Rent a cops are useless, they show up whenever they want. They're just there for insurance purposes as a low cost alternative to cops. If they arrive to a burglary, what is he gonna do? Most of them arent even armed.
WG

[riddler]

Originally Posted by mobilefun1987

I'm serious! the response i get from people over here is terrible.

Models, Clients, anything business related in general no matter what it is. the response times and waiting around is terrible.

stfu, you know damn well you a broke ass surfer.

[Donfoolio]

That's funny ironic shit! A gun nut goes out shooting and makes it so his garage does not close properly then has a tiddy attack because cops/security cant show up timely and save him from the big bad alert. Why not whip out your .45 sidearm and put a few slugs in the garage to make sure no bad guys are around? Emotion and logic never go hand in hand. Perhaps owning weapons yet needing "security" from others looks a bit stupid and contradictory to you now?

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by Donfoolio

That's funny ironic shit! A gun nut goes out shooting and makes it so his garage does not close properly then has a tiddy attack because cops/security cant show up timely and save him from the big bad alert. Why not whip out your .45 sidearm and put a few slugs in the garage to make sure no bad guys are around? Emotion and logic never go hand in hand. Perhaps owning weapons yet needing "security" from others looks a bit stupid and contradictory to you now?

As a responsible gun owner you think the right thing for me to do is shoot random holes in my garage?

And you think I'm the nut job?

And since when does owning a weapon have anything to do with people jacking your shit while you are away?

You are appropriately named foolio.

[Iron Fist]

That's what you get for $9.99 protection. It's in the fine print somewhere...

[AaronM]

I need to move to a different trailer park.

Should file a complaint with your PD about not having enough crime.

Should also tell them so in case you truly need them next time, you'll proceed to hire criminals to raise the crime rate in your area, just so if the time you truly need them, they will come right away instead of blowing you off.

[JD]

pop off a couple shots and you'll get a response ;)

[2012]

ADT is pretty good .

[Ozarkz]

Maybe it's good the police didn't show up.

They would'nt have been happy being called to a false alarm and finding your guns out in an unlocked garage.

[Poindexterity]

Originally Posted by AaronM

WTF am I paying these assholes for?

same thing you're paying your taxes and car insurance for...
a false sense of security.

[martinsc]

Originally Posted by JD

pop off a couple shots and you'll get a response ;)

[2012]

Originally Posted by Ozarkz

Maybe it's good the police didn't show up.

They would'nt have been happy being called to a false alarm and finding your guns out in an unlocked garage.

i keep mine next to the bed.

[2012]

just got a new one. I pity the fool that gets past the ADT

[Deej]

Who are you kidding... double wides dont have garages...

I call shinanigans

[Bama]

That's a great news story and embarrassing for your local police department to refuse to respond.

The one thing to check on your part (we have to do it here in my city) is if you have to file your alarm system with your police department or they don't respond to your alarm company when they call in to them.

[pornocruto]

What a fucking joke, id be changing security companies quick fucking smart.

[Mr Pheer]

Originally Posted by Ozarkz

Maybe it's good the police didn't show up.

They would'nt have been happy being called to a false alarm and finding your guns out in an unlocked garage.

He said it was the door between the interior of his home, and the garage. Therefore the garage was not unlocked from the outside. I also have alarm sensors on that same door in my house.

I could be wrong... but I'm not.

[StuartD]

Originally Posted by Mr Pheer

I could be wrong... but I'm not.

My father in law bought me a t-shirt, he said when he saw it, he knew it was perfect for me.. it said "I could be wrong, but I doubt it."

[sicone]

Originally Posted by Mr Pheer

He said it was the door between the interior of his home, and the garage. Therefore the garage was not unlocked from the outside. I also have alarm sensors on that same door in my house.

I could be wrong... but I'm not.

If his garage is attached to the house like mine is, It would have a sensor on the door from the garage into the house just as mine does. A sensor on the entrances from the outside to the inside of the garage as well.

My sensors are wired so they can be monitored by the company I pay (ADT) and they can tell me which sensor it was that was set off. And the company should have informed him exactly what sensor had the connection broken.

On a side note... Hi Aaron

[Nikki_Licks]

Damn! That could have turned out allot worse than it was..... you still have your weapons and photography equipment, so that is a very good thing.
Lucky for you, you were not to far away from home so you could respond to the situation. It's unbelievable that it took that long to get someone out to your house under the circumstances and if it was a break in, they would have been long gone with the goods.

I can't get over the statement "that there is not enough crime in my area for police to respond to alarm calls".....your tax dollars at work
What constitutes a crime?

Glad everything worked out OK

[jay23]

I am trying to find a company in Phoenix, AZ for my house and all these guys are like used car sales guys. They want a 3 year contract signed .

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by jay23

I am trying to find a company in Phoenix, AZ for my house and all these guys are like used car sales guys. They want a 3 year contract signed .

My home was pre-wired for an alarm. It still took them 3 installers and over 8 hours to install. They were not so bad on the initial sales call but when I mentioned video surveillance, they started in like the car salesmen you mentioned.

Yes, I had to sign a 3 year contract too. On top of that I paid around $1300.00 for all the shit they put in here just for the alarm. And for what?

I'm patiently waiting for their local office to open so I can discuss how long they will be sucking my balls for.

[BradM]

Originally Posted by Killswitch

Should file a complaint with your PD about not having enough crime.

Should also tell them so in case you truly need them next time, you'll proceed to hire criminals to raise the crime rate in your area, just so if the time you truly need them, they will come right away instead of blowing you off.

That is exactly what I was going to suggest. You should also find a black friend and move him into the neighborhood, and buy him a Caprice on 22s. Then every time you call the cops cite him as the reason. They will be there in 9 minutes even if it's a 27 minute drive.

[cherrylula]

when our alarm goes off cops are here pretty quick. Somehow it went off once on accident when we first got it (I forget what happened, our mistake I think), the cops were here right away.

and the cops around here are way questionable, but I guess they like the thrill of catching a break in.

[AaronM]

So....6 months credit to my account plus they have put me on a "VIP" list(whatever the hell that means). The owner of the rent a cop company also called me from and told me he would be investigating the situation and that if in fact I was lied to by his manager, the manager would be fired. He claimed he would listen to the call recordings and compare those times with the rent a cops log and report sheets.

Could all be lip service though....I guess we'll find out the next time something happens.

[Pete-KT]

Id be looking for a new alarm company if i was you

[BradM]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Could all be lip service though....I guess we'll find out the next time something happens.

Just call back next week and ask for the manager who jerked you around by name. Then you'll know.

[jay23]

Originally Posted by AaronM

So....6 months credit to my account plus they have put me on a "VIP" list(whatever the hell that means). The owner of the rent a cop company also called me from and told me he would be investigating the situation and that if in fact I was lied to by his manager, the manager would be fired. He claimed he would listen to the call recordings and compare those times with the rent a cops log and report sheets.

Could all be lip service though....I guess we'll find out the next time something happens.

Another option is tell them that you are going to post your experience on the net on sites like yelp.com ....i pulled this on a company that moved by car and damaged it and got them to get their insurance company to pay for the paint job.

[Ozarkz]

Originally Posted by Mr Pheer

He said it was the door between the interior of his home, and the garage. Therefore the garage was not unlocked from the outside. I also have alarm sensors on that same door in my house.

I could be wrong... but I'm not.

That's a good point it may not have been a door accessed from the outside.

The cops still would not have been impressed if they saw any guns in the garage.

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by Ozarkz

That's a good point it may not have been a door accessed from the outside.

The cops still would not have been impressed if they saw any guns in the garage.

Why should I care about impressing cops, or anybody else for that matter?

[PamiebDVD]

You need to check with your local PD to find out what their policy is for responding to home alarms. There are a few cities that have stopped responding to burglar alarms, both in residential homes as well as businesses (and not small cities either).

I used to work in the fire industry (for a manufacturer), and there was a lot of overlap with security. Find out what your local PD has decided to do about alarms. If they've decided to take a 'no response' position - raise hell! In every city where there has been a 'no response' policy in place, the crime rate has gone up.

All that being said...the RAC situation that you encountered was absolute bs!

[Sly]

Originally Posted by AaronM

So....6 months credit to my account plus they have put me on a "VIP" list(whatever the hell that means). The owner of the rent a cop company also called me from and told me he would be investigating the situation and that if in fact I was lied to by his manager, the manager would be fired. He claimed he would listen to the call recordings and compare those times with the rent a cops log and report sheets.

Could all be lip service though....I guess we'll find out the next time something happens.

Sounds like lip service to me. If a "manager" can get fired over one issue, they probably should not have been a manager to begin with.

[Ozarkz]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Why should I care about impressing cops, or anybody else for that matter?

*sigh* I didn't LITERALLY mean impressed.

I can't tell by your location where you are from but countries, states, cities, provinces, etc.. have laws about where and how you keep your guns.

They wouldn't have been impressed and could have fined or charged you.

Now you are going to say you didn't leave any guns out just "Hardware" ok great.. fine I don't care.. haha.. fuck..

[AaronM]

Originally Posted by Ozarkz

*sigh* I didn't LITERALLY mean impressed.

I can't tell by your location where you are from but countries, states, cities, provinces, etc.. have laws about where and how you keep your guns.

They wouldn't have been impressed and could have fined or charged you.

Now you are going to come back and say you didn't leave your guns out.. Just "Hardware" well I don't give a shit I never thought i'd have to defend my comment soo many fucking times.

Obviously I know what you meant.

The guns were in my locked house with a security system. That is more than many gun owners do and more than the law requires.

Fine me? LOL

[RayVega]

Aaron, that is a bunch of bullshit. But not surprising. Customer service fucking sucks these days in every industry. I really cannot believe the bullshit we have to put up with these days especially with the economy. And, you would think these asshole customer service managers would covet their job a little. Unemployment is no fun these days.

Would have been funny to see the cops faces though, you have some impressive hardware (I'm talking about your guns of ).

[Ozarkz]

Originally Posted by AaronM

Fine me? LOL

What are you above the law?

Yes you may be fined depending on how you store your guns according to the law.


(see how annoying that is? )

[DivaShane]

Protection One = Protection None.
I used to work for them way back in the early 90's. The company has a history of making the wrong calls like when they laid off half their staff right before Christmas. That was fun for the rest of us trying to take up the slack. Honestly after working for them and seeing not only how they work but how certain PD's worked with them I wouldn't bother with an alarm system. There was one county in Florida that always took a minimum of 45 minutes just to answer their phone. It could be up to two hours before pd ever showed up to an alarm.

[Snake Doctor]

Originally Posted by AaronM

So....6 months credit to my account plus they have put me on a "VIP" list(whatever the hell that means). The owner of the rent a cop company also called me from and told me he would be investigating the situation and that if in fact I was lied to by his manager, the manager would be fired. He claimed he would listen to the call recordings and compare those times with the rent a cops log and report sheets.

Could all be lip service though....I guess we'll find out the next time something happens.

Out of curiosity, did they send someone to suck your balls?