please can you help me how to deal with this, can i get a refund or do anything.

If it was me - I would turn the power on and keep the 2nd battery as a spare for next time the battery does go flat. Move on.

 

Do you expect security companies to diagnose a fault over the phone for free? They book a tech to attend site, its how their business stays in business.

 

And if it should have been that obvious, why didn't resident/occupant check?

 

i dont think its ok to say that 20 years is a good run for any appliance
becuse this alarm is ONLY deteriorating because it was done badly and just dumpedon the floor of the ceiling with badwiring in the first place
and i wasnt told for years because its batteries dont need changing that often and maye the first few times the company who did it changed them and so they werent going to tell me that it was done really really really badly

 

he never checked the fuse box nor the battery not even when he was here even with what i was saying that its unusual for my alarm to need the battery changed so soon

telling me to check the electric box is not diagnosing for free
its obvious to them that i should check that before they come out and before they charge and change things that dont need changing
he didnt even check this when he arrived he just changed and charged a perfectly good battery

to him its obvious he deals with these things daily
so if i'm saying the battery doesnt usually need changing so ofren, he should,be immediately telling me to just make sure the electric box is fully on that nothing has tripped before he comes out to repair the alarm

theres no diagnosis or troubleshooting involved in this
he deals with this daily, i dont, so to him it would be obvious to tell me to make sure of this before he comes out,
instead of coming out and changing and charging for things that didnt need changing i was saying on the phone that its strange that they would need changing. and even without me saying that he would have enough experience to get poeple to just check their fuses arent down beforehe comes out and changes perfectly good batteries.

he never checked the fuse box nor the battery not even when he was here even with what i was saying that its unusual for my alarm to need the battery changed so soon

 

he deals with these daily

if ii'm saying that its unusual for my battery to need changing so soon
then instead of negating that and being sure that it does need changing so soon,

he would have known to tell me to simply had to check the electric box
he wouldnt have to be an electrician and nor would i to do this one second peak at the electric box

its something an alarm guy should tell me especially if i'm saying that the battery shouldnt be needing changing so soon.

he didnt even check the electricity or the battery when he came out which seems strange. and which means i still have the problem and have paid for a battery when mine was ok.

 

@justine77 you need to get over it. You asked for opinions and you got them. If you don't want to agree with people's opinions then don't but don't argue with them about it when you asked.
If you feel that the charge is unwarranted then take it up with them tomorrow when they open.
Stop arguing with people here. It's annoying and no one will reply to your threads if you keep on with it.

 

my friend who is a geek kept the battery. would it really be good still for next time?

 

In your first post you said you phoned and asked the alarm company to change the battery. They did. You got the service you asked for.

It was only after this did not solve the problem that you are looking for other causes.

This is a separate issue.

You cannot blame the original service.

Any why care if one person or three came, so long as they did what you asked. We have had a tiler bring his young son along as there were last minute child care problems.
Marg

 

thanks marg,he is the expert and knows this
i'm the novice left trying in hindsight to work out what happened.

I realise in hindsight that

he completely ignored what i said right from the begiining before he came out

and he never checked anything despite what i had said

andhe came and changed and charged me for something something that never needed doing despite what i was saying.

as an expert he should have listened and known to check or toldmeto check
as anovicei'm left trying to figure it all out in hindsight

i felt that two people might be normal to come out at times, , three adults i personally found was a bit much, i found it overwhelming and distracting.
.but thats a minor side issue

 

You keep saying that the battery wouldn't need changing 'so soon'.

How long ago was it changed?

 

This

And this.

 

i'm really grateful for all the posts thanks you

.

 

Typically, one can drive the van, one can read/write and the other diagnoses the fault.

I don't have a 21st birthday emoji for it.

You have had 21 years to replace/fix up the manhole why is it still small?

21 years for a battery is pretty good.

If the lights on the unit/console are powered, there is power at the unit.

He wasn't asked to diagnose just to work to the client's instructions ie battery replacement.

See above, lights on the panel were working.

Are you related to @fullylucky or @darlinghurstboy ?

 

thanks scott for all that clarification which was very helpful and much appreciated
and thanks everyone for helpful info comments, and advice. its been very supportive and given me food to think about.
i dont know if it can be said that he was fully working on my instructions because on that initial call i was clearly saying that its strange for my alarm to need a battery change so soon which should have been heard and followed up not ignored. and negated. ( scott i said i had the alarm for 21 years not the battery lol)

if a novice says to a plumber,
'my taps are dripping, my taps or/and my water system need to be changed, but its strange as they are quite new'

No plumber acting professionally would just go replacing the taps and/or the water system. The expert plumber would know its probably simply the washers and they would check the washers which are substantially cheaper. They would check, they wouldnt just follow ideas of a novice

otherwise with taps and water system changed but the washers still faulty , the tap would still be dripping and they'd have angry customers .

Experts dont just follow instructions of novices at face value especially if the novice is giving other info that would cause inquiry.

its the job of the expert to check and give the full story especially if the customer is saying things that should be leading to further checks and questions.

anyway i' m very grateful, i've learnt something with every post,

either way i'm grateful to the guys for coming out when i thought i needed them

thanks scott for explaining why if they can come with 3 people they would and about the lights on the panel etc etc.

all the comments have helped clarify many things for either side . I"m very grateful.

 

Scott no mates
Are you saying that the control panel of the alarm where I turn it on or off was working so electricity was ok and he wouldn’t have known otherwise ?

the control panel was on so how could control panel b on yet alarm battery wasn’t getting electric power ? Are they on different. Circuits ? This is all strange and my electricity is still tripping which was the real problem

battery didn’t need changing and we live and learn
I’m still extremely grateful that they came out fast . if I needed to do anything with alarms or recommend someone I’d absokutely use them
Maybe my instructions caused this mistake maybe we were both st fault somewhat maybe it was an unoreventsble misunderstanding .
I’m sorry if i came across as arguing too much . I guess I was frustrated and felt strongly about important info I’d said in initial call that might have prevented all this but that info was negated instead of followed up



Sorry

 

@justine77 - the panel which is used to turn the alarm on usually has several lights - this shows that there's power from the alarm module.

There's usually similar lights inside the box/on the box to indicate power status.

Battery may not charge for several reasons including a loose terminal/wire or battery failure/module failure inside the alarm affecting charging.

The alarm is single phase 240v, only ever on one circuit. If the circuit is still tripping an appliance on the same circuit is faulty. Unplug the alarm to check if there's still a fault (or unplug everything on the circuit and plug each one back in/turn on until it triggers the fault. Start with the alarm if you think that's the faulty appliance).

 

Thank u
The alarm was installed in the roof so I don’t think I can unplug it .

I probably will eventually have to look for what’s on the same circuit and unplug things or maybe it’s on a different circuit and tripping all electricity as blue main switch is tripping

Tripped a few times today

 

Alarms are usually plugged into a GPO. It would be rare for an electrician to have hard-wired the unit but I have seen it done once.

 

And if you got home and the lights didnt work, what would you do
The poor tech, is only going on the information YOU supplied
Did you not check the power breakers
Do you work, is your phone, computer, TV 20 years old (still running a BETA vcr )..........
At 20yo it is comparable to taking a canary into a coal mine
I'd tell you to buy a new system for $100 and not even attend site
I shoved all my alarm wires in the wall and plastered over, then put in a CCTV system
You would be foolish to think that a 20yo "high tech" system is any better than a childs today today