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Many happy clients

Fri, 09 Jul 2010 05:01:00 -0400

I recently installed an alarm for a gentleman near York after one of his neighbours was burgled. Nothing exceptional in that you may think

then another burglary occured and I was invited to install a further two to the community. Then suddenly work snowballed as more

and more residents asked for their properties to be covered too.

Ok normal so far except..

The community was an aged community all pensioners on fixed incomes. The first alarm was installed for less than £300 and some

subsequest alarms for only just over £200. All were delighted as proven by the rapid uptake and referals meaning up to 4 alarms a day were

being installed and a total of 22 seperate clients have been seen to date securing 22 properties with either alarms or high security police approved replacement locks.

The point I would like to make is that these 22 residents would not have secured their homes if they had only been aware of the first quotes given to the first resident. A quote by respected company in York came in at £900. This would have been too expensive for the residents on

their fixed incomes but by using my services many more residents were able to take up my services. Indeed while I was installing another property was burgled making three for that tight nit community.

With a money back guarantee , an excellent product and a 100% customer satisfaction record I offered the most cost effective way to secure their homes.

They didn't need to spend massive amounts or tie themselves up with expensive monitoring contracts to get an effective security system.

As can be seen by the events above.

The other bonus to me was that they were a very friendly bunch of people and shared many stories and cups of tea to make my working days enjoyable. A great result all round.

Busy busy week. Everyone loves my alarms

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 04:09:00 -0400

Had a really busy last week that involved installing alarms on every day of the week including Saturday. A full week of Yale alarm installations for grateful clients.

Some prompted by homeowners who will be visiting relatives abroad for up to a month , Some by people adding an alarm to a home renovation and some prompted by burglaries to near neighbours and one prompted by a gentleman taking up my offer to install the alarms for anyone buying a Yale alarm from Homebase.

His was an exceptionally wise purchase as the Premium alarm was on offer at Homebase and he got it at a discounted price from an already low price with 20% discount plus a further 15%.

When I installed it for him for my flat fee of £95 the whole system including my installation cost had only come to £245, An absolute bargain for a fully installed Premium telecommunicating system.

Homebase have kindly allowed me to offer my unstallation expertise to clients who buy Yale alarms from them in the West and North Yorkshire Stores.

All my clients were delighted with the price of the instalations and have referred me to their friends and family for which I am extremely grateful.

Community Safety Alarm

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:35:00 -0500

I have been thrilled to develop a Community Safety Alarm.

Although only getting inspiration for the system very recently I am extremely proud to have installed three already.

Not only that but there is unanimous praise for the system from all parties concerned wether that is the recipients or the families that require their installation.

What is it? Basically in as few words as possible... An external siren linked to a panic button and a smoke detector. The external siren is activated either by the deliberate press of a panic button or automatically by a smoke detector.

This alerts neighbours in the vicinity who have been informed of the alarms purpose.

This way any calls for assistance or activations of the alarm will not go unheeded.

Its an modern wireless take on an old system allowing vunerable people to raise assistance if they are taken ill , have fallen , feel threatened etc,

It also brings a little community spirit back into the world.. which is no bad thing.

I have taken the idea to Community Safety Agencies and it has been extremely well recieved with talks of possible funding.

Who can it help? Your parents , your grandparents , Your aunts uncles or even a neighbour of yours who you feel is frail.

see all about it here

http://www.fastalarms.co.uk/communityalarm.htm

Mylene Klaas? Poor girl in trouble

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 04:33:00 -0500

Poor old Mylene , scared in her own home and when she looked for assistance to her local police she got the hard word instead. Remember the next time you are cutting a cucumber at home on your chopping block Plod may be considering your use of an offensive weapon. The mind boggles.

But it got me thinking! Busy as I am installing burglar alarms in Leeds, and Yorkshire could I have provided a solution for Mylene and indeed I could. A solution even Plod would have difficulty in criticising.

For a while now I have been installing panic alarms to shops. It is a simple system consisting of an external burglar alarm siren controlled wirelessly by a button by the counter. It gives the shopkeeper some way of frightening away groups and attracting attention to the shop.

This device would be ideal for Mylene. A button by her kitchen window that activated a siren on her back wall would have any shed snooping juveniles heading off for easier pickings and the Police would have arrived and instead of insulting Mylene would have praised her for her initiative. A winner all round. A winner also for the poor elderly couple who died at home recently as a similar panic button by the ladies bed would have alerted neighbours when her husband sadly expired.

and now I become captain kirk.. well sort of

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:30:00 -0500

Now I can through my blog give cartoon advice to you all...

Student burglaries flying off the richter scale!

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:49:00 -0500

This terrifying graph shows the increasing trend of burglaries near Leeds University.

When you consider the emotional turmoil involved due to the loss of coursework digital photos and music it hardly bears thinking about.

Easy pickings such as laptops , phones , ipods and even money have made the Hyde Park area a Mecca for oportunist theives.

My advice - Get a safe - get a safe - get a safe!

Security is not sexy

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:28:00 -0500

Unfortunately security is not a sexy subject. So referals come on a need basis to myself. Which is no bad thing as I am always very happy to help and since many visit here after an unfortunate experience I can hopefully offer some relief of sorts.

Its not the same as catching the person who broke into your home but it might just might help relieve some stress.

http://www.tamba-games.co.uk/kwikfit/burglar/beat-the-burglar.swf

Yale takes extreme punishment

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 11:12:00 -0400

:cool:Had an interesting week.

Had a call from a client who had an alarm installed this year.

She informed me it didn't seem to be working? Odd I thought since in 200 installations I had never had a fault problem. Anyway I described over the phone how to reset her control panel and I thought that would be the everything hunky dory. Unfortunately not. Had another call so I went off to my client to see what could be the cause of the problem. On arriving it seems in her absence some contractors had entered her rented home to do some work. Obviously the alarm went off as she hadn't expected their arrival.

The following scene I wish I had been there to see.

The alarm went off and with two external sirens and an internal sounder (6400 system with extra siren) there would have been one heck of a noise. The neighbours said the noise had continued for half an hour. (The alarm cuts off after 15 mins maximum but due to the contractors being still on site they would have immediately activated it again. Well after half an hour they could stand it no longer and attempts to access the control panel had simply locked them out. I can see their faces now.

In the end they had to climb up ladders to get to the two external sirens to deactivate them. The alarm was still fully functional except the internal sounder on the control panel was no longer working. It seems their frustrations had got the better of them and they had pulled the panel from the wall only to find it still wouldn't stop as the internal battery was still powering the alarm.

I can inly imagine their sweating and cursing.

So what did this prove?

It proved that the 6400 system is extremely resilient.

Any alarm that takes more than half an hour to defeat has certainly proved it's worth.

Sleep . . what would you pay to sleep soundly?

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 00:42:00 -0400

Its amazing how often the subject of sleep is mentioned when I have fitted an alarm.

Particularly if I am fitting to a home that has been burgled.

Beeing able to relax at night and sleep again is the major benefit of having an alarm installed. Many people after a burglary cannot sleep properly as every creak and groan in the home is a possible intruder and people lie half awake at night listening for any signs of an intruder.

Very tiring. Thankfully once the homeowner realise (particularly with the control panel based alarms) that the alarm will wake them should anyone try to enter they finally get back to having a good nights sleep again and relaxing during an evening.

So to all my happy ciients who currently have one of my alarms installed.

Happy snoring...

Lots of work to do

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 19:43:00 -0400

Just scraped in from a Holiday flight and checked my site. Thought i might mention how busy I had been the week I went away. Two safes to install and six alarms to have in place. Always one to keep customers happy I even installed one at 8am on a Sunday morning as I was going on Hols 5am Monday morning. Sadly another burglary victim but happily for me a referal from a previous customer who had their alarm installed only a week and a half previously by myself. Horse , Bolt , Door and stable rearrange as neccessary unfortunately but still glad to help as its always good to hear people telling you they feel happier about going to sleep at night.

The sad thing of course was out of the six alarms I fitted FOUR were burglary victims. If I have any advice to anyone reading this blog it must be to contact me now! and if you are thinking of an alarm (which you must be visiting this site) then please do not delay , It may end up being too late.

My holiday was a nice change and thoroughly enjoyed but ironically the provision of security had a higher profile due to the many holiday homes often unnocupied with private security companies seemingly everywhere.

Installing 'your' Yale alarms

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:23:00 -0400

Just thought I would mention since I don't often mention it but we also install Yale alarms you have already bought yourself.

I fitted a YALE 6400 system for a client Yesterday as he had got into a slight muddle and was having difficulty programming the system and drilling the siren holes.

With our extensive experience we were able to help.

I arrived to find an embarrased gentleman with a wife who's look seemed to say 'I told you you should have got someone in'. :)

Never mind the cavalary had arrived and the alarm was duly installed without any further ado. The client was fully instructed to its use and everyone was happy. For only £20 I also added a second working siren so now he has audible deterent and flashing lights on both the front and rear of his property. He was very pleased..(as was his long suffering wife...:) ) and he even gave me a £10 tip... A happy day all round.

http://www.fastalarms.co.uk/yaleinstall.htm

Having some fun

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 06:02:00 -0400

Ok so a blog about home security is about as sexy as a pile of damp socks , (apologies to anyone turned on by damp socks!). So I thought I would tell you a little about my other life before I mention this weeks security subject.

I had fun a week or so ago driving a kart in the www.rx250challenge.com . http://www.karting.co.uk/News.html#N2993 I even got quoted in the article.. :D a great series and one anyone with a little karting experience should have a go at. I had a great time ultimately making the top ten final and coming fifth.... next time the podium?

This kind of leads onto my security issue in a wildly roundabout way. Last night I went to a home of a concerned gent. The reason being sneak thieves had taken the keys from his home and stolen his cleaners car. More worrying for himself was the fact that a gang had been trying doors late at night and they had been chased by himself and several neighbours some in only their underpants (is that sexy?). The upshot is a safe was duly installed at the gents home so he can feel a little more secure about going on holiday as despite having an alarm already installed he is still worried about being broken into. He does have a very nice car and the gang were patently looking for car keys. The safe installed was the YALE certified home safe which as well as being insuranced rated and approved was also tested by the independent organisation and recieved a Sold Secure silver rating meaning it is a police recommended safe as well as insurance approved. I install the safes throughout yorkshire but do not sell for home or DIY installation the reason being that the insurance companies will anly accept the safes approved rating if it is professionaly installed. They are a very useful size allowing A4 documents as well as jewellery car keys passports , birth certificates, etc etc. Coming with a shelf and an interior light. In fact the client was very pleased and was 'playing' with the safe opening and closing it to see the cool blue backlit display and motorised opening bolts in action as I left. It is a bit 'James Bondy' I guess and is as safes go very 'sexy'.He even asked his partner to come and have a look but I guess it's really a boys toy and she will probably only have spent about 2 seconds looking.

http://www.fastalarms.co.uk/apps/webstore/products/show/388396

Worst since 1990s?

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:47:00 -0400

Bad news I'm afraid,

News today says this recession is twice as bad as the 1990s. Those not young enough to remember the first time round won't remember gangs driving round with baseball bats and sleeping at home with weapons under the pillow.

It seems we are heading back to those days. While alarm fittings to new homes or people moving home have tailed off everyone I visit now admit I was called because they have had a security scare themselves or know someone personally who was burgled.

The sad part is that when everyone is now in urgent need of protection finances are stretched and even my extremely good value systems are seemingly too expensive for some. There is help from myself in the form of staged payments. ie Pay 25% on completion of installation and three further monthly payments to spread the cost.

I am now installing a few YALE alarms for people who have bought them to fit themselves and then rightly decided that something so important should really be installed by someone with experience. It wouldn't be good to find out you have programmed the system wrong because a burglar has been without setting it off.

To see how burglaries are rising see my burglar watch page.. http://www.fastalarms.co.uk/burglarwatch.htm

Good luck everyone it seems we all may need it.

writing the blog yet again...

Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:20:00 -0400

I am kept so busy I keep frogetting to update my blog. Which is really silly of me because many of my clients tell me they have picked me because they have read my blog and it gives them confidence. Thats really great to hear. However as I don't update my blog as often as I should it may give the impression that I haven't actually been working that hard so here is a record of last weeks installations and work so you know what a usual week entails for me.

Monday: Always a busy day as prople have come back from a Friday or Saturday night out to find their home burgled and as securing the property as soon as possible is their priority. This Monday installed a telecommunicating alarm to a nice home in Bradford with an additional infra red sensor. They looked much more releived when I left fortunately nothing too important stolen... Just the flatscreen Tv and a phone and mp3 player. The old cathode ray sets with the big square screen were much harder to steal being much heavier. One step backwards with progress there. Sold two 6200 systems online.

Tuesday fitted a 6200 system in York to a retired couple in a bungalow. Their previously installed alarm had gone on the blink and was sounding like an angry wasp. They hadn't been burgled but had fitted the previous alarm themselves after a previous burglary. Sold a pack of three pet friendly sensors, A 6400 alarm and two extra keyfobs online

Wednesday Fitted an unusual alarm today in North Leeds. It was the Yale 6300 alarm. I don't actually advertise it on the website because the price difference between it and the 6400 is so small , only £40. Its a shame as it is such a good system. Basically it is the 6400 premium alarm without the telephoning features. It has all the benefits of the 6400 ie control panel with inbuilt siren, part set options and full control over each individual zone. It would definately be my choice if I wanted a siren only alarm myself due to the easily tailored set up options. I may advertise it on the site as perhaps some people want a solid reliable traditional alarm but not the telecommunicating features.

Thursday Visit to my suppliers today to buy stock also a chance to see what else there is that I could offer to clients. Back home to do some paperwork and to answer some online quote requests. Had a phone call from someone wanting a deal on one of my alarms , had to politely decline as I really am providing the best possible prices already. I should have put in a yearly price rise but in reality the credit crunch has kept my prices the same again this year. Had a slight dissapointment today. My daughters sports day..She told me they were finishing at 3.20 as normal so I arrived at 2.30 to see her in action but they had finished an hour before. I was real sorry and I had to do an emergency trip for some Ben and Gerrys on the way home to cheer her up.

Friday Another install to a burgled home another eurocylinder lock destroyed in seconds. I would seriously make housebuilders responsible for their actions. New homes have less security now that victorian terraces of years ago. a total backwards step. Many factors combine to make the new homes of today the most insecure ever. The reasons being... The land price rise and battle for land during the building boom has meant to be quite honest that private homes are being built too close to existing social housing or in areas of poor security near the edges of fields or industrial areas. Many new developments should have had a security fence built around them and a gate with security guards. Unfortunatey people move in without local knowledge and find out too late they are in a high crime area. The homes are 'secured' with twenty pounds worth of locks. How much did you pay for that house? Patio doors allow all your belongings to be seen. Why does every new home have patio doors wether you want them or not? Local council affordable housing rules means that every new home estate has neighbours who may or may not be 'reliable' The days when you could say 'I want to live in a nice area' instantly defeated by govenment policy. Anyway enough of my soapbox.. :D So another typical week for me not metioning answering a few calls from existing clients with occasional questions about their systems on my freephone supplied number. Kepp safe keep secure Mark

Love helping the elderly

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 15:44:00 -0400

I fitted an alarm yesterday for a delightful old lady. Firstly I was happy to get the job as it was a referal from a gentleman who I fitted an alarm for a year ago and it's always pleasing to have a referal which is the ultimate endorsement of your work and products.

Sadly it was yet another forced eurocylinder lock.

The old lady was widowed and lived on her own and was very nervous since she was still awaiting a locksmith to fix her doors.

I fitted a fully comprehensive system including a sensor in her garage as that had been broken into twice before.

So she now has a system covering every room in her home with PIR sensors and when she part sets on an evening window contacts still cover rooms where the pirs are excluded.

She was very pleasant and made me some tea and sandwiches for lunch.

At the end she was highly delighted with the alarm as I had fitted an extra external sounder free of charge and a dummy box on her garage.

There will be no mistaking the house is alarmed now.

I just love days like that the job satisfaction is great.

More eurocylinder misery

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:56:00 -0400

Again and again I go to homes where the method of entry is the eurocylinder lock. Please if you have one replace it ASAP with a snapsafe or antisnap one. They are not expensive.

Summertime is here and that brings with it opportunist sneak thieves who will gladly relieve you of your laptop computer or other valuables.

Keep windows LOCKED. If you need ventilation DO NOT LEAVE the room with the window open unnatended. If you leave the room CLOSE the window.

Been very busy again but have had some great customer experiences and its always nice to leave people with a smile on their faces.

Apart from work this week has seen me visit the pictures to see Hannah Montana , visit a zoo and take a trip to a huge aquarium...no I haven't turned 8 again... my daughter was off on half term..happy days.

Lots and lots

Thu, 21 May 2009 01:28:00 -0400

and lots of installations done since I last blogged. I am installing another YALE certified home safe this weekend and I am as always so impressed with the efforts made by YALE to bring this product to market. Your normal home safe you see at the DIY store is good for keeping things away from the rest of the family. I put chocolate biscuits , spare cash , car keys and video game controllers when the kids are naughty in mine. I have a seperate underfloor safe for my passports , legal documents etc.

But YALE have brought to the market a floor safe that will fit in a kitchen cupboard , wardrobe, understairs or even a shelf in your lounge that looks great , one would say almost stylish and is very secure. It passed the SOLD SECURE Police approved security device test without actually being broken into and is also SECURE BY DESIGN Police approved. It features a self opening door and motorised pins that makes it a bit 'James Bondy'. :) If you forget your code or don't change the batteries when prompted its overide key and lock is very secure being a double bitted key. and the price is something of a breakthrough too. At £183 to have the safe installed this undercuts rivals of the same specification by at least a hundred pounds. . . . every home should have one...

Alarms . . I would struggle to remember all the alarms I have fitted since I last blogged but the range of reasons they have been fitted is as follows. Someone going away for a holiday wanted something installing before they went away...Lots of people replacing their existing but non functioning (haywire and noisy)alarms.(Quite a few of these jobs) , more burgled clients unfortunately , and of course people in new homes that don't already have an alarm.

Credit crunch crime wave? Unfortunately I would have to agree with my installations nearly double their month on month figures for last year.

SO keep safe , (no pun intended) and call me if you want an alarm... bye for now...

Oh PS I entered the world of film this week.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMNO9e-cO-A

Horse bolted again

Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:33:00 -0400

Unfortunately I have yet again installed an alarm system to someone who has been burgled.

I would much prefer to install alarms on houses before they are burgled because it would save a load of grief..oh and I would be busier..lol

Seriously the unfortunate client had left his back door unlocked so he was unable to make an insurance claim. This was a double disaster for him.

However he now has a 6400 telecommunicating alarm with extra sensors and a linked smoke alarm so even if he slips up and leaves a back door open again the alarm will activate if it is opened , the internal sounder will scare them out of the home and the external sounder will alert the neighbours. The control panel will also call him to let him know.

He also has a remote keypad with a panic alarm feature which says will make it easier for him to relax and sleep better.

There is much more to home security now than just a noisy box.

Keep safe

Keep secure.

A big system

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:36:00 -0400

Just finished a successful installation in a Public house. The owner/landlord wanted an alarm that would sound if anyone entered the pub when it was closed as noone lived on the premises. He wasn't bothered about an insurance approved NACOSS system as quotes had come in at £2000 plus. I had just finished another house when the owner suggested I contact the Landlord.

A survey found that the Pub had many routes of access due to standard doors and fire exits. The final system included two working external sirens and a telecommunicating control panel with a built in sounder (312db of sound in total)

Nine PIR sensors were used and 9 door/window contacts. As mentioned a telecommunicating control panel and a remote keypad completed the system. A remote keypad at the entry poiny completed a system that had used 19 of the available 20 zones and the cost of this huge system? . . . only £685 fully installed . The system was fully set up with a siren length of 7 minutes and a part set option allowing guests eventually access into the pub when it becomes an Inn. Took only 5hrs to install and I beagan at 7am in order to be finished when the pubs clients started arriving for lunch.

An apology

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 06:12:00 -0400

I guess when starting a blog as a diary of my work I should have done just that but I was rather busy over the last month.

A quick summary is as follows.

Job 1

Was a small shop. Owner lived above so just needed an alarm that would sound if the shop was entered. 6200 duly fitted and shop owner happy with the £160 it cost him fully installed.

Job 2

Was a good telecommunicating system with particular needs.

Bred pets in a shed needed cover as well as the home which had two small dogs.

End system had two pet friendly sensors one for the kitchen where the small dogs were kept and another for the shed with the animals. Four further standard sensors were used to cover upstairs and downstairs in the home.

Front siren , rear dummy siren and control panel siren provided the deterent and noise. extra remote keypad provided the alarm control.

System programmed to allow full set of all sensors and part set where the upstairs sensors were not included but the downstairs and outside shed still were. all this for only £380 and no contracts or fees.

Job 3

Was a remote rural home , standard alarm supplied. Happy owner then booked a barn he owned to be covered with a siren too. The 6200 being battery powered was ideal.

Job 4

Was a large terrace house. Cellar and first two floors covered. 6400 telecommunicating alarm used. Pet friendly sensors to allow cat free access in and out.. Once again happy owner booked a further alarm for another property he owned.

Job 5

Small town house. Owner asked for an extra rear dummy box but was delighted when I suggested an extra working siren instead for only £10 more.

Job 6

Repair of an existing YALE system. Siren replaced and control pad to replace previous control panel. system working again for only £90.

Job 7

New home alarm fitted to new house. Owners are always delighted to find that our systems are fitted without a single bit of mess or disruption.

Especially to brand new decorated homes.

To see how verstile the systems can be see the following link.

http://www.fastalarms.co.uk/alarmsolutions.htm