In article ,
MM wrote:
Yes, I've given them a call and set up a contract. £45 a year it's
going to cost me. But they can't come until next Tuesday. Oh, well.
I'll just have to fight off intruders, if they dare...

IMHO, you'd be mad to pay for a 'contract' on an alarm - unless it
includes response to an 'intruder'.

I have to get the installers to set it up for me personally.

A short reading of the manual should allow you to set it up for your
actual requirements. An installer might have different ideas on this. Not
knocking true professionals in this field, but you might have problems
finding one. And it sounds like those who installed yours have left it in
an unsatisfactory state.

At the moment it is only set up with the factory default settings. Also,
since the powercuts which set it off, the keypad display says "Call
engineer - Battery Fault 100", so I've got to get them to come out
anyway.

If it is new, you shouldn't have to pay to fix faults.

Also, the annual fee includes a yearly check on how the system
is functioning.

I'd think an annual check just isn't adequate. You need to understand the
way the system works and make sure it does so all the time - not rely on
just a check.

Personally, I couldn't care less about an alarm
system. It would never be on my shopping list. But it came with the
house, so when I sell the house, I shall really make a big thing of
the alarm. Many older people are very security conscious, so the alarm
system could be a big selling point. Certainly, at the moment other
houses on the development are being sold by their initial owners (who
bought speculatively, I believe) and they are being snapped up the
moment they come on to the market.

Hmm.

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*Warning: Dates in Calendar are closer than they appear.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.