September 27, 2010
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Question:
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Ken,
There have been a few comments lately about service tickets and I saw them discussed a little in your archived emails. I understand you have two points about them you do not like.
1. They are signed after the work is done (if at all) and
2. they are more limited than the full service contract.
Our general service tickets/work orders have the limitations of liability and legal info on the back, but even if using another form, I am curious to know your thought on having it signed before hand on a separate line. For example. A customer calls up. "I just bought a house that has your alarm in it and I want you to disconnect the phone line, ( or something else)" This new person has no contract. so we would go to the site. first thing would be to show them the work order, have them check the box (on the front of the work order) and sign the form stating they are aware and agree to the terms on the back. Then we perform work, have it all listed on the same sheet, and get a signature at the bottom agreeing to the work performed and pricing. Would this be a better way to handle service tickets for situations like this?
Leo Taylor
ESI Security
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Answer:
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Are you working on inventing the wheel in your spare time? Why try and figure out a riskier way to do business? Isn't it easy enough to get the Standard Service Contract signed using the "per call' option? I think it is.
The problem with the Service Slip [which you can get by calling our contract administrator Eileen at ext 312] is that it's signed after the work, if at all. Your idea of getting it signed before the work sounds easy, but may prove to be difficult. The subscriber may not be home, or the one home may not be authorized to bind the subscriber. Who let your service tech in, a minor child, a housekeeper, visiting friend or relative? You have to realize that you are not going to be looking to find the Service Slip and confirm it's signature, authenticity and genuiness, unless there is a claim against you for a loss; could be small loss or one large enough to keep you awake at night.
Disclaimers on the back of a service slip or contract are problematic unless there is sufficiently clear language on the front page referring to the provisions on the back page. The process you describe sounds too casual to me; you have to understand that it is vital to have contractual protection when providing any security services; that includes a service call to repair a non operational system.
Get the Service Contract and have every subscriber sign it. If you want to get something signed before you do the first service call, then make it the Service Contract.