January 12, 2011

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Comment:

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    BB seemed to have an interesting case since I have occasionally had customers waive their right to cancel.

    So I went online to the CA BSIS website [ www.bsis.ca.gov ] and checked his license.

    They had his admin. record for downloading and after reading the charges from the Bureau, agree with the Bureau's decision.  Mainly because Boyer continued to operate in the same manner that caused him problems in the beginning.  I am happy with the BSIS decision and glad that a person operating in this manner has their license privileges revoked.  But a person operating in this past manner would probably continue to operate unlicensed and under another name.

DKM

CA

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Response

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    I haven't check the web site and don't know if the above is accurate.  However, I do want to emphasize that you cannot do business without a required license.  The penalty, in addition to anything else, is that you can't enforce your contract or collect any money owed to you for you work.

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Hello Ken,

    Regarding "Comment on right to cancel" 12/25/2010 and how judges don't always know or adhere to the law; and don't always deliver equitable or rational decisions: 

    By coincidence your email arrived on the 6th anniversary of my father's passing.   Pop was a 2-way radio dealer. He was a pioneer when the CB radio craze took hold in 1959. As CB, scanners and mobile phones migrated to big box stores, his mainstay gradually became professional 2-way radios with a focus on walkie-talkies.

    In the 1970's he installed a set of mobile radios and a base station for the fleet of a local excavating and hauling contractor. The contractor did not pay for the job. Pop filed a case with the J.P. Notwithstanding that the job was a first-class installation, the contractor's defense asserted that Pop did not have an FCC Second Class Radiotelephone Operator's license.  Although Pop had friends operating other radio businesses he could have paid to certify whatever might need it, the J.P. ruled that because Pop didn't hold an FCC license, the contractor didn't have to pay for the radios. The biggest affront to common sense was that the contractor didn't have to return the radios. He recovered nothing on his claim. 

 Everyone may now draw the moral that best applies to you.

Lou Arellano

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service ticket with monitoring renewal on the back

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Comment

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Ken,

    I agree that there is potential for fraud claims with monitoring renewal

language on the back of a service ticket.  We take a bit different

approach. 

    Here in Arkansas, automatic renewals and evergreen clauses are not legal, so when our yearly-paying customers come up for renewal, they receive an

invoice (a month in advance) with a tear-off stub at the bottom of the

invoice.  The tear-off portion instructs customers to return the stub with

their payment and we get nearly 100-percent compliance.  The stub bears

our company name and address, the customer's name and address, the term of

service, the amount of the yearly service (including sales tax, which in

Arkansas we are required to collect) and a signature line.  The form

states that they agree, by affixing their signature and returning the

form, to extend their alarm monitoring by the term specified on the form.

It saves us a lot of time and expense in having to get new monitoring

contracts done annually.  Our monthly customers do not receive paper

invoices, as they have agreed to have their accounts paid by monthly bank

draft or credit card and, if I understand your previous missives on the

subject, are not subject to automatic annual renewal restrictions since

they pay monthly. 

    Additionally, we use self-addressed payment-return envelopes that also

have a detachable flap that helps us stay on top of customer-care issues.

The flap addresses changes in call lists, address changes, referrals,

service needs, and has a section for customer comments relating to our

service.  These forms have helped us tremendously with regard to staying

in touch with our customers and addressing potential issues before they

result in a lost account. 

    If you see an error in the way we are handling our annual renewals, please

point it out.

Lee Hearn

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Response:

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    The statute is clear and can be read here http://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/autoarkansas1.htm

    I don't know why you would need to get contracts renewed every year unless your terms are only for one year - and that makes no sense to me.  The Standard Form residential contracts have terms of 5 years.  That should make things a bit easier for you.  After that the Standard Forms call for month to month renewal, permitted even in Arkansas.

    Check your state's automatic renewal statute here

http://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/autorenewal.htm