KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ********************** Should we agree to change the price increase provision in our contract December 2, 2023 ***************************** Should we agree to change the price increase provision in our contract ***************************** Ken We have a long-time customer that we are looking to re-sign on a new All in One agreement. In the past when we have tried to increase our price, as per the contract, our customer asked us not to, and we agreed; not price increase. Now they are seeking to change the price increase provision in the Commercial All in One to require 60-day notice of increase and the right to cancel if they don't want to pay it. What should we do? Debbie ***************************** Response ***************************** The right to increase the price, the RMR for post install services, is a business decision that you need to make. Once made, you need to live with it. Alarm contracts are typically for long term, anywhere from one to ten years. Inflation can eat away at the amount you initially charge, not to mention actually increases in cost of providing the services. The simplest example is the central station increasing your monitoring charges, but there can be plenty of other vendor increases as well. If you don't address price increases then there likely won't be any. What you do need to be careful about is permitting the customer to have an option of paying the increase or terminating the contract. Once that option to terminate is exercised it may be too later for you to back-peddle unless the agreement permits it. A better way to word the rescission right is to permit you to withdraw the increase or for you to cancel the contract if the customer won't pay the increase. The best way to deal with the increase is to leave the provision as is, giving you the right to increase up to 9% per year. Often a customer will seek to negotiate a lower rate of increase, and that's your call. Any increase that will keep pace with inflation would be fair. Best advice is to price the RMR right at the get-go. ********************************* STANDARD FORM AGREEMENTS: To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** WEBINARS:https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-webinars *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ************************* THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily. https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-exchange ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our email list / Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
