Dealers/Distributors

[DataAve 0]

Sorry Dad.

[cctv_down_under 0]

For One!!!

The reason for the dealer section is because someone (I think "dvr_australia, now "cctv_australia")

 

Nope it wasnt my Idea!!

 

For Two... I think it needs to stay, ok so retailers want to compare prices, does that mean that mr "I ony do one cctv job a year and I have no licence and I have no staff or overheads" prices should be what you consider as fair, of course there should be dealer prices otherwise you would not buy".

 

Fact remains... if everyone compared prices it would bring prices down, and it is not like we make much anyhow, but everyone would want the cheapest price, not the best job, not the best support and not the best gear, by introducing our prices to retail, we would be allowing small companies that go BUST to dictate pricing levels, and I commend larry for not allowing this to happen.

 

Do you go to KMART and ask them how much they paid for the Telly you bought, truth is they made very little on it and spent ages making a deal to get it into their possesion and then they had to advertise it, then they had to stock it and then they had to support it.

 

If you want prices go to EBAY!! buy cheap **** and use this forum which really should tell you to "shove it" but they dont because all of the people here are excellent, all of them take their time to help, for one I commend Rory, he has posted many many posts to support people who try to bypass his own type of business.

 

It is simple, we make a proffit so we can offer you support, we study the product so we can give you the best gear and we stock the gear so you can have it installed, we DONT make much money, it is US that has to employ staff it is US that has to PAY INSURANCE, it is US that has to learn the product, it is US thast has to stock the goods and it is US who provides you with the service.....the last time you got your car serviced ...did you ask the mechanic how much the parts cost him??

[cctv_down_under 0]

One other thing, while I am on the half drunk bandwagon..

 

Did you ever stop to think of the following:

 

1/ The research that Rory does, is time consuming, it takes an age to test products like he has done and to rewrite active x for controls etc.

 

2/ The lessons Thomas has taught on I.T. are from years of experience usually only gained from thousands of dollars spent on courses or an insatiable desire to learn.

 

3/ The business lessons taught by AVCONSULTING and the product references are the very best references given by experienced consultants who normaly charge up to thousands of dollars an hour.

 

4/ AND MOST OF ALL.. we have not paid ONE SINGLE CENT to join a group of elite proffesionals, learning all that can be learnt about CCTV, I know many books and many courses with less information and they cost thousands, secondly I know what it costs to design a site like this one, and even worse i know what it costs to host it, I also know how narrow minded most individuals can be when they build something this big, you..my friend are part of a global CCTV knowledge base and you have the worlds experts ready to help you... to tell them that you consider them making a living from and not exposing their margin, I find extreemly rude and arrogant.

 

What Larry has built for us here was at HIS expense, and during his own time, I for one fully appreciate his efforts and his protection of those that have helped him to build it.

 

Every product you have bought yourself in your life came from a manufactorer, and was probably sold to you by a distributor whom works his arse off to try to keep distributorship of the best product for you to enjoy, why the hell should you care how much money he makes as long as he is not selling you crap!!

[qman 0]

Damm, WOW, Uhm, in Spanish we say:

 

"TOMA"

 

Damm, I get no respect, but that's ok, I mean, I am the hardest worked here, making sure people stay in line, and that we all respect one another... [/b]

[DataAve 0]

Drink me another pour, again? Me thinks I will drink me another pour too. CCTV_Australia, sounds like you need to stand up a bit more and speak your mind.

[kaysadeya 0]

Hey it's Friday. Let's take the edge off and have another. (We're doing Mojitos tonight 'round here).

[DataAve 0]

Ever try calling a Distributor (the people that sold it to you) for Tech support? No offense, but morons (and we buy from well known, reputable distros). They tell you to call the MANUFACTURER-so I keep THEIR numbers on speed dial, not the hard working distros number.

 

P.S. I know what parts for my cars cost…I HATE getting RIPPED OFF!

[rory 0]

If I cant get it to work, I send it back.

I gave up calling tech support a long time ago ..

[DataAve 0]

Yeah, but sometimes customers come up with some crazy schtuff they want the system to do...funny thing tho, it can be done (sometimes). Had it happen today at a government install... still scratching my head.

Edited April 23, 2005 by Guest

[rory 0]

Yeah, like the hidden stuff Ademco doesnt put in their manuals ??

 

 

Oh yeah, but never ask the distributor about that as most of the time they wont really know, unless they are a specific distributor for a particular product, not the guys in miami that push thousands of brands ...

[DataAve 0]

Best way into Ademco stuff, is through "Compass". Being able to access "my webtech" on the Honeywell site helps alot too.

[rory 0]

nahh ... takes to long ... I used to hate when on a job for the local monitoring co I always had to wait for them to upload .. i had like 20 other jobs to goto .. funny thing is none of their current staff even know how to properly program the panels with the keypad only now, as they have spoilt them with compass ... I can still program the 10s, 20s, and 30s with a fixed KP, the 10s and 20s I can program any wireless blind, the 50 and 128 I can do no sweat with the full english, when they uplaod and make changes they always mess up my programming darnit! Arghhhh ... hey all they service/install is the Ademco Panels ...i can see if they did others as well ... but .. oh well, back to CCTV ..

 

i dont do much alarms anymore, but its like riding a bike or taking a leak ..

[DataAve 0]

I don't call anyone. I hook up my laptop right to it. There is more options that way then programing through the KP.

[DataAve 0]

Very rare I do alarms either. Mostly putting then in to arm something temp, like a trailer when a site or area is under construction. Then they throw them out.

[rory 0]

I don't call anyone. I hook up my laptop right to it. There is more options that way then programing through the KP.

 

Same options, just easier to do with Compass, like Receiver Type, Full English Words, Keypad Program Lockout etc ..

 

Yeah id like to get my hands on that null modem, but it doesnt work on the 10's though which are the large amount down here, except i only ever do the 50s now anyway if I do alarms ... for the 50s and 128s for sure .. does it work on the 20Ps?

[rory 0]

Then they throw them out.

 

those bastids !!

[DataAve 0]

Want info to go lookie see?

[DataAve 0]

Check your PM.

[Thomas 0]

Really good tech support is a dark, dark art.

[kaysadeya 0]

Really good "tech support" is a good document!

 

(Sorry, I have to plug my profession whenever given the opportunity.)

[Thomas 0]

As much as I love a good tech document, it simply can't cover every situation. It should help with vanilla installs, it should help with more comman non-vanilla installs. But you can't cover every exotic situation.

[kaysadeya 0]

Very true. But they should at least cover *how* to use the features. *When* to use particular features can be more challenging.

[Thomas 0]

Why is even tougher. Why is this address set at localhost, why is this the machine's IP address.

[DRACONiDigital 0]

DaveAve,

As Herminshs mentioned in another thread, I am an end user who was looking for a system to install and I could not find a site that I could go to just to ask questions. So I hired a designer and put this site up. I appreciate the professionals who take time out of their busy day to answer questions that are asked here. I got lucky and stumbled upon Geovision which has it's issues, but isn't bust either. I would have liked to have heard other options though.

 

I hope you atleast find value in the forums that you have access to.

 

Larry, I am new to this board and didn't know it's history, this is good info.

 

I, for one, certainly appreciate you using your resources to make this board happen.

 

THANK YOU, and I thank everyone who posts here!

[DRACONiDigital 0]

I have to say, this is one of the greatest threads I've read in any forum in a long while.

 

I went from conspiracy (just kidding) to Girl Scout Cookies to Poppy**** and just kept going. I love it.

 

I have a little bit to add here.

 

I have a background in non-profit agencies. I've worked for them for almost 11 years. Then I got into the for-profit side of things. Man did my head spin. I thought to myself, MY GOD, this is crazy! Markup and all that. But then I learned that we all spend a LOT of time trying to learn this stuff. But the customer expects that you know everything about a product. There are so many DVR cards out there, unless you have some serious R&D funding, it's hard to get cards just so you can "play" with them. So in this respect, I really have to applaud the posts about KMART and EBAY here. When I was in the non-profit, I could never go through a local dealer, because my boss would say "but I can get it at Sam's club for $2 less". Now, of course he didn't factor in how much it would cost for me to hop in my car, drive across town, pick it up, then drive back (my wage + mileage).

 

The last time I checked, I made more than $2/hour. I forget what the translation is from peanuts to $ (stupid boss won't tell me anymore), but I am sure it's more than $2/hour.

 

At least I hope it is. Do you guys keep track of this? What is inflation again? That's when my wage goes DOWN but I make MORE money, right?

 

Anyway, to get back to it. Even getting it online still has problems with time & shipping costs. Then, you have to throw in how much extra time it's going to take to learn about the stuff (if you're doing it yourself).

 

Now I have experience from both sides of the looking glass. I see how both sides are just trying to do the same thing... make more from less. I have non-profit clients who are just absolutely demanding. I mean, they want casino-level tech for the Sam's club price. I've seen some amazing things, where big manufacturers (Pelco for one) were willing to deal, but then the non-profits just kept asking for more and more and more. Coming from the for-profit side, it can just eat you up. But again, I've been on both sides of the fence.

 

Now, the DIY consumer is something of both. Some of them love you (dealers) because you have experience and can recommend a solution. But them some of them (consumers) want to get the stuff with a 10% off coupon from Best Buy.

 

It's harsh sometimes.

 

Especially when you yearn for Girl Scout cookies. These peanuts are getting STALE man. They grow more valuable with age, right???

 

 

Enjoy.