Did anyone know that most counties/states fine homeowners who have a fire/security alarm that goes off accidently? Well, I left home for work about two weeks ago and mistakenly set the alarm. Mistakenly because my housekeeper was coming to clean that day. Of course as soon as she opened the door the security alarm went off. She does not have the code (and probably still won't give it out) so she had no clue how to turn it off. To make it even worse she forgot her cellphone in the car which has my number in it. So she had to go back outside to retrieve the phone then run back in the house and call me in front of the keypad. I gave her the code while we were on the phone and the alarm went off as it should. Unfortunately, she did not answer the house phone to alert the security company that it was a false alarm but why would she it's not her house right? So 5 minutes later at 8:05am while I am sitting in a research meeting with all the big wigs my phone starts ringing for the second time. This time its Paul so I hit ignore because I am assuming that the company called him and he is just making sure that I know what's going on. Well he called back again, I cant answer the phone because we are in a meeting so I hit ignore again. Then he text me with all sorts of !!!! points to tell me the alarm is going off and someone has broken in our house and the police are on the way. Of course after this text I start texting him back (under the boardroom table) to tell him its a false alarm its just the housekeeper and everything is okay. Well TOO late. There was a couple of cop cars already there and questioning poor Maria. Paul then called the alarm company back with the housekeeper's name and information so they left without anything further happening.
So afterwards I just assumed all is well and that Cobb County is doing a great job responding to alarm systems which is true but NO ONE told me I would get a bill for it. I just sat down to pay bills and I never open the mail until bill time and low and behold there is a bill from the Cobb County False Alarm Unit...WTHeck! It cost a whopping $100 for an officer to respond to a false alarm UNLESS your registered with the county and pay a yearly fee.
Is this okay? Can you charge people for inconveniences? I just feel like its their job to be proactive about our safety. I can't charge a patient extra for not having cancer when all the test come back negative now can I?
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4 comments:
The technician who installed your service should have given you a registration application to send to the county. Most times, the application and annual fees are less than the fee for the false alarm. When you register, they will come out for a triggered alarm and you get 3 (whoopee!) times per year to have them respond to a false alarm with no fee. Something similar happened to me except it was lightning or wind with a rainstorm and I wasn't home when the alarm went off. No permit so I got charged the false alarm fee too. I guess that's the way it goes. --Tamoka
It does happen that way, registering is just another form of income for the county. So if you have a false alarm that's another form of income. It has happened to the best of us.
Oh, that is terrible! Terribly funny that is...I can just imagine poor Maria's face!
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