Larry W. says, "Tries to arrive on time, in future he must get consultation, carefully review the camera specs, when sent to him, that he has received or he has purchased with/for the customer, to 1st assist the customer and 2nd to better assure that the job and related details of the job that only he would know about, as the professional, and then he should know to review these details and conveyed to his client. Taking these professional steps will help ensure more complex jobs, upgrades, and modified installations are completed more smoothly, and should help avoid unnecessary, costly site returns and camera viewing failures. The objective should not be: just set them up, get paid, and go and hope for the best. Rather each camera, as highly priced has an element of component/camera checking regarding that camera/angles/power/monitor presence, for the price being charged and the tech is expected to know on site standards of connectivity existing, in place DVR/NVR/ports, general set up in the home, and whether or not there is or will be adequate power amperage to power the selected camera, by 1st reviewing the product specifications, either before or after the cameras are installed, as this is part of the paid for installation: the ability to view the installed cameras without failing to load either in the day or the night based on the power needed by each camera. We had to wait until the evening after paying for installation to discover several camera would not load at night and the monitor was completely black and failed to deliver an image. The technician with communication assured us the problem was lack of adequate power or total amperage that was required to power the cameras day or night. From our reading, this is a well known installation problem and 2nd should of been checked before leaving that day: feeding power amps to DVR, compared to total new camera power amps needed. Failing to make this critical install assessment required waiting several days with, no camera security images, and a quote for a new power supply/brick attachment to wall and $140.00 for a job that took 15min. AFTER SOME RESEARCH, it is a WELL KNOWN factore, CAMERA installations must be amperage/power checked at the DVR/and it is not the customer's to general knowledge to remind the installer to do so. Unfortunately the undesirable spotlight bright cameras use more power, which we did not know ahead of time, however, we did send the installer the camera specifications for personal review and advice before the job was started relying on his knowledge regarding power and 4 camera installation. With nothing to the contrary, we proceeded with the installation, with 1 camera misalignment and filler put in, which I informed was not acceptable, and he agreed to put in a new box ($150) for that camera #2. Unfortunately, that same evening of the cameras failed to work, and our tech advised "this is a standard issue! And if so, why not check for this problem and advise us of a potential problem? We affirm the tech should have knew about this and should have known to check for the power supply--at installation. And leaving us to question what we had paid for that day, then reserving payment. In future, the installer should carry a few reserve power cords since they are modestly priced. Our tech was honorable; he did return to fix the problem for more money. Previously, a 6-year-old DVR powered 7 cams using only 1 amp of power, which may have been too low, but camera images were never lost. The higher-amp cameras were removed, leaving a 5amp/power upgrade that cost $150.00, which required a delayed return visit, 15 min. of work, and $150.00 upgrade for the upgrade. The installer provided a quote, and for that quote, an on-site review and assessment should be done: existing wiring, DVR/NVR presence/working, camera specs, and power supply assessed on-site the 1st day, with senior consultation if needed; a lot to do, and why customers are pushed to buy all-new systems."See more
