Can a Vendor Refuse to Service Equipment Based on OH&S Law?

SimonD on 03/01/2017 - 14:56

I had a situation whereby my home alarm was going off as soon as it was armed as it thought it was being tampered with. I contacted the vendor who sent a technician to service the alarm but when he arrived he claimed he could not access the alarm (on the roof gable) as he had forgotten to bring his safety harness, so he simply disabled the tampering sensor remotely on his iPad.

So as far as the vendor is concerned it's job done, but to me this doesn't really fix the problem as the fault is still there, it's just been covered up. I have phoned the vendor on a number of occasions insisting that the unit be serviced properly.

The last contact I had with them they basically refused to return and quoted OH&S law, i.e.: the unit is more that 3 meters above ground level so it is "illegal" for them to attend to it. They advised that I should arrange for the unit to be moved to a more "acceptable" location (at my own expense) before they'll service it. I thought that it was joke but they were serious.

Has anyone had any similar experiences or thoughts about this? Now I'm all for workplace safety but this sounds like BS to me .. I have had many tradies attend my place to carry out work on the roof (air con, tiling) and within the roofspace and this is the first time I have heard anything like this.

I'm considering submitting a formal complaint to consumer protection as it seems they're just trying it on to get out of their obligations.

btw … it's the same company that installed the unit almost 20 years ago but they're claiming it's not their responsibility as it was a sub-contractor that did this original work

Home & Garden

Comments

  • apple2016 on 03/01/2017 - 15:18

    Was it the same vendor who placed the alarm in the inaccessible place in the roof? if not then they might have a point.

    • SimonD on 03/01/2017 - 15:22
      +1

      as mentioned, they claim it was done by someone else, subcontractor etc,, But all the orignal documents and agreements etc I have all have the same vendors name on it (same mob I signed up with to begn with) so I reckon it's their responsibility

    • SimonD on 03/01/2017 - 15:24

      also .. it's not inaccessible, it' under the gable at the front of the house, visible from the street, it just happens to be over 3 metres from ground level (3.4 actually)

      • apple2016 on 03/01/2017 - 16:33

        they claim it was done by someone else, subcontractor etc,

        Show them the original document and ask them to fix the mess they created in the first place.
        If they ignore you you will have to talk to consumer affairs.

        • Adz81 on 03/01/2017 - 16:48

          What's to talk to consumer affairs about? The company can still monitor the system, which is what OP is paying for.

  • Davo1111 on 03/01/2017 - 15:21
    +1

    who installed the alarm originally?

    EDIT: i see your comment

    Does the alarm have a warranty? Do they advertise how long they'll service it for?

    The way I see it, they're under no obligation to service it.

    • SimonD on 03/01/2017 - 15:28

      it's quite old so probably out of warranty .. point is I am paying for monitoring so I would expect that they should make sure that it is in proper working order.
      We had a fault with the power unit some time ago, which they replaced at no cost and that was quite old .. so it just seems like all of a sudden they've decided to quote OH&S to avoid even inspecting the unit

      • Davo1111 on 03/01/2017 - 15:31
        +1

        I'd read the full contract of the monitoring.

        Otherwise i'd just tear it out myself, and put it 1m lower.

      • Adz81 on 03/01/2017 - 16:47

        Thing is, they have kept it in working order as far as they've concerned… sure there's still a fault, but it's working and they can monitor the shit out of it so job is right… Not happy with it? Cancel the monitoring.

        As for the OH&S aspect? They can absolutely use it as a reason… hell, even their employee could refuse to carry out a job on the basis that they do not have a harness to do the job safely.

  • Gareth on 03/01/2017 - 17:31

    AFAIC, the use of the sub-contractor as the excuse is irrelevant - as you paid them the money, how they organised the install is not your concern.

    However, being almost 20 years ago seems a large amount of wiggle room. Can't see that one could expect them to overly support "an ancient system" (or it being reasonable to require them to do so).

    As others have said, you could cancel the monitoring (where their cream really is), but honestly it's probably not going to faze them as much as you'd undoubtedly like. And once done, the problem hasn't been solved - either way, you're probably up for a new unit, or paying someone who will actually figure out what is wrong - if possible.

  • [Deactivated] on 03/01/2017 - 19:32

    For me the issue is the fact the alarm could be remotely disabled. My alarm can be remotely armed, but you have to be in the building to turn it off.

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