Brinks Home Security

What do you think of Brinks Home Security?
Do you offer a Brinks home security analysis to your clients?

Yea, I like it. It’s not without it’s problems, but nothing is.

Yes I do offer it.

It works great with the American Home Warranty.

Do you actually schedule an evaluation of the security system by a Brinks representative? Or do they do that?

If I know there is a system in place prior to the inspection, I let them know and they show up while I am there. If I show up and discover there is a system in place, I can usually call them directly and they try to send someone out. In my area they are extremely accommodating, and try very hard to make sure they get there when I am there if possible.

I offered them for a time, several years ago. After receiving several complaints from clients, I dropped them like a bad habit.

It was enough that I will never offer this type of service again - not from Brinks or any other vendor wanting to contact my clients.

What were the complaints? Do you recall?

The field service reps (sales people) were too “high pressure,” almost insisting that the client signs a service agreement before they left the property.

In one case, the service rep told the client they had to pay the $50 service-fee for his visit if they did not sign up for a service plan. My clients called me from the property where they felt like they were being held hostage.

The regional rep told me that he has “little or no control over the FSR’s. They work on commission and use techniques offered in their training classes.”

I used them for about a year, easy call and Brinks guy shows up within time frame… I just am too busy to fill out the paperwork so I stopped the program… maybe get back into it now that I have an automated reporting system that can do most of the work for me.

I was personally told by the Brinks VP in charge of the program that this shouldn’t ever happen, and if it did I was to call him directly. Where I am at the inspectors don’t sell. They just work. The reps call the client later on the phone.

I can’t say that this is still how they operate the program, because I don’t know. It did, however, teach me a valuable lesson. . .

I have called in several times to have a Brinks Rep meet me at an inspection and never had one show up. I even contacted the main dispatch office in Dallas a couple of time to have the guy they send out confirm that he was going to be at the inspection. Again, No Show!

I don’t offer the option for Brinks to come out to inspections anymore. I simply supply Brinks with the client information so they can buy the American Home Warranty. I downloaded the warranty from AHW website and include it as an attachment to my inspection report.

No more problems with Brinks.

What is a good alternative to AHW? Look like they don’t offer warranties in MO.

See if Ben covers your area with his Mountain Home Warranty through NACHI. There is another company out there that covers appliances too, but I can’t remember the name off the top of my head. There are a couple more home warranty companies cropping up within the last year, you might want to do a search for them on the site here.

Does the home warranties make a difference at all when trying to book new inspection clients in your opinion?

Yes, but only a small one in my opinion. I include it as part of my home inspection packages which tends to get clients to purchase more ancillary services than just a home inspection. I can’t remember the last time I only did a home inspection without any ancillaries to go along with the inspection.

I spoke with both American Home Warranty & Brinks at the Toronto NACHI convention. The deal was that Brinks would either reimburse for the cost of the AH warranty or send me pre paid warranties to issue. Seems like a no brainer, right? So I sign up with AHW, pay my initial fee, and all is good until Gustafson from Brinks tells me that Brinks doesn’t participate in the Buffalo market. (It was a fellow Buffalo HI that told me what a great deal it was for him.) Brinks, in my opinion is shady and has bad business practices or management. AHW was very understanding and did reimburse my initial fee without question.

I having being using AHW for the last two years here in Missouri. I never had a problem with them and the Realtors appreciate not getting a phone if something breaks down right away after their client moves in. I have heard too many bad thing about the Brinks program on this message board so i decided to stay away from it. Even if I get one unhappy customer due to Brinks, it would be enough with me.

I use Brinks and it is great. To be successful in the program, you have to give full disclosure to your clients.

  1. I have a clause in my contract about “TPSP”

“Company may have an affiliation with third-party service providers (“TPSP”) in order to offer value-added services to its Customers. Company may also arrange for these TPSP to send literature or make post-inspection contact with the Customer.”

  1. I give my client the Brinks brochure and tell them they will be calling to sell a Home Security System. Almost all of my clients appreciate this. There are some however that request that they do not be contacted.

  2. I send all client information to Brinks AFTER the inspection. I refuse to have brinks rep on-site while I’m conducting an inspection. It’s distracting and I want my clients full attention. Plus, you never really know who they will send out.

  3. I get paid 15.00 bucks per referral. That’s usually about 375.00, depending on the inspection volume for the month (4,500.00 per year)

Easy money in my opinion as long as you are up front with the client. If the client asks me not to forward their information, I don’t.

Kevin

Hi,

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