Alarming Stories
Alarming Stories II Part 1 - Enjoy a few snippets from my book below
Neat installation
Chubb, partly of their own making, were finding it very difficult to recruit, the failure to pay the going rates meant no one replied to published vacancies.
This started not have consequences, the new recruits could not install without months of intense training and as there were now no apprentices, I was often sent along to act as their teacher.
In the industry, if a member of staff puts in their papers, they are dismissed on the spot, you cannot have people working their notice period for a high security company, one engineer had done just that, but Chubb were so short on staff that they asked if, under the circumstances, he could work his months’ notice, and he agreed.
On his last week, he installed a system in a new modern office unit and spent his last five days there.
The supervisors arrived the following week to commission the system, wow what a neat job, they thought as they looked around the building, all the cables are concealed, the customer will be pleased.
The more they looked the more suspicious they became, there was no light on the fused spur, no light on the panel, and none of the detectors lit up as they walked round. Opening the panel their worst fears were realised. No cables had been installed at all.
Bricks with holes
Standing in the stores one Monday morning, there was serious concern about the lack of work Chubb was winning, several engineers had left, and it was a bit dismal.
Morale was reaching a new low, and following the departure of Martin, there was now no one to rally the troops as he had for years before in his inimitable style.
One of the service engineers started to say that we should give up our spare time to drum up business, another picked up on this and said, yes we need you all out every night chucking bricks through windows and knocking over garbage cans.
Peter than had an idea, picking up on the theme he advised that we should select bricks with holes in them, I said what difference will holes in the bricks make, he replied that these bricks could have business cards in each hole, so one for the alarm company, one for the emergency glazers, one for the insurance company etc.
CamEra (CCTV Company)
I was fortunate to apply for and be offered a contract with CamEra, the largest CCTV company in the UK, based in Leeds which was ideal, I started immediately, the role provided a company car but I had to use my own for the first month. I recall that my starting salary was £400 per month, which was more than I had been paid previously. However, I was expected to pay for my own fuel and claim this back from the company, which seemed reasonable at the time.
The first day, I was sent to install a single camera and monitor with a recorder in a jeweller’s shop in Bradford. The shop was tiny, but the company was in the process of moving a few doors up the street and the other side of the pedestrianised zone.
The camera was to cover the counter in the old shop, whilst the monitor and recorder would be installed in the new shop, requiring a cable run between. I did not realise at the time that I would have just one day to install the system, I was told to run a temporary video cable between the old and new shops, and to simply string it across the entrance way to the pedestrianised zone.
Staying in hotels
The engineer I worked with to install the system insisted on stopping in the hotel of his choice, it was not immediately apparent why he would choose this one as it was miles away from the site, on the wrong side of town and a bit run down and scruffy. He also insisted we book two rooms, normally two engineers working away from home would share a twin. The following morning, the grin on his face said it all. He came clean and admitted that he had stayed in the hotel twice before, that on the first occasion, he asked for a 7:00 alarm call and the attractive receptionist had woken him up with a sex act. The second time he stayed, she was not around, but he wanted to give it another go, and this time his patience and persistence had been rewarded.
Moortown Casino
Once the camera was safely installed, and the self-test routine (the telemetry box had a test routine, press a button and the camera moved left, right, up, down, zoom in/out, focus near/far in a specific sequence) checked all OK, we could move our cars and the ladder and take a well-earned lunch break.
We purchased sandwiches across the street and sat in the casino’s canteen to eat them, suddenly John looked at me and gestured, a stunning woman in her late twenties had just walked into the canteen behind me.
She walked around the table where we were sitting and was now behind John, she then proceeded to get changed into her clothes for working in the casinos as a croupier, she stripped down to just her pants and tights whilst I watched and then put on her dress an high heels, and left.
After she had gone, I related what I had just witnessed to John, he immediately said, why didn’t you tell me, I retorted, what could I say, she would have heard me.
John did not speak to me for the rest of the day.
Philip Wilkinson
I am currently the owner and Managing Director of a security devices distribution company. Online Security Products Limited. We offer a range of parts, everything from CCTV to Door Entry, Access Control and Intruder.
