Great comments... Here is one for the Sleeze of the year firm. Once a project was finished, the Salesman would show up, go over everything with the client, collect the last payment and leave. Head to the closest coffee shop and wait for the call. Before they left they would always somehow disconnect a cable somewhere. Sure enough the client would call his cell phone with the "I don't know what happened, but something has gone wrong". "Geee, I'm almost home, No problem I will turn around and head back to check it out for you" They would sit for awhile and finish their coffee, the saleman would return to the site, go in and be the hero of the day, not letting them know exactly what was wrong, but more about the fact that he was here and fixed it. The other sad part, these people actually were agreeing to buy systems with "good" in ceiling speakers, and "quality" DVD players etc. In other words they were paying 800.00 for in ceiling speakers that cost about 85.00 pr and other foolish prices.
Back onto the other part of this topic, certification. It's a tough one. We need it, it has to be recognised, but it also has to mean something. Cedia might be on the right track, but they also fail. Installer level 1 doesn't really mean anything (other than you paid the money, and you know one connector from another) So if Cedia becomes a household name, any CI firm with level 1 instantly becomes a "pro"?? It was a lot tougher to learn and pass the Panasonic phone system course, but that wouldn't mean anything to most resi clients. I really think that certifiaction in each disipline would make more sense. A client hiring someone to do everything in their home would be better served knowing the firm has mastered everything they want. Just because someone has been doing Home theatres for many years doesn't mean they know anything about a lighting control system. Yet people today see $$$$'s and take on jobs they have no business being involved with. And unsuspecting clients believe the sales pitch and start forking over the cash. Many of us have spent $$'s and conciderable time taking training sessions to better our abilities, or to enable us to sell certain lines. As mentioned above by Alan, companies like Lutron and others are starting to loose focus and allow far too many "unqualified" people into the club. I have no problem with another company being trained to deal with Lutron or AMX systems, as long as they have a track record in this industry and are not signing up because they have a project.
My train of thought is leaving the station without me...
