It's possible that the ADT guy thought that you had used one of his wires and this was "payback". Still, this doesn't justify his actions.

Or he asked the home owner...
"I don't know what that is, sure go ahead....."

Seems like more and more lately we have gotten network related service calls where we find another trade or vendor has been monkeying with OUR network to get their gear up and running.

This has happened recently with HVAC, security, Comcrap, ATT, and even the IT guys from client's company who have to come to the house and set up their VPNs or whatever other BS they have going on.

I'm still not understanding how another outfit can justify working on a network and leaving it half-assed operational just so they could get their shit up and running. The IT guys from the client's company dicking up our network was just last week - when they got done we got a frantic call from client about no Sonos, no Apple TV, like now it's our problem? WTF?

I guess making sure everything still works before leaving isn't part of their training, eh? I added a U-Verse box yesterday and checked a bunch of other things and I didn't even need to change any wiring, other than at the power strip.

The first ATT guy looked like a skate-boarder- had the skin-tight stocking cap, yellow-lens glasses that look like swim goggles, tattoos, piercings....spent more time in his van making phone calls than working and when he couldn't figure out how to connect to the outside world, I showed him a Cat5e that had been used in the office, but wouldn't be used in the future. He just clipped it, pulled it back and fed it into the Den cabinet, where I told him to place the gateway. Didn't bother to remove the rest of it, just left it where is was. Never did get the TV stuff to work, so he cleaned up most of his stuff and said "I can't get the TV to work, so I have to go". He left the U-Verse boxes, remotes and the HDMI cables that were packed with the other stuff, then came back and grabbed the boxes.

The homeowner arrived after 4:30 and asked how it was going- I told him the guy left because it didn't work and the homeowner said "Why, because life is hard?".

We try to mitigate these issues by

1. Being the Security contractor

2. Being onsite when any other contractor is scheduled or at least available by phone to hold their hand.

The more the Electricians, HVAC, plumbers, etc have IoT devices to offer the more we will see these types of things.

The WiFi password is unavailable, just add a $29.95 Walmart router and create a new network. Then you get a call that "nothing works".

Another phenomena is our trade is still not particularly highly regarded. Which I find odd because when the TV or internet go down people loose their shit. We have our hands in pretty much every system in the home and we are the last to be informed about what the other trades are up too.

This.

100%

That's great when it doesn't take 7 years to get a license and insurance. You really dont have a clue do you? Just because your state may make it easy todo security doesn't mean it's easy in other states.

We ran the wire 100%. It did not exist before hand. The tech blamed the client to cover his ass. Said she told him it was a smoke and to remove it. She wasnt even there when he was..

Maybe the genius thought your AP was an old smoke detector. Pretty sure ADT's Smoke detector is wireless anyway. Probably thought it was something like a nest and was being replaced. Otherwise, He would have to be really really stupid to think think he could just disconnect the device and steal the wire for a device working in the house and think he could get away with it.

How many smokes connect with an RJ45 and then terminate to a cat punch down panel?

We put in our contract and verbally to Clients BEFORE we start the job, that if ANY service is performed in the house, that we are notified. If not, we charge a service fee to "fix" their screw-up. I will not even do a job for a client if we are not present during the "providers" appointments, no exceptions. I make it REAL clear, at the start, that most of these "techs" are entry level at best. It is only when they have a problem that they send out a REAL tech.

Guys, this day and age, put this in your contracts, charge for your service, show these people that WE are the REAL experts, not these idiots with the logo on their shirts.

Pay me now, or PAY ME A WHOLE LOT LATER.

This is not hard. Clients will appreciate it more at the end of a project and we get to be the hero.

I am WAY more friends with my clients because of this. Most of my better clients pay me to deal with these a-holes. One call to me and I handle the rest. I am listed on their accounts and can make changes, adds, etc.

Makes a HUGE difference.

We are dealing with AT&T today. My son is out baby-sitting them and can tell the "tech" more about his own system than he knows himself. Their Level 2 supervisor offered my son a job. He just laughed and said "you can't pay me enough to deal with the idiots that you hire"

I laughed.

:)
Sometimes baby sitting isn't enough, unless you are looking over their shoulder the whole time.

Recently had 2 DirecTV issues:
1st one; customer was doing an upgrade. All wiring was there, ready for him to just install the new dish and swap boxes.
An hour latter, customer asks where the DirecTV guy was? I didn't know. Had to stop what I was doing and go find him. He was under the house and had cut every coax end off and couldn't find the wires he needed. He insisted the 8-way splitter had to go under the house and not at the dish (which is where all the wires he needed was). A-hole refused to listen and do it the correct way.
After another hour of him dicking around, I had the customer kick him out, fixed the wiring he screwed up and put things back the way they were suppose to be. Finished the install, called DirecTV and got the boxes authorized. What should have been a 2 hour install, turned into a 4+ hour ordeal.

2nd one; customer was doing an upgrade. This time I swapped the dish myself, put in the SWM equipment, and all the DirecTV guy had to do was swap boxes and authorize. 2 guys showed up, a DTV supervisor and trainee.
It was a stormy day and when we powered the boxes up, the signal was at 89 on the Ka (need 90 to authorize). I said just wait a few minutes and try again. He insisted I didn't have the dish aligned properly and went outside. 30 minutes later he comes back with my LNB (SWM13 w/reverse band) and said he put an old SWM8 LNB on (he would get in trouble if he left that LNB on) - WTF???
The sky had cleared a bit by then and signal was right at 90, he authorized the boxes. As he was leaving, he mentioned "better luck next time with aligning the dish". I wanted so bad to tell him "you're a special kind of stupid, aren't you".

I'd suggest inserting a paragraph in your contract specifying that if someone else, be it external service provider, maid, family member causes a disruption or damage to the system that it is a billable service visit.

If you want to be a nice guy, give them an invoice and zero it out.

But when the cable guy makes you go out and fix what he did, or simply reprogram a remote because of new codes, you need to get paid...

I think I mentioned it on IP a few years ago. I went to Staples and bought some of the 3"x5" mailing labels in bright neon colors, then printed them with a warning that was something like

WARNING! THIS NETWORK CONTAINS STATIC IP ADDRESSES AND OTHER SPECIALIZED SETTINGS

Before making any changes to this network contact ***** A/V @ 555-555-1234

I put these on the routers. Now Im thinking of getting some smaller labels that can fit on the switches and patch panels.