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Any Karr Security Installers Here?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Security and Convenience
Forum Discription: Car Alarms, Keyless Entries, Remote Starters, Immobilizer Bypasses, Sensors, Door Locks, Window Modules, Heated Mirrors, Heated Seats, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=87929
Printed Date: March 28, 2024 at 6:05 PM


Topic: Any Karr Security Installers Here?

Posted By: youngblood
Subject: Any Karr Security Installers Here?
Date Posted: December 28, 2006 at 11:53 AM

I'm just curious how many current or former Karr alarm installers are present. And if so, I'm curious if you're happy with the working conditions?



Replies:

Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: December 29, 2006 at 9:31 PM

current installer, almost 3 years, and love my job.....





Posted By: chris354
Date Posted: December 30, 2006 at 11:32 AM
Installer for last 12 years. Starting to get burned out with audio love doing remote starts but only about 3 months out of the year do we do alot.




Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: December 30, 2006 at 10:09 PM
chris, he's talking about  a certain product......i actually have about 14 years ex, but only 3 with the company that installs KARR. If you're burned out on audio, google up KARR security, there might be a division nere you. All i do is security and thats it.  The company is awesome and you can make some money.




Posted By: delexatek
Date Posted: January 22, 2007 at 2:05 AM
i'm representing, I believe, the newest swds division here in Seattle, Washington.




Posted By: splaudio
Date Posted: January 22, 2007 at 4:23 PM
never heard of this brand before. is it any good?




Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: January 22, 2007 at 4:49 PM
Hey Delexatek, Kansas City division here. Yeah splaudio, its a cool product......we front load em at dealerships. Gives the dealer a way to lock and unlock all the cars on the lot.....and can be activated to full feature alarm, if customer purchases.

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Posted By: delexatek
Date Posted: January 22, 2007 at 7:43 PM
Hey mikvot. what kind of LOT are you on?




Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: January 22, 2007 at 8:16 PM
i have a Ford lot.....and a Mitsu lot.

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Posted By: youngblood
Date Posted: January 28, 2007 at 9:40 AM
I have nothing bad to say about the equipment. It was always solid. I do, however, have A TREMENDOUS amount of resentment concerning how they treat their installers. I made great money, but I was CONSTANTLY fixing other installers work and other services for which I was not paid. Karr Security has not given their installers a raise ever. In fact, they've reduced pay. Their philosophy is, if you want to make more, work harder. Unfortunately, chucking alarms under the dash just to increase numbers wasn't an option for me. It is for many of their installers.




Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: January 28, 2007 at 11:22 AM
yeah, i suppose it all depends on the division you were at. The 2 i've worked for , we would get paid for repairs. Usually half the normal install. With the division im at now, we are so small, and work so close together to each other, that i'll just make the installer that ***, come and fix his own work. I do undertand what you are saying about the no raise part though, but it hasnt been lowered for me, would be nice to get an extra buck or two. All i can say is that, i did leave the company for about 5 months, and realized that i didnt want to make the crappy money and deal with the headache of working in a normal shop environment.

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Posted By: cavsfan
Date Posted: January 29, 2007 at 12:57 PM
I had a few buddies work for this company and they loved it , until a year later Midwest Dealer Services decided to leave town and a bunch of guys jobless.  I alomost went to work for them butt decided not to at the last minute.  I think I made the correct decision.




Posted By: mikvot
Date Posted: January 29, 2007 at 5:41 PM
think we're talking about a different company, never heard of midwest dealer services, and havent heard of a division shutting down.

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Posted By: cavsfan
Date Posted: January 30, 2007 at 8:04 AM
This was the same company it could not be called southwest dealer services in Ohio.  The alarms were all put in with t-taps and the led and valet switch were mounted under dash and were on the same pod.




Posted By: youngblood
Date Posted: February 27, 2007 at 11:05 AM
Karr Security, apparently, is the franchise name. When I worked for Karr, it was owned and operated by Northern California Dealer Services, formerly Southwest California Dealer Services. I have no reason to refute the Karr in the Midwest would be named..... (drum roll please)........... Midwest Dealer Services. But what do I know?




Posted By: j12v
Date Posted: March 13, 2007 at 2:53 AM

They went back to the Southwest dealer services maybe late last year. I agree with what youngblood says about the company (At least the one we worked for) and its true that no ones really gotten a raise. However, there was a rumor of one person getting one.

They let me go for a reason which was very... I'll just use the word 'dirty' because it  was total BS. I didnt fight to stay because I was already unhappy of how things were being ran, and had another job lined up. The only thing I miss is the dealership(s) I worked at, and the installers. Not dispatch, nor any of the supervisors/bosses because... I'll just leave it at that





Posted By: youngblood
Date Posted: March 21, 2007 at 12:57 AM
Does Lee still work for them?




Posted By: nava94
Date Posted: March 21, 2007 at 10:15 PM
Like youngblood pointed out there are some boobo installs that some karr alarm techs do not all, but I ran into some unhappy customers especially my wifes relative who bought a brand new 2006 Town & Country minivan with a karr oem alarm upgrade were you use the factory car remotes to arm and disarm the karr alarm. well the van did not have 100 miles when it got towed in twice in two weeks because the tech who installed the alarm fried the car bcm now imagine driving the car in the street and everything turns off thank G.O.D, it was not the freeway cause it would be a tragic story. twice the van was towed in for the same reason. yes you have to hustle but then there's those techs that compromise and are careless. more work more money but why not flawless work more money and happy dealers and consumers. have some friends that work for swd company but yes they have to hustle and at the same time fix someone elses mistakes. southern california has a big market but the bulk installs and the mind over matter mentality on some techs suck. It's not mine so it don't matter. It will matter when they complain why they didn't get a bonus. hate t taps.




Posted By: youngblood
Date Posted: March 25, 2007 at 3:11 AM
The biggest problem with the mentality of most, if not virtually ALL, KARR alarm installers is that they appear to play percentages. Apparently, if a dealership sells 20% of the preloaded alarms, then 80% of the alarms are removed. This is the part that infuriated me because most of the installers would chuck the alarms under the dash with zero accountability because that alarm has probably one shot in ten that it will even reach a customer. If it doesn't reach the customer, then whether it works or not won't be an issue. If it isn't an issue, then why bother?

Unfortunately... I absolutely could not, with any degree of conscience, work with such guidelines. I took so much pride in my installs that it actually wized some other people off because they ended up drawing heat when I wasn't. What really sucked, is that I had to leave home at 4:45 am to commute to my lot and start installing at 6:00... I worked through most every lunch and hated the traffic so much, that I ended up staying on the lot till sometimes later than 8:00 and wouldn't get home until past 9:00pm. After a year and a half of that while watching other installers pull the same numbers working half the time, I couldn't take it any more.

I have a little challenge for ANYONE with a Karr alarm in their vehicle. Go look at it... tell me if you think they actually cared when it was installed. I used to cringe when I saw what they were doing.

As far as your Chrysler T&C... I think I was the only sucker out there that would diode isolate the crap out of that BCM correctly to avoid any issues. I was also the only installer that wasn't destroying the 2004 Toyota Siennas by going to the 12v+ parking light wire. I could go on and on, but fact of the matter is....

KARR SECURITY could give a **** *** about your vehicle.





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