Tyco SimplexGrinnell Greater Los Angeles Area

Part of the problem with Simplex, as they’re known in my building, is that reviews of them won’t stop them from continuing to get work because once their programming is used for the fire life safety system in a building they basically hold a monopoly over any construction work done in that building. A great analogy is Time Warner Cable… rated the company with the worst customer service in the USA. They have no incentive to provide good service or charge reasonable rates because there is zero competition and consumers have no alternatives. But here’s to hoping.
So for example: we have installed a small supplemental air conditioning unit in my office at work. For safety reasons an air conditioner has to be tied to the fire life safety system of a building so that in the event of a fire it will shut off and not continue to blow air that will fan flames. Totally reasonable. So for our AC unit to be compliant, we had to use Simplex to install an on/​off switch that is triggered when there is an alarm. The price? +$ 6,000… that’s for one (1) on/​off switch. That’s how much the entire supplemental AC system and install cost. No joke.
Yes there are drawings and permits and inspections as part of even the smallest fire life safety project, but as a comparison: from one company I know for just over $ 4000 you can get complete architectural services including measuring and design site visits, plans, permits, inspections, and even contractor bidding, for BUILDING AN ENTIRE 2,000 SQ FT HOUSE!!!
Then unanswered emails and messages by Simplex staff pushed a 1 month project into a 3 month project. And now, finally, we arranged for that on/​off switch to be installed this morning at 7am. They said they wanted to start at 6am. I gave them the options of 7 or 9. They replied, «7 for sure.» As I write this it is 8:25, and after I inquired about their whereabouts I got an email saying their installers are downtown. So it looks like «7 for sure» really means 9am, and I came in to work 2 hours early for no reason.