davehatwell Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Hi,Looking for a dealer who can help me design and install a system for a new home in MD right outside of DC. Audio, lights in common areas, security and thermostats. Also looking to be able to stream some video from a hard drive/NAS or something of the sort. I've read more posts then I care to admit and I'm still pretty confused if video is possible (the two local guys I talked told me it's not).Thanks and love the forum,Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danlevine Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Contact Bethesda Systems. They are good people. Tell Mike Dan told you to call Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehatwell Posted February 18, 2009 Author Share Posted February 18, 2009 Thanks Dan. I'll give him a shout.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehatwell Posted February 19, 2009 Author Share Posted February 19, 2009 Well that was unpleasant. They required a $2,000 non refundable "deposit" in order to prepare a proposal. Is that standard in the industry? I do commercial construction, and in my world such a thing is unheard of. People are happy to get the opportunity to just bid a project. Honestly I'm shocked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILoveC4 Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I certainly wouldn't pay any non refundable deposit, much less a $2,000 one. That is insane. If I got paid per proposal I wouldn't worry about ever getting the job :-). Proposals at $2,000 a pop would be much easier and more profitable than actually doing any work.FYI - I am NOT in this industry, but what I stated would be try for my profession. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodeman Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Hmm, sounds a little steep, but typically I would think that the deposit would get you some kind of credit off the final project price if you agree to go forward. But non-refundable definately doesnt sound nice. That's like the get rich app for the iphone whatever it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henniae Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Well that was unpleasant. They required a $2,000 non refundable "deposit" in order to prepare a proposal. Is that standard in the industry? I do commercial construction, and in my world such a thing is unheard of. People are happy to get the opportunity to just bid a project. Honestly I'm shocked.Maybe you shouldn't have told him Dan referred you! Just kidding. That sounds ridiculous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lippavisual Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Definitely sounds like a design fee of some sort. How large is your project?If I was approached for a design of a project with a large magnitude, I would charge a design fee as well, but, credit that fee towards the job.Sounds like these guys have been hit too many times with clients shopping for a design/proposal then trying to get that same project done on the cheapest cost.Its a good way for us to tell which clients are serious and which ones are just shopping.$2000 is alot of dough though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 I have to say I also didn't have a great experience with Bethesda Systems. They were the first dealer I spoke to when I was looking into Control4. We went to their showroom with some pretty well-thought-out ideas of what we were looking for, what we had budgeted, what functionality we wanted, etc. I had done a great deal of research in advance, including spending most of a day at the C4 booth at the Consumer Electronics Show beforehand to familiarize myself with the product, the options, etc. I was not walking in starry-eyed or uninformed. I also had a very realistic and pretty generous budget that I'd worked up and that I discussed with them.They came back to me several weeks later with a proposal that exceeded my stated budget preference by about $50k. It was presented in a very fancy binder, with lots of work that clearly went into it, and while I thought the price was unreasonable, I withheld comment during the presentation, said we'd take the proposal and look it over, and I figured we'd discuss it in subsequent phone calls. To my amazement, they never called me to follow up. The presentation of the binder was the last time I ever heard from them. I don't need (or care for) someone to suck up to me, but I do like to know that someone is interested in my business.The funniest part of the proposal was that they included a television, as I recall it was about $2000, in the rack in our basement. It was about a ~5" television and it was there so that when they were setting up or working on the system they wouldn't have to walk upstairs to see if the signal was coming through, they could plug in this TV in the basement. Keep in mind, the AV closet is, at most, a 30-second trip from anywhere else in the house. It seemed to me that including a $2000 television for installer convenience was not a reasonable thing to add to a proposal already $50k over budget.Shortly thereafter I went to Signature-AV Systems in Alexandria. They did a remarkable job, came in with all the functionality I'd wanted and more, all within my budget. They might be more focused on commercial work these days, but they're definitely worth giving a call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signature Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Dave, I am the owner of Signature Multimedia. We do alot of work in your area and I would be glad to help you out. We do not require any deposit and will normally design a project at no cost. If you are interested give me a call 301-371-7676, or email me at Mike.McRae@SignatureMultimedia.net Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbs Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 Dave, I am the owner of Signature Multimedia. We do alot of work in your area and I would be glad to help you out. We do not require any deposit and will normally design a project at no cost. If you are interested give me a call 301-371-7676, or email me at Mike.McRae@SignatureMultimedia.netMike-Is Signature Multimedia related in any way to SignatureAV? I'm assuming that it's just a coincidence . . .--Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signature Posted February 19, 2009 Share Posted February 19, 2009 We are not affiliated, there are so many av companies in this area I don't know how customers can keep the names straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davehatwell Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Nope, not a huge system. By any stretch. Mike (Signature) I'll give you guys a holler in the AM. Thanks for the recommendation JBS.Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txc4tech Posted February 22, 2009 Share Posted February 22, 2009 DaveGive me a call, I can help you with designing and installing your system no matter the size of the project. 301.503.4896Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.