setting off the alarm at work (self-sighting)

[KellyHabersham]

I had the lovely experience of setting off the alarm in the church office this morning. This event came about because I completely blanked out regarding the keypad codes I'd been given, and the way our system apparently works, you get three tries before the alarm sounds. So, I had to run over to the on-site preschool building and get the director to help......fortunately she was very cool about it, and we called the alarm company to explain the situation, so the police didn't have to come out or anything.
Anyhow, things were all good after that, but still, it was rather embarassing that I'd completely blanked out like that, when I'd just used the keypad codes the previous week.

[dalesys]

At least you knew there was an alarm.

I was given a key and told to come in Saturday at Radio Shack Repair (thirty years ago).
Started working... 10-15 minutes later I hear a noise up front... go look...

And am greeted by two of Murray City's finest at full draw!

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

The burglar alarms at my store suck ass. So does the alarm monitoring company.

The alarms will go off at the slightest provocation. The store can be disarmed, but if the cleaning guy is vacuuming too close to the doors, it will set the alarm off.

Once, when I was on third shift, we were taking break in the vestibule between the two sets of doors. I rolled up a magazine to swat a fly on the floor, and me hitting the floor with the magazine set the alarm off.

The alarm company will sometimes call us if the alarm is going off. Other times they'll just call the police. We won't even know the alarm was going off until the cops tell us it did.

And then we get fined for having a false alarm.

[KellyHabersham]

I think we get fined for false alarms regardless of whether or not the police end up coming out here, but the alarm company gives us something like two "freebies" before that goes into effect.

[Victoria J]

We don't set our burglar alarm for some reason ( I know we pay more for the insurance, but I have no idea what happened to make management decide to do that) but we do have safety alarms in some of the rooms we see customers in. Most of the built in ones are under desks, at exactly toddler height...

Every time one has gone off it has been (a) a small child seeing what the interesting red button does, or (b) an alarm fault (though the alarm company said it was us and charged us).

After 3 false alarms we couldn't have a direct police connection any more, and it was noise only (now we have one police alarm, and the others set of a siren so a manager can decide to use the police alarm). Last time the siren went off it took 10 minutes to find the fob to switch it off.

But some of us can create havoc with much more simpler equipment. Some years back I ran into a code lock on an office door where I was working. One of those little ones where you type in the 4 digit code and can turn the lock. It was an older lock, and it could sometimes be a bit awkward to turn.

So I pop in the code, turn the lock and nothing. The door won't budge. And I'm wrestling the thing, pulling harder and harder. Until the whole lock came off in my hand.

I learnt 2 things.

1 - I hadn't actually put the correct code in, and it was still locked. (Luckily another door led into the same room because someone had to unlock it from the other side).

2 - I'm stronger than previously suspected.

I was so relieved they didn't make me pay for the new lock.

Victoria J

[mattm04]

One of our drivers set off the alarm once. They decided to back the trailer up waaaaaay too fast and broke the concrete wall and door, tripping the alarm. Cue FD, Police, Building Inspector and Store maintenance.

I have almost set off the fire alarm at work. I had to assemble a display and hit the bottom of a sprinkler, bending one of the fins yet someone missing the glass tube.