POLICE and RapidSecure LTD

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 11:54

Last week someone wanted to break into my shop but someone had to scare them and they ran away. The police arrived and called the RapidSecure company, which inserted 2 small wooden crossbars and screwed a plywood board to it (4 screws). They called this work a secured property. There was contact information on the shop window but the police called the construction cowboys instead of me. A few days later I received a bill from RapidSecure for £ 240. It took me 3 minutes to remove the plywood board, so the question is how this can be called a secured property? In my eyes, it is not worth the money for such a service. Have any of you dealt with such a company? I plan not to pay and I keep all the photos and I have a witness who will confirm how much it took to get inside and the materials they used for this work. I'll probably meet in court. What do you think about it. Thx
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bQG7rSBs4FBpxNih7

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 12:03

teenwolf said:
i am not a shop

What do you mean m8?

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 12:16

dcsarge said:
Disgusting price for that amount of work but not unusual for 'emergency callout' based work I imagine. Surely you can pass that onto your insurance though?

Lysander said:
Going by the reviews on Trust Pilot they specialise in plywood boards with 4-screw fittings and then charging £264 for it.

RAPID SECURE LIMITED is rated "Great" with 4.1 / 5 on Trustpilot

Do you agree with RAPID SECURE LIMITED's TrustScore? Voice your opinion today and hear what 815 customers have already said.

uk.trustpilot.com

My insurance exces is £ 250 so it is not worth it but how they can call job secured when took me 30 sec to get in?

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 12:33

Sirrel Squirrel said:
Wonder what would happen if you didn't pay the invoice and they took you to small claims court. You didn't instruct them to do the work so I don't see where liability would stand.

You're right, I'm not going to pay and meet them in court and bring everything with me (material they used to secure the property) to show this is ripp off.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 12:56

Thekwango said:
ignore him. they are one of those sort of posters who thinks their a funny smart ass. they aren't.

have you spoken to the local police force, the ones who called these cowboys out? i'd speak to them first, showing them the evidence of the work done by the folk they called in.

Thats a good idea m8 i will try this but knowing the Police (probably not interested).

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 13:14

tom_e said:
Looking at it another way I could get through a patio door in 5 seconds with a glass hammer, nothing is secure if someone wants in. They'll secure it basically to keep the weather out and the insurance happy that there's no a gaping hole and that's about it.

Yes i can see your point of vue but why do police and this secured company doing jobs i didn't instruct them to do? On a client job sheet i have information police was present so they had lot of time to call me and inform what was happening.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 15:41

Chris Wilson said:
When you get to court I'll offer you a free bit of advice, don't call the magistrate "mate"

Thx m8 much appreciated i wiil probably needed.

arknor said:
Do the police get a commission ?

I just find out that Police stright away calling them because they have contract with this company so i bet police get a commission.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 18:46

WJA96 said:
Pay it.

Move on.

Forget trying to state the door wasn’t secure. It was as secure as any other boarded up door. They’re your local police force approved contractor. They did the bare minimum to make your premises secure.

By all means take it to court. But you need to demonstrate that you’ve tried to negotiate with them first. If you don’t try to work it out with them first you’ll automatically lose your £25, you’ll lose your £260 and you’ll lose at least one day waiting to see a Magistrates Clerk who will tell you you’ve lost. Even if you do negotiate first you’ll still lose because they did the minimum work agreed with your local police force to make the premises secure.

Get a security firm in to quote for a grid or a roller shutter over your door. Because a half-glass door with a single or even 3-point mechanism euro-cylinder isn’t secure either.

I talked with them and offered to pay half the bill (for this crap work) but they declined my offer saying it was standard procedure and price. I recorded conversation with them to have evidence in court. I have been running a meat shop for 8 years and I have nothing of value inside , so spending a lot of money on security seems illogical to me becauce it is not my building and the police instead of helping people and making a phone call to me , add an extra bill.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 21:52

WJA96 said:
You’ll lose and just feel more aggrieved afterwards. It’s just how it is. Let it go.

Maybe its time to say no and stop this money making machine. If everyone will pay this company they will keep doing this forever.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 22:12

The_Arbiter said:
I guess you could wait until you get a court date by ignoring them, and by how things are going at the moment, a very long time away. Then if that does happen, pay the invoice. I'd expect they'd write this off and simply not bother, but if they do indeed have something in writing that says they can do whatever they want as it's supposedly reasonable and backed by the police, i'd think you could well lose at court.

But i know nothing about the law or shops, so this is obviously not sound advice.

I would like to know if enybody had this problem before and what was the final outcome.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 22:22

Surveyor said:
I'm guessing the police would argue they have become his agent by necessity in an emergency and he's bound by acts of the agent, i.e. contracting with the company to make the property secure.

So this looks to me money making machine, police had my contact information (hard to miss on front window) but thet prefer ring company for extra money.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 22:46

Surveyor said:
You're free to argue the matter with the police, the company and if it ends up in court. I don't think the police are making extra money though.

Maybe the police dont make money , but instead of helping people they give me extra bill. I would understand if there was no contact information for myself on shop window and they had to contact RapidSecure to do this job they i will pay the bill no question asked.

Gregvivi0401 · 11 Aug 2022 at 22:50

touch said:
The police don't have time to stand around watching your shop. RapidSecure respond in under 60 mins and have the required materials to secure it. Not many owners would be able to do that.

Wow so why on a client job sheet i have information police was present when they was doing job so they had lot of time to call me and inform what was happening and I live 5 minutes from the store, I would do it myself.

Gregvivi0401 · 12 Aug 2022 at 12:25

WJA96 said:
Look at this link and then look at who supplied the information.

Boarding Up Of Property By Police And Liability

Where a property is let to a tenant and the Emergency Boarding Up Services are used to secure the property under the instruction of the police, the landlord...

landlordadvice.co.uk

These people know the law and they know what they can get away with.

£250 initially seems outrageous for what was probably 30-60 minutes of driving to/from the job plus 15 minutes on site plus the materials.

The person who does the work has to be security checked (what used to be called a CRB check) and they’re generally locksmiths who don’t work for minimum wage and they have to have someone who will get there ASAP and get the police off the scene as fast as possible. They don’t get paid if they don’t get called out so effectively every job has to cover the whole night just in case they only get called out once.

It might seem unfair, it might not seem reasonable but it’s how the law is enforced in the UK. If the OP tries to fight it, they’ll lose. Sorry if it doesn’t suit the narrative of ‘justice for all’.

Client job sheet telling me gay who did this job he lives on the same post code as my shop so it took eight to ten minutes plus labor and material. I do know what you mean
It’s REALLY simple.

1. The police have a legal duty to protect your property when it’s been broken into.

2. They have decided, as a legal entity, to employ a company to make your property secure
.
But police if they can call them what was stoping them to call me its only takes 1 min plus i am sure was 2 police officers at present.
This is the most frustrating thing

Gregvivi0401 · 12 Aug 2022 at 12:30

booyaka said:
Have you contacted them to query the bill? Or just having a rant on here instead?

Speak to the company themselves and ask them about the costs/time involved.

Look at it another way - Would you have the materials to secure the property at the time the attempted break-in happened - Did you have the time to do it yourself? Would you have been able to do it there and then on your own if the police had called you?

It's £240 - it saved your shop from being stolen from, it was secured in some form.(whether you say it was or wasn't suitable is irrelevant).

Like I say - speak to the company yourself - query the bill - but all the bravado about taking it all the way to court will potentially end up costing you a lot more than £240.

Yes i did and is like talking to a brick wall. And answer to your question maybe not in the middle of the night but i live 5 min away and i would stay at the shop to next morning playing games on my laptop and save myself £240. This money would then be spent on repair.

Gregvivi0401 · 12 Aug 2022 at 13:04

Armageus said:
It doesn't matter whether the guy lives in the same post code as your shop - he presumably charges the same rate regardless of where the callout is within his catchment area.

Because not every shop owner lives 5 minutes away? Not every shop owner would want to sit at their shop playing on their laptop to save £240? Not every shop owner would dodge ringing their insurer?

It's a standard process they have set out, to try and do what's best in terms of protecting a property versus use of police time.

booyaka said:
So what your saying is your are happy to sit inside your shop/playing games on your laptop for 6-8 hours in the middle of the night, then driving to pick up materials, pay £20/£30 for materials, securing your own shop - but someone else did it for you, the police attended to make sure all was well, and you were only charged £240.

Seems ridiculous not to just pay it and move on.

Your not going to win this one in court..... Only cost yourself a lot more money.

It's a standard procedure to secure a property.

What happens if you are away on holiday?? Police make a call, you don't answer - shop is then left wide open / unsecured.

I bet you'd rather pay the £240 then ??

I notified my insurance company right after my arrival at the store but unfortunately they will not cover the damage because the front door belongs to the building and my landlord is not intrested. My insurance will cover all damages don inside and that's it (broken glass and repeir secend door inside) . That's why my frustration because I have to pay twice now.

Gregvivi0401 · 12 Aug 2022 at 13:40

The Funktopus said:
Knew someone who used to have a glazing business, and one year all the company’s in the town offering such services were approached by the Police to bid for providing out of hours emergency boarding. Anyway, none of them really wanted it due to the anti-social hours it would entail, so they put in ridiculous prices in the hope of getting undercut by someone else. Although unfortunately this chap, he didn’t go as stupid as his competitors, so won a contract he didn’t really want. He made a decent amount of it, but hated the hassle of getting called in the dead of night to break ins.

Now we have the picture. Thx