Starcity Shopping Mall, distinguishing itself as an outlet, was built on an area of 138.000 m2 and opened in 2008. The Shopping Mall, having a leasable area of 51.000m2, has been serving under the umbrella of Gencoglu Grup since 2018. The facility, having approximately 1000 personnel, hosts 17.000 visitors per day during weekdays and 26.000 visitors per day at weekends. The Shopping Mall serves to 700.000 people within the scope of the garage days it organizes.
The Starcity Management, hosting a dense visitor population, has also been maintaining the cooperation with EEC, which installed the fire detection systems, in the maintenance service for 17 years in order to ensure the safety of life and property.
While establishing Starcity, its first owner preferred EEC for the system installation. When the management of Starcity was transferred to Gencoglu Grup, working with EEC, which installed the systems, for the maintenance of the systems was considered appropriate. When I started to work herein, I was familiar with EEC with which I had worked in the former facility where I had been previously employed and I had knowledge about Edwards product. For these reasons, it is a company we trust and we did not need to change the product. The same system has been continuing to actively operate through regular maintenance since the day when it was established.
The fact that our devices in our Fire Detection System have been serving properly and perfectly for many years is of top priority for us. The properties of the system such as its continuous self-test and direct notification to user in the case of a failure, if any, provide us with great convenience.
The technical team of EEC has an ultimate command of the systems and we have an outstanding communication with them. We have not had any problem with them so far and we also do not think we will have any in the future. We had a challenging contract process with the sales team for once, and we resolved it through mutual understanding. Although we have minor problems due to the high prices within the contract periods, we can come to an agreement.
We have never considered “removing this system and working with another company” because of prices. The cost of this work is surely of importance, but the trust in the service support we receive takes precedence over the cost. Even if we settle for bearing the cost of system modification and work with another company by considering the maintenance cost only, we will be dependent on a company we do not know. Briefly, the risks we may encounter apart from prices are much higher! We do not take the chance. We strike the right balance somehow in the maintenance contracts because we give priority to the trust we have in the devices and EEC service.
I also worked in the field for approximately 10 years. I am quite familiar with the system. The addressability of the system, that is to say the capability of the system to send pinpoint notifications is very important. For instance, as the system receives clear information such as “the detector in the warehouse of the company X” from our tenants, our team can directly focus on that location without losing time.
As I have mentioned, the longevity of the system is its most important characteristic. This is because you purchase a product, but it fails or may become out of function 2 years later. If we look now, we can see that there are devices which have been in operation for 17-18 years since their installation in our facility. At this point, the maintenance of the system is also important as well as the quality of the product. We do not neglect the maintenance of the devices and we take care of their proper operation.
Unfortunately, there is a different type of system installed in one or two chain stores. We could not replenish the system because the tenants did not take it kindly. We only monitor. In the old type of system, the alarms are not received by the panel as pinpoint notifications. We therefore do not prefer it in case the damage may have been done until we find the point from which the signal is received in an area of 5000m2. This is because Edwards is a system which is capable of performing self-test and self-control. For instance, when disconnection occurs at one point, the system promptly scans itself bi-directionally and enables us to directly find the failure point.
I give nine points to the price, quality and performance of the product because I can say that this product is the right product. As I have mentioned, we can find over 500 detectors which have been operating for 17-18 years in the field. That is to say a product which we purchased at 90-100$ in 2008 is still actively in operation. The longevity of the products is very important and we try to maintain this through our regular maintenance processes.
As the Shopping Mall, we have an extensive technical staff. If there is any change considered necessary in our fire detection system in the maintenance, we promptly take action. This is because any constraint that occurs in the system may cause a critical problem for us. I say “These devices are like a nose for us”, that is to say approximately 2000 noses are constantly detecting for you in the facility.
If we create a safe facility, each nose is very important for us. While we are in sleep, the detection of smoke, if occurs, in the storage of any of our stores when the Shopping Mall is closed is of top priority for us. We must keep this system active and functional both in order to ensure the safety of our facility and with conscientious responsibility. Life safety is first and foremost and we also have liabilities to our tenants because “what hurts the purse, hurts the soul”.
We do not open the store without making our tenants complete and commission their deficiencies in the system in order to protect them as well. The license is not granted after all. We have the necessary corrections made with warnings such as “your detector at that point is missing, you cannot obtain approval” before the arrival and control of the fire brigade. Moreover, even if the license is obtained, we do not allow the door to be opened without seeing the system commissioning report of EEC if any additional material is required. Ultimately, we do not want to encounter with an alarm with its location is uncertain.
Our communication with the sales team progresses properly. If we had problem in contacting with the sales team, we would continue with another company, believe me. Thankfully, they carry out all controls in depth within the purchase processes. Thus, they eliminate the questions marks, if any, in the background.
We have always maintained the balance through mutual understanding and interventions even at a point where we rarely have difficulty in terms of price. For instance, we make changes very frequency due to the tenants. This is an issue which requires prompt action in the case of necessity. Moreover, we are familiar with the product quality and market. Naturally, the purpose of the purchaser is 5-10%, but there is no expectation such as 80-90%. For example, a purchase was made because the useful life of the carbon monoxide panels expired. This is also the same for our additions.
In our specification, we oblige our tenants to work with EEC as the supplier and to use Edwards products as the brand. We also follow up their purchase and commissioning phases. If there is any error or deficiency in the Project, we interfere by saying “your detector is missing at that point, you need to place an additional detector”. The tenants receive the accurate proposal as we also receive support from EEC sales team with regard to what the project needs to include or whether there is any excess or deficiency in the design.
We did not have any problem in the field. We can easily get in contact. Sometimes, we call the technical team in the middle of the night. For example, we are in contact with Gorkem within all our processes and he also makes recommendations. We first ask by saying “there is such a circumstance, what should we do”, and we receive support remotely if necessary. If remote support is not applicable, we progress by opening a service record.
Eventually, this place is a wellness center. It is a facility which is visited by people with their beloved ones. There are people of all ages, even 3-month infants inside. To create an area where they can spend time safely is an issue that we can never ignore and that is of top priority for us. What matters for us is our conscientious responsibility rather than obligations. Hence, we cannot ignore the maintenance.
I can recommend the system and service of EEC because I have experienced. Both the longevity and the addressability of the devices provide significant advantage to the user. We can easily resolve any disagreements both in the field and within the purchase-contract periods thanks to the communication with the team.
