ADT

I was a little disappointed that I didn't know that things were going to cost as much, but even if I called and said something, ADT wasn't going to give me equipment that cost $1,500 for nothing. That man could have come all the way out here, started setting up stuff, talking to us and then when he came to say, "Well, this is how much it is," I could have looked at him and said, "I wasn't told that. I don't have $1,500." He would have had to leave with nothing. He would have also lost all his time, probably his commission or service call and then had to go on to his next one.

I have three payments of over $500, which I wasn't expecting. That had nothing to do with the installer though. The guy was great. He was here when he said he was going to be. It took about the amount of time that he told me it was going to take. He explained to me everything he was doing before he did it. He gave me options on the different places to put the cameras. He asked me and my husband of what we thought as far as input on where he was going to put the cameras or what our needs were, which was really big. I didn't want him just to come in and put them where he wanted. I had an idea of where I wanted things and then he told me whether they would work or not. The guy knew exactly what he was doing and he was very pleasant and professional. He explained everything thoroughly and he gave me a brochure. He also gave me a number to call him back if I had any questions or problems.

I like the features the system has, but I wish the panel board had something other than just a blue display. My other system had different pictures that was displayed. Also, our home is in a secluded area and I like the service of the camera because I can check my camera inside or outside. I travel many weeks out of the year into different states and countries. I need to be able to look and see that my home is being protected when it needs to be protected, so I appreciate the service. However, if the situation gets to where I don't feel comfortable or I'm not getting the coverage that I want, then I would find something else. I switched from another company that I had been with for almost nine years to come to ADT.

I still have a contract with the other company and I'm still paying it, but I left them because I wasn't getting the service and quality that I was expecting to get or was promised. When I called the other company on more than one occasion, I had to wait over 20 minutes to get assistance and that's not acceptable. My husband and I are up an age and that wait could have been detrimental. I could have had something happen, especially now, when you've got COVID and someone stops breathing. If I hit a panic alarm and nobody responds to me, that was not going to work. Somebody could have come in and taken all the stuff, and I would have not been able to do something. If I'm paying for a service, I expect it to be there.

The money was there so we could use it for equipment and it would be under no obligation. I would pay a small fee and then, we could decide that day. If I didn't want it, there was no money out of pocket and if I did, we would proceed. I hesitantly still didn't wanna do it. I still wasn't in the frame of mind to do it for various reasons but I was there in that area. I almost canceled it but I allowed the young man to come and he discussed with me what all could be done. It took me quite a while to decide. I didn't want a contract at all but knew that I needed some security there.

Based on what the representative went over with me and the way he was listening, he seemed genuinely concerned about what my concerns were and my reasons for needing it there. I discussed it with my husband who wasn't there and we thought that it would be better to go this route instead of with SimpliSafe. ADT has the legal provisions to put up cameras on a property if you had an interior one. The rep educated me on some things and that day I decided to do it because I needed the security there at that property and needed some smoke alarms and things like that tied in. But I would've liked to have known that the rep was a contractor and not with ADT at that time. He has since told me that they have bought that company. So, they are a part of it. Still, I would have liked more upfront transparency as to that.

I wanted a panel that you could see. I was with another company at my other house and with Vivint, you could see everything on that panel. I wanted that because my mom is there and she's older. So, using phones and tablets were not gonna be suitable. If you put in a camera, you wanna be able to see who's coming up the driveway not only with your phone. Also, my mom called me and she had some issues on what we thought were going on and things weren't registering on my phone. It took the rep a week to go back there and I didn't like that because sometimes you need these things to be taken care of right away. My husband and I are military and we were gone, and I can't leave that location all the time. I dealt with it that week but I needed some quickness to resolve my concerns.

Overall, the experience was good. 12 years ago, I was with ADT at that house and the experience was horrible, which was why I never wanted to go back with ADT again. They kept offering and I explained that I had terrible customer service when I had them before. They were so unfriendly that it makes you not wanna even call them for anything. They assured me that the customer service is not like that anymore so that prompted me to try them again. On my first experience, I didn't recommend ADT to anybody but my new experience all these years later has been positive. I would recommend on my new experience.

The salesman said that they were giving the system for free. All I had to do was to do what I wanted inside the house and they could do the cameras once they got the house done. I didn't get a labor bill to install the alarm system and I did get the system for free. I was freaking out and when I got done, I told my neighbors to call ADT and grab their special. My house is secured. I'd walk in the house and then I'd go for the panel really quickly. I love this system. I need security especially with this epidemic and I have them.

Now, this is the problem. The salesman told me that if he put cameras on the house, he would put ADT in a liability. He couldn't put ADT cameras. So I asked what he would recommend and he told me to go to any hardware store and pick the best system that I could possibly afford. Then I would have to make an appointment and they would send a guy over and hook it up for me. I also told him that I didn't have internet service so he told me to specifically ask for a system that could be connected without WiFi internet. So I bought the best system at Home Depot and it was called Night Owl. I then called and they transferred me to this woman. The lady set up an appointment to have a technician come to my house. She also asked if I bought the system that I wanted because I told them that I didn't have internet WiFi and that was what I bought. It was a four-camera with some kind of monitor that didn't need WiFi internet.

Now, the guy, Michael, showed up and he said that they would only deal with ADT equipment. I shouldn't have bought the cameras. He told me that no technician was gonna show up and hook up the system that I got and that I should call the ADT office immediately. So there was a misunderstanding here. I got the right system but the salesman that I spoke to lied to me. Michael is an excellent employee. I learned something knowledgeable and he didn't finger point or anything. He said that I should've gone with the ADT cameras when they came over the house to put in the system. He also confirmed that I did get the system for free.

I called ADT and they told me that they wouldn't hook up anything from any store that didn't have their name on it. They said that I had been mishandled and they would take care of it for me. I had been on the phone trying to figure out why I had to pay for the internet. I gotta pay for a monthly payment that went from 28 to like $70 a month.

What knocked me off my feet was that Michael said that he could send a guy over and hook up the system. The technician would come over and hook up for cameras as quickly as possible because they saw that I needed it because of the tampering and robberies that I had. But it would be for 1,800. Another guy said 2,000. The cheapest one to hook up the cameras for my house within the next couple of days was $1,500. I almost keeled over. I was made to feel good that I didn't owe $4,000 for the system inside the house. But now, I would need $2,000 for a guy to come over to put ADT cameras. I need to get my cameras in the house but I can't afford $1,800 or $2,200.

The rep who came out was very nice as well. We didn't do a whole lot of going through stuff but he was here a while because I was trying to explain what I didn't want and I didn't want much of anything. I got bare-bones but the prices were outrageous. I've got two glass-breaking things, the stuff on the doors for opening and closing, to arm and disarm it, and the two doors going into the garage. Then the desktop thing but I haven't used it. I don't know if they got notified but it's never been turned on.

The guy that put the system was very nice, too. I thought of a lot of things after he left and there was nothing about that situation, other than the fact that I've never had a security system before. But I'm in an area where there are a lot of sirens going off, which I'm not used to. Then at some point when we get done with the house, I'm gonna be taking trips and I don't wanna have to worry about my house being robbed. I also love the ADT signs and the stickers.

Initially, I had a $2500 system here and I didn't like it. It needed a landline and AT&T screwed me over. They were gonna do voice over internet and it wouldn't work with the system. So, I fired AT&T because they're idiots. I called them four different times and told them that I needed a landline. Then, the guy showed up a month later and said he was putting in a voice over internet. But I told him that he wasn't and that I gave them four times to do it. I also told him that they hire people that have really low IQ or are not listening. It also seems like so many companies don't want to ever be contacted by the customers. We pay them money, but they never wanna speak with us in person. So, they make it really difficult. I spent oodles and oodles of time on hold trying to get through to anybody.

Other than that, I am concerned that if I leave and the dogs are here, then I arm the system and something goes wrong, it's gonna kill my dogs. It's gonna drive their ears nuts, so I won't do that with them here. If I go on vacation, that'd be the only time that I use the system. I go down to Oakland because we're selling a house down there. I stay sometimes for four days and I'll arm the system then. But there won't be any animals in the house. Aside from that, there are no motion sensors, so I don't have to worry about that.

I also have a manual fire thing, the panic button, and the two little key fobs. I was told by their rep that for my benefit, it's just the walk-in doors in the garage and not the garage doors that will set that off. Then, I contacted the city and I paid for a permit. They sent me a code that has to be used for the police if they show up and I've got so many times that I can use it before they start charging me for bad calls. But I still don't know what will happen if I'm away and the alarm goes off.

The lady was very helpful and she explained a lot. She told me about the flyer promotion that I got and if the system was still a valid system in the home, we can have all these additional credits and things for additional pieces of equipment. They were very thorough. At the time it was all happening during COVID and we had been exposed so I wasn’t letting anybody in the house. She gave me a reference number to call back when things were ready, which I did. But before I could call back, I kept getting these phone calls saying they were calling to install our system. I hadn’t agreed to anything just yet and the guy was supposed to come out, show me the equipment, check my system, tell me what my pricing would be, and then I’d go forward. I was a little confused by that.

I called and gave my reference number. The lady that answered was very helpful. She said she doesn’t know why they said they were installing but they were just gonna come out and tell us everything. So we scheduled the time and the gentleman came out. He came out with the impression that he was installing that day, so certain information was not relayed down to him. But he walked through everything and ultimately we went with the system and he put it in that day. A lot more than what he intended because we pretty much put the window sensors in every window in our house plus all doors. It was a lengthy installation, to say the least, because the system was outdated.

He was counting everything and I specifically asked if he got all the doors, to which he said yes. But my front porch has two front doors, one in the front and one kinda on the side of the porch like a side entry, and I touched it and asked if he got that door. He said yes but when he got everything installed and was asking to walk us through everything, I looked up and I said I didn't see a door sensor on that one. He had it on my garage door. And he said he didn’t think I wanted one on that one since we keep that one locked. We put sensors on all the other doors that were external doors, why would I not want it on that one? But he couldn’t just add one because it had already been processed and paid. I said if he could take off the one on the garage door because I have the garage and then the door into the house, so if I got to choose between the two, let’s put it in the most external door. So he took it off, he changed it.

I didn’t think too much about it and he said he would just add another one to the garage door later. Over the last week or so that I’ve had it, we set the alarm, we leave, and we come back in. And it’s a new thing for us, so sometimes I forget that it is on. But I come in and do all kinds of stuff. Then, I realize I didn't turn the alarm off and I go back in there and it’s still armed. It bothered me that I was all the way to where the recliner and the couch is and there’s a motion sensor right there and nothing happened. We're gonna call the tech back and tell him something’s not right. For me to get that far into the house and nothing goes off is a little scary to me.

The ultimate point was we protected everything so that people wouldn’t get in if they tried a window or a door. We even got the little vibration thing on the window and we’ve got glass breaks. If they got in, the motion sensor would catch it. But I don’t know if it’s working or not and I didn’t really want to open the front door and make it alarm, because we set it to where it would dispatch police before the contact me. I’m a little leery to open the door and make it go off. Other than that, it’s fine. I had it before and I know it works.

Original Review: When being sold my ADT plan, I was informed of the 90 day money back guarantee, it was set up at the basic rate but if I wanted the upgraded equipment, tell the tech and he will provide and move me to the next level of payment. The appointment time was sent to me via email at 12:00am so we didn't know when the tech would arrive. The tech showed up, no ID, no mask and no ladder, he climbed some shelves and my couch to put on sensors. We had to ask him to put on a mask since Covid restrictions. I did ask for the upgrade equipment which I received the monthly charge for but was told I don't get the upgraded equipment, that would be extra $ another lie from ADT.

After the install he asked me to sign his cell phone confirming the install which I did and he verbally confirmed the 90 day money back guarantee. Four people confirmed to me the 90 day money back guarantee; the salesperson, the install tech, the 1st person I called for assistance and the next tech who confirmed it was a poor install, understood my frustration and would advise his manager I wanted to cancel.

The system didn't work, sensors were falling off windows, the alarm would go off when not armed and opening the front door set off a tamper alarm. ADT advised to troubleshoot on our own then frustrated I exercised my right to cancel based on them not delivering a working system. They sent a tech out who confirmed it was a bad install and the software was not working properly, I told him I wanted to cancel and he said he would let his manager know, it was a bad install and within my money back guarantee.

The next day, I heard nothing back so I called the cancellation number that was provided to me. I was passed back and forth between 7 different people, some not wanting to deal with it and some that were pure nasty that I started to lose my temper. These people informed me that when I signed on the cell phone for the install that was a new term contract that only allowed 3 days from signing to cancel. I explained that the system didn't work and I lost trust in the system and what was communicated to me 4 times about the 90 day money back guarantee.

They accepted that I was told that, confirmed that the system was not functional as they could see the error messages in their system but would not release me from the contract unless I paid 75% of the total contract. They were argumentative, didn't care, acknowledged the system failure, acknowledged what I was told but were only interested in my money.

I went up to the corporate office where I met the most nasty of people. Michelle Employee # **, Khyler Employee # **, Julius Employee # ** to name a few with some customer friendly professional people like Gabrielle #** who sent a note to the local office mentioning the poor install and the request to cancel. I never heard from the local office. I received a few calls from them re-iterating the same conversation over and over. They all acknowledge what I was told about the 90 day money back guarantee, acknowledge my attempts to cancel but advised me that they didn't have to deliver a working system so that the 90 day money back guarantee could be executed. They actually said this.

What they wanted to do was to continue to send tech out as much as possible but would not release me from the contract because I was 10 days into the contract and the new terms from the cell phone signature of 3 days. In addition, they tried to play a recording of a survey which was difficult to hear with 2 women discussing the install the day of the install. I believe this to be a doctored call, the only phone number they confirmed on file was my cell phone number and they did not have my wife's. I highly recommend using another company or do it on your own. I have read reviews about ADT and the deceptive practices since my bad experience. I am only 3 weeks into the service, have yet to put the alarm on, mistrust ADT 100% and warn all consumers not to do business with ADT.

1) The security system uses a quick arm feature that does not require a code to enable. This will allow a confused family member or children to arm the system, where the system will go off and the monitoring folks will call. Poor feature where the passcode should be required to arm as well as disarm the system.

2) The outdoor security cameras which the salesman ensured me would capture people day or night is only useful in the daytime. This leaves night use of the cameras as totally useless. In addition, the installer placed one camera just above the furnace exhaust where this as well as blowing snow keeps the camera in constant alert for phone app notifications. In other words, a continuous stream of false alarms from the furnace exhaust and/or blowing snow keeps my phone app in constant alert. Now if I take the time to move the cameras in a location that may work, I now have holes in the siding of the house where the cameras were mounted by ADT.

Do yourself a favor and buy a dedicated camera system from Costco and mount them yourself so you're not locked into a 36 month monitoring plan with a worthless system.