ADT

We always had an issue with the ADT doorbell never wanting to connect, always bombing out. So with this one, they brought the new Google doorbell. So far, it's been really nice. The only downfall is that I have to have another app to be able to access it. It's not run through the ADT Control app. I have to run it through the Google Home app.

I'm paying for two houses and they combined both the monitoring under one payment, which is awesome. But then I have two other payments that are coming out randomly throughout the month that are for the installation payment or for the actual equipment itself. When they told me, with the package, that it’s going to be automatically all rolled up into my monthly payments, I was like, “Cool.” So on this monthly payment, I expected an additional 20, and on this one, I expect an additional 10.

But when I talked to the lady from customer service this morning, I was like, “Why is it showing in my system three separate payments?” She said, “These are flexi payments on this one and flexi payment on this one. They're gonna come out on these dates.” So through ADT right now, I have my monitoring for both houses on one bill. Then I have turned around and I have the flexi payment for one house on another bill that comes in on the middle of the month. Then I have another flexi payment that comes out at the end of the month, instead of having it all combined under one payment.

So far, I feel comfortable knowing that my security system is in place and that all the elements of it seem to work to the best of the ability of them to work. Everything seems to be satisfactory and we haven't had any difficulties with our ADT system. But right after the install, the camera wasn't working at the rear of the house. They scheduled to come out and they came out fairly promptly. There was something wrong with the wiring but a guy came out and got it right. He was excellent. We'd never had a system before, so for us, there seemed to be an ease of understanding what was going on and utilizing the system. I also really like the panel inside the house versus the phone app which has worked very well. If I pull out of the driveway and I forgot to arm the system, the phone app allows me to stop at the corner and "Arm Away" after I've left.

Aside from that, I appreciate the customer service of all three people that we've dealt with at the home, the salesperson, the installer, and the guy that came to fix the wiring. As a consumer of anything, I appreciate when the provider listens to what the customer’s saying and works with that. When people tell you, “Well, this is this and da, da, da,” and they don't listen to what you're asking questions about or telling them, I find that very off-putting. But ADT's reps were very cordial and everybody listened.

We just couldn't wait for him to get here, look at our house and everything that needs to be done then just get out. He needs to find a different job or he needs some coaching. We were appalled. We are consumers and we want this product in our home. I tried to go to management about this but it didn’t go any higher up than this regional manager. ADT didn't want to give me information so I was not happy about that. I kept getting transferred. I was ready to drive to the Tucson, Phoenix office because I was like, “I don't want this guy who seems like he's very complacent in life, that just doesn't care, to go into my house and try to sell me a security system when my husband’s a cop, and he's in the military.” It did not sit well with us.

Thankfully, ADT sent some guy who came in to do the install and he was great. He went over everything and he sat down with us. He is a great employee for ADT. The system has been nice and we've enjoyed it. I have to be here by myself until February so it makes me feel safe, which is the most important thing. We had another tech come out and he was great too. He came right away and installed the thermostat. Other than the sales experience, my husband and I are very pleased and we’re glad that we went with ADT.

ADT called me and asked if I kept the system alive for 30 days. I told them no as we were out of there. They asked what they would do, if call the police, or hit an emergency for the police. I told them it was up to them. No matter what they do, it will be wrong because they can't communicate with the people. The people will be upset because it's a false alarm, and ADT couldn't check, and because they didn't check if there really was something, it could be possibly a liable lawsuit. I've insured doctors' hospitals, and malpractice coverage, so I thought that was a big mistake by the company because they're open to liable and they should just confirm that the client is leaving and turn it off.

Then before, I was paying $32 a month. Now, I'm paying $58 and I have the same amount of charges. I've been a customer since 2012, but I'm not getting credit for that. It was a jump from 32 to 58. It should have been a little more gentle. It should be something in the middle there. The only thing I did was trade two doors for one motion 'cause they were supposed to equalize out. But ADT does everything we wanted to do. I wanted an older system. My wife and I don't like the touchscreens because of reasons of privacy. Our seller was nice enough to get one of the older screens for us, the punch button ones, and I appreciated that very much. The people who came were great. But the person who gave me the ill advice of not taking my equipment with me has cost me some money.

Overall, I like ADT. We've had the service for 25 years. The batteries are fairly easy. The hardest thing is that the system that I have in my house is an older system. I've got kind of the older and newer motion detectors. The older one is a little more finicky, trying to take it apart. But the newer ones are a lot easier. The batteries last a long time. I'm the happiest when I know that when I leave the house and if something happens, somebody is coming. I had accidentally set my alarm off and the police came. I forgot to get a hammer and then I went downstairs and raised the garage door. Then there was a high-pitch sound and I realized the alarm was on. Before I knew it, the police were here.

The reps at ADT are very professional. They listen to my needs. The last technician that came to take care of the glass breakers in my mom's house, I asked him a couple of scenarios there. He said, “Well, that's a good point.” He said, “Let's do this. Let's put one thing there, like a glass breaker, we'll put a motion sensor here. And that way, it's got your mom covered on that back-end of the house.” I told him I liked that. I've recommended ADT over the years to several people. There's a lot of outfits out there, but we’ve been happy with ADT. They're nice and neat. I like how they matched the color. Like we got white trim and they got white, and they also got brown if you got wood. That's a nice thing to have. They're not noticeable, so I like that. All is good as long as it works. So being concealable is great.

The waiting time was harsh though. It's a good thing I didn’t need somebody right away, because I have been waiting a while, unless the answering service would have been different if an alarm did go off. I just hope ADT would have been on top of it more so than me calling and waiting that long period of time that I did that one day. Other than that, I’m happy with the service. The installation was good, and I'm happy with the features of the system as well. The panel is nice, and everything is situated in the hotspots that I needed for the alarms on the doors, the sliding doors, and windows.

2 months later, we got collection agencies calling us to collect our 1,800 cancelation fees. Turns out, ADT stepped on their dealers toes, over reached their contract, and tricked us into another contract all under false pretenses. If you just signed an ADT, cancel it within 3 days!!! GET OUT.. the real buglers are ADT and their dealers. The systems are fancy with bells and whistles, but it's all worthless.