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.

When I got ready to cancel, I had to wait on hold for an hour for somebody to answer the phone. Then they told me I had to go to another department and had to wait another 30 minutes for that department to answer. I can understand that since the pandemic, a lot of companies might not have these staff that they normally had in the past. But to have to stay on hold for an hour was ridiculous. At one point, they told me that if I left my number, someone would call me back. I did, and no one ever called me back. So, customer service is far most important for me.

When I called to sign up with ADT, the young man told me all the things that they were waiving. When the install guy got out and he was telling me that ADT would just be financing my equipment for 700 and some odd dollars, I said that I was never told that I had to pay for the equipment. He got on the phone and called someone. I guess they went back and listened to the tape that I was never told that I have to pay for the equipment charge, so they went ahead and did that.

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.

So when he came out, he said that he couldn't install the cameras that we wanted because we didn't have the adequate internet speeds. I wasn't gonna turn around and pay Spectrum $100 to come out and give me a new modem and then another $50 a month just for cameras. So, it was quite the debacle when he came out here. But other than that, he was good.

The only other issue that we had was since we were moving, I was thinking that we were just transferring service. Apparently, that was not the case. I realized after the fact that I was gonna have to call and cancel the old location's monitoring, 'cause I went in and logged everything online, and I realized there was another bill for the old address.

I called and they had not stopped service there. They were like, "We require a 30-day notice." I said, okay. But, that would have been nice also for the representative that I spoke to when I was talking about transferring my service to say, "We need to go ahead and put in a request to cancel that service on such and such date. And then your new service will be on a different bill." So, now, whenever I get that final bill sometime mid-November, I'm gonna have to call and dispute the two months of extra charges on there.

I immediately called ADT to talk to a technician. We both verified that the box was not working and that a technician would have to come out to repair it. ADT informed me that there would be a service charge (~$49) to which I replied begrudgingly, "Why should I have to pay for a defective ADT device that so critical to my security?" I also asked why I had not been notified that a critical component such as a cell phone box was not operating. The tech told me that ADT had tried to call me about it but said they only called once. I saw no voicemail or any record of such a call but still – why only one phone call about something as important as this?! I agreed to the charge and a tech was scheduled to come to my house a few days later.

I called ADT before the appointment date and inquired about buying a flood light. They gave me a price and wanted to charge me an additional $250 to have an electrician install it. I declined this offer and told them that I would install it myself. I gave them my credit card credentials & thought I purchased the flood light. As you will find out later in this review this was not the case. I was also told that the technician coming to fix my cell phone box was also going to install the flood light.

The day came that the technician was to come to my house. The appointment was set between the hours of 8am-Noon so I took off work. The ADT technician never came. I called ADT and was told that since I bought a camera, the original service appointment that I made was expunged. The ADT rep I was talking to couldn't even see the original appointment (ticket). They also told me that technical service calls and product installation were two different things and that product installation takes precedence. In my case that meant that the camera needed to be added before the technician could come out. I had to miss a day of work because ADT never told me that my original appointment had been cancelled.

Though I had been inconvenienced and had missed a day of work, I decided to add another device to my order and proceeded to give my credit card credential to buy a Google Nest doorbell camera. After having gone through all of my complaints with the rep they assured me that this time everything would be fine and that my cameras and cell phone box would be fixed in one visit. This would not be the case as you will soon discover.

On the day of my appointment two technicians arrived between the 8-12 time window. However, they only came with the doorbell camera. They knew nothing about the cell phone box or the floodlight that I had purchased. To make matters worse, they told me that the cameras that I had bought would not work with my older ADT Pulse system. Wow! Never did anyone from ADT tell me that my new cameras were incompatible though one tech did try to sell me on their new system which I declined. One of the techs on the scene sympathized with my frustration and called in to talk with a manager. The tech told me that she would try and get me a new system (not including cameras) and that she would help me make a new appointment. She also told me that everything would work out when they came back.

The day before my next appointment when everything was to be fixed, I saw a confirmation email that required me to click a button confirming the time. The appointment time was supposed to be between Noon – 4pm? However, I confirmed the appointment anyway and took another day off of work to be there just in case ADT arrived early or late. ADT never showed?! In fact, they called my wife at 4:30pm, not me, and told her that they were running late and wanted to know if they could come over around 5pm. I told my wife to decline for I had made other plans by then and didn't want them going to the house without me being there. I told my wife to tell them to schedule for the following Wednesday.

I called ADT a day or two later and spoke to several reps. Eventually I was transferred to the product/installation department because I wanted to confirm that I had purchased two very expensive cameras. I told the rep my whole story. She was not able to confirm much but was able tell me that I had purchased one doorbell camera. I told her that I had also bought a flood light camera and even gave ADT my card. After 30 minutes of this I went to my online banking accounts in search of the charges. I saw no charges from ADT whatsoever!

The rep eventually said with an apologetic tone something to the effect, "Oh Mr. ** you won't be charged for the cameras until they are installed." Pray tell why this rep didn't tell me this 30 minutes earlier? I recall telling the rep to cancel and and all pending appointments and that I no longer wished to buy ADT or Google Nest cameras. I recall had to excuse myself from this call but knew that this matter had not been resolved and that I would need to call back ADT later.

I recall it was a Monday (9/19/22) that I called the ADT general number in order to talk to someone in the scheduling department. At this point I gone in a "Full Circle". All I wanted was to have ADT come fix my cell phone box BUT there was no way I was going to pay a service fee. I had missed several days of work and had been strung along by ADT and their ineptitude scheduling & servicing inadequacies. The rep took notes and apparently deferred my case to a supervisor. The rep told that someone should be contacting me shortly. It's been a day later and nobody from ADT has reached out to my knowledge. I have been doing research online about other security companies and have learned a lot. I landed on a website that educates visitors on the best home security systems. I am likely going to chose one of these and say good riddance to ADT.

I’ve recommended ADT to my mother who lives in Virginia and I had that put on her doors down there. I also recommended them to a neighbor on 80th street because there were some shenanigans going on next to her. ADT’s reps have always been very pleasant, kind and helpful, no matter the issue is, even if it’s so minute that I should have been able to figure it out myself. ADT has always been there for me.