ADT

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.

Upon further research I found a site that reviewed 11 home security companies, and ADT was ranked at the very bottom of the list. I've encountered issues with my alarm going off when it was not even set on more than one occasion. The last time this happened was about 3 weeks ago in the middle of the night when I happened to get out of bed for a glass of water. If I hadn't done so I likely would have had the police at my door.

My main complaint though are the nasty details buried in the fine print of the contract you receive via email. The worst thing is the fact that if you want to cancel the contract for any reason, you must pay 75% of the remaining monthly fees due! God forbid if you decide or have to move. The same would hold true if you lost your job as tens of millions have during the pandemic. ADT wants your money and they could care less about your situation. They neglect to mention any of the details surrounding cancellation when they sell you on their services. As I previously stated, you receive the contract via email and the print is the smallest I've ever seen. I now understand why. If you read through it all, most people would look elsewhere for their home security needs as I should have done.

Well I begin asking more questions which appeared to irritate him, so he left and wrote a summary report slandering my character as well as used my name by means of Electronic signature without permission. I have called numerous times & asked where to file a complaint. Because of COVID I was told by several people that how it's done. My Electronic signature SHOULD NOT be used without authorization nor should it be used on any forms without prior reading of these forms.

We got the camera system and she didn't like the cameras or how they looked. I don't like how the cameras work. They weren't what I imagined they were supposed to be. They told me they work at night so you could see things in the yard. The guy was telling me it's kind of like entertainment. He installed them and that night, we were looking at them as he was installing them and you can't see anything. He said that's because it's infrared. So he went outside and I could barely see him four feet from the camera but what other camera he was gonna put up would have never showed anything at night so it didn’t make any sense.

The installation guy and I decided we would install the panel in the living room because there was a power outlet and he told me it was required that we have a power outlet. When I told my wife about it, she didn't understand what I was talking about. When they installed the power outlet there, she hates that it's there and thinks it should be in the foyer where there isn't a power outlet. But that doesn't matter to her. So she's unhappy with that. She doesn't like the look of the sensors on the windows at all and felt like she should have had choices. She is really upset with the whole thing. She called the company today and they're sending me an email which I've gotta sign and fax. They’re gonna give me my money back on the system and they're going to come remove it.