ADT Reviews

The technician that was dispatched had replaced the sensor after checking for faulty wiring on 08/18/2010. A couple of days later we had the same problem monitor beeping continuous. This time however, the customer service technician told me that it is not possible to log in remotely and I had to shut down the system completely.

The dispatched technician found that the board itself was bad on 08/27/2010 and he had to order the part. He spent 3 hours trying to find out what is wrong. I took a day off from work knowing ADT technician will come and fix the issue.

After a week, on Friday 09/03/2010, a technician came for the third time in a month to install the new board and after he left we had the same problem. The system is off since 09/03/2010 when it worked 2 hours on that day. This time my husband took a day off from work. For the last couple of weeks we have been trying, unsuccessfully, to cancel our contract per ADT customer satisfaction guarantee customer can break contract within the first 6 months of service if services rendered are not satisfactory. What's worse is that ADT deplorable customer service representatives from the billing department that keep referring us to Alert Security Services of St. Augustine FL each time we try to call. It's important to point out that we've called that number - (904) 829 5359 - numerous times - leave a voicemail, to no avail because no one returns our call. On the two occasions somebody answered, once the CSR assured us that the manager will call us next day first thing in the morning, and the other time that we got the Daytona office and were told to call back after lunch. Nobody called us back.

We are completely dissatisfied with ADT service and we are cancelling it. We've tried three times to fix the issue. We took two days off from work and nothing was resolved. I have written a letter to Mr. John Kock, ADT President and ADT Billing explaining all the facts and asking to cancel ADT service as of 09/03/2010. We have attached a copy of the Police report on 08/15/2010 and ADT Money-Back Service Guarantee certificate received where it states: "Full Instalation and Monitor Refund - Refunds the installation and pays all monitoring fees if, after we have attempted to resolve your concerns, you are not satisfied within six months of installation. "On 10/07/2010 we have received an ADT Invoice with charges for technician two trips fee of $53.50. This is outrageous due the fact that technician was not able to fix the issue 3 times and we took 2 days off from work.

What they didn't tell me was that my account automatically renewed and that I was 3 months shy of the renewal date and I owed an early termination fee. Further, they wrote off my balance and sold my information to a collection agency who sent me forceful letters to pay or else. I called the rep from the collection agency and he was so sympathetic that he said he would close my account with their company. Today, I get another collection notice from another agency to pay up. Let me say that I am so angry with ADT that even if I could pay them, I wouldn't. Their hidden clauses and the way they do business is horrible. I do not recommend ADT to anyone and hope this is read by many. I have been taken to collections and this has affected my credit score.

ADT gives a false sense of security with this product. For the grace of God, they did not kill my wife. If you can give answers and referrals, it will be of great help. A lot of people do not have a cell phone. Thank you very much.

It turns out the contract is not transferable. When you read the contract it does not state it is not transferable nor does it state it is. It talks about cancellation penalties. Because my daughter was told it was transferable, she paid to have it reinstalled in two different residences believing she needed to in order to fulfill the contract. She has now relocated back to DFW due to a divorce and new employment to get back here.

She has been told the three years started over again when she transferred it to her last apartment in San Antonio in February of 2010 and to cancel she has to pay 75% of the remaining term of the three-year contract to the tune of $707. Twice she moved the service with the understanding there was only one three-year contract--the original, not two more--that the three years started over with each new address.

This information needs to be supplied in a clear, straightforward way. I was told by a phone representative at ADT that you can not trust what their sales reps say--you have to read the contract. After rereading the contract, indeed the transfer issue is not addressed in any fashion. People need to be told in writing that each new address is a new three-year term.

When I asked the rep to add this maintenance agreement, he said "$5" per month which I agreed. I asked when will I get this added to my account, he said after he get the document signed. I even asked why cannot they just send me in email or fax which is much easier and they could save one person's life. He was just saying "yes" like the ad for "Peggy". The "Stay" functionality doesn't work. ADT is a rip off. Please don't sign into that. It's a 3 year contract and if you cancel it's $379.

At noon, no one showed up. I waited for 20-25 minutes and no one showed up. So, I called Tiffany, the head consultant of the two young ladies that sold us the system. I had to leave a voice mail. I waited another 20-25 minutes and called again. She was very nice, and said she was sorry. She would make a call and call me right back. She did so and said that there was another mix up and they had me scheduled for 3 pm. I was disappointed, but told them that 3 pm would be okay.

She said that someone named Stephen would be calling me because they had the same problem the day before. Within 10 minutes, Stephen did call and said that he was sorry but they had booked the appointment with him for 3 pm. He said that he was free and he could come then. I told him that was fine and he was there within 15-20 minutes. When he came in, we went over the order form that he had and it did not match what we were told when we purchased it. He very nicely asked if he could see the forms I had. After looking over it, they did not match. While talking, he said that our situation at home would not work because we have a 132 lb. St. Bernard that has freedom in the house while we are away. The system we were sold would not work. Also, the system they sold us was only for two windows and we were told it was for the whole house.

Stephen called his boss and he agreed with him. Stephen then called the consultant and explained that to her. She said that she did not know that, and gave the phone to her team leader, Brandon. He was trying to get us to go ahead and take the system and I told him no because if the system was not going to meet our need, why would we want it? He tried to get us to buy more and we could work it out by getting two windows at a time. He continued, and I told him that I would talk to my husband when he came home.

Then, we decided not to do the system since it would not give us what we were sold, and would not meet our needs. We got the name of his boss and phone number, and called him and told him that we wanted our check back and the paperwork that had our information on it. He said that he was not sure he could do it because it had already been sent to TN. My husband kept calling him to find out about our check and paperwork to cancel, and we did not get any answers. And the last word was that he would contact me and I did not hear from him.

I called him the next morning and he said that it had been sent to TN. I told him that I was calling to report all of this to ADT. I am copying the cancellation notice as we speak and I am getting it off in the mail before my three days stated to cancel. If they do business like this, I am not sure they would do what they said so I have to make sure that my end of the contract is correct.

I know friends that have ADT and it is a great monitoring system. I do not like the way SecureWatch conducts their business. They need to teach these consultants what alarm system goes with what the house needs. I know that my situation with a big dog is rare, but it makes me think how many other people have thought that they were buying one system and got another. And yes, we asked questions, and they were answered. Thank goodness the installer knows what he was doing; the rest of the team needs to follow his example.

I have requested that all the sensors be replaced; this was also the recommendation of two of the engineers who came to my house. ADT has stated that they will only replace one sensor. I have disrupted my weekend plans on at least 5 occasions to wait for an engineer.

I called ADT and they said that someone in accounting forgot to cancel the account and the monthly fees were still being billed. Needless to say, I never received a bill from them, a letter or a phone call. They claim they tried to call me but the number was disconnected. When I spoke to the customer service rep back in March or April, I gave her my current address, telephone number in Florida and she assured me everything would be fine. Wrong.

ADT has since talked to Mr. ** from Apelles and told them ADT has made a mistake, but said he would wait for someone to send them something in writing. I also asked for a letter of apology from ADT and I wanted it to include that they have notified the collection agency that they made a mistake and Mr. ** said he could not send a letter but would said a bill with a zero balance. This is so ridiculous and also annoying that I cannot get a letter even though I did everything right.

I had to check on my credit by getting a credit report. I was sick to my stomach all day and an extreme headache as I have never had a collection agency knocking on my door and have a excellent credit rating and I am in the process of closing on a home and hope this does not ruin my closing.

Now my system is down again and they are saying I will have to pay 25.00 service fee for them to come out and put new batteries in the parts they just sold me in July 2010? I don't understand how a company like ADT Security Systems can be allowed to stay in business ripping off customers the way they are doing. They were to schedule someone to come out and fix my system either after 5:00 or on a Saturday, but I was informed they have none. Well, now I am stuck with a system that doesn't work and a 49.00 payment a month for what? I stay by myself and really need a reliable security system! I can't use my system at night so I am not getting very much sleep! And I should not have to pay for something that is not working! Lemon Law should effect these companies too!

The sales rep claimed to be an ADT representative. The shirt said "ADT" and all the paperwork says "ADT," including contract installation agreement and warranty. The phone number on all paperwork was the 800 number for ADT. I had no reason to think that this was not an ADT representative. When the installer came out, they did not finish installation. They claimed that they were not sent with everything and they would come back. They never did.

Then I received my credit card bill in less than one month with a charge to ADT with ADT's 800 number on it for $50. When I called the number, I was told that the representative was not from ADT and that ADT uses local dealerships to sell and this person was from some company called Secure Watch. The free time periods or price agreements/contracts made were with Secure Watch not ADT and that ADT would not honor the agreement. If I cancel my contract, ADT would charge me a fee for 3 years of monitoring and report negatively on my credit report.

Again, all contracts and contact given by representative was for ADT and billing is coming from ADT. If this is as they claim and my contract is with another company, then how can ADT be billing me or charging me a fee for canceling?

Of course, when they finally tracked down the number for Secure Watch, I was told that they are ADT dealers. I am confused. If they are an authorized ADT dealer, how does ADT get out of honoring the contract?

Of course, Secure Watch says the person over my sale is no longer with the company so they can not verify any agreements. I would think that my copy of the paperwork would be verification but they will not accept this. I have been told on every attempt to resolve this, that a manager would call me back but they never do. The representative will not connect you through to one.

Meanwhile, I am still paying the $50 a month fee. My husband is not working and I can not afford this. The only solution I can see is to cancel the credit card or have the charge blocked by the card company. I am afraid to have a negative report against my credit so they have you stuck.

It seems to me that ADT is committing fraud and hiding behind a 3rd party company as a loop hole. Something that was only supposed to cost $150 installation for 1 year and free to cancel is now to cost over $1900.

As of 8/13/10, the fire alarm panel remains "illegal" even though ADT Security Services has sent several ADT representatives and technicians to inspect and correct the issues, only to find out that the panel cannot be repaired. In addition, the paperwork which ADT Security Services Inc. were supposed to file is still incomplete, therefore, our agency continues to receive violations and we have been back and forth to court at least two times a year since 2005. Contact has been made with Mr. ** from ADT as well as several supervisors over him, only to get the runaround and unfulfilled promises. As of 8/13/10, we have exhausted all options in attempts to address and rectify this situation.

When I asked for and spoke to a manager, he told me it is my fault because I did not do my 30-day system checks per contract so ADT has no record of when my system stopped working. They refuse to pay me a dime for all of the 3 years I have paid for no connection to the main ADT base system. Anything could've happened in my home with regards to vandalism and they would not have had a clue.

After one year, the property went on the market and we vacated the property. I contacted ADT to let them know and they cancelled the service. But after two months, I was still being charged. I called up ADT and was told that it was cancellation charges of $1,556.22. I told them that there was a mistake and I contacted the head office and explained what happened. They told me they would be in contact with me. I did not hear back till I received a letter from a collection agency. I was very upset, so I called the sales person and he remembered our conversation and said he would look up the telephone records and contact me back. Nothing happened.

So then I called Josh, manager of the local office in Aurora, and he told me mistakes happen and that he would waive the fee. I then hear back from the collection office saying that head office were going to pursue the written contract and had lost the telephone records and so they wanted $943.43. I explained that it was not my fault that they had lost the telephone records and I was not willing or could afford to pay this fee. I was then told by Josh that he would call me on Friday to resolve the matter. It is now Monday. I can not get hold of him. I talked to collection agency and he said he was told, too, that he would hear on Friday, but has not heard. I am at the end of what to do next. I am very upset I do not have this money. I would have never agreed to a five-year contract without knowing I could get out of it. I have done all the calling with little results and need help. Please advice.

I have everything I own in my apartment because I couldn't afford a storage space due to being a disabled veteran with no income. I am constantly worried about losing everything. I also am disabled and my apartment is unsecured so if someone breaks in I cannot defend myself and no one would be notified. I'm developing all kinds of stress related problems due to this. I desperately need help to either get my money back from ADT so I can purchase a new Alarm system from a company with a better record of customer service with residential customers.

I eventually turned the alarm off (after several minutes) and immediately made a call to the ADT monitoring service to inquire about why I had not received a response. I was not able to get through to the monitoring service because I was placed on hold for several minutes. I tried again in the morning to see if the inability to access the monitoring service was due to a "fluke". Once again, I was unable to access the monitoring service because I was placed on hold.

I have three major issues. One, the monitoring service did not respond when my alarm was triggered. I eventually reached customer service and they sent a technician to the house. The technician was unable to determine the cause for the alarm failure. They noted that their records indicated that the alarm signal did in fact make it to the monitoring service, but the signal only activated for 3 seconds before it was turned off. I know for a fact that the alarm actually went off for several minutes while I checked the entire house. Even allowing for 35 seconds for the signal to reach the monitoring service, the monitoring service should have received a signal for significantly longer than 3 seconds. The alarm was activated for several minutes. My second problem is that I attempted to reach out to ADT monitoring service when I did not receive a response, and I was placed on hold. This occurred on two separate occasions. For a business that receives a monthly fee to provide emergency monitoring, this is inappropriate.

My third problem is that I requested to exercise the "6-month money back guarantee" that I received with my contract materials. I was denied the ability to end my contract due to my dissatisfaction with the service. The contract materials and 6-month money back guarantee materials presented to me state that I can receive a money back guarantee within six months of initiation of service if ADT attempts to resolve my issue and I am still not satisfied. The ADT technician was unable to determine a cause for my alarm monitoring failure. Thus, the issue was not resolved. At the time of the technician visit, the technician reported that the system had no defects.

So, presumably, my problem is intermittent. Though I am paying a monthly fee and a large installation charge, I have absolutely no guarantees that my service will reliably respond to an emergency. When I contacted the ADT representatives and requested to terminate my contract due to dissatisfaction with the service, they informed me that I am not authorized to terminate the contract. Their rationale is that since they cannot identify the problem with the system, they have no responsibility to provide a remedy or relieve me of my contract.

Aside from the system failure, I am also dissatisfied with the fact that I have been unable to access the monitoring service on two occasions. If I am paying a monthly monitoring fee, I feel that it is inappropriate to be placed on hold in an emergency situation or during an alarm event. The representative told me that my concerns were unjustified. The representative claimed that ADT does not have a responsibility to ensure that its customers can access the monitoring service without being placed on hold. They state that they cannot control call volume and will not guarantee access to the monitoring service. I am dissatisfied with this level of access and protection afforded by the monitoring service. I feel that I should be able to reliably access the monitoring system if I need it. I was unable to do this on two separate occasions. This is the second basis of my request to terminate the service. I was told that dissatisfaction of this nature was insufficient to be relieved of my contract.

I signed a two year contract where I essentially agreed to pay an installation fee and monthly monitoring charge for two years. In exchange, ADT agrees to offer monitoring service and alarm system support for the contract period. I have paid all of the fees in a timely manner. ADT on the other hand, has failed to provide adequate monitoring service or remedy my problem so that I can receive reliable monitoring coverage. I feel that ADT's 6-month money back guarantee is not being appropriately honored. Thus, I have a problem with the advertising materials that were given to me when I signed my contract. When I signed my contract, I was provided with a certificate that guarantees my money back. The certificate agrees to provide a refund of monitoring and installation services if the following conditions are met: 1) ADT attempts to resolve the issue. 2) The customer is not satisfied. 3) The dissatisfaction occurs within 6 months of starting the service.

I feel that I have met all three conditions. I have given ADT an opportunity to resolve the issue with the alarm system. The technicians cannot find a problem with the system, thus they have not resolved the problem. I cannot rely on this alarm system to reliably afford the appropriate level of protection. I know from my experience that my system is not functioning properly, because the monitoring service did not respond when the alarm went off for a long period of time. Thus, I remain dissatisfied with the alarm system itself. I am also dissatisfied with the monitoring service, since I was unable to access them on my own (using my phone) on two separate occasions due to being placed on hold. This is not appropriate for a service that provides emergency monitoring.

All three of these issues occurred within approximately one month of having ADT service. Thus, all three conditions of the money back guarantee have been met, yet ADT will not honor the 6-month money back guarantee. I have paid between $500 and $600 for installation of an alarm system that is not working. I am also being held to a 2-year contract for another 22 months of monitoring service that I cannot reliably access when needed. If I cancel the service, I will be charged 75% of the monthly charges. If I refuse to pay these charges, my credit will be impacted (I have never had any credit issues at all). I am an active duty Army officer who is separated from my husband, who is also on active duty and stationed in another state. I am pregnant and have a toddler in the house. Despite paying the charges to ADT, I cannot reliably protect my family.

Two weeks later I received a bill from ADT for $56.42 for the end of June/July service. We started calling the Rep. Devin and left messages. We eventually called Elite directly. They told us that they would get Devin to call us. When he finally called, he was now telling us that the monitoring rate was $43.99. He was trying to tell us that this is what he told us. I told him why would I switch from a company that I have been with for 11 years and paying less for ADT. He then tried to tell us that the promotional was only for 3 years and he would give us $1,600 to compensate the rate difference. I told him he was full of it and called Elite. I spoke with Brittney. She wanted me to send her a copy of my signed contract. I did. I didn't hear anything back for days. I called Elite. They told me a supervisor would get back to me.

I waited 2 more days. I called ADT and spoke with a Jerrid in Accounting. I told him my story and he conferenced in Elite. We spoke with an Alex in accounts. He told me that he has a copy of the contract in which the amount of $43.99 was on it. I asked him for a copy of the contract. He said he would send it. Two days later I called Elite and spoke with Brittney. She informed me that her supervisor told her that she was going to cancel our contract. I told her I wanted it in writing. I received a letter stating that our contract was canceled by Elite and that they would come out and pick up their equipment. Two days later, I received the cancel letter.

Six days later, I received a letter from Elite with the copy of my contract. In it it shows amounts of money to be paid that is different from my original contract. Two weeks have passed and the ADT system is still in my house. I went online to see the status of my account with ADT. It showed still active and a bill for August to be paid. On 7/30/2010, I called ADT and spoke with Christina/Accounts. She told me that ADT has not received a notice of cancellation. She took down the information and was forwarding a notice of complaint to Elite. She was also questioning the notice of cancellation.

ADT can bill me for cancellation of service before the three year contract is up since Elite is not fessing up to two different contracts nor canceling my account. Money is being directly removed from my account for monitoring service. How many other people did the Elite rep. scammed? On 7/30/2010, I went back to Monitronics, which means I am paying for two alarm companies until ADT cancels my account. When ADT removes their equipment I will have holes from their equipment now.

When I called ADT back and talked to a manager, she told me that was human error and it happens. I am a single female living alone and if someone had hurt me this morning I would still be lying there waiting for help. The point of paying $45 per month for an alarm is so that help shows up when it goes off. I want out of my contact so I can switch to another company but ADT said there is nothing they can do. I just have to hope that next time the operator gives the wrong address to the police! Don't use ADT, their monitoring service and customer service are bad. I don't feel comfortable using ADT's services and would like to cancel my contract so I can use another company that will actually show up when the alarm goes off.

ADT in Gainesville and the Accounting Office in Jacksonville make it very clear that you should never believe their Sales Representatives when you purchase a system. You should take your home security contract to an Attorney to decipher the fine print. From my conversation with ADT, there is absolutely no one up the chain of command who will stand behind what the Sales Representative said at the time of the sale. Scam is the word of ADT - simple as that. There seems to be nothing credible in what any of the ADT Associates say or do except send out the bill.

She still had me sign the contract knowing full well it was 3 years. Yes, I hadn't read the contract...but something as pertinent as that should have been stated knowing I was only here for a year. I have just tried to cancel, and was informed that I have 2 years left on my contract, which I have to pay. On asking to speak to a manager, they agreed to give me 50% off. I reluctantly agreed, as I leave the country in a month's time, and am unable to fight it. The sales reps need to be more upfront/honest, especially when dealing with rental customers.

I signed the agreement given to me, believing it would have the quoted price verbally given to me. At a closer look I was charged for one remote, but was not told it would be extra and had a higher monthly fee than was quoted to me. On the day of install the installer was there at approx. 0900 and did not leave until nearly 1300 (1 pm). I asked on more than one occasion if the install would be finished before 1200 since I had to be at work at 1300. The install was not complete before 1200.

As a result I was late for work and the installer was not able to complete the work. The installer had to return the next morning to register the cell unit because they were not able to do it that day. On the way to work I called the representative that scheduled my install to express my unpleasant experience and the discrepancy between the verbal and written quote. I never got a call back from that representative. When I went to cancel my current home security system; they offered me a better price and I stated I would consider the offer to find out if I could still get out of the contract. I called ADT and asked when the 3-day grace period started.

The representative put me on hold to verify the time frame. When the representative came back on the line they stated the 3-day grace period was from the day of installation. So I asked if there would be any sort of installation fee and she stated no. I just needed to send a letter of cancellation and was given the fax number. With the completely unsatisfactory service and lack of response of the representative about the quoted price, I decided to cancel service.

I later got a bill stating that I owed over $900 for cancelling my service agreement too early after I had my original company reinstall my equipment. I immediately called the company and they referred me to the "local" company. I was told by the local company that the representative was wrong. I asked to speak with the manager and was told I would get a phone call from him. I asked for his name and number. I called the manager and left a message on the manager's voice mail and I never received a call from the manager. I was given a call from the person who had stated that the 3-day grace period was from the day of installation to apologize to me and offer me the price that was quoted verbally to me of $34.99/month and reinstate my account and I would not get charged the penalty and installation fee of over $900.

They have sent my account to a collection agency and threatened to negatively impact my credit. According to them, it was my responsibility to test their system monthly to ensure it was working properly. When I pay for a service, I expect the service provider to ensure their system is working or at least let me know if there is a problem, which they did not do.

A call into ADT complaint department said that "Protect Your Home is our biggest customer but we receive the most complaints from them". Protect Your Home told me that I would be able to change my security code online, which was an important option for me to have. They assured me that I could not only do that, but also do it through an iPhone app.

Well, the technician arrives and he says that is not possible. The poor guy, who is a just a salesman/installer, traveled 3 hours to get to my house and he tells me he will get a bad review for not having completed install at his company. Protect Your Home wasted my time, 2+ hrs on the phone plus 2-day wait for service call, in addition to the time of the installer who wasted his time, gas, and he gets a bad review. The look on his face made my girlfriend cry. It is despicable what they put him and us through.

My refund will be held for 2 weeks. My time, I lost offer on competitor service. Installer lost time, gas money and received bad review by default for not hooking service up at the house before departure.

So I called another alarm company. They came out immediately, and fixed the problem. No more false alarms, so it is now repaired. I called ADT and cancelled with ADT and went with the company who had so quickly responded to my needs. Now ADT say I owe for the balance of the unused contract. Had they fixed it in a timely manner I could have stayed with them. The police station was getting tired of having to come out for a false alarm and I was embarrassed to have them come. Will I have to pay this canceled contract?

I had good credit 800 score which is ruined by ADT and its cohorts. The cost to me is thousand of money. I'm 73 with bad heart and this aggravation affected my health. I have the paper trail to prove my case.

Since the thieves tried to gain entry to my home through the bulkhead door to my basement, I wanted to increase my security system by installing one or more motion sensors in the basement. Since we are using Honeywell/Ademco 5890 PIR wireless motion sensor in the upstairs, I wanted to install the same equipment in the basement. I called ADT to inquire about installation of the additional sensor(s), which I assumed I could install myself. The ADT representative I spoke with told me that an ADT service technician would need to visit my home to perform the installation at a cost of $96 for the first 30 minutes and $35 for each 15 minutes thereafter ($166 per hour), plus $175 for each motion sensor.

I informed the rep that I had two sensors (which I purchased for $30 each on eBay), and since they are wireless, I only needed someone at ADT to talk me through the enrollment process so the new sensors will work correctly with my existing alarm system. She proceeded to tell me, in a frustrated and condescending voice, that even though the sensors are wireless, the technician would still need to come to my home to drill holes in my wall and run a wire from each sensor back to the alarm panel. I explained to her that I am familiar with the sensors, having read the user guide on the Honeywell/Ademco web site, which communicates with the panel via an FM transmitter and there are no wires to connect to the sensor, even if I wanted to connect a wire. She told me on several occasions that I didn’t understand, and reiterated what shed told me previously about the technician coming to my home to perform the installation.

I was optimistic about ADT and its services until this conversation with their representative which left me thinking that this rep is either unknowledgeable about the equipment or is trying to deceive me into believing a technician needs to visit my home at a cost to me of $166 per hour. As a result of this experience, and all the negative things I've read about ADT, I'm not going to sign that monitoring agreement ADT sent me in the mail. At $34.99 per month, ADT is among the highest-priced monitoring service available and should not need to gouge its customers for unnecessary service visits. Further, given that ADT did not provide any equipment, I see no reason to commit to a 2-year service contract with steep penalties for early termination.

I scheduled a service call, and the technician came on the wrong day. I rescheduled, and the technician never showed up. I then called ADT Corporate HQ, and no one called me back. I followed up with ADT Corporate and escalated to your customer relations department and spoke to Eric who was very good. He told me that he would have someone call me from Gaylord Security and gave me 2 months of free service for all of the hassle.

$245 to pay for the wireless system/downgrade

I'm appalled at ADT/Gaylord Security and the way they treat their customers. We aren't and haven't been happy with our security system, and they want to charge us over $300 to have their service work. There is no termination option, because the cost is too excessive. Instead, I have to continue to pay a rate of $45/month for a service that we have no confidence in.

One office had a convicted level 3 sex offender working for them. ADT does business with everyone. Banks, CEOs, federal judges, US Marshalls, FBI, CIA. Does anyone care? Time for a class action lawsuit to get ADT to straighten out.

I asked of we could contact together the 1-800 number that I had where the installation agreement was reached and they stated that was not their job. At that point, the following day I contacted the installation department myself and immediately they agreed that "yes, being a USAA member, everything that was promised was indeed the truth". They contacted the consumer affairs department at ADT and I spoke to Charles. He was completely helpful and advised that he was on the situation and a refund would be on its way. He gave me his supervisor's name of Jennifer and a phone number to reach them. One week later and 11 phone calls with not one return phone call, still no refund. At that point, I did some internet research and found that the President of ADT is a Mr. John Koch. So I wrote him and email, and magically, I started receiving responses.

At this point, this is the first time Antone at ADT had contacted me. Doug ** has now become my contact. He has started processing my original credit that I was promised over two weeks ago. He states that it will take 5-7 business days for that to hit my account. Attempting to resolve the huge overdraft charges that have resulted has become another nightmare. ADT has had me fax my personal bank statement to them on four separate occasions now. They state they are trying to prove that it is indeed them that has caused my personal bill paying account to go into a tail spin. After all that ADT has put me through, now my personal banker has had to be in contact with them on three separate occasions, send them even more items of my personal information to just to attempt to receive what ADT has admitted to causing in the first place.

Now, Doug is asking if I would just like my ADT account credited for the nightmare instead of a complete refund. As of today, June 11, 2010, I have received no refunds of any kind. No compensation for the over billing or overdraft charges. No reimbursement for the unauthorized charges in the first place. Nothing at all. $850.00 in overcharges and overdrafts. Not to mention, the more than 20 plus hours on the phone and at the bank just trying to get this resolved.

I called back and went through the process of attempting to have my number removed. As I have done that several times in the past, I don't have faith that the system works. Apparently the requests to have one's number removed from ADT's system go into a black hole, and are nothing more than a routine they have to provide by law.

ADT, stop calling me. I have security systems in both of my homes and will never, ever use your services due to the rudeness of your reps, and obvious inability to get the message across to you. If I receive one more call from ADT, I will file a complaint with the FL AG's office and possibly sue for clear violations of multiple laws.

I was shocked that the man actually said those words to me and told him that I demanded to speak to his supervisor at which point I was again told to quit my barking and to "shut up". For the second time, I demanded to speak to his supervisor by saying "Get me on the line with your supervisor" when the employee retorted with, "You want to get it on with my supervisor?" I was also told to "shut up you Caucasian **" at which point I said "I do not even believe this" and hung up on the employee. I am livid. ADT managed to assault me through the phone lines. A company who's mission is to protect my home and the homes of others assaulted me in my own house.

I searched for a number to call online and managed to get through to an agent who listened briefly to my experience and then put me on hold for over 10 minutes. The "supervisor" who answered my call was condescending and arrogant, responding to my call by saying "I understand you think you received a call from an ADT representative?" I did and do not "think" I received a call, I did. The male employee and his co-workers could be heard in the background pitching ADT protection. This supervisor was not the least bit interested in listening to what I had to say and quickly put me through to another office for complaints where all I could do was leave a message about what transpired this afternoon.

I employ anyone who reads this experience to pass this on to other people and to friends, family, coworkers who put their trust in ADT if their own employees are the offenders, how do they propose to protect you and give you a sense of security? Cancel your contracts for you own well being.

Last week, I was having some electrical upgrades done and called ADT to let them know that I was going to shut off the electricity. They asked for my password and I could not remember it. I called Deborah that day to get the password and she stated that she would be in the office that afternoon and would get back to me. She never called. The upgrade was done with out ADT system being put on test. After a call back message to her she did call, several days later. Last Tuesday, my backup battery alarm went off during the night. ADT contacted us telling us that they were aware of the alarm.

We contacted ADT and were told from the consumer services that when we upgraded last, we did not get a new backup battery or security box and that it was our responsibility to replace the backup battery. I called Deborah on 5/1/10 and told her about the conversion. She stated that the service people do not know what they are doing and that we did purchase a new security box and backup battery. She said that she would be in the office that afternoon and that she would look at our account and call me back. At that point, we would set up an appointment to have a tech come to my house and replace the backup battery. It is now 5/03/10 and she has not made any effort to contact me. The customer service of our sales person is very poor. She wants referrals but when we have issues. Then, it's a different story. We have to call and call. Very disappointed in the customer service of ADT.

I contacted them again and followed their requirements as requested. I called to ask them how much I needed to pay them because I had not heard from them and I was getting phone calls about my account being past due (recorded messages that ask me to wait for a rep) and I thought it was right to send them monies for the amount owed. They then sent me a bill for over $1,000.00 for the cost of the 5 years!

I tried again to contact them and when I tried to explain and get someone on the phone that was a decision maker. I was just talked over. So I sent the bill and contract to our attorneys. They sent a letter to them explaining the situation and all we got back was another bill, with no regard to the 3 year agreement. In order to proceed, I have to have our attorneys send another letter and possibly go to court which will, more than likely cost more than the $1,000 dollars owed. We are a small business and this $1,000.00 + hurt us a lot and it’s because they will not talk to us or agreement they have in place. We need help.

When I complained, he appeased my tenant by offering him some grocery discounts! After a year of this and my tenant's lease was ending, I kept calling him to get the unwanted feature removed. His voice mail says, "You have reached Daniel..." It is definitely his voice. I left him 4 voice mails, and he ignored them all. Finally, I left him one saying I would post my opinion of him on the internet. Do not work with this guy! He is very slick.

PS, I am a senior citizen with plenty of medical conditions. I would like to at least feel safe and secure in my home without worrying about my safety at home. The stress from these incidents makes my blood pressure and my blood sugar level unstable. I am uncomfortable with this discomfort at home knowing I am not protected. Please help me get this resolved asap. Thank you.

Now, they are asking us to pay $200 to upgrade our device so that it can be monitored and also an additional $12 per month (on top of the $35+) to continue our service properly with them. I told them "absolutely not". I am at fault for not testing the alarm with the company (as stated in the fine print of the contract) but I still feel cheated. They know their products and I trusted them to help us. In all the 5 yrs, not once did they bother to make a call to us to ask us to test the system. I have been paying $35 per month for the last 8 years and 5 of which we didn't get any form of monitoring from them. They were not willing to take any responsibility for their lack of ownership. I do not want this to happen to any ADT consumers. I feel that ADT has a responsibility to their clients to help ensure that their products are working as well. Maybe not monthly but not 5 years!

I received a letter from ADT acknowledging receipt of my letter, and advising me that there might be additional charges. I did not respond. ADT, in spite of my cancellation letter, presented a demand to my bank, which mistakenly accepted their demand because it was for an amount that was different from the previous amounts.

The bank rescinded the action, and it was a short time later that I received a bill from ADT. There was no comment. I returned the bill with a notation that the account was closed on 2/5/10. Yesterday (4/10/10), I received a bill for $535.04 which included an "Effective Cancel Date of 4/01/2010" along with a threat that they would turn the matter over to a collection agency if the bill was not paid in a timely fashion. Naturally, I have no intention of paying this ridiculous demand, especially since they unilaterally breached our contract.

Incidentally, when their salesman first visited my home, I balked at the lengthy 3-year term contained in the contract. His remark was, "Well, look at it this way, they won't be able to change the monthly payment for three years." Since it was part of the sales pitch, I believe the change in the monthly payment was a breach on their part. I have spoken to a friend who is an attorney (I used to be a paralegal), and he assures me that ADT would lose this case if it were brought to court. I am now 73-years-old, and I do not wish to carry it that far, but I am prepared with all of my paperwork in the event they decide to pursue this matter. The dry wall where their equipment was installed had to be repaired and patched. It will cost approximately $50 to have someone do the repairs.

After completion of the work the next month, I received a bill from ADT for $780 plus tax for repair services. I called ADT to question charges, they said I was responsible for the charges. I then asked the representative, "If you are gonna charge a customer for repair charges wouldn't the customer has to be notified and agree to the charges" because at this point my contract was over in the next few months.

I would have opted to pay the ETF, which would have been cheaper than repair charges for your equipment. She said no, we don't have to advise you and if you want to dispute you need to call the district office. I called the district office and they said they were sorry but the charges are valid and told me to have a good day. They are now reporting it to a credit bureau for charges I didn't authorize.

When I called customer service, I was told that's their policy and I would have to wait 30 days for my refund. When I explained that wasn't good enough and I had been promised that nothing would be charged in the first place, he told me to read my brochure (which I didn't have. I'd spoken to someone on the phone) and I would have to wait 30 days like everyone else. That's when I asked for a supervisor and the call got really bad. I spent 20 minutes on the phone with the customer service rep telling me that a supervisor was not available but they would call me back. When I said I wanted to hold, he told me that this wasn't a supervisor issue and they were going to tell me the same thing he had already explained. By the end of my phone call with him, he was threatening to "disconnect the call" if I couldn't realize that I didn't need to speak to a supervisor. I finally got the supervisor who said she would escalate the refund (that should not have been charged in the first place)! I hate ADT's customer service and salesman and cannot understand how they are still in business!

I contacted ADT five days after the fire and a supervisor advised me that the system still showed to be working properly when the complete house and all of their equipments were destroyed and there was no power or phone lines to the structure. Ask yourself what you would do if you lost everything and you will know how we feel. I lost our $500,000 home and personal stuff that can't be replaced.

I was not told at the time of the agreement that I would have to put money out to receive this Visa Gift Card. They requested that the $4.95 be sent either by money order or cashiers check. I feel that this is misleading and also now, reduces the Visa Gift Card amount to $95 plus the cost of the money order or cashiers check. I spoke with a customer rep at Protect Your Home named Vanessa and she said that this is how the company handles the gift card. I also spoke with Justin, a customer relations rep and he also advised me that Protect Your Home could not do anything to help me with this issue. He however did state that they are trying to bring the issue of gift cards in house.

I realize that this is not a large amount of money, but feel that the consumer should be made aware of this at the time the agreement for the service is made. I am also disabled and to have to make a trip to purchase a money order or cashiers check. This is not an easy task for me. I would like for Protect Your Home as well as ADT to inform the consumer of what I feel is misleading on the cost of validating the certificate.Your help is appreciated.

They called our home at least 3 times per week telling us we owe for their add on statement. Thanks God our contract is us soon and we will cancel this night mare. Our alarm service was out of order for over 4 months and we never heard from them. We refuse to pay their add on billing statement and they call 3 times per week. Tell me this is good customer service. All we can say is beware of ADT, the greedy so called alarm servive.

I was informed that the number we were calling could not process vacation vouchers (although they did on the last time we called) and they "transferred" us, which equated to putting us on hold for 30 minutes and then the line cutting out. I called back two more times with a similar result. On my fourth attempt, I was told that the woman I was speaking with was the most senior manager that anyone could speak with and that she reported "directly to the CEO."

When asked to confirm her title, it was customer service associate. When asked what company we were calling, she confirmed that it was not Ramada, but Carnival Cruise Lines. I asked her to stay on the line while transferring me to the proper department and she claimed that her phone system did not allow for that. When I offered to patch her in using two-way on my phone, she refused. When I asked for the direct dial to the department they had been trying to transfer me to, she said that there was none. I did finally get an extension out of her.

Of course, when we dialed this 1-800 number, it rang but no one ever picked up. We are 100% convinced that this is a scam and we are concerned about identity theft and the loss of value we thought we were getting as part of the ADT purchase.

ADT sent me a letter stating "sorry, we failed you" but said they had no liability. Read the small print in their contracts which I did not even have or they could not find. This company monitors fire on your home but should they be asleep or negligent, too bad. Oops, my bad. They will say to you and eventually try to blame you for fire. My entire home burned with all I had over 50 years. ADT let me down. My cat burned and I had to give all my Koi Fish away which I had raised mostly from babies up to 8 to 10 years in age. I had almost 30 fish in a 3000 gallon pond.

When I first was contacted by the agent, I was informed that additional sensors would be about $45 per sensor. The actual cost was $140 for the service call, plus $25 per area, plus the cost of the sensor. During my sales pitch, I was never offered a repair contract for the system. To my surprise, my system has failed several times on the garage door sensor. I haven't had this system for a year yet. To repair the system, they want $140 for the visit plus $25 for the part that is plastic, plus their time for the technician.

I have never seen a company that has fleeced the public like this one. They have more hidden charges than any other company I've come into contact with. Don't bother calling the 800 number. They will tell you to call the local dealer and they don't have the power to change anything. They use a lot of contractors and place the blame on them to keep their scam going. I have never seen such a business as this. Beware of them. Do not buy their product. You will be sorry.

In the end, ADT said that the carbon monoxide detectors were near the end of their useful lives and needed replacement and that is why they are beeping. I told my friend to go ahead and schedule the appointment for the repair with ADT even though ADT said the price of the service call would be $145.00, plus at least another $140.00 for replacement of the two detectors (note that I consider those costs outrageous).

When called for an appointment, ADT told the friend who works on the house for me that they could only give him a 4 or 5-hour window when they could show up. I would, of course, be paying my friend to sit and wait for ADT for up to 5 hours. My friend asked ADT if they could simply have their repair person call him when they were in route (as he could easily be at my place within 15 minutes). ADT said that they do not and will not do that. I then called ADT and they told me that they could only provide a 1 hour slot if we accepted a first morning call between 8AM and 9AM. Those are hours that my friend (who works a night shift is generally asleep).

Net result, I told ADT to stick it and will be canceling both my Oregon and Utah accounts with ADT this Monday after I am able to locate a company such as Brinks or someone else who can promise better service. Oh, by the way, during my conversation with ADT, I asked if they could run a test (which they have done in the past) to verify my alarm components, such as fire and burglar, are working properly. They refused to do so and said they can't do that. Basically, tell everyone you know to never do business with ADT.

Anyway, we had a pipe burst a month ago while we were away, and the water collected throughout the house, and the steam circulated throughout our entire home. Mold was everywhere. The fire department estimated that it had been going on for over three weeks, with temperatures up to 190 degrees in the sports room. Not one time did the alarm go off. The pipe that burst was right next to a sensor in our sports memorabilia room! We lost over a hundred thousand dollars worth of memorabilia; Babe Ruth autographs, Joe Dimaggio, Ty Cobb, and many, many items that will never be replaced, not to mention our house is now down to the bare studs. The worry now is mold, and nothing from ADT.

My husband has been on disability for the past year and a half and although I have been slightly late with my payments, I have always called ADT's billing department to tell them when my payments would be expected. On 12/18/09, I was invoiced $105 which was my quarterly payment. This is the only amount that was due to them.

Tonight, I received a call from the "home office" stating I owed them $60 and that they had terminated my service. No warning, no letters, no calls prior to the one this evening. I then called their 800# billing department and spoke to a manager (Lisa) who said my service was terminated because "they had made numerous calls and no one could reach me" along with the statement that letters had been sent regarding the termination. All lies! Funny how the "home office" could make one phone call and reach me this evening to tell me my service was cancelled. I still do not understand how in this day and age, a major company like ADT would cancel a very long-time customer over a $60 bill that wasn't even 30 days late?

To that, I say "good riddance! After reading the numerous online complaints about ADT that outnumber other monitoring services by 20 to 1, I can only hope homeowners do their research before signing up with a company who has zero value for their customers. I will also be asking my 3 family members who signed up (on my recommendation) with Wells Fargo back in 1985 to terminate their relationship with ADT due to the unscrupulous way they do business.

I called them today and was on hold for 15 minutes until a customer service picked up the call and left me on hold. Finally someone answered, and I requested to cancel my service, because I'm moving to an apartment next month. I was told that they don't own my contract and that I need to call the dealer. Now I'm confused. All along I thought I had a contract with ADT. When I called the dealer, I had to wait for 15 minutes for someone to pick up. And after explaining my situation, I was told that I had no choice but to finish the contract.

I've had this system for over 8 years. Even if it is in the so-called contract, what if I had checked it on Monday and it was out on Saturday, whose fault is it then? The thing is this system is a rip off. The so-called ambush alerts are no more than a watch fob that cost me $90 each and are absolutely useless. The ADT lady told me they only work in the house anyway not in the driveway as I was told. Also, they informed me if the phone lines were cut or the power goes out, the system is useless. Another lie I was told when it was hooked up. They can't even tell me when the so-called dead battery even went dead, so no telling how long the system was down and me thinking it was working okay. They never called and I never saw or heard anything as to anything being wrong.

I called them on January 9th, 2009 and demanded they end my contract since my system had been dead for almost a year anyway. They told me I still had to pay my monthly payments even though the system wasn't working. They have now turned me into a collection agency to bug me for the money or ruin my credit. The credit guy also told me even if I pay the owed amount for this year, my contract would automatically roll over and there was nothing I could do. Of course, an argument ensued and we've had words. I don't think I should have to pay this. As a matter of fact, I think with the whole system being a lie and them telling me I was covered and the system down, they should pay me what I've paid over the years thinking they had my back and it was all a lie.

ADT also proceeded to tell me that my system was put in before their new cell system, another reason my old one won't work if the phone lines are cut. Mine is an outdated system. They do not tell people this and they also don't inform their old customers of the new system since it would then inform the old of how their system never was any good. I've desperately looked for someone to help me with this but I see by this website that many, many people have had the same problems as me with this scam of a business. Isn't there anything we can do? If nothing else but to inform the public? I now tell everyone I know of how useless this company is and how bad their product is at protecting people's property. It's absolutely worthless.

I've sent a report into the state BBB and also local BBB here in Indiana to try and get the word out. Is there anyone that can help me not only to find an answer but also to stop them from ruining my credit? When this first started last fall, ADT told me they would drop it if Defender would. Of course, Defender isn't, so now the collection service is involved. I've not seen a contract in years and can't get anyone to send it to me so that I can re-read it. No one will talk to me on the phone since they've turned it into collections. Could you please help me with this or give me a lawyer's name to contact for this matter? Thank you so much.

Although I have concerns with the ADT contract in general (for it was not clearly explained to me in the first place), my recent experience has been upsetting to say the least. Ever since I have begun working with your office, we have found the customer service to be mediocre at best. The sales representative told us that ADT would transfer my services for free and then he quoted a $1,000+ installation fee. This is a true bait and switch tactic and is extremely insulting and unprofessional. While I am grateful the sales representative was able to come up with an installation that was less than that, this business particle is clearly designed to take advantage of the consumer. In addition, the lack of communication with the billing side of ADT has been unacceptable.

My original account was never closed out like I was told it would be by the sales representative. In the meantime, I have been receiving daily calls from ADT, on my cell phone, which has now become clear case of harassment. I was told by the sales representative that he would take care of transferring everything over from my previous home to my new home and as of earlier today, this has not been done. I have sent numerous emails to him asking for this to be taken care of and he continued to say that it was, as I continued to get collections calls. I finally contacted the billing department of ADT directly and they told me they had no notes or record of hearing from him or your office. I will never recommend your services to a friend or associate and am going to refer this case to my legal counsel. I hope that by bringing this to your attention, someone else will not have to go through the same issues as I have when moving their service and working with your office.

I had waited all day Saturday for the first appointment and lost an entire day waiting for ADT. The supervisor agreed and stated the tech would arrive Saturday between 8am-9am. On Saturday (12/12/09), I waited for the tech to show. Finally, I called at 8:45/ 8:50 to ask if the tech was coming. I spoke with a CS rep who told me no specific time was noted. I explained the issues from the past week and she put me on hold and I was then transferred. The next CS rep told me the tech would arrive before 9:30am. I stated he needs to arrive before or at 9:30am; otherwise, I will not be at home.

As I am walking out my door to go to another appointment at 10am, the tech arrives. I explained it’s too late, I have another appointment scheduled; and by this time, I am livid with ADT. I am now including the time over the phone into 4 to 5 weeks with ADT. I called ADT on the following Monday (12/14/09) to cancel my service. I spoke with a lady who talked me into keeping the service and provided two months of free service. ADT scheduled yet another appointment on Saturday the 19th between 7am-9am. I received a call early that morning stating the tech called off but another tech would be available between 3pm-5pm. I agreed and waited. The tech arrived in the time stated and checked the system. He diagnosed the problem as being a highly sensitive door monitor. He re-adjusted the monitor and his words were your problem is fixed.

I left about 30 minutes later. I armed the alarm thinking all is OK. Approximately an hour later, I received a phone call that my home alarm is going off. Note the tech had left only an hour before. I called ADT and asked what’s going on! The CS rep stated I would get an ETA call because they were sending the tech out again. At this point I decided to cancel the service. ADT has no appreciation/respect for customers and their time. The tech seems to be very knowledgeable, yet I noticed he didn’t check all of the sensors or monitors. This ordeal has been highly frustrating; and to top it off, ADT is billing me for early cancellation. I am cancelling the service because of their inability to schedule techs and their inability to properly diagnose and fix my problem.

Today, I called to change my mobile numbers. I was told by the person on the phone at 800-238-2727 my system hasn't been monitored and was cancelled from October of this year. I have bank statements to show payments. After I became upset, the ADT employee quickly told me he made a mistake and I'm being monitored and everything is up to date. I then hung up the phone and set my alarm system off purposely. I never got a call at home or on the cell phones that the alarm was going off and this was after two minutes of activation. I want all my funds returned to me. ADT is unsafe and dangerous if real protection is needed. They have put my family at risk from day one. I called from my cell and asked to speak to a supervisor. I talked to Monique who knew absolutely nothing about what was going on and about my past problems or the account. I have had enough.

Two different installers from a company called Defender Security have come out and said it's fine. Then, I set it off a few days later to test it, and nothing! I tried to find out who Defender Security is and their number goes to a company called Protect Your Home Security. I don't know who I am really dealing with. I am getting my attorney involved. I don't know what's going to happen but I know I am not safe or secure using ADT. With ADT, burglars and thieves really have no reason to be concerned! ADT claims to be the leading security monitoring company in the US. If I could go back and redo it, I would just install a system and monitor it myself!

The unit was put in on Sept. 23. I was told that the monitoring fee would be $49.00 by the tech. When I explained to the installer the price that I was given, I was told this was the price Protect Your Home of Springfield Va. charged. I asked about a senior citizen discount. Only if I was a member of AARP could I get a $2.00 discount (with much reservation after this second misrepresentation from a rep of ADT). I was somewhat confused by the brief instructions I was given, along with a copy of my contract (for 3 years) and the instruction booklet to read. I made a point to write on the contract that my billing date had to be after the 15th of each month since I am on S.S. I was told that would be fine. I was also told that the unit was working correctly and that it was being monitored. I slept well that night thinking I was protected.

On Thursday (Sept. 24), an alarm went off awakening me. It said that the ad (battery backup) was on working. I called ADT. I was walked through the steps to check the unit and told that the unit was protecting my home. On Friday (Sept. 25), I set the alarm and went to visit with a friend. I was gone over a night. I returned on Saturday (Sept. 26) to find that the unit was not working at all; most of all, that someone had entered my apartment while I was away. I was informed the unit had no dial tone at this time. I called ADT to report this and asked about the monitoring of the system - if an alarm had gone off and why had I not been alerted! I was then informed that the unit had never been monitored; also, that a tech would need to come and check the unit. I was told that the earliest anyone could get out to fix the problem would be Oct. 8!

I canceled the service. I was told that a “not” would be placed that I had in my records... But I would need to call back on Monday (Sept. 28) to cancel. I then called my bank to find that ADT had taken not only the installation fee but also a monitoring fee of $53.00! On Sept. 28, I called ADT and explained that I was again canceling their service. I was asked why. After I explained for the 100th time, I was told that it would take between 14 to thirty days for them to refund my money. And someone would be out on Sept. 29 to remove the unit. They had the tech sign a statement that he had the unit and left my home. On Wednesday (Sept. 30), my first bill of $63.00 came from ADT. For what, I had no idea.

I called ADT on Oct. 16 to see why I had no refund. I called ADT on Oct. 31 and still I had no refund. I was then told that it would take 30 working days, not to count weekends. The installation money ($99.00) was returned to my bank account on Nov. 5 but not the monitoring fee. I called ADT again and was told that it would be taken care of and not to pay any attention to the bill. I was also told that it sometimes took a while before the equipment was logged back in and that is why it took so long to refund. I called ADT on Nov. 14 again to ask why the monitoring money had not been replaced in my account. I was placed on hold. Once again, it was explained that it would take up to 30 days before I would get my money back. I explained the situation again but was told that I would have to wait. That was the best they could do.

Today (Dec. 2) I checked my mail, only to find that I have a bill from ADT for $42.11 due 12/17/09 but no refund. And $41.11 was taken out of my checking account on Oct. 17, 2009 - seventeen (17) days after canceling. When I called today to ask why, I was placed on hold for ten minutes. I hung up and called back, only to be placed on hold again for another 10 minutes. I called back a third time. I explained to Sydney who answered the phone that I was not upset with her personally but with ADT's practices. I was given a supervisor, Ms. Toby, who checked with Cali @ Protect Your Home in Springfield, Va. She verified that the equipment was restocked and I was due a refund. I was informed that there would be no more withdrawals from my account after today. I would get the refund I am due ($92.18). But, it will take thirty (30) days! I really don't feel it should take three (3) months to get a refund for anything. Where is my money?

They are still drafting my checking account and we keep getting the runaround from them on how to cancel service. We have no way of getting the new passcode from them to cancel service. Now, they just drafted my checking account again and sent me a bill for $1.00 more than the original contract. Please help us. I have read numerous complaints on the internet regarding ADT with people going through exactly the same runaround as us. The account is my husband’s name. Please contact me as soon as possible at **.

It is not even six months and we wanted full refund as advertised in their website because we are not getting any service, but they deny saying we have signed a three-year contract. The customer service representatives are rude and they say we have to keep paying for the rest of the 36 months. The credit card company says they cannot block the payment, but we can file a dispute. I see that this is becoming a pattern with ADT from the other complaints on this forum. They make easy money without providing a service, but making the consumers sign a contract. I want to cancel the service ASAP. Please help. We are wasting $38.41 every month. I have been on the phone for more than three hours this morning, but there’s no resolution for the problem.

Two weeks ago, we received a display that said FC, so again we called the ADT phone center that tested our alarm over the phone. They indicated they had not gotten a signal and, in fact, have not been receiving a signal for some time. I asked how that could be since ADT has continued to bill me like clockwork for the past year without notifying me that they were not receiving a signal. The phone center representative stated that we should have called for a manual test. Why would I call for a manual test if there were no indication up until the FC display that there was something wrong with our system? Today, an ADT technician came to our home and as soon as he learned we had Verizon FiOS, he indicated that FiOS is not compatible with your system. I was shocked when I heard this because, as stated, I notified ADT in 2008 that we had FiOS installed and they led us to believe that it was the door sensor that was malfunctioning, not a system compatibility issue.

Today, when the technician left, I called and asked to speak to a manager in ADT's customer service area and spoke with Albert. Albert indicated that ADT's system has not been registering a signal from my home for the previous 12 months and that was as far back as their system keeps records. I was flabbergasted that ADT's system is able to bill customers each month for a service they are not providing and when I asked about that, Albert basically placed the responsibility on me saying I signed a contract stating I would test my system each month. I challenge the ethics of that position of taking a customer’s money each month and placing the burden on them to figure out their system is not communicating with theirs. Again, my system was chirping when set, so I did not believe there was a problem. I am further flabbergasted that for something as important as home security, ADT does not take a more proactive role in reporting communication malfunctions to its customers.

While I was very happy when I was notified that ADT had purchased our contract due to my familiarity with its service, I can say I have only negative things to say about the service and the integrity of the company. I don’t believe a business who is interested in good customer service would continue to bill for services not rendered. Their customer notification system should be every bit as good as their billing system that takes my money every month. When I pointed out to Albert that my brother has a system with a different monitoring company that notifies him if it is not working adequately, Albert stated I could have that service also for an additional fee. That would be on top the additional $200 I was quoted to pay for back up cellular service since our systems aren’t compatible. My only other option, according to Albert, was to cancel service. I ask you, how would you feel if you have paid for a service for over a year which you haven’t received only to be told you need to pay more money to have it work correctly?

I feel the technician who came to our home in July of 2008 did not adequately check our system. If there was a compatibility issue, it should have been discovered at that time since the technician was the expert, not me. When I was comparing my brother’s service to ADT, Albert talked about ADT's four phone centers. If ADT was not receiving a signal from our home, what good are four phone centers to me? I am paying for four centers that I am not receiving service from. I find it hard to believe that ADT would treat a customer in this manner.

Albert offered no other remedies but to charge for additional equipment or cancel my service. I find it hard to believe that ADT is that inflexible in dealing with a customer that it cannot prove that it provided the service for which it charged each month. In reading the “Commitment to Your Customers” and ADT's “Mission Statement” from its website, I can find nothing that resembles the treatment I received today. ADT's mission statement is as follows: “To be the leading security systems, services, and solutions provider in the world. We plan to achieve this by exceeding customers' expectations through superior service delivery, world class talent and applied technological innovation, making ADT the most profitable business in the Tyco portfolio.” In my experience, ADT does not in fact value its customers and only deflects any responsibility it has in dealing with customer service issues.

In April, my grandson was born very sick and lived at the hospital so I was at the hospital everyday after I got off work. My grandson died in July and as I was home now, I decided to test my alarm system. I was informed by ADT that I had not had communication with ADT since February. They told me I was supposed to test the alarm weekly. Now with a baby sick in the hospital and trying to work, how the hell was I supposed to test my alarm weekly which I should have done after the lousy service I was getting with ADT. I asked the agent then why was I not notified because after all, I have been paying ADT for alarm service that I did not get. The agent said unless I had fire alarm protection, they would not contact me which is crap because when I had Comcast, they would call me when I lost communication. ADT said it was a problem with Qwest so here I go getting Qwest out to see what the problem is with communication to the ADT.

I have had Qwest out to my house 9 times. I have an interference on the phone line that either prevents me from using the phone or it states the line is in use. An ADT employee told me the alarm panel was the problem. I was told I needed a filter for the alarm, so I got that. Again, I paid ADT another $25 to have them come out and still no signal to ADT and the same problems with the phone. In September, I went into the hospital for surgery. I was informed by my kids that the police came knocking at my door at 2:30 am and they found two men in my backyard trying to look in my windows. They told the police they lived here. My kids told the police they did not know who these guys were and so they took one to jail and wrote the other a ticket for trespassing. I came home the next day and tested the alarm. Once again, no signal to ADT!

I scheduled to have Qwest and ADT out at the same time to have this corrected once and for all. The ADT tech called me outside and showed me a line that visibly ran from the top of the roof to the phone box. This line is actually exposed, cut and dangling from the roof. Now does that sound smart to have an alarm wire that hangs outside of the house so that anyone who gets into the yard can cut it? The tech said there were actually two phone lines running to the alarm that were active and said he would use the other line and leave the one hanging outside as a dead line. ADT charged me another $25 and left. The Qwest tech said I am going to have a chronic problem tech out so he could actually be able to spend the day if needed to troubleshoot all day if needed.

Qwest sent a chronic problem tech to my home which happened to be a former employee of ADT. This person said they cannot find why I am getting the static or the line in use message but told me when I get it, disconnect the alarm from the line and see if it goes away or clears the line. He also asked if he could see the alarm and where it was hooked up. I showed him the cut line and the alarm panel. He informed me that this line was hooked up in such a way that I did not have line seizure and if someone broke into my home and took the phone off the hook, there would be no communication with ADT. So therefore, they would be able to have access to my home without the police being notified. He also laughed at the way this alarm was hooked up and at the line that was visibly cut and hanging from the house. He informed me he would write up his employees for wiring the alarm in this manner.

He had me call ADT and see if the line would seize and lo and behold, no seizure to the line. This person offered to come out when ADT was here to make sure the panel is working properly and to make sure it was wired correctly to work with Qwest. I still have a lot of work ahead of me to ensure the safety of my family and house. Don't ever use ADT. I still have a year left on my contract and am paying for the worst service I have ever had from a company that claims to protect your family and home. I would not recommend ADT to secure a dog house.

After checking with my bank, I saw that my money had already been withdrawn not only for the installation of over $103.00, but for another $54.00 monitoring fee. And nothing had been installed! They had already taken my money and I had nothing. With less than 24 hours of having the system in my home, the alarm went off (September 24) stating that I had no back-up protection. After speaking with one of the technicians and running a test on the system, I was told that the unit was safe and working, which also turned out not to be true. After going away from my home for 24 hours (returning September 26), I came back to find that my home had been entered, but most of all I had no dial tone, battery back or protection. I called to cancel the service at that time and requested a full refund, only to be told that because it was Saturday, I needed to wait until Monday, September 28, to cancel because it could not be done at that time.

When I called on the 28th, I was asked a lot of questions. I was told that it would be 7 to 14 days for my refund. But the thing that troubles me the most is that, still after 30 days (and several conversations with their agents), the money which was collected from my account has not been returned to my accounts of today, October 31, 2009. Each time I request my refund, I am given an excuse and another date as to when my money would be refunded. I am given a runaround. My next move is to go to the BBB and to ** to post a complaint against your company policies. I want only what belongs to me!

Eventually after talking to numerous ADT people over the phone, I would just have to look it up on the internet and download it myself. During this time we had been having numerous problems with our phones and internet connection. After having our phone company come out and check it out, they discovered that ADT had not wired the system up properly to our phone lines and it was causing interference. ADT basically responded that we had no way to prove it was them even though once the telephone company redid it, everything was okay. Also, our alarm has gone off on two occasions once the fire and once from the door and there were no calls or response from authorities.

This leads me to believe that we are not really getting the service at all. After getting nowhere with ADT, I said I wanted to cancel because of these issues and the fact that I had never received the rebate I was told in writing I would get and their response was not only do you not get any refund but you owe us for 75% of 3 years of service. This sure seems like a scam to me and I don't know if we will need to get an attorney or not in order to resolve this as I don't want them turning this over to a collection agency as they have threatened to do.

According to Tony **, if ADT fails to connect their system using the landline phone, they would provide a wireless service with no charge. For both, they were not able to connect their system to the landline phone. While the payment is correct for one ($ 34.99), they have charged for the wireless service for the other. They would not correct this additional charge of $13.00, and forced us to pay the overcharge without correcting their error. Whenever I got the invoice with the wrong amount, I called the ADT sales representative, Tony **, but he never answered or returned my calls.

Regarding this payment, ADT always started to contact us during the office hours, while we were away from home. They demanded to pay the balance without correcting the overcharge. But on 8/25/09 when we were able to answer, the call got cut while the ADT personnel transferred it to their local office. We were waiting for the call on that day, but ADT never called. On 9/11/09 we sent an email to ADT but they never responded, although the website states that they would respond within 48 hours. Still, I did not get the response for the certified mail dated 29th of September. I wonder if ADT would ever respond to an emergency.

However, when ADT technician broke the power line in my kitchen, Tony promised to reimburse the workman's charge to get that repaired but he was not to be found at least to submit the claim. It was a nightmare to get them to change the location of the box which ADT technician fixed in a public area at **. The remaining holes on the wall would tell you all. They never cleaned up their messes. As instructed by Tony, I emailed the complaint to him, so he would forward it to the right person regarding these unethical services.

I want to get out of this contract but they need 75% of the payments for 5 years. God help me. ADT is the worst, and please, God, make them go out of business for these crimes!

The sales representative was nice, as was the other ADT staff member who accompanied him to my house. The gentleman informed me that if I was not satisfied with the installation or the service, I would be able to cancel the contract within six months of the installation. The fine print on the contract stipulates that the previous sentence is true only after ADT has attempted to resolve the source of the dissatisfaction to no avail. I signed the two-year agreement (USAA members do not have to be bound by the normal three-year agreement), acknowledging that the total installation cost of $1,428 would be divided into three equal monthly installments to be charged to my credit card. I also acknowledged on the contract that the monthly monitoring fee of $42.29 plus tax would be automatically deducted from my credit card as well. I supplied the sales rep with my Visa debit card for my checking account.

The installation of my system occurred on September 21. When the installer arrived, the first thing he said was, "The sales rep probably didn't tell you this, but if I hard wire your window and door sensors, it's not going to look good. There will be wires and probably tape sticking out. Now, if you want me to do that, I will, but I highly recommend that you go with wireless sensors." He then told me that with the wireless sensors would be an upgrade fee of $125. I told him to go for it. I asked him about the cost of an additional outdoor siren. He told me that it would cost an additional $175 but he did not have the siren in his van. It would have to be installed at a later date. The installer told me that if I went ahead and made payment for both of the upgrades, I would not incur any mileage/trip charges when the outdoor horn was installed. So, I gave him a check for $300. After he left, I remembered that I was probably eligible for a discount on the upgrades due to being a USAA member.

I called the USAA/ADT line and told the rep about the situation. She confirmed that, indeed, I should have only paid $265.50. She recommended that I call my sales rep and let him know. I called my sales rep and informed him about the wireless upgrade and the addition of the outdoor horn. I asked him if there was any real difference in having the sensors hard wired vs. wireless. His response was that the installers would rather do the wireless because it means they can get done faster. He also told me that he would make sure that my account was credited $34.50, the amount of the USAA discount. At this point, I was somewhere between amused and slightly nervous about the disconnect between sales and installers, as I started thinking about the plethora of negative reviews I had read about ADT online. Remember, my mindset was that if USAA recommends them, they must be okay. I also kept in mind that bad news travels faster and more often than does good news. I figured that for every poor review I read, there must certainly be thousands armed with ADT who pay their bills each month, do not have a break-in, and are content.

On September 24, I noticed while reviewing my online checking account that $300 had been deducted. I was not surprised about the debit, but I was surprised that there was no check number attached and that the transaction was listed as POS, which is how the debit card transactions read. Remember, it was a check for $300 that I gave the installer for the upgrades. It was also on September 24 that a different installer arrived to install the outdoor siren. It took him less than 30 minutes, as the wiring had already been taken care of. On September 28, while once again reviewing my checking account, I noticed two pending transactions from ADT Security. The first was no surprise. It was a debit of $476.04, which was the first of three monthly installation charges. The second charge, however, was a surprise. It was for $92.39. I spoke with two billing specialists at ADT who told me that they could see the charge on my account, but they had no idea what it was for. I then called my sales rep who told me that he wasn't sure what it was for.

I then called the USAA/ADT line, and the person I spoke with put me through to someone in the Little Rock, Arkansas office (I live in El Dorado, AR) who informed me that the $92.39 was for the first two months of the monitoring service. My sales rep called me back to tell me he had found out what the charge was for. I told him that I already knew, and that it would have been nice if he had shared that information with me. Fortunately, I had the funds in my checking account to cover the charge. The sales rep told me he had never heard of ADT billing (and automatically debiting) for the first two months at once. At this point, amusement gave way to nervousness and anxiety of the unknown. My mind resumed pondering all of the negative ADT reviews online regarding questionable billing practices, homes not actually being professionally monitored, lying salesmen, and shoddy installation. The following events absolutely incensed me and began yesterday (September 30, 2009) morning.

I was examining my checking account online yet again, and there was a negative balance. I thought I would throw up. I knew before I even clicked on the transaction detail link that it was ADT Security. Sure enough, ADT deducted $265.50 from my account, leaving me in the red with no access to funds and an impending $27 charge from my bank to cover the transaction. So, rather than credit me $34.50, they took an additional $265.50. I called the ADT billing department and spoke with a gentleman who looked at my account and saw that the $265.50 had been deducted from my debit card. He stated that he would process a credit in the same amount back to my debit card account. I asked how long it would be before the funds were replaced. He told me it would be two or three business days. When I asked him how I would provide groceries for my family with no available money in my checking account, he almost seemed concerned.

Five minutes after hanging up, I decided to call back and attempt to cancel my account. I spoke with the most uncaring female customer service representative I have ever encountered. I told her that I wanted to cancel my account. She replied that it would be impossible. I told her that the sales rep sat in my living room and told me that if I was unsatisfied within six months, I would be able to cancel the contract. She stated that the cancellation had to occur within three days. She then decided to lecture me that the six month provision was only applicable if the dissatisfaction pertained to either the installation or the monitoring service and if ADT had attempted to resolve the problem unsuccessfully. When I asked whose fault it was that ADT billing deducted the money from my account, she replied, "Your sales rep. He sold you the system, didn't he?"

I hung up furious this time and decided to reread my contract. She was almost right. The contract does not specify dissatisfaction with the monitoring service. It only reads service. I certainly include responsible billing practices as an important part of the service. With regard to ADT's resolution of the problem, the only resolution I had been offered by the billing specialists I spoke with was tantamount to you're **. I then, by God, had the right to cancel my contract. I next called the USAA/ADT line. The lady I spoke with immediately put me through to a mid-level manager at ADT in Little Rock. She said she had no idea of why this billing fiasco had occurred. However, she was sympathetic and stated that she could understand my frustration. She wanted to know if there was any way that they could rectify the billing issue and if I would consider giving them another chance. I told her that I had contracted with them for a service that was supposed to make me feel secure and that now, I feel less secure because I couldn't trust them with access to my Visa debit card account.

How could I be sure that the next time they would not take $500 or $1,000 or more (I do have that much in my account for about 30 minutes every two weeks)? I told her that I was also concerned that there is a $300 check I wrote to ADT on 9/21/09 that had not yet posted. She confirmed that this was true. I was emphatic that the contract would not be upheld and that I would be due a refund minus some reasonable expenses for the installer's time and mileage from Pine Bluff to El Dorado. She told me that she would be getting back with me later in the day after she had discussed how to proceed with others in her office. Today, I spoke with the gentleman who I believe to be the head of Operations for the Little Rock office. He sincerely apologized for the billing issues and explained that the installer should not have accepted a check and how their automated billing system caused the problems. He stated that he understood that I wanted to be done with ADT.

I knew what his first offer would be. He suggested that we could terminate the contract with no early cancellation fee since I owned the equipment. I reminded him that I did not own the equipment, as I had only made one of three monthly installments. I told him that I had a feeling that what he thought was fair and reasonable was probably a long way from what I considered to be fair and reasonable. He said, "What do you mean fair and reasonable?" I responded that I would gladly give up $350 to compensate for the installer's travel and time and 11 days of monitoring service but I want all the hardware removed and a refund of the remaining $783 from the $1,133 that was deducted from my account. He neither affirmed, haggled, nor declined. He said that he needed some time to verify the initial $300 deduction on September 24. He also informed me that a hold on my debit card was in effect, meaning that no more deductions would be allowed. I told him that I took care of it on my end too, by canceling the debit card and by stopping payment on the $300 check that was out there somewhere.

He told me that it would be about 15 or 20 business days before any refund could be processed. About two hours later, the same gentleman called me back and said that he saw where the $300 came out of my account. Though I'm thinking, "Duh, why do you think I'm so upset," I am no longer shocked by anything. To his credit and my appreciation, this guy is smooth. He told me that I would be refunded the entire amount minus a prorated monitoring fee for the 10 or 11 days the service is (was) active. Someone would be in touch with me on Monday for the removal of my system and he would touch base with me as well. He also acknowledged that this was entirely their fault. I was, once again, already expecting the last thing he said, and that was that because I canceled my check card, it would take even longer for me to get my refund.

They will have to process the refund to the canceled check card, wait for it to bounce back, and then initiate a check to me. I had already decided that I could tolerate that more than I could tolerate more unauthorized money coming out of my account in case they became more unscrupulous or if they could not get a handle on their billing processes. The bottom line is, if he follows through on what he says he and the Little Rock office will have done right by me. I wouldn't trust the corporate ADT billing department as far as I could throw them, however. As soon as this system is removed, I am having one installed by Electronic Alarms, a local company in El Dorado with monitoring done by a company in Little Rock.

I signed my two business locations. However, within 6 months, the Billing department was incapable and irritated me to no end. I cancelled. They charged me the rest of contract life. I called the 800 number and they explained to me that the "6-month money back guarantee" only applies to technical problems. I was infuriated and called Wes and demanded an answer. He told me that the same information he provided to me about the "6-month back guarantee" was provided by his manager (his manager at the time was now no longer with ADT). He also told me that he didn't expect for this to come back because no one has actually taken advantage of the guarantee before. So Wes and his manager were hoping for me to not have problems so this would come back to haunt them, but it did.

Wes contacted his manager now (a new manager since I signed). His manager, Dave, contacted me. He expressed that he wanted to deal with this internally before I go to Better Business Bureau. After waiting for a month, still there was no answer to my dispute. Instead, I got a phone call from a collection attorney. First, they falsely advertised to get me to sign. Second, they purposely postponed my process and then stiffed me with a collection attempt. This company is not good. I can't believe the unethical ways of this company. Ever heard of any one charging the remaining of the contract if terminated early? If that is the case, then why don't they just not allow early termination? And why do big companies like ADT send out employees and lie to get customers to sign? English is not my first language so understanding the fine print is hard enough. I trusted Wes and he and his company cheated me. I will now contact BBB and then a private attorney if needed.

I called several times trying to reschedule and I had no assistance. Finally, I got to speak to the salesman who came to my house and we had given the payment for the contract. He said he was going to refund our money back. That thing never happened and he doesn't even return our calls. Very upset with ADT customer service. I don't know what to do to get my money back. It happened a month ago and nobody from their office has ever contacted us regarding this matter.

A few days later, he called and told me he can’t make it, but if I would renew with him, he would give me a discount on my monthly billing. I asked how much and he said the new monthly charge would be $28 a month. I never got the discount. I paid the original $32 and some change monthly just as before. No discount and not another word from him ever again. Apparently, they change hands quite a bit. In March of 2009, I stopped using the service with ADT Security because suddenly our finances took a nosedive and we had to shut the landline telephone service down. ADT Security Systems do not work without a landline. We also closed the checking account that was associated with ADT’s monthly automatic payment. Suddenly, out of nowhere I start getting tons of phone calls a couple of months ago from a company named Appelles, which simply left voicemails for me to call back. It turns out they are a collection agency, and a very shady one at that, who says I owe somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 or more for a broken contract with ADT Services!

I called billing at ADT and was told by the rude representative that the account was no longer with them. It had been turned over to a collection agency and I would have to call the collection agency and work it out with them. The collection agency? None other than Apelles (other complaints exist for them as well, for their nasty and rude practices as well). I haven’t signed a new contract with ADT since the original one I signed in the year 2001. As a matter of fact, I haven’t seen or heard from any representative of ADT since the call 6 years ago asking me to renew then! I’m not even sure I had monitoring services at all since I never actually had to use it, but with the complaints I’ve read from others about ADT, it’s a possibility I was paying for a service that never was. The clown at Appelles told me that the contract automatically renews. How can that be? How can a contract renew without permission of the person you are trying to hold to a contract? Nobody has been here with a contract and I haven't signed anything since I originally asked for the system in 2001.

I'm getting so sick of banks and corporates and collection agencies playing mafia with me and trying to rip me off and adding fees and more fees on top of what they say we owe. Everyone else has the government working for them, so where is the consumer's help? My credit rating has taken a beating since the new credit card laws were proposed by the president. Credit card companies are taking away our credit and hiking interest rates. So on top of that, now I have a service which I should have been in charge of whether I wanted it or not doing the same: ruining my credit score with their outrageous practices. I have paid them faithfully for 8 years. Now they send me to a collection agency because I choose to stop receiving their service? These practices against consumers must stop! They are getting out of hand.

We purchased our house in Phoenix in September 2004, and the ADT alarm system was already installed in the house. We did not move into the house until 9 months after we purchased it because the house was undergoing renovation. During that time period and for the subsequent two years, we never used the alarm system. However, beginning in the summer 2007, I became the sole (part-time) resident of the house and began to use the alarm system. As I recall, I spoke numerous times to the ADT service department because the alarm worked only intermittently and warning signals would indicate problems with the system. Eventually, the system worked.

Beginning in the fall of 2008, the alarm system would often indicate that there was a problem on the line and red lights would flash. Each time this happened, I called the 800 number for ADT and they would walk me through some process whereby the red light would terminate and the alarm would appear to be working. Since I only come to Phoenix intermittently, this process became somewhat of a ritual and every time I talked with the service people, they would say that the system was fine and that the problem would not resurface. Still, each time I turned the alarm on or off, the problem would start again.

It became obvious to me several months ago (with all of these problems with the system) that we were not really linked to ADT because when the alarm would go off, no one from ADT contacted us nor did the police arrive. So we were not benefiting from any ADT services.. All we had was a broken system that would make a lot of noise, never at the right time.

I was in Phoenix on June 22 to 23, and the alarm (despite it being off) was making strange sounds and would be set off automatically without reason. After several phone calls with ADT, I set an appointment to have a service person come to meet me at the house. I made a special trip to Phoenix to meet the service provider on July 20. The repair person was quite nice and spent about an hour working on the system. When he left, he told me I need to have Cox Communication (our phone provider) come to reinstall some hook-up but that for the time being, the system would work fine, and that I should turn it on when I leave the house and turn it off (as usual) when I am in the house. I left Phoenix on July 21, and followed his instructions turned the alarm on when I left the house that morning.

While traveling on business on July 31, I received a message from our next door neighbor who stated, "we've noticed the alarm sounding at your house on and off for the past several days. There doesn't seem to be any issue with the house from what I can see from the sidewalk." Needless to say, I was embarrassed by this annoyance to our neighbors. I was shocked to learn of this since ADT was at the house just 10 days prior to check the system (I want to reiterate that I paid airfare to come to the house on July 20 to meet the ADT service person. I had no other reason to be in Phoenix that day; I teach at ASU during the academic calendar).

Because of the information received through my neighbor, I asked an ASU colleague to go to my house to turn off the alarm system. I gave her the code and access to the house (I might note that I was in a state with a three-hour time difference and in meetings). She went to the house, followed all the instructions about how to turn the alarm off but the alarm continued to sound off. Eventually it stopped, but then when she walked out of the house (despite the system being off), the alarm began to sound off. She called me very frustrated and I left a meeting to call ADT once again. Arrangements were made for her to go back to the house and be on the phone with ADT as she entered the house for them to give instructions even if this meant deactivating the entire system.

When she returned that afternoon - after the earlier effort in the morning, she called ADT and explained the situation, then lost the call when she went near the alarm which was ringing so loudly she couldn't even hear them. She called again, and then needed a password in addition to the PIN code. After some back and forth with me going in and out of my meetings, I found the number they wanted (Frankly, I don't know where that number came from; we never picked it, and I was never asked for this number in all the times that I have been calling about the lack of service on my system).

Once she talked with ADT, they told her she needed to deactivate, since there was nothing else they could do. They told here she needed to find an 18" box somewhere in the house and that the box would have a key. She phoned me and I assured her there was no such box in our house. Nonetheless, at the prompting of ADT, she searched the entire house but didn't find such a box because there isn't any. She tried unplugging all the surge protectors, too, since it seems ADT told her there would be a small transformer plugged into an outlet. In her words, "You should never pay ADT. They are inept."

I left my meeting again, and called ADT directly to see if I could intervene, and also to express my anger and disappointment in their poor performance. By then, I had spoken with about five different people at the 800 number, each time asking to speak with a supervisor. At 4:51 pm on August 1 (same day as all of this is happening), I requested ADT to send a service person to the house to meet my colleague so that they could locate this mysterious 18" box to disarm the system. I was told I would have to pay an emergency service charge for this visit (despite the fact that I explained that the service person had just been to my house 10 days earlier and had assured me the system was in working order).

I agreed to pay because without that agreement ADT's service person would not come to the house and the alarm would just keep going off indefinitely disturbing the neighborhood. My colleague returned to the house yet again to meet the service person. As it turns out, the ADT phone people were giving the wrong information. There is no 18" box. All the equipment for our system is located in a closet in the adjacent room, just a big plug, no box!

I then arranged for an appointment with both Cox Communication and ADT so that Cox would come in the morning and ADT in the afternoon on August 7. I could not be in Phoenix on that date, so I paid my assistant in California to fly to Phoenix to meet the repair people at my house. I paid airfares and for one day of work time. Cox arrived that morning and rewired the hookup for the alarm system. ADT came in the afternoon and just looked at the hook up and said that everything would work fine now.

I flew to Phoenix on August 13-14, and spent the night at the house. When I arrived, I turned off the alarm but once again it began to sound off with no reason. I phoned ADT and they walked me through the same procedures where I put in the code twice and push some other buttons. The alarm appeared to be off (it said it was off). In the middle of the night, it started to sound off yet again.

It had been my intention to write to you immediately about these experiences and my complete lack of confidence in your company. Unfortunately, I was called out of town on repeated business trips, and then left for Europe for two weeks.

This past Friday, September 4, I phoned ADT to completely cancel my relationship and account. The first response from the staff was to inquire as to why I was doing this. I stated that I felt the performance of the company had been completely unprofessional and that I have had recurring problems for many months with my service. She wanted to provide me with some credits if I remained with the company. I said I thought I deserved lots of credits but that it was my intention to get a new alarm system with another company that would perform better than ADT. She then withdrew her offer of credit. She then informed me that I would be billed for another month, despite the fact that I won't have any service (and that I have not really had service from ADT for many, many months).

I was willing to put up with a less than mediocre service for a long time because my life is too busy to pay attention to a lot of these issues. But finally, I did pay attention and now I can see that your company is unprofessional, inept, rude, and cannot fulfill its responsibilities to customers. The only thing you appear to be able to do well is send out invoices.

As a business owner, I am well aware of the pressures and difficulties of providing service, caring about customers, managing staff, and all the other aspects that need to be addressed to perform well. It's clear that your mission statement is meaningless to your staff. I, for one, cannot see how you will ever exceed customers' expectations through superior service delivery, world class talent and applied technological innovation. As a professional who works with non-profit organizations who truly live up to their mission and work with value-based goals, your performance is a mockery of the very statements you profess to work to achieve.

If you have any interest in knowing more about my situation, or if you can figure out what you should do to address my frustrations, unnecessary travel and reliance on colleagues, unneeded stress, and of course payments for no service, feel free to call me. It is my intention to forward a copy of this letter to the Better Business Bureau and to post it online.

P.S. At my California house, we have had a security system with Bay Alarm for more than 20 uneventful years. We have never needed service; the alarm works fine.

In September 2009, I contacted ADT to have my alarm moved using their 800 number on the contract: 800-539-6990. I got connected quite a bit and keep ending up in voicemail boxes. After 10 days, I finally find out that I’m being send to a company in Virginia (Absolute Security). After leaving several increasingly desperate messages (we are talking my security here), I finally get to talk to Kateman. She makes it very clear that they have nothing to do with ADT or what ADT might have promised over the phone. She said that she is going to charge me $99 for the transfer and if I did not like that, she would charge me the reminder of 27 months at $32.09 each. She added that the fact that the contract asked for 75% of that did not matter to her. I reluctantly agreed to the $99 extra charge, although calling ADT’s sales directly confirms that after 6 months the transfer will be free.

Once I agreed, the installer came within 2 days. He is super nice and helpful. When he was ready to leave, he presented me with a new contract to sign, but surprise - this is a new contract for another 36 months and not for the remaining 27 months from the original contract. The installer got Kateman on the phone; she insisted that I agreed to another 36 months. I refused to sign a new contract with changed timeframe, asked the installer to leave and I’m certain that Absolute Security will try to charge to my credit card whatever they feel is due. Later today I got a call from another name-less Absolute Security person informing me that ADT forces them to start a new contract and that the $99 installation fee does not even cover their cost. He was sorry that he could not anything else for me. On the internet you find a bunch of consumers who are getting burned and baited-and-switched by ADT.

I requested a full refund of my money back. I was told that I won't get my money back as I'm under contract & to seek legal counsel. Well, I am not under contract because the company canceled the contract. The contract was breached by them. Due to my investigation, I found this company has a grade of "F" by the BBB and I don't understand why ADT would send this company to people's houses. This was not the first time this company displayed unprofessional behavior. On the initial installation, they didn't even show up or call to cancel the appointment. ADT allegedly set up another appointment with another dealer and AVS shows up at my door. I didn't know it was AVS until it was time to sign the contract. I was so upset so ADT set it up for me to receive a $150 gift card which had insufficient funds.

After the system was installed, we went to make a copy of the certificate to get to our insurance company and found that they had left someone else's certificate with us, which leads me to my main complaint. When the salesperson was selling to us, I asked her when the money would be taken from our account and she said the first of the month. I asked her if that was for sure. She said that they probably would not take it until the following month. Well they took it immediately, which resulted in an NSF and 7 overdraft fees totaling $60.00. When I called her manager, he said he would reimburse me for this money. This was 3 weeks ago. He told me I would have the check last week and then he told me I would have it again this week. No check.

I have also found out that the person who sold us the system has been fired because she was arrested, which makes me wish I had never let ADT in my home because this person walked out of my house with a credit card number and my checking account information. I now feel I have to monitor these constantly to make sure I am not being robbed there too. This has been the most unpleasant experience I have ever had. And what makes it even worse is I don't feel I can trust the very people who are supposed to be protecting my home. I can assure you when my contract is up, I will not be continuing to give you my business. I feel safer with the people I am trying to lock out of my home than with the people who sold me the system to protect it. I hope this is addressed because it is horrible to have this sick feeling that you've been duped. If I could, I would have the system removed and go with a company who actually respects the customer.

I guess it was in the contract, but I didn't read it and they know people don't read these contracts. I think they're taking advantage of a lot of people using these tactics. Statistically they know exactly what their doing, getting people to sign contracts that would put money in their pockets instantly should they breach the contract. Also, the length in which a person has to violate their terms seems to extend way too far. I mean yes, I have had the service disconnected due to non-payment but that's over 6 years with the last time being 2 years ago. I think this is yet another example of a corporation taking advantage of consumers. I have no problem paying the past due and continuing the service but ADT doesn't do that. In fact, if your contract is cancelled, then you have to start a new contract and I guess the limit on that is 2, no three chances. I don't think there should be a limit at all as long as the consumer is willing make amends by paying off the past due.

After my disapproval of the first two options, Lamont told me to have a good day and hung up the phone. However, I took the third option. ADT collected my money regularly every month. The first time I needed regular help, ADT said it was an emergency and gave me no viable options. I wouldn't recommend anyone that I care about to do business with ADT.

I asked how much the cancellation fee would be for this. I knew ahead of time that I could pay up to 75% of the remaining balance on the contract. However, according to ADT, I had started a new contract when I moved to my previous location. I was charged a cancellation fee of $200 plus one more $50 payment because it takes 30 days to disconnect. I think this is dishonest since I never signed an additional contract with ADT and therefore, I shouldn't have had to pay these additional fees. I used the exact same service, but at a different location. The contract was slated for 3 years and should have remained so. I think ADT should have extended my same service at the previous address like they stated and not hold me liable to a contract that I never signed. This practice will only drive customers away.

I have been trying to contact the local branch manager and last month, he said he would be sending the agreement document. I have still not gotten and since three months, I am trying to get information and every other person tells me different information. I do not understand how this goes about, since they require business anyone say anything and if I talk to customer service, the only answer I get is, "I am sorry for the inconvenience but as per ADT, this is what's needed to be done."

Is there not a specific rule on how these companies work? I need to pay $758. This is quite a huge amount. When I asked for cancellation, they did not cancel and only next month they cancelled and they charged for the previous month. Is this the way the business has to go with customer satisfaction?

ADT has purposely made it difficult to spot the length of the contract. Not only is the contract length in tiny letters, but the length of the contract is typed as "five" rather than "5" to make it extremely difficult to find. All other numbers in the contract are numerical, e.g. "1 year" and "30 days". The number five is written out in letters to make it blend in with the other words to keep it hidden. This is misleading and unfair business practices. It turns out the sales rep who I signed up with no longer works with the company. I've contacted the manager numerous times who claims that there is an investigation but cannot provide me with any updates. He never returns my calls. It's been approximately two months of speaking with the ADT manager and I have finally filed with BBB.

ADT should make the length of the contract in large or at least regular font. It should not be purposely concealed so that even an ADT worker can't find it. ADT sales rep shouldn't lie about the length of the contract and ADT managers should handle cases in a timely manner. In addition, the cancellation fees are ridiculous. No other company I've dealt with has a 90% (over $1500) cancellation fee. I am willing to work with attorneys.

I politely told her no. She then started quoting statistics of house break-ins, etc. I pointed out my dog growling at her and said I have a security system. Of course, Amanda took several steps backward. I told Amanda that everyone in this area is a cop, federal agent or a marine and none of us have ever been robbed, etc. She still insisted we were not safe from crime. I could not help it, I started to laugh at what she was saying. I started to close my door as she rambled on. She got the hint and started walking away. Her final words to me were, "You know you’re a real **".

I called ADT and basically got the runaround and they never were able to reach a supervisor. I called back and received phone numbers to call. Conveniently, all the voice mail boxes were full.

I have lost a few days of work because I have work at home job and spend money on those technician fee for a few hundreds dollars. Even worse thing could have happened. Without a dial tone phone, if my family needs to dial 911, they don't have a phone to call. If my alarm goes off, ADT can't call to get help for us. These two companies only know charging customer, but fail to deliver the service as it should be.

I went back and forth between ADT local tech and AT&T tech. Finally, ADT said we will send our own ADT tech out to check. The tech came and said no, there is no way this is going to work and I will make a report to ADT that the system is not compatible. I was told by ADT that if the system is not compatible, they would let me cancel my contract without any penalty. Now they are giving me the runaround about canceling my service. I need help.

I complained about the misinformation and I was only given an apology. Still, I was told that I need to pay $100 before they will do anything. I asked the rep if we could just take the items with us and was told "no." They will just reinstall new equipment at the new location and not to worry about that. Later, I received a call from Durrell from a place called Defender Security (collections dept). Durrell rudely advised me that it was past my 30 days from when I moved and I need to let him know if I am going to pay the $100 to have the security system re-installed or send them a check for $1,400 to pay off the 3-year contract.

I advised Durrell that I did want to have a security system in the house as well, but it took everything we had to make the move and we are just getting caught up on the regular bills. He told me that he was giving me until June 30th, which is next week, to pay $100 or $1,400.00. He also advised that they will not be installing the upgraded equipment I purchased, but only the standard security. He told me that if I wanted the upgraded security system, I should have taken it down myself and brought it with me.

I am very upset because the ADT rep that I talked to when I called told me not to touch the equipment. It is okay to leave it at the apartment and they will reinstall new equipment. Durrell agreed and said that they will install the new equipment for the additional cost (for having it upgraded). I will have to pay that again because I did not bring the other with me.

I did what I was advised by ADT's reps, not to mention that not long after having the equipment installed, someone tried to get through my front door. The alarm went off. I could not get my key alarm to work that they provided me and once I was able to get the system to shut off, I had to call them! I asked the female rep did she not show that my alarm was going off. She replied yes, but since I cut it off within a certain amount of time, there was no need for them to call me to see if all was okay.

I thought ADT was a security company--a company looking to secure people's safety. But they are the robbers and thieves because they came into my home and ripped me off of everything they said they would do. Something needs to be done about this!

Two days later, I got a call from ADT which told me that there was a system failure at the garage door. I knew that because I called ADT two days earlier. Okay, it's been established that I have a system error. I spoke to at least 20 representatives, all were very rude, except two. The two, who were somewhat nice, promised to help. But you guess it, I have not heard from them again.

I asked for weekend appointments to have the system review and was told that there were no weekend appointments. This confused me because a weekend appointment was provided when the system was installed. So I could not understand why the weekends was a problem now. Someone showed up about two weeks later on the weekend, and guess what? The sorry repairman told me that he didn't have the part to repair the system. Just sorry.

I phoned ADT again and spoke with an insensitive CSR, so I asked to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor came to the phone with an attitude. I asked for her name, and she gave it to me and decided to spell it for me. Surely, I'm capable of spelling a name as common as **. She was trying to be cute. I guess I disturbed the smoke break; her voice sounded raspy. She too offered nothing but excuses.

I decided to take advantage of the telephone number given to me for the CEO. I phoned and was told that I was speaking to his assistant. As expected, she was useless as well. She gave me her telephone number and told me to call her when the technician came out and she would see about refunding my monthly fee. Imagine that, I was to call her. News flash, I'm the customer here. It seems to me that she should have been keeping an eye on my account to see if the technician came to my home and she should call me to tell me that she's refunding my fee. I guess that seems too much like the right thing to do.

I placed another call to the CEO office and talked to another lady who said she was the CEO's assistant. This CEO must be one busy person, considering all of his assistance. Now my question is busy doing what? Surely his time is not invested in customer services, because his CSR, supervisors, and assistants all appear to be just simply out of touch with what's going on with the customer.

I wanted to cancel my service today, and a little voice told me to check my contract (something I should have done in the beginning). Sure enough, I'm stuck like Chuck for three years. (LOL) I plan on telling everyone I meet about the service I received from ADT and my experiences as it relates to me.

The reason I cancelled was I did not like that the camera frames had up to a 7-second delay which would allow any burglar time to get out of the view of the cameras. After speaking to him, I spoke with Becky from the local billing office in Pennsauken, NJ. She was very nice, and after saying I had to fax a letter of cancellation and why, she said there were no problems and she'd set up a date for the installer to come back and uninstall the system.

He came within 2 days and took down the cameras and wiring. They still charged my account over $400.00, the first installment for payment, and they have now sent my account to a collection service. The collection service, when I spoke with them, put the file on hold, because they did note that ADT had a letter in their file that it was supposed to be cancelled! What is going on?!

I stayed in the third location for 3 years. I cancelled the monitoring service when I went out of business. I am now being hounded for a cancellation fee of $1,490. How long are the contracts?! Either I took over the contract for the other woman (2 + 3 = 5) or they let her out of her contract and started a new one with me. I don't think they can have it both ways. Since I paid them for a total of 8 years, I think they have their pound of flesh. I don't need this irritation in my life.

We called the alarm company and they wanted to charge us $140 for thirty minutes for them to send someone out to see if it was wired wrong. It was awful customer service; they sounded like they were reading from a script and kept wanting to give me different phone numbers. The company they contracted to do the wiring, there was no answer and I left a message, and do not expect a call back. We would love to cancel our service but don't know how to get out of our contract. It is not stated anywhere. They are awful!

Unfortunately, it stopped working in February 2009. Since then, I have contacted them, their local office, and their sales representative to handle this issue. They sent a technician. Then they told me that the system was inoperable due to its old state. The technician told me that the system was beyond repair. I called ADT office to cancel the service. However, they asked for $800 cancellation charge!

When I called today, I was told that the final statement was not really our final statement and that they attempted to charge my credit card on file for the outstanding monthly monitoring service still due, but it was declined so I needed to send payment. The card they had on file had been compromised and a new card was issued, but I never gave them the new number because they didn't need it since I had sent in our final payment. I repeatedly asked why the statement would say final if it was not and was told basically it's not final and pay up. No amount of conversation was going to sway them. We will pay the outstanding amount because we do not want to jeopardize our good credit but will never ever do business with ADT or any of its subsidiaries.

I was given a number by the nice lady the only one at ADT and by the time I hung up, I had misplaced the last four digits of the number. It was 877 238 something. I kept getting Stephanie who would not give me a number to lodge a complaint about the dealer who would not put the extra keypad at the inside garage door where the main box is located. He refused at the $800 price. Stephanie would not put me through to a manager except hers who said he would move the keypad to the downstairs and I would not have one upstairs but that would cost also. I want one upstairs and downstairs and three sensors and forget that was not wanted.

But the buck stopped with her and she was so nasty. I want and will cancel come Sept. 09 and I got so upset having to talk to Stephanie that is will just leave my system off. I have been defrauded and no one except Stephanie can I talk to. The first lady said that there was a dealer department that oversees the dealers and consumer complaints, but know it all Stephanie said there was no department and no escalation consumer complaint section either. The buck stopped there with her. What kind of company is this? When you wanted a jet airplane and I went to Palm Beach, met your chairman and then flew to Bermuda to close to avoid taxes, your company was so nice. I want someone to fire the people that do injustice with your company and call me about my problem.

The system was installed on 4/28/09. The installation tech was rude and in a hurry to get to his son's baseball game. When he called to activate the system, he was told that the contract had been canceled. I told him that I tried to cancel it but was unable to do so. Eventually, the account was activated. I was asked to do a service survey while the technician stood next to me and listened. Again, I felt coerced. I wasn't able to give accurate answers to the survey while he was standing next to me.

After he rushed through the instructions on how to use the system, he left. I had not read the contract until now. I wasn't given time to read it before signing it and I didn't bother to read it after the sales rep left because I had every intention of canceling. I now realize that I am stuck with this system for 3 years! I was never informed of this. The next day, $43.85 was debited from my account for 4/28-5/31. I received a bill stating that I owed $43.85 for the same billing cycle. The amount was debited on 5/19/09.