Thinking about an alarm system for our house - cost? recommendations?

[Anonymous]

We have ADT and the system has worked fine, but I agree their customer service for things like billing issues SUCKS! I had a maddening billing situation with them that I won't even get into, but it took a lot of aggravating phone calls to get it straightened out. They acted like I was a deadbeat who wouldn't pay a bill, when in fact I had paid and the mix-up was entirely their fault.

Re the false alarm rates & the police department, I'm not sure how useful it is to know which company has the most false alarms. Probably the company with the most systems in your area will have the most false alarms - which doesn't tell you that's a bad company to go with, just that they have a lot of systems in your area. And I think the vast majority of false alarms are not the fault of the alarm company anyway, they're the fault of the user. Eg, we had a false alarm b/c we were on vacation and cancelled the housekeeper, but her husband forgot to give her the message so she came anyway and unlocked the front door and the alarm went off and she didn't know how to turn it off, and then the police came. That's not the alarm company's fault - they got a trouble signal that the front door was opened, no one answered the phone, and they called the police, which is exactly what they were supposed to do. False alarms happen when the company or the system contacts the police and they have to respond to your home, not when you accidentally set off the alarm and then disarm it, or when the alarm goes off and the company calls you and you tell them the password and say things are fine.

[Anonymous]

I know someone in a battle with ADT right now. ADT bought the company that installed their system (installed 25 years ago). They have not used the system since ADT took over. ADT bills them every month for service they are not using (and have never used) and is making it very difficult for them to cancel (even though there is nothing TO cancel) and won't erase the charges that have already been billed. My friends asked if someone could come hook up the system (since if they are paying for it they should be able to use it) and ADT won't hook it up without charging them for the visit. It's insane. I would stay away.

[Anonymous]

We've had Homesafe for six years and have been happy with it, although the system has never been challenged-- thankfully.

Frankly, getting a dog made me feel even safer!

[Anonymous]

I went with a smaller company after reading a lot of bad reviews about how cheap ADT's system was. But frankly our small company has been a huge pain in the ass, so I wouldn't recommend them either. But I love our alarm, I would not be able to live in a SFH without one.

[Anonymous]

I have an ADT system, this is my second home with one. I've never had a problem with them.

I googled that adt murder and you are right, that's terrible. The guy cut the power to her house so the alarm did not work - but it should have.

The adt guys told me that if someone cuts the power to my house, my alarm will NOT work. They offered me a cellular/battery backup but I refused. Because really, nobody is "out to get me". The point of putting those adt stickers on your window is really to make your home less of an appealing target.

Apparently the murder victim DID have a backup system that failed. How that could have happened, I don't know, and it does seem to me that adt is responsible for that. The system should have been tested before the tech left. The victim should have insisted that they test it, and test it again, because someone WAS out to get her. Maybe she did have them test it and if failed anyway, I don't know....
For the casual thief trying to break in, I think the system would work (just ask my cleaning lady, who set it off last time she was here) and also acts as a deterent. But if you've got a crazy person determined to kill you, you might want to do better than just run of the mill adt.

[Anonymous]

We are in Howard County and have Vintage- that seems to be a big system "out here." Not sure where you are relative to us, but ours was free with three year monitoring contract (new house). We are happy with ours.

[Anonymous]

OP here - thanks everyone for all the advice. Seems like the ADT issue varies from person to person. I put in calls to ADT, Brinks/Broadview, and Guardian...we'll see how they do at the estimate stage.

Also, it's funny - One poster mentioned getting a dog...we actually have two, and we've always relied on them to be our 'security system' in the past. But our very mouthy dog passed away a few years ago and his replacement is super friendly - she never barks at anyone. Our other barker has gone completely deaf so he's no longer any help when it comes to barking at intruders! So it's an alarm for us...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks everyone for all the advice. Seems like the ADT issue varies from person to person. I put in calls to ADT, Brinks/Broadview, and Guardian...we'll see how they do at the estimate stage.

Also, it's funny - One poster mentioned getting a dog...we actually have two, and we've always relied on them to be our 'security system' in the past. But our very mouthy dog passed away a few years ago and his replacement is super friendly - she never barks at anyone. Our other barker has gone completely deaf so he's no longer any help when it comes to barking at intruders! So it's an alarm for us...

Please keep us posted and let us know what you decide!