What are the downsides to using alarm companies, such as ADT?

Answer 1

It would appear that your answers have one thing in common -
the alarm companies all delay the police response.

Answer 2

Interesting replies you've gotten.

In the town where I was the police chief we had ADT and Brinks and a private security agency monitoring alarms. We had an ordinance that charged the business $50 for every false alarm call after four false alarms. ADT was the worst, followed by Brinks. The security agency never reported a false alarm. What they did was send a private security guard to the alarm. They would call us and inform us that the guard was responding and then call us back if the alarm was false or if a burglary had taken place.

Answer 3

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RE:
What are the downsides to using alarm companies, such as ADT?

Answer 4

Time laps. From the time the alarm goes off, the ADT person gets the alarm, they check their protocol, call the 911 dispatchers, dispatchers send police, police arrive on scene can be up to 15 minutes.

I was doing a security check for a residence while they were out of town and accidentally set the alarm off by checking one of the doors. I notified my dispatch that I had set the alarm off and that it was an accident. I finished checking the location and went back to my car to add notes in the computer about the call. while still in my car adding notes in the driveway, the alarm company calls and said they have an alarm at this location showing side door. The same door I had pulled on. The alarm company did not call in until 15 min after I set if off.

Answer 5

Adt Sucks

Answer 6

I had that installed. Problems? Ohhhhh yes. The cat runing around the house set off the alarm. the curtains blowing in the breeze set off the alarm. The heat build up iin summer set off the alarms. A defective alarm would go off on its own once in a while. Getting the guy out to change alarms or re set them wa royal pain in the butt.
Here's a few consequences: The first 2 times the police came out fairly quick - though I doubt they would have caught a pro burgaler. Once they realized we had alarm problems they came out slower and slower and after the 6th time they charged us about $60 each time. That's when we tried to get the sensors adjusted which helped but didn't stop them from going off from time to time. We did get burgalerized and the dective in charge told us that we had two choices, (We lived in L.A. - Eagle Rock district) put bars on the windows and big bolts on the doors and a fence around the property. A professional burgaler will by pass a house that looks harder to get in and out of over a house that looks easier.
We didn't want to live behind bars, so be put up a nice picket fence with thick bushes behind it and a gate we could put a lock on if we wanted. Next we cleared the bogen villa that was covering up the porch which we had grown for privacy. we quit the alarm company but kept their sign up.
Never had a problem after that.

Answer 7

ADT sucks.
Waaay back when I had them, I would often, accidentally, set my alarm off. I noticed, that while getting the key out of the door and getting back to the keypad, enough time would have passed for them to have called me... as the plan was supposed to be. But the call never came.

So, one day, I decided to just test the system by setting it off. I let it just keep going off and waited for the phone call.
And waited. And waited. And waited. They're supposed to call you when the alarm goes off.

When they didn't call, I turned the alarm off and I called them. I told them that my alarm had been going off for several minutes and that no one had called. THEN thay said, "Oh, we were just trying to call you! We've dispatched the police to your house."

Well, they hadn't dispatched anyone, as no one came. And I quickly cut them loose. I had Brinks and they were good.. but you have to have a landline for your phone.

Alarm companies don't work if you have a digital phone. All I can afford these days is my trac phone, so... here's to big, mean -looking dogs with big, mean-sounding barks.

Answer 8

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I found a DYI kit that's also green & helps recycle all you need a spool of string, some thumbtacks, & a couple dozen empty soup cans if the burgular trips the string it makes a terrible noise, its pretty effective-I've only been robbed 3 times in 2 years

Answer 9

I agree. ADT sucks. I sent them my first payment, they lost it. Turned me in to creditors....for 90 bucks! I refuse to pay them another cent.

Answer 10

they suck.
sorry to be blunt but they do