Poor Alarm Company
Alarm Force is a great marketing company, but a poor alarm company. The equipment is rented, minimal, and poor quality. The 2 way voice is a gimmick that is easily defeated. Listen to the words carefully when they advertise…they have good lawyers and just barely avoid false advertising. I think I will stick with reputable companies like Sears that installs real branded equipment that I own, and they care about my business because they have a lot more at stake than my monitoring money.
- Etobicoke Boy
Not Happy with Alarm Force
Alarm Force is cheap but there are some serous bugs in the system. I initially went with Alarm Force because of the commercials, the low monthly cost, free installation and that the system is wireless so I would not need to run wires. When I had mine installed about 6 months ago (I paid an additional $700 for extra sensors, smoke detectors and 2 keypads so I don’t use my cordless phone to operate the system). The installer placed the receiving unit right beside my wireless router (at the time I was informed the Alarm Force receiving unit needed to be close to where the phone line comes into my home). The system seemed to work fine until I came home from work about a month later and my front door was kicked in. I called alarm force and they had not received an alarm. After 5 calls to their technical department, we figured out the wireless router was preventing the receiving unit from receiving signals from the sensors. I moved the Alarm Force receiving unit to another room and away from the wireless router. The Alarm Force installer had already been to my home 2X to repair my system previously. The components have obviously been used before they came into my home. I argued that the installer should have tested the system before he left and questioned his qualifications. Alarm Force backed their installer. I also questioned why the installer did not wear a uniform, did not have anything showing he worked for Alarm Force and why drove a rusty old car that leaked fluids on my driveway. I tried to get out of the 3 year contract but Alarm Force refused and no one would let me talk to a manager. Then, last month my back door opened around 3 am (I have no idea how it opened). The door chime woke me up but the alarm did not go off. To be honest, walking through a dark house ½ asleep looking for an intruder and waiting for Alarm Force to come on with 2 way voice communication as back-up that never happens is really crappy. The door that opened is set for instant alarm in the “home” mode and the alarm was definitely on. Also, I pay for cell back-up and if my phone line is cut Alarm Force informed me that they will notify me immediately. Well, the cell back-up does not work because the cell signal isn’t strong enough (ironically I live in a major city centre) and the phone line cut option does not work either. My wife accidentally unplugged the phone line from the wall to the unit for 4 weeks. Alarm force never notified us that the phone line was disconnected. Alarm force is still not sure why this option doesn’t work but they continue to charge me the extra fees. So basically, the only thing worse in my opinion to not having and home alarm is having a home alarm that you think works and actually doesn’t. I’m new to the home alarm thing and when my contract expires I will be looking for another provider. Maybe skip experiencing Alarm Force and roll the dice on another company.
Another Alarm Company
Alarm Force customer for 7 years now. ADT for 3 years prior, Brinks 2 years before that, and Monotronics 1 year before that. Let me just say that these are some nice fish stories.
The battery in the main box is a backup battery which is used when your power is out. Eventually with power outages, surges or any flickers in your electricity it will drain just like any other backup battery. $100 charge, that’s a big fish. Mine cost $20.24 after tax. That was 4 years after having the system. I was told about the batteries in the sensors prior to installation. They recommend changing them once a year. How hard is that. Yes if you can’t change your own batteries they are going to charge you. The cost of the batteries is a little higher than retail. That’s the point, they can’t do it at retail or the poor guy who is doing it isn’t getting paid then. Go with ADT and get a wired system. No battery changes, but heaven forbid you need service there. ADT $35 an hour and $20 every 15 mins. after. I would much rather pay a guy $25-$30 to change the batteries that I am just too damn lazy to do myself.
As far as the two way. It’s not crystal clear, however I am not making my phone calls from the box. The point is to let who ever is in your home know, we know your there and the police are on the way. It is not a recorded voice, unless the 15 times I have accidentally set mine off in the past 7 years has just happened to be a different recorded voice each time that happened to sound just like the operator I was speaking to. Yeah if the intruder is quiet they won’t hear them, but guess what moron, if they don’t hear YOU it’s obviously not you in the house.
I won’t even mention the 4 times I have been broken into. The first I had ADT. They didn’t even know anything happened and that was that. The past 3 times over 7 years, yeah that’s a lot and apparenlty people want my stuff. Guess what, 1 break in with ADT cost me over $6000 in loss and damages, they were there a while while I was on vacation. Not to mention the over $350 in service charges from ADT to check and fix my system which didn’t work. 3 Break ins with Alarm Force have cost me $500 total and that was to fix a broken window on #1 Broken Sliding door on #2 and a door frame on #3. Hmmmm who’s the winner.
Go with another alarm company and see how quickly the awww of the bells and whistles wears off. I was there. The grass is always greener on the other side. You people are all stupid and are the same people who would sue McDonalds when you spill your hot coffee on yourself. Does the cup really need to say HOT…..It’s F’in coffee.
Alarm Force Panic Button
I worked at a store with Alarm Force. My co-worker was attacked by thugs with a baseball bat. He kept pressing the emergency button but nothing happened.
Later on the Alarm Force technician came by and confirmed that the panic button had never been connected to the system by their company.
Astounding! I still cannot understand why they didn’t sue Alarm Force; something about the store still being owned by the prior owners at the time or something. Me, I would have sued til the cows came home.
Alarm Force Crap
Whether or not the Alarm Force “panel” was at fault, fact of the matter is, Alarm Force is crap. The Alarm Force system consists of a shoebox sized plastic box with a tiny transistor radio sized speaker mounted right next to the microphone. This box is usually placed on the kitchen counter and plugged into the phone line and power there.
As for the “$100″ battery, this is a tiny $5 battery (at most). Alarm Force is NOT a service company. Their whole purpose is to obtain as many monitoring contracts as possible. With that much emphasis on sales and “alarm systems” which require little or no installation skill it is no wonder Alarm Force customers have problems getting service.
Happy with Alarm Force
I have an Alarm Force system and am incredibly happy with it. The radio ads and the tv commercials got me to call in (plus the fact that a few of my friends also had Alarm Force and told me they were happy with their systems). I like the fact Joel Matlin does his commercials. It puts a face with the company. I’m very happy with my choice of going with Alarm Force.
Alarm Force Nice
Alarm Force was founded over 20 years ago and is the fastest growing alarm company in Canada. I have family that has Alarm Force and have been satisfied customers for over 12 years. The nice aspect is their personal relationship with customers, the man who installed their system 12 years ago is still the man who services them, its nice when you are not another number.
Nomore Alarm Force
NOT Alarm Force anymore.
We have had Alarm Force for 10 years and now we are going away from it due to their one-man service. “Free”is good until you have a problem. their system shorted the phone line ( relay locked open probably) and cooked the high speed modem ($79.95 plus tax) but the fellow refused to admit any problem, and insulted my friend the phone line fellow. then he said we should have been running a full test of the system every month. then he suggested over the phone a “hard reset” of the system. I wanted another unit; he didn’t want to do that and said again that “you can never be too sure with the phone system”
I’m going local with the ADT all in one price, and they have a line check they do every month for problems. AND no extra charges for battery service.
Alarm Force, the main unit, which they own, has to have the battery replaced $100 plus sooner or later, 3 or 4 years max.
If we were broken into would they say the system was not at fault because we didn’t test it every month?
There are problems getting calls back within 2 days, and I heard it cost one older lady $200 to have him come and check and replace her batteries throughout the house.
Certainly something similar I know of happened to my folks, $100 plus to check the batteries.
I’m not happy with service, a one man show.
Me? I’m an Electro-mechanical research gadget builder and know a little bit about this over the last 30 years, so to hear it passed off on the phone company again when I was there with the meter in my hand- well that’s just crap.
Alarm Force has Best Value
Okay, so one’s a playmate, another is a queen and the other is my lover? How does it all add up? I mean, I haven’t done the research on Voxcom (Reliance Protectron since 2008) yet, but if you made a comparison chart, who is the best when it comes to value? I don’t mean to toot their horn, but I think Alarm Force would come out on top. Basic installation is free, there’s no “up-front” cost (which often turns away young people who have debts ie: most of the Canadian population) and they don’t over-sell options. Also, if the installer works directly for the company as in the case of Alarm Force, I think there tends to be a little more respect for the customer that way. Ever get store-bought furniture delivered from an out-sourced delivery dude? “Uh I don’t really know what color the sofa’s supposed to be man, I just deliver, man” Trust me, better to deal with less out-sourcing. Mind you, I haven’t gotten an alarm system put in yet, but I would consider Alarm Force over others. Yes Joel Matlin is obnoxious at times, but his presence is made. When’s the last time you heard an ADT or Voxcom commercial on the radio? And how easy is it to get help when you need it, be it technical or intrusion based?
- Claude Bussieres
ADT Company
ADT has over 100 years history. This single fact values over all competitors. If you ask me which brand’s decals I will put on my house windows, I don’t think I will put other colors other than ADT blue, fatal temptation.
ADT is good at building brand. On the other hand, you can never be able to find ADT dealer listing on ADT Website. Externally, ADT stresses that ADT is ADT; ADT dealer is ADT dealer; ADT is not ADT dealer; ADT dealer is not ADT. To be a dealer of ADT you need to be super smart since you have to learn a lot of things on your own. That’s the reasons why ADT dealers are smarter.
Compared choosing alarm company to dating, I would say, ADT is a professionally positioned and packaged queen candidate.