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.
Love Alarm Force
I love Alarm Force and I am happy that I was patient to read and understand the terms much before I was ready to sign 3 years contract. I am into 2nd year of my contract now and once having accidentally set off the alarm and forgotten the password I had to face the embarrassment of having the police at my door. Nevertheless despite myself I was happy. I would also recommend AlarmCare. I got if for my aged mother who lives independently. She wears a nifty little pendant around her neck and at a press of a button the emergency response system gets activated. I would gladly recommend Alarm Force burglar alarm and home security system.
- Nathan
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 Features
From my friend Martin i heard about Alarm Force’s home alarm and security system. Hearing it’s advanced features i won’t hesitate to install it in my home. Now i am very complacent as there is no worry about security threats or intrusion. No other home alarm products have the features as with Alarm Force and i am strongly recommending it to people who are concerned about their home security.
ADT not Greatest
ADT Isn’t the Greatest Solution either. They are just as bad when it comes to scamming the consumer… They just do it on a larger scale.
As far as Dialer tests go, they are useless unless they are done daily. With how overleaded the receiver lines at ADT are, they generally ignore 1 fail to test, sometimes even 2. In this scenario, you will not find out about a buggered panel for up to 3 months. Yes, some panels will indicate a failure to communicate trouble, however ADT disables that on most of their panels because they do not want extra service calls.
In addition, ADT has a 30 to 45 second Abort Delay STANDARD. What this means is if a crackhead breaks into your home, they have the initial 30 seconds to do whatever. Once the alarm starts to ring, they have up to an additional 40 seconds to find your panel and destroy it. This is not difficult as most ADT Systems are wireless and the whole alarm is on the keypad, or the panel is right next to the siren…. Not hard to find that with the siren ringing and the panel doing squat for 40 seconds.
That is over 1 minute of useless alarm people. Think about it.
Marketing
As far as I am concern the man is smart enough to capture the market and the potential clients by appearing on Radio and TV’s and I think it is sad that ADT with 100 years of service do not learn from this guy which I agree. If this guy pump so much cash to his marketing why not ADT or Voxcom (Reliance Protectron since 2008). As you guys all know Bell Canada announced recently (last week) that they are getting in to Home Security. Telus did last year in B.C. with their HomeSitter package. They are few other companies that are getting in this market and they are making it better. There is another company that offers full Video solution they call it GBSdvr.com.
- JD
Voxcom Contract
Hey
I was a Voxcom (Reliance Protectron since 2008) believer for years until one day I sold my home and was moving.. They told me that I signed some sort of revolving contract. So in other words after my 3yrs were up they just keep adding year after year on the contract with no way to cancel it. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I suggest everyone beware.
I’m still fighting my battle. I was told if the new people buying my home signed their contract I could get out possibly. Imagine that they want me to recommend them..
I recommend all Voxcom users read their contracts and if u have 90 days left in your 3yr contract please take my advice and start canceling now. Or you may be in the same situation as me..
Concerned for anyone thinking Voxcom is the way to go.
Alarm Force Company
They are not new (since 1988) but their wind is blowing hard. Their president’s image and voice are all over the market. His name is Joel Matlin. I’m contented to see Joel Matlin has his stage in some way.
The only concern is the way how he compares with his competitors. He never forgets his competitors in all his speeches. I suppose he is very stressed. In order to firm his position he tends to devalue his competitors. Everything has two sides. We need to see both sides. It’s called “all-round”. It’s not necessary for him to devalue his competitors by picking what they have, enlarging it and making it sound “only” something customers cannot live without. In this way, what customers see is his one side and they assume he only has one side, too good to be true. Remember, competitors also have A LOT he is not able to build since 1988 and it’s never necessary for competitors to give fuss about. What do his debates bring us? Personally I’m not against Joel Matlin and contrarily I appreciate his courage.
When Alarm Force focuses on their “only” something they eliminated monitored smoke detector since it’s the only way to help them control cost in order to promote their other “only” something at their affordable rate. But if you think twice, you will be easy to understand, actually the cost for all alarm companies is not much different. Price war will only invade profit margin and affect service quality in the long run although they assert life time warranty how are they able to guarantee if their company was only born in 1988? How much profit is supporting them to guarantee? We are all able to say sweet words, however, a listener should be able to think, filter but not be emotionally caught. Protectron is relatively straightforward at this point. They simply shout out “we are the most aggressive”!
I’m still not too negative till Joel Matlin started to devalue his competitors to this extent: “our competitors outsource their services to installers, so you never really know with whom you are dealing” Outsourcing installation or partnering with best suppliers are a more professional way. Some giant enterprises outsource human resources. Because they are much more specialized in and focus on their industries and therefore can ensure world class quality. “All-in-one” is not a small company can do and at the same time be able to guarantee the quality. Compared the best brands of alarm systems – DSC or Honeywell with Alarm Force’s new born “insourced” product which one will you choose to protect your home and family? If Joel Matlin didn’t shout out this point, I wouldn’t have picked it out, since as I said, everything has two sides, you can’t say what you have is definitely the only way and what others have is definitely supposed to be devalued just because of the difference! Customers will find it the most convenient when they are taken good care of individually by installers at initial period. Based on what I know, to run a company like Alarm Force taking all the risks on their own when it’s still small, financially it’s a huge burden and I believe Joel Matlin is trying his best to provide customers with quality services, however, it’s not guaranteed since he is over confident. Sometimes seeing a bit far and thinking about customers a bit more are not always to one’s disadvantage.
Joel Matlin is trying to promote his company based on a niche – they are “only” installing wireless systems. As I mentioned above, cost is obvious. He’s going to be able to import some cheap while quality material to produce equal quality products? Then he focuses on one motion detector to waive contacts. Why not simply tell customers there will be extra cost for extra devices? Why try to smile in front of people when you are so stressed in your dreams? Now it’s Customer’s choice. Customers understand there’s NO basic package that covers ALL. Alarm Force promotes their line-cut tech (cellular backup) at relatively low rate however they can’t cover basic contacts and monitored smoke detector. Which one is more basic, more important and more frequently happening? Once their company is getting more customers are they really able to take care of all customers with their current all-in-one manpower?
Compared choosing alarm company to dating, I would say, Alarm Force is a playmate.