Review For: ADT Security Services (Con't)
This ADT customer review has been submitted anonymously by a present or former ADT burglar alarms client. Please note that ADT uses a sub-dealer program, which usually means that a local company will install and service your alarm, and ADT will monitor it. So a review listed here may not be for or against corporate ADT, but a completely independent local dealer. If you submit a review, please indicate whether the review is regarding ADT corporate, or the local company who installed your system.
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My review involves not only ADT Corporate, but also the local company who installed the system for them (I have no idea what the local company name is, they wore ADT shirts).
I wanted a security system installed and also wanted advice on what and where items should be located. The sales person only agreed with what I said and recommended little. I asked about a camera installed outside that would allow us to see who was at the door in addition to activate a recording whenever motion is detected.
When they installed the device everything appeared to be okay, except that we kept getting a station 5 supervisory alarm. After a couple of attempts to correct the problem, I was told that I would need to upgrade to a commercial cell radio since I do not use a landline. I paid the $100 to upgrade, but the alarm again sounded. Now this alone wouldn't be bad, but the alarms were always in the 1-3 AM range. When I did the upgrade to commercial I was guaranteed that this alarm would not sound again.. so much for guarantees. Tech came out changed the dwell to 24 hours and found that the system programming had not been changed and the system was looking for a dial tone, which doesn't exist. That is fine, no more alarms, but then IF there is a problem, it will take 24 hours to know something happened. What's the good of that? To top it off, when the alarms would sound, there would be no followup call or a follwo up call 30 minutes to an hour later. So, once everyone is dead in the house, why bother calling to see if everything is okay? And if you call, simply asking who answered the phone is not a very secure way of ensuring you know who you are talking to. NO passphrase, code, nothing...just what's your name.
The camera I had installed didn't work, it either recorded everything every 30 seconds and sent corresponding emails to the fact that it caught some motion and recorded the event or it captured nothing. Spoke to the technicians, who then tell me that the camera is an outdoor camera, but the motion sensing is not intended for outdoor use. My question, then what good is it?
So the whole time this is going on, I also opted for the 3 monthly installments since I was getting a lot of equipment. Wrong again, it was all billed to me at one time, but not in one charge, there were 3-4 charges a day. Grand total over a one month period, over $2000.
I called and asked that everything be removed. Nothing was going right, the managers and sales rep called to see what they could offer to make things right, but enough was enough, so please remove. At that point there are no longer any friendly people at ADT except one lady in Customer Service. I call to complain about the billing and the sales rep cannot be reached and will not return my calls. Two days after I cancel my account, I get a bill for almost $600 in cancellation fees and a caution that I will be turned over to collections if it is not paid immediately. When did strongarming becoming legal in the US? Call the customer service folks and ******* tells me that I have to pay a cancellation fee because all my credit cards charges have been denied. Funny, that is nothing like what my card statement shows. He gets more beligerent after I tell him of all the charges I have and his response to my refund questions is for me to ignore the bill.
I called the credit card company and find that not only have the charges been going through, but they made a charge against my card the day AFTER I cancelled my service and the equipment had been removed.
Another call to ADT Customer Service and I spoke to a reasonable person who indicated that I would get a full refund but that it would take 2 weeks. My only question, not to her, why does it take SECONDS to charge my account, but up to a month for companies to refund the money? If you know the amount, it should be done just as INSTANTLY as it was charged. I ran my own business and know that it doesn't take weeks to process.
I wanted a security system installed and also wanted advice on what and where items should be located. The sales person only agreed with what I said and recommended little. I asked about a camera installed outside that would allow us to see who was at the door in addition to activate a recording whenever motion is detected.
When they installed the device everything appeared to be okay, except that we kept getting a station 5 supervisory alarm. After a couple of attempts to correct the problem, I was told that I would need to upgrade to a commercial cell radio since I do not use a landline. I paid the $100 to upgrade, but the alarm again sounded. Now this alone wouldn't be bad, but the alarms were always in the 1-3 AM range. When I did the upgrade to commercial I was guaranteed that this alarm would not sound again.. so much for guarantees. Tech came out changed the dwell to 24 hours and found that the system programming had not been changed and the system was looking for a dial tone, which doesn't exist. That is fine, no more alarms, but then IF there is a problem, it will take 24 hours to know something happened. What's the good of that? To top it off, when the alarms would sound, there would be no followup call or a follwo up call 30 minutes to an hour later. So, once everyone is dead in the house, why bother calling to see if everything is okay? And if you call, simply asking who answered the phone is not a very secure way of ensuring you know who you are talking to. NO passphrase, code, nothing...just what's your name.
The camera I had installed didn't work, it either recorded everything every 30 seconds and sent corresponding emails to the fact that it caught some motion and recorded the event or it captured nothing. Spoke to the technicians, who then tell me that the camera is an outdoor camera, but the motion sensing is not intended for outdoor use. My question, then what good is it?
So the whole time this is going on, I also opted for the 3 monthly installments since I was getting a lot of equipment. Wrong again, it was all billed to me at one time, but not in one charge, there were 3-4 charges a day. Grand total over a one month period, over $2000.
I called and asked that everything be removed. Nothing was going right, the managers and sales rep called to see what they could offer to make things right, but enough was enough, so please remove. At that point there are no longer any friendly people at ADT except one lady in Customer Service. I call to complain about the billing and the sales rep cannot be reached and will not return my calls. Two days after I cancel my account, I get a bill for almost $600 in cancellation fees and a caution that I will be turned over to collections if it is not paid immediately. When did strongarming becoming legal in the US? Call the customer service folks and ******* tells me that I have to pay a cancellation fee because all my credit cards charges have been denied. Funny, that is nothing like what my card statement shows. He gets more beligerent after I tell him of all the charges I have and his response to my refund questions is for me to ignore the bill.
I called the credit card company and find that not only have the charges been going through, but they made a charge against my card the day AFTER I cancelled my service and the equipment had been removed.
Another call to ADT Customer Service and I spoke to a reasonable person who indicated that I would get a full refund but that it would take 2 weeks. My only question, not to her, why does it take SECONDS to charge my account, but up to a month for companies to refund the money? If you know the amount, it should be done just as INSTANTLY as it was charged. I ran my own business and know that it doesn't take weeks to process.