Occasionally at Alarm System Reviews.Com, we receive helpful reviews and "inside info" emails from employees of home security companies (Usually former salespeople, monitoring staff or customer service reps). Some wish to defend their employers, others might want to confirm an alarm company's less than stellar reputation. We usually post the reviews in the appropriate section, but we found these comments from Broadview's employees to be especially helpful / informative, and decided they deserved their own page on the site:
Broadview (Formerly Brink's) Employees Speak Out:
Do you or did you once work for Broadview or any other alarm company? We welcome your opinions! All reviews and comments can be posted on our review submission page. Our regular visitors can find more information about Broadview here: Brink's Customer Reviews Broadview Security Reviews
Hey folks, I'm an employee of Broadview/Brinks and have been so for a half a decade now. I can only speak based on my own experiences, our branch and all the branches in the company at large strive for excellence in quality.
This company is very meticulous with its quality standards in installation and customer service. Everything is empirically controlled via a strict set of numerical standards and anyone who doesn't maintain these standards is out the door, sometimes overnight. In short, they don't tolerate crap from their employees, and they certainly don't give it to their customers. Most of the technicians in my branch have been with the company for at least three years, in fact, all but 3 out of the 20 or so techs in my branch have been here for 3 years or more, and some are pushing 30. This means these guys are putting out quality installations, time after time, otherwise they wouldn't be here this long. It sounds like these shoddy installations that I'm hearing about are probably from dealers or sub-contractors, which is quite unfortunate, but probably true. The company paid employees have long voiced their dis-satisfaction with subs and dealers because we've witnessed and many times have had to fix their mistakes, but Broadview, like any other publicly traded company is guided by its shareholders, and unfortunately, sometimes volume has to be included in the monthly numbers. Like I mentioned before, we're held by strict standards, but subs and dealers are their own entities which the company doesn't control. Essentially, after you're "dealer-installed" system is installed, Broadview essentially buys your account from the dealer, which means we take over their problems and unfortunately their complaints. As sad as it is, this is how it works. As such, on behalf of all company employees, I apologize for your troubles, but we don't control that aspect of your customer experience. What we do, we try to do with integrity, and you will notice that in the vast majority of positive reviews/comments. Thanks for reading anyways, I wish you all luck!
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Hi everyone. I've been reading the various reviews, and I can't help but noticing that most of the dissatisfaction that folks expressed really comes down to people not understanding the terms of their agreement, the limitations of their equipment, or the proper use of said equipment.
Without getting into too much of a rebuttal let me first ask: If you walk into a lawyer's office with the intention of soliciting their service, do you not carefully scrutinize their track record, experience, and evaluate the level of service they will provide? When you walk into a cell phone store, a hardware store, or any other equipment merchant with the intention of buying a piece of equipment, do you not assess every feature and function of that equipment, in order to know how you should or should not use it? Do you not read the manual? Why would you do any less with an alarm company?
What I really want to say here though, is that Brinks is a fine company, and I'll explain this from the perspective of an employee. In my past experiences, having worked for a few different large, and small employers before(some multi-national), Brinks absolutely stands out as one of the best. I really feel that they truly care about their employees. This should say a lot about any company, since most simply care about the bottom line. If I had to provide some kind of ranking, I'd have to say #1 is our customers, # 2 is our employees, then #3 is the bottom line.
First off, the safety that Brinks sells begins with the employees. Behind the company doors Brinks does everything to make sure that we get home in the same or better condition than when we left home. All our installers (company employed) go through a 3 month comprehensive training process which includes time spent with your peers and supervisors. Our sales team goes through an equally comprehensive process which includes time spent in the field with an multiple experienced installers. They make sure that we are knowledgeable and well equipped to perform our duties. Beyond that, everything that we do boils down to an empirical, purely statistical evaluation of our duties which eliminates the need for guesswork and speculation, and pretty much ensures that each of our customers receives the same level service and support. They treat their employees with value and respect, which in turn means these same employees treat their valued customers with value and respect.
I'm sure we've all had conversations with Joe Schmoe, from ABC company trying to sell you something, but it seems like every other word coming out of his mouth is bla bla bla, I hate my job, bla bla bla!!! yep, yuh won't get that from us. I've been an installer for almost 5 years, now, and I have not yet awaken any morning thinking, "Man I hate this job?" As a matter of fact, most of our guys have all been here 5-10 yrs, some 15 and longer. And that's doing an extremely physical job where you've got to get inside attics on days when it's pushing 100 degrees (which means its probably 20 degrees hotter in the attic), not withstanding the multitude of safety and electrical hazards, and the occasional dead things (and I'm not talking bugs here) lying around. But I don't mind doing any of these things, maybe because Brinks is "good people," or maybe because I get paid a ****load of money to do the job (can I say this here?). Whatever the reason, its easier with Brinks. Trust me, you can't go wrong with them; they go above and beyond to make us happy, and they'll do more for you. PS. Some people are just naturally pessimistic or are natural born complainers. Hence the negativity in their reviews.
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I am a local Brinks dealer in Burlington, NC (SCI Brinks) and I want to assure any readers that most of the negative reviews I've seen are all because of the local dealers' inability to follow the strict quality standards that Brinks holds us to.
I don't know why they were allowed to behave in some of the ways I've read about...ie: terrible sales calls, lack of equipment training for homeowners, misleading information given to customers...etc.
All I know is that my Brinks office is top notch. My goal is to keep customers for life..whatever it takes! That sort of customer care is missing in our culture. Companies would rather manufacture a product that is so cheap and disposable that you'll just buy another one.
My product (the Brinks experience) is all about you. I want to make sure you are safe, peaceful, and secure in your home. My sales team and my installers are scrutinized constantly on their excellence and effectiveness in presenting and creating the best alarm security system possible, for the best price for the customer.
So make sure you research the local dealer to make sure they are behaving w/ professionalism and excellence. Call the Brinks corporate number and ask them about the track record of that authorized dealer before making you decision....because frankly, I'd rather you choose a competitor company over an unprofessional Brinks dealer who taints the name of Brinks for the rest of us. Maybe the lack of business might wake them up!!
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This company is very meticulous with its quality standards in installation and customer service. Everything is empirically controlled via a strict set of numerical standards and anyone who doesn't maintain these standards is out the door, sometimes overnight. In short, they don't tolerate crap from their employees, and they certainly don't give it to their customers. Most of the technicians in my branch have been with the company for at least three years, in fact, all but 3 out of the 20 or so techs in my branch have been here for 3 years or more, and some are pushing 30. This means these guys are putting out quality installations, time after time, otherwise they wouldn't be here this long. It sounds like these shoddy installations that I'm hearing about are probably from dealers or sub-contractors, which is quite unfortunate, but probably true. The company paid employees have long voiced their dis-satisfaction with subs and dealers because we've witnessed and many times have had to fix their mistakes, but Broadview, like any other publicly traded company is guided by its shareholders, and unfortunately, sometimes volume has to be included in the monthly numbers. Like I mentioned before, we're held by strict standards, but subs and dealers are their own entities which the company doesn't control. Essentially, after you're "dealer-installed" system is installed, Broadview essentially buys your account from the dealer, which means we take over their problems and unfortunately their complaints. As sad as it is, this is how it works. As such, on behalf of all company employees, I apologize for your troubles, but we don't control that aspect of your customer experience. What we do, we try to do with integrity, and you will notice that in the vast majority of positive reviews/comments. Thanks for reading anyways, I wish you all luck!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi everyone. I've been reading the various reviews, and I can't help but noticing that most of the dissatisfaction that folks expressed really comes down to people not understanding the terms of their agreement, the limitations of their equipment, or the proper use of said equipment.
Without getting into too much of a rebuttal let me first ask: If you walk into a lawyer's office with the intention of soliciting their service, do you not carefully scrutinize their track record, experience, and evaluate the level of service they will provide? When you walk into a cell phone store, a hardware store, or any other equipment merchant with the intention of buying a piece of equipment, do you not assess every feature and function of that equipment, in order to know how you should or should not use it? Do you not read the manual? Why would you do any less with an alarm company?
What I really want to say here though, is that Brinks is a fine company, and I'll explain this from the perspective of an employee. In my past experiences, having worked for a few different large, and small employers before(some multi-national), Brinks absolutely stands out as one of the best. I really feel that they truly care about their employees. This should say a lot about any company, since most simply care about the bottom line. If I had to provide some kind of ranking, I'd have to say #1 is our customers, # 2 is our employees, then #3 is the bottom line.
First off, the safety that Brinks sells begins with the employees. Behind the company doors Brinks does everything to make sure that we get home in the same or better condition than when we left home. All our installers (company employed) go through a 3 month comprehensive training process which includes time spent with your peers and supervisors. Our sales team goes through an equally comprehensive process which includes time spent in the field with an multiple experienced installers. They make sure that we are knowledgeable and well equipped to perform our duties. Beyond that, everything that we do boils down to an empirical, purely statistical evaluation of our duties which eliminates the need for guesswork and speculation, and pretty much ensures that each of our customers receives the same level service and support. They treat their employees with value and respect, which in turn means these same employees treat their valued customers with value and respect.
I'm sure we've all had conversations with Joe Schmoe, from ABC company trying to sell you something, but it seems like every other word coming out of his mouth is bla bla bla, I hate my job, bla bla bla!!! yep, yuh won't get that from us. I've been an installer for almost 5 years, now, and I have not yet awaken any morning thinking, "Man I hate this job?" As a matter of fact, most of our guys have all been here 5-10 yrs, some 15 and longer. And that's doing an extremely physical job where you've got to get inside attics on days when it's pushing 100 degrees (which means its probably 20 degrees hotter in the attic), not withstanding the multitude of safety and electrical hazards, and the occasional dead things (and I'm not talking bugs here) lying around. But I don't mind doing any of these things, maybe because Brinks is "good people," or maybe because I get paid a ****load of money to do the job (can I say this here?). Whatever the reason, its easier with Brinks. Trust me, you can't go wrong with them; they go above and beyond to make us happy, and they'll do more for you. PS. Some people are just naturally pessimistic or are natural born complainers. Hence the negativity in their reviews.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am a local Brinks dealer in Burlington, NC (SCI Brinks) and I want to assure any readers that most of the negative reviews I've seen are all because of the local dealers' inability to follow the strict quality standards that Brinks holds us to.
I don't know why they were allowed to behave in some of the ways I've read about...ie: terrible sales calls, lack of equipment training for homeowners, misleading information given to customers...etc.
All I know is that my Brinks office is top notch. My goal is to keep customers for life..whatever it takes! That sort of customer care is missing in our culture. Companies would rather manufacture a product that is so cheap and disposable that you'll just buy another one.
My product (the Brinks experience) is all about you. I want to make sure you are safe, peaceful, and secure in your home. My sales team and my installers are scrutinized constantly on their excellence and effectiveness in presenting and creating the best alarm security system possible, for the best price for the customer.
So make sure you research the local dealer to make sure they are behaving w/ professionalism and excellence. Call the Brinks corporate number and ask them about the track record of that authorized dealer before making you decision....because frankly, I'd rather you choose a competitor company over an unprofessional Brinks dealer who taints the name of Brinks for the rest of us. Maybe the lack of business might wake them up!!
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Recent Comments From Broadview Employees:
Also See:
Brink's Customer Reviews
Broadview Customer Reviews
Big Changes At Brink's
ADT & Broadview To Merge
Brink's Customer Reviews
Broadview Customer Reviews
Big Changes At Brink's
ADT & Broadview To Merge
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I recently started working for Brink's Home Security in October 2008. Our company does a lot of good things that other companies do not, and being a new hire I can share these with you.
Every Brink's employee that comes into your home is employed by Brink's; not sub-contracted. This means that they have been interviewed and trained by the company. That being said, every employee is background check, drug tested, moving violation checked, accident checked, you name it, Brink's checks it. They are in business to provide security for families. Therefore, they want only high character persons entering your home.
Another thing, no sales representative will ever mislead you. If we honestly don't know the information you are asking, we will contact a technician or manager who does. Yes you do have to sign a contract, so read it and go over it with your sales representative before you sign it. Brink's is a great company to work for and I look forward to providing the best service to our customers tomorrow and every day.
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I work for Brinks as an outbound salesperson. One thing I must point out is that all companies have dealer programs in areas where there is low population and competition. We choose our dealers carefully and unlike other companies we do background checks EVERY year.
Also unlike other companies, when we lose a dealer we don't ignore or sell the customers in that area. We don't buy contracts. Just because a company has 6 million customers to our 2.5 or so doesn't mean that those people were willing. Contracts that are bought from other companies usually end up being unhappy with the changes and subsequent rate increases. That is another thing Brinks doesn't do for the term of your 3 year agreement, we will keep your rate locked in. FINALLY I saw a rebuttle for adt that said we have 2 monitoring centers. It also said that if there is a natural disaster you would not be protected. FALSE. I deal with these and many other falsehoods on a daily basis competing with unscrupulous sales people over at adt. We have 2 monitoring centers in two completely separate regions of the us. One in Knoxville Tennessee....I guess the slushy winter storms out there will somehow take out that multi million dollar facility...and one in Irving Texas, where I suppose a tornado will hit it at the exact same time the slush storm takes out Knoxville...rendering all of our customers protectionless.
THERE IS NO REGULATION FOR THIS INDUSTRY. So how do you know you are actually going to get a call when you have an alarm? How do you know that the serivices will be consistently good? Underwriters Laboratories is the only one out there making sure for everyone. They have certified ALL of our centers and adt has one out of 5 certified. Other falsehoods to look out for out of adt sales people: "You will not own brinks equipment". FALSE. "We are the best because we have more customers". FALSE. "Brinks cannot monitor other companies equipment" or "Brinks equipment cannot be monitored by anyone else" FALSE. Really that's all just off the top of my head. Please assume that they are lying to you and double check anything they say. also.....BRINKS HAS WON THE J.D. POWERS AND ASSOCIATES AWARD FOR EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE 5 YEP THATS 5 YEARS IN A ROW...BOOYAH ADT!
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As a former employee of Broadview Security (formerly Brink's), I read the glowing employee reviews with considerable "alarm". Broadview has a horrible track record in regards to employee relations.
I worked at Broadview. I am disabled with multiple physical disabilities. I brought in a chair that would accommodate my disability, and Broadview wouldn't allow me to use it, in spite of a doctor's note and in spite of the fact that I informed them when I applied that I was disabled. They said other employees were "jealous" and that I would have to take my chair home. It was a desk chair! It wasn't as though I brought a Lazy Boy recliner to work!
Then, I came down with a serious illness and was in the hospital for a week, my first absence due to illness at that job. They treated me horribly. While my friend who happened to be in the hospital at the same time received flowers from her husband's employer along with encouragement for him to take as much time off work as he needed to take care of his wife, I received repeated calls from HR while I was lying in a hospital bed, threatening to fire me.
I was fired a week or so later. For not finishing a project on time that was due while I was in the hospital! What was I supposed to do, tell the nurses to hold the IV for a few hours every day while I go in to work? I was only absent for a week. They told me they could do whatever they wanted because Texas is an "at will" employment state. A month later they fired my boss, the only person (aside from every one of my doctors) who stood up for me against HR. They fired her for "failing to hire and maintain 'appropriate' workers". Was I not "appropriate" because I have a disability? My entire team was fired for one reason or another within a couple of months time with the exception of one person. I later found out that the project we had been working on was cancelled and that plans to cancel it had probably been in the works when we were fired.
I personally wouldn't want to do business with any company that has that kind of ethics. If they would treat their employees that way, then what would they do to their customers in search of the almighty dollar? I think anyone hiring a security company should know about the unethical employment practices at Broadview (formerly Brink's Home Security).
Every Brink's employee that comes into your home is employed by Brink's; not sub-contracted. This means that they have been interviewed and trained by the company. That being said, every employee is background check, drug tested, moving violation checked, accident checked, you name it, Brink's checks it. They are in business to provide security for families. Therefore, they want only high character persons entering your home.
Another thing, no sales representative will ever mislead you. If we honestly don't know the information you are asking, we will contact a technician or manager who does. Yes you do have to sign a contract, so read it and go over it with your sales representative before you sign it. Brink's is a great company to work for and I look forward to providing the best service to our customers tomorrow and every day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I work for Brinks as an outbound salesperson. One thing I must point out is that all companies have dealer programs in areas where there is low population and competition. We choose our dealers carefully and unlike other companies we do background checks EVERY year.
Also unlike other companies, when we lose a dealer we don't ignore or sell the customers in that area. We don't buy contracts. Just because a company has 6 million customers to our 2.5 or so doesn't mean that those people were willing. Contracts that are bought from other companies usually end up being unhappy with the changes and subsequent rate increases. That is another thing Brinks doesn't do for the term of your 3 year agreement, we will keep your rate locked in. FINALLY I saw a rebuttle for adt that said we have 2 monitoring centers. It also said that if there is a natural disaster you would not be protected. FALSE. I deal with these and many other falsehoods on a daily basis competing with unscrupulous sales people over at adt. We have 2 monitoring centers in two completely separate regions of the us. One in Knoxville Tennessee....I guess the slushy winter storms out there will somehow take out that multi million dollar facility...and one in Irving Texas, where I suppose a tornado will hit it at the exact same time the slush storm takes out Knoxville...rendering all of our customers protectionless.
THERE IS NO REGULATION FOR THIS INDUSTRY. So how do you know you are actually going to get a call when you have an alarm? How do you know that the serivices will be consistently good? Underwriters Laboratories is the only one out there making sure for everyone. They have certified ALL of our centers and adt has one out of 5 certified. Other falsehoods to look out for out of adt sales people: "You will not own brinks equipment". FALSE. "We are the best because we have more customers". FALSE. "Brinks cannot monitor other companies equipment" or "Brinks equipment cannot be monitored by anyone else" FALSE. Really that's all just off the top of my head. Please assume that they are lying to you and double check anything they say. also.....BRINKS HAS WON THE J.D. POWERS AND ASSOCIATES AWARD FOR EXCELLENT CUSTOMER SERVICE 5 YEP THATS 5 YEARS IN A ROW...BOOYAH ADT!
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As a former employee of Broadview Security (formerly Brink's), I read the glowing employee reviews with considerable "alarm". Broadview has a horrible track record in regards to employee relations.
I worked at Broadview. I am disabled with multiple physical disabilities. I brought in a chair that would accommodate my disability, and Broadview wouldn't allow me to use it, in spite of a doctor's note and in spite of the fact that I informed them when I applied that I was disabled. They said other employees were "jealous" and that I would have to take my chair home. It was a desk chair! It wasn't as though I brought a Lazy Boy recliner to work!
Then, I came down with a serious illness and was in the hospital for a week, my first absence due to illness at that job. They treated me horribly. While my friend who happened to be in the hospital at the same time received flowers from her husband's employer along with encouragement for him to take as much time off work as he needed to take care of his wife, I received repeated calls from HR while I was lying in a hospital bed, threatening to fire me.
I was fired a week or so later. For not finishing a project on time that was due while I was in the hospital! What was I supposed to do, tell the nurses to hold the IV for a few hours every day while I go in to work? I was only absent for a week. They told me they could do whatever they wanted because Texas is an "at will" employment state. A month later they fired my boss, the only person (aside from every one of my doctors) who stood up for me against HR. They fired her for "failing to hire and maintain 'appropriate' workers". Was I not "appropriate" because I have a disability? My entire team was fired for one reason or another within a couple of months time with the exception of one person. I later found out that the project we had been working on was cancelled and that plans to cancel it had probably been in the works when we were fired.
I personally wouldn't want to do business with any company that has that kind of ethics. If they would treat their employees that way, then what would they do to their customers in search of the almighty dollar? I think anyone hiring a security company should know about the unethical employment practices at Broadview (formerly Brink's Home Security).
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