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 Brink's employees to be especially helpful / informative, and decided they deserved their own page on the site:
Brink's (Now Broadview Security) Employees Speak Out:
Do you or did you once work for Brink's 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 Brink's here: Brink's Customer Reviews Broadview Security Reviews
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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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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 Brink's Employees:
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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 EXCELENT CUSTOMER SERVICE 5 YEP THATS 5 YEARS IN A ROW...BOOYAH ADT!
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 EXCELENT CUSTOMER SERVICE 5 YEP THATS 5 YEARS IN A ROW...BOOYAH ADT!