Unbiased Alarm Relay (aka Watchlight) Customer Reviews

(Added Jan 31/10) I was customer of ADT since 2005 and had numerous customer service issues as many others can attest to. I cancelled my ATD services a few months back because they raised my monthly rate, yet again to $45/month and for what, they never even called when I had a battery alert on my console. The problem now was most security companies require that you upgrade your existing system to theirs, e.g. Alarm.com wanted to install a new GE system but none of my wireless sensors would work. So I would have had to shell out $1,200 to replace everything, and my system is only 4 years old.

So I found Alarm Relay, which is geared towards someone like myself, a DIY person. Alarm Relay would support my current system and allow me to expand it on my own. So I emailed them a request for service, the next morning I had a response with the 3 forms I needed to fill out. I filled them out that day, emailed them back and that afternoon I received a phone call from Alarm Relay wanting to schedule the configuration. We scheduled it for 1:30pm the next day, they called at 1:32pm and within 5 minutes my system was reconfigured, tested and ready to go. All I can say is WOW and all this for $8.95/month. The technician on the phone was courteous and a pleasure to deal with, never rushed me and answered all of my questions. A+ for Alarm Relay!!!

(Added Jan 22/10) Excellent company. We have been with Alarm Relay (Watchlight) for 1.5 years. It was easy to set up the account, and they have no problem at all working with DIY'ers. Paperwork was simple. They guided us through the house insurance paperwork too. Their technician logged into the system and set the panel and communication up quickly. We ran through a testing period to make sure all was working. They were very patient and guided us along. Calling to put the service in standby mode for testing or expansion is easy and painless.

We've had one full-on false alarm because we set the alarm improperly for a dog within the house and weren't availble when Alarm Relay called to verify. Alarm Relay did exactly what they needed to do and had law enforcement dispatched. Other mistaken alarm activations are quickly fixed by simply calling the 1-800 number, answering a test question, and telling them what happened. But you have to be quick or they'll call you first! No attitude or lecturing about these mistakes. In a true alarm situation, whether it be a panic, fire, burgler, etc., we have no doubt that Alarm Relay will do exactly as required, quickly. There is always a nice, live, person available on the phone. We aren't bombarded with emails promoting this and that, just a few here and there about new types of service.

There are options and services like email notification, Elink, various montired logged/supervised openings/closings, cellular backup, and VoIP, for an increased annual fee, or one-time fee depending upon the service. You can set up an automatic renewel, or be billed each year. The website is good, for instance if you want to add services, find the pdf file, fill it out, and send it in.

This is a quality company, and well worth the low monthly fee. As of this writing, the basic service first year fee is $8.95 plus a $35.00 setup fee as of this writing. The second year contract goes up a little bit - and you're told this before you sign on.

We have no experience with any other companies so we can't compare Alarm Relay. For us, there is no reason to shop around because their service, for this price, has been perfect for us, as it should be for the majority of residential users.

(Added Oct 24/09) I have been with this company (also known as Watchlight Alarm) for about 8 months now. 3 months ago I started using the MyVirtualMonitoring.com BAT hardware inside my Vista 20p panel as well. I am happy so far with this company. I did the installation of the alarm myself, they are friendly to do-it-yourself types. There were some initial setup problems. It's a good measure of a company to see how they behave when things are not going smoothly... they performed okay, not great. They had me take the RJ31X out of the mix, re-run new wire from the telephone NID, have the phone company come out and check the wiring from the street to my house, and modify some programming in the panel before they hit on the solution. Turns out it was THEIR programming mistake. Even though some unnecessary steps were done on my side, they did stick with me during the whole scenario offering suggestions that might work.

They call very quickly when there is a false alarm, and are always courteous. Putting the system in test mode is not an issue either, they are always ready to help and assist with testing. When I switched to using the BAT device instead of my home phone for dialout, they noticed the reporting format change (from 4+2 to ContactID) and reprogrammed the codes on their side.

(Added June 14/09) (Updated Oct 15/09) Have had monitoring through this company for just over a year. There is ALWAYS a live person that answers the phone. They are patient and understanding when there is a false alarm. Had 1 attempted burglary. They were quick to dispatch the police and let me know what was going on. This is the best deal in monitoring, especially after hearing horror stories from neighbors about other monitoring companies.
Update:
Still satisfied.

(Added Jan 26/09) After finally getting away from Save-On-My-Alarm, I tried Alarm Relay. This is a QUALITY company. No smooth-talking con artist here, just reliable monitoring at a fair price. No double talking contracts or excessive unknown charges. I have been with them for a month and am really pleased.

(Added Jan 12/09) I had previously been with a company in Arizona called Beware Security - definately need to be aware that it is a one man operation and by "man" I am being kind. He had a contract with my ex-husband and since he didn't get paid he started the phone conversation by shouting which I promptly ended by telling him to stop yelling and then I stopped talking - he eventually hung up. I ended that service and started Alarm Relay and have been delighted and not harrased! Every false alarm is checked and I have no complaints. The next cheapest service here was over $25 a month.