Mountain Alarm

It went well. The same company, by a different name, installed the security system 14 years ago. I wanted it updated. The update works well with the expected improvements, Staff at the office is always friendly and helpful. When something is not done right with the system (someone does not use it properly and does not know the security word) they take the proper actions.

Seventeen years ago, I originally signed up with and quot;Rocky Mountain Alarmand quot; to install burgler, fire and carbon monoxide alarms throughout my large home. The staff was very personable, extremely knowledgeable, always called me back. They were family owned and only had the one Denver location, not multiple locations throughout the state, much less other states. I had them for 17 years and never had a problem, absolutely loved them. However, in January 2013, Rocky Mountain Alarm sold the business to this and quot;Mountain Alarmand quot; company, of which is based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. And it was then that my troubles began. Mountain Alarm has a small office in Littleton, of which I was told I would have to go thru but could never get anyone to call me back. Their receptionist was very rude and often hung up on customers. Then on Thursday night, Sept 18th, 2014 at 8pm, the carbon monoxide detector in my bedroom started to emit very loud beeping noises. Because I have additional plug in CO detectors, of whom weren't going off, I knew it wasn't due to a CO leak but rather something was wrong with the detector itself. So I called the monitoring station and reported the faulty CO detector and then asked to have a technician contact me. And as is protocol for them, everytime I called they asked for my name, address and password. The woman that took my initial call said that and quot;Well, I'm not sure if we have anyone and quot;on calland quot; tonight so they might not be able to call you back but maybe sometime tomorrow.and quot; Huh? That was my first clue that this would be a long night. Approx 10 minutes later, at 8:30pm, a technician did call me back but was not very responsive. He sounded like he was either half asleep, stoned or both. I told him that I thought the CO detector had expired, as they only have a lifespan of 4-5 years and the unit was approx 4.5 years old. Asked him what did I needed to do to shut it up and he said, and quot;Well....that's a good question.and quot; Finally he told me to throw the switch on the fusebox, which I did but it still continued it's loud beeping and it was then that I realized the unit was still pulling electricity from the phone line. Finally, after 2 different calls with this useless technician, I told him that I was going to just pull the unit out of the wall and disconnect the power line. Now even though I had called the monitoring station twice prior, to report that this CO unit was malfunctioning, this monitoring station still called me an additional 2 more times to report that they had gotten a CO signal (albeit faulty) and were going to call the firemen. So I then ended up telling them 4 different times, in addition to telling their technician 2 times, that I was having a faulty CO detector as a result of the unit itself expiring. The last monitoring agent I spoke with, seemed to and quot;get itand quot; and assurred me that they would not call the firemen. So I put on my sleepwear and started to cook dinner. However, 20 minutes later there's loud knocking at my door and when I open it, there are 4 firemen in full gear, including oxygen tanks and hatchets, all set to take my door down because this monitoring station had told them that I had a CO leak. So I invite them into my home so they can see for themselves, via their CO meter, that I don't have a CO leak. And low and behold, their CO meter reads normal and so they agree with me that there's no CO leak, just as I had told the Mountain Alarm monitoring station via 4 different phone calls. The next day I call the Mountain Alarm office and speak to and quot;Wendyand quot;. But instead of apologizing for their stupidity, she makes excuses on why, after my 4 phone calls to their monitoring station, they continued to still call the fire department. and quot;Oh, they had to call as you could have been delirious.and quot; Huh? So I asked her, and quot;how could I have been delirious when, with every call, they had me give my name, full name, address and password everytime? Whereas I can't remember any of that after just 1 glass of wine much less if I had truly been exposed to a CO gas leak!and quot; She then tries to tell me how they're a small, personable Colorado company as they only have a small office in Littleton. And so another lie, as I confirmed that they have multiple offices in several states with their primary office being in Salt Lake City. This episode was the final straw for me as I don't hire unethical companies or people. So I did my homework on and quot;Angie's Listand quot; and found a very, competent locally based company of which has very high ethical standards, do excellent work and then actually call their customers back. The bonus is that my new security company's monthly monitoring fee is also 36% less/month than what Mountain Alarm was charging me! The final confirmation that I absolutely made the right decision to leave Mountain Alarm came at the end when I had to call and quot;Wendyand quot; back (Oct. 2, 2014) to be able to get Rocky Mountain's original code that they had put into my system 17 years ago when they initially installed it, so that my new security company would then be able to reroute the phone signal to their own monitoring station. That was when and quot;Wendyand quot; informed me that they would have to send a technician out to and quot;recode my systemand quot;, and that it wouldn't take more then 10 minutes, if that. I told her that would be fine but she then told me that they would charge me $80 an hour, with a minimum of one hour, plus an $18.50 and quot;trip chargeand quot;, so a total of $98.50. Yup, to access my own system and even though I had been and quot;soldand quot; to and quot;Mountain Alarmand quot; as part of their arrangement with and quot;Rocky Mountain Alarmand quot;, I would still be stuck with paying this $98.50 to play that game. And when the bill came? Well, it was for $95 and hour plus the $18.50 trip charge. And when I called Salt Lake to complain, they said, and quot;Oh, we actually charge $95 an hour for customers that are leaving us and Wendy didn't know that, so we'll leave it at the $80 an hour plus the $18.50 trip charge that she had originally quoted you.and quot; Nothing about this company surprises me anymore. So very glad that I left. Only wish I had done it sooner.

They provided a good service. The staff was very knowledgeable and flexible.

On time, professional, responsive when alarm went off.

Had a very positive experience with Mountain Alarm. Appreciated their professionalism. When we experienced a small problem, they came out right away to rectify it.

AN UPDATED BURGLAR ALARM SYSTEM WAS INSTALLED WITH AN ADEQUATE PRICE. PHONE CALLS WERE RETURNED PROMPTLY. THE ALARM WAS INSTALLED PROMPTLY AND THE PRICE WAS REASONABLE.