Toca Alarm

They completed work and continue to monitor residence.

The installer showed up on time, was professional and helpful. He cleaned up the floors when he was done. He even assisted me putting up some blinds I was working on. At the end of the day, everything looked good and worked fine.

I subscribed to Toca for about 5 years the first 4 of which after installation were uneventful.  This past year I had 3 service calls.  Two of those visits I had to wait about 2 weeks for service.  One visit was a recall for the same problem.  Each service call was on time and professional but surprisingly costly.  The monthly monitoring cost itself is very reasonable.  Each year I paid a full year in advance for the service.  When I decided I wanted to cancel the service I was told in a very dismissive and cursory manner that I could not -- that I was "under contract" which is ridiculous after more than 4 years.  I cancelled the service at the end of the year term.  I am not a demanding customer but I reserve the right to seek service elsewhere at any time if the service being provided is not good.  I try to do business with locally-owned businesses but this local company is not nearly as responsive as it once was. 
BTW I signed up with another alarm company, USA, who have been very responsive and efficient.  Very pleased with their service after 4 months. 

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They fixed one of the sensers on my motion detector.

We have used them for 8 years. They are a great company who provides excellent service. They always do a great job.

They are excellent.

The home security system had one major problem. The wiring for the heat detectors was compromised during construction. TOCA said somebody broke the wires to the heat detectors during the finishing of the house (they pointed their finger to the AC installers or the sheet rock installers).

Re-wiring the heat detectors was thought to be impossible due to the spray insulation in the walls. TOCA therefore tried to install a wireless system for the heat detectors, but that didn't work.

My contractor finally devised a way to re-position (slightly) the heat detectors that would allow re-wiring of the system. That worked. My contractor found the solution to this problem (at my additional expense) as TOCA was totally stumped by this issue.

To me, TOCA should have performed wiring checks at intervals during construction to insure the integrity of the wiring system. That would have provided quality control of the system during the construction phase.

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I also purchased a 4-camera security system for the house. The owner of TOCA was my salesman. He came to the house during construction and 'sold' me the camera system.

I had never owned a camera security system -- so I really was not an informed/experienced buyer. It is now six months + after installation and here is what I now know about my security camera system:

1. One of the four cameras was not positioned well. The camera at the front door was set by TOCA to see only the front door area. Moving the camera over by a few feet allowed us to view not only the front door area but all the way down the sidewalk to the front door. Subsequent to the original installation, I paid to move the camera location over to the better positioned site. I think my TOCA salesman (the owner) should have pointed out the limited viewing area of the original camera placement and at least noted that moving the camera location over by a few feet would give me a much larger viewing area.
2. Subsequent to the original installation, I have replaced three of the original cameras with new cameras --- at a cost of over $900. The original cameras were not of sufficient quality --- their range was limited and the picture quality was not good enough to view the area in any detail. TOCA offered no refund or credit towards my purchase of the new cameras -- only advising me to 'sell them on ebay.' Why didn't I originally order the better cameras? Because my salesperson (the company owner) recommended the original cameras. I was NOT shown the difference that the better camera would make -- I simply was led to the purchase of the original cameras.
4. My system has been operational for about 8 months -- and I have had at least 12 service visits to address the issues with the heat detectors and the camera system. Why so many visits? Today's visit by TOCA is a perfect example. TOCA called a couple of days in advance of the visit to confirm the time -- and TOCA said the installation supervisor would be doing the job. Well, the supervisor did not show up -- he sent a new person (who had been hired less than two months ago). TOCA was supposed to address two issues at my home -- but the TOCA service person was only aware of one issue and would have to return at another time to take care of the second issue. About the first issue -- TOCA successfully replaced one of my original cameras with a new camera. However, after the installer left I noticed that the new camera was not installed over the hole in the wall where the wires come out -- but next to this hole in the wall. I will have to call TOCA again to ask why can't their camera be installed over the electrical access hole??? So today's visit will turn into one or two more visits to get my issues resolved.

In conclusion, I think the problem with TOCA is that they have too much work and the quality of their work has deteriorated. They do offer good security products at competitive prices. However, beware if you are an inexperienced buyer of security systems and remember that it is hard to get a service appointment with them and you probably won't have the same service tech on two successive calls. This leads to numerous unresolved issues and many call-back appointments.

One suggestion -- and I hope TOCA takes this to heart. I think TOCA should have a sales showroom or a sales website in order to show the customer an example of what they are purchasing. If I had been shown the difference in quality between my original cameras and my newer cameras, I am sure I would have opted for the better quality cameras from the start. My house costs two or three times what a basic new home costs -- so why would I shortchange myself with my security system?

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Followup on the most recent service call -- the one where they were supposed to address two issues but were prepared only for one issue -- and didn't resolve that problem successfully.

After hearing nothing from TOCA for two days, I called them and asked how were they going to resolve my issues. They had an interesting and typical response. They said they were unprepared for the second issue because their installer didn't let them know about the issue. In other words, they said and quot;We didn't know about the second issue because our employee didn't tell us about it.and quot; And this is typical --- one employee at TOCA doesn't talk to the other.

So TOCA said they were scheduled to come out again in a week. and quot;Funny,and quot; I said, and quot;no one called me and asked if I would be home -- and I am not available on that day.and quot; Again a typical problem with TOCA -- they made a service appointment without calling me to schedule a time when I would be home.

And, finally, the service tech with two months of experience now is one of their only technicians for home systems. He's a nice guy -- but he installed my inside camera next to the hole where the wires come out of the wall. Yep -- you and I would have thought the camera covers the access hole in the wall -- but that's not the way this service tech operates...

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More follow-up: TOCA did send the experienced service tech (now the service supervisor) to my home and fixed my issues. This service person is friendly and technically savy. I wish he would have been my contact throughout my entire installation process!!

As I have said, TOCA sells good equipment at fair prices. I think their 'problem' is that they are too lean in the sales and service portions of their business. I had much too many miscommunications and come-back service calls --- but now that the process is finished, I can say that I like the security system.