FIRE BURGLARY ALARMS INC

We had a very bad experience with this organization and I would not do business with this company again.   This is why:  

1. The sales representative sold us an undersized central unit.  Later (within 6 months or so) when we wanted to add more sensor, their technician told us that the unit was ?maxed out? and additional monitoring stations could not be added to the installation.
2. On the day of installation, the technician would not take the time to adequately explain how to arm and disarm the system.  He told my husband it was ?all explained in the manuals?.  As a result we never had a very good understanding of the system operation. 
3. We were told by the salesman that the equipment was the best and most stable on the market.  We found instead that several of the sensor units behaved erratically and from time to time had to be ?bypassed? to prevent triggering of false alarms.  Again, since we had not been trained adequately in system operation, this required calling FIRE, BURGLARY ALARM for technical assistance and then waiting for a technician?s call back.
4. Within one year, one of the window sensor units failed.  The original unit was designed to detect both window ?open? or ?glass shatter?.  We called and scheduled service to replace the unit.  The technician who arrived did not have a correct two function replacement unit on his truck.  Since the central unit was ?maxed out? and could not support an addition individual sensor unit, he installed a single function glass shatter unit only.  Thereby compromising the effectiveness of the system security.
5. We understood that from time to time that the sensor unit batteries would need to be replaced.  However, at installation, the technician did not explain this procedure.  He did not tell us that the system had to be disarmed and disabled before changing a smoke detector battery.  As a result, last summer (2010) when my husband opened the smoke detector unit, it triggered an alarm and a call to the fire department.  My husband tried to physically disable the smoke detector which did nothing but damage the detector.  The alarms continued to ring.  He then called the offices of FIRE, BURGLARY, ALARM and told them he needed help.  Alarms were ringing through the house, a fire truck had pulled up to the house, and my husband could not shut the system down.  A representative told him how to turn the alarm off, but, because the smoke detector was damaged, the alarm would not stay off.  It would continue to go off sporadically until the detector was repaired.  He was told that the soonest that they could have a technician respond to our emergency was ? THE NEXT DAY!   Meanwhile, my husband tried to explain that we had house guests with young children and we couldn't have the alarm going off sporadically like that.  My husband was very upset.  Then the woman who had answered the phone hung up on my husband.  He called several more times and was hung up on several more times.  However, to her credit she or someone in their office did call the fire department and rescind the alarm call.  She finally told him how to disconnect the entire system from the main unit connection to permenantly disable the alarm.  Later that day, they sent a technician out, but by that time my husband was thoroughly angry.  The technician made a smart remark to him, and my husband sent him on his way.   We paid their service call bill and then called FIRE, BUGLARY, ALARM to close our account.  They sent a bill for the remaining months of the monitoring contract, which we also paid.

In summary, I feel that FIRE, BURGLARY ALARM misrepresented both their system and their service.  The equipment they installed did not perform reliably and effectively.  Customer service provided as a part of and after installation was less than helpful.  

During estimate process and installation they were very prompt and curteous and answered all questions. We had a complicated job, and they were very good about accommodating our needs and our schedule for the installation. I did have problems getting in touch about follow up service however, when I questioned some minor issues with the installation. That was extremely frustrating, and I was disappointed with the poor follow up. I now regret going with a company that locked you in to a 3 year contract. However, I hope that the service improves in the future, as I did like going with a smaller locally owned business.

THEY ARE A VERY NICE COMPANY TO DEAL WITH. THEY ALWAYS RESPOND VERY PROMPTLY WHEN I ACCIDENTALLY SET IT OFF. I HAVE USED THIS COMPANY FOR OVER THIRTY-FIVE YEARS.

THEY WERE THE LOWEST BIDDER AND WERE A FEW DAYS LATE ON THE INSTALL BUT DID CALL AND KEEP ME INFORMED. WHEN THE GUY ARRIVED HE SHOWED ME THE FEATURES AND SAID HE WOULD THROW IN TWO SMOKE DETECTORS.