Here's a fact based account of my experience with ADT:
i. We have had ADT Security for our home for about two years. Initially the equipment was installed by one of their dealers.
ii. The original dealer-installed equipment could not be adjusted for sensitivity (by their glass break sensors), and as a result
our glass break sensors would trigger the alarm, usually while we were home in "Stay" mode.
iii. The good news is that when they alarm was triggered by a false glass break or non-existent flood while we were home we
were able to turn the alarm off and avoid having the police sent to our home.
iv. The bad news is that those alarms seemed to be 2-3 times per week. The glass break would be set off by a sneeze, a Dustbuster or vacuum cleaner, a pot dropping to the floor in the kitchen, my daughter playing in her room, and a host of other times. I think you get the picture.
v. We also have a flood detector in the basement. The original one would go off for no reason at all. Our basement is bone dry,
and we have a dehumidifier that ensures the humidity down there remains pretty constant.
vi. After a number of months with us calling ADT to complain and having to deal with the dealer who installed the system, and us asking to get out of our contract and to have their equipment removed from our home, ADT Corporate finally decided to have all the dealer-installed equipment, which I believe was DSC, replaced with new, ADT-installed equipment that I believe is Honeywell.
vii. New equipment, but we did have the same issues and thus required their techs to come out and adjust the glass break sensors. For the most part, a sneeze or a pot falling in the kitchen would no longer set off the sensors. That is not saying that it was entirely acceptable. The flood detector was still going of, and was eventually replaced by one that required it?s own power source and mini-communication box in the basement.
viii. Apparently the glass break sensor was still too sensitive. One day when our siding company came to install some siding underneath our outdoor sconces, one of the glass break sensors went off, and the police were dispatched to the house. The police report, which we only received along with the town?s invoice for false alarm calls, stated that the officer got the ID of the siding company employee working outside out home.
ix. The new control panel was not without fault. Our cleaning person has her own code to enter our home. One day she could not turn the alarm off, and she, too, had to identify herself to the police who were dispatched. If I recall correctly, that day the only way she could turn the alarm off was by my giving her our personal code, which we then changed that evening. I get security and understand that one should never give out their security code.
x. When we got the false alarm invoice from our town, I was not happy. I contacted ADT and explained that given my history with them and all the times I had reported false alarms, that I expected them to pay the false alarm bill, which was $100 for the second alarm (and would have been $200 each for any alarms after the second). The first false alarm in a calendar year is at no charge.
xi. ADT?s reply to my request for reimbursement:
Dear ADT Customer,
Thank you for your recent inquiry to ADT.com. We appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns. Our standard operating procedures was followed and a work order was not requested to determine that the activation were due to equipment or system malfunction so the request for reimbursement is denied.
While ADT will consider reimbursement for false alarm fines under certain circumstances, please note that ADT?s contracts preclude or limit responsibility for false alarm charges.
Thank you for choosing ADT. It is our pleasure to serve you.
Sincerely,
False Alarm Team
ADT Security Services
xii. After receiving this reply, I contacted Anya who had been assigned to my case. I asked her how I could have ordered service if I had not known of the false alarm. When the siding people set the alarm off the alarm, I believe, automatically reset. They had never entered the house, so there was not need to enter a code. When I got home the evening after our cleaning person could
not turn the alarm off, I realized that the code she had been using was not working, and seemed to have disappeared. I did call ADT to complain that it had happened, and they asked me if I ws able to reset the code, which I did, and the issue was closed. It seems that ADT is telling me that I had to have one of their techs come out to see the panel. What purpose would that serve Their equipment failed, and I was able to reset it. What more would their tech have done?
xiii. I called Anya back after initially posting on FB, and even though the reply from ADT was by Andrew he simply handed my case back to Anya. I asked Anya to send me a complete history of my service calls and false alarms, and only then was
told that ADT only has the history from when they installed their own equipment. They have no history of the false alarms when their dealer-installed equipment was in my home. I told Anya that she doesn?t have half the story, and needed to review the full history from Day One to understand how frustrated we are with their service, and again asked ADT to pay the fine. She still said no, this time offering to credit me one month?s service. I told her that one month?s service is not even half the fine, so it is not sufficient.
This is where we stand as of today.
My advice to you is to AVOID ADT! If you need a home security system, look elsewhere.