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ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC

About us

We install Burglar Alarms Systems, Camera Systems and Fire Alarm Systems

Business highlights

Emergency services offered
47 years of experience

Services we offer

ACCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS, CABLE TV WIRING, COMPUTER WIRING, FIRE ALARMS SYSTEMS, INTERCOM SYSTEMS, LOCAL 24 ALARM MONITORING, PHONE WIRING, RESIDENTIAL & COMMERCIAL.EXECUTIVE PROTECTION SERVICES, SECURITY (BURGLAR ALARM) SYSTEMS, SERVICE FOR ALL LOW VOLTAGE APPLICATIONS, STEREO AND SURROUND SOUND WIRING, TRIP SECURITY PLANNING.ORIGINAL OWNER 30 YEARS., VIDEO SYSTEMS(CCTV)

Amenities

Emergency Services

Yes

Accepted Payment Methods

  • CreditCard
Reviews
3.614 Reviews
Number of StarsImage of DistributionNumber of Ratings
5
57%
4
0%
3
7%
2
21%
1
14%
Showing 1-14 of 14 reviews
Balthasar W.
Jun 2020
1.0
$1,000
We do NOT recommend using Island Security. While their price was competitive, they told us before installation that we can cancel anytime, only to inform you later that we can't. They also threaten us to inform our insurance company if we wanted to cancel their service as an intimidation tactic to keep you as a customer.
Response from ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC
"The contract says that this customer needed to cancel the agreement by sending a certified letter as the agreement requires. (Our insurance requires this as proof that the customer really cancelled so our liability ends.) He to this day has not done that. In an e-mail to us Mrs. [Member Name Removed] says we verbally let them out of their contract at the end of 2019. So we made an exception for them and used their e-mail instead of a certified letter. Now they are complaining that we made it a hassle for them. We didn't threaten Mr. [Member Name Removed], we PROMISED him we would inform the city of Mercer island that his sprinkler system was out of compliance with city code (due to his failure to continue monitoring). We PROMISED him we would inform his insurance company that he no longer had fire monitoring as they require this to insure his home. So on top of what we have to do legally we were also protecting the [Member Name Removed] residence as they would not be covered in the event of a fire or just the flood of water from a false tripping of the sprinklers filling his house with water and no notification. MR [Member Name Removed] IS WILLING TO JEOPARDIZE FIREMAN'S LIFE SAFETY WITH NO NOTIFICATION IF THERE IS A FIRE. ( As well as the neighbors house too.) This complaint has nothing to do with the service we provided or the work we did. As a matter of fact it is all false. Mean spirited people picking on a small caring company. Read our reviews. Island Security will continue being the great caring company, providing good service and requiring people to do as they have agreed. Give us a call and see. 206-232-0842"

Donald G.
Oct 2017
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
excellent. did everything I requested & good result

Donald G.
Nov 2016
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
I've been very pleased with everything that has been done.

Dennis C.
Sep 2015
2.0
I was a loyal customer of Island security for 12 years and now cannot believe that I stayed with them for so long. For over 6 months I have been trying to cancel my service since I no longer use it. I now have a cheaper and much more modern service. I have tried to cancel through email, phone, and mail several times, only to be assured that all would be taken care of. Instead, my credit card keeps getting charged and when I call, I am told that the owner will have to review my contract to see if "I am allowed" to terminate it. After over a decade of paying them, this shouldn't even be a question. I am still fighting this (it started in Feb.) and it is still not resolved and my annual payment has not been refunded... Do yourself a big favor and use anybody besides Island Security...
Response from ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC
"10/1/2015 [Member Name Removed] C. became a customer of ours in 2005. In that period of time we never had to go make a repair at his house. That is ten years of no service problems. He says he can't believe he stayed with us. After over a decade of no problems and then a matter of following a simple policy of paper work [Member Name Removed] says "I cannot believe I stayed with them". Just that context shows how irrational [Member Name Removed] was in solving a simple paperwork issue. If you had no problems for that long why would you leave a company like that? In our monitoring agreement it says to cancel the monitoring service you must send a return receipt requested, letter by certified mail, in which is a request to have this done. We do this because of liability. This is so we don't cancel a customer by mistake or have a crook who says they are the customer cancel and then rob them or even worse knowing no police will be sent. As well, a customer who cancels in any other way can say they never cancelled and we would have no legal proof. ( e-mails can be hacked as we all know.) [Member Name Removed] C. was well aware of this from reading the agreement with us as well as the fact that he was told to simply do this and there would be no problem to cancel. [Member Name Removed] C. also did not want to pay for the service Island Security has provided until now. His wife called recently and paid us by credit card for the monitoring provided up until his letter dated August 28, 2015. There is no more modern service than what we or Comcast provide and [Member Name Removed] C. is on a bundle with Comcast. When it expires his rate will go up significantly. (If he ever does have a problem good luck getting a quick response from Comcast. (Some of you have experienced that.) We have never told [Member Name Removed] C.anything but, to cancel, he has to follow policy, then it's no problem. Now that Island Security received that letter, ( I am the owner and I always review the certified letters to make sure everything is correct so the customers security is safe as well as personally calling them to verify this.) After a decade of being a customer we owe [Member Name Removed] C. the same security as customers we have had for a week. No certified letter no cancel. [Member Name Removed] C. sent a certified letter cancelling his monitoring on August 28, 2015. That is all we required in the first place. He says use anybody else. SO LET'S LOOK AT THIS. #1. He has had no problems with his alarm requiring our service for the ten years he has been with us. #2. If he had just sent the certified letter in the first place we would have cancelled him and that would be that. He didn't! If we have a problem we make it right immediately! So that's really a reason to use Island Security. Call Island Security and ask for the owner (me). See how long it takes for me to call you back. Now try calling Comcast. We all know somebody who just doesn't want to follow the rules, right?. That's [Member Name Removed]. Mention [Member Name Removed] after we give you a bid and we will give you a 25% discount on that product."

Verlin C.
Feb 2015
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$890
unknown

JENNIFER S.
Jan 2014
2.0
$500
Overall monitoring was responsive. However customer service was rude and difficult to deal with. We made the decision to switch to a more modern service.

Kristena C.
Aug 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$3,150
The company was quick to respond to our call. We found them thru an internet search. The owner, Seth handled our call and we got the answers we needed and scheduled a technician from the company to come look at our house, and then Seth could give us a price. The Island Security representative came as scheduled and on time. We spend about a half hour and we knew exactly what we needed. There was no selling in this visit just an experienced technician who helped us decide on the system. The next day Seth called and e-mailed us a price. It wasn't the lowest, it actually was the second highest of four. After weighing all the facts. The other companies sent a sales person who tried to sell us a bunch of stuff we didn't need. We got a verbal price but no written one. Changing costs. We chose Island Security. The installer was on time, clean, and very polite. He spent the day installing our system and treating our home like it was special. No mess, scratches. When he was done we spent about forty minutes learning how to use our new system. At first we were worried it would be to technical. We wanted to watch it on our Iphone or from the internet anywhere we were. We also wanted to be able to arm and disarm our alarm system from our phone. It turned out to be worry for nothing. The technician from island Security explained it very well and so we understood it the first time.  (By the way we read some of these other reviews and cannot believe them). Island has now done our business location as well. We highly recommend Island Security.

Ariel N.
May 2013
2.0
$1,500
Initially we were impressed with the responsiveness of the company. The owner was nice and they came out right away to give us a bid. Their prices (both system install and monthly monitoring) were also very competitive. After the initial install, however, it was nearly impossible to get a hold of anyone. In the beginning, I was told to email them in the event we wanted to add an additional person to our emergency contact list. When we did this, however, we never received any confirmations or communication back. Did they get our email? Was our additional person added? We never knew.
But the biggest trouble came when we tried to notify them that we were moving.  Our intent was to cancel service at our home so the new owners would be able to start service in their name (we had one year left on our contract but it had already been paid). We also wanted to install a new system and begin monitoring at our new home once we moved. I must have left over 7 messages, during normal business hours and never received a return call. And all of the calls I made just went to their answering service - who admitted to me after call #3 they were getting a lot of calls from customers during the day and weren't sure why Island Security wasn't answering their phone. Then I tried to email them. I even did a return receipt on the email. Two days later I received an automated message from Outlook that my email had been deleted without being read. After all of this, we decided that it would be better to contact another company for the install at our new home. So, I sent them a certified cancellation letter with return receipt to their PO Box address (as per the contract for cancellations). They never picked up the letter and according to the post office where the PO Box is located, they refuse to. I can only assume that they saw the word "cancellation" in my messages and decided they didn't want to deal with me. Ironically, they would have made much more money from us on the new home if they had just returned my call. My recommendation: use another company!!
Response from ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC
"This is totally not true. Call us and see for yourself. 206-232-0842. This customer constantly called us and went on and on over many matters that were simple things she could have solved by operating her system correctly. Yet we spent the time to help her We get all our mail and accept all certified letters. The post office would never say a company refused to get a letter. This is just more of Mrs. [Member Name Removed]'s non truth. We could never get a word in edgewise. Kinda like the review. Many of the conversations were hard to understand though we tried hard. Sorry that Mrs. [Member Name Removed] felt this way. It had nothing to do with our service and we always let our customers cancel with a valid reason. Unlike any other company with a contract who hold their customers to it strictly."

Michael B.
Apr 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$4,000
We made the right choice by using Island Security!
We had an alarm system and video cameras installed. The job from start to finish was done great. It only took a few days from the time I called to have them come out and look at our home until we had finished Alarm and Video systems installed in our home.
The installation went great, and the installer was very professional and took great care in hiding all of the wires. My house was cleaner when the technician left, did  not even know they had been there. They even came back a second time to instruct us again on using the systems and gave us extra signs and stickers , at no charge.
Would recommend this company to all my family and friends.



Seth L.
Mar 2013
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$1,025
It went great, as expected. The office manager called to confirm the appointment, and we were also called by the installation technician when he was on his way to our house. He arrived on time, and went over everything with us and answered our questions before beginning the work. Everything went smoothly and the house was finished on time and left in exactly the condition it was in when he got there. Another great experience with Island!  As a side note, I felt I had to mention that a few years back we had recommended to a neighbor that they use Island Security because we have always had such a positive experience with the company. When we told them about the upgrade we had completed at the end of last month, they told us that they had "issues" with them and had posted a review here on Angie's List. I was so curious that I came to read it, and was appalled and felt that I needed to rectify a couple of the points that they made on their review. We have NEVER had anything but quick response time from Island Security, and in fact they pointed out that they had been waiting years for stickers? We requested stickers and signs at least twice that I can remember over the past ten years or so, and they always arrived free of charge and within a reasonable amount of time. Island Security has always been extremely responsive to our needs and concerns and we feel like they have always followed the necessary steps to make sure we feel safe and protected in all aspects. Honestly, we feel bad for having referred them to Island Security, they always have something to complain about and nothing is ever good enough for them. We have had these kind of issues in the past, and just wanted to clarify that Island Security has been taking care of our home and now our kids' homes for over twenty years and we will never switch companies.

Tina T.
Jul 2012
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$850
The service technician called with plenty of advance notice to let us know that he was on his way, and he did an excellent job.  His work was done well and he didn't leave any messes in the house.  He took lots of time to answer our questions and make sure we understood all the workings of the system before he left.  I would definitely recommend this company to anybody who asks.  They went above and beyond to make us feel safe again.

Amy K.
Dec 2011
3.0
$175
I would communicate with them and they would never confirm that they received my communication.  They would come out to make service calls for things and I charge us a lot of money for things they could have done over the phone.  They have a policy for example, where they have a guidebook online and with their policy if you ask them a question on something in the guidebook they charge you money.  I don’t find that very customer oriented.  I just got annoyed with that over the course of two years we worked with them.  They did their job.  The alarm worked but in terms of their customer service it was disappointing.

Loren G.
Jan 2010
1.0
$1,200
They were unresponsive to calls and, more importantly, failed to respond to alarms. They would not call back on service requests or questions. They instituted a policy where they would charge you for call backs. The company they contracted with for service calls would not show up, and we were still charged for those service calls. The owner of the company, when he did return calls, was downright nasty on the phone. We finally decided to go with another company after they failed to respond to two different alarms. We tried to end our contract but they refused to end or refund the contract. We felt that they were in breach of the contract, but because the cost of pursing legal action against them would end up costing the same as the remainder of the contract, we took a loss rather than dealing with this company any further.
Response from ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC
"[Member Name Removed] G. was paid by a competitor to post this. This competitor has done this on other sites and to other alarm companies. [Member Name Removed] G. is a total scam. Everything in this review is a total lie. Call me at 206-232-0842 and I will explain. The owner."

Linda H.
Sep 2007
5.0
Yes, I recommend this pro
$100
They did a really great job installing my security system and they made sure that I understood how to use all the features of the system. The price is very reasonable and they always call back promptly when my alarm goes off.

Licensing

State Contractor License Requirements

All statements concerning insurance, licenses, and bonds are informational only, and are self-reported. Since insurance, licenses and bonds can expire and can be cancelled, homeowners should always check such information for themselves. To find more licensing information for your state, visit our Find Licensing Requirements page.

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FAQ

ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC is currently rated 3.6 overall out of 5.

ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC accepts the following forms of payment: CreditCard

No, ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC does not offer free project estimates.

No, ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC does not offer eco-friendly accreditations.

No, ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC does not offer a senior discount.

Yes, ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC offers emergency services.

No, ISLAND SECURITY SYSTEMS INC does not offer warranties.