We don't bad-mouth our competition. However, there are several "tricks" that many national (and some local) companies pull on unsuspecting customers that we don't feel are fair. They are as follows:
1. Activation Fees: These are generally charged when you switch from one company to another. The new company will charge a fee to "activate" your alarm. Granted, there is some cost to send a technician out to reprogram your alarm system. However, if you were a new customer to them in the first place, odds are that you would have gotten the equipment below cost in the first place as this is a common practice in the alarm industry. Many times equipment is sold at or below cost. So, if they're willing to do this to get your business in the first place, why not just switch you for free since they will be using the existing equipment that you have? Most locally-owned companies won't charge an activation fee.
2. Using Brinks or Honeywell. Read your contract very, very closely. You will generally find that you do not own the equipment. You will pay as much as with other companies for "installation" however you aren't being sold the equipment. If you ever wish to leave and go with another company (to get a lower monitoring rate, for example), you could end up seeing one of their service technicians show up on your doorstep to remove all of the alarm equipment. You'll have to buy new or continue being "stuck" with the current company paying their higher rates. Sound fair? We don't think so either.
3. Additional Fees to Monitor Smoke Alarms. This is one of our favorites. The national company will tell you that there is an additional monitoring fee (usually $1-2 per month) to monitor smoke alarms. Why? Where is the extra cost? Your panel is going to send a signal whether it's burglar or fire. Someone is going to answer that signal and call you, the fire department, etc. We own our monitoring facility and we know. There is no more cost associated with monitoring fire alarms! Thus, we don't charge for it and you'll find that most locally-owned companies don't.
4. Wireless monitoring fees. We recently saw a quote from a national company where the sales person was going to charge an additional monthly fee for a wireless receiver and key fob. Come on! A wireless receiver is a box attached to your alarm system that receives the wireless signal from a fey fob, medical alert pendant or other wireless device. Your car has one that receives the wireless signal from your key fob that you use to lock/unlock your doors. This is not a monitored device! You are charged for this receiver when you buy it. There is no cost to the alarm company for you to have this option on your system so why are they charging you to monitor it? This is almost fraud! How can you be charged for monitoring something that they don't monitor?
5. Window Contacts. This one can be debated, but here's our perspective: A glass break detector can cover multiple windows without having to place an actual device on the window itself. Many companies will try to sell you a contact for each window. This can get very expensive. Instead, one glass break detector will cover a larger area. This, coupled with a motion detector, will cover an entire room for much less than it would cost to contact each window. Additionally, window contacts can be more easily bumped out of alignment when opening/closing windows, cleaning them, etc. This then results in a service call (i.e. money maker) for the alarm company. It's a personal decision, but we rarely suggest or install window contacts but we routinely service them from customers that have moved their alarm system to us for monitoring.
MPS Alarm Services, LLC