I wish I could give ADT less than one star. We purchased a home 3 years ago with an ADT alarm system. I wish I had reviewed online ratings of alarm monitoring companies before contacting ADT for monitoring svcs. Our system appears to be between 5-10 years old. The activation went fairly well and did not require a technician's visit, though phone calls were necessary to clarify a rather ambiguous contract. A year ago, our backup battery failed, and I contacted ADT, since our monthly fee includes an extended warranty on the system. The service clerk told me the battery replacement was covered and there would be no fee. When the technician came out to install the battery, there was no charge for the battery, but there was a $25 trip charge. I thought the service clerk should have indicated the trip charge fee, but it wasn't a big deal so I paid it. This past weekend we were away overnight. When we returned home we were greeted by silence, rather than the familiar "beep, beep, beep." I immediately went to the keypad, which appeared to have no power, and would not respond to any activity. The alarm then sounded, and continued to sound, as their was no response at the keypad. I immediately called ADT, established who I was and gave my security password info. For 20 minutes or so the service clerk tried to walk me through turning off the alarm, but the system was unresponsive. I requested she send a technician out, to turn off the alarm and I was told this was not covered under the contract and I would have to pay $300+ for a call on Sunday. It seems our extended warranty only covers the system during ADT's "normal working hours," which are not on Sunday. WTF?!? For the next 4 hours, the alarm continued to go on and off. ADT assured us the Police had not been notified. The police did respond claiming they received a call from ADT. The tech. was able to get the alarm working after nearly a $400 half hour svc call. Reason for malfunction unknown.
Pros: System seems to work most of the time, Technician was pleasant
Cons: Poor Monitoring Service, Zero Customer Service, System problem unresolved
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