ADT Security Services review: horrible customer service and faulty product! 50

ADT hired a sub-contractor to install a security system into my home. Defender security did not install the system properly so it is less secure having the system then it was without the system.

I do not feel safe because the technician did not complete the system installation and then walked out with my remote. My electric was disrupted, in one area of my basement and when i called they said it would take a week to return to fix it. I told them I wanted my remote, they told me the technician's car broke down. I called ADT and they sent a tech. the day after they made my appointment,the excuse was that the refixing would take too long so they needed to alot more time for the repair. The ADT tech arrived this am. and would not repair the mistakes and referred me to their installation dept. ADT's installation Dept. said I had to call Defender security. Now I ask you out there, would you allow them back into your home to repair what they ruined in the first place? I won't. My advice to all of you is do not trust your home's security to ADT... I realize it is a well known company but you cannot trust a company that does not stand behind their reputation when they do not care about who they farm out to... BE SAFE PLEASE!

I called ADT to get information about their alarm system. A salesman came over and said that since my house was not prewired, a wireless system will have to be used and I will have to pay about $230.00 for the equipment and sign a 3 year contract. Less than two years later the monitoring service went up $2.00 which is now 37.11. Exactly two years later I am moving to another house and I just found out that I have been paying for monitoring and I have not been getting the service. They did not even have my phone number. ADT said that it is my fault because I should have been testing the system monthly. Apparently the installer did not test the system when the alarm was installed. On top of that, ADT want me to pay $100.00 cancellation fee. I am out over $850.00 for a service I did not received.

I decided my home needed a security system and called ADT about setting up an appointment. I was not happy at all with the guy who installed it and thought "well, if this is the kind of service condoned by ADT, then there is no way I want to be in a 3 year contract with them!" Disappointed, I decided to cancel within the 3 days allowed. The local company was apologetic and did try to smooth it out, but I just lost confidence in ADT and had a gut feeling that I should cancel while I could. Well, when I called your cancellation dept. on 9/21, I knew my gut feeling was right. The woman who answered brings a lot of words to mind; monotone, unhelpful, sarcastic, insincere and at times just condescending. After talking to her it hit me, "Thank God I cancelled". If she is a representative of your company, I want nothing to do with your firm. There are other options out there.

Be careful who you hire! You have lost me as a customer for life, not to mention everyone else I tell about my bad experience. Reputation is everything in your business.

BUYERS BEWARE! ADT AND DEFENDER SECURITY IS NOT THE PLACE TO PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES!

I CALLED ADT WHO UNKNOWN TO ME PAWNED ME OFF ON DEFENDER SECURITY OUT OF INDIANAPOLIS WHO SENT OUT 2 GUYS ONE WHO WAS CLUELESS ON WHAT TO DO, WHEN THEY LEFT THE ALARM SYSTEM DID NOT WORK, A QUICK CALL TO ADT AND ALL I GOT WAS CALL DEFENDER, THEN A QUICK CALL TO DEFENDER AND ALL THEY SAID WAS CALL ADT AND HUNG UP!

WHIT OUT BEING TO LONG WINDED, I FILED A COMPLAINT WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE BBB, AND FILED A CIVIL CASE, AND THEN I GOT ACTION...
IN SHORT FIND ANOTHER COMPANY TO SECURE YOU LOVED ONES AND GOODS.

I HAVE HAD THE MOST TOTAL WORST EXPERIENCE WITH ADT... I AM STILL LOOKING FOR A REFUND OF 60.00 THAT IS MY MONEY FROM THEM CHARGING FOR 2 PROPERTIES. I CALLED TO MOVE SERVICES, WHY CALL IF YOU ARE GOING TO STILL DEBIT MY ACCOUNT? WELL NEATLESS TO SAY, I WAS CHARGED FOR 6 MONTHS BEFORE I NOTICED DOUBLE CHARGES ON MY BANK ACCOUNT. WELL, I HAVE HEARD, THE CHECK IN THE MAIL, THE FUNDS HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, THE FUNDS WENT TO A FROZEN ACCOUNT, THE CHECK WAS LOST AND WE ARE INVESTIGATING IT, AND THE FUNDS WENT TO THE WRONG ACCOUNT AND WE HAVE TO INVESTIGATE IT... WELL IT DONT TAKE A GENIUS TO FIGURE OUT THAT I HAVE GOTTEN THE RUN AROUND AND WAIT ALL OF THIS COME FROM MANAGERS EVERYTIME BECAUSE A REUGLAR REPRESENTATIVE COULD NOT HELP ME. SO IF THE MANAGERS ARE GIVING OUT MISINFORMATION THE REPRESENTATIVES DONT HAVE ANY CHOICE BUT TO BE MESSED UP. I JUST WANT MY MONEY!

Have had ADT for 3 years and a month or 2. In this time we have had one alarm failure fixed at a cost of about $175 dollars.
Since then we have had the same alarm fail about 5 times and one motion detector alarm.

The smoke/heat detector failing is reset the system and maybe for weeks no more failures.

No one smokes in the house. The alarm in not in a sensitive area, like water, smoke or heat.

ADT's response is well have it serviced and then put the charges in dispute. AHHH we did this once and paid dearly for a very inexpensive sensor.

Well, we was going to do that once again and we had a promise of the service time. About 30 minutes before the call ADT calls and says how do we get to your place. Where are you? Well they were at least a hour's drive and we had another appointment to take care of.

I feel that after this number of alarm failures and the delay in contacting us the system is of zero mental value.
We will be going else where for an alarm system and hope other also consider other suppliers.

I too have had multiple issues with ADT Security Services that resemble this complaint, and have included the following:

1. Had an alarm event that required notification to the local police department. 45 minutes later, the police department had called back -- long after I called them directly and they'd been to the premise -- to advise me that they received a call that was misrouted and transferred trough various sources (phone operator, state police, county dispatch, finally to my local police) because ADT had the wrong phone number for the local police, despite our providing the correct one. When we called them to correct this, we were told by the phone representative that nothing could be done about it. So I'm paying for police notification that isn't happening properly. Oh, ultimately, the original event was a false trip of a motion sensor, so once again -- as with the original complain to this thread -- faulty equipment is the culprit.
2. Scheduled an appointment for ADT to move my security panel due to a door installation. Technician arrived late, berated the door installers, continually used foul language with me and the installers, spent 2 hours rewiring the entire system, then left it in a non-functioning condition to go to other appointments and never returned. Had to insist that an off-hours technician repair my system and make it optional at 10PM -- more than 9 hours after the first technician left. Also scheduled a CO Sensor installation (see 3. below).
3. Scheduled a CO Sensor install for a month ahead with a technician. Received several calls from ADT indicating that the part was received, and then asking "if I wanted to schedule". Corrected them on no less than 3 occasions, and asked how we make sure this is scheduled, was assured this was under control. The morning of the installation, receive a call telling me that they "don't have the part and would need to reschedule", after being called to schedule 3 times prior because "we've received the part".

ADT clearly is not handling its business well, requests for escalation are not well-received or taken seriously. Calls to local office are not handled by managers immediately, and post-sales service is not taken seriously. Clearly, their goal is to sell you the system, then not service it properly, and shrug their shoulders and feign ignorance when things go wrong y pointing the finger around. I've contacted the business without response on several occasions, the most recent this morning after the missed appointment. The next one is to the Better Business Bureau to raise the complaint, though I doubt there's really a satisfactory resolution possible at this point, nor do I think that ADT will much care.

Never Ever buy a security system from an Authorized Dealer. My sister got a security system from Defender Security and I later found out that the guy she bought it from was a registered sex offender.

Thats great, this guy has my password, my social security numer, my credit card number and my email address and phone numbers.

Warning dont buy from Defender Security. Sex offenders work there.

Dan Rider.

Hey not only should you not buy a security system from defender security because they have sex offenders who sell the system to you over the phone like what happend to my sister.

The thing was in order to qualify she had to pass a credit check and this registered sex offender actualy ran a credit check on my sister.

I cant imagine how any of the major credit unions would allow a registered sex offender to run a credit check on my sister.

When I called equifax they said its not against the law and its up to the company what kind of precautions they take.

Warning, Dont buy from Defender Security, They have sex offenders working there.

We have experienced similar problems with ADT. In a nutshell, their customer service is anything but that. Following is a summary of my experience:

1. Due to faulty equipment in our home, several alarms have gone off in the middle of the night waking neighbours and family.
2. Repeated calls to ADT for service have resulted in THREE missed appointments, and no phone calls to let us know they weren't coming or to reschedule.
3. Calls to the district manager resulted in promises to help, but no action and no follow-up.
4. I am dumping ADT and converting to a new local service with an excellent reputation in the community.

This company has some major problems with operations management. Don't waste your time and money with them.

The ADT system started sending false alarms. A tech came out and supposedly change the sensors and cleaned the panel charging 100.00. The panel continued to stick. A called to ADT resulted in a tech giving instructions on how to change the code. After the instructions were implemented the panel shut down. Three techs have been out without success causing me to miss I full day and 2 half days from work. The last tech stated that he needed to order a part. He called two days later left a voice mail asking me to call him and set up an appointment. Which I did, however, on the day of the appointment he did not show and a call to ADT indicated that no appointment was made. That seems pretty suspicious . Why did he make an appointment and ADT is unaware? Females be cautious! I have been without a system for almost a month. If I were you I would think twice about ADT. I am switching to a new company ASAP.

My panel has not worked since 7 days. I called for service and was told I had to wait at least 48 hours. I then scheduled an appointment as soon as possible. The date of the appointment was my birthdate, but I waited for the service person from 12-5, considering my panel did not work, and I was to be on a business trip and was concerned for the home security of my family. I confirmed at least 3 different times with ADT my service appointment, as I would miss work, and be at home. The service person did not appear. I lost my wages for the whole afternoon. When you call to inquire about why the service person is not there, they make you wait over 15 minutes on the phone. (Unacceptable). When I finally did get through I was told I did not have a service appointment, though I had confirmed at 3 different occasions. Please do not get ADT service, as it is nonexistent.

My complaint sounds scary similiar to Hrojas, Ours started off with rude customer service, we got a call saying the tech. would arrive from 12-1pm, he showed up @ 2:20 pm, then the work order was wrong my wife had to fight and argue with them for a good half hour also he stayed until 9:30pm it did not get installed, the tech said i'll come back tommorrow after my first appt. is done, what? STAY AWAY FRO DEFENDER SECURITY PLEASE!

ADT provides terrible customer service. Our alarm wasn't even working properly because they didn't replace the batteries and then they wanted to charge us to come out. DO NOT USE ADT, and if you have them, cancel them at the earliest opportunity!

I had ADT in my house for 6 years, I sold my house and moved to a rental house, which I contracted for a year.I told ADT that I was moving, they said we can move your account over there, ADT is the only company that will put a system in a rental house.So I said OK, the ADT guy showed up in the midst of unpacking, installed alarms on three doors.Said someone will be back next week to do the windows.He was real friendly, lifted a box or two, then at the appropriate time, said just sign this so I get paid for coming out today.Without searching for my glasses, I scrawled my name on a faded piece of paper, didn't even get a copy.When no one showed up for a 6 months I decided to cancel the service, BUT I now found out I had signed a new 3 year contract on a place I rented for 1 year, tried to go through BBB, but ADT won't budge, they took advantage of me, an elderly person.I will pass on this story to anyone that will listen.

ADT hires numerous subcontractors who don't know what they are talking about and install systems improperly. I had so many false alarms that I was actually fined by the City and ended up disabling my system because every time I left it seemed like my alarm went off. What's more I told the salesman who signed me up that I would only be in the home for a year and could I cancel if I needed to and he said yes. When I went to cancel I was told I would have to pay $450. I couldn't afford it and so they continued to withdraw the monthly payments out of my account. Now I'm just so ticked off that they have NO options available for people who move to apartments and no longer have use for the service. ADT did not provide any new equipment for me, as I already had equipment so they had nothing to lose ... except for any potential future business from me or people I know based on their treatment of me. Every time I've called I have been treated so rudely. They clearly only care about making money in any way that they can.

I left ADT after three years of employment at the National Marketing Center (NMC) in Jacksonville, Florida. The pay was good, the benefits were good, but job satisfaction evaded me for the entire three years. My job was to assist customers in reactivating and reprogramming existing ADT alarm systems in their homes remotely over the phone. I was also an ADT customer for three years; ADT employees get a 50% discount on installation and monitoring. During the three years I was a customer, I found that my alarm system was typically effective and that the monitoring center did a pretty good job of responding to the few false alarms I experienced. There was one incident that prompted me to leave ADT (as an employee and as a customer) that occurred several months ago. A fellow employee in my department, for reasons unknown to me, decided to tamper with my personal home alarm system programming using the remote downloader hardware/software ADT utilizes for reactivating existing alarm systems.
This person changed my master arming code and disarmed my alarm system while my wife and I were both away from our home. When we returned home we were obviously concerned that not only had our alarm been disarmed, but we could not re-arm the system either. I discovered the program tampering to my alarm monitoring account when I returned to work and made copies of all program documentation and reported the incident to upper management. No action was ever taken, that particular employee is still at ADT, and I'm no longer an employee or customer there. I have filed a complaint against ADT with the Florida Department of Consumer Affairs because of this incident.
I'd like to let everyone who stumbles across this post know that paying for alarm monitoring should be a thing of the past. Most everyone has a cell phone these days, so why not monitor your own alarm system. With simple programming on the alarm keypad, you can change the phone number that the alarm system dials from the alarm company's monitoring center to you personal cell phone number. You can call the police, friends, and neighbors and have them check on your home just as easily as some $8.00/hour monitoring center employee can. Most alarm company monitoring centers are required to contact the homeowner or a key holder to the home before they can notify the police anyway.
To monitor your home alarm system via cell phone, you'll need a few things. First, you'll need the manufacturer's installation and programming guide for the make/model of your alarm system. This will walk you through the programming steps for changing codes, phone numbers and so forth on your alarm keypad. Second, you'll need the phone number and monitoring account number that your alarm is currently programmed to dial. You can get this information from your alarm company's monitoring center operators; if not, ask around in your local area and find an alarm technician (or ex-alarm technician) who can find this information for you (usually for a small fee or favor). Third, you'll need the installer code for your particular alarm system. This code will allow you to access the advanced programming for your alarm at your keypad. Once you have the programming guide, all phone numbers and codes, it's just a simple matter of following instructions and typing in numbers on your keypad.
It's really quite simple; if you can set up address book phone numbers in your cell phone, you can reprogram your alarm system. When the alarm goes off in your home you'll be notified directly on your cell phone, and you can in turn call the police yourself.
Now, if all that's too complicated for you, or if you can't obtain all the codes and information you need for your alarm, there is another option that will still allow you to monitor your own alarm system. You'll have to purchase a digital alarm phone dialer. You can usually find one of these at your local Radio Shack or electronics store or by searching on-line. These automatic phone dialers can usually be had for around $80.00. A digital dialer can easily be wired (just two wires usually) to the siren output connection in the main control panel of your alarm system (that's the metal box that houses the main circuitry and system back-up battery for the alarm system). When the digital phone dialer is installed you'll unplug the alarm system from your home phone wiring and plug the digital alarm dialer phone cord into any phone jack in your home. The digital phone dialer will come with wiring and programming instructions and are much easier to program than the alarm system itself. A big plus with most digital phone dialers is that you can program two, four, or even six phone numbers for the system to dial in the event of an alarm. This allows you to program your cell phone, neighbor’s phone, friends, other family members, etc...Please note; however, you should not program the dialer to call police or other emergency services; that's unlawful in most areas.
So, stop paying $30, $40, $50 per month or more for alarm monitoring and take control of your own home security. You can do this with a lot of the alarm systems that are out there; it's just a matter of doing some research and/or spending a little cash, and doing a little wiring.
For those of you that do not have a home alarm system and are thinking about getting one for your home a company called X-10 has a pretty good do-it-yourself system that comes with keypad, remote key fob, six number digital voice phone dialer, five window/door contacts, two motion sensors, and an additional wireless keypad, all for under $200.00. Just Google X-10 and you'll find their website. I bought one of these systems for my 75 year old mother-in-law and it works great. I installed the entire system and programmed it in under two hours.
I'm not what you would call an expert alarm technician, but then electronic alarm systems and alarm system monitoring is not rocket science either. Even the latest and most advanced electronic home alarm systems still use the same basic circuitry and components that have been used in home alarm systems for the past 30 years or more. I have to laugh whenever I see ADT's new commercial where they talk about their "new" keychain remote control...they've been selling that same remote for at least 20 years now.
You'll pay $400/year and up for monitoring with most alarm companies, and yes, they do sometimes provide technical service if the alarm breaks, but most problems you would ever have with a home alarm system you can fix yourself (if you have basic mechanical skills), like replacing the system backup battery, reattaching a lose door or window contact or replacing batteries in wireless door/window sensors and motion sensors, etc...
If the alarm system is just totally screwed up, you can easily replace the entire system yourself for less than one service call from an alarm company technician.
I hope the information I've provided on this post is useful to some of you out there. At least you know that there are alternatives to paying extortion fees to an alarm company and being locked into a 3 year contract. I'm sure that there are many other alternative home security solutions out there that cost way less than ADT that I have not mentioned here; so get off this blog and start doing your research.

I agree with the complaints posted. They are crooked. I had ADT for 7 years (they bought out my original two companies). I requested cancellation of their monitoring services effective August 31 by phone in late July. When I did not hear from them, through email or snail-mail, as far as confirming the cancellation, I sent them a message on July 12 by logging-in to my account in their website (MyADT.com). They responded with an email informing me that they do not accept cancellations by their website messaging system. They said I had to either call them (which I had already done) or fax them. I decided to fax them again requesting cancellation effective August 31st, on August 12. I requested confirmation through an email. On August 21 when they did not respond, I resent the fax. On September 2nd, since they had not responded, I called them. Now they tell me that they did not receive the phone call or the faxes. They confirmed the fax number with me annd I have a record of 2 successful faxes sent on August 12 and 21. Now on September 2, they charged me the $93.40 for the next 3 months monitoring. The credit card company (Citi) says that it would be hard to prove that they actually received the faxes. So, it seems that ADT knows exactly what they are doing and how to do it.

They are obviously crooked. They only accept phone calls or faxes in order to cancel, however, later they claim they did not receive them. They do this to try to cheat their customers out of an additional 3-month period and in order to punish them for daring to cancel their monitoring. Doesn't the government monitor this kind of fraud on consumers?

All that I can add is, read the fine print carefully because it will come back to haunt you. When the service person comes out to fix your system, don't believe the person unless it is in writing when he says that there will be no charge for service. Also some people don't realize that they are dealing with two different companies (ADT and the service contractor). When ordering the service from the salesperson (who is an independent contractor), he will ask for your social security number so that the company can do an inquiry on your credit rating. The other subcontractor will do another inquiry on your credit rating also, that will give you two dings on your credit rating in one day. Insist on one inquiry in writing, so your credit rating will not be hurt. Also, everything that your sales person promises must be in writing to be valid. I think the minimum agreement is three years lock in, so be careful and read the small print, I wish that I had.

adt hired sws to install my system and the 2 men from sws stole money and tools and other things from my house! i do not reccomend adt or sws for anything. neither company will help me or try to fix the problem, they are basically ignoring me. so do not trust either of them!

ADT is absolutely horrible! I will spare you the long saga of details, but they have sent two technicians and two salesmen out, have $350 of my money and have stopped returning my calls over the last 2 months. When I call "HQ" they say I need to deal with the home office in Houston where I live. When I call the Houston office, IF anyone answers, they tell me to call HQ.

If you want to be "safe, " the first step to take is get as far away from ADT as possible. Please take my word for it and save yourself the time.

AFTER READING OTHER PEOPLE'S COMPLAINTS. I WILL SAY THAT ADT SUCKS. AND I MEAN SUCK, THOSE NURDS CAN NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER. SURELY THEIR ARE NICE PEOPLE WORKING FOR A CROOKED ALARM COMPANY. AND AS FAIR AS I CAN TELL, ALL ALARM COMPANIES ARE THE SAME, IF NOT THE SAME COMPANY OWER WITH DIFFERENT NAMES TO COVER IT UP. A PICE OF MY ADVISE. I WILL SAY, THAT BEFORE, YOU SIGN ANY CONTRACT. AND FOR THE LOVE OF PEACE, DO NOT AND I MEAN DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT FOR ANY ALARM COMPANY AND THAT GOES FOR TRIPLE FOR ADT. IF SIGN WITH OUT YOUR ATTY OF OTHER LEGAL ADVISOR.. YOU WILL BE STUCK FOR 3-5 YEARS. YES. 3-5 YEARS. WHAT A CROOER OUTFIT. CELL PHONE IS ONLY 2 YEARS.
20% OFF YOUR HOME OWER INSURANCE. YEAH, WHERE IS THE SAVINGS. IF YOU WASTE ON POINTLESS ALARM SERVICE. OH YEAH, I AM HAVING ALL CAPITOLS LETTERS, NOT YELLING AT ANY ONE PERSONALLY, IT IS THE FACT. FALSE ALARMS ARE WHAT THE BRITISH CALLS CRYING WOLF. TOO MANY FALSE ALARMS WILL DISTURB THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR. SO FOR THE LOVE OF PEACE, FINE SOME OTHER MEANS TO PROTECT YOUR HOME. ADT SUCKS. GO IT?. SUCKS! THS LAST MONTH, I WAS ASSURE THAT NO MORE CALLS WOULD BE MADE. SURE ENOUGH, 2 CALLS CAME IT. THE GUY SAID I WANTED SERVIE. WHICH IS FALSE. AND HE SAID THIS PASS WINTER. LOKE I SAID FOLKS ADT SUCKS. FALSE CRY WOLF ALARMS.

ADT SUCK, AND YES, I MEAN SUCK!

I tried the service with the 3 free day. I change my mind and got the cancellation over night express. which is expensive, and besides, it takes them forever, to get back to you. However. I have a hunch that polite People works for this crooked Alarmed Company. well, I finally out foxed them and got 100% Refund. no big deal. it took a while. but, my Credit Card. AX was on my side.
Before, anyone signs any Contract. and I am no ATTY. however, I will say, take my advise, and hired a ATTY. or legal Advisor. they are those People for a small fee. Do not be stuck with a 3-5 year contact. yes, ADT like any Alarm Contracts out, so they can be too cheep to pay Wages to Excellent workers. that is the whole Problem. All Alarm Companies are the same. I think they are the same company yet, different name. yes. ADT sucks, Their Communications Sucks! and to take No they don't understand. they will lie, and want to hustle you to agree. Remember People False Alarms is what the British calls Crying Wolf. and too many, one is in big Trouble. I get along with the People next door we do not have not know each-other, yet, respect. with out having False Alarm. I had another Alarm Company that I had cancel when I moved. and gave them the Paper Personally. so the snob rude women that did not want to cancel me, asked if I had wanted to have service at my new Address, I said NO! and walk out, finally, I had to turn off that stupid Alarm even through it was not turn on. turn out it was the Stupid BATT.
It beep and disturb people next door. this was at my ex-home condo, that I am trying to sell. Yes. Alarm Companies Suck ADT SUCKS. so, the White House has ADT. and they also have Security People 24/7/52.
ADT IS A LIING CROOKED COMPANY!

To make it easier to cancell with out the hardcore sale tackticts, will someone please list ADT's national fax number so we can simply send it in writing and keep a fax conformation for our records to defend when they turn it over to hard collections, and to send a copy to the local credit beareu. Thanks and may your hearts be filled with peace, God Bless You.

1) All it takes is to Out foxed the Alarm Companies.
2) Read the print before you sign any Contract.
3) Make sure you understand what you are signing, if not asked your Legal Adviser.
4) If you have 3 days to cancel which you likey do, make sure that Saturday and Sunday/Holiday is not including.
5) Make it clear if they need the Cancellation by Express Mail, that the Post Office is close on Saturday Afternoons, all Day Sunday and Holidays.
6) " " " that not everyone has Fax Merchines.
7) Check with your Credit Card Company before you sign your Contract.
8) Make it clear that no one enters your House w/o the back ground check of the Installter in Writting.
9) " " " " it must take 2 People to Installed and or unintalled and Immediately with out other excusses.
10) " " " " that you will have the persons name that signs for the overnight Express. and you will want your Refund Immeditely. no excusees.
11) and finally, I have herd the excusses that it takes days to get the refund.
12) guess what? the Armish could had deliverd the Express faster then even before the refund is approved.

BEWISE, BEAWEAR IF FRUD and BECAREFUL! MAY GOD BLESS YOU!

DO NOT GO WITH ADT ! VERY VERY RUDE PEOPLE WORK THERE, WHEN I SIGNED UP FOR ADT THEY INSISTED I SIGN A CONTRACT AND THE GUY DID NOT EXLAIN TO ME WHAT I WAS SIGNING THESE PEOPLE JUST WORK ON COMMISSION SO THEY JUST WANT TO LOCK YOU IN A CONTRACT ! MY ALARM HAS WENT OFF SEVERAL TIMES FOR NO REASON AND THEY BASICLLY JUST THROW ME TO THE LINES WHEN I CALL TO COMPLAIN ! THERE SUCH AN AWFULL COMPANY WHEN I WANTED TO GET OUT OF MY CONTRACT THEY SAID I HAD TO PAY 75% OF MY REMAINING BALANCE WHICH WAS 1, 200 ! AND IF YOU READ THE SMALL PRINTS IT EVEN SAYS THERES NO GUARANTEE ON THERE EQUIPMENT SO IN CASE THERE WAS A BUGLARY IT MAY NOT EVEN GO OFF ! JUST TAKE MY ADVICE AND EVERYONE ELSE'S ADVICE DO NOT GO WITH ADT ! AND MOST OF ALL DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT ! I KNOW FOR A FACT NOW OF WHY THEY MAKE EVERYONE SIGN A 3 YEAR CONTRACT ITS BECAUSE THERE SERVICE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE SUCKS THEY DONT KNOW WHAT THERE DOING AND THEY KNOW THAT ANYBODY WHO GOES WITH ADT IS GONNA WANT OUT OF THERE CONTRACT !

Watch this story to see how ADT treats it's customer after a buglary.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/21654380/detail.html?success&dsq=23615580#comment-23615580

This company disgusts me

A disgusting company indeed - read this and decide for yourself:
http://www.click2houston.com/news/21654380/detail.html?dsq=23535191#comment-23535191

Their are ways to out foxed alarm companies.

Do NOT And I mean do not sign any Contract with out talking to a legal Advisor 1st, and until the Alarm is put into your Home. if the Company REFUSE. Just way, my Advisors told me for YOUR AMARMS COMPANIES TO GET OFF AND GET OUT OF MY HOME IMMEDIATELY!
Also, check with your Credit Card Company. let them know that you will get back to them ASAP after the Alarm was put in. or not put in. The INSTALLER MAY HAVE A COP OUT BY NOT SHOWING UP TO INSTALLED AS PROMISE!

Thanks, PLEASE, BEWARE. One Alarm Company, different name for different ends of the Country, even in the same City. that's a phony cover up.

Thanks, we must make the Alarm Company go broke.

I talked to ADT in February about installing a system in my house & they set up everything on the phone and the people were coming out in almost 2 weeks to install & then they had a delay & I changed the date bu then I decided I wanted to just cancel & they told me it would be 4-5 weeks to get my $147.00 back, & here it is April 7th and I STILL do not have my money back! Are they crooked or what? I won't be giving them a good word, they can count on that! SCAMMERS!

ADT Security is a joke! And a ripoff too!
I know because I worked for them for almost 2 years as a commercial and residential service engineer in Arizona.
I designed, installed and tested technical security systems at US embassies and consulates before I retired from the USG and went to work for ADT. I am an electronic engineer and had specialized USG training in all aspects of technical security. I did military communications systems engineering for 23 years prior to working in security.
When ADT hired me, they promised 30 days of training and I got nothing! They also said I would earn $75k but it was less than half that amount. And ADT managers, who knew nothing about security, expected and demanded that service personnel do at least 7 service calls per day, regardless of the complexity of the problem. Service crews were sent out with no parts and often had to call other service personnel to see if they were nearby and had the part needed.

ADT installs alarm systems that do not work and when a burglary does happen, they tell the customer ADT is not liable since the customer did not test his alarm system monthly as they are supposed to do.
Most homeowners would not even know if their system was communicating or not with ADTs monitors (they either have a communication link over a telephone circuit or a wireless connection via a cell radio transmitter). I personally saw situations where the system was installed and not working properly and the customer had been paying for months or up to a year without knowing it.
Yet despite all the shortcomings, ADT sees fit to charge $30-40 a month for a false sense of security - it's all about profit and little to do with customer service and satisfaction.
And ADT has no installation standards, installer training, or spare parts on service trucks. I was sent to one customer’s home which was about a 1 hour ride away; when I arrived he needed a few standard 1.5 volt batteries and I had none on my truck. I had to drive to the nearest Ace hardware and buy them using my own money. At other residences, I found the heavy alarm panel mounted with only drywall screws (it was falling off the wall), exposed conductors on wires, panels installed upside down, and sensors that had been installed days ago falling off.
ADT sales reps know little about security principles and how to design a proper alarm system. They advertize the $99 special, which is OK for a studio apartment at best, and then use the bait and switch scam to get the customer to shell out $1000 or more for an “expanded” home alarm system. Sales reps are out to maximize the total sale dollar amount since they get paid on commission.
And ADT will take over any system ever installed by anyone else, as long as the customer pays the $30-40 monthly fee. Then ADT will not have trained personnel or parts to support these odd ball systems when they do fail.
Buyer beware! It is a known fact that a big guard dog is a better deterrent for burglary! And keep in mind that a critical factor for any alarm system is the time it takes for police to respond to the alarm– if you are in a remote location and it takes 30 minutes for police to get there, burglars have this much time to crash and grab.

[censor]tards.

ADT calls back and confirm they have refunded me, I checked the bank account today and they only refunded half the money owing to me. ADT please catch a wake up and do your jobs properly. You owe me a further R370.50.

I laid an complaint about money being owed to me that was deducted off my account with no consent. After almost 3 months now again i still dont have any feedback from ADT. Every time i phone to find out whats happening they just say that its still at the accounts department.

I purchased and had the ADT Home Monitoring service installed in my mothers home for her safety. My mother moved when she could no longer live alone and we had her service moved with her.I have paid for this service for the best part of 6 years. Earlier this year, I switched which credit card the service would be auto-charged thru. The charge went thru fine and then I simply assumed everything would be as it had be. Boy was that a miostake with ADT. Some how an for some reason they stopped charging the service on this card and I did not realize it. There was nothing wrong with the credit card. A few days ago, my mother found her service was not working and called them to find out the account was closed. I called them and they told me that the card on file was not working. I checked the account they were supposed to charge on and YES there was a charge months ago from them, so they were given the correct card number and it had worked. They claimed they were never given this card. They could not explain why they had been able to make a charge against this card if they never had it. Next, I asked them why they never contacted me since I was the person who set up the account and was paying for it. They said they had tried to call and the phone was disconnected. They also claimed to have sent a letter. Wher? They were calling my mothers previous phone and writting to her old address. How is it that they had moved her service to her new home, even had some one out to do a repair...yet according to them they didn't have this as the "billing address." We went round and round and yes I got heated with them. They offered no explainations, made every attempt to put the blaim on us and all they ultimately were concerned about was the past due money They could have given a damn that they put my mother at high risk. Oh, I paid the bill...with guess what credit card? Yup, the one they had charge on but said they never had. Well, I immediately set up a new service with another company and guess what credit card I used? You guessed it. I would NOT recommend anyone put their family member at risk with this company. They definitely don't know what they are doing and can't keep accurate records. They are also liars. It is absolutely true what someone else in here wrote...THEY DO NOT CARE ABOUT THEIR CLIENTS AT ALL! When ADT come into your mind...think...do I want my mother at even greater risk and you are paying to do that?

This company is a complete Fraud. It is a perfect example of how the customers are at the mercy of these scams and there is no one who can help them. My story goes back to 2007 when my troubles began. Every day an ADT hound will trouble us to have this useless piece of ___ at our home. These guys will beg for their meager commission and one day I committed the mistake that cost me three years of regret. Just a few days ago the three long troubled years came to an end and I hurriedly called to cancel this b___y account. The guy on the other end agreed and closed the account. I specifically asked if there is a balance. He said zero. Then after 3 days I saw again billed and amount drawn from my credit card. I called and the lady on the other side refused to agree and said that I should have given a month notice. Is there any one in this world who can stop them doing this act.

1. The ADT Head & Senior Management Technical Services, PTA did not return any of my calls or emails w.r.t. initial contract implementation problems, interim service, enquiries, protection requests or complaints, until
2. After spending an inordinate amount of time and money on the phones, I eventually got hold of a the ADT Call Centre Ops Manger, JHB who did help me to rectify the initial contract implementation problems stretching over 5-6 months & eventually sorted in 2008 - I should have known then?
2. I recently again contacted the Call Centre to arrange for extra protection, as promised in 2007 (and faithfully paid for since) in my original contract, for an overnight kid's party. In all that time I had only one confirmed drive-by even after I called again to enquire.
3. When I tried to contact the Call Centre again to arrange for extra protection for another 6 hour kid's party, I never got any response. Then I activated my alarm as instructed by the PVR CPF and eventually got the duty officer Daniel, who was apologetic and promised to do something for me?
4. Needless to say nothing was done?
5. Now I have to find another company to protect my family?

1. On several occasions my house alarm went off and I am still waiting for the call centre to contact me.
2. On Saturday [protected] my alarm went off at 18:30. The call centre contacted me and I drove to my house, investigated and drove back to my friends house. This took me 45 minutes during which time NO response vehicle was at my house. Almost two hours later, the call centre gave feedback that no access could be gained to my premises. AT 20 PAST ONE IN THE MORNING A VEHICLE STOPPED AND RANG MY BELL! He is just following up on the alarm that was activated! (I think that this action was out of spite because I told the call centre that I was NOT impressed with the service from ADT)
I THINK YOUR SERVICE IS ON THE DECLINE AND AT THIS STAGE IT IS PATHETIC!

This is unfortunate - and is one reason may people are turing to alarm system with the technology to notify them directly, ion addition to 24 hour professional monitoring. For instance, I get an email on my B'Berry every time something happens at my house, like a door opening, the system being armed or disarmed, loss of power, etc. ADT is just starting to sell these services (way behind the game), but they are expensive! Bigger is not always better... Hope you get this worked out.