ADT Security Services
Reviews and Complaints

I had the ADT security system installed about 6 months ago & since the past 2 days the front door alarm is showing a fault. When I called the company I was told to run some tests after which she said it must be a fault with the device & that they need to send out a technician. The next available date is 10 days later. I explained to the lady that I was leaving the country for an extended period of time & needed the device to be working, so that I could leave knowing that my house is secure. She told me that she could guide me thru a process wherein I could bypass the front door & just secure the back door! So, if the burglars come in thru the front door, its ok! When I asked to be transferred to a supervisor, I was told I could get emergency services by paying 285$ / hr of service! And absolutely no regrets or offer other solution. When I said i'd like to disconnect the service was told that I could call back tomorrow & pay up the terms of the next 5 years contract & cancel the contract. So basically, you pay for 5 years for no monitoring or partial monitoring!

Over this last weekend, either late evening or early morning, I have received numerous calls from ADT pointing out that my land line is not connected to their alarm system. This despite me telling ADT more than two years ago that the phone line had been disconnected. When attempting to rectify this with the call center, [protected] or [protected], the call is either disconnected or dropped by ADT or I get put through to someone who can barely understand English. When I subsiquently ask for a senior manager I am told none are available.

Adt came to our house to do an installation with no equipment! They had no ladders or drills - these are surely basic installation tools for an alarm system? Their installation team spent 3 hours lazing around our house because they did not have equipment. When we asked why some of the installation (That did not require these tools) were not done, we were told they were on a lunch break. What? After spending the past 2 hours doing nothing? When we complained to adt, they said they outsourced installations - all well and fine, but it is their brand so they need to ensure that installations are handled correctly. Furthermore, their sales rep has since given us the run around and 2 weeks later, we still do not have our very simple installation complete!
Frustrated!

Alarm receieved on 19 or 20 Feb 2010, we asked that a car be sent yet it never pitched up! We found out the next day that the guard had decided our 5ft 6inch gate was to high for him. This is despite our mother being home alone and despite the sales person saying the height of the gate shouldnt be a problem!
Guess what, it is a problem ! we havent got the service we are paying for & we havent had any response from Robert Hood at ADT.
Mr Hood, is always in management meetings, not at his desk or out of the office.
To crown it all, he must be the only person that doesnt have a cellphone! Either that or everyone is instructed not to give it out.
Seeing that he hasnt responded to numerous messages over the last 10 days, he must be a very busy person.
We are not very happy (to say the least), and we are less than happy at the response and attitude from ADT.

Had ADT Home security system installed August 2010, still waiting for $200 rebate I sent ALL REQUIRED info in for. Nothing but run arounds for EVERYONE we talk to. Latest info from them was check was mailed on 12/18/2010. I am still waiting. Don't do business with this company. one broken promise after another. I hope I never need to find out if the system actually works. Stay away from this scam of a company. If I get no satisfaction within the next month I am reporting to the state attorney general.

In december 2001 we called adt and arranged for them come to our new home and install a security system. The adt technician came on 12/09/2001 and installed our the system into our newly built home. Since that date we have had our monthly monitoring fee of $42 withdrawn from our checking account.in november 2010 we decided to switch security companies and called ackerman. The technicians came out on november 13th and hooked us up to their system using the same equipment we had installed by adt in december 2001. During the hook-up process the technicians were stunned and called us down to the garage to show us that when our initial system was installed, a mistake was made by the adt technician and we were never hooked up through the phone lines to adt, we had been paying for a monitoring service for 9 years that we have never received. We were not hooked up to the outside world. I called and tried to resolve this with adt, I called 1-800=262-3009 and I spoke with kirk and who referred me to kevia corley. She told me that they are not responsible and that there is nothing they can do. I believe that we are entitled to every single dollar that we have paid to them for the past 9 years, including the $162 we paid to adt for installation.

I have reported last week that my newly installed alarm was not working. ADT sent out a technitian by the name of Victor. He tested the alarm and found nothing wrong. The last call logged was the previous Friday evening. the whole week my alarm was fine. This morning my alarm was activated by one of the outside passive VX40's. I never recieved a notification call from the control room. So I phoned the control room and asked why dont they phone when the alarm is activated. Maphula reported that the system do not show an alarm activation, last activation was Friday night at 20:10. I then asked for a alarm test period of 10 minutes. I have tested the alarm in that period a number of times. I received no SMS of alarm activations. I called the control room again and asked them to check. No activation logged on the ADT control room system. Now I an again stuck with an alarm that do not work over the week end. I cannot go away because this alarm is not sending its signal to the control room.

I was with ADT for seven years. My business sold and I gave sufficient notice and faxed all the appropriate paperwork. The people who purchased my business also signed up with ADT. I am now receiving letters from an attorney L. Mitchell, Barry Serota & Associates that I have not paid $337.55 for early cancellation. ADT indicated that I can only cancel during a specific time frame every six months, or I will be charged a fee for early cancellation. What a crock. This has slipped through the cracks and no one at ADT has any concern for checking into this cancellation.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.

we had ADT service for three years, the length of the contract. before the contract was up we sent them a cancellation notice per the contract agreement. we received a letter stating we owed three months payment. this was an automatic payment from my account they received it every three months. they received all there money..we went to the bank and they called them telling them there was no money due..ADT even tried to say there was back pay!. i informed by my bank to put in a stop payment to them since are obligation was done. so they couldn't continue to take money out of my account.. ADT told my wife they didn't get a letter. i have a copy. granted my wife should of sent it certified she has faith in people.. we then received a certified letter from ADT to pay up.. i will contact my attorney and get this cleared up which will cost me more money..the government needs to shut them down or keep an eye on there business ethics, nothing but con artist !

We started using ADT burglar alarm service at October 2010. After a year we decided to move out from the premises and called ADT to cancel the service. They told us the contract was for 5 years. After checking the contract we saw the 'five' years term in the small print part of the contract. (Not in numerical form but the word 'five' instead). Our sales representative Gregori Krakobski assured us that the deal did not include any commitments etc... As you may guess, he simply lied and misled us. I think ADT allows (or maybe promotes) this kind of scam done by their sales reps because they are not helpful on the phone and even if you try to contact to Corporate Customer Relations Consultants in Florida. As a result, we were not aware of a 5 year contract and the signing was like a bait-and-switch deal. After experiencing this with ADT, I personally persuaded the company I work to switch their alarm systems in 3 different locations to other security company (which offered significant discounts though, and free setup). Everything fine for now but ADT problem still not solved. Interestingly the early termination fee they want us to pay is the sum of remaining 4 years.

We had an ADT home security system installed about 3 months ago. Since then our alarm has apparently gone off twice when it was not even activated. We were not contacted to confirm if everything was in order when the alarm went off. With the first incident, we merely discovered a security officer on our property and the second we found an ADT note under our front door in the morning.

We have contacted the Service Center on 3 occassions requesting an investigation and were told that a Supervisor will contact us back. We are still waiting! This is clearly a faulty system.

I received an invoice for renewal of a contract effective 3/1/10.
I wrote "TERMINATE 2/22/10" on the invoice and returned it to
ADT on 2/23/10. The contract was not renewed by me because,
in response to a malfunction in the system, the ADT serviceman made
a brief inspection and reported that "We can't repair the system because it is too old." No change had been made in the system from the time ADT took over the contract many years earlier. ADT continued billing
me and I continued paying their invoices for 10 years or more, even
though ADT knew or should have known that they could not service
the system. To me this constitutes misrepreentation.
They have continued to bill me for service up to 5/8/10.

ADT = A Den of Thieves!

I signed a contract with ADT in 2007 in Pta. In December 2008 I moved to Jhb, and informed ADT about the move. I asked them to sypply my with a radio link for the Jhb area. Well, time went by, and early in December I phoned numerous times to get it done. On the 10th of December, I phoned again, asked them where can I get a transmitter, will install it myself. I owned a security company, so installation of a radio transmitter is nothing new for me).

I was told to go to ADT in Randburg. I took time of from work, went all the way to Randburg, and was told, no, they don't keep stock of radio transmitters.

I phoned ADT head office, and told them I will get another security company, since ADT cannot give me service. I phoned RSS that evening, and the following day, I was connected up to their control room.

Since then, I get WEEKLY sms's from ADT that my alarm doesn't work (well, clearly, since it is not connected to ADT, and I am now living in Jhb, not Pta!) and lately the sms's got threatening... my account is overdue and I will be listed on the credit bureau.

STOP HARASSING ME! You didn't give me service, and I terminated the contract on 10 December 2008.

In 2003 we renovated our home and had to have alarm installed in order to get home insurance.
I chose ADT due to their supposedly great service and reputation.

After having to replace many batteries over time, and after replacing them, we had to test the units to enusre they are working properly, our ears flew off from the nasty sound. We finally decided, we need a new system with a less ear numbing alarm sound and after having had problems with their service repair men and scheduling.

Turns out that ADT did not properly install the units especially the heat and fire detectors in the furnace room, and my work studio which has cathedral ceilings and is filled with flamable materials since I design rugs.
They rather placed them on a much lower area since the installer were to lazy to put them were they should belong, on the highest part of the ceivings.

Also, the box with the batterie was placed in the garage, easy for burglars to get a hold of...you name it they did it and all wrong...

The new security company advised us to call the Fire Dept. and to ask for an inspector to come to our home to inspect placements of the individual detectors, to take photos of them and then to sue ADT which we are doing now!

It is irresponsible for a company like ADT to sell and install supposed life saving fire and heat detectors if they do not even care if they are installed properly.

Lucky for us we never had a fire!
Today is 9/12/10 and I will keep you all posted of the outcome!

Apparently ADT, more specifically B&H Electronics in Pinetown runs 'promotions' all year round so its not really a promotion or special at all, but the norm. PLEASE STOP CALLING ME! I get calls at least twice a week from your sales people and other ADT sales people. I have a security company already and am not going to change any time soon. I have asked once before that I get removed from your marketing lists. Now I am fed up - PLEASE REMOVE ME OFF ALL YOUR MARKETING LISTS IMMEDIATLY. I do not want another call from your sales team. If I do, I will go to the Pinetown court and lay a charge of invasion of privacy against ADT.

This account has been closed for approx 6 months, this morning I get an sms to tell me that my account is overdue and I should pay it to avoid being listed. Would the person responsible for this please be stopped immediately. If this whole procedure has to happen again, I am going to report you to the Ombudsman. I am now sick and tired of dealing with incompetent people.

All relevant documentation required to close the account was acknowledged as received when an I was told it would be cancelled immediately, please look into this today!

ADT Money-Back Service Gaurantee is a SCAM - they sent out letters and advertise via e-mail (eg, spam) to get you get them for security reason. They have a 3 days refundable cancellation, but once they come and hook up and you sign that paper, they will NOT cancel the service nor refund you back any money even when you cancel. They will lied that you did not cancel within 3 days. When you fax them the cancellation paper, they will ignore it. Once you call them regarding to cancellation, they will give you the run around and say they lost your cancellation paper fax and they will LIED. Do not let them pull money out of your bank account, do not give them your debit card, they will shrink your bank account. They have bad customers service and they will not refund nor cancel. John Koch is the President and his letter is a BS. Their system does not work and the installer or mechanic will not fix anything if your system is broken. A lawsuit is coming their way and we'll be writing complaint letters all the internet till this problem is resolved!

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.

I agreed there customer service sucks. My alarm went off right after I left for work and the ADT operator sent the police to the wrong address. I got to work 45 minutes later they called and the operator left a message on my work phone and said to call them. When I called back they said the police were unable to locate my house and he didn't know what to do next since he had the wrong address in his computer. I shortly hung up and called a friend to go over to my house. He went over and my garage door was open, but no one was there and nothing was missing. When I called ADT back and talked to a manager she told me that was human error and it happens. I am a single female living alone and if someone had hurt me this morning I would still be lying there waiting for help... the point of paying $45 per month for an alarm is so that help shows up when it goes off. I want out of my contact so I can switch to another company but ADT said there is nothing they can do. I just have to hope that next time the operator gives the wring address to the police! DON'T USE ADT, there monitoring service and customer service suck.

They don't clearly explain that their contract binds you to pay $1, 000's if you cancel service, no matter the circumstances, even if you are not happy with their service, even if your small business is going broke.

They do not follow-up to make sure their services are working correctly.

They do not call you if your alarm goes off.

They charge you less $ to replace the Entire system and more $ Just to replace the battery. I think that is very wasteful.

They allow their customer service employees (& us) to have to listen to a continual beeping noise sound during phone calls.

They charge you by the number of days in the month instead of monthly. If you pay by automatic through your bank, you will get major late fees for the 31day months.

ADT a company that needs to greatly improve their ethics and appreciate their employees and customers.

I do not suggest anyone use ADT services.