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ADT Contract ending


Guest IanW

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After 3 long years our fully maintained alarm contract is up.

It was installed by a local company and we paid the £28 a month for 3 years to //.National Installer.// to fully maintain it.

Now we have 5 options.

1 - Stay as we are @ £23 a month

2 - Fully comprehnsive audible onlt service (Inc repairs + call outs) £19 Per month

3 - Standard Audible only service with annual inspection £15 a month

4 - End contract - 3 months notice and no support whatsoever £0 !

5 - No wish to use the alarm £0 !

If we choose option 2 3 or 4 it then needs reprogramming @ approx £100 :no:

Can anyone offer any advice ??

Ideally we want to end the contract and have possibly an external siren and reprogrammmed but even this //.National Installer.// want £250 to £300 !!

This after the alarm has in real terms cost best part of £1000.

Alarm had its annual inspection last week.

Based in West Midlands (North Worcestershire area)

Thanks

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I would recommend you go for option 4 (or 5 if you get to keep the equipment) and then get a local company to service and reprogram the system for you (for the cost of a callout). You could then have your new company fit an external siren, or even better (IMO) a speech/text dialler.

Click on the 'installers' link at the top of the page to find a company near you.

If you don't know......ask.

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1. You need to decide if you want or need the system to be monitored with Police response or not.

2. Is there a particular reason you want to leave //.National Installer.//? I know lots of people do for various reasons, but if you have had no problems then £23 a month is pretty standard. I did notice you wrote "long years"!

3. Because your system was installed by a Dealership you could have paid over the odds for your system, whilst on the other hand it could be comprehensive.

Zak Tankel - Managing Director - Security First (UK) - www.securityfirst.uk.com

Disclaimer: Any comments or opinions expressed by me are my own as a member of the public and not of my employer or Company.

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I would agree with the abobe "You need to decide if you want or need the system to be monitored with Police response or not" personaly i dont see how you could consider not being monitored any other option would be a backwarards move. Again as above what was wrong with //.National Installer.// the £23 a month is pretty standard. If it was my alarm i would stay as i was. No other charges and a national installer to call out 24-7 and if they get it wrong you have the recourse of complaining to their inspectorate.

Jef

Customers!

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Hello Ian,

I believe that you would most probably own outright the kit as this sound like a dealership programme install,

I would go for the £23.00 pm option for a piece of mind, a 24 hr monitored system with service back up well worth it, Bells only have had their day IMO.

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.


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Hi Ian,

We are in Droitwich, If you would like we can provide you with a quote to amend the system, either audible only, or signalling.

cheers

Aron Totney

P & R Alarms Limited

24 Severndale

Droitwich Spa

Worcester

WR9 8PE

tel. 01905 799949

web. www.pr-alarms.co.uk

email. aron@pr-alarms.co.uk

Trade Member

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Thanks for all the replies.

Problem is with //.National Installer.// is we had to call them out recently to be charged £50 for ermegency.

We had the alarm as we had just moved in and had no double glazing.

Now we have all the DG and UPVC doors so it's securer then it was 3 years ago.

Think Option 4 or 5 is gonna be the one we go for.

What about the "Reprogramming" ??

Do we tell //.National Installer.// that someone else is taking over the alarm ?!!

At the end of the day it's our alarm now So Option 5 is better than 4 as long as somecan can reprogramme it to use it again,

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Thanks for all the replies.

Problem is with //.National Installer.// is we had to call them out recently to be charged £50 for ermegency.

If the problem was not covered under the terms of your contract then you will be charged just as any other co would.

Advice would be to read the contract carefully. to avoid any further issues.

What about the "Reprogramming" ??

Do we tell //.National Installer.// that someone else is taking over the alarm ?!!

67001[/snapback]

Any competant Eng can reprogram it for you and install an exterior sounder if required.

Yes you need to give //.National Installer.// written notice of termination, your contract will provide you with the duration of the termination period but it's usually 3 months.

I strongly suggest that whatever you decide to do you keep the system monitored as in my view, along with the views of several other eng's on here the days of "bells only" have been and passed.

Hope this was of help

Regards

Bellman

Service Engineer and all round nice bloke :-)

The views above are mine and NOT those of my employer.

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Exactly as Bellman says. Furthermore, please don't be one of these people that think that double glazing is a security solution. Double Glazing is for retention of heat and reduction of sound. Unless you have very good quality DG and it is internally beaded then your house may not be any more secure than it was before.

All companies charge call-outs. Do you think that £23 a month covers you for 2 service visits a year, monitoring, availability of 24 hour emergency engineer, repairs on equipment under guarantee.....and everything else under the sun? You do the maths. (how many times have we been called to say a customer wants to leave company X after years of service because they weren't happy with a completely justifiable call out charge.......it always costs more to walk away than to stay - remember that).

You will be taking a step back if you remove the monitoring. If it is a financial issue then fine, but also, you should check your insurance policy.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Zak Tankel - Managing Director - Security First (UK) - www.securityfirst.uk.com

Disclaimer: Any comments or opinions expressed by me are my own as a member of the public and not of my employer or Company.

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Sorry should have added at the start it's mainly - well mostly financial.

£28 a month is money we could really do with hence moving away from monitoring.

Maybe if we were multi millionaires living in a mansion then fair enough.

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Whatever you do,if you keep the alarm functioning you should have a maintenance contract in place with someone. If not, if something goes wrong, in a month or a year down the line, it will cost you much more to repair/replace than it would if you had paid for a contract.

Understood about the monthly cost. But, (and this time you wrote £28 as opposed to £23) £23-£25 per month is the going rate, although I am sure you will be able to find a local company cheaper. If you really don't need it monitored then just cancel the contact and get a local company to come fit the external SAB.

FYI, that level of monitoring is not for mansions but for regular houses. Mansions and their associated higher value contents require a more secure method of monitoring which will cost much more per month.

Whatever you do it will cost you some money. If your financial situation is likely to improve in the next 12-18 months then it will not be cost effective to fit the SAB, speech dialler and take out a maintenance contract.

Zak Tankel - Managing Director - Security First (UK) - www.securityfirst.uk.com

Disclaimer: Any comments or opinions expressed by me are my own as a member of the public and not of my employer or Company.

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If the reason is finacial as we all know about then perhapes finish with //.National Installer.// and get best quotes for external sounder and perhapes auto dialer but always have a maintenance contract! it seems a great saving untill your external sounder goes off at 3.00 in the morning continously due to lightning,the neigbours are all awake and banging on the door,the police have been called and your being threatened with a noise abatement action by the council rep and you dont have a ladder and you dont have the option to call out an emegency engineer????????? then the saved money does not seem worth it!!!

MOST IMPORTANTLY CHECK YOUR INSURANCE IS NOT INVALIDATED BY WHAT YOU INTEND TO TO DO!!!! sorry to shout but it is the most important thing as insurures will always look for any way out of paying out especially a budget co'.

Hope this has been of help :yes: Paul.

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  • 1 month later...
Guest hofmeister

i am in a very similar situation with an //.National Installer.// contract that i no longer see any value in. //.National Installer.// have given me a quote of £650 for me to buy their 3 year old Galaxy 8 from them.......

clearly that is a rip-off.

I have a "bells-only" contract with them + call-out. I think i've called them out twice in three years and in each case it was a result of builders knocking something.

I disagree that bells-only is dead. Monitored alarms offer precious REAL value.

the alarm goes off, the monitoring company then call your designated response people. maybe they get a reply, maybe they don't. what are these people going to do in any case? you are hardly going to rush round their house because their alarm has gone off.

the police might get a call - in what timescales will they respond?

i think bells only for residential is a fine - if you are in a relatively built up area.

In most instances, your neighbours will respond first - before the monitoring company and definitely before the police.

i want to replace my galaxy8 (keeing existing bell and pir's) with something else that offers connection to a computer for monitoring, an IP camera and a dialer so it can txt me when set/unset/goes off - any suggestions?

my day job is to build computers so it cannot be that complicated to connect an alarm can it? - apologies to the pro installers out there........

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i am in a very similar situation with an //.National Installer.// contract that i no longer see any value in. //.National Installer.// have given me a quote of £650 for me to buy their 3 year old Galaxy 8 from them.......

clearly that is a rip-off.

Err, Sorry to disagree but the Galaxy is a top bit of kit and thats not an unreasonable price.

How you see that as being "clearly a rip off" is beyond me :no:

I have a "bells-only" contract with them + call-out. I think i've called them out twice in three years and in each case it was a result of builders knocking something.
So the system has been faultless for the last 3 years whilst it's sat there protecting all your worldly goods and the only faults it's had have been 3rd party damage, yes, i can see how much of a rip off it's been....
I disagree that bells-only is dead. Monitored alarms offer precious REAL value.

the alarm goes off, the monitoring company then call your designated response people. maybe they get a reply, maybe they don't. what are these people going to do in any case? you are hardly going to rush round their house because their alarm has gone off.

Bells only is as dead as a dodo, who pays any notice to ringing bells these days??

So alarm goes off, bell rings, neighbours are to busy watching eastenders to notice where the noise is coming from, and in any case, by the time they get to the window to look out, mr burglar has ripped it to bits and it's dead. and " what are these people going to do in any case? you are hardly going to rush round their house because their alarm has gone off."

the police might get a call - in what timescales will they respond?

i think bells only for residential is a fine - if you are in a relatively built up area.

In most instances, your neighbours will respond first - before the monitoring company and definitely before the police.

The police WILL get a call from the monitoring station and they WILL respond, I think you've missed the point completely about monitoring and the benefits it brings.

Hoping your neighbours respond (if they hear it in the first place) Is a far cry from a professionally monitored system. and where you get the "in most instances" from is beyond me.

i want to replace my galaxy8 (keeing existing bell and pir's) with something else that offers connection to a computer for monitoring, an IP camera and a dialer so it can txt me when set/unset/goes off - any suggestions?

The alarm you have already allows for connection to a computer for monitoring and remote interrogation. :yes:

as for the dialler, didn't you say bells only was fine a min ago :whistle: also, what good is the dialler when your away at work or the like?, well, at least you will know that all your posessions are being pinched whilst you are too far away to help, the police won't respond to a bells only system nor will they attend if you ring them to tell them it's triggered :fear: but seriously, the SD2 from cooper menvier is a nice solid dialler, plenty of functions and it's a nice funky blue colour too :rolleyes:

my day job is to build computers so it cannot be that complicated to connect an alarm can it? - apologies to the pro installers out there........

Err, compared to alarms, pc's are a walk in the park, it's not inherantly complicated but there is a minefield of regulations to wade through. :(

Oh, appology accepted, and excuse my hints of sarcasm but it seems that you have the totaly wrong idea about monitoring and the benefits it brings.

Regards

Bellman

Service Engineer and all round nice bloke :-)

The views above are mine and NOT those of my employer.

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QFA. But why is it therefore that IT people can charge realistic money compared to poor alarm people? :cry:

Zak Tankel - Managing Director - Security First (UK) - www.securityfirst.uk.com

Disclaimer: Any comments or opinions expressed by me are my own as a member of the public and not of my employer or Company.

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QFA. But why is it therefore that IT people can charge realistic money compared to poor alarm people? :cry:

Not sure they can?

The plummeting price of hardware means that peoples expectations of overall cost are driven down in proportion, leaving little time to do a job both properly and profitably. :bruce_h4h:

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Guest Raymond
//.National Installer.// have given me a quote of £650 for me to buy their 3 year old Galaxy 8 from them.......

clearly that is a rip-off.

I agree. I paid that to //.National Installer.// for a NEW Galaxy 60 to be installed as a replacement for an old Telecom Security panel. A 3 year old Galaxy 8 would be worth around £30 on eBay - so like you I fail to see where this price is in any way to your advantage.

As for monitoring, think about ditching anything that involves bells only or a central control. I've decided to opt for the Mevier SD2 voice dialler which can also send you or any other nominated mobile an SMS text giving full details of the alert and the affected zones, giving YOU the opportunity to interprate the data and decide to call out the police or return home. Because we're now more contactible, the need for central monitoring is only of use if you've got nobody who can do if for you!

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Guest CHRISATBSS

ask yourself why someone would be selling a galaxy on ebay for £30 maybee its because they diddnt pay for it themselves or it was a replacment why was it replaced

thats the panel anyway what about the keypad i know myself that a new one would set me back about £***

then you have the detectors then the SAB bell box battery door contacts prices vary depending on quality

chris

Please don't quote trade prices in public area

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I agree. I paid that to //.National Installer.// for a NEW Galaxy 60 to be installed as a replacement for an old Telecom Security panel. A 3 year old Galaxy 8 would be worth around £30 on eBay - so like you I fail to see where this price is in any way to your advantage.

the price isn't just for the panel, it's for the complete system banghead

As for monitoring, think about ditching anything that involves bells only or a central control. I've decided to opt for the Mevier SD2 voice dialler which can also send you or any other nominated mobile an SMS text giving full details of the alert and the affected zones, giving YOU the opportunity to interprate the data and decide to call out the police or return home. Because we're now more contactible, the need for central monitoring is only of use if you've got nobody who can do if for you!

yes the sd2 can send you SMS messages but it can't tell you what zone has tripped, nor can it have any possible way of telling if you've actually recieved the SMS or not.

Also, you CAN'T call the police as they won't attend to unconfirmed systems that are not maintained by an approved installer. and if you decide to attend yourself, what happens if they break in when your on holiday or at work / in the pub?

Just my thoughts.

Regards

Bellman

Service Engineer and all round nice bloke :-)

The views above are mine and NOT those of my employer.

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Guest CHRISATBSS

and the police would not go out to your property because you have told them your alarm has activated unless you are at the property and can see them in the property this is why you have a monitored alarm by a central station (ARC) which intern have a urn with the police for your property

With text messages you know how unreliable that is. Example christmas time or new year when evey one is sending messages and then someone breaks into your property message cant get through because the network has crashed due to the amount of messages but thats ok because the money you saved on monitoring you can replace the stuff the intuders pinched

chris

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Why fit a SD2 to a galaxy 60 for sending sms text when the coms mod that came with the //.National Installer.// galaxy 60 will do it anyway??

We both know that Whistle, but some people don't so they go and buy unnecessary equipment :whistle:

On a lighter note at least then they could get zonal information as well as date time B)

Regards

Bellman

Service Engineer and all round nice bloke :-)

The views above are mine and NOT those of my employer.

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