ADT

We have ADT. I am making this story short, because ADT was so awful in so many ways. Thursday 1/21/10 morning our monitored smoke alarms went off for about 10 minutes, ADT never called, so we called ADT, they are very rude, said they didn't receive a signal, didn't seem to care, told us to call the phone company, our phone worked fine. Told us if we wanted them to come out, they would charge us & wouldn't come till the next day. WE didn't care about the charge, we wanted to know we were protected like we pay them to. We wanted them to come out on Thursday, but they scheduled us for Friday. Here's the really bad part: Friday morning 1/22/10, my husband woke me up screaming, our home was full of billowing smoke, NO smoke alarm went off. We had to call 911, our furnace apparently burned. The fire dept. also stated that our alarm system maybe the cause. ADT never called in the fire, because they didn't get a signal, & there equipment did not work, the fire dept. could not underst... Read more

Buyer beware! You may find yourself in a 3-year contract!! My business just changed locations and we had to cancel our ADT service. I called in and they said I had to fax a letter of request to cancel. I assumed that the cancellation would be immediate, but as I found out from the continuing charges, they wait 30 days before enacting the cancellation. Furthermore, it is a 3-year service contract and you are billed a percentage of the remaining months. Their staff was not helpful and made it clear that ADT has to make their money and they do not care about the customers. I wish I would have known this when we started. :-(

I had a Wells Fargo security system installed in my home in 1985. Tyco purchased Wells Fargo in 1998 and merged the company with ADT. This is to show I have had monitoring service for about 25 years of which 12 years have been with ADT. My husband has been on disability for the past year and a half and although I have been slightly late with my payments, I have always called ADT's billing department to tell them when my payments would be expected. On 12/18/09, I was invoiced $105 which was my quarterly payment. This is the ONLY amount that was due to them. Tonight, I received a call from the "home office" stating I owed them $60 and that they had terminated my service. No warning, no letters, no calls prior to the one this evening. I then called their 800# billing department and spoke to a manager (Lisa) who said my service was terminated because "they had made numerous calls and no one could reach me" along with the statement that letters had been sent regarding the terminati... Read more

I'm gonna make this short since ADT has already wasted so much of my time. Customer Service - do they really have one? I can't get a hold of anyone who will/can help me? The installers forgot two of our four windows! Two weeks later and no one has come to finish the job. We are still not being monitored and this whole ordeal started two weeks ago. It's now January 5, 2010! They get my vote for the WORST company of the decade. Oh, yeah... and still no call back from the area manager. I would never recommend ADT to anyone. Seriously. ~ Sacramento, CA

ADT locks consumers for a 3 years contract. That part is quite common to all providers. What is extraordinary with ADT is their service charges when you need to use their technical support (unavailable over the phone). After losing our alarm remote control, we opted to disable its functionality from the control panel. The cost of doing this simple task just shocked us. Their service charge is $94 for 30 minutes (!!!) additional $25 for the trip, and $25 for every additional 20 minutes the technician is at your premises. (Or simply, $119 to disable the key-chain remote!) This is the most outrageous scam I have ever been suckered into. Upon asking a supervisor about the unusually exaggerated charges, I was told that is the cost of doing business. If you're not committed yet, do yourself a BIG favor and find another alarm service which values the cost of "doing business" with its customers differently. DO NOT USE ADT!

thanks for all the post on this board...im looking to getting an alarm and was about to call ADT but after reading all the complaints im going to look elsewhere ADT if you are reading this you just lost ALOT of money and a good customer

I bought system with a motion detectors with ADT and was told that only an animal that weighs 50lbs will set it off. Well my 7 lbs cats set it off! When I called to complain I was told that weight has nothing to do with it. Now it happened again and they are telling me they have no note of that incident and they could set it so their height will not trigger the alarm and charge me. Obviously they have never seen a cat- cats like high places so that would NEVER work and we would be back to square one! Now they are giving me the run around and saying they can't help me-they can help me they just choose not to because I am under contract so they own me! I can't wait for it to be over so I can use a company that doesn't sell lies! I am mad! I can't even use my motion detectors what a waste of money! I HATE ADT they are a rip-off.

ADT as well as it's contractors are just a piece of garbage. Do not get, listen to me, do NOT get or sign anything with adt. I signed the contract under pressure; After I checked the reviews, I called the next day to cancel it; they tricked me into believing it was cancelled by phone, so I though everything was ok. I didn't hear about them for a month and a half, then they told me that I had to pay $350 for cancellation given that I did not send them a letter of cancellation as the contract says. Otherwise, they said they would take me to a collection agency. Tomorrow I will pay them $350 to save my credit score since I need it for a second house. They in turn will give me back the contract. Consumer Protection can not do anything; this is just a nasty company. WORST company ever by far. DO NOT GET IT

ADT is the most disgusting company I've ever dealt with - watch my story and see what you think about them: http://www.click2houston.com/news/21654380/detail.h tml?dsq=23535191#comment-23535191

I AM SO UPSET WITH THIS COMPANY !! FOR YEARS I HAVE USED THEM THEN RELOCATED TO TUCSON AND HAD THE ACCOUNT TRANSFERRED. UNBEKNOWNST TO ME THE INSTALLATION COMPANY (CRIME BUSTERS OF AZ, WHO BY THE WAY I UNDERSTAND ARE OUT OF BUSINESS) SIGNED ME UP FOR A THREE YEAR CONTRACT, MY SIGNATURE AND EVERYTHING. NOW I AM MOVING AFTER 18 MONTHS AND ADT ADVISES ME THAT I HAVE TO PAY THEM THE REST OF THE CONTRACT. CONTRACT - WHAT CONTRACT ! I DID NOT READ THE CONTRACT THOROUGHLY AND THE INSTALLATION COMPANY DID NOT POINT OUT THE FACT THAT IS WAS A THREE YEAR CONTRACT. DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!! I WOULD GUESS THAT IF YOU DIE YOUR ESTATE WOULD HAVE TO PAY THE REMAINING PORTION AS WELL. SHOUDY BUSINESS PRACTICES. Grace

Just found out that if there is a problem on a door contact, it does not necessarily show up as a fault on the system. So we think we are all alarmed in or out of the house, but actually a door was not securely alarmed. ADT installed our system when we moved in, 11 years ago and we have obviously been paying full price for a cut-rate service ever since! I also had the run around on Friday when trying to speak to a person to find out about what was needed when getting new vinyl windows installed in part of the house, and was given incorrect information! I am not feeling happy and secure in my home with ADT, although I have been believing that we were for the past 11 years. Who knows how long that door was faulty. Dealing with the service engineers and the local office at ground level is the only way you get truth and answers and I cannot fault them. They get the job done and at least know what they are talking about, but the corporate phone number is a waste of time and you get... Read more

Simply the worst company I have ever dealt with, hands down. Lying sales reps, hidden fees, no employee accountability, EXTREMELY poor customer service, lots and lots of hoop jumping, finger pointing and double-talk. Even account cancellation is designed to be very tricky and difficult. The bad reviews speak for themselves and the good reviews are obviously being posted by ADT employees or lobbyists.

i really like adt i was upset when ifound out that my windows was not cover in the plan they told that i had to pay 75.00 dollars for each windows. i am glad to be with adt,they are the only company that does rental security, i am please with the company.

ADT utilizes high pressure sales tactics and their regional representatives are nothing more than the old coined "Used Car Salesmen". They truly to not concern themselves with your needs or best interests, but only their comissions. Even in commercial applications as I was fortunate to have experience with them in both, they don't apply logic or ethics to what you need, but try to push things that are irrelevant and when they are higher than other companies, they always say they have better service. I have utilized all three of the big major security companies...and ADT is by far the worst!

I was scammed into a 3 year contract by the ADT Salesperson. There is no mention of the contract on the page I was asked to sign. I realized this when I called to cancel and then found that there is a light print about the contract on back of the page. Buyer BEWARE!!

My local ADT rep was great, but the customer service that I received from ADT corporate was terrible. They take forever to answer their phone, then they transfer you numerous times before you get to someone who can actually help. When I tried to move my system I got so feed up with all the fees and un-returned calls that canceled my service completely. I would rather pay a cancellation fee then continue my business with ADT.

If there was a way to give ADT no stars I would do so. Today I spoke with Melissa Poole, a manager at ADT who provided terrible customer service. I explained to Melissa that when we signed up for ADT the sales person assured us that the contract was a formality, and that all we had to do if we called to cancel was to explain why. ADT was, in his opinion, very understanding and wanted to keep their customers happy. After all, a company like that thrives via word of mouth... right? Well, let's hope he is right because I have every intention of sharing my experience so that you can avoid ADT altogether. With enough word of mouth perhaps ADT will change their ways. I wasnt angry when I called because of the info the sales person shared with us. I told them that we found that the alarm went off in the night too often for no reason, and we found that we just werent using it. Plus, in this economy we really couldnt afford it. We wanted to cancel, and I was confused by the $400 bill I had ... Read more

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.

ADT is the best company when it comes to security. They have a lifetime warranty on all equipment, 36 hour service call response time (try getting those other companies to do that) world class service!! what do you expect? ADT is securing the White house, The Pentagon, and Fort Knox!! Everyone i have talk to that has ADT (about 100 people) has the same feeling about this great company. remember, people only like to talk when they have a bad experience, very seldom do people share their good ones. Thats the only reason these other reviews are bad, not because ADT is a bad company by any means.

Do not trust ADT. I would not recommend them to anyone. My alarm was installed about 10 years ago and I signed a contract guaranteeing a $24.95 per month monitoring charge for as long as I was owned the home. I was on quarterly auto pay and never paid any attention to the charges. In February 2009 I received a notice increasing my monthly rate by $1.79 to $33.28. Shame on me for trusting them to live up to a contract. I called them to cancel my account and they said they would waive the fee increase if I did not cancel. I said they violated my trust and please cancel my account. The ADT rep said she would cancel the account effective March 1, 2009. Imagine my surprise when my credit card was charged $99.86 on March 2, 2009. I again called ADT and the representative confirmed that I had canceled in February but said she would have to submit the cancellation. When questioned she said it was cancelled but not submitted. She then informed me that the cancellation paper work woul... Read more

I think this company has followed the route of so many other large companys. Just a numbers game. They really don't care about the service you recieve. Thats why you have to sign a long term contract. Because they know they suck and thats the only way they can keep your business. You better hope you never have any issues with you system because it will be downhill from there. I have had techs try to BS me. I have been double billed. I have been lied too. But I have a contract.......... SAD SAD SAD.

The worst customer service. Our company bought a commercial building that had ADT already installed. First problem was, they told us we were just signing a work order allowing them to make modifications, but really - in the very SMALL fine print - we signed a 5 year contract that we are now stuck with. Every since then it has been horrible. The people who answer the phones never know anything about how the system works. We ask a question and we have to go through five different people just to get an answer of "We can come out and look at the system for you for $80 per hour". We have had several alarm "events", which we STILL don't know what that means because no one can tell us!!! They don't know their product. They don't know what they are doing. They aren't at all helpful. They have a system that breaks down a lot, and we are paying way too much for that! Definitely switching companies when our contract is up!

Horrible! Been a customer for 7years and they just raise my bill whenever they feel like it. I am paying almost double of when I started. No customer service! They say that now I want to cancel they will charge me for a full year! I've spent hours waiting on the phone just to find this out! Arrrggg!

Anybody that may think about working or purchasing an ADT system should look elsewhere. You wouldn't believe how many times I talke to customers that stated their system didn't work but were paying the monthly monitoring rate. The service department would find out that in most cases these systems had never received a signal and weren't hooked up correctly at all. But ADT would cash the customer check each month and when notified they would give one month credit instead of the two to three years that the customer should have been paid back. The regional office in Kansas City management knew about it and would not refund money. The regional office also booked commercial and residential jobs to inflate their nunber for month end, each month, in order to make their numbers and then have the customer service then back it off the next month. This was typical and I worked there for eight years doing that. The management treated their employees horrible, micromanaged, watching and scream... Read more

they're bloodsucker!

I am moving and they want 400 dollars to move the alarm with me. Should I cancel the contract early they want 1038.00! Be very wary of this company before you sign up, they do not tell you of the moving expenses!!

ADT has the highest turn over. Lousy sales manger  - Nelson Carrillo in Pleasanton, California. Never give sales rep. commission statement.  Installation is messy and rip off customers. Installation Coordinator yell at the sales rep and customers. Exploit sales people. The worst company I have worked for.

Wow, I guess I am lucky. I have been with ADT for 13 years and have had great service and complete peace of mind.

As a former sales rep for ADT corporate I would like to make a few things known for someone looking into getting an alarm. Again, I'm speaking on my behalf of my experience with ADT corporate-not an ADT Authorized Dealer. We'll start with the good, then move onto the bad. Good: 1. The equiptment is top of the line 2. 5 Monitoring stations ensure you're emergency call will always be taken 3. installers go thru background checks, as do sales reps 4. It's unlikely they will go out of business as they've been around since 1874. Cons: 1. The company is far too large and consequently, once you sign, unless you got a responsible rep, you're forgotten about. 2. ADT is oldschool and is run in a is prehistoric fashion-all the contract contact info is entered manually by an overworked, underpaid admin person which leaves a lot of room for error. Therefore, your contact info could be completely wrong and you could never be notified. 3. People are so overworked that noone wants to help-customer ser... Read more

WORST COMPANY EVER TO DEAL WITH. i wish i cud kick ADT in their a**. Very bad customer service. Their service tech are never available. They dont care if your business is secure or not. I WILL NEVER EVER RECOMMEND THEM. if u still go for ADT after reading this , then you are the dumbest person on planet earth.

I used to be a ADT customer, for three years, as I waas properly told originally. I did try to cancel early, but gave up and waited out the contract. My frustration is that even now they still mess with my security. Has anyone received the renewal letters they send out. White with large red letters, stating that they want you to reconnect, right on the envelope. I might as well have a shirt on that states I have $500 cash in my pocket. Although I don't count on a alarm system to prevent people from entering my house, I tend to shy away from the practice of announcing it to everyone who can open my mailbox, which is everyone. I don't think there is any recourse to that, but in light of the other complaints I read here, my issue is minor. I don't understand how a company with customer service as bad as them can exist. Many companies depend on subcontracted sales channels, I have never seen the type of complaints I've read about ADT. They should be ashamed.

Absolutely the worst company I've dealt with! Hate that I have to give ANY stars. The installer was mad that he had to come, since he was supposed to be at his kids birthday party. The company began taking out random amounts from my bank account. Each time I would call, and no one seemed to know anything. Took 6 months to straighten that out. I would have cancelled then, but there was a $200 cancellation fee, so I decided to stick out the 2 years. We called after the first year to see if they could put a delay on the back door. First we were told that IF someone came out, there would be a large charge just for the trip. Then, they could still tell us "no". If they could, there would be more charges. Finally, we were told that we were TOO FAR AWAY, and they wouldn't even do it for any cost! I decided to terminate the contract at the end of the 2 years. I submitted my 30-day notice, and they cancelled it early (by 9 days) and STILL charged me the cancellation fee PLUS the pr... Read more

No problems with the system yet (counting our blessings) but the keyfob starting eating batteries. We called ADT to get a replacement only to find out it would cost $180 for the remote and the service tech to come to the house and "program it to our system". I remembered the original installer (another company which has since been purchased by ADT) commenting on how easy this remote keyfob system was to install and it only taking about 30 seconds to get it to recognize the keyfob. I asked ADT for the programming instructions and they said it required an installer and their special "installer code". I pressed them and they refused to give me the code to program my own system. So, I started searching the Internet and within a few minutes had found a place that sells the same remote for $19.95. A few minutes later I had located the programming instructions and it DOES NOT require an installer code, just 7-8 keypresses and then press the keyfob remote button 4 times. Needless to say... Read more

Honestly.. this is my first bad review writing on a company. I want to let everybody know that this is the WORST company I dealt with so far. I was their customer for 2 years and was forced to call them 5-6 times always I got very bad response all the times except once.. that time it surprised me... VERY VERY BAD SERVICE COMPANY. IF YOU WANT SECURITY FOR YOUR FAMILY AND HOME THEN JUST DON'T DEAL WITH THESE GUYS.

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/homeowners/adt.htm http://adt.pissedconsumer.com/ http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/general-debt/61031-adt-fire-security.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_pwwi/is_20030 6/ai_mark575232300 http://www.lawyersandsettlements.com/case/adt-response-time.html http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/june/17/23 .htm http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118648325947790339. html?mod=rss_whats_news_us http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/204/RipOff020 4886.htm http://800notes.com/articles/News.aspx/J9TMHLTlzwAf kgjJ8BIF8Q http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/adt-security-services-c3117.html http://blog.fastcompany.com/archives/2005/03/16/how _to_lose_a_customer.html http://forum.homesecuritystore.com/index.php?topic= 8693.msg50192 http://lucretia.ca/portal/News/article/sid=85.htmlh ttp://www.robert.to/reviews/adt_is_bad.html http://www.complaints.com/may2002/complaintoftheday .may9.27.htm http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/sept... Read more

I am looking into suing ADT for non performance. Their techs can't come out after 5 or on weekends, and my alarm has gone off with no calls to my phone and no police showing up at my door. If you look at jpoindexter's post, it is obvious he is ADT. Who else would know all that company specific info. The rating here should really be 0 stars. They will go out of business with service like this eventually so don't even start with them!

i agree should give option for negative star rating. dealing with ADT was a nightmare from get go. first time tried to hae system installed. paid with credit card. install tech never showed up. no call no nothing, had to cancell credit card to stop payment. gave them second shot. this time salesman came to house. paid with personal check. install guy showed up in very bad mood and was rude. wouldn't put system where i wanted it, got in his truck and just left. no one from ADT will return my numerious phone calls. you be best to look for other company. ADT is too big for britches doesn't care about customers they do not need you.and you not need them.

Again, negative stars would be a better option here. The system itself was terrible, IF it ever worked. In the 3 months we were with ADT not a single alarm registered with ADT. At one point we would set it off ourselves to see if we would get any kind of response, but not a single response EVER. The service in this case was overpriced, because I could've monitored it the same way for no charge. The final straw was when we moved from one city to another. Apparently ADT has decided that customer loyalty is better gained by charging customers contract termination fees than suspending the account until the individuals arrive at their new address. We called 30 days prior to our move, and were told that unless we had an address to start the new service we were to be billed the entirety of the contract remaining. When pressed on this the rep simply stated "How do we know you're ever going to come back?". Then during the closing of the new property ADT threatened to send the fees to a c... Read more

Rude and unprofessional customer service and the most deceitful company, I give them 0 rate if I were allowed to give less than 0 I would have give them minus , they shouldnt even be in the market. I dont recommend to friends.

I would love to give ADT no stars. Horrible phone system (cannot hear them, and they transfer you back and forth from Canada to the US). Rude customer service reps who would rather transfer you to another location than to answer your questions. No accountablility. No knowledge. Overpriced. I would never use them again, and will actively tell people not to use them.

After watching the news about all the different mom and pop alarm company's in town here the obvious choice for me was ADT.  Alot of these alarm company's didn't even have a license to sell alarms.  That was disturbing.  Also alot of them are using out dated equipment.  ADT has been doing this for over 130 years so I think they know what they are doing by now.  If you look at the type of equipment compared to all the other alarm companys it's apple and oranges.  ADT's service techs are 24hrs which really helps when I need someone on a Sunday, I would never get that from another alarm company.  They also monitor over 200 airports, many goverment institutes including the Federal Marshals and has recently made a deal with ALL federal judges (most judges make good decisions that's what they get paid for).  I don't work for ADT, I just do alot of research and not look at a few bad instances in which some are waaaay out there.  I have been a customer for over 10 years and when it comes to pr... Read more

Negative stars for ADT! after the move from hell, I needed to activate the alarm system in my new home to have some piece of mind. About a month later, I was coming home from work with my son and realized the alarm system was amiss- the lights were red, so I hesitantly walked into my bedroom and found that the back door was open. I immediately grabbed my son and ran out of the house. I first called the police, then ADT. I found out that the alarm went off at 12:30pm in the afternoon, the police were at my house, and I never received a call from ADT. My telephone numbers, all three of them, were erroneously entered into their system so I was never notified. The telephone numbers on the contract were legibly and correctly writtern.The scary part is that there could have been someone in my house who could have had a gun. So much for home security....

We DID NOT use ADT. We found them to be unprofessional and rude. We called ADT to inquire about pricing and packages available. They would not give a quote until one of their representatives came to evaluate the house. After the initial visit and pricing information, the salesman asked if we were ready to go ahead with installation. We told him that he was the first person that we had spoken to with regards to home security and would like to speak with others to compare prices. He tried to give us another sales pitch but we just were not ready to commit to ADT at that point. The next day, we got a phone call from the man's manager during dinner time to ask if there was anything that they could do to for us to select ADT as our security provider. We provided the same message stating that we wanted to shop around before making a decision. We also asked that he not call back, as we would call him if, and when, we were ready. A couple days later, the salesman called again asking... Read more

No stars as well. I have the same comments. I rent and clearly told the rep I was renting for one year: it looks like I have a 3-year contract now and can only cancel for >400$. Also, when he came to the house, he reactivated the system and would only reactivate for a lot of money. Then I called the company to check if it was monitored and they said the system wasn't working at all and needed new parts.So in the week between my landlady was using it and when I moved in, the whole thing broke. Very disappointing, I make a point of telling everyone that ADT is not trustworthy.

Zero stars! ADT is the most deceitful company I ever dealt with. The salesman didn't go over the monitoring contract with me and I found out later it has some surprises. They had me under contract for 3 years but raised my rate after just 1 year. Since their extended service plan does not cover lightning damage, they blame all my problems on lightning and then bill me for service calls. I have numerous false alarm fines from my police department because the system malfunctions and I can't keep spending money to fix their cheap equipment. I tried to get out of my contract because of the terrible service but they were going to charge me another fortune, so I guess I'm stuck till the end of the contract. Stay away from ADT!

ADT is the most dishonest company I have ever dealt with.

ADT is the worst service company I have ever seen... Hands Down! You have to pay just to SPEAK to an actual Alarm Technician. They get you with the cheap price,and cheap equipment then slam you with extra charges is they ever have to actually come out and do something to fix your system. 0 out of 10. Save your money and get a handgun or a rotweiler

The worst customer service imaginable.

My experience with ADT has been awful. It began when they purchased the alarm company we did business with. Under their management the service quickly deteriorated, it very difficult to get our system fixed and there were constant false alarms. Instead of fixing it properly, ADTs representative kept trying to sell us a new system.