Re: Just bought, am I getting a fair deal? Apex/Honeywell/Monitronics

[Crash Gordon® <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

They're both made by Ademco/Honeywell and are very similar. The ADT one =
is "take-over-able" except for the fact that it's not remotely =
programmable by anyone except ADT. The Vista 15P is standard =
fare...except I'm not familar with the "MT"...it may be a proprietary =
version of the 15P made for Monitronics. Mark Leuck (a poster herein) =
would know for sure.

Don't get to hung up shopping for price on the net. I'm sure you could =
find some idiot to monitor  your system for 2 bucks a month if you =
looked hard enough.

Find yourself a local company that's been around a while, one that has =
experience and a good rep. - someone who charges a fair price. After all =
if someone is only charging 5 bucks a month...will they be around in a =
year to take care of  you? You want someone who cares, who will respond, =
who knows the product...and wants to keep you as a customer..not by =
enforcing a long term contract because the HAVE to to stay in business.


"Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message =
news:At-dnYoJ1vJhiwnfRVn-rQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To answer Crash Gordon's question on which ADT panel was removed, the =
front=20
> says Safewatch Pro. The back cover, if I have the right one matched =
up, says=20
> Ademco 6128ADT LCD  Keypad. It seems like they left all or most of the =
old=20
> hardware laying around. On my new one, it says Monitronics on the =
outside,=20
> and I don't want to pull it off the wall to see if anything's on the =
back.=20
> However, inside the flip lid where your zones are written down, it =
says=20
> Honeywell. My owner's manual states it's a Vista-15PMT, however mine =
don't=20
> have the Message and Microphone LED's as illustrated in the owner's =
manual,=20
> just the Armed and Ready LED's.
>=20
> I took Bob Worthy's advice, and yesterday faxed Apex the filled out =
Notice=20
> of Cancellation, and made  copies of the Notice plus fax receipt and =
sent=20
> both, certified with return receipt to both Apex and Monitronics. I =
didn't=20
> see much "fine print" and the only reference to cancellation was on =
the=20
> Notice itself that had Apex's address and fax number, and stated must =
be=20
> cancelled no later than midnight of May 24. I hope that actually meant =
by=20
> 12:00 am of May 25. So both fax and mail are marked posted May 24.
>=20
> A couple more questions, a web search did bring me to the site of=20
> =
http://www.americandigital.shoppingcartsplus.com/page/page/1690276.htm,=20
> where they have Take-over monitoring services seemingly dirt cheap, =
like=20
> $5.95 a month etc. thru firms such as Half Price, AMS, and=20
> saveonmyalarm.com. Are any of these reputable, or "do you get what you =
pay=20
> for"? If any good, since I have all the old hardware, it may be worth =
it for=20
> someone to re-install it for me to get these prices. Or is that asking =
for=20
> trouble. Then again, when Apex was installing, the wires from the old =
wired=20
> motion sensor was bad, and they gave me a wireless, or else they would =
have=20
> wired one in. So maybe better to get new stuff? Or do it myself, is it =
worth=20
> it? I found a couple other sites that says service starts at $29 a =
month=20
> (greatalarms.com) but it seems they give you less free equipment than =
Apex,=20
> no glass breakage detector mentioned. I seen a similar offer by ADT at =
$33=20
> and up per month. I plan on making some calls to these companies in =
the next=20
> few days. But then again, I have to rely on their cellular monitoring=20
> service, which may drive the price closer to Apex's. Would it be worth =
it to=20
> get Apex out to save under $10 a month since I'm now wired with them? =
Now if=20
> I can save more than $10 a month, worth switching. I now noticed Apex=20
> installed an alarm "horn" in the basement, is that considered a =
"point"? Or=20
> battery back-up? If I kept Apex, or any other company, can I add more =
things=20
> such as window detectors for the same monitoring price? I realize I =
may need=20
> to pay for the extra hardware. Another thing I found out, is after the =
first=20
> year, Apex charges $30 a trip to come out to fix/replace faulty =
equipment.=20
> Is that standard industry practice or only Apex? Also, not mentioned=20
> earlier, the original sales person quoted me $39.99 a month, which I =
signed,=20
> but when the installer came, he made up a new contract saying the =
$39.99=20
> price was wrong, as cellular is $3 more a month.
>=20
> If I do negotiate with Apex, and I'm owed 2 more "points", I want =
them, as I=20
> said in an earlier post, they may have already included my 2 existing =
door=20
> detectors as their points. But then what I heard about Apex worries =
me. The=20
> control panel also looks different than the one they showed me in =
their=20
> brochure. At first I was told I had 2 way communication, but then when =
I=20
> brought that up after installation, I was told I don't have that =
because=20
> it's a cellular connection, so I'm not getting all the services, which =
I=20
> feel should knock a couple bucks back off my bill per month. It does =
have=20
> the Duress mode, in which they said I put in a special code, which =
alerts=20
> the police directly, bypassing the monitoring station. Is Duress mode =
pretty=20
> standard with anyone? Again thanks much for all the help.
>=20
>=20
> "Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message=20
> news:Haadne4K7Yoo5Q7fRVn-jA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> >
> > Hi, I just bought a Apex/Honeywell/Monitronics alarm system last =
Thursday=20
> > evening (5/19/05) from a door to door salesperson. I believe Apex is =
the=20
> > middleman selling the systems. The alarm system was installed that =
evening=20
> > also. I just bought my house about a year ago, and it already had a=20
> > control panel for an ADT system, but I never had it connected to a=20
> > monitoring service. I took them up on their offer, as I was meaning =
to get=20
> > some kind of security system going here, and kept procrastinating, =
and=20
> > felt if I didn't go for it, I'd procrastinate more and never get a =
system=20
> > going, and be unprotected in a Cleveland, Ohio neighborhood that's =
just=20
> > starting to become a little rough.
> >
> > What they said is they install free equipment, based on a point =
system,=20
> > and I'm allowed 6 points, each item chosen worth one point. I have a =
small=20
> > bungalow style house, so I got one wireless glass breakage detector =
(was=20
> > told it will detect to a 25 foot plus radius), one wireless motion=20
> > detector, one wireless smoke alarm, and there were already two door=20
> > sensors from the last system that they counted as one point each I =
believe=20
> > (front door and side door), and a key fob for a point. I was told 6 =
points=20
> > were worth about seven or eight hundred dollars of equipment that =
they=20
> > installed free, but looking at this now, I already had the two door=20
> > sensors. I was told window sensors were unnecessary as I just had =
new=20
> > vinyl replacement windows installed a month ago, and was told on the =
newer=20
> > ones, they are impossible to open from the outside without breaking =
the=20
> > glass, which the breakage detector would pick up.
> >
> > I don't have traditional wired landline phone service, I use only my =
cell=20
> > phone always. They told me I would have to use their cellular =
back-up=20
> > network in this case, which is $42.99 a month, $3 more than if I =
used=20
> > their landline service. I tried searching the Net to see if I am =
getting a=20
> > good, or at least a fair deal. My contract is for three years. I =
could not=20
> > find anything that lists what companies charge for monitoring, =
however I=20
> > know I'm probably at a disadvantage with some companies not having a =

> > landline. All the sites want you to sign up first, I'm sure that's =
the way=20
> > it would work with calling them also. I did find a site just now (=20
> > http://www.policealarm.com/ ) that says they monitor starting $2.95 =
a=20
> > month, but my old control box, etc. has been taken out and the =
Monitronics=20
> > installed, plus a new box in the basement, whatever that is, with =
all the=20
> > wires, etc.
> >
> > I signed up Thursday evening about 7 PM EST, and since the weekend =
was=20
> > coming up, the salesperson told me I had 5 days to change my mind =
and=20
> > cancel the contract instead of the usual 3 days. This is about up, =
and I=20
> > don't want to cancel a good deal if I do have one, and have to start =
from=20
> > scratch looking for a security provider, etc. and maybe, again, =
never get=20
> > it done. On the other hand, if it does not sound like a good/fair =
deal=20
> > what I got, what are my options to negotiate? Thanks much in =
advance.
> >
> >
> >
> >=20
>=20
>