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

["Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx>]

A correction is in order: According to Apex's brochure, the Glass Break,
Motion Sensor, and Smoke Alarm are 2 points each (all wireless), not 1 as I
thought. I also have a key fob for 1 point, so that's 7, so maybe they
didn't count my 2 already wired door sensors.  They say the 2 pointers are
worth $195 each, and the 1 pointers, $99 each. The brochure says you get 5
points worth installed, a $799 value. However, I'm not clear on this, as I'm
sure the salesperson had a brochure that she kept with different plans, some
8 points which I thought she said I was originally qualified for, then later
after figuring out what they thought I need, I'm sure it went to 6 points.
They were/are  very unclear on this. So maybe they're throwing in a free key
fob? Is that the industry prices for the hardware listed? Thanks again.


"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 says Safewatch Pro. The back cover, if I have the right one matched
> up, says Ademco 6128ADT LCD  Keypad. It seems like they left all or most
> of the old hardware laying around. On my new one, it says Monitronics on
> the outside, and I don't want to pull it off the wall to see if anything's
> on the back. However, inside the flip lid where your zones are written
> down, it says Honeywell. My owner's manual states it's a Vista-15PMT,
> however mine don't have the Message and Microphone LED's as illustrated in
> the owner's manual, just the Armed and Ready LED's.
>
> I took Bob Worthy's advice, and yesterday faxed Apex the filled out Notice
> of Cancellation, and made  copies of the Notice plus fax receipt and sent
> both, certified with return receipt to both Apex and Monitronics. I didn't
> see much "fine print" and the only reference to cancellation was on the
> Notice itself that had Apex's address and fax number, and stated must be
> cancelled no later than midnight of May 24. I hope that actually meant by
> 12:00 am of May 25. So both fax and mail are marked posted May 24.
>
> A couple more questions, a web search did bring me to the site of
> http://www.americandigital.shoppingcartsplus.com/page/page/1690276.htm,
> where they have Take-over monitoring services seemingly dirt cheap, like
> $5.95 a month etc. thru firms such as Half Price, AMS, and
> saveonmyalarm.com. Are any of these reputable, or "do you get what you pay
> for"? If any good, since I have all the old hardware, it may be worth it
> for someone to re-install it for me to get these prices. Or is that asking
> for trouble. Then again, when Apex was installing, the wires from the old
> wired motion sensor was bad, and they gave me a wireless, or else they
> would have wired one in. So maybe better to get new stuff? Or do it
> myself, is it worth it? I found a couple other sites that says service
> starts at $29 a month (greatalarms.com) but it seems they give you less
> free equipment than Apex, no glass breakage detector mentioned. I seen a
> similar offer by ADT at $33 and up per month. I plan on making some calls
> to these companies in the next few days. But then again, I have to rely on
> their cellular monitoring service, which may drive the price closer to
> Apex's. Would it be worth it to get Apex out to save under $10 a month
> since I'm now wired with them? Now if I can save more than $10 a month,
> worth switching. I now noticed Apex installed an alarm "horn" in the
> basement, is that considered a "point"? Or battery back-up? If I kept
> Apex, or any other company, can I add more things such as window detectors
> for the same monitoring price? I realize I may need to pay for the extra
> hardware. Another thing I found out, is after the first year, Apex charges
> $30 a trip to come out to fix/replace faulty equipment. Is that standard
> industry practice or only Apex? Also, not mentioned earlier, the original
> sales person quoted me $39.99 a month, which I signed, but when the
> installer came, he made up a new contract saying the $39.99 price was
> wrong, as cellular is $3 more a month.
>
> If I do negotiate with Apex, and I'm owed 2 more "points", I want them, as
> I said in an earlier post, they may have already included my 2 existing
> door detectors as their points. But then what I heard about Apex worries
> me. The control panel also looks different than the one they showed me in
> their brochure. At first I was told I had 2 way communication, but then
> when I brought that up after installation, I was told I don't have that
> because it's a cellular connection, so I'm not getting all the services,
> which I feel should knock a couple bucks back off my bill per month. It
> does have the Duress mode, in which they said I put in a special code,
> which alerts the police directly, bypassing the monitoring station. Is
> Duress mode pretty standard with anyone? Again thanks much for all the
> help.
>
>
> "Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:Haadne4K7Yoo5Q7fRVn-jA@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>
>> Hi, I just bought a Apex/Honeywell/Monitronics alarm system last Thursday
>> evening (5/19/05) from a door to door salesperson. I believe Apex is the
>> middleman selling the systems. The alarm system was installed that
>> evening also. I just bought my house about a year ago, and it already had
>> a control panel for an ADT system, but I never had it connected to a
>> monitoring service. I took them up on their offer, as I was meaning to
>> get some kind of security system going here, and kept procrastinating,
>> and felt if I didn't go for it, I'd procrastinate more and never get a
>> system going, and be unprotected in a Cleveland, Ohio neighborhood that's
>> just starting to become a little rough.
>>
>> What they said is they install free equipment, based on a point system,
>> and I'm allowed 6 points, each item chosen worth one point. I have a
>> small bungalow style house, so I got one wireless glass breakage detector
>> (was told it will detect to a 25 foot plus radius), one wireless motion
>> detector, one wireless smoke alarm, and there were already two door
>> sensors from the last system that they counted as one point each I
>> believe (front door and side door), and a key fob for a point. I was told
>> 6 points were worth about seven or eight hundred dollars of equipment
>> that they installed free, but looking at this now, I already had the two
>> door sensors. I was told window sensors were unnecessary as I just had
>> new vinyl replacement windows installed a month ago, and was told on the
>> newer ones, they are impossible to open from the outside without breaking
>> the glass, which the breakage detector would pick up.
>>
>> I don't have traditional wired landline phone service, I use only my cell
>> phone always. They told me I would have to use their cellular back-up
>> network in this case, which is $42.99 a month, $3 more than if I used
>> their landline service. I tried searching the Net to see if I am getting
>> a good, or at least a fair deal. My contract is for three years. I could
>> not find anything that lists what companies charge for monitoring,
>> however I 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 it would work with calling them also. I did find a site
>> just now ( http://www.policealarm.com/ ) that says they monitor starting
>> $2.95 a month, but my old control box, etc. has been taken out and the
>> Monitronics installed, plus a new box in the basement, whatever that is,
>> with all the wires, etc.
>>
>> I signed up Thursday evening about 7 PM EST, and since the weekend was
>> coming up, the salesperson told me I had 5 days to change my mind and
>> cancel the contract instead of the usual 3 days. This is about up, and I
>> don't want to cancel a good deal if I do have one, and have to start from
>> scratch looking for a security provider, etc. and maybe, again, never get
>> it done. On the other hand, if it does not sound like a good/fair deal
>> what I got, what are my options to negotiate? Thanks much in advance.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>