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

[Crash Gordon® <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Don't rely on the web entirely...get face to face and phone to phone =
with someone. Find a company willing to talk to you! I spend MOST of my =
time talking (I get headaches from being on the phone so much).

Ask; friends, neighbors, relatives who they use. Check with your local =
BBB (don't count on this but it's one indicator)...you can check for =
contractors licenses, alarm licenses etc. Best thing though is to ask =
around!

Apex may or may not show up to pickup the equipment...sometimes it's =
just not worth another trip...wait and see.=20


"Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message =
news:2rCdne06--9XrwnfRVn-rg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Thanks again Crash, I'll be scouring the yellow pages later today.=20
> Hopefully, Apex won't be quite as hasty to take the equipment out as =
when=20
> they put it in, and take a few days to come. That will give me time to =
do my=20
> research in the event I would want to cancel my cancellation and keep =
their=20
> service, or if we re-negotiate a better price. However, again, my hope =
is to=20
> find, as you said, a reputable, local outfit. Do you know of any lists =
on=20
> the web that recommend security companies by city or state? I may call =

> Monitronics directly again, and tell them I'm willing to keep the =
installed=20
> equipment if they can hook me up with someone different than Apex, and =

> hopefully a little more reasonable in price. Or will Apex still want =
their=20
> equipment back vs. getting compensated by another company? Thanks much =

> again.
>=20
>=20
> "Crash Gordon=AE" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message=20
> news:0TUke.110$y96.14056@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> They're both made by Ademco/Honeywell and are very similar. The ADT =
one is=20
> "take-over-able" except for the fact that it's not remotely =
programmable by=20
> anyone except ADT. The Vista 15P is standard fare...except I'm not =
familar=20
> with the "MT"...it may be a proprietary version of the 15P made for=20
> Monitronics. Mark Leuck (a poster herein) would know for sure.
>=20
> Don't get to hung up shopping for price on the net. I'm sure you could =
find=20
> some idiot to monitor  your system for 2 bucks a month if you looked =
hard=20
> enough.
>=20
> 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=20
> someone is only charging 5 bucks a month...will they be around in a =
year to=20
> take care of  you? You want someone who cares, who will respond, who =
knows=20
> the product...and wants to keep you as a customer..not by enforcing a =
long=20
> term contract because the HAVE to to stay in business.
>=20
>=20
> "Danny Kewl" <bwana1SPAMMENOTREMOVE@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message=20
> news:At-dnYoJ1vJhiwnfRVn-rQ@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > To answer Crash Gordon's question on which ADT panel was removed, =
the=20
> > front
> > says Safewatch Pro. The back cover, if I have the right one matched =
up,=20
> > 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=20
> > 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=20
> > 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=20
> > wired
> > motion sensor was bad, and they gave me a wireless, or else they =
would=20
> > have
> > wired one in. So maybe better to get new stuff? Or do it myself, is =
it=20
> > 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=20
> > 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=20
> > 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=20
> > to
> > get Apex out to save under $10 a month since I'm now wired with =
them? Now=20
> > 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"?=20
> > Or
> > battery back-up? If I kept Apex, or any other company, can I add =
more=20
> > things
> > such as window detectors for the same monitoring price? I realize I =
may=20
> > need
> > to pay for the extra hardware. Another thing I found out, is after =
the=20
> > 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=20
> > 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.=20
> > 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=20
> > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > a
> > > good, or at least a fair deal. My contract is for three years. I =
could=20
> > > 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=20
> > > 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=20
> > > Monitronics
> > > installed, plus a new box in the basement, whatever that is, with =
all=20
> > > 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=20
> > > from
> > > scratch looking for a security provider, etc. and maybe, again, =
never=20
> > > 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.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >=20
>=20
>