Re: Thanks for all the replies folks, a few more questions...

[Nomen Nescio <nobody@xxxxxxxxx>]

David said:

>In general I prefer to keep contracts on the short side... a year in length,
>ocassionally I'll go monthly until I develop a warm fuzzy.  With alarms,
>are monitoring contracts usually unrelated to hardware warranty/support
>length or are they tied together?

This all depends on how you buy your system.  The traditional way is for
you to buy your system outright, for a price in the thousands, depending on
your home.  The system comes with a warranty, which is often one year,
parts and labor.  The monitoring is sold as a separate contract, typically
for one year, although this can vary.   After the warranty expires, you pay
for service on a time and materials basis.

Since many consumers have difficulty coming up with that kind of cash, some
companies use multi-year contracts to make it less painful.  Some companies
use this as a time-purchase arrangement, while others (like Brink's) never
really sell the equipment; they only provide a service.  Still other
companies use proprietary equipment, which may not be usable by other alarm
companies even though the customer technically owns it.  Some of these
companies actually do sell you the equipment after you pay the minimal
installation charge, even though you remain obligated to pay the monthly
fee for the next several years.  One of the other tricks these companies
use is to give a very short warranty, such as 90 days, and then offer you
the opportunity to pay an additional monthly fee to extend the warranty
coverage.  Like most extended warranties, this is rarely a good deal, even
though you will get raped for service calls if you choose not to buy the
extended warranty.  A good residential system requires minimal service.

Common sense should tell you that an alarm company that is charging you,
say, $500 to install the system is probably losing money initially, and
will need a long-term contract to make sure you eventually pay them enough
money to turn a profit.  Consequently, you cannot cancel whenever you want.

So, this all comes down to your ability to pay, and understanding that
different alarm companies will offer you different bundles of services, for
different terms, at different rates.

My advice is that you avoid the bigger companies, and look for a smaller
company that has been around for a while.  The bigger the company, the less
technically knowledgeable the person who comes out to sign you up.  And,
the less interest they will have in you as a customer.  If you are
fortunate, you will find a guy who can answer your questions about hiding
wire, instead of just telling you that you need wireless.  Cookie-cutter
solutions only work well if you happen to be a cookie.

- badenov