ADT Security Services

We've been a loyal customer for our residential and commercial business for years and had a break-in where adt lines were pulled/cut and we were never alerted by ADT. We were only then told that we are responsible for testing our system once a month. What was the point of paying the monitoring fee for over 10 years for more than 6 locations? Never have we been notified by email, mail phone call or otherwise to test our system. It's pointless to have ADT!

I have been with ADT for a little over 8 months now and it's been going well until I decided to order cameras to add on to my house. Over the phone the order process was ok then the install day came the technician called 30 minutes prior to the appointment everything seamed ok I told him someone would be here when he arrived. Then I get a call back from the technician about 45 minutes later to inform me that I myself had to be there to sign a contract before he started the job. Really? Ok sorry I wasn't informed I had to be there but just someone over the age of 18 with access to the home.
No problem he said we can reschedule you for later today if that works yes I say what time? He said he would call back and let me know so he did about 10 minutes later how's Between 12-3 I say fine I will leave work early and meet you then. I leave my job early 4 1/2 hours early drive 25 miles back home just to wait, and wait. Finally 1:45 I get a call from ATD telling me they can't make it and want to reschedule me two weeks later and also during work hours yep you guessed it 12-3 gtfoh now I'm out 4 1/2 hours of pay from leaving work early and now they want to try this bs with me again?? No thanks cancelled install and now I wish I could cancel this contract not a happy customer.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
Mr. Carver's entire response was a misrepresentation of the truth with 2 outright lies. I called him 4 days after my wife left a message for him Not the next day. He did not offer "everything at my cost." In fact only after my wife's several attempts and my one did he offer anything. At this point I did tell him I was glad because I thought he was going to work with me in a reasonable way. He then told me that I would have to pay more than it would have cost me to have the work done right the first time. At this I told him I would complain and he told me to "do whatever you have to." He called me today and was rude. I hung up on him and left a message on his business website for him to stop harassing me. As I put in my original complaint I do not want resolution and I do not want to say it is resolved. I wanted to complain only as a  warning to others. I do not want to devote any more of my time to this.
Regards,
[redacted]

We have experienced repetitive problems from over billing for the equipment, to the system itself not working. One camera or the other would be malfunctioning. This suggested that the internet was working. We would have to run 2 hours away to check what was wrong. Placed several calls to ADT, but they take so long to get a representative on the phone, our cell phone would then die from lack of battery. We also experienced intense worry, because we didn't know what the problem was. Then, for what ever reason, the camera will come back on again. During this time, you can not see
anything that is going on in that area, but your still paying for it. We had our realtor come, and when she walked in the front door, our motion detector fell off to the floor. We put it back together, but do not know if it was correct. The next time we came, it fell off again. It is broken. The ADT company does not monitor this and the customer receives no notification that their equipment
is faulty and ineffective.
They had continued to bill us for the equipment over and over. We had to call them for that as well, and their response was that this happens
often.
We have notified them several times with the problems we were experiencing and wanted to cancel this stressful and ineffective system. They are trying to enforce a contract that they themselves have not honored.
It seems that a class action law suit may be applicable.

ADT made an upgrade on the ADT Pulse system the evening of March 23, 2016. Prior to their upgrade, I was able to see my front area by my garage door via my cell phone to see if someone was there or just what. Since the upgrade, I can only see what's happening via the inside camera which I don't care about since I'm home 98% of the time. I called and the rep couldn't help me. I had to ask for an appointment for someone to come out to check it and, reluctantly, she made the appointment. But for the next week, I'll probably not have the ability to check it from my phone. This is very frustrating because I turn the system on as I'm driving out the garage and turn it on as I'm entering the garage. Plus in the evening I can check out front if I hear a noise,. This is very upsetting to me and if they didn't make you sign a lengthy contract, I'd no longer be their customer. To say I'm not a happy camper would be an understatement!!

The salesman that came to the house back in 2012 painted a good picture. ADT works well when everything is OK. Due to the drought back in 2012 my house unsettled and the magnets on the door did not match so I called for them to come and replace the magnets. They advised it was an extra charge just to come out, not counting replacing the magnets. I called the salesman direct and said he would take care of it. Never did. Got to see the salesman at meeting and confronted him and again stated that it would be taken care of. NOTHING. Just goes to show that they will say what ever to make the sale and not follow up on customer service. [redacted] was the sales rep. My contracted ended in Feb 2015. I have been paying for service since then without service. I will go to a different company.

We had our home broken into some years ago, but today, I once again feel robbed, preyed upon and vulnerable..
This time, it is the service we choose for peace of mind that have taken from us: ADT.

Don't sign with ADT!!

You will read similar warnings on blogs, comments, feeds and other online reviews - if you haven't already signed a contract - then you're luckier than most, keep your money and find another way of keeping you and your possessions safe!

It's no surprise they score 1.9/10 on 'Best Home Security Companies' by 648 reviewers..

Here is why:

No Free Installation With Traditional Plan
36-Month Contract Required
Outrageous cancellation terms
Excessively long call times
Pushy sales tactics
Regularly increases monthly fee for no reason
Requires written, signed-for letters to acknowledge any customer requests/complaints
Many Negative User Reviews
Plethora of Revdex.com Complaints

If you read this and ADT manage to convince you, when you do eventually become disaffected, write your own post and share with others.

It is only by sharing the information and by buying services that are ethical, fair and transparent that we can shape the industry for the better and rid the market of companies like ADT.

We deserve better.

The total lack of service and transparency has soured me against this company forever. I will never give them my business again and will encourage all of my friends, family, acquaintances to go elsewhere.

I had ADT service for my home in Highland Park. I moved to M[redacted] NJ and asked to have my services moved over. I started noticing bills on my credit card from ADT totaling near $800 for a cancellation fee. I was billed without my consent and they didn't even have the sense to contact me as a continued customer before billing.

We bought a contract with ADT Security whe we bought our house. The contract was expiring last month and I called them to cancel the service at the end of the contract. The saleman, who came to our house, never told us about a 30 day notice to cancel service. Today they have withdrawn an additional monthly due from my account. When I call I was told I can only get $25 back for a service I don't use anymore. I will not recommend ADT to anyone, because we were not informed about that clause in the contract.

I have a home and business account. Since my installation I've had 5 service reps out to my business location to resolve several issues I've been having with my service. No one has yet been able to resolve my issues. I've called the company to see if we can fix the problems and each time I've been left on hold for hours at a time. My box that originally set up was installed in view of my customers and it has multiple cords that are visibly hanging from the bottom with only a couple of thin pieces of tape holding them together. After 3 days of no resolution I was told that I will not be able to cancel my contract without forfeiting 90% of the funds due on my contract. I really would just like this issue to be resolved and to be treated just and fairly.

I called ADT to find out what services are offered and how much the services are. I spoke with a sales rep, who connected me with a manger to better explain what offers were available to me. He began placing an order for me and when he asked for my social security number, I declined to give it to him. I did not want a credit inquiry on my credit report. He stated that it was fine and he didn't need my social and proceeded with the order. A couple of days later, I see an inquiry on my credit (from my credit monitoring service) showing a hit on my credit. This concerns me, because ADT should not have my social security number since I did not give it to them, and they should not have hit my credit without my knowledge.

ADT forces people to pay a 75% cancellation fee for no apparent reason. This fee is simply for not wanting their services anymore. I asked if they wanted their equipment back and they told me that if I got the next tenant to start an ADT contract then they would give me $50 and the new tenant $50, but I would still be charged $760 in contract termination. This means that the equipment is worthless to them. The sensor installation is done with a screwdriver and the main terminal is a standalone unit that plugs into a standard outlet. In other words, there is virtually no need for a "technician", any more than one would be needed to hang pictures for you. Now I'm simply stuck because I signed a contract made for fools. I hope you will learn from my mistake. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH ADT.

I chose ADT because I was familiar with the name. I enrolled in a 3 year contract with them for $45/mo. When they came to my home to install the $99 installation package, I soon realized they would be upselling me most of the items to secure my home, extra sensors (not included) I could have easily spent $200-300 more. The basic package includes very little even for my smaller size house. After being a customer for 2 years ADT without warning increased the monthly bill to $48 a month, when I called to complain they reduced it back to $45. When my contract was up after 3 years I called and was told my account would be cancelled after they offerred me the same serivce for $25/mo. 6 weeks after I "cancelled" I had yet to receive a cancelation letter and was charged another monthly fee. I have called to complain and was told it would take 30 days to clear and refund my fees. Really? People go elsewhere for your security needs.

ADT Secuity Systems - I have had ADT since we relocated to Historic Savannah, the previous owners had installed ADT. It worked well until ADT wanted us to "upgrade" to Pulse. (one of their newer systems) The original system was behind my only first floor bathroom door. When ADT installed Pulse, there were 8 boxes on my wall, 15 inches by 3 feet. It looked horrendous! I told ADT for one year that this was unacceptable. This was "not as described" and they refused to relocate it to the upstairs without a 1500.00 dollar charge. I begged them to change it back to the other system, they also refused. They had so many wires and boxes that I just couldn't look at it. When I finally got a technician to come out to look at the mess of the installation the technician and the Regional manager, Bob C[redacted] all agreed they needed a better plan. However, after two weeks they really never had a better plan. I terminated the system and now they are billing me $690.36 for a system that was ruining the aesthetics of my 1890 Victorian home, DO NOT USE THEM. THEY ARE NOT PEOPLE OF THEIR WORD!

Customer with ADT since November, 2014. Three system failures since installation. ADT advises prompt service, not our experience. This latest incident occurred November 21, 2015. Service scheduled for December 15, 2015. Given what the installation cost and the quarterly fee we expect much better. The service is well done, getting it in a timely manner is a continuing problem. ADT is a positive deterrent and we would like to stay long-term. We'll see.

this company charges an outrageous price for peace of mind it DOES NOT deliver.
We pay for our elderly parents security system for over 5 years on and off we have had a few concerns and price increase but felt it was worth it before today. June 23,2015 my husband received a call that his parents fire alarm was going off. He called and called them they were not home. He had to call his brother to go over he was a distance away. He finally got to the house nothing was happening he located his parents and they were fine. When my husband finally got back in touch with ADT after 1 hour on hold. We figured out all was ok with the house. It was a malfunction with the keypad. When I heard of this I did some investigating. These are my findings and major complaints with ADT:
1. In an emergency with ADT in an alarm sounding situation if you miss the call there is NO calling them back directly.. You have to call an "800" number press several prompts and took a half hour.. I suggest if it's an emergency press 1 and you directly go to a real person.
2. They lied to me on how long it took them to dispatch a fire truck ADT said "8:56" was the time of dispatch.... I called the warren fire dept and they gave me the time of "9:26" which is a half hour later. Our family could have died if it was a real fire. Not acceptable and not what we pay for.

We have been ADT customers for nearly 2 years after signing a 3 year contract. We recently made the decision to build a home in which won't be ready for 8 months. When I spoke with ADT, they were not willing to move my equipment or allow me to take my equipment with me to a temporary rental until our new house was finished. I was even willing to keep paying my monthly amount while I was not using the equipment in a rental for 8 months. It was also explained to me that I "MUST" leave the equipment in my current location and pay a cancellation charge for 75% of the remaining balance. Or, I could transfer one time to my rental location for free but then pay for the new home installation or a fee to cancel once my new home was finished. This is a horrible business model because it's basically bullying the customer by not listening to the situation and making it work for both parties. In addition, the customer service rep went on a 10 min rant about the cost of security equipment and how ADT was hands down better than the competition (which if you look at reviews on 3rd party sites that is not the case). He basically got in an argument with me rather than trying to solve the solution. I support and drive a sales team for a fortune 20 company and this would be UNACCEPTABLE by mine and the organizations standards! You work with the customer to find a solution that works for everyone, not rant about subjective opinions. Long story short, we will be canceling service, paying the $450 charge and ripping the unit out of the old house so ADT can not benefit from it in the future. I'm also leaving this complaint along with additional complaints on various sites and sharing my story with others. All ADT had to do in this situation was simply work with me to find a solution that MADE SENSE and was not a burden on the customer (ME). I was even willing to re-sign for another 3 years but unfortunately ADT does not either empower their sales reps to make customer focused decisions or is not holding customer service accountable.

I started ADT service Dec 2014, with the ADT system already in place from last owner of the house. Starting in late Mar 2015 there's low battery message for three zones. I tried to replace the battery, and the older type of window sensor is hard to open, so I emailed the sales lady with whom I signed the contract if someone can come to show me how to open it, no reply. Then I called ADT and was told if a technician to come to replace the three battery, the labor charge for 30 minutes is $140! That's ripping-off price!
Finally I found on youtube how to open this exact same old type sensor, and opened a wrong one, as the ADT systems says kitchen side window 26, but there are two side windows there. ADT never left me any exact mapping. Of the four sensors I opened I found all the batteries have the same time stamp Aug 2006, meaning when I started ADT service I started with 8+ years old battery! I called and talked with a manager at ADT, who thinks if it's not tested as low battery at the time of installation it's ok. Even though the manager actually told me the small batteries in window sensor have a life span of 2-3 years.
When I pointed out it's not a good business practice for ADT to let customer start with 8+ years dying battery whose life span is 2-3 years, the manager just told me I can replace battery myself or have the technician come to do that (for $140 labor charge, which only takes probably 1 minute), and she sees nothing wrong with letting new customers having a whole batch (30 or so) of batteries long past life span, as long as the technician didn't test them as 'low'!
I told her if ADT can't afford putting whole batch of new battery in there to start with my service, at least they can tell me it's time to replace whole batch, which will save my headache a few months into the ADT service to have low battery message popping up all the time (which will beep during mid-night if I set up the alarm, then I have to get up and set of the alarm). The manager said the technician is not required to do that, which I can't agree as a good practice of doing business.
From the two calls with ADT, talking with two custom services and one manager, I feel ADT should improve their business practice. As when I told them it's wrong to start my ADT contract with a whole dying batch of battery, they seem don't care, and the only solution is either change the battery yourself, or charge me crazy $ for their technician to come.
People surely have many choices of security systems, ADT as a well-known one unfortunately may not provide you a satisfactory service, after charging me $600+ for installation (even though I have pretty much all ADT devices already in place from old owner) and $55 monthly.