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nj2Type-S
05-03-2008, 11:36 AM
sup guys. earlier today, i had a guy from this company asking me if i'd put up one of their signs on my lawn (basically advertise their name). in return, they would give me all the devices and sensors needed. he said that the company is new to canada so they're trying to expand their business here through "word of mouth".

i'm just curious if these guys are legit or not. i've checked their website and it looks legit to me but i'd like to make sure that he's not just scoping out our area and shit...

thanks in advance! :thumbsup:

GTS Jeff
05-03-2008, 11:55 AM
Legit, but they make you sign a monitoring contract for a few years...that's how they make their money off you. If you are gonna spend that kind of cash, you might as well check out ADT or something.

nj2Type-S
05-03-2008, 11:04 PM
hmm, interesting. i was just curious cuz you usually don't see companies going up to people's doors asking if they already have a security system. thanks.

GTS Jeff
05-04-2008, 02:39 AM
Plus they're mormons. Never trust the mormons.

vtec4life
05-04-2008, 01:21 PM
ya man fuck those douche bags. Especially because they are trying to make you think your getting a deal when they actually give the equipment for free to every person who signs up!

A790
05-04-2008, 03:53 PM
All security company's do door to door. ALL of them.

nj2Type-S
05-04-2008, 05:59 PM
^i guess they were just the first one to come to my door, lol.

Penis McNickels
05-05-2008, 11:26 AM
They came to my door last week... They said they were going to install brand new equipment into my house for free, as long as I signed up for a 36 month contract...

I don't do contracts, so I politely declined.

But I had to say the sales guy's friendly approach was a lot better than the two assholes who tried to make me feel guilty for not donating money to some starving third world children.

nj2Type-S
05-05-2008, 09:23 PM
^which area of the city do you live in?

the guy who came to my door was really nice and polite but he kept rambling on and about the system and what they'd include if i signed up. do people actually read the "no soliciting, please" sign, anymore??? :thumbsdow

Penis McNickels
05-06-2008, 07:18 AM
I'm in Tuscany... and the guy would go on and on about the equipment and when I asked about the contract he would gloss over it as if it was no big deal and then return to talking about the equipment....

Probably the same guy....

freshprince1
05-06-2008, 11:56 AM
I worked for a company like this. It is a sales approach.

Long story short, its not a scam, if you're interested in a monitored security system, its a good deal, contracts are usually 2-3 years.

Push for extra equipment, we made our real money on upselling extra equipment, but we would price them quite high - but I was always willing to give out some free equipment to make a sale.

They're harmless.

doug456
11-12-2008, 09:43 AM
i actually got a system from them and its been pretty good. i called adt, and brinks before but they would never give me a real answer on what everything would cost unless i let some guy come to my house-no thanks.

the sales guy went through everything, i got 8 different sensors, signed up for 3 years(which is what everyone else does too) and i pay 39 bucks. seemed pretty good and everything has been good since

Chris88CL
11-12-2008, 09:58 AM
Unfortunately the common misconception with these systems is that if your home is broken into and the alarm is set off that the police will come. They wont. A private alarm response company with an unarmed rent a cop will come, EVENTUALLY. Problem with those rent a cops is they have no real authority and have to follow all traffic laws to get there, sometimes from across the city.

They are only really good when you are on vacation. Atleast then if your house gets broken into you know about it and something can be done to close it back up without it sitting open for weeks at a time.

You are better off with a big dog as far as Im concerned.

1-Bar
11-12-2008, 11:03 AM
I've signed up for this a few months ago,....no real big issues, got a lot of extras with the alarm. Its cheaper then what my parents are paying for their ADT.

revelations
11-12-2008, 11:44 AM
Alarms (ie. noisemakers) do help a bit in quieter neighbourhoods - if they are set to go off right - because people will notice, and at the very least have a look at whats going on.

Another good idea is a camera security system - something like what wilife offers, which transmits the camera signal through your home power grid.

A 4 camera system would run under 2000$, and thats including buying a used, dedicated computer system for it (you could use your own PC but it would have to be pretty fast).

hampstor
11-12-2008, 12:17 PM
APX came to my house, a husband/wife team (younger couple). Told me that it was $39/month for 3 years, went over what it covered. Said they were only giving away 3 alarms in my community and I was the first house etc. I took them for their word and signed it.

While waiting for the installer to show up, i read the contract over again - it said $49/month for 5 years. My fault for not reading it closely when I originally signed it. I called them back and told them I am not going with their system and to cancel the install.

I'm going with United instead, my contract is $20/month for 3 year term - put in glass break, extra sensors, flood monitoring in my basement and an extra panel, $400 for the equipment.

freshprince1
11-12-2008, 03:21 PM
Originally posted by hampstor
APX came to my house, a husband/wife team (younger couple). Told me that it was $39/month for 3 years, went over what it covered. Said they were only giving away 3 alarms in my community and I was the first house etc. I took them for their word and signed it.

While waiting for the installer to show up, i read the contract over again - it said $49/month for 5 years. My fault for not reading it closely when I originally signed it. I called them back and told them I am not going with their system and to cancel the install.

I'm going with United instead, my contract is $20/month for 3 year term - put in glass break, extra sensors, flood monitoring in my basement and an extra panel, $400 for the equipment.


When I sold these systems, we used the contracts from the local dealers, but our terms were different. We crossed out the price and duration, then signed our initials.

When the security provider recieves the paperwork, it comes from the various distributors, they create the account based on the terms outlined by the distributor.

In other words, you probably would have gotten the price and duration quoted by the salespeople.

Having worked in the industry, it is my opinion that ADT is the best among the big security companies.

hampstor
11-12-2008, 03:23 PM
Originally posted by freshprince1



When I sold these systems, we used the contracts from the local dealers, but our terms were different. We crossed out the price and duration, then signed our initials.

When the security provider recieves the paperwork, it comes from the various distributors, they create the account based on the terms outlined by the distributor.

In other words, you probably would have gotten the price and duration quoted by the salespeople.

Having worked in the industry, it is my opinion that ADT is the best among the big security companies.

Good to know, but since it wasn't crossed out/initialed, I felt it was safer to bet on the signed paperwork holding more weight then the word of the door-to-door salesperson :)

freshprince1
11-12-2008, 03:25 PM
Originally posted by hampstor


Good to know, but since it wasn't crossed out/initialed, I felt it was safer to bet on the signed paperwork holding more weight then the word of the door-to-door salesperson :)

Fair enough, better safe then sorry. pardon the cliche.

dtm1
05-14-2009, 01:49 AM
I had another company called Liberty Security, the sales guy said he was an advertising rep or something. But what caught my attention is he said that it was based in Canada and monitored by Voxcom. I'm tired of my Brinks, I have to call Texas whenever i have a problem. Does anyone know anything about these guys?

jonnycat
05-14-2009, 08:37 AM
APX showed up my house with a young guy and an older one and I may have been interested, but the approach the young guy was using only pissed me off. It seemed like he had just gotten out of salesman school and was trying every closing tool in the book.

Really pushy tactics, like he would be able to bully me into a system. Everytime he said, "when, we install the system.." and each time I'd correct him, "IF you install the system...", he kept trying to get me to nod my head yes with him. Once I shook my head no as he was nodding yes just to fuck with him. He tried pushing past me without being asked in to point out where they would put sensors, this really ended the visit. My explanation, "sounds great, but I'm going bowling, maybe next time."

There was something about the guy that I just couldn't stand. If the older guy would have lead the conversation I may have signed up as he seemed to be decent and I didn't mind talking to him when he actually spoke.

They said they were in our area for a limited time, and soon actual salesman would come around selling the system but we could get it for free. Every day I see more and more APX signs

Sugarphreak
05-14-2009, 08:49 AM
I dislike people coming to my door all together

cycosis
05-14-2009, 10:21 AM
I consulted for the Lethbridge division this spring. The entire company is a joke. Aside from their abismal hiring process (theres no formal/structured interview, and they wonder why more than half of recruits drop out of training before the summer comes, their sales strategies that they are "taught" are unprofessional. They have all sorts of sleazy/pushy sales tactics. I'd stay far away from them.

My friend, who jsut had his first baby, had a sales associate come to his house at 9:30pm! Woke the baby up. Didn't understand why he couldn't come in the house to discuss different packages and then proceeded to ask if my friend knew of any neighbours that DON'T HAVE SECURITY SYSTEMS??? Who asks that?

Karim316
07-28-2009, 12:52 PM
These people came to my house the other day. It seemed pretty decent at first. I told them to give me a day to look over thier contracts and find out more about them, which I'm glad I did.

Here is the BBB link to them:

http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/security-control-equipment-suppliers/apx-alarm-security-solutions-in-provo-ut-4002276

A D- rating from BBB and the negative feedback gathered from google was enough to make me pass on this company

I don`t understand how some people can sign long term contracts with questionable companies and not do thier research first.

ronaldo
07-29-2009, 01:41 AM
anybody heard of eagle security controls before?

red01
10-07-2009, 12:52 AM
i'm currently using united alarm ... its okay but cheap $20 a month + free install ..

www.unitedalarm.ca (http://unitedalarm.ca)

ExtraSlow
10-08-2009, 02:03 PM
I'm on united as well. It was already installed in the house I bught, so I took over the monitoring for $20/mo.

Ven
10-08-2009, 02:53 PM
Save your money. Just get the yard signs and window stickers, same effect without the monthly charges.

One of my neighbors had an alarm go off due to a faulty component and 1 hour later the "security" vehicle shows up. This is with ADT.

A neighbor up by my old place had an alarm go off, again due to a faulty component. AlarmForce showed up over an hour later.

Most robberies are smash and grab at under a few minutes, and from experience it takes longer than that just for the "security" company to make the initial calls on the account list.

Even in the REMOTE chance the "security" guy arrives on scene while the robbery is taking place he'll still need time to shit his pants, say a prayer, wish he finished high school, and then call the cops who are still 6-8 minutes away.

IMHO "security" systems are a huge rip off bordering on total scams. You're buying a false piece of mind. Set your alarm off one day and just wait in your car outside. See how long it takes for the security car to show up.

lilmira
10-08-2009, 04:35 PM
Aren't they supposed to phone the police in case of an alarm after no confirmation from the owner?

I don't think paying for home alarm is useless. It's not necessity, more like peace of mind. Another thing is fire, they will phone the fire department when the smoke detector goes off. That would help when you are not home or in bed at night.

Plus, you do get a bit of discount on your home insurance, not a whole lot though.

Ven
10-08-2009, 05:08 PM
Originally posted by lilmira
Aren't they supposed to phone the police in case of an alarm after no confirmation from the owner?

Check your contract for the providers policy. I don't know many local companies that direct call the police when an alarm is triggered. There's a cost involved to false alarms, both in operational losses and fines, and there's lot of false alarms.

I don't think paying for home alarm is useless. It's not necessity, more like peace of mind.

That's personal choice. If you feel like you and your possessions are protected from violence or theft by a term contract alarm system with a monthly fee, well....more power to ya.

Another thing is fire, they will phone the fire department when the smoke detector goes off. That would help when you are not home or in bed at night.

Sure about that? Check the company policy on fire alerts. Lots still deploy a car first, then call in if there is something. There is quite a few that do immediately call to fire dept though. Might prevent the entire house from burning down if you're not home, but it'll still be burnt, full of toxins, smoke damage, and the fire dept will pump in a few thousand gallons of water anyway. You won't be living in that house a while. If you were home and sleeping your smoke detectors would have woken you, and maybe you could have done something, or not.

Plus, you do get a bit of discount on your home insurance, not a whole lot though.

My last two providers didn't offer any discount. The alarm doesn't do shit. The window stickers and yard signs do. A visual preventative works well for low lifes and crack heads. Why risk it? They'll just go to the next place that doesn't have evidence of "security".

ExtraSlow
10-08-2009, 05:12 PM
My alarm calls the police first. This is through United. They give you the option. I'm on the hook for the costs associated with False alarms, not the company.

HRD2PLZ
10-08-2009, 05:31 PM
Mine calls the house first. If there is no answer they call me and make their way down my call list. The company I use (ADT) does dispatch the police unless you've opted to be on their "alarm response program" which they send out their own car, or whomever they contract out to for $5/month. Which, on an annual basis, would work out cheaper than forking out for one false alarm response by the Police.

I guess its the peace of mind for me. My system is monitored up for burglary, fire, flooding and carbon monoxide. I think the savings on my home insurance policy is only about $50/year, if that.

lilmira
10-08-2009, 08:22 PM
Yeah, I'll be on the hook for false alarm. That's the one thing stopping me from getting home security for the longest time since I have a dog. After doing some research, I found out that the sensors they use are ok with dogs. So I finally signed up. No false alarm so far.

The one thing I made sure is that they would contact either the police or the fire department depending on the situation. I don't want some security guy showing up, what can they do?

There are a lot of disputes from people not reading the contract before they sign, may be due to the pressure from door-to-door salesman? So just make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into, it doesn't really matter much as long as you stay with the bigger companies. The other thing you want to be careful is company about to go under, I'm not sure what would happen to the contract if that happens.

ChappedLips
10-10-2009, 03:11 PM
With an alarm system won't you save on your house insurance?

I'm not sure exactly what the savings might be but it will save you some money. But you might just be paying those savings back to the alarm company plus some extra.