Watch Out! Read the Fine Print

Unfortunately, some care has to be taken when purchasing an alarm system. You will have to do some research, ask plenty of questions, and in some cases separate fact from fiction in order to find the company that is going to provide you with the best service and the best value for money.

Try to remember that there are long term costs involved in owning an alarm system including alarm monitoring fees and repair and maintenance costs. Try not to focus entirely on the price of the installation as this is generally minor compared to the long term costs. You should estimate yours costs over the first 5 years in order to make a fair comparison between companies.

Also remember that there is no such thing as a “free alarm system”. Most companies will ask you to commit to spending at least $1200 - $1500 between the installation and the service contract which you will be required to sign. Make sure that you are comfortable making this commitment.

The most important thing that you need to be aware of is the details of any contract you are being asked to sign. Here are some particular questions that you should have answers to.

• 1. Will you own the system once you have completed the contract? Some company's contracts state that even after you have paid for the installation and 36 months of monitoring you still will not own the system. If you ever cancel the monitoring service the system will be removed. It is important to determine whether you will own the system once it is installed

• 2. How can you cancel the contract if it becomes necessary to do so. There are various reasons that you may need to cancel your monitoring service; changing locations, loss of employment, change of priorities, or dissatisfaction with the service being provided. Whatever the reason, there should be a way to get out of the contact (usually requiring a lump sum payment) that will leave you with ownership of the system.

• 3. Does the contract 'self-renew'? It's hard to believe, but some companies will try to get you to sign a contract with a 'self-renewing' clause that makes it difficult to ever cancel the monitoring service. The wording for this is usually something along the lines of “the service may be cancelled by providing written notice of cancellation within 30 days prior to the end of the contract. If written notice is not received within this time frame the contract could self-renew for another year". What this means is that if you forget to provide written notice within the short time frame provided you will be obliged to pay for another year of service whether or not you want it. It is fine to have a contract that states that the general terms will continue after the end of your commitment period (rates, limits of liability, etc.), but it really is unfair to trick customers into extending the length of their contract by failing to cancel on a specific date.

Our clients own their systems outright and they may cancel their service at any time. If you chose to receive a discount on the cost of an alarm installation by signing a 1, 2 or 3 year contract you will only have to pay the balance of the discount to cancel the service. We just can’t imagine trying to force a client to continue with a service that they no longer want or need.

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Goo Goo Goggles

I wasn’t happy with my existing alarm company and was told to call Quality Alarms. The service was incredible; they improved the effectiveness of my system and saved me money.

Will V.