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You do not have to go with the company who wired your home. I called a few places (they did give me info over the phone) and ended up going with ADT. We had one false alarm due to faulty wiring by the company who installed the alarm(glad I decided not to use them) . ADT was there the same day to fix the problem. They could not reach me, but called both my daughters and sent the police.
We had CPI for 7 years (at $30/month.) When we purchased a new house the existing system was an ADT (with several wireless sensors.) We had CPI come out to activate it and was told we needed all new equipment, including expensive wireless sensors, to the tune of $500+. Rather than rip out the perfectly good system, we activated it on ADT.
A few weeks later I got a bill from ADT for nearly $1000 for the remainder of our contract period. Turns out they extended our contract when we moved into an interim, short-term, house.
When I called to complain their response was basically "too bad, we have a signed contract from you." I asked for relief since we were long-time customers and never heard back.
A few days ago a collection agency called demanding the $1000.
CPI is a heartless company that basically operates by coercion, extortion, and collection. I will never recommend them to anyone.
We have CPI real resposne time and love it! Very professional and always on top of things! We had to pay a lot of money to get the equipment but worth it IMO!
I am shopping around for an alarm system for a newly purchased home, and this thread has been very helpful. It seems after reading everybody's pros and cons that CPI is still the way to go in the area, and the equipment seems reasonably priced. Thanks for the posts!
-SF
Our house was pre-wired by Ranger American, so we installed a hardwire system, the Ademco Vista 20p. It took us a whole day, and it wasn't the easiest thing in the world, but if you can read the user guides and programming manuals, you can figure it out. Just make sure you read the manuals thoroughly.
We're moving to a new house on Thursday and it's not pre-wired, so we're going to install a wireless system as soon as we move in. It is great knowing that we have the capability to install our own system and don't have to depend on any of these big hard-sell companies.
We have used https://nextalarm.com/index.jsp for our monitoring for the last year and they've been great. Extremely quick response. $11.95 per month, no contract. They also monitor over broadband if you don't have a landline. They have a web-based interface where you can log in and check to see if your alarm is armed or if any sensors have been tripped. It's pretty cool.
I have Brinks installed last month when I moved into my new house. Great customer service! The manager actually visted my house and gave me a presentation of the company and their services. He then had a walk-thru of the house and made suggestions to what I should install. Installation took place just a couple days later. I highly recommend Brinks.
Do any of these alarm companies (CPI or ADT) have the loud alarm sirens mounted on the roof or out of reach of burglers?
I didnt see any alarm sirens as part of the packages and I wonder if this style of home protection is passe? If they dont offer them, couldnt a burgler break in, rip out the wall unit or wall speaker and have free access to your house until the authorities arrive?
In response to my own question above - CPI just told me the do offer sirens that are placed inside the house, usually mounted on a wall. I then asked if it was possible for a burgler to break in, rip off the siren, then have access to the house until the authorities arrived. He confirmed this was possible.
I dont know why I am paranoid about this example but it seems crazy to mount a siren in a place that is easy to rip out of the wall!
In response to my own question above - CPI just told me the do offer sirens that are placed inside the house, usually mounted on a wall. I then asked if it was possible for a burgler to break in, rip off the siren, then have access to the house until the authorities arrived. He confirmed this was possible.
I dont know why I am paranoid about this example but it seems crazy to mount a siren in a place that is easy to rip out of the wall!
My grandmother has the alarm you described (Jersey) ... scared half the neighborhood to death when it went off. Pretty darned fast police response too since her entire block was alerted that something was amiss. Apparently, the burglar was frightened off too.
You have every right to be paranoid.
Sara
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CPI Contract, Beware!!!
alarm
