Austin Home Security Companies

"Sales person was very young and inexperienced. His answer to all questions was either "Of course we do that" or "The installer will explain that." The installer rescheduled twice and was very late when he came on the third day I took off work to meet him. I did not get a manual, so I had to the web or call the 800 number for ...more answers to my questions about operating the system. The salesman told me the installer would do all of this; the installer did not. Two years later, I accidentally discovered that some of the windows, which I had specifically asked the installers to check because it appeared that the lines had been cut, were not alarmed. I set the alarm as I did every night, but when I got up in the morning, I felt a cool breeze because these windows were still open and had been open all night. The alarm system did not detect that. I called customer service and the manager rudely said that

was not at fault. I explained that entry could have been made through the windows with no warning. He was unconcerned, and actually argued with me. Finally he agreed that if he had to, he would send a repair person for an additional charge in a week or two. I found that unacceptable.

should not charge me if they did not do the work correctly For two years I had assumed that I was protected when I was not. He then said he would have to look at my contract. I called him back, and my contact said explicity that

was responsible for every window. When the installer arrived, he would not fix the windows until I gave him a check for a service call. I asked for a refund but did not receive one. All in all,

has very, very poor service and do not deliver their core product - security for your home."

"I give them a big C, or fair, on the second day of the install I received a call one hour before they were scheduled to be here that they could not make it. This was a big problem, this install was being done at night when we are closed, and I could not have been more specific about my availability, I was told this was not a problem. I totally understand ...more having to reschedule, but one hour before, not knowing that you can not be here until one hour before I found unacceptable. The installers were great, and very professional. The first night we had to pull cable for 12 cameras thru the attic of a 10000 sq foot building, and they sent one guy. I worked with him until midnight, and by worked with him, I mean I crawled thru the attic, I pulled the wire, I drilled holes etc... Did I mind, no. However, it was a two man job, and leaving one guy brought the efficiency way down. The second night, two guys showed and we all rocked and got it finished. The other reason I give

a big C is that once they install something, it's the last you see of them. Do they teach you how to use the equipment, no. In fact when I asked

the sales rep. about having someone to teach me how to use and view with the recorder, his response was, didn't they drop off the manual? Yes

they dropped off the manual, but 15 minutes with a qualified rep is still needed after thumbing thru the manual for the past three weeks. All in all, the equipment is good, the install was fine, but the overall all experience of dealing with

is fair at best. Oh yea, also, if you call and you have a question regarding your newly installed system, don't expect a return call, in fact, don't even expect that your message will get to the right person. I found that super frustrating. Let's say you are calling for the IT guys because you want the system to work on your network, which is what I was doing, it took two days to get the message to them, once they called I think after my fifth call, they were super helpful and they hooked me right up. I recommend shopping around. "

" came to the house to discuss options. The quote was significantly less than any other company (local or national). was able to install the system promptly to accomodate a busy schedule. The technicians were pleasant and professional. The installation, which involved the technicians crawling around the ...more attic to wire the system, went smoothly and quickly. They notified us before they shut off the power and reconnected it quickly. They spent quite a while showing us how to operate the system. The system has functioned flawlessly for about a month. "

"Very good. The owner is a nice guy. No problems in 7 years of using them for monitoring so that is all you can ask for especially given the super low rates."

"The installation process went okay with the exception of where they put the smoke alarm...right next to the bathroom door. It's so sensitive that steam from the shower sometimes sets it off. They always call right away when the alarm goes off. But they sometimes call to report a random problem and when I call back, they often tell me everything is fine. ...more I sometimes find that a bit disconcerting. It feels as if the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing. However, the system overall works and makes me feel a bit safer in my home!"

"Great; they came out when we moved into our house and examined the pre-existing wiring and made corrections where necessary. We received a free keypad for the master bedroom in addition to the existing one in the kitchen."

"We were already considering getting monitored security, since our house was pre-wired for it. One day an sales guy was canvassing our neighborhood, which is how we signed up. He was nice enough, but that's where the positives have pretty much ended. The contractor that was hired to install the system made huge holes in our walk-in ...more closet as well as other smaller holes throughout the house. He then did a really crappy job of patching them up. Instead of professionally patching the drywall, he screwed plastic utility plate covers over the holes in our closet! Yes, it's our closet, but it was still an unnecessary mess, a totally sloppy job considering that the house was pre-wired and he apparently didn't know what he was doing. The installation took several days (which was longer than it was supposed to take), because another contractor had to come and fix the first guy's sub-par work. We're now trying to sell our house, and ended up having to pay contractors to professionally patch the huge holes in the closet. We also realized several months after service began that one of our ground floor window sensors and the window sensors going up our stairs were never working!! They fixed the problem within a day or two, if I'm remembering correctly, but we assumed they tested everything before saying the job was done. Another problem we had was that the system was frequently being cut-off due to some satellite issues. I forget the details, but it was only corrected after they upgraded our control box about a year into our service. Basically what this meant was that we had gone literally almost a whole year with unreliable service, on top of the non-working sensors in the two windows. The really bad thing about the satellite issue was that we wouldn't know we were unprotected for up to several days later when

would call us to tell us that the system was down! So, imagine all of the stress of having to take off several days of work for the longer installation, having to pay to repair the results of the installation, all of the hours of phone calls, and a feeling of complete lack of security that lasted throughout the first year of service. I would never use

again. Even if they volunteered to come back and properly patch the holes, we did not want them back in our house! The only positive thing I have to say now is that since they fixed the sensors and upgraded our control box, we at least haven't had any monitoring issues that we know of in the past 6 months or so."

"We are very happy with the alarm system. The installer worked around other contractors and was extremely helpful in making sure we received the most protection at the lowest cost."