AlarmForce

It looks like AlarmForce is in the southern part of the US or at least this is the first I have heard of them down here. I have a past client that moved outside my service area but has contacted me about possibly using them. I don't know anything other than what I have heard here. Is there a consumers report site that talks about them or does anyone have any solid info rather than personal opinions on this company?

TIA

Reply to
Bob Worthy
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"Alarm Force wouldn't agree to an interview with Marketplace, but if you read the fine print, Alarm Force doesn't make any promise that police will respond -- just that "dispatch, whether by police or private response services is not guaranteed.""

AlarmFarce wouldn't agree to an interview... right.

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Check out the comment by "Skippy":

"Try to find an independant alarm company if you can. A friend of mine is with Alarm Force and he was not very happy with their product and service. Basically they rely on a simple plug in alarm module that does not take control of the phone line (at least not in my friends install). All the rest of the modules are wireless and require batteries to be changed periodically which is not covered or done by alarm force."

I've taken out more AlarmFarce panels than I can count. There stuff is crap. Unsupervised wireless. The supposed "pet proof" motion is a detector mounted about four feet off the floor up-side-down. That and Brinks (at least they're using a recognized product - Honeywell). I used to have a significant pile of parts and so far no one from either company has ever called to recover them (I've left messages, emails, etc.). They all went to the dump/recycling facility the week before Christmas. I got tired of seeing "Mount Brinkle-Farce".

Joel Matlin is a cartoon. There isn't a single self respecting burglar that would be "scared" to break in to an AlarmFarce protected home (let alone any home "protected" by a security system). They're in and out before the cops (or paid security) would ever show up. It's a simple fact. What a good alarm system will do is detect the perp *before* he gets in, sound an obnoxiously loud siren (that will alert your neighbours and wake the dead), and thereby severely limit the amount of time he can spend on site. Don't keep your jewelry in the obvious place (your bedroom) and don't make it easy for him to find any "good stuff". Harden your front door, use a good long throw deadbolt, and make sure any ground floor windows are properly locked (or barred). And for heavens sake don't use an alarm system that's an "all-in-one" where all you have to do is rip the sucker off the wall to kill it (if you do, make sure you hide it and use the available remote keypads). If the system doesn't offer line seizure, remote keypads, or doesn't provide a back-up communications method, it's useless.

Reply to
Frank Olson

RHC: Bob, they have a large presence here in Canada. I believe they started in Toronto, and have branched out across Canada to all provinces.They state in their advertising that they have 150,000 people on their service and make a point of telling you they are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. I remember seeing something about them planning to expand into the USA with an anticipated opening of 38 planned branches. They advertise extensively on radio and TV and have been very successful this way. They specialize in two way voice services and their advertising is based around the supposed superiority of this versus conventional monitoring. They sell the "sizzle not the steak" and their advertising is superb, to the point that if I didn't know better, they would sell me on it....:))

Equipment I have had the opportunity to see is older Linear totally wireless, non supervised, "all - in - one box" type equipment. They specialize in the "two doors one motion" type systems and from speaking to one of their past service technicians who quit the company, they are supposed to be working at putting ten systems a day on line for every sales / technician on staff. Typically they charge $25 monthly, with no long term contract for leased equipment, but with payment annually up front. They have recently started peddling a wireless keyfob arrangement for older folks calling it "AlarmCare" and making another major advertising todo about it. The installations I have seen have no line exclusions...they just plug into a phone jack. They advertise a backup type of system of some sort protecting the client against line cut, but I don't know how that works in reality. I know from clients who have come to me for a real system, that they won't come out to change batteries for their clients, which would leave the client totally unprotected if the they don't notice the batteries are low.

The rest of what I "know" is opinion and you say you don't want this (and it isn't good anyway....).

Reply to
tourman

Hey Bob... shouldn't you be someplace warm about now? Joel plays fast and loose with honesty and integrity but he sure can market (there's a sucker born every minute). There's a picture of that old Linear stuff he's using for Alarmcare oh his site: he puts a sleeve over it for private labeling hahahahaha, looks hilarious, big red cross on it if I recall. I also found his "live two-way voice" recording he used in that mis- leading commercial, it's not a live operator at first, it's just that wav file instead of the siren... I suppose sooner or later you hear from one of their ops. Pretty bad but it's working for him.... oh, the 150000 accounts, he doesn't tally his accounts, he counts every member in the family and probably guests too.

Reply to
mikey

RHC: Hey Mikey, good to hear you're still around and working. I hope their AlarmCare nonsense isn't cutting into your medical business too hard. You know, when it comes to AlarmForce, I can only conclude that the power of good advertising is enough to sway a lot of other wise intelligent people to make a terrible choice for their security services versus a bit of intelligent shopping on their part which would quickly discourage them from this crap. This stuff is everything an alarm system should NOT be, yet they still seem to be successful. And if you listen to their customers, many think this shit is superb stuff and they have the best systems in the world, until they don't work properly and are pulled out. What a sales job they've done...

Sad.....

Reply to
tourman

e:

I do home theater installs. What you're describing sounds exactly like what Bose has done in that industry. Just through the power of an unbelievable amount of advertising they've got what you would noramally think of as "intelligent" people thinking that Bose is the best thing since the megaphone. In my opinion they're only slighly better.

I was just at a doctors house who called me to install a new $700.00 receiver for him that he got for Christmas. I'm thinking he's got at least a half way decent system to hook it to. When I get there ....he's got a $5000.00 Pioneer Kuro TV, a Sony Blue Ray disk player, Verizon Fios and five twinky little Bose double speakers and a subwoofer (which is really only a big speaker) !!!!!!!!!!! He thinks they're the GREATEST!!!!!! Paid between 2 and $3000.00 for them. UN Freeken BELIEVable!

I don't think of these people as ever being my customers to begin with though, so I'll make what ever I can from them .... should they offer me the opportunity. But ........... if they don't and they're happy with what they've got, you have to forgive them because they've just never had anything better to compare it with. Given the opportunity on a few occasions .... . I've been able to make a few of them see what they've been missing in quality sound. I always feel kind of bad for thoes who don't move up but ........... hey wadda ya gonna do?

All of this applies to alarm systems too.

Reply to
Jim

HEY!!!! I just started reading "The Appeal"...don't tell me any more.....the next thing I know you will be posting that the butler did it...lol

RHC: Yup ! The difference is one is the quality of the sound that is lacking, while with the alarm it is the quality of the customer's REAL security that is lacking. A bit of a difference wouldn't you say ?

I don't know how people in this company can sleep at night while giving this kind of phony security to customers. Money obviously talks louder than ethics !....(or they actually believe their own company propaganda)

I'm reading John Grisholm's latest novel "The appeal" which although fictional, does illustrate how organized big money spend on promoting a vested interest can be very successful. In the novel, right and wrong has little to do with anything....it's what you can sell to people that counts....:(

Reply to
George Siegle

These must be fairly common.are they still being made?.The serial number is in the 500.000 range. I assume this is quanity made. thanks for all answers vulcan autosonic mark 60. harold

Reply to
HL B123

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