Frank, I expect you are correct in your statement that I have a real
anti-Borg mentality. I didn't start out that way in this business. I spent
most of my life in the bowels of a large corporation at the upper middle
management level, and came to appreciate how these large organizations
function (and in some cases don't function). When I left, and got into this
business full time, I really did look up to ADT in much the same way that
many consumers do. But then I became by default (through buy outs) a third
party ADT dealer, and it's been downhill all the way since then.
I do try to keep an open mind on most subjects that I know little about, or
situations where things are not always as clear as they might seem on the
surface. I try to follow the old saying..." never judge a man (or company),
until you've walked a mile in their shoes". But my personal experience with
ADT has been nothing but horrible...slow monitoring response, false
dispatches that have cost me money, difficulty for both myself and my
customers in connecting to the monitoring centrem, no test signals allowed,
no cancel codes recognized, non recognition of a third party account versus
one of their own, impolite response to my customers, and absolutely no voice
correspondence with their monitoring staff over the last seven years. I talk
to my main monitoring station almost daily - calls initiated by them; if ADT
ever called me on anything, I think I would faint from amazement..
It's definately a bias for sure, but one they deserve based on my personal
experience with them. Others may have experienced different situations and
may not feel this way. For example, I hear ADT is reputed to be a good
company in your area. But if anyone tells me they are hooked up to ADT here
in Ottawa, all I can think of to say is ..."my condolences".....I just don't
think consumers are getting their money's worth dealing with this company
(no matter how they initially chose to obtain their equipment ie: zero down
versus full price). I recognize that ADT is somewhat divided by customer
size...ie: corporate versus the dealer program in the residential market.
But much of my experience has been with their Montreal monitoring station,
which is the same for both parts of their organization.
I remain absolutely amazed that they are as big and successful as they
clearly are. Logic tells me that a company doesn't have that kind of staying
power and revenue generation capability unless they are doing things
correctly. But my personal experience runs counter to that in spades
!!...don't ask me why !
And it's not large company versus small company ! The third party monitoring
station I use is Security 24 Monitoring Network Ltd, here in Ottawa. Many
may not know that this station is owned by Protectron (P1), and has recently
been physically integrated into P1's monitoring centre. So by all accounts
this should result in a poorer quality of monitoring if we are to believe
all the bad things we hear about P1 ! But it hasn't so far. The only thing
that counts is results! However, if they do start to screw up, they'll hear
about it in spades from me !!!....AND right at the top !!
As for your other point, I would think it would always be the correct and
wisest thing to contact the original company when trying to change
suppliers. Sometimes, just contacting them will allow them to offer a better
price or fix your problem. Unless their service is bad, or their prices are
far out of line, I generally tell consumers it's probably best to stay with
your original installing company.
However, I AM doing a steady business in ADT takeovers. The first question
that is always asked is whether the original contract is still in force, and
who owns the equipment. If ADT owns the equipment...and / or their is a
contract is still in force, I don't touch it (I'm amazed that most customers
don't have a clue what their obligations are ! It just never seems to be
important until they have some sort of problem).
We just mark our calendars for three months prior to the contract
termination date as the date for our next conversation.....
)))
RHC
