American Alarm And Communications

We recently moved into a home that already had an American Alarm system installed and so continued using them as coverage. Bad move for multiple reasons. For the reasons documented below, we have since cancelled our services with American Alarm and switched to another company that provides better coverage and features for significantly less money per month. I would recommend anybody considering to buy a security system to look anywhere else, there are many great options both locally and online. I would also recommend looking at the 4 other reviews that are «currently not recommended» for whatever reason: They are uniformly negative.
First of all, COST: the features and coverage that they provide are very expensive (non-​cellular, non-​wireless). We were paying over $ 60/​month for basic monitoring and a «Lifetime Service Warranty» that basically did nothing. This sort of monthly payment at almost any other company will provide you with online-​access and wireless capabilities with usually some amount of energy/​light management.
SERVICE: To be fair, American Alarm has always been fast in contacting us when an alarm goes off (i.e. smoke/​carbon alarms) so they are competent at least. However, there service has always been… less. When we first moved in the sales agent was at first very communicative and responsive, until we signed the one-​year contract with them. After that, most communication with the representative has been brusque and delayed, often requiring me to directly call him to prompt a response.
We were unfamiliar with the alarm system so asked them for a manual to figure out how to use them. Was promised a manual but never received one.
Then our CO detectors failed. All of them.
Our first carbon failed in 11/​26, at which time the fire department came and found nothing. We also noticed that because the first alarm was still faulting, we couldn’t properly arm our system anymore. After the second failed, we were told that a technician would call to tell us how to take the failed COs off our system so that we could arm it at least. Nobody ever called.
Then the third failed a couple weeks later. We are still unable to arm our system. We call again and schedule a service appointment for ¹²⁄₁₆ for first call from 8−10am. I tell them that I have a morning work meeting at 10 that I have to be at and they assure me that they will be there promptly at 8, if not before. That morning, the final CO fails in the middle of the night. The fire station is again dispatched even though we’ve now have had 3 false alarms. Although I am up since 730am waiting for the service call, the technician does not arrive to our appointment until close to 9:30. I have to leave and my fiancée has to shuffle her morning schedule in order to be there while the technician is there. We’re finally able to re-​arm our system after 3 weeks. Even though we have a «Full service warranty», we receive a bill for the service call.
As it turns out, our CO detectors actually were expired in January 2014, before we even closed on the property. They were also faulty because they never appropriately sounded their end-​of-​life alarm to signal for replacement. There was a recall on this exact model produced and installed in the same time-​frame as the ones we had. In summary, this entire time we may have had faulty carbon monoxide alarms that needed to be replaced and our ALARM COMPANY is neither aware of it nor will take responsibility for it. We were also unable to arm our system at all for the entirety of this time.
COMMUNICATION: Besides from responding to alarms, the overall communication with American Alarm has been very poor with little transparency provided to the customer. I had been communicating with the sales representative for over a week before he finally told me that he is unable to waive any service or equipment charges because it’s not in his department. Since then, I have been communicating with the Director of Quality Assurance and was able to receive some and was told that my case would be brought up with the owner and I would be given a chance to discuss with them my particular case. Yesterday, after over two weeks from last communication, I received a letter in the mail with a bill and my original contract with some terms highlighted. That is it. No additional information.
A word about their «SERVICE WARRANTY»: We’ve been paying $ 15/​month for «Lifetime warranty and service» that was sold to us as «covering everything» but, as it turns out, does not at all and requires us to email and call back and forth for over a week to waive a service visit When our CO detectors were found to be long dead, we were initially priced these at $ 125/​each for replacement. Then I find out that they could waive labor and truck charges and get CO detectors for $ 65 each. So I’m not sure what the service warranty that I’ve been paying for provides at all, if anything.

After a home burglary I did fast, but thorough, research on home security systems. I spoke with four companies — two national and two local (including American Alarm). American Alarm was the first to come to my home and they actually came out on a Sunday morning, which was extremely convenient for me. The sales rep (Barry) was professional, knowledgeable and immediately put my mind at ease. He looked throughout the house and made great recommendations on what would work best given the layout and my concerns. He explained everything to me thoroughly, and in a way that made perfect sense to someone that knows nothing about security systems. The second local company came out a few days later and was also very professional and knowledgeable. The pricing both companies presented for the same set-​up was comparable, but American Alarm offered a discount for their 2-​year agreement which made them more competitive. Ultimately I felt more confident selecting American Alarm. The contract and associated paperwork took a bit of time to review but is obviously very important. I had a few questions and Barry responded to me immediately. I get the impression that he works round-​the-​clock! The paperwork was processed right away and I got a call the next day to schedule the installation. The installer (Henry) arrived exactly on time and was professional and friendly. We reviewed the plan together and then I left for work. Henry called me as soon as he was wrapping things up at the house, but I was not able to leave the office right away. He graciously offered to meet me back at my house after I got out of work so he could train me on the system and the mobile app. His explanation was simple and he answered all of my questions. Both Barry and Henry went above and beyond to make sure the process was easy and convenient for me. From start to finish, this was an amazing customer experience for me. Since the system was just installed today, I can’t yet comment on the functionality. If it is BAD, I will update this review. Otherwise, I will highly recommend American Alarm! As a bonus, they do offer a referral incentive for their customers.

We installed an alarm system in September 2011 after being assured by American Alarm that we could have pets and motion detectors (70 lb. dog and 9 lb. cat). We were told by our security consultant that the detectors would not pick up anything under 100 lbs. Several months later we started getting false alarms, one of the animals was setting it off and the police were sent out to our residence. After the second time, American Alarm came back in, adjusted the motion detectors and we were told the problem was fixed. Two weeks later another false alarm and another visit by the police department. That was mid-​February. Since then we have been back and forth trying to rectify the situation (and not setting the alarm we paid good money for). Unfortunately, one of American Alarm’s solutions was for us to pay even more money to fix the problem. We finally came to a resolution and we were told a scheduler would call us to have the tech come back out. That was on April 3 and no word since. I sent an email to the consultant we’ve been dealing with, left a voicemail for the scheduler and left a voicemail for the Sales Manager. So far, no response.