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Off contract soon with Apex, I'm looking for cheaper monitoring

D

DK1000

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hi,

I signed up with Monitronics/Apex in May of 2005 during one of their
door to door campaigns. They wired my house with their goodies "for
free" as long as I kept a 3 year contract. It seemed I got decent
service (I have nothing to compare it to), but the only alarms were
maybe 5 or 6 falses I accidentally set off, and Apex called me within
a minute every time. They did come out in January and changed out the
analog cellular transmitter to a digital GSM one for free, due to
analog cellular services being phased out.

I read online that when your contract is up, that often you can have
your monitoring taken over by someone else for a far cheaper rate than
was in the contract. As I don't have a landline, my system uses the
cellular backup only, and I get charged about $43 a month plus a few
bucks tax.

Any idea which firms will monitor systems set up by Monitronics/Apex
which I think is just Apex now, for less?

Anyone ever re-negotiate with Apex after the initial contract for a
much better price? That almost $50 a month has gotten a bit steep for
me, thanks much,

Dan
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
DK1000 said:
Any idea which firms will monitor systems set up by Monitronics/Apex which I
think is just Apex now, for less?

www.911Alarm.com and www.Nextalarm.com are both able to monitor your system.
Both charge much less than Monitronics. 911Alarm is a small company that
resells the services of several UL-listed monitoring firms around the country.
NextAlarm is a monitoring company that caters to DIYers and "takeovers"
(situations like yours, where the homeowner has finished his obligation to the
installing firm and wants a more reasonably priced solution).
Anyone ever re-negotiate with Apex after the initial contract for a much
better price? That almost $50 a month has gotten a bit steep for me, thanks
much...

They'll likely offer you a reduction when you cancel but it won't come close
to what you can save by switching. NextAlarm charges something like $8 a
month for basic service. 911Alarm charges around $12. Both charge an
increment for Cellular monitoring but nothing like what you're paying now.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

==============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
Sales & Tech Support 941-925-8650
Customer Service 941-870-2310
Fax 941-870-3252
==============================>
 
C

Crash Gordon

Jan 1, 1970
0
If it's a Monitronics panel you may not be able to reprogram the dialer
number.
And switching a GSM account will also be a challenge!
 
I

I brive a dus

Jan 1, 1970
0
If it's a Monitronics panel you may not be able to reprogram the dialer
number.
And switching a GSM account will also be a challenge!

He'd have to pay the Monkster their $25.00 fee to unlock the panel.
 
A

alarman

Jan 1, 1970
0
DK1000 said:
Hi,

I signed up with Monitronics/Apex in May of 2005 during one of their
door to door campaigns. They wired my house with their goodies "for
free" as long as I kept a 3 year contract. It seemed I got decent
service (I have nothing to compare it to), but the only alarms were
maybe 5 or 6 falses I accidentally set off, and Apex called me within
a minute every time. They did come out in January and changed out the
analog cellular transmitter to a digital GSM one for free, due to
analog cellular services being phased out.

I read online that when your contract is up, that often you can have
your monitoring taken over by someone else for a far cheaper rate than
was in the contract. As I don't have a landline, my system uses the
cellular backup only, and I get charged about $43 a month plus a few
bucks tax.

Any idea which firms will monitor systems set up by Monitronics/Apex
which I think is just Apex now, for less?

Anyone ever re-negotiate with Apex after the initial contract for a
much better price? That almost $50 a month has gotten a bit steep for
me, thanks much,

Dan

Jesus.
 
C

crash

Jan 1, 1970
0
I think too if the account is abandoned for more than 3 months you can
reactivate it as a new account (??)
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Beeno said:
they replaced it for free and now you want to dump them. whatta guy!

They didn't replace it for free. They charged him $1548 for monitoring three
years of services that should have cost him $288. That's $1,260 extra he paid
for the "free" deal. His best bet is to get away from Monitronics and their
incompetent staff.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

==============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
Sales & Tech Support 941-925-8650
Customer Service 941-870-2310
Fax 941-870-3252
==============================>
 
N

Norton Nescio

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert said:
They didn't replace it for free. They charged him $1548 for monitoring
three years of services that should have cost him $288. That's $1,260
extra he paid for the "free" deal. His best bet is to get away from
Monitronics and their incompetent staff.

gawd what an basshole. they installed an entire security system and 2
radio backups and maintained it for over 3 years for that money. it's
no wonder that nobody likes you.
 
D

DK1000

Jan 1, 1970
0
Thanks much everyone for their replies. Looks like I have some options
to check out. I really didn't post this to escalate tensions between
posters, so please everyone should have their say without getting
flamed.

To Beeno who posted "they replaced it for free and now you want to
dump them. whatta guy! "

If Apex can re-negotiate a fair deal, fine, I'll keep them, but as
just about everyone knows here, they were charging me a much bigger
premium than some other monitoring places may have been even with
Cellular, and I'm sure their investment in equipment is pretty much
paid off by the higher fees. The changeover to GSM isn't my fault, and
maybe it isn't Apex's, maybe the FCC's?
Yes, I kind of feel bad that they just replaced that part of the
system not long ago, but what if they would have replaced it two years
ago or so instead, would that change things? Did Apex know about the
upcoming change when they first installed me? Who knows? That's part
of doing business. Needs change. Companies change. The company who set
up my system changed once if not twice, from Monitronics to Apex, and
now seemingly to APX (without the E). Customer's financial situations
change also. I'm sure APX looks at their bottom line, and when your
personal financial situation takes a turn for the worst, you better be
looking at your own bottom line. I have fulfilled their contract (in
another month), so I'll do some research that everyone posted leads,
and run it by APX if they are playing hardball on the rates when I
call.

I'm about to get rid of my cable to save some money, that keeps going
up and up and up. I just got two converter coupons in the mail, and I
will see what I can do with the OTA digital offerings, as I only
really watch local channels. I know this is a bit off topic, but just
showing how someone has to cut back sometimes and take better or
different deals. Ditching cable will save me almost $50 a month. Too
bad I can't ditch the damn gas pump, that's where a big part of the
headaches lie, and everything else going up in price. Not to mention
an ARM mortgage. So you see I have a bottom line to take care of also.
Cheers.
 
N

Nomen Nescio

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have fulfilled their contract (in
another month), so I'll do some research that everyone posted leads,
and run it by APX if they are playing hardball on the rates when I
call.

There are three issues that I don't believe have been discussed.

The first question is whether you own the equipment. Considering the rates
you are paying, you may not. Your alarm company might not want the three
year old control panel back, but they might want that nice new GSM radio
back. You'd have to read your contract to know for sure. This will
obviously affect your changeover cost. Fulfilling your contract does not
automatically mean you've bought the equipment. This could be more like a
car lease than a time purchase agreement, meaning you don't own the car
when the lease is up.

The second question is whether you, or some other alarm company, can
reprogram your current system. This is partially a matter of whether the
equipment has been electronically locked, and partly whether the equipment
itself is some proprietary system that only the original installing company
can reprogram. No way to answer this question without more information.

The third issue is whether your contract automatically renews itself. Many
alarm contracts do so unless you give written notice a certain number of
days prior to the expiration date. You say you only have a month to go;
better read your contract and see whether you have been/or are about to be
stuck with them for another year.
 
J

Jim Rojas

Jan 1, 1970
0
You are confusing Monitronics with Brinks. Monitronics would never stoop
that low. Brinks has been a major eyesore in the alarm industry for many
years now. Their deceptive ads on TV speak for themselves.

Jim Rojas
 
B

Beeno

Jan 1, 1970
0
nomen's got some good advice. if you can get them to drop the fee to about
$25 for monitoring and cell backup you would be doing good. or pick up a
part time job.:)
 
J

Jim Rojas

Jan 1, 1970
0
All of them.

Husband just pulls out of the driveway, burglar kicks in front door,
alarm instantly triggers...they are all lame, and depict women as
helpless victims.

Jim Rojas
 
I

I brive a dus

Jan 1, 1970
0
My guess is Apex hasn't owned that account in a year or so, Monitronics does <

He could also be either a charge back or a managed account so Monkster
might not own it.
 
I

I brive a dus

Jan 1, 1970
0
How exactly is that deceptive? <

The operator (Mike) is on the phone with the client at the 2 second
mark even though the system has a 20 second delay. That is the first
thing that comes to mind.
The system being armed in instant mode, during the daytime, while
people are still home, is another one that baffles me.
Describing the equipment as state of the art borders on hilarious.
 
I

I brive a dus

Jan 1, 1970
0
I thought of that too however if you look at the price of a 30 second TV
spot I can see why. <

The commercial was filmed that way to portray a ridiculously fast
response time to an unrealistic incident.
I received a copy of that ad, and many others, before they hit the
airwaves. Jim is correct that the ads are deceptive, but when was the
last time you saw a completely honest advertisement?
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
I brive a dus said:
The operator (Mike) is on the phone with the client at the 2 second
mark even though the system has a 20 second delay. That is the first
thing that comes to mind.

Not showing the 20-second delay before alarm is only part of the
misrepresentation. Once the 20-second delay expires the system dials an 800
number. The line siezure, dialup, handshake, transmission and kissoff
sequence typically adds another 10 to 15 seconds. If all operators are
handling other calls at the moment (this happens *very* often), there is a
delay of anywhere from a few seconds to 30 minutes or more. Then the message
is displayed on an operator's screen. It takes the operator a few seconds to
read the screen and decide what to do about the condition. She then dials the
premises. In actual practice this may be anywhere from a few minutes to over
an hour after the burglar has finished looting, raping, pillaging and flying
an inverted 737 through the living room.
The system being armed in instant mode, during the daytime, while
people are still home, is another one that baffles me.

The ads are so far from reality it's ridiculous. ADT pulls some of the same
nonsense in their ad campaigns.
Describing the equipment as state of the art borders on hilarious.

Yep.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

==============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
Sales & Tech Support 941-925-8650
Customer Service 941-870-2310
Fax 941-870-3252
==============================>
 
R

Robert L Bass

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mark Leuck said:
I thought of that too however if you look at the price of a 30 second TV
spot I can see why.

It has nothing to do with the cost of the ad. They deliberately misrepresent
their products and services. Leuck works for a large, national alarm company
that suffers from some of the same problems as ADT and Brinks.

--

Regards,
Robert L Bass

==============================>
Bass Home Electronics
4883 Fallcrest Circle
Sarasota · Florida · 34233
http://www.bassburglaralarms.com
Sales & Tech Support 941-925-8650
Customer Service 941-870-2310
Fax 941-870-3252
==============================>
 
N

Nick Lawrence

Jan 1, 1970
0
Is it the "Fake Apex" you are referring to? These guys:

http://apxalarmsucks.com/

http://apexalarmreview.com/

http://apexalarm.com/aallc.html

Not to be confused to the only real, genuine, fully licensed and
authorized Apex Alarm, since 1966: http://ApexAlarm.com ?

In any event, Dan, you should be able to obtain monitoring of your
Honeywell GSM system from most any monitoring station, and for
substantially less than the nosebleed price of $43.00, plus TAX, you are
paying.

Group: Does anyone charge TAX on alarm services, or is Dan being ripped
off here, too, by the Fake Apex?

Nick
 
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