While eating breakfast at a fast food joint, Clark eavesdropped on a conversation at a nearby table. Based on the overheard talk, two of the men were employed by a security alarm company and in the process of interviewing a young 20-something man for a sales position. The young man was told that the job involved obtaining recent police burglar reports and then going door-to-door in those neighborhoods. The men told the young man to let customer's imaginations run wild for awhile after showing them the police reports. Then - go for a monthly contract of from $24.95 to $39.95 - whatever he could get out of them and pocket the spread. Talk then ran to rollover contracts. That's what happens to contracts when customers don't contact the security company about their intentions at the end of the contract term. That contract then simply renews on it's own for another contract period.
Here are Clark's tips to follow when your home needs security and you don't want to be swindled:
First, take your time shopping and researching.
Security companies should earn your business and shouldn't require you to sign a contract. Don't sign a contract - ever. Don't let a security company representative into your home unless you have first determined that the company won't require a signed contract. If a security company wants to charge you more than $20 per month for monitoring, don't do business with them and search for another company. Is the monitoring station UL approved? Is the station properly staffed and trained?
Gather price quotes from various companies for security and include smoke and fire monitoring.
A lot of people use burglar alarms to keep their homes safe. But such alarms aren't always safe for your wallet. Raleigh's
News & Observer recently reported on how alarm salespeople canvas neighborhoods following a break-in and capitalize on the fear by signing homeowners to expensive three-year contracts. Even worse, many of the contracts have a rollover provision. So unless you properly notify the company otherwise, you'll be signed up again at the end of the contract -- even if you've moved out of the house! Clark despises some of the sales practices in this industry and even once overheard a veteran salesperson training a newbie while he was dining out. The vet was as bad as some of the burglars that might break into your home. Granted, not everyone in the field behaves like this.
Clark encourages people to go with alarm companies that don't require a contract. And beware of the TV ads you might see. Sometimes the initial fees are misrepresented to lure you in. Purchasing the alarm hardware is pretty standard, but make sure you're paying a reasonable price for monitoring costs -- in the mid-to-high teens range, and definitely lower than $20/month. Keep in mind that about 99.7 percent of alarms are false, so response time from the police may be slow. If you're worried about slow response time, a recent
Forbes story detailed how you can now have a camera as part of your system. If the police can see an intruder via the camera, they'll be prompt first responders. But companies charge a huge markup for this camera technology. The article stated that in one instance the camera system cost $1,700 and there was a monthly monitoring charge of $45 on top of all the other fees. Fortunately, companies like
WiLife.com sell affordable cameras that even a self-professed techno-idiot like Clark can operate. Clark's even heard of people with a second home at the beach or the mountains installing a camera -- not for security, but instead for when they're feeling nostalgic and want to see their other property!
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