Why should you be skeptical of TOP lists found online? ANSWER: Because many of those sites listing top 5 or top 10 are PAID SERVICES.
One of the sites gave a number #1 recommendation for an alarm company that has over 3800 complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. Better Business Bureau web site www.bbb.org
Look up each and every company you intend on getting pricing from. Check for government actions against them, law suits and reviews.
The above company that was rated number one has government actions pending against them. They are a very large company so when comparing them against local companies you need to understand that if they have a million accounts then they are 83 times larger than say Peak Alarm who only has 12,000 accounts. So that being the case this company should have 83 times the complaints right?
That would mean they should have 83 complaints if they are on the same level as a local company that has one complaint. Peak Alarm has 1 complaint that has been filed with the www.bbb.org in the last 3 years and this number 1 listed alarm company has over 3800 complaints which is over 400% more complaints so take the fact that these top 5 or top 10 lists are paid services.
Real actual best TOP Alarm companies in Utah
Mountain Alarm -aka Fire Protection Services - 67 years in business - Local Company - Only 2 complaints in the last 3 years with the BBB Peak Alarm - 48 years in business UL listed Local Central Station - Full Guard/Patrol services - Local Company - Only 1 complaint in the last 3 years Alarm Control - aka Armed Alert - 48 years in business - Zero complaints in the last 3 years
The above companies are all licensed by the Utah Division of Occupational Licensing and they are also insured. All of the above companies do not concentrate on LICK and STICK products. (Just wireless) so they have extensive experience with commercial and residential products unlike many of the new companies that just do wireless. The technicians understand the industry and all of these companies are qualified to do commercial fire alarm, intrusion, access control and cameras.
Now if we look at the companies that spend the most money on advertising and companies that have the most accounts then the list could change.
ADT Security Services ADT web site This company has 127 years in business.This is a licensed and insured company.
Now we do need to mention ADT which is a National Alarm company and now they own Protection One. ADT Security Services on the Better Business Bureau Web site has over ________complaints that have been filed in the last 3 years, granted they are a very large company. ____% of their reviews on the BBB are negative although many people do have good experiences with this company. Now that they own Protection one we will see if they will be doing anything different. Protection one was in business 29 years before they were purchased by ADT. Protection one only has about 16% of the amount of complaints that ADT has.
Rather than saying anything negative about this company I would encourage you to look at the better business bureau report for each company yourself. Going with a national company sometimes has it advantages and other times when you go with a very large company it can be difficult to get to the proper department when you do need help. I dread calling my cable company for service for the same reason because I am normally on for over a hour just trying to talk to someone. Going with a local company can have advantages. If you are trying to sign up for service the lines are clear and the process is quick. If you are trying to get service after your system has been installed it is a bit different.
So when comparing companies there are companies that spend a great deal on advertising and there are companies that have more accounts than other companies so they are in the TOP 10 or TOP 5 list in certain areas.
When a company tells you that the equipment is FREE read the fine print because when it is all said an done all alarm companies are in business to make money not to give stuff away. They will either make their money now or later but they will make money. They will either sign you up for a longer term, charge more now or raise your rates after a year or two. One of these companies was charging my mother over 70 per month for basic phone line monitoring with no interactive services and no other services and it took me quite a while on the line to get her account canceled even though she was out of contract. This basic service should cost around $25-30 per month.
