Please see letter sent to dealer below, we have since caleld him, been hung up on and filed a better business bureau report. We simply want out of the contract without the fee. ADT and Locktite breached the contract and we want out.
Dear Mr. Hagan,
I am writing this letter on the advice of a friend. This friend is an attorney and advised me that I should try to resolve our contractual issues with you amicably before involving the Better Business Bureau and any court proceedings. Around January 18th my wife contacted you about canceling our contract and relieving us of any further financial obligations. You expressed to her that if you were to simply cancel the contract ADT would still bill you. You advised my wife that you would see what you could do and call her back. Needless to say you never called.
ADT and LockTite are unable to provide my family with the service and maintenance that was agreed upon in our contract and are themselves in breach of that contract. After reading through the events listed below, I know that you will concur and will agree to relieve us of any further financial obligations.
On January 3rd an installation technician came to our house and installed a new home security system. We advised the salespeople at LockTite and the installation technician that we have a VOIP phone system using Brighthouse Networks as our cable modem service and Vonage as our telephone service carrier. We were assured by both that the system would work fine.
During the installation there were unsightly holes drilled in our walls. Apparently they were drilled and the piece of equipment had to be moved to another location. We still have them visible and photos can be provided if necessary. We never complained, because we felt it was easier to just let it go. Being that as it may, our service worked well until around December 20. During that period we had done the testing walk through and had a false alarm, which resulted in the police to home proving to us that the system was indeed working well with our VOIP.
On December 20th (on or around) our alarm started going off in the middle of the night. I grabbed my gun, and my wife and I went through our routine of checking the children and the house. Everything was fine. We called ADT and the alarm started sounding again while my wife was on the phone. It turned out that our panel was sending out all of our panic signals Fire, Medical and Burglary. We had a fire truck, ambulance and a sheriff at our house in the middle of the night. Please notice that the panel was sending the signals and they were transmitting perfectly Not a VOIP problem. The next night the alarm was not armed and went off again in the middle of the night sending out the same signals. When we called ADT we were instructed to remove the battery until the technician came.
Technician Bob arrived. He performed his troubleshooting and deduced that the problem was a corrupt control board (Not VOIP). He advised us that he did not stock that part in his inventory and would have to order one. He also advised us that he would be on vacation until January 8th. He said that we could call ADT and see if the covering technician could come and replace it for us.
We called ADT shortly thereafter to find out about the status of the part and to see if someone other than Bob could replace it. After a few calls ADT informed us that Bob had the part and no one could come before January 8th.19 days during Christmas and New Year's, the height of burglaries, we had no home security.
On January 8th, Bob came and replaced the control board. We also found out that he did not have the part, but picked it up earlier that morning. ADT had intentionally deceived us.
Only 9 days later the alarm went off again at 4AM. At this time I did not get my gun but just assumed it was a malfunction. What would have happened if there was intruder in my living room as I carelessly ran to the keypad to shut off the alarm? We called ADT. They tried to tell us that it was a VOIP issue and that anytime the phone lines went out we would have an alarm event. Are you kidding? Well, we didn't know what to do. If this was true this service would be no good to us. We could not have the alarm going off all the time in the middle of the night. The next night we gave it another try, because our Vonage service had always been reliable. Sure enough around Midnight it sounded again. Thankfully, while my wife was on the phone with ADT it started sounding again proving that it was not a VOIP problem but the same issue that was supposedly fixed. Another technician was dispatched for January 19th.
On January 19th technician Rich arrived. He performed his troubleshooting and deduced that it must be the keypad. Again, he did not have the appropriate part stocked in his truck inventory and would have to order it. As he was leaving we asked if the control board that was replaced may have been a bad part. He said he would order a whole kit just in case. He said the parts should arrive by the middle of the following week.
Thursday of the following week January 25th we had not heard from anyone at ADT. My wife called to inquire about the parts. She was told that it normally takes 10 to 14 business days to order a part. WHAT! She was transferred to the local office to see if she could reach the service manager. After being transferred to the service manager she received a voice mail which advised her to transfer to Marilyn Zimmerman. Marilyn Zimmerman didn't know why she would be directed to her, but transferred her apparently to another service director named Eric. Eric sympathized and went to check the parts department. He called back to confirm that he had located the correct keypad and could have the tech back out on the 26th. My wife then inquired about the kit. He did not know about the kit and had to go back down to parts to check. Eric called my wife a little later to tell her that he had located everything and confirmed the appointment on the 26th.
On January 26th technician Rich arrived again. He worked for several hours swapping the keypads and reprogramming the system. We learned that he did not in fact have a new kit, but pretty much had all the parts to make a kit. We were once again intentionally deceived by ADT.
That same night we went to arm the system and received a trouble light. When we pressed *2 it indicated an AC Failure. We called ADT the next day. A technician was to come out the following Wednesday January 31st 2007.
On January 31st 2007 technician Bob returned. He performed his troubleshooting and very quickly reversed the polarity on the phone lines supposedly fixing the problem. He said he was able to send signals to ADT and that all was working well. When we tried to arm the system that same night the trouble light went on again. We called ADT. They dispatched a technician for Friday February 2nd 2007.
On Friday February 2nd 2007 technician Danny arrived at our house. He walked us through arming the system and verified that there was something wrong causing the amber trouble light to go on. He ascertained that one of our doors had a wireless contact. When Rich replaced the keypad, the new model did not have a built in receiver. Rich solved this problem by adding a receiver by the control panel, but the wireless contact was still trying to transmit its signal to the keypad and this was causing the trouble. Danny thought he was finished, but decided to do what none of the others had done. He tested every aspect of the system.
Rich found the following problems:
First, the duress code had never been programmed from the very beginning installation. We did not have a working silent code for the entire time we have had the service.
Second, when the control board was replaced, the panic codes were never downloaded. We did not have working panic buttons since January 8th (since December 20th to be precise).
Third, when the keypad was replaced, the programming was completed with the wrong version. We have an MX version and the programming was not correct.
As is painfully obvious, ADT and LockTite have been unable to provide us with reliable home security or competent, timely maintenance. We have been lied to and deceived by ADT and its representatives on more than one occasion.
We have no confidence that our system is working correctly or that ADT and LockTite can make it so. There is no sense of urgency when our alarm goes off anymore. As I stated before, I assume it's a malfunction and run to the alarm to disarm it before the children wake up. If this were to happen and an intruder was in my house, I would hold ADT and LockTite liable for any resulting damages.
After all that we have been through, we are simply asking to cancel our contract and be relieved of any further financial obligations. We are not asking for remuneration for lost wages due to ADT technician appointments. My wife runs a home-based business and has lost time for 6 different days of waiting the 5 hour windows for the appointments. Our time has been spent and our 2 children's routines disrupted by sleepless nights and maintenance appointments. I myself am in the field service industry and have on occasion dealt with ADT on the jobs.in my line of business customer service is everything, and I find ADT's service lacking in every respect. If my team worked the way we have been treated I would fire them all.
It is evident that ADT and LockTite cannot confidently provide us with proper service and maintenance, thereby not complying with their conditions of the contract. We did not have a working home security system from December 20th to February 2nd and we are not confident that it is now working as it should. To add insult to injury ADT has proven its incompetent yet again. Please see the attached bill and supporting work tickets. We have been billed twice on the same maintenance problem. Not to mention that my wife paid the technician by check for the trip charge on January 8th. His check for his tip has cleared, but not the trip charge.
Angelina
Holiday, Florida
U.S.A.
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