We are often asked if we can match the price on another companies “free” alarm or heavily discounted alarm. The simple answer is no. It is important for the homeowner to educate themselves about the true costs of a “free” alarm.
These “free” systems are advertised as basic home security system, that can protect your home and valuables. The reality is this “free” system will consist of a basic set of equipment, typically 2 door/window contacts, 1 motion detector and a keypad. For the average size house, this is not adequate protection, because who has only one door & window. These systems will not detect a break in through a different door or window or any movement inside the home away from the motion detector. And never mind using your alarm system when you are home for a feeling of extra security, these systems are not designed with that in mind. Also these systems don’t monitor your home against fire or water damage, which are just as important to monitor. Anything over and above the basic equipment in an extra, with additional fees.
Yes, there may be no upfront fees for the alarm system but nothing in life is ever “free”. Most of the time the alarm company will take initial loss on the equipment installation, but that loss will be made up over the next 3-5 years by the way of inflated monitoring fees. This monthly fee can add hundreds of dollars over the life of a monitoring contract. Some companies charge $39.99 or more, depending on services monitored, for monthly monitoring. When comparing home security quotes, it is important read the fine print of the contract and compare monthly monitoring rates, to get the true picture of the cost of the “free” system.
Another consideration, during that 3-5 years, what happens if you move? In many cases, the homeowner, actually doesn’t own the equipment that they have been paying monitoring fees over several years for. It may come a surprise that when they go to cancel their monitoring services, that they are suddenly on the hook for hundreds of dollars. Additionally, many national security companies use proprietary equipment that can’t be reprogrammed and used by a different alarm company, thus limiting customer choice.
It is also a fact that many security companies are dealers for the national security companies and after the install the monitoring contract is sold to the corporation. When issues arise after the install, the customer is at the mercy of corporation to receive service.
What about the discounted alarm system in exchange for a multi year contract? Again, the homeowner should carefully read the fine print before signing any monitoring contract. This initial “discount” is paid back in inflated monthly monitoring fees. Situations change and the customer can find that if they need to terminate this contract early they have to pay hundreds of dollars in fees.
At Three West Security, we believe in customer choice. We believe in fully protecting what is important to you whether that is your home or business and are happy to provide our monitoring services as long as you need them. . We are not looking to lock clients into a multi year monitoring contract, at inflated prices If you need to cancel for any reason and anytime, just let us know.
Contact us for a free security evaluation of your home or office in order to determine which system would be best in your location.