Key Post: Warning:Thinking of installing Eircom Phonewatch?

S

sueellen

Guest
First a warning about their wirefree system: I’ve had one for 5 years and it’s been nothing but trouble. The batteries in the sensors are constantly running out. In the beginning they blamed this on a batch of faulty batteries that they were supplied with. They wouldn’t replace all the batteries as a precaution, they wanted to wait until each individual battery to run out, which meant me taking a day off work every time it happened. It also means that all the batteries are now at varying levels of power and one of them pops its clogs every 4 months or so

Next a warning about their maintenance contract. I rang them last week to get a technician to replace yet another dead battery, when I was told that my contract only entitled me to one call-out per six month period, and that since I had had a battery replaced four months before, I would either have to wait another 2 months or pay a EUR80 fee for the call out (as well as a charge for a new battery which they charge me for every time). When I pointed out that if it their system was up to scratch I shouldn’t need to have technicians call out so often, I was told that I was “only” paying for a basic monitoring and maintenance service, and that if I didn’t wanted better service I should switch up to the more expensive option.

Thirdly a warning about their monitoring service. My alarm went off a few weeks ago, at 4.30 on a friday. Because of the time, it happened that the three keyholders, plus myself were driving home from work. Phonewatch did manage to get an answer in my mother’s house, but it was only my younger brother who isn’t named as a keyholder. Despite the fact that he wasn’t a keyholder, they considered their duty to be done and didn’t even follow up with another call. Both myself and my mother arrived home 5 minutes after the alarm went off, so a follow up call could have sorted things out quite easily. As it was I spent half an hour on the phone to phonewatch trying to get someone to answer the phone. Nobody on the helpline or the monitoring centre was answering the phone. I understood when I signed up that the Guards would be sent out in the event of an alarm activation, but there was no sign of them

Fourthly a warning about their options. After the above incident I realised I was wasting my money on their monitoring service. I sourced an autodialer on the internet for $200 that will ring up to 9 numbers if the alarm goes off, so I rang phonewatch to get a quote for a maintenance only contract. I was told that they have no maintenance only contract, that if I wanted my alarm maintained I would have to pay for monitoring too (they admitted that the majority of the EUR211 I pay goes towards monitoring) and when I rang ADT to see if they would take over they maintenance, they told me that Eircom have their wireless system made specially for them so I wouldn’t be able to get anyone else to look after it for me.

I’m paying EUR 211 per year for this “service”, on top of the £700 or so that I paid for the system to begin with. As far as I can see the only way to avoid throwing good money after bad is to save up for a new alarm from a more flexible, customer oriented company, and throw the phonewatch decorations adorning my walls into the bin. And try not too get too angry when I hear them waffling on about “peace of mind” in their ads.

Can anybody recommend a good alarm company?
 
Alarming!

I have an ADT alarm, and haven't had any problems since it was installed.

Isn't there some rule that states that products should be of merchantable quality, otherwise you can get your money back? - does anyone know if the above would qualify?
 
ADT as well

no problems that were not sorted promptly in 3 years
 
Alarm System

I recently installed an alarm system in my new home. I rang numerous companies (including phonewatch). The best value system I found was with a self employed guy who operates under the name "Retec" (John Reid 086-2607149). He knows his stuff inside out, is a total gent and only uses quality Aritech kit. You won't find a better guy in Dublin.
 
Alarm provider

I am very happy with alarm installed by Napier Security Systems 01 456 4388. They use Top Security for monitoring the system.
At the time of looking for a system, I had contacted Eircom Phonewatch. I was not impressed by the fact that my quote was scribbled on a piece of paper. I never received a proper quote or specifications, and this really put me off.
I had also been told that wireless alarms are a lot of trouble, so I am glad I made the correct decision.
Napier installed my alarm with minimun disruption, cleanly hiding all the wiring. The fact that I have an attic on top of the rooms where the alarm was being installed might have helped, though.
My preferred option would be to go for a long established alarm company. A one -man business may be cheaper but if he/she decides to stop installing and maintaing alarms, (as did my own electrician who I had originally approached for a quote), you may find it expensive to ask another company to take over the maintenance, etc. Best to check this aspect before deciding?
Regards
Bubbles
 
Eircom Phonewatch

In the interests of adding a bit of balance to this discussion:

We are very pleased with our Eircom Phonewatch system. Penny Foolish's experience is not so good, and I am grateful to him/her for pointing out the problems he has encountered, none of which has affected us - yet.

We installed the EP system about 18 months ago.
The quotation and installation process was positive: got a written quote and that was exactly what we paid, no extras. The guy who installed it did a good job, although he did not seem to be in a hurry.

There has been one attempted break in so far. EP called us and called the Gardai. By the time I got home, the Gardai had been and gone, which was fine because there was nothing else they could do. EP followed up that evening with a call to the house to check that everything was OK.

And, no, I do not work for EP, nor am I related to anyone who works for them.
 
*

You lucky devil Bubbles. I had no idea that wireless systems were bad news. That's why I started the thread. If I had only got a wired system, I could switch the maintenance to another company quite easily. Thanks for your good advice, and to all for the recommendations. I've another 3 months left on my contract with EP, so I hope to save enough for a new alarm by then.

Spidey, I too had a positive experience with EP - until things started to go wrong. I suppose that's the test of whether a company is good or not, how they deal with complaints/problems, and EP were abysmal. I also feel I've been trapped into continuing to pay EP to both monitor and maintain the alarm and they know this and are treating me accordingly.

Another problem I forgot to mention was a beep-beep-beep noise that comes from the alarm for a few seconds every day or two (sometimes waking me in the middle of the night). At the last call-out the technician said it was the alarm calling the station and it was supposed to do this despite the fact that it never did it before, but the monitoring dept now tells me it's a dead battery. Which could easily have been fixed by their dingbat technician when he was in the house.

*Sigh*
I think I'll write a letter of complaint, although I doubt it'll get me anywhere.
 
Okay then...

So am I right in thinking that a wired alarm is the one to go for? Do ADT offer alarms connected to monitoring stations like Eircom Phonewatch?
 
Wired!

I think most security companies will offer a monitoring service. I can only assume that they're all telephone-based and rely on some form of auto dialer, so I'd prefer to buy an autodialer myself and save the monitoring fee. Or does anybody else have any info on this?

A wired alarm is definitely the one to go for. The only advantage to wireless is that less work needs to be done when installing it. Eircom's doesn't even have an advantage during a power failure, because the control box needs to be wired into the mains, which is probably true for all wireless systems.
 
yes they it is and yes they do

Yes, I think the wired alarm is the more troublefree option. After all, having problems with your alarm system has to rank as one of the more serious pain in the "popotin" (that's a child's French word for you know what ...- don't want to lower the tone on the board).

Yes, they do. I think most alarms companies of a certain size can provide such a service, either via their own companies or through a third party.

I also don't see why a company like Top Security - who monitor alarms - cannot provide this service for any make of alarm, as long as the telephone wiring is in place?
regards
Bubbles
 
Re: Phone/Auto-dialling alarm system

Just a word of warning regarding monitored alarm systems. Most modern houses have an 'access point' for utilities located somewhere around the front door. The phone line & cable TV line are usually accessible here.

If the bad guys can open this flap & cut your phone line, no alarm system is going to be able to phone back to the monitoring station to log an alarm!
 
Auto - Dailer

I installed an Aritech auto dailer on my alarm system. If I remember correctly it cost €150. It bascially calls four phone numbers in sequence until somebody confirms receipt of the activation message. It's an upfront cost, but doesn't involve a costly ongoing monitoring fee. However, as discussed above all new houses have service boxes on the outside, which makes cutting the phone line a doddle and alarm monitoring useless. For that reason it's important to have an external siern also. (which is not standard with Ericom phonewatch). It may p your neighbours off, but a least you'll know when your alarm have been activated.
 
Cut line

I have an Airtech system, and was told that if the wire was cut this would cause a fault which woule be detected by the monitoring station and would trigger an alarm?

Is this the case?
 
Re: Cut line

I can't see how this would be the case. The only way that this could work would be if the system made a 'test call' on a regular basis, but I'd imagine that the cost of this would be prohibitive.

Still, I'm open to correction on this one, if anyone knows better ...
 
Alarms / Cut Line / ADT

We were going to install an alarm and had rang EP but I wasn't impressed by either the service rep, nor the steep price.

By chance, ADT came knocking on our door a week later (about 4 months ago), and were offering the install & kit for free, you only pay for the monitoring. What's the catch - none as far as I can see (and I am EXTREMELY sceptical about these kind of things!). However, you must enter a contract for 3 years. I'm not sure if they are still offering this 'freebie', but since we wanted an alarm anyway.....!!

Regarding the cut line situation, I happened to notice on my phone bill, a recurring 01 number which neither I nor my wife recognised (not living in Dublin anymore). I rang it, and it was some type of modem by the noise at the other end. I immediately rang ADT a little bit irate as these call charges had not been mentioned to me previously, and I was informed that should the wires be cut, they would know about it. The charges aren't high as the call is only for a couple of seconds, a couple of cents I think (As I'm with Esat all calls are charged as local, and are done per second- not sure about Eircom).

I can't remember the frequency of the call though, but for a couple of cents a day, it gives me peace of mind, and I suppose, at the end of the day, that's what it's all about!

Cheers
Will
 
Re: Alarms / Cut Line / ADT

Hi Will - Esat BT have a call setup cost of 3.81c per call according to their pricing webpage, so I guess you're paying this once a day.

Note that if they are 'monitoring' your line once a day, your alarm could be out of action for 23 hours 59 minutes before they notice. More likely, if the bad guys cut your alarm and then enter your house for 30 minutes, the chances of the monitoring system noticing this before they leave your house are 48-1.
 
Re: Alarms / Cut Line / ADT

Hi rainyday,

Esat BT Price - it's works out at under €14 a year which won't break the bank, plus because I live outside of Dublin, it's still cheaper than eircom as I get calls at a local rate.

Cut Line - Yep, appreciate that, but unless anyone can offer a foolproof alternative, I'll live with it!!! ;-) Plus a large dog situated inside the house also helps!!

A couple of other points though. It will reduce my house insurance, although by how much I currently don't know. I rang my insurance company to let them know I now had a monitored alarm (they don't seem to be overly interested if I had just the "bellbox" alarm), and they told me they couldn't give me a figure until my policy came up for renewal!!

How many people out there actually pay attention when a house alarm starts ringing??! The unmonitored type that is.

As a number of my neighbours don't have any type of alarm, I think if I was a house robber, I'd pick the un-alarmed house first!
 
Bravery

Someone that is in the process of robbing your goods might take notice if your alarm starts going off!

I remember seing a TV program where they interviewed an ex-burglar, and he said that it takes a very brave person to stay in a house with the alarm going off.
 
re: Monitoring and Bravery

On the other hand if a burglar sets off and alarm, by the kicking the door or whatever, then sits back and observes for a while. If no one comes to respond to this alarm in an hour or so, which may the case without a monitoring contract, then the house could be seen as easy pickings.
 
Re: Aritech auto dialer

Intruder, where did you get your auto-dialer? Did you buy it in Ireland? How much was it? It sounds like what I've been looking for.
 
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