Note: The $2500 which I quoted above included not only the installation of the original equipment, but additional equipment, and service calls over the years. When Apollo raised its rates the first time, there was an explanation saying it was the first rate increase in 9 years. However, regarding the last two rate increases for the monitoring service, we weren't even given the courtesy of a letter stating why it was necessary to raise rates. Essentially, there was no customer appreciation. The only time I received any feedback after 17 years, was when I informed Apollo that I didn't care to use their monitoring service any longer. Then, someone from the outsourced company in Pennsylvania called me, and wanted to know why. I simply told her that I no longer had a use for their service. I really didn't care to deal with an out of state company pertaining to customer service and billing issues. When Brenda of the Columbus office serviced the account, it was terrific in dealing with her. However, I did not appreciate dealing with an outsourced company.
Description of Work: When Apollo installed my alarm, I was told that the downstairs loudspeaker would be installed in the cold air return duct of the living room. However, it was installed in the kitchen, which I feel was not a good choice. The downstairs control pad is in the kitchen. Hence, every time the system has to be tested, the noise blared in one's ears. Also, if the alarm goes off accidentally, one has to go into the same room where the noise is coming from to turn the system off. The salesman assured me that the alarm could not accidentally be set off by my cat. However, he was wrong, as my cat traversed one of the window sensors at 3AM in the morning and set the alarm off. I did not appreciate jumping out of bed, and banging my knee, and running downstairs to see what caused the alarm to go off. Afterwords, I placed some plastic protective covers over the window sensors to prevent that from happening again. However, Apollo could have provided me with those protective covers, initially. When I recently called Apollo and asked them if the loudspeaker could be relocated to the living room, they never gave me the courtesy of a response. I was never told how to turn the alarm off, if the system would keep coming on, as it did from some defective smoke detectors a number of years ago. The two smoke detectors, and the alarm battery were replaced. However, I had to have the window sensors replaced several times when I had new windows installed. One of the Apollo employees was not very nice, when he had to come out to accomplish that task. He had an attitude problem, and had the gal told tell me "that he could have charged me even more for reinstalling the sensors". I was given two new sensors on the living room windows, but on the den window, I was given back the old one. When I inquired as to why the den didn't rate a new sensor, as did the living room, I was told that "it still works". It should be noted that their employee initially didn't reinstall the sensors correctly, as I had to bring the problem to his attention, when he was leaving. In addition, I also had problems with Apollo, when they installed a motion sensitive light in front of my home, which was defective. It took three weeks for them to replace the defective unit, and I had to argue with the installer. Not that long ago, I was charged $350.00 for an outdoor camera, which was installed in front of my home. Even though I was quoted $350.00 by their office staff (for the unit and installation), they tried to charge me an extra $99.00 service charge, which I refused to pay. Incidentally, the camera lasted about 20 months, and stopped functioning. I checked the price on the internet, and I noted that I could have bought it for $79.00. Even if one takes into account the installation charge, should the total have been $350.00? I don't think so. When I tried to get information from Andre Gordon about the camera, his tone on the telephone was not very nice. He didn't like responding to my inquiry.