SecureNet Alarm Systems

Let's start at the beginning. My home was burglarized in April 2011. Shortly after the burglary, I had a burglary alarm system installed by SecureNet Alarm Systems. And that is when the trouble began. Installation - The team of installers did not follow the installation instructions, and installed the motion sensor in the wrong room of the house. Additionally, they did not install wired sensors were they were supposed to (installing wireless systems instead). Finally, the installers disconnected the siren for the system (standard practice during install) but failed to reconnect the siren after they had installed the system. "Customer Service" - Here are the highlights: 1) It took several subsequent visits by SecureNet Alarm technicians to get the system working properly (including reconnecting the alarm siren). 2) SecureNet Alarm Systems was unable to enter the right list of call numbers into their system. For some reason, they would try to call my work number (which was not on the call list) before they would call my cell phone or my wife's cell phone (the first two numbers on the call list). This lead to two citations from the City of Wichita for false alarm deployment of police. We tried on multiple occasions to get the numbers corrected (including both writing letters to the company and calling the customer support group). It wasn't until I received a letter freeing me from my SecureNet contract that I received a call list report from SecureNet that showed the right numbers in the right order. 3) Failure to Provide Accurate and Factual Information Regarding a True Alarm Situation: On October 8, 2011 the main water line to my house ruptured and required the water to the house to be shut down at the main. My wife was 9 months pregnant at the time and went to stay at my mother-in-law's house until the water line could be repaired. We boarded our German Shepherd with our dog trainer, and only our cat was still in the house on October 9, 2011. On that day (the day before my son was born) the motion sensor in our house tripped multiple times. Since no one should have been in the house, my wife told the SecureNet operator to send police to the house. Police arrived (eventually) and nothing was found to have been taken or damaged. The City of Wichita tried to claim the event as a false alarm response. I contested that designation, and as part of the city investigation the City of Wichita CryWolf program asked if SecureNet had received any window alarm signals on October 9, 2011. SecureNet responded that they had not, and the city denied my initial appeal based on that information. The trouble with the information that SecureNet provided was that my system had no window sensors and thus no window sensor signals could have been sent. During the resulting additional appeals against the false alarm designation (which ended up on the desk of the city manager for Wichita and cost me over $100 out of pocket for signature confirmed mailing of appeals documentation) SecureNet eventually provided corrected information and the fines, fees, and penalties assessed against me for the false alarm designation were waived. 4) Excessive Service Charges: SecureNet Alarms (when I had the service) charged a $30 trip charge and a $30 per half hour labor charge for technicians to service my alarm system. There was no pro-rating, so if a technician took 31 minutes you were charged $60 for labor and the $30 trip charge. To make matters worse, if you did anything to your system (from taking a sensor down to paint or change a battery in a sensor) your entire system warranty was voided. On two occasions SecureNet Alarm technicians billed us for 60 or 90 minutes of labor when they had only worked for 31 or 58 minutes, respectively. On the 58 minute service call, the tech arrived 10 minutes later than the start time he put on his work order. 5) Failure to Provide Monitored Service for 6 Weeks (Before Contract Termination): We had some remodeling / renovation work done and per the contract stipulation we had a SecureNet technician come and move the sensors that had to be moved to allow work to proceed (two glass break sensors and a motion sensor). During that work, the technician broke the antenna for the cellular transmitter on the alarm system. Since we don't have a land line, this was the only means for our alarm system to communicate to the monitoring center. Instead of informing us of the damage, the technician simply ordered the part and left us with an unmonitored system. We didn't know the system wasn't being monitored until we had inadvertently tripped the alarm and never received a phone call from the monitoring center. My wife called SecureNet and asked why we hadn't received a call even though our siren had gone off. While the SecureNet operator was on the line, we intentionally set off our alarm and no signals were received at the call center. We were told a service request would be processed a a technician would be out on Monday (we called on a Saturday). It was the following Thursday before we got tired of waiting for a technician and complained to SecureNet. They informed us that they had no record of our system needing service and sent out a tech the next day (Friday). He noted the missing antenna and told us he would have to wait for parts. By that point we had been without monitored service for two weeks. For the next four weeks, SecureNet called asking if we were ready for the sensors to be reinstalled but never mentioned replacing the antenna (and yes we asked specifically about that since we didn't want to have to pay for two service calls at $60/each minimum). After six weeks of no service, I sent a certified signature receipt letter to SecureNet terminating my service. I then had a Vivint system installed. SecureNet tried to hold me to my contract even though they had breached the contract on multiple occasions (ranging from failure to monitor the system to improperly installing sensors). After attempting to resolve the matter through correspondence, I sued the company in small claims court. The settled out of court, reimbursing me for my filing fees and releasing me from my contract. It is not worth having a system from SecureNet Alarms. There were good in the past (I got a SecureNet system based on the recommendation of a co-worker), but their service has become terrible. For those in Wichita, I would recommend a Vivint system. The monthly monitoring costs are higher, but the cost of the system (out of pocket) is much lower and makes up for the different in the monitoring fee. Avoid SecureNet, since you are better off (in my opinion) with no system at all.

I call in to speak to someone in the corporate office... again, put on hold and then sent to voice mail... No return call. That's why I'm posting on Angies list to help another business steer clear of this company.

Well, the young man, literally 19, seem to install the system single-handedly and without hitch. It did take him the majority of a day. However that would have been fine had it worked properly. When he was installing the system he did tell me that it was a newer system that he was not all that familiar with. Turned out that really no one in the company was familiar with due to the fact not only was the system newer, but most try to avoid installing the system due to the fact that they are known to be full of bugs and unreliable .From that point on we had nothing but troubles. The system would be accidentally set off by a loud noise and no one from Secure net would be notified. There were times that we the whole system would not be able to be activated as were going to bed for the night. We quickly learned that they would take at least 48 hours to send someone to resolve an issue and that if even we had to go a whole weekend with no alarm system, they would only send a tech for an additional fee of around 250.00. The system would not set, not be monitored, go off line, unhook our phone line, go off for no reason over the next 6 months in the upwards of at least 30 times. We have the pile of trouble tickets to prove it. We would call and put a request to speak to a manger and never hear back. As a matter of fact. I am currently awaiting a return call from a manager, he said he would speak to our contact that we have been dealing with, and call right back. That was 2 hours ago and the sun is about to set on the business day. The techs that were sent to house were rude, arrogant and even at time argumentative and young. They would argue that what were experiencing was not possible. That we must be doing something to cause the problems we were having, and on and on. When you call in to the customer service department, they are prompt to answer the phone but smug and apathetic with absolutely no ownership in the company. They will tell you they will leave a message with a certain department or manger and when an if you get back in touch with that particular manger or department, they will never have even heard of your name. I left at least ^ complaints with the CS who answered the phone for one particular manager. When, several weeks later I managed to catch up with that manager, he claimed to have never received a single message/complaint from me. I will never recommend this company to anyone friend, enemy or stranger.