Ackerman Security Systems

Do yourself a favor, stay as far away from them as possible. Signed up for a long term contract (big mistake). They haven't delivered on what they promise. Service has gone down twice, takes forever to get a response, they don't show up for appointments, don't call, and when you try to cancel you have to write a letter, mail it and wait another 30 days. Then they demand payment for service they haven't provided.

Very bad the system was lousy and we needed to cancel but was stuck in a lousy contract that could not or would not cancell but if any body could help would be stupid

I had Ackerman for 3 yrs. and their service was fine but I wanted to cancel after 3 yrs. and they kept ignoring requests, eventually charging me for 2 years of service not provided. Do not use them, they are an unethical business.

The worst. From installing the wrong equipment to bill me for 6 months that were promised free to overall atrocious customer service and class salesman tactics, this has easily been my worst contracting experience, and I have had hundreds. Do not use them under any circumstances.

The Ackerman technician was also very knowledgeable, helpful and professional. The installation was performed on schedule and was done most effectively, efficiently and neatly. He took the time to show my all the operations for the security system. I was very pleased.

They responded promptly to provide a thorough estimate. Arrived promptly for installation appointment. Installer was very personable and friendly. Explained everything thoroughly. You do have to pay for the equipment.

I am looking for an alarm system and monitoring company. I was provided an in home estimate with pricing by Kevin Farrell. I agreed to the pricing, signed the contract but the sales rep said he needed me to sign in person. When he showed up he had a completely different pricing scheme which was much higher. I pointed out the differences between what was emailed to me by him just 24 hours prior and he stormed out saying we could not do business. I complained to the company and have not received a call back. This is clearly a bait and switch but I'm not sure if it was the salesperson or the whole company's practice. I left a message in the call center in the Washington DC Metro area last week and never received any call back.

Leo came and we gave him a full list of everything on our security system including the make and model of our panel. He said the $19.99 a month wouldn't work and it would be $35.00. He also said we needed a new radio and it would be $99. We agreed and had the install scheduled and paid the $99. William came and said the $99 unit wouldn't work and we needed to pay $299. We refused. He put the panel back together and left. We then noticed our heating until wasn't working. I called Ackerman and was told they weren't responsible. I explained I have a 3 year old and a 8 month pregnant wife. Leo didn't care. I had to call a heating company. It turned out the tech turned off the emergency shut off. My old system doesn't work at all and Ackerman will not do anything unless we pay the extra $200 in addition to the $99 we already paid. When we asked to be reimbursed they wanted us to mail them. This has been the worst experience we have had with any contractor.

Horrible. Ackerman's salesman met with us and reviewed our options based on our currently installed ADT system. We paid extra money to upgrade to a system that would allow us to remotely control the security system with an Ackerman app on our phones. It was very clearly relayed to the Ackerman salesman that this was an extremely important feature to us. When the installer came a few days later, he fully installed the system and then when I asked him how to download the app, he said that what he installed doesn't come with an app. I've spent the last month trying to work with an Ackerman manager, Dave, and the original salesman to try and figure out how to get the system that they sold us installed, but they apparently can't do it. We've now had to pay to get ADT re-connected and Ackerman has not returned any of our phone calls since we told them we were going to switch back to ADT. They won't give us our $136 credit or pay for our ADT reconnection fee. Ackerman is absolutely horrible and has handled this situation with very little professionalism. Their managers assured us they would make this right and credit us for our money we paid them and pay for the ADT reconnection fees, but now they refuse to take our phone calls. I would strongly discourage anyone from getting an Ackerman system in their house.

After telling me that I needed to pay a cancellation fee after the system NEVER worked, they finally agreed to refund my money, then one hour later they charged my credit card (on file) AGAIN with ANOTHER 100.00!

After talking to them, I went on line to see if I could fix it myself. The alarm control panel said it needed a new battery. I found instructions on how to replace the battery. I removed the defective battery, went to the store and got a new one, I put it in and reassembled the unit. Problem fixed, I wonder what I am paying these people for. They don't work on repairs after 5 pm. I am actively searching for a new company.

Easier than expected and significant cost reduction

They just went up on their prices but I'm still paying what I used to pay when I started out with them. They sent a person out that I thought should have been able to identify what the problem was and didn't because I had changed companies.

Things went very well. I am pleased with Ackerman they respond quickly and helpful.

Customer service representative arrived on time, contract was signed on his Ipad and I was promised a copy of it that evening and it took at least 24 hours to receive an electronic version that I could not read clearly. The contract terms were also not clearly explained as I was signing and the terms was set up for 3 years and I paid for one month of service in advance and while signing the electronic version challenged why my bank's routing number and last for numbers of my checking account were in the contract. The sales rep responded affirmative to my inquiry that I was being signed up for automatic withdrawals from my checking account. When I declined, he said I would have to pay for 6 months up front instead. I exchanged the first check for one for six months. When I received a copy of the electronic version of the contract, my banking information was still in the contract. When I filed a complaint about the terms of the contract being too long and the unauthorized use of my banking information, the rep told me that their website was encrypted and secure. I told him that no database was secure and I wanted proof that my banking information had been deleted. I also wanted a contract for one year vs. three. The response I got regarding my request for a paper copy was one of "it's just a lot of legal stuff" I responded that was exactly why I wanted to read the contract end to end since I had not been able to do that at the signing on his Ipad. The security system is for a rental property and I was told the requested paper copy was mailed to the rental address vs. my residence. I still have yet to receive the paper copy, today is July 13th and the contract was signed on June 25, 2015. My tenant has also had to go through two installation appointments to bring the system online as the technician went to the first appointment unprepared to work in a crawl space underneath the house where there was water. I told the customer service rep that there was a Lowe's across the street and I didn't appreciate the fact that the technician was unprepared to complete the install and my tenant now had to use more of his leave. It was also not explained to me that the 6 months of free service isn't completely realized until the end of the third year, that 2 free months come at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years. I've logged into Ackerman's website and am happy to say I don't see my banking information on their website. At this point I have filed a complaint with the BBB to obtain a paper copy of the contract and alert them to my experience. I would highly discourage anyone from signing a contract on a sales representative's IPad. All of the above is how I remember the experience to the best of my ability. I am hoping the remainder of my experience with Ackerman is more productive that the beginning.

The security consultant went over all cost effective measures that would get me a customer of Ackerman. Though I wasn't able to get the system I wanted because of the upfront costs I was able to get my monitoring fees lowered $10/month and I can save to start working towards getting the Z-Wave capability.

My wife and I took off work to be available for this appointment. The Ackerman Rep no call no showed. I called Ackerman 30 minutes after the appointment time to see what happened... they confirmed the appointment date / time and then patched me through to the Rep who was 'on another appointment'.

Ackerman never showed up for the appointment nor did they call and cancel or offer any explanation.

It was free. It was a cheaper price. What made me decide to go with them was their price.

the technician arrived on time, he was not able to fix the problem because he did not have a fuse for the panel. Why the company would not provide the needed parts is unclear. I called the company and am still waiting for them to reply. I am currently looking for a fuse. I would need to use them in the future as there is not other company in the area.

It hasn't gone well. In January 2014, I had Ackerman's alarm system removed from my home and went with another well known carrier, who were the first to develop alarm systems, and are contracted by the federal government. They are the only one's who'll pay your deductible if your home is burglarized under their watch..

We switched from ADT to Ackerman security system. We switched because ADT raised their rates to over $40. Ackerman is only $24.95 and its wireless. The fact that it's wireless means that if someone cuts your phone lines it wont cut your security unlike ADT.

Not so well. At our last home, about 18 months ago, the sales person was excellent and did a great job designing what we needed and explaining what we were to get. Our recent installation in another home did not go well. We found our prior salesman has left the company. The new person did not do so well explaining that we were to receive equipment that was older than what was provided in our previous home. When we called to ask why we received old technology they said oh no problem it will just cost more money. Further when we engaged with the sales manager our calls at first went unanswered and then he added confusion to the mix by saying our salesman was no longer with the company. Then we received a call from the salesman! Confused? We were. Sales manager brushed it off saying he got us confused with another customer. Huh? He refused to provide the new technology solution unless we paid the fee. To his credit he claimed he was offering a discounted fee, we have no way of verifying that. So on this installation; we felt like we were dealing with some not so good used car salesman rather than the fine upstanding people we talked with in the past. Note the installer was excellent. Our beef is with the sales staff and company overall. They should have done better.

I called them and decided to go with them. I did look up their reviews on Angie's List. I paid about $500. It included the installation, a new security system and it also included me making a monitoring payment for a quarter. Actually, they were fabulous. Everything about the experience was really good. My meeting with the sales consultant was really good. She was really informative and she answered all my questions. She was really patient with me; in thinking about my questions to ask her because some of them didn't come immediately. She then emailed all the documents to me. I had a question at 11 o'clock at night so I sent her an email and she responded back. The next morning I had a window of 8 to 12 for installation. The guy got here probably around 9.30. He installed everything within an hour or an hour and half. He was able to answer any questions that I had. He was really informative. There were a couple of things that I forgot to ask the sales representative the day before and he was able to address. It was no problem and everything went really, really smoothly. I was really pleased. I didn't feel bad about paying more for the service. If I had gone with the other service, by the time I had paid the other service to send me everything I needed in addition paying the consultant to install it, I would have been in the same price range. The monitoring for Ackerman Security Systems is cheaper than everyone else I looked at. The contract with the other service is 3 years. I looked at their monthly monitoring fee for 3 years, their price for the system plus the installation. I added that up and then I did the same thing for Ackerman. Ackerman Security Systems has only a 1 year contract. They were still cheaper and I feel like Ackerman overall was the better deal. They responded to me immediately. They told me not to hesitate to call. I called the next morning and asked another question. They were responsive. They have been responsive every single time I reached out to them. They showed up within the window and they were done before the window was over. I would definitely use their services again.

I like them so far. They've done a good job. The price is very good. Their price is better than other companies for the same service. They always come on time.