Blog Comments Raise Eyebrows as ADT Employee Expresses Concern

Consumers rely more than ever on customer reviews and social media when making buying decisions – especially when they are shopping for important services like wireless home security and home automation. And since more of that shopping is taking place online, checking out a company’s reputation on the web is a logical step while comparing products and services. I’ve posted on the growth and importance of alarm company review sites before – and wrote recently on an alarm company warning issued by the granddaddy of review sites – the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Today you can check online reviews for just about any company - even the ones who knock on your door, offering a deal you cannot refuse: just remember: you really want to do your homework before you sign up. Specific Sites to Visit Some of the popular sites (like Yelp.com and epinions.com) have starred rating systems, and users can apply a 1-5 score along with a detailed description of their experience. Angie’s List is a membership review site, where their subscribers can share detailed notes about a wide range of service providers. FrontPoint has great reviews on all of them – with over 1,000 on Angie’s List alone. It’s even more telling when you can read what employees have to say about their companies. For instance, FrontPoint has earned the prestigious “Best Place to Work” in Virginia for two years running – and this award is based purely on employee input. That tells you a lot, and frankly mirrors what you can read about FrontPoint in a ton of customer comments: we’re proud to have garnered such high praise for service that is above and beyond expectations, and that we have so few negative ratings. But it’s no accident… we work extremely hard to earn every rave review. ADT Employee Speaks Out So, when an ADT employee posted a comment on one of FrontPoint’s blog posts a couple of weeks ago, that got our attention. The topic of that blog happened to be complaints about ADT by former customers of Brink’s Home Security – negative reviews were piling up after Brink’s was absorbed by ADT. For those who never knew Brink’s, they were a remarkable service company. Sadly, they fell way behind in terms of alarm technology, but when it came to making customers happy, few in this industry could match them - and it showed in their relatively low customer cancellation rates. ADT is another story… What the Employee Said

Hey, just some general commentary on the relative levels of ADT customer service from a current employee in sales:

• Relative install quality can vary greatly from district to district and even installer to installer. Some installers and districts within ADT are very good and some are horrible. Very inconsistent.
• My experience with ADT 800 numbers is that they are built to confound and confuse customers. Always try to reach local district offices if possible, not brokers mind you, but company district offices.
• Since going public, ADT has done nothing but increase rates, fees, and drive up subscription costs on existing customers to try to protect profit. They are doing so at the expense of never-to-be-regained market share/customer loss.

I’ve been at this company working for close to two years now, and I’d never consider their alarm systems for my house. In my experience once the systems are installed, they work pretty well, but the costs far outweigh the benefits of a cheaper, just as effective solution from a local vendor.

Wow – now there is a strong indictment of ADT from someone working at the company. And perhaps it helps explain why ADT is growing so slowly, and has annual customer cancellation rates near 14%... above the industry average. As big as they are, ADT should be better than the industry. While we don’t solicit comments like this, we are happy when readers share their insights and experience on our blog. And since the FrontPoint blog is the most widely read in the alarm industry, we get lots of comments. You may have found your own great review sites – if so, please let me know, and I’ll spread the word. The good news is that these sites are objective, credible, and not subject to abuse, which makes them all the more useful. And I should mention that when you search for “FrontPoint reviews” you’ll find the same great news. As the leader in wireless home security, and the #1 ranked home alarm company in the US, FrontPoint is committed to your safety and security – and that means honest sales and advertising, no hidden fees, the best technology at the best price, and world-class service. Now that is peace of mind.