Bumbling ineptitude
<p>We sent the following complaint to ADT on 10 October, but have yet to hear back from them.  We followed it up but to no avail once again.  In stead we have been phoned non-stop by their accounts department to settle our bill, something I am not prepared to do until they have competed the installation as quoted.</p>
<p>We are writing to express our dissatisfaction with the service that we have received from ADT over the past ten months. We would have addressed this letter to the regional manager, but the local ADT office were unwilling to provide us with contact details. We moved into our new house in Wellington in November 2015. The house came with an existing ADT alarm system. We have never required an alarm before and thus this was our first encounter with security services of any sorts. The alarm has not functioned properly from day one. This has been frustrating to say the least. A short summary of the problems is provided below.<br />1. On moving into the property the alarm keypad kept beeping at odd times. When we complained about this we were told to insert the access code to make it stop. Sometimes this worked and other times it did not. It was only after a technician visited (we insisted) that it was discovered that the lack of a landline was causing the problem. We were surprised that no-one considered this earlier.<br />2. At the same time the alarm would sound for no reason (usually in the middle of the night and sometimes more than once), always indicating the front door zone as the culprit area. However, on checking this area was always found to be secure. On several occasions the telephone operator that called in was under the impression that the panic alarm was activated. We asked on many of these occasions for a technical note to be made and were assured that a technician would be in touch the next day. This did not happen unless we called for a technician. At these times we were given several explanations, a different one each time. Needless to say with an infant in the house this random disturbance is unwelcome. Eventually the problem was partly-resolved when beams were recently installed and the keypad and board upgraded.<br />3. During installation of the beams we were told that there was a problem with the magnets/ wiring of the outside doors and that we would not be able to switch on the inside alarm when going away until that is fixed. It seems reasonable to deduce that this issue relates to the issue in point two. Although the alarm is not sounding at random any longer, this problem (identified by ADT during installation of the beams) remarkably remains unaddressed. We have made requests to the sales representative. In our view the installation is therefore incomplete.<br />4. Regarding the beams. When the beams were installed, the technician made us aware of an unprotected window of the house that we were led to believe were protected by the sales representative's presentation during sale. We reluctantly agreed that another beam would have to be placed o ensure proper cover, but were subsequently charged the full price for this additional beam. We received 25% discount on the rest of the installation as we purchased during a special sale period, but installation took place after the sale period - hence the full price.</p>
<p>We are aware that there is an outstanding amount on our account for the installation of the beams. This is due to the installation being incomplete. We are more than willing to pay the outstanding amount as soon as the wiring for the faulty door magnet has been fixed and we have a fully operational system. We expect that this be done within a reasonable time and not at any additional cost to us. We would like 25% discount on the additional beam mentioned in point four. If we were quoted correctly a discount would have applied and we would like ADT to acknowledge this by applying it retrospectively. We feel that these are reasonable requests and would welcome any constructive dialogue to ensure an amicable resolve.</p>
<p>Our security is important to us. We understand it is also important to you and that you take pride in providing security to your clients worldwide. We are therefore disappointed that so much effort are required to fix a system that was installed by and still is operated by ADT. This despite several requests by us, the client. It seems a direct contradiction to the importance of the service you purport to provide. We note that the monthly service fee will be going up. Given the false alarms, ongoing disrepair of the wiring and miss-quotes we do not feel that we have received a reasonable service to justify such an increase. We have reluctantly started to look elsewhere, but would be willing to consider an ongoing relationship with ADT if an amicable resolution could be found within a reasonable timeframe.</p>