Stupid Businessmen in the Alarm Business
For the past decade I have used a particular security system to protect against intrusions into my businesses and home. I was paying about $30 per month per location for a monitored alarm system. I never had a problem with the service; they called me promptly whenever I purposely triggered the alarm to test the system to make sure no one was sleeping on the job; the equipment worked perfectly; I was a happy camper.
Then a few months back they notified me by mail that they needed to upgrade my system from 2G to 4G and wanted me to send them $149.00 per location to cover the cost. Not the right thing to ask me when I have been paying them more than thousands of dollars a year for a long time. If the owner of the business had merely requested a few bucks more a month I would have went along with the deal.
For the past few years I have been solicited by other security firms offering me similar services for a lot less money, but I remained loyal.
A number of times I have viewed videos of self-monitoring systems that sell for less than a few hundred dollars and no monthly fees but I remained loyal.
So I went out and bought a number of security systems from Lowes when they had them on sale for $99.00. However, extra contact sensors and motion detectors ended costing me less than $300.00 per setup.
So I cancelled the services at my home and all my businesses, but not before testing and using the Lowes Iris system for a few weeks.
Between all my businesses I stand to save thousands of dollars each year. But that's not the best part.
I find self-monitoring much more versatile, more convenient, and more informative than what I had been using for decades. I log in with either laptop or smartphone, see the temperature changes throughout the day inside my businesses, my home; reset the alarms myself, self-test the system as often as I like, control appliances, etc.
Some cities where I do business charge a fee for false alarms past a certain number. Now if I get an alarm, I get a real time video to make sure it's a real break-in before calling the police. No more false alarms.
I can look over a log of every door opening, every motion in certain areas, and program my own set of actions based on certain triggers.
I could go on for quite some time but you get the idea.
Let me not fail to mention that Lowes offers a free basic service and a two month free trial of their premium service, which later will kick in fpr $9.99 a month, which offers more power and control than basic services. Some of my businesses will require the premium service, but $9.99 a month still saves me money.
One caveat: the door sensor contacts, at 15 bucks a pop, are a bit pricey. I wish Lowes would offer to sell them a dozen in a package for a discount, as they do with fluorescent bulbs, caulking supplies, air filters, and other products.
My previous alarm company had to know that there are tons of cheaper competitors, that there are mucho beaucoup cheapo self-monitoring systems out there. Why would they be so stupid as to make someone like me think about alternative systems. They made a stupid mistake.
