ADT Punished by US Government

By: John Honovich, Published on Mar 14, 2014

The US government is cracking down on deceptive marketers. And the industry's least favorite company, ADT, has been punished.

Inside this note, we break down the issues, sharing the specific deceptive practices, impact and contrast with real customer opinions.

Deceptive Marketing

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****** **** ****, ** break **** *** ******, sharing *** ******** ********* practices, ****** *** ******** with **** ******** ********.

Deceptive *********

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****** **************** ******** ** $***,***+ to ******* *********.

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******* *** ***** **** self ********** '****************', ***** ***** **************, *** *** ***** appearances ******* *** *****.

ADT ******* / *****

*** *** ******* (********** *****). ** **** ** their **********, **** ** not **** ** ***** these *******, *** **** do **** *********** ************, including:

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  • *** * *****, **** records ** *** **********, and ********* ************* **** compliance ** ********* **********.
  • *** ***** **** **** for ** ***** *** next ** *****.
  • **** ********* ** **** order "*** ****** ** a ***** ******* ** up ** $**,***" ***** unfortunately *** *** ** pennies. 

Poor *** 

*** ***** ******** **** to ***'* *******,*********** ****:

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**** ** ** ****** to * ******* **** can '*********' ***** ******** of ********* ** ******* to **** ******* ************ as **** *********** *******.

*** ******* ** **** ADT *** *** *** marketing ****** *** **** to **** ******* ****** practices. ** ** ******** for *** ********** ** intervene ** **** *****.

The ******

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Regular ****** **** ***

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Comments (8)

Undisclosed Integrator #1

03/16/14 05:25pm

That same TV program once boasted my country (and province) only to find out later they were paid by tourism office to do so.

Deegan Pope

03/17/14 08:41pm

Who's not under attack on social media? Who raves about a company on social media. It's mostly people ranting. If your big, you're going to have some unhappy clients and those people are likely to have a facebook account. ADT still has brutal customer service, but I think the above post is rediculous. If i could call in and state the same about any home what monitoring service would be of any value. I just call in, say i'm on vacation, please turn off the system at this address and voila easy B&E.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Deegan Pope | 03/17/14 08:48pm

Deegan,

For ADT, the complaints are non stop. Here's a few from right now:

It goes on and on.

As for who raves about companies on social media? There are lots of companies who get consistent rave reviews of Yelp, for example. Here's an example for security systems Los Angeles (of course, ADT gets crushed here again but many competitors do great).

Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to John Honovich | 03/20/14 08:56am

Makes me think of GoDaddy. I'm creating a website with them right now. I've seen lots of reviews against them. In the end, I decided to try it anyway (on a monthly basis to be safe). Result? Much better (awesome) than my previous hosting provider, though GoDaddy is definitely more expensive when you start adding things ...

People will always attack the most successful. In politics, it's the same thing. When a political party thrives in polls, they become the target of nasty comments from weaker rivals.

John Honovich

IPVM | In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1 | 03/20/14 04:21pm

"People will always attack the most successful .... they become the target of nasty comments from weaker rivals."

So you are saying that ADT rivals are creating thousands of phony Facebook accounts creating diverse detailed accounts of problem they have with ADT systems?

Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to John Honovich | 03/20/14 04:49pm

That and the fact that people like to have a common enemy to talk about. Here, everyone talks against Bell Canada yet, Bell Canada continues to thrive! Maybe the negative publicity actually helps them more than anything else.

And as for detailed ADT accounts, well ... sometimes people see problems that only exist in their mind. Other times, yes ADT installers screwed up. A couple complaining about the lack of security due to GSM signal being too weak to reach ADT's monitoring station. Well, now that I know such problem could arise, I'll try to remember to check their GSM signal via my cellphone before signing them up. Nonetheless, ADT has a 6-month money back guarantee. So, why staying with them and complaint? Because some people love to complain and that's a great opportunity for them to do so.

New comers are always put on a pedestal ... until they become well known. Same with celebrities, we all love them at first, then we trash them. <g>

Avatar

Brian Rhodes

IPVMU Certified | In reply to Undisclosed Integrator #1 | 03/20/14 05:10pm

We covered ADT's 6 month guarantee in this note. Here's an excerpt:

Money Back Service Guarantee

This policy offers to extend the 'satisfaction guarantee' period to 6 months, including subsequent monitoring fees. Given the value of this promise can exceed $1000 if taken full term, only large installation companies are able to offer it 'no questions asked'.

However, the fine print gives ADT the option/right to 'fix' things first:

"If during the six months following installation we are unable to resolve any installation/service-related concern, we will refund the installation charge and/or any monitoring fees paid after we have attempted to resolve your concerns."

This is clearly NOT a 'no questions asked' type policy, giving ADT the power and right to refuse refunds under the claim they have resolved the installation/service issues.

For the customer, it is hard to redeem a guarantee contingent upon prior 'make right' service if none is made or if it isn't deemed an issue to begin with.

Undisclosed Integrator #1

In reply to Brian Rhodes | 03/20/14 06:07pm

Well Brian, as an installer, I sure wouldn't like to uninstall a system simply because the client changed his mind about having a system or later found a better deal elsewhere. I think it is perfectly normal that a no question asked refund not be granted. Have you ever done so yourself?

As for the GSM communication not working, well I think it is more the customer to be aware of such problem in his area even though I think the installer should check it out first ... There's a town nearby where the GSM signal cuts at different areas of town. Just walking a few meters sometimes help. People living in that town know the dead zones, the installers don't.

Just giving my 2 cents ... We installers have rights too. <s>

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