9/26/05 - Stupidly signed up for a 3 year contract with ADT from a door-to-door salesman from Ranger American warning me about thieves stealing appliances from new homes, such as mine. $19.99 initial fee, $40.99+tax monthly. Lesson learned: never buy from a door-to-door salesman. Period.
5/5/07 - Received letter from ADT stating they were raising my rate to $43.28 "in order to maintain our high level of service." Looked over the contract and noticed paragraph 3. which states:
3. INCREASES IN CHARGES. We have the right to increase the annual service charge at any time after the first year. If you give us written objection to the increase within thirty (30) days of your receipt of notice of the increase, and if we do not waive the increase, then you may terminate this Contract effective (30) days after our receipt of your written notice of termination. In this situation, you will not have to pay the early termination charges described in Paragraph 2.
5/7/07 - I send off a letter per this paragraph, disputing the increased charge. Sent USPS Certified Receipt.
5/9/07 - Certified letter received by ADT. Starting 30 day clock.
5/29/07 - ADT hits my credit card for $46.85 (increased fee + tax.)
6/27/07 - Called up ADT mentioning fee increase, my letter, and why was I hit for the increase? Asked to terminate per contract, they refused but offered a new rate of approx. $31. I agreed. They stated they would refund $13 off the last charge also. OK, fine, it's still cheaper than their ETF.
6/29/07 - ADT charges my CC $44.37 (original rate + tax.)
7/29/07 - ADT charges my CC $44.37.
7/30/07 - Finally look at CC bills and notice ADT has been lying to me. Call them up again and they say, oops, sorry, can't really do the $31/mo we promised you. You have to stick with your original rate. But we will remove your extra $2.38 increase from 5/29 within 3-5 days.
8/14/07 - Haven't seen any refund hit my CC for the $2.38. Call ADT again they say oh, it was posted as a credit to my account. (Why the hell didn't you tell me that the first time?) It will show up on my next statement. Yeah, right. I mention I will be doing a charge-back for that amount if the next bill has not been lowered by the $2.38. Had them make a note to that effect on my account.
8/16/07 - I receive a call from ADT saying they have looked over my account and can offer me a rate of $34/mo and they will credit me the excess payments from June and July's payments. OK, fine.
8/16/07 - My CC shows a credit of $2.38 from ADT. So that finally goes through. Almost took three months.
8/18/07 - Receive letter from ADT mentioning that I need to cough up $199 to upgrade my cellular alarm box from the analog to digital one due to the fact that the analog networks are being shutdown soon. Uh, yeah, why didn't you guys give me the digital one in the beginning since my service was setup after the FCC ruled on this? Apparently, "ADT is paying for a substantial portion of the cost .. for this equipment change." Uh-huh, sure. I get quote elsewhere for the same equipment for $169 refundable deposit.
8/28/07 - ADT charges my CC $44.37. Not the lower rate per the call from them, nor any refunds per that same call. Boo, ADT.
8/29/07 - Called ADT about why they aren't charging me the price they quoted me the last time they called me. I get the usual "we can't do that because you are on some super special bundle package." OK, then why did they call me on the 16th? I would assume they would be able to look at my account before calling me to offer me a lower rate that they obviously won't honor. This is all very confusing.
8/31/07 - Call to see how much the ETF would be to cancel the contract. Am told it would be less than the cost of the $199 digital cellular upgrade. Fine, sounds good to me. Oh, they do offer to give me the digital cellular box for free if I add an extra year to my contract instead. Ha! I don't think so..
9/3/07 - Call up Smith Thompson-- my new alarm company. Only $16.95/mo with no contract.. only need a deposit on my cellular uplink that I get back whenever I return the unit. Technician shows up later on Friday-- these guys are great. Bye-bye ADT.
9/8/07 - Receive another letter from ADT regarding the important upgrade to my analog cellular box. This one states I get the box for free-- that's a big change from the previous letter. Doesn't mention any strings either, altho I'm guessing its the same 1 year contract extension deal. Anyway, in the trash it goes.
So.. at this point, ADT has lied to me several times, continually promised lower rates without actually giving them to me, they want to charge me even more to upgrade some hardware they should have never installed in the first place, and they are already way expensive compared to any other service. At this point I still need to call them regarding the lower rate they keep promising me. Also I will be breaking the contract early so I can switch to someone else as they want to charge me $199 just to stay with them. Regardless, I suggest to anyone who reads this to not go with ADT. There are many other companies that provide the exact same service for way less cost and without long-term contracts. No way am I ever purchasing anything from a door-to-door salesman again, nor signing up for a contract without shopping around first.