Anywho, and on to the more important matters of the cost - another thing I've read a lot from the eFamily is that Guardian will offer you anywhere from 3 to 6 months of monitoring for free. And haven't I read somewhere also that they will waive the $250 initial installation cost? Not my guy. He was straight lace. By the book. No freebies. No extras. And then, I tell him that I'm not too sure on the alarm system, so I wanted to think about it. He tells me, well we need to set it up NOW, as if you were getting it, because if you decide you want it, we have to have another meeting - it can't be set up over the phone. I mean, I felt like if we had to meet again, it would be a huge inconvenience (for him). Sigh. So, I did set up the system with him as if I was going to get it. Thirty minutes later, I was sure I wasn't going to get it. Oh, and plus...the guys throws me a total price for all Guardian stuff (I did get like 3 extra cable jacks and a TV wall mount prewire), and I ask for an itemized price...he says, yeah, I'll email it to you. Double sigh. And another thing - haven't I also read of some people getting to turn one of the phone jacks into a cable? I asked. It was a 'no' there as well.
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Fortunately for me, I have a great relationship with my current alarm monitoring company, and since I've been a customer for some time, they are giving me a great rate. Yeah, it will be a wireless system, but ultimately, it's cheaper monthly, they'll contact me when something bad happens, and it'll deter the bad guys. Color me satisfied.
I read too that some got free monitoring for a few months, but my guy said no. I also found some coupon on their site that said we got a free smoke alarm protection something or other with a new installment and he said that was not for people building new houses, but people with existing houses... ? I was irritated but I just let it go.
ReplyDeleteHowever he did let us take some time to mull the idea over and I met with one week later to give him my decision. And we were allowed to change the phone jack to something else, so we did three tv and one data cable.
Sorry to hear your experience wasn't what you were expecting. And that you couldn't change your phone jack.
Hi Robin! Thanks for reading my rant. :-) Sounds like your guy was a bit more flexible than mine - at least you got to change one of your phone jacks. I don't even use a land line - phone jacks are fairly useless in my world, so one would have been plenty.
DeleteIt's good to know that someone else got some 'no's. I thought it was just me and my poor negotiation skills.
Sounds like your Guardian rep was a jerk! We didn't get anything extra from Guardian, just stuck with the standard connections, but our rep was super nice and personable!
ReplyDeleteLol Sherri and Chad!! Yeah, he definitely won't win and niceness contest! I'll say that it was my least fun meeting so far. I really need to see those itemizations...the total was close to $1500.00, but all I got 'extra' was a couple of cable jacks!!! Some adjustments will certainly be made. As soon as I get this email.....which better be tomorrow. :-)
DeleteWow, that guy sounds like a jerk! I think we are literally the only house that declined the security system, but it's because we know we can get a wireless one for way cheaper, and you are exactly right, it will do what you need it to do. We just didn't want to make a commitment for that long and honestly, $40 a month, that's a movie date, or a cute pair of shoes at TJ Maxx lol.... Verizon also offers whole home monitoring too, with some really awesome features, and it's still cheaper than Guardian! And also, we didn't get a phone jack in the house at all, we have never had a land line, and they will be extinct in about 10 years anyways, and we were allowed 4 jacks free, whatever we wanted! We got 3 cables and 1 data (for the office) and we only bought 1 extra jack and 1 wall mount in the living room, we walked away cheap from our meeting! And he didn't make us feel bad about it, he said it was smart not to go overboard. I'm so surprised your guy was such a Mr. "no no no"
ReplyDelete"eHarmony hook up" LOL. Our Guardian rep. was nice but the prices were not. We did signed up for the 3 year lock to have the house hardwired. No free 6-month service, no discounts, all prices are firm. I'm hoping their monthly security monitoring service is worth the cost. We will see....
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading and commenting. :-) If you said 'no' long enough, they would have offered the free 6 months....when I called to cancel the alarm system, and was firm on my cancellation, THEN they offered the free 6 months. I personally think they should offer that anyway, and waive the $250 'installation' fee, or whatever it is. But I certainly understand having the house hard wired...don't blame you for that. I toiled with that decision. Honestly, if I'd liked the rep more, I may have been persuaded.
DeleteGood luck on your build!!!
Hi there- not sure if you will know the answer to this question- I recently moved into a Savoy model that has never had phone service. I am ordering home phone service but can't find a phone jack outlet anywhere except for in the kitchen. Do you know where any other outlets are supposed to be located in your Savoy?
ReplyDeleteHi Kim! Congrats on your Savoy :)
ReplyDeleteThe 'standard' places for the phone jacks are usually the master bedroom and the kitchen. Sometimes Guardian does allow people to change one of the phone jacks into a data jack, or maybe even an 'all purpose' jack, where it can be used for data or phone. So, it is possible that there is only that one kitchen jack dedicated strictly for phone.