Armed response and alarm installation advice

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CharmaineB

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I saw that Groupon has a special on alarm installations, with the fine print being that you have to sign a contract with Chubb. This got me thinking...

Is Chubb any good? How do their prices compare with ADT and others?

And the whole alarm confuses me. I really just want 5 door sensors/switches, and 4 panic buttons. I don't want motion detectors that go off every time I go to the bathroom, or every time my fat dog waddles down the passage.

This is the deal that Groupon has:

Choose between these options:

Pay R149.70 for an alarm link-up, valued at R599
Pay R440 for an 8-zone alarm system, valued at R1 100
Pay R630 for a 16-zone alarm system, valued at R3 150

Alarm Link-Up: R299 incl. VAT

Link-up to Chubb's alarm and armed response including radio link
Full system check
New battery

8-Zone Alarm System: R360 incl. VAT

Ideal solution for a three-bedroom house
Allows for remote arming and disarming
Transmission of zone descriptions to the control room when activated
Package comes with monitoring and armed response from Chubb Security
8-zone alarm box
LED key pad
Two motion sensors
Two door magnets
Two panic buttons
Battery
Transformer
Siren
Two remotes

16-Zone Alarm System: R399 incl. VAT

Ideal solution for a four-bedroom house
Allows for remote arming and disarming
Transmission of descriptions to the control room when activated
Includes SMS notifcation of all alarm activity
Ability to partition system for individual arming and disarming, and grouping of specific areas
Comes with a LCD screen pad and sensors
Includes monitoring and armed response from Chubb Security
16-zone control box
LCD key pad
Four motion sensors
Six magnetic contacts
Four panic buttons
Battery
Transformer
Siren
Two remotes

What do you guys think? Is it worth it? Or should we rather do a DIY alarm, since we only want a few basic things?
 
Hi,

I'm am not sure on the alarm side of things but just have to warn you about Groupon.

I would call Chubb and confirm everything first before you decide to go ahead with this.
 
Call Chubb directly.. don't mention Groupon and get them to quote you..

You will find the price to be roughly the same as Groupons if not slightly cheaper...

The contract will probably be a minimum of 2 years, or maybe even 3...
 
CharmaineB said:
...
Is Chubb any good? How do their prices compare with ADT and others?
...
Click to expand...

Best is to ask your neighbours. Look around which company has the biggest presence in your area as they most likely will have the most response cars in the area as well.

You can also ask your local neigbourhood watch or CPF.

Also do not dismiss the smaller guys, they often give better service. I'm going to use a local company where the owner lives two blocks from me and his company was recommended by my next door neighbour.

As for price, find out what they charge for false alarms and responses. A lot of companies slap you R150+ after 3 false alarms for the month and then you sit with a R1K+ bill. I use to work for an alarm control room and I saw this often when clients used bigger companies for their armed response.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Best is to ask your neighbours. Look around which company has the biggest presence in your area as they most likely will have the most response cars in the area as well.

You can also ask your local neigbourhood watch or CPF.

Also do not dismiss the smaller guys, they often give better service. I'm going to use a local company where the owner lives two blocks from me and his company was recommended by my next door neighbour.

As for price, find out what they charge for false alarms and responses. A lot of companies slap you R150+ after 3 false alarms for the month and then you sit with a R1K+ bill. I use to work for an alarm control room and I saw this often when clients used bigger companies for their armed response.
Click to expand...

This.

The response is greatly affected by the suburb. Some areas have amazing service from Chubb/ADT, others other way round. It all depends where their response vehicles are situated or parked.

One thing to note from ADT.... every year they push your price up, so the longer you've been with them, the more you pay. New members pay less than you.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
As for price, find out what they charge for false alarms and responses. A lot of companies slap you R150+ after 3 false alarms for the month and then you sit with a R1K+ bill.
Click to expand...

If you wish to cancel your contract you need to give them 3 months notice before expiry date.

Excessive alarms
http://chubb.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Excessive-Response-increase-letter-Dec12.pdf

(VAT exclusive)
1 - 4 No additional charge
5 - 10 R 81
11 - 20 R 174
21 - 30 R 265
31 - 40 R 420
40+ R550

froot said:
One thing to note from ADT.... every year they push your price up, so the longer you've been with them, the more you pay. New members pay less than you.
Click to expand...
Same with Chubb, what you do is get a quote from another company then contact your current one and ask them to lower your premium. This will probably lock you into a contract for 1-2 years again but you do get the lower price.
 
Last edited:
Insist on a month-to-month contract. Only a fool would sign a 2 or 3 year contract.
 
Another thing to be wary of is the "radio license" that these companies like to charge monthly in their premium.

The fee is approximately R60 per YEAR... I've seen 3 quotes from companies which have it at R60 per month, and they all got very cagey with me when I challenged them on it.
 
ToxicBunny said:
Another thing to be wary of is the "radio license" that these companies like to charge monthly in their premium.

The fee is approximately R60 per YEAR... I've seen 3 quotes from companies which have it at R60 per month, and they all got very cagey with me when I challenged them on it.
Click to expand...

Correct, it should be in the region of R60pa... that now with the company adding their profit to it (or well you renting their radio device), because at ICASA it's R50pa ;)

Problem with the specials they offer, is that it's subject to signing a contract.
 
Do not sign a 3 year contract. These alarm systems are cheap, so don't be fooled at the 'cost savings'. Rather buy the system outright and then hookup to a monitoring company.

My relatives signed a 3 year with Chubb, had a break-in, lost everything and the insurance refused to pay because the alarm didn't go off even though it was armed. So they are stuck paying for a useless alarm.
 
I'm am not sure on the alarm side of things but just have to warn you about Groupon.

I would call Chubb and confirm everything first before you decide to go ahead with this.
Click to expand...

Call Chubb directly.. don't mention Groupon and get them to quote you..

You will find the price to be roughly the same as Groupons if not slightly cheaper...

The contract will probably be a minimum of 2 years, or maybe even 3...
Click to expand...

Offer subject to signing a monitoring and armed response contract with Chubb.

^^^ says it all ^^^^
Click to expand...

I had to call Chubb four times before I finally got someone on the phone - terrible service! The first two times the phone just rang and rang. The third time someone answered (sounding a little annoyed and impatient) and put me through to someone else who just let the phone ring and ring. The fourth time I finally got hold of someone who could tell me what they charge. I first asked them how much it would be, and they said R300 to R350 per month. Then I asked about the Groupon special - same monthly price, but you have to sign a 36 month contract! Insane.

So, I've got hold of a local security company (Securimed) who will charge R100 per month. I don't think there is a radio charge because they use your landline... will have to check. And I will definitely find out about the false alarms charges as well - thanks for telling me about that, guys! Because I would never have thought about that.

So, I guess we will be going the DIY route. http://www.alarmtec.co.za/alarm-system-kits/paradox-sp65-alarm-kit-p-705.html
 
CharmaineB said:
I had to call Chubb four times before I finally got someone on the phone - terrible service! The first two times the phone just rang and rang. The third time someone answered (sounding a little annoyed and impatient) and put me through to someone else who just let the phone ring and ring. The fourth time I finally got hold of someone who could tell me what they charge. I first asked them how much it would be, and they said R300 to R350 per month. Then I asked about the Groupon special - same monthly price, but you have to sign a 36 month contract! Insane.

So, I've got hold of a local security company (Securimed) who will charge R100 per month. I don't think there is a radio charge because they use your landline... will have to check. And I will definitely find out about the false alarms charges as well - thanks for telling me about that, guys! Because I would never have thought about that.

So, I guess we will be going the DIY route. http://www.alarmtec.co.za/alarm-system-kits/paradox-sp65-alarm-kit-p-705.html
Click to expand...


PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stay the heck away from any system that uses your landline unless you have a prepaid telephone. A faulty alarm in a loop can run up a daily bill of over R1K. I've personally seen an alarm make a call every 60 seconds till the battery died and that was only after 2 days. This is the reason why alarms have moved over to radio.

This rule also applies to any alarms making use of a SIM - rather get a prepaid Vodacom contract for R49 and add SMS bundles to it from the customer portal or activate a 200 SMS bundle for an extra R45 per month.

Also check with your insurance on what they will cover you for and what your premiums will be. Sometimes you can get away with a cheaper DIY setup in the end.
 
talk to your neighbors.
I will go 16 zone, got one, every door etc on its own zone. Even garage door ,[ main door [own zone and small door another zone.]]
 
cbrunsdonza said:
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE stay the heck away from any system that uses your landline unless you have a prepaid telephone. A faulty alarm in a loop can run up a daily bill of over R1K. I've personally seen an alarm make a call every 60 seconds till the battery died and that was only after 2 days. This is the reason why alarms have moved over to radio.
Click to expand...

Telkom Unlimited ftw :D
Our alarm system is.... 17 years old I think. Works off the landline but has a radio backup. With the radio backup however, it cannot differentiate between a panic button and a normal alarm signal.
 
cbrunsdonza said:
Also check with your insurance on what they will cover you for and what your premiums will be. Sometimes you can get away with a cheaper DIY setup in the end.
Click to expand...

Personally I don't think it is worth it to tell your insurance company that you have an alarm system. The difference in premiums is actually pretty negligible, but you will have big problems with claiming if something goes wrong with your alarm system during a break-in.

I installed my Paradox alarm system myself and have never had a single days trouble with it. I'm not connected to any armed response. My biggest concern is that I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night with knife to my throat or a gun to my head. So I've got lots of outside perimeter sensors and a few inside the house, and I have a 2-way radio connected to my Neighbourhood watch that I can use if my alarm goes off and I need backup. I don't trust the armed response in our neighbourhood as far as I can throw them, and in fact there are suspicions that they have been involved in several break-ins in the area.
 
CharmaineB said:
I saw that Groupon has a special on alarm installations, with the fine print being that you have to sign a contract with Chubb. This got me thinking...

Is Chubb any good? How do their prices compare with ADT and others?

And the whole alarm confuses me. I really just want 5 door sensors/switches, and 4 panic buttons. I don't want motion detectors that go off every time I go to the bathroom, or every time my fat dog waddles down the passage.

This is the deal that Groupon has:

Choose between these options:

Pay R149.70 for an alarm link-up, valued at R599
Pay R440 for an 8-zone alarm system, valued at R1 100
Pay R630 for a 16-zone alarm system, valued at R3 150

Alarm Link-Up: R299 incl. VAT

Link-up to Chubb's alarm and armed response including radio link
Full system check
New battery

8-Zone Alarm System: R360 incl. VAT

Ideal solution for a three-bedroom house
Allows for remote arming and disarming
Transmission of zone descriptions to the control room when activated
Package comes with monitoring and armed response from Chubb Security
8-zone alarm box
LED key pad
Two motion sensors
Two door magnets
Two panic buttons
Battery
Transformer
Siren
Two remotes

16-Zone Alarm System: R399 incl. VAT

Ideal solution for a four-bedroom house
Allows for remote arming and disarming
Transmission of descriptions to the control room when activated
Includes SMS notifcation of all alarm activity
Ability to partition system for individual arming and disarming, and grouping of specific areas
Comes with a LCD screen pad and sensors
Includes monitoring and armed response from Chubb Security
16-zone control box
LCD key pad
Four motion sensors
Six magnetic contacts
Four panic buttons
Battery
Transformer
Siren
Two remotes

What do you guys think? Is it worth it? Or should we rather do a DIY alarm, since we only want a few basic things?
Click to expand...

Chubb still exists? They've pretty much died out in Centurion.
 
Gaz{M} said:
...
My relatives signed a 3 year with Chubb, had a break-in, lost everything and the insurance refused to pay because the alarm didn't go off even though it was armed. So they are stuck paying for a useless alarm.
Click to expand...

I was with Chubb, alarm armed. Robbers "cleaned" me out...Insurance company paid - no questions asked.
 
Chubb were so bad we got out of the contract by pointing out they had breached it because response times were in excess of 30 minutes. This was a few years ago.
 
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