Extortionate ADT alarm charge

stonypaul

I used to have a monitored alarm contract with ADT, but cancelled it some years ago.
Recently it developed what seemed like a fault because it was beeping intermittently at all hours.
So this was enough to keep everyone in the house awake so one night my wife had had enough so she rang ADT at 5.00 AM to ask them to sort it out as no one could sleep.
So half an hour later an ADT engineer arrived to power down the system which took about 15 minutes.
Then ADT sent me a bill for £537.60 incl VAT.
This seems ridiculously high and now I'm wondering what to do next to dispute this invoice.
Should I ring ADT, or go straight to a third party organisation?
As it turned out the fault lay with BT as there was a fault on the line which caused an error when the unit in my house was trying to ring the mothership - ADT.
So this poses another question. If the alarm wasn't being monitored then why would it try and dial out?
Are BT liable here?
Help!?

Thank you!

shaun_from_Africa

Getting a service engineer from a large business out in the middle of the night is never going to be cheap. (Do a google to see how much an emergency plumber or electrician from a big company would charge).
Did your wife ask for an estimate of the costs before agreeing for the engineer to come out or was there anything stated on their website showing this?

The problem that you will likely have now is that BT will probably refuse any liability as there was a device connected to their line that wasn't getting serviced or inspected and unless you had specifically requested for ADT to disconnect the alarm when you cancelled the contract, they too will dispute any liability.

Rubidium

stonypaul wrote: »

As it turned out the fault lay with BT as there was a fault on the line which caused an error when the unit in my house was trying to ring the mothership - ADT.
So this poses another question. If the alarm wasn't being monitored then why would it try and dial out?
Are BT liable here?
Help!?

Thank you!

A monitored alarm system that did not constantly check the phone line would be as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Surely common sense tells you that the alarm should sound if the line was cut or faulty.

BT are not liable.

Grenage

Unfortunately this is one of those examples where it's a really, really good idea to ask what the call-out charge is, before you get someone to attend site.

I appreciate that this is of little help, and that does seem somewhat high. I'd probably call ADT and ask if it's correct.

Ant555

Rubidium wrote: »

Surely common sense tells you that the alarm should sound if the line was cut or faulty.

The OP doesn't have a monitored alarm so there is no common sense in play here with regards to a phone line.
He has an alarm system that used to be monitored but then became a simple non-monitored alarm (like most home alarm systems)

Ant555

stonypaul wrote: »

As it turned out the fault lay with BT as there was a fault on the line which caused an error when the unit in my house was trying to ring the mothership - ADT.
If the alarm wasn't being monitored then why would it try and dial out?
Are BT liable here?
!

I would suspect at the end of all this you will, at best, just get an amount discounted off the work that you asked them to do.

Does the original contract (if you still have it) mention anything about what happens when the maintenance lapses? Is there an optional charge, for instance, to have an engineer come out and decommission or is it all remotely programmed?

In reality your 'system' had a fault and it looks like someone simply switched it off and then on again at 5.30am as I am sure the ADT engineer didn't fix a BT fault.

It could be that the backup battery failed or is getting low as I think they only last a few years - the engineer probably isolated the mains power and also disconnected the battery to do a reset. When the backup battery in my own non-monitored DIY alarm system starts to show signs of age then it does all sorts of weird things like going off at 3am! - Fortunately I know how to isolate the power if it goes off at 3am.

shaun_from_Africa

Ant555 wrote: »

The OP doesn't have a monitored alarm so there is no common sense in play here with regards to a phone line.
He has an alarm system that used to be monitored but then became a simple non-monitored alarm (like most home alarm systems)

But as the alarm appears to have still been connected up to the phone line then as far as far as the alarm control box is concerned, it would still be a monitored syatem and so if it senses a fault, a warning would be given.

phil24_7

Sounds like you got a bargain. It cost me £350 for a 1.45 hour call-out during the day!

psbchennai

I was paying £25 monthly for 3 years now and recently i had false alarm and ADT charged too much for call out engineer i have been charged £580 just to check the settings and fit the 2 PIR
They did not change/ replace anything like batteries, or requirements just to fit 2 PIR ( existing ones)

I have now cancelled my contract with ADT, its not worth going on a plan with these companies