I moved into a house with an ADT system already installed. The previous owners were on a month-to-month plan, but we decided not to continue their contract. I thought ADT would remove the system before we moved in, but they just left it. We had no access to it since the previous owners didn’t know the code. Everything was fine for a while until a sensor got moved and started setting off the alarm randomly.
I called ADT, and they told me they had plans starting at $24.99 up to $39.99 per month. I chose the lower-priced plan, and they sent a technician the next day. But when the technician arrived, he only mentioned the $39.99 plan. I told him I had picked the lower one, and he seemed surprised. He spent almost an hour on the phone, then told me the cheapest option was actually $34.99.
I agreed, and he reset the system and set me up as the user. When he was done, he had me sign on his phone to confirm the work was completed. I asked again if this was a month-to-month contract, and he said yes. ADT charged me $34.99 that day.
Later that evening, I got an email with a multi-page contract saying I was locked in for three months. The next day, they sent a DocuSign contract with more terms and pricing I had never been told about. I refused to sign it.
Is this common with ADT? I don’t feel comfortable with how they handled this and want to cancel. They can keep the $34.99, but I don’t see why I should pay any cancellation fee when they never presented a contract upfront.
UPDATE: I called ADT within 72 hours of the install and told them I wanted to cancel. I just kept repeating that it was within 72 hours. They agreed to cancel without a penalty and will refund the $34.99. If I had actually seen a contract, I wouldn’t have been so stressed about it. Thanks for the advice.
Most states have laws that protect consumers in situations like this. In New Jersey, where I work, we have to tell customers that they have a three-day window to cancel any residential service.
Charlie said:
Most states have laws that protect consumers in situations like this. In New Jersey, where I work, we have to tell customers that they have a three-day window to cancel any residential service.
Good to know! My state has the same 72-hour rule, so I’ll still be within the cancellation period if I call tomorrow.
Trevor said: @JANE123
You might need to cancel in writing. Check the contract details.
That’s part of the problem—the work order is four pages long and just says, ‘See existing contract for terms and conditions.’ But I was never given an actual contract to begin with. They also asked for a passphrase, but I never created one. It seems like they really messed up here.
Trevor said: @JANE123
You might need to cancel in writing. Check the contract details.
Since you have the user code now, you could just cancel and use the system without monitoring. If you’re interested, there’s a company called Konnected that sells a module to connect existing alarm systems to a smartphone using free home automation apps. I switched my ADT system to Konnected with Samsung SmartThings, and now I get alerts on my phone instantly instead of waiting for ADT’s slow response.
Two sales reps and the technician told me I was on a month-to-month plan because the equipment was already installed. The DocuSign contract I refused to sign said in all caps that it was a 3-month commitment, then month-to-month after that.
ADT doesn’t change default maintenance codes on equipment. With a little searching, you can reset the system without the old owner’s code and use it in standalone mode instead of letting it sit there unused.
@Harold
I did that a while back, but recently, my system started giving CP and CH error codes because it’s no longer connected to a phone line or monitoring service. Any idea how to fix that?
Alex said: @Harold
I did that a while back, but recently, my system started giving CP and CH error codes because it’s no longer connected to a phone line or monitoring service. Any idea how to fix that?
Check your system’s installation guide. There’s a setting (like *94) that stores the phone number it tries to call. If you erase that number, it should stop trying to connect.
Alex said: @Harold
I did that a while back, but recently, my system started giving CP and CH error codes because it’s no longer connected to a phone line or monitoring service. Any idea how to fix that?