• Most are dealers for another company that just wants your monthly fee coming in.  They do not care about anything else.  Think about that.
• Service is either slow from a remote office, or they try to contract a local company to do service for them.  The local company is always going to want to give their own clients first priority, and some like ours just don't do service for out of town companies. Even then a third party company servicing your alarm does not have access to all the information about your alarm and monitoring data to do the best and most efficient service on your system.  
• The equipment chosen is the least expensive and easiest to install that they can find to do the job.  It is lacking in high end features and expandability.  It is usually wireless which will have higher long term maintenance, and without casting aspersions on any particular company may not be setup properly to tell you about problems with the system or notify anybody else who will schedule service. **
• The monitoring rate is inflated.  Not just to cover the misc costs of doing business but to cover the cost of the system.  Contrary to what you may think the equipment is not inexpensive, and they have to pay the equipment vendor, the salesman, and the installer right away.
• Contract terms are long, auto renewing, and difficult to meet the terms to cancel or get out of even in extreme circumstances. READ YOUR CONTRACT BEFORE SIGNING.  What the salesman says means nothing.  Only what it says on your contract.  See all that fine print on the back?  It all applies, and it is your legal responsibility to deal with it.  Nobody else's.  

Yeah, but isn't it a good deal if I can't afford anything else?

• There is the rub.  For some folks it might be the only option to get a monitored alarm system.  If they really need one it might be the only option, but understand that it is a long term committment.  Its not no big deal because it was "free."  
• Its still not a good deal.  

Does your company do free alarms?

• Read the title of this page.  THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE ALARM.
• The typical person who reads everything on this page and still wants a free alarm system is usually either a cheap chisler who thinks they can get something for nothing, or they just do not understand that everything has a real world cost.  In either case we are not interested in your business.  Wait for one of those door knocker guys to canvas your neighborhood, or call one of those mass sales companies to sticky tape one of those all in one alarm controllers to your wall.  
• However, if you have excellent credit, we may be able to offer you a lease to own agreement with only labor charges up front. This will be financed by a third party company who does lease to own agreements as their primary business. Typically they are going to be looking for a credit score above 740, but their criteria will vary and they may use adjusted credit scores. Most will not accept a corporation or a trust as the sole signor on the contract.  They will also want a personal guarantee from a primary individual party.  

I want a good qaulity alarm, but I can't afford to pay for it?

• Finance it yourself.  
• Use a lease to own company.
• Do without.
• The simple fact of the matter is we are in business to make money.  We happen to enjoy doing quality work and installing good equipment.  We would very much like to install a burglar alarm  or other system in your home or business, but if we can't make money doing it then we are not going to.  

I just do not believe you?

• Fair enough.  You do not know us, and we are running a business to make money.
• Type in   ^{The Truth About Free Alarms}   in your favorite search engine and see what other people have to say.  Make sure to read some of the personal accounts by various individuals all over the country.  

** (Quality wireless can often be a viable alternative to hardwired systems.  The key is quality equipment and proper setup.  If practical hardwired usually has lower maintenance and is not dependent on small transmitter batteries.)