Forum Archive: Posts by: laninia

I would like to warn anyone who is thinking of sighing a contract with Brinks security– don’t. I would like to share my experience with you so you don’t have to go through he same scenario. Read my story and judge for yourself: I had an alarm system installed in my Brownstone while I was gut renovating it (I was not living there at the time, the building was empty). The reason: burglars came in twice already and took tools and materials. I wanted to avoid more losses. The system worked fine for a couple of months, then, I began to have trouble. The system was sending alarm signals to the headquarter and the police kept coming over saying that the alarm is sending a distress signal, even though the alarm was not physically ringing in my house.
I was constantly on the phone with the Brinks’ technical department, and followed all their instructions to reset the alarm, download system updates etc. Still, the problem kept occurring and finally Brinks instructed me on the phone how to disconnect the main component so that it stops sending the signal, and they scheduled an appointment for a technician to come over the next day. The next day came and went and when I called to find out what happened with the technician I was told they ‘make a mistake’ with the scheduling, and they don’t have anyone to send for another 2 days.

That night I had a break in. The alarm was of course not working at that point (because Brinks instructed me to disconnect it remember?) and the burglars made off with tools worth of around $4000. Further more, the burglars smashed the keypad of the alarm, perhaps thinking that it might go off. The morning after, the workers discovered the break in and called the police. I then called Brinks, and they finally sent their technicians, who reported their findings back to Brinks. I will not go into the details of the many conversations I had with their ‘customer service’ department, and the rudeness, ignorance and sheer stupidity with which I was encountered when talking to these people. When I finally reached the supervisor, he began a give me the third degree. He went as far as to accuse me of disconnecting the alarm on my own without consulting with Brinks (a lie), and tried to hint that somehow the renovations in the building are what caused the alarm the malfunction in the first place (ridiculous).
Long story short this is was the bottom line:

A. Brinks do not take any responsibility whatsoever to the loss from the break in.
B. If I want their technicians to come and repair the system, I will have to pay close to $500 (he gave me a ‘discount’ from $700), to cover the damage made by the burglars. (The fine print in the contract says that any damage done to the alarm system parts ‘by a third party’ would have to be paid for by owner)
C. If I want to discontinue my service I have to pay in advance the balance of the monthly fees for the remaining 2 and a half years left on my contract.

I decided not to pay for the alarm to be fixed. I have moved into the building a few months ago, and since then there were no more break in attempts (touch wood). I now pay $30 dollars a month to Brinks for a none existing service.

If you are still even thinking about getting a contract with these people conceder this:

They will lock you in for three years contract and charge you for installation. They will not maintain the system properly. They will try to avoid sending a technician and tell you to call them and try to fix the problem yourself with them on the phone. If something goes wrong then they will say you must have done something wrong. If you get broken into and the alarm gets damaged you will have to pay for the damage yourself and we are talking hundreds of dollars. Burglars regularly smash key ads when they see them. Brinks know this and that’s why they put the clause in the contract disguised as ‘Third party damage’.

Save your money, invest in good locks, window bars and outside lights and have the place occupied.