APX Alarm A must read if you are considering having an APX Alarm security system installed. Written by a former employee. Internet

First of all I would like to say that I worked for APX Alarm for one summer installing alarms.  There are some tips I have for people who are approached by any APX sales representatives. 

First of all, do not sign anything without reading over it more than once.  There are many reps out there that will tell you that you can cancel at any time.  This is true but you ONLY HAVE 3 DAYS FROM THE TIME OF INSTALLATION TO CANCEL WITHOUT ANY PENALTIES.  After the 3 days if you try to cancel you will be held liable for paying off the remainder of your 5 year contract.  This is written out in the contract and no matter what the rep tells you, you ONLY HAVE 3 DAYS TO CANCEL WITHOUT PENALTY.

Next, if you agree to have this free system installed, the rep is going to try to give you the very minimum amount of equipment that he can and still make the sale.  Most likely they are going to tell you that puttting sensors on your doors and maybe a motion sensor or glassbreak sensor will cover your whole house.  Do not go for this.   The less equipment he gives you the more he is going to make on the sale.  For an average sized home I would recommend covering all your doors with sensors, at LEAST one motion sensor, and also covering all your windows with either multiple glassbreak sensors throughout the house or with door/window sensors on every window, also demand that you recieve key remotes and a smoke detector. 

Also if you have a home phone line they are going to tell you how great the 2 way voice is and its like having ONSTAR.  Yes the 2 way voice is a great feature but beware.  First of all 99% of APX Technician do not do full line seizure.  This means if you are on the telephone while someone tries breaking in, the line is already in use and it is not going to notify anyone.  It also allows for a burglar to break into your home and if he gets to a telephone quickly he can end the call and the alarm again notifies no one. So if you are having the alarm hooked up to your telephone line make sure that the technician does full line seizure. Full line seizure gives your alarm system priority over the rest of the phone lines in your house so if you are on the telephone while someone breaks in your phone call will be terminated and the alarm system will dial out a signal to the monitoring company.

Also if you are going to allow an alarm be installed in your home tell the representative that you would like a cell unit.  If you do not have a home phone the cell unit is your only choice but even if you do have a home phone demand a cell unit.  This is vital because if your alarm is only hooked to your telephone all a burglar has to do is take a pair of scissors, wirecutters, etc and go to the side of your house and find the telephone demarcation box.  Once he snips your phone lines (which is incredibly simple to do) your alarm will not notify anyone, all it will do is make noise.  With the cellular backup system, once the phone lines are cut the cell unit takes over the signal sending process and your alarm will still work. 

If you play your cards right you can get a very good alarm system from APX Alarm for a very good deal.  Also do not pay a penny over 44.99/month.  Anything you are paying over that much is just putting more money in the sales reps pocket.  If you are not recieving a cell unit (phone line only) do not pay over 39.99/month again that is just more money in his pocket.  One last thing, the rep is going to tell you that you have to sign a 60 month "agreement" which is a 5 year contract.  This is not true, APX also offers 36 month contracts but the rep is unlikely to tell you about this option because he loses at least 40% of his commission off of the sale.