Phonewatch Cancellation

mollybelle

I have moved my alarm monitoring to another company and phonewatch now tell me I am tied in until next February. Is this true or can I cancel without penalties. Getting different answers from both companies. New one says they can't charge me.

croo

Moved from Open Source... hope this is a better place for this question. I did consider consumer issues, please move if you think that might be more appropriate.

Colin

Paulw

mollybelle wrote: »

I have moved my alarm monitoring to another company and phonewatch now tell me I am tied in until next February. Is this true or can I cancel without penalties. Getting different answers from both companies. New one says they can't charge me.

What does your contract say? You signed a contract with Phonewatch, so I assume it's a Feb to Feb contract. Is there anything in it about cancellation?

KoolKid

Also if you got the system recently the contact may be for a few years.

mollybelle

Paulw wrote: »

What does your contract say? You signed a contract with Phonewatch, so I assume it's a Feb to Feb contract. Is there anything in it about cancellation?

I am with them about 5 years. They sent me an email in Feb, saying that the contract was being renewed for another year. apparently if I had cancelled then it would have been ok. Others are telling me that I can give them 30 days notice as it should be a monthly rolling contract. The new company I have signed up with sent them notice, signed by me which was cancelling the contract and they say I should not have to pay anything.

s8n

who are you moving to and are you changing the system ?

mollybelle

s8n wrote: »

who are you moving to and are you changing the system ?

Homesecure and the system is the same, just the monitoring has changed.

kub

mollybelle wrote: »

Homesecure and the system is the same, just the monitoring has changed.

Count yourself as one of the lucky ones, anyone with their new systems is stuck with them.

ronanl

did you get a resolution to this? phone watch are attempting to do the same thing to me?

mollybelle

ronanl wrote: »

did you get a resolution to this? phone watch are attempting to do the same thing to me?

Not yet. They said they are handing it on to their debt department. Waiting to hear from them. Everyone tells me it is a monthly rolling contract and as such I should have been able to cancel. Will post here if I hear anything else.

KoolKid

Have you their new system with the cameras?

mollybelle

KoolKid wrote: »

Have you their new system with the cameras?

No,the old system.

KoolKid

How long have you it installed?
You should be out of contact with them.

mollybelle

Apparently I got a letter from them in February saying that they were renewing the contract for another year, and I had 30 days to cancel. Don't remember getting that letter. I am with them about 4 years.

mollybelle

Apparently I got a letter from them in February saying that they were renewing the contract for another year, and I had 30 days to cancel. Don't remember getting that letter. I am with them about 4 to 5 years.

KoolKid

Can't see how an opt out only option like that would stand up to scrutiny .
Unless you enter into a new contract it should just roll with the billing cycle.
Maybe try posting in Consumer Issues they may be able to advise you better.

mollybelle

Thank you, will try that.

bumblebeemouth

mollybelle wrote: »

I have moved my alarm monitoring to another company and phonewatch now tell me I am tied in until next February. Is this true or can I cancel without penalties. Getting different answers from both companies. New one says they can't charge me.

Hi mollybelle, did you get this resolved? I tried cancelling today and got the same story that I'm stuck with them until next year!! Seems a bit unreasonable without any written or verbal consent.

mollybelle

A lady called to my house a few days ago with the same offer, she made it sound such a good deal, but I asked who would own the system after the 4 years. (would have to sign up with them for 1 year after the 3 year contract is up with Homesecure). she said I would still own it, when I asked if I could switch to another company after the year she said I would be free to do so.

During the conversation she spoke about how Homesecure changed their sim card and put their own one in to switch the monitoring, when I asked why they did not approach my neighbour who had the new system, she said it was not a sim so could not be interfered with.
I then said that obviously that means that I could not switch to another provider, she said " ah well, that is 4 years away and they will probably have cracked it by then.

I am convinced that if they put in the new system it will belong to them and if I stopped having it monitored they would take it back
(I may be wrong), but I made it up and I think if I accepted their offer and then cancelled after a year , they would be at the loss of approx. €1500. cost of monitoring for the 3 years and the cost of the system. so this just does not make any sense.

You know the saying "if it sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true".

jelutong

Less than halfway through a 3 year contract with Phonewatch a lightening strike fried my control panel. I thought they would replace it foc. Not a bit of it. I had to continue paying those lovely people until my contract was up. I wouldn't buy a box of matches from that shower of bloodsuckers.

KoolKid

They would not be at a loss at all.
What they are selling the monitoring at is not what it costs them.
They will have their equipment back & they will have that money that you paid them for an installation that takes less than an hour.

bumblebeemouth

So if I was to switch from phonewatch before my rolling contract (which I apparently agreed to by doing nothing) ends, will there be any consequences?

KoolKid

There should not be. What PW system do you have?

bumblebeemouth

KoolKid wrote: »

There should not be. What PW system do you have?

Its one of the older ones, 4 buttons on top with a door/keypad underneath. I was told by Homesecure they could monitor it no problem.

KoolKid

Most companies can monitor these systems. Be careful not to get out of one awkward contract and into another.
Look for something with monthly payments and no time commitment.

Evolution1

You've a Simon Xt. You can have anyone look after that system. It can also ring your phone instead of a monitoring company

bumblebeemouth

So I cancelled my direct debit with phonewatch last month and I have just received a letter saying that they will be passing my details on to a debt collector and it may affect my credit rating. Should I be worried?

KoolKid

Did you cancel with them also?

bumblebeemouth

KoolKid wrote: »

Did you cancel with them also?

Yeah I wrote to them requesting to finish my contract a couple months back.

KoolKid

What was their reply.?

bumblebeemouth

KoolKid wrote: »

What was their reply.?

They didn't reply to the request, just received a notice saying my direct debit was no longer active and now this demand for payment up until next May.

KoolKid

Have you proof of the cancellation?
They are going a bit OTT IMO.

bumblebeemouth

KoolKid wrote: »

Have you proof of the cancellation?
They are going a bit OTT IMO.

Yeah I have proof that they received the request. I contacted them and they said that they had tried to contact me after I sent the letter. So I said nobody had contacted me and all I got was notice of the outstanding debt. They said that someone would call me immediately to discuss the issue. Nobody called. I got another letter today saying that in 5 days my account is being passed to intrum justitia. They're not even listening to me. Any help or advice would be appreciated!

gildan

Same thing has happened to me, moved house and rang to cancel after 5 years with them and told I'm stuck until next August. I'm not accepting it. Their customer relations dept. was supposed to call me, they haven't so I've put my cancellation notice in writing and sent it to them with the date (30 days later) that the service should cease and to invoice me up to that date. I also quoted them the relevant clauses in their own terms and conditions where it says unless you've agreed to a further minimum term that it's a rolling monthly contract with both parties able to cancel with 30 days notice.

tradingwizz

I am considering getting a wireless alarm system from Phonewatch after a recent break in (have an old wired Phonewatch one which wasn't being monitored anymore). However, I will be selling up my house within the next year. Anyone have similar experience of being able to move their Phonewatch system (with Monitoring) to a new house and if there were costs/penalties involved?

KoolKid

Read up on some more of the posts here.
There are plenty of companies and options you could go with that won't tie you to lengthy contracts. PW is not one of them. Get yourself a good wireless system with monitoring on a rolling contract and you could also have the option of moving the alarm with you.

tradingwizz

So I followed up with PW and they will transfer my contract to a new home with no real penalties. Just a reduced installation cost for a new alarm in the new home.
Also they gave me a sweet heart deal for already having had a monitored system in the past.

KoolKid

What was the sweet deal?
€400-€500 installation charge for under an hours work?
A great rate if you can get it.Now you will have their new system that won't activate untill after you have been broken into.
You will be tied to them forever with this system. Once installed you will have no bargaining power with them. What do you do next year or the year after when they put up the monthly charges?
Suck it up or buy a new system?

Decfol911

PW likely to increase prices between 10-20 % in next 3-5 years

tradingwizz

Eur199 for the standard installation

I agree about the perimeter protection but then I have checked around and most of the burglar alarm companies are doing exactly the same packages, i.e. relying on motion detectors only - e.g. securigard are quoting me 650 for exactly the same system!! Actually not even - the PW motion detectors have built in cameras. The cost of monitoring is slightly less with securigard but I have good experience with the PW monitoring and think they are top class at this.

They will include contacts for front and back doors but I am going to add some window contacts for safety.

kub

tradingwizz wrote: »

Eur199 for the standard installation

I agree about the perimeter protection but then I have checked around and most of the burglar alarm companies are doing exactly the same packages, i.e. relying on motion detectors only - e.g. securigard are quoting me 650 for exactly the same system!! Actually not even - the PW motion detectors have built in cameras. The cost of monitoring is slightly less with securigard but I have good experience with the PW monitoring and think they are top class at this.

They will include contacts for front and back doors but I am going to add some window contacts for safety.

Inertia sensors with contacts should be what you are looking for, but because don't do them, well you can't have them.
Also all companies can get you detectors with cameras in them, but PW won't tell you that.
Amazing the amount of threads on here whereby there are people who are stuck with PW, you might be as well off reading up on them.

KoolKid

tradingwizz wrote: »

Eur199 for the standard installation

And you think that's a good deal for less than an hours work. You are not buying any equipment here, you know that don't you?

Most other companies are not selling systems like this. If you shop around you would see that.
Even the €650 you are comparing to is not the same. You are buying an alarm there that you will own. You will also be free to swap and change providers down the line if you want.
Tell me, would you tie yourself to any other service provider, phone, Internet, TV, electricity, gas etc for life with out the ability to change for a better deal down the road???
Strange logic for someone who is convinced they brokered a sweet deal.
Any good systems can include cameras, but having cameras inside your home that you have no access to, but strangers do?? That's just not right in my book. Every other system has it the other way you have access to cameras not others.
As advised shop around and look around the forum here. You will get some honest advice. Remember we are not the ones trying to sell you something.

tradingwizz

Thanks for your replies.

If I look at the securigard system, which is the main competition for PW, then it doesnt provide *any* cameras at all. If I add cameras, it will add another 600 on top of their quote! Okay, it is a bit odd that I can't access my own cameras but better have them than not. They also say that their motion detectors are actually heat sensors which can detect contact with glass. Anyway, I will have all this checked at installation.

I think 199 is not a big sum to pay considering any other vendor will cost me MORE than 2x this. For this I am also getting smoke and carbon monoxide detectors which are continuously monitored - not so with competition.

It's the monitoring service which clients are really paying for when it comes to choosing PW. It you want DIY, I agree other systems would be better candidates. It's a choice.

And yes, I have read all the messages on this forum but most are just PW bashing - I'm just trying to present a logical basis for my choice for PW.

Decfol911

PW will only monitor either one carbon or one fire alarm. Most companies give a better service for less money. My local one is €10 per month cheaper plus you own the system

KoolKid

tradingwizz wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

If I look at the securigard system, which is the main competition for PW, then it doesnt provide *any* cameras at all. If I add cameras, it will add another 600 on top of their quote! Okay, it is a bit odd that I can't access my own cameras but better have them than not. They also say that their motion detectors are actually heat sensors which can detect contact with glass. Anyway, I will have all this checked at installation.

I think 199 is not a big sum to pay considering any other vendor will cost me MORE than 2x this. For this I am also getting smoke and carbon monoxide detectors which are continuously monitored - not so with competition.

It's the monitoring service which clients are really paying for when it comes to choosing PW. It you want DIY, I agree other systems would be better candidates. It's a choice.

And yes, I have read all the messages on this forum but most are just PW bashing - I'm just trying to present a logical basis for my choice for PW.

To be honest you sound like someone who has been sold something and you are trying to justify it. €200 installation fee is not bad??
If the window cleaner took an hour would you be happy paying him €200??
How do equate all other systems would be DIY.
All installers are licenced and are certified to the same standard. En50131.
Where are you getting securiguard are the main competition to PW??? Rubbish.
PiRs that detect if you touch glass?? Rubbish.
Even with that you are still comparing a price for just installing a system to buying and installation of a system you own.
If you think it's just about the monitoring there are plenty of options there. A licenced installer can provide the same for less. Or maybe you also got the line that PW systems get priority from the Guards or the one where the Guards in an area have cars on standby 24hours a day for PW calls??
Anyway it sounds to me like you have convinced yourself what a sweet deal you have got. No point in people here offering advice if you are interpreting it all as PW bashing.
As I said, we are not the ones trying to sell you something.

tradingwizz

I think you have completely missed my point. I said very specifically and believe that the PW monitoring service is superior. If you want to do DIY I.E. monitor yourself, then other systems are clearly more suitable. I never said anywhere that other installations are inferior.

The main point I am making is that it's not all about the equipment. I am looking for a good monitoring service based on reasonable equipment. And sure, I don't want them breaking in before the alarm goes off, so I have to see what they can install to ensure this.

I have had cameras which send me texts and pictures and TBH they are next to useless. They are always going off, just a change of light is enough to trigger them.

I have already done a lot of research including these discussions, so it is a case of being convinced based on the point above.

BTW show me ANY messages which seek to make a case for PW? I think you will find 90% of the messages are PW bashing, so it's reasonable I make that point also.

KoolKid

If you are looking for a decent system with decent monitoring shop around. That's my constant advice. What makes you think PW monitoring is any different to any other??
The cameras make no difference to the monitoring procedures. The Guards make no distinction based on what monitoring station the call comes from. In many cases they wouldn't know. The Guards make no distinction based on cameras etc. All they get in any call is, we have a verified alarm at...........
So I am curious to know, on what basis, you find PW is better?
The problem with your comparison between systems is you are hung up on the PW offer and trying to compare that with actually buying a security system.
You are willing to pay PW €200, for which you are getting nothing, but you don't see the benefits of actually investing in a system and getting full perimeter protection for your home.
In many cases a good security system will have reported a verified alarm and have Guards notified before gaining access. What's the benefit of a system that has the sole purpose of alerting you and the Guards after the burglar gets into your home.??

tradingwizz wrote: »

BTW show me ANY messages which seek to make a case for PW? I think you will find 90% of the messages are PW bashing, so it's reasonable I make that point also.

And do you not wonder why that might be?
Many are from people who have had bad experiences.
Others are from people, like myself, who are in the industry and know what we are talking about.
What we all have in common is we are all trying to offer you good advice.

lgk

tradingwizz wrote: »

And yes, I have read all the messages on this forum but most are just PW bashing - I'm just trying to present a logical basis for my choice for PW.

My only experience with PW was dealing with them over a few weeks after they
had blatantly mis-sold a system to my elderly parents. Based on that experience, I'd advise you don't believe a word they say.

davehogan100

I would highly recommend you read PWs T&Cs and remember you get what you pay for as according to there FB page you lease the system. Your better off with preimeter protection and a system anyone can take over because it breeds competition and high quality service.

The reason companies are offering trap packs myself included is due to a race to the bottom with deals like you've been offered. Sometimes even with the risks explained aka someone is in your home before the alarm goes off people still go for them because all they see is the cheaper price.

The feeling of being able to set your alarm on part set when it's pitch black out and snooze on your sofa knowing if someone tries to get in you'll be alerted is one of the real advatanges of perimeter protection.

A real external bell is also something you should consider. The PW system just has a dummy box with flashing LEDs.

That's just my two cents I would advise you get a few different quotes and weight what everyone hear is saying.

lgk

davehogan100 wrote: »

The feeling of being able to set your alarm on part set when it's pitch black out and snooze on your sofa knowing if someone tries to get in you'll be alerted is one of the real advatanges of perimeter protection.

A real external bell is also something you should consider. The PW system just has a dummy box with flashing LEDs.

That's just my two cents I would advise you get a few different quotes and weight what everyone hear is saying.

Another point, your average burglar knows all that as well, and can be almost 100% confident that they can gain entry to a premises with a PW alarm and so long as they avoid the main entry hallway, move around as long as they like without triggering the alarm.

_John C

The phone watch system would allow an intruder to break in through your sitting room window without triggering the alarm. Then he could pick what he likes , sit down and open a flask of tea. Chill out for a bit and then back out the window. No alarms would have been triggered. Same for the kitchen (he could even make a fresh pot).

I don't think I'd like an alarm like that. Not really good is it ?
I think if your getting an alarm you should get one that works properly. I just don't see the point in just protecting the hallway.

And there's no part set. When you go to bed you'll have to full set the alarm. Which means that if you get up during the night you have to turn off the pw alarm. Or else you'd set it off. And if you did set it off during the night who would see the camera pictures of you in your boxers with your lad hanging out!!!

Just get a proper system.