Phonewatch _ was 499e NOW 149e (Ltd time)

insert name here 123

https://www.phonewatch.ie/

RRP 499e now 149e

Seems a good deal, 4 days left to avail of offer.

degsie

Never knew phonewatch did qas

ComputerTech

Be very wary of this company and special offers ... take a fools advice and shop around for 24 hour monitoring.

MovieFest

Got any tips on other companies or similar services?
Thanks!

ash2020

€149?
It wasn't that long ago I had a phone call conversation and it was €99 installation!?

FHFM50

Former employee here - They bring down the installation fee all the time, it was never really €500, sometimes they even give it for free.

All they care about is the €45 p/m monitoring charge. That's how they make the money.

TimHorton

FHFM50 wrote: »

Former employee here - They bring down the installation fee all the time, it was never really €500, sometimes they even give it for free.

All they care about is the €45 p/m monitoring charge. That's how they make the money.

We get them at the door every year or so, All with the same hard sell and "there has been a few local break-ins recently" Must be a tough sell.

Masala

ash2020 wrote: »

€149?
It wasn't that long ago I had a phone call conversation and it was €99 installation!?

Has a guy at my front last year (wearing a facemask!,) offering me €99

Real hard sell....

insert name here 123

Sorry all, i didn't know anything about this company, seemed like a bargain, guess not...

Maybe mod can delete..

frankston

Check the length of time you need to sign up for, as my 86 year old dad was signed up for 5 years, I only found this out when it was left to me to ring them because of various faults and wanted to cancel

kub

MovieFest wrote: »

Got any tips on other companies or similar services?
Thanks!

There are over a dozen other alarm monitoring centres in this country to which every and all Intruder alarm installers connect their customers alarm systems into.

All of these monitoring stations also have direct lines to Garda communication centres.
Most have been around long before Phonewatch set up.

These monitoring centres also monitor alarm systems in Banks, Post Offices, Credit Unions etc etc.

If you are looking for any assistance, there is a home security forum here on boards.

baldshin

Having worked taking emergency calls, I wouldn't personally ever bother with a monitored alarm. 9 times out of 10, if it was a rural area at least, they couldn't provide an exact location, just a general area/townland for the address. No eircodes or directions, wrong contact info etc. Waste of money.

I'd much prefer a self monitored alarm system/cameras with a decent app, and let me call the emergency services myself if needed.

pm1977x

Avoid, they keep hiking the monitoring price every year and their 'system' is dumbed down beyond belief with no flexibility or user customisation at the box, dumped it years ago and never looked back.

antodeco

pm1977x wrote: »

Avoid, they keep hiking the monitoring price every year and their 'system' is dumbed down beyond belief with no flexibility or user customisation at the box, dumped it years ago and never looked back.

Rather than detailing, any chance you can PM me who you're using? Have phonewatch the last 3 years and want to get rid. Thanks

lawred2

kub wrote: »

There are over a dozen other alarm monitoring centres in this country to which every and all Intruder alarm installers connect their customers alarm systems into.

All of these monitoring stations also have direct lines to Garda communication centres.
Most have been around long before Phonewatch set up.

These monitoring centres also monitor alarm systems in Banks, Post Offices, Credit Unions etc etc.

If you are looking for any assistance, there is a home security forum here on boards.

Doesn't everyone have a direct line to a Garda station?

pajoguy

Very sneaky when renewing your contract too.... send you an email about 2 months before end of contract with the subject line stating "ways we are improving your service" Then there are about four paragraphs in the email, the first 3 are about how the service has been improved and the last one states that if you are happy to continue for another 12 months you dont have to do anything we will do the rest bla bla bla.
I switched with great difficulty and halved my monitoring cost about 3 years ago and cost has never changed.

SteM

pajoguy wrote: »

Very sneaky when renewing your contract too.... send you an email about 2 months before end of contract with the subject line stating "ways we are improving your service" Then there are about four paragraphs in the email, the first 3 are about how the service has been improved and the last one states that if you are happy to continue for another 12 months you dont have to do anything we will do the rest bla bla bla.
I switched with great difficulty and halved my monitoring cost about 3 years ago and cost has never changed.

Yeah they sign you up for another 12 months as soon as your contract is up, a really sneaky move imo that would stop me from ever going back to them.

insert name here 123

Sounds like a nightmare lol

Will look elsewhere for sure! To good to be true

jarvis_c82

Yeah sneaky fcukers.

I'm trying to cancel with them, as someone said send renewal very early and don't highlight 14 day cancelation on auto renewal of contract.

Stay clear of them.

Smurts

Are they allowed to do this?

I rang one time looking to cancel on behalf of my Mother and they said I was in another 12 month contract - when I responded that we didn't sign or agree any additional contract period for 12 months they backed down fairly quickly

jarvis_c82

Apparently, as we have been paying the DD over the past few months since renewal, we have accepted their T&C's. 50% rate applied on account now and told them to cancel on renewal date. Going to cancel DD once new rate has applied to account and see how it plays out.

Smurts

That seems scandalous - surely you would need to give confirmation of agreement to enter into any contract! Crazy and very very sneaky

SteM

Smurts wrote: »

Are they allowed to do this?

I rang one time looking to cancel on behalf of my Mother and they said I was in another 12 month contract - when I responded that we didn't sign or agree any additional contract period for 12 months they backed down fairly quickly

I spend ages on the phone arguing with them and they didn't back down. I made a point of marking my cancelation date in the calendar for the following year, even then it was a chore dealing with their retention team.

punisher5112

CCTV in your rooms, who is looking at you?
That would worry me more.

Most of their set up catches the burglar when already inside.

WiFi doorbell, inner and outer CCTV and you are better off.

ratracer

baldshin wrote: »

Having worked taking emergency calls, I wouldn't personally ever bother with a monitored alarm. 9 times out of 10, if it was a rural area at least, they couldn't provide an exact location, just a general area/townland for the address. No eircodes or directions, wrong contact info etc. Waste of money.

I'd much prefer a self monitored alarm system/cameras with a decent app, and let me call the emergency services myself if needed.

Fully agree with this, and not just from Phonewatch! I often wonder what service people are told they will get when they sign up to a monitored alarm, or what they expect to happen if their alarm activated, but I’d be fairly certain that the reality is a long way off the expectation!

punisher5112

There is a fee I believe for false calls to isn't there.

antodeco

Quick question for those who cancelled. Did they take all the equipment and external boxes etc or just leave them there?

dubrov

I thought the guards refuse to call out if rang by these companies unless evidence of an actual break in is produced (i.e. not just the alarm went off)

SteM

dubrov wrote: »

I thought the guards refuse to call out if rang by these companies unless evidence of an actual break in is produced (i.e. not just the alarm went off)

I think there are internal PIRs, so if an external alarm is triggered and then an internal PIR is triggered that's when the guards will (supposedly) come out.

dubrov

SteM wrote: »

I think there are internal PIRs, so if an external alarm is triggered and then an internal PIR is triggered that's when the guards will (supposedly) come out.

Ah ok. I remember year's ago (maybe fifteen) hearing from someone that used Eircom Phonewatch that the Guards would not respond to calls from the Phonewatch team just because an alarm was sounded. I doubt there were any internal PIRs involved and I guess there may be video now as well.

Brego888

Installed my own self monitoring alarm system last year. Wireless system from AJAX with all the gizmos. The only reoccurring fee I have is €5 every 6 months to top up the sim card I use as back up for the main app.

SteM

Brego888 wrote: »

Installed my own self monitoring alarm system last year. Wireless system from AJAX with all the gizmos. The only reoccurring fee I have is €5 every 6 months to top up the sim card I use as back up for the main app.

Mind me a asking where you picked out up from?

Brego888

Online from Estonia. I'll PM the details if you want them.

knipper

If you could pm me the link also. That would be great.

jonnyatomic

I signed up to phonewatch last August and I'm very happy with the service so far. Reading some of the comments here I think alot of the info is a bit dated.. so this may help someone now, It was €150 sign up, it's generally on "offer'" for either €99 or €150. Anything higher is not a good deal, I get monitoring for €36.50 a month, I got 3 months free on sign up and also if you ring your home insurance company they automatically give you a refund for having an alarm, I got €33 back from mine. If anybody knows a farmer there's also a discounted monitoring rate if you have an IFA membership number.. theres also good rates for other groups like that. Just ask the rep. In fairness the rep I was dealing with told me all this.. with regards eircodes directions etc, there's a section on the phonewatch app where you have to put in directions to your house, eircode, colour of door etc. also the Guards will respond to all alarm calls, they have to, they are all dispatched to calls from control centers now, not local stations. With regards the kit I got, you get to choose what sort of sensors you want, you can have all PIR sensors, all door sensors or mix and match. You have fobs to set and unset the alarm, along with the app, and the keypad. there's also an extra emergency panic button for like €40 which is similar to those panic pendants for the elderly, handy for the Mrs if she's alone, you can keep it close by, one push of the SOS button and the guards are called straight away.. it bypasses the standard first call to the home owner, probably best to keep it away from children though.. oh and you get a free monitored smoke alarm also. Which was activated by a smokey fire in my home once and they rang me before I noticed and I was in the other room.. so I really can't say much bad about them at the moment, just have to wait for my contract renewal....

Careful_now!

Brego888 wrote: »

Online from Estonia. I'll PM the details if you want them.

Can you send me the details too please

ratracer

jonnyatomic wrote: »

I signed up to phonewatch last August and I'm very happy with the service so far. Reading some of the comments here I think alot of the info is a bit dated.. so this may help someone now, It was €150 sign up, it's generally on "offer'" for either €99 or €150. Anything higher is not a good deal, I get monitoring for €36.50 a month, I got 3 months free on sign up and also if you ring your home insurance company they automatically give you a refund for having an alarm, I got €33 back from mine. If anybody knows a farmer there's also a discounted monitoring rate if you have an IFA membership number.. theres also good rates for other groups like that. Just ask the rep. In fairness the rep I was dealing with told me all this.. with regards eircodes directions etc, there's a section on the phonewatch app where you have to put in directions to your house, eircode, colour of door etc. also the Guards will respond to all alarm calls, they have to, they are all dispatched to calls from control centers now, not local stations. With regards the kit I got, you get to choose what sort of sensors you want, you can have all PIR sensors, all door sensors or mix and match. You have fobs to set and unset the alarm, along with the app, and the keypad. there's also an extra emergency panic button for like €40 which is similar to those panic pendants for the elderly, handy for the Mrs if she's alone, you can keep it close by, one push of the SOS button and the guards are called straight away.. it bypasses the standard first call to the home owner, probably best to keep it away from children though.. oh and you get a free monitored smoke alarm also. Which was activated by a smokey fire in my home once and they rang me before I noticed and I was in the other room.. so I really can't say much bad about them at the moment, just have to wait for my contract renewal....

Do they tell you how long it would generally take the Gardaí to turn up if the alarm is activated? Is it a top priority call for them? I’m just very sceptical of the sales pitch and would like to know the reality, I can’t help wonder is there a very false sense of security among people who have monitored systems installed. ( I realise this has gone a little off topic though, so perhaps not the place to discuss)

punisher5112

jonnyatomic wrote: »

I signed up to phonewatch last August and I'm very happy with the service so far. Reading some of the comments here I think alot of the info is a bit dated.. so this may help someone now, It was €150 sign up, it's generally on "offer'" for either €99 or €150. Anything higher is not a good deal, I get monitoring for €36.50 a month, I got 3 months free on sign up and also if you ring your home insurance company they automatically give you a refund for having an alarm, I got €33 back from mine. If anybody knows a farmer there's also a discounted monitoring rate if you have an IFA membership number.. theres also good rates for other groups like that. Just ask the rep. In fairness the rep I was dealing with told me all this.. with regards eircodes directions etc, there's a section on the phonewatch app where you have to put in directions to your house, eircode, colour of door etc. also the Guards will respond to all alarm calls, they have to, they are all dispatched to calls from control centers now, not local stations. With regards the kit I got, you get to choose what sort of sensors you want, you can have all PIR sensors, all door sensors or mix and match. You have fobs to set and unset the alarm, along with the app, and the keypad. there's also an extra emergency panic button for like €40 which is similar to those panic pendants for the elderly, handy for the Mrs if she's alone, you can keep it close by, one push of the SOS button and the guards are called straight away.. it bypasses the standard first call to the home owner, probably best to keep it away from children though.. oh and you get a free monitored smoke alarm also. Which was activated by a smokey fire in my home once and they rang me before I noticed and I was in the other room.. so I really can't say much bad about them at the moment, just have to wait for my contract renewal....

Few gaps be nice

SteM

Brego888 wrote: »

Online from Estonia. I'll PM the details if you want them.

That'd be great, thanks.

SteM

ratracer wrote: »

Do they tell you how long it would generally take the Gardaí to turn up if the alarm is activated? Is it a top priority call for them? I’m just very sceptical of the sales pitch and would like to know the reality, I can’t help wonder is there a very false sense of security among people who have monitored systems installed. ( I realise this has gone a little off topic though, so perhaps not the place to discuss)

Sure how would they know how long it takes the Gardai to turn up in fairness? I mean, it would totally depend on the circumstances at the local station wouldn't it? Out of their control tbh.

ratracer

ratracer wrote: »

Do they tell you how long it would generally take the Gardaí to turn up if the alarm is activated? Is it a top priority call for them? I’m just very sceptical of the sales pitch and would like to know the reality, I can’t help wonder is there a very false sense of security among people who have monitored systems installed. ( I realise this has gone a little off topic though, so perhaps not the place to discuss)

They can't tell you that because it depends on many other details, but an ordinary alarm would not be a high priority for gardai. There would be many other calls a higher priority.
The panic alarms, activated by pressing a button, are higher priority.

jonnyatomic

punisher5112 wrote: »

Few gaps be nice

Pffft...

jonnyatomic

ratracer wrote: »

Do they tell you how long it would generally take the Gardaí to turn up if the alarm is activated? Is it a top priority call for them? I’m just very sceptical of the sales pitch and would like to know the reality, I can’t help wonder is there a very false sense of security among people who have monitored systems installed. ( I realise this has gone a little off topic though, so perhaps not the place to discuss)

If it's a verified intruder alarm from the cameras or an SOS alarm then it would be a priority for the guards, of course you couldn't put an exact time because you don't know where they would be at the time, but asap would be a guess.

Johann.

Have been receiving texts/emails from these since before Christmas of this special offer, actually think it was 99e a while ago. When unsubscribing from email list it was called 'New Leads/New Builds Nov & Dec' or something similar.

Of settled for self monitoring - think it was €699 all in. Weighed up my options and thought to myself how long you'd be waiting on the garda on any given day, likely not worth the bother of €36pm.

ToxicPaddy

Heard so many horror stories about Eircom Phone watch and had a few family members who had absolute nightmares with them I wouldn't touch them with a bargepole.

Any sales callers to the door trying to flog it gave the usual hard sell and as soon as they did were told to take a hike.

scudzilla

jonnyatomic wrote: »

If it's a verified intruder alarm from the cameras or an SOS alarm then it would be a priority for the guards, of course you couldn't put an exact time because you don't know where they would be at the time, but asap would be a guess.

Gardai would also not attend unless the property had a URN (Unique Reference Number), also, depending on what Gardai station is called they will not attend unless you can give them an ETA of a keyholder

jonnyatomic

scudzilla wrote: »

Gardai would also not attend unless the property had a URN (Unique Reference Number), also, depending on what Gardai station is called they will not attend unless you can give them an ETA of a keyholder

What's the purpose of a URN in relation to the guards?

pummice

Is there a reason they are now called phonewatch and not eir/eircom phonewatch?

fritzelly

pummice wrote: »

Is there a reason they are now called phonewatch and not eir/eircom phonewatch?

Nothing to do with Eir anymore - was sold off

Leo Demidov

Brego888 wrote:

Online from Estonia. I'll PM the details if you want them.

Details as well please if you don't mind.

duffman13

Brego888 wrote: »

Online from Estonia. I'll PM the details if you want them.

Send it my way if you don't mind