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

SteM · 15-03-2021 05:02PM

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 · 15-03-2021 07:11PM

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

knipper · 15-03-2021 07:17PM

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

jonnyatomic · 15-03-2021 07:42PM

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! · 15-03-2021 07:50PM

Brego888 wrote: »

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

Can you send me the details too please

ratracer · 15-03-2021 07:53PM

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 · 15-03-2021 07:54PM

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 · 15-03-2021 07:57PM

Brego888 wrote: »

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

That'd be great, thanks.

SteM · 15-03-2021 08:02PM

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.

15-03-2021 08:05PM

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 · 15-03-2021 08:08PM

punisher5112 wrote: »

Few gaps be nice

Pffft...

jonnyatomic · 15-03-2021 08:14PM

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. · 15-03-2021 08:25PM

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 · 15-03-2021 08:40PM

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 · 15-03-2021 08:43PM

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 · 15-03-2021 09:00PM

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 · 15-03-2021 09:00PM

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

fritzelly · 15-03-2021 09:04PM

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 · 15-03-2021 09:07PM

Brego888 wrote:

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

Details as well please if you don't mind.

duffman13 · 15-03-2021 09:08PM

Brego888 wrote: »

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

Send it my way if you don't mind

ted1 · 15-03-2021 09:15PM

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....

Careful of the discount from your insurance, it’s just an excuse not to pay out.

If it’s not on , they won’t pay
If it’s not serviced annually, they won’t pay.

jonnyatomic · 15-03-2021 09:28PM

ted1 wrote: »

Careful of the discount from your insurance, it’s just an excuse not to pay out.

If it’s not on , they won’t pay
If it’s not serviced annually, they won’t pay.

Well if you have a monitored alarm and you don't turn it on I wouldn't half blame the insurance company. The alarm, PIRs etc are monitored by the company for faults etc and they service them as required and for free as long as you are with them. Well that's what they told me anyway..

ted1 · 15-03-2021 09:41PM

jonnyatomic wrote: »

Well if you have a monitored alarm and you don't turn it on I wouldn't half blame the insurance company. The alarm, PIRs etc are monitored by the company for faults etc and they service them as required and for free as long as you are with them. Well that's what they told me anyway..

For the sake of 33 euro you are better off not claiming the discount. It’ll be the day you don’t turn it on where your robbed. Or if you go to bed without setting it.

Here’s Allianz T and C

E02 – Security precautions 2
You agree to maintain the alarm installation in accordance with the suppliers recommendations and to have the alarm switched on and in service on all practical occasions, at night and when the property is left vacant or unattended.

jonnyatomic · 15-03-2021 09:59PM

ted1 wrote: »

For the sake of 33 euro you are better off not claiming the discount. It’ll be the day you don’t turn it on where your robbed. Or if you go to bed without setting it.

Here’s Allianz T and C

E02 – Security precautions 2
You agree to maintain the alarm installation in accordance with the suppliers recommendations and to have the alarm switched on and in service on all practical occasions, at night and when the property is left vacant or unattended.

I see your point, but Isn't it regularly the day you don't turn it on, or not lock the back door, or leave the keys in the car, or leave your phone on a pub table that you get robbed. Insurance companies don't cover carelessness for a reason.

beauf · 15-03-2021 10:12PM

jonnyatomic wrote: »

I see your point, but Isn't it regularly the day you don't turn it on, or not lock the back door, or leave the keys in the car, or leave your phone on a pub table that you get robbed. Insurance companies don't cover carelessness for a reason.

...oh they have a reason for everything they do...their reputation precedes them. .

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/consumer/insurance-firms-rebuked-by-watchdog-for-unreasonable-refusal-to-pay-out-claims-1.3842303?mode=amp

https://amp.independent.ie/business/personal-finance/new-law-to-make-it-more-difficult-for-insurers-not-to-pay-out-for-valid-claims-38744145.html

ash2020 · 15-03-2021 10:58PM

lawred2 wrote: »

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

You better not let Nidge and Elmo hear you say that :rolleyes:

reilly110 · 16-03-2021 05:11AM

Brego888 wrote: »

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

could you pm me details also thank you

scudzilla · 16-03-2021 11:42AM

jonnyatomic wrote: »

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

Again it would depend on what gard you spoke to, I've spoken to some who will take an alarm with no URN, Others who won't.
Case in point, I was working in a monitoring station about 12yrs ago, an alarm in a chemist goes off, unable to contact keyholders (not unusual), zones went off in tandem... Rear door, inner door, pharmacy so obviously someone in there.
Rang the garda, explained what was happening, he asked for a URN, told him they didn't have one, he said they'd get to it when they can, even though I was 100% certain that due to the alarms coming in the place was being turned over.
It was

onetwofourthree · 16-03-2021 05:16PM

Brego888 wrote: »

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

If you can PM me the details also, that would be great. Thank you.

onetwofourthree · 16-03-2021 05:20PM

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....

My issues with them is the constantly increasing monthly charges, and as a previous poster pointed out, the sneaky way of alerting you to the renewal. I guess if you are hyper-vigilant on the renewal not going unnoticed, and can agree the same monthly fee, and you are happy to pay it, it's worth it. Unfortunately I am a moron, and my monthly fee went from around 16 quid per month to 36 or so, over a few years (moving from Eircom to Phonewatch) with no system upgrade etc. So I left (in the very small window they give you to actually leave).

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

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