| Certainly they are not FREE....
It seems to us that the free ones might actually be the very most expensive ones
of all, when you take all their contract provisions into account.
(See our article item # 1, on FREE alarms)
ERROR MSGAlso they shouldn't cost a year's salary. The truth is somewhere in between.
The fact is that the cost of an alarm system is completely dependent on just how much protection you require or desire.
ERROR MSGIf you are talking to an honest local alarm company owner (he's easy to spot--he's one of the ones who doesn't wear a tie), he will probably tell you that if you spend less than $1,500, something's probably wrong.
Remember nothing is ever free, or even close to it. If the system is too cheap,
either the equipment proposed is proprietary, or sub-standard, or there is a hook somewhere to capture you as a customer through one slick trick or another.
He'll also tell you that if you spend much more than $3,000, something's also probably wrong. The system's content is too complicated, or it is simply overpriced. Remember this: an overly-complex system isn't more secure. It's less secure, precisely because it will be hard to use; and humans being humans, it will come to be un-used.
If you're dealing with some guy in a tie who does sales only, and doesn't actively do now, or hasn't ever actually done any hands-on alarm installation himself, you know two things. You know that the system is at least 20% over-priced because of his commission; and you know he probably has only limited technical craft knowledge himself, and can easily promise things out of ignorance that sound good but will be unreliable in real life.
So, the range of anticipated cost runs from $1,500 to $3,000 for a typical, effective, simple, alarm system.
The biggest mistake you can make is paying too little.
If you pay more, be sure to know the reasons why!
There is no escape from the simple principle that effective, high-quality systems of any kind are carefully thought out, carefully constructed, and will always cost a fair and proper price to all parties. | |
