Monthly Archives: July 2010

Arkansas Is Right: Avoid the Door-to-Door Scammers!

Posted on by

In the past, I’ve expressed my frustration with the world of journalism.  Too often they repeat either the same old tired clichés, or generate an impressive amount of ignorance in one single piece.  So, imagine my surprise when I saw this article from the Carroll County News in Arkansas.  The headline: Caution Needed When Shopping for Security Systems.  Well, Carroll County News, you are a newspaper after my own heart.

So, what is the theme of this article?  It’s nothing new, but it’s still good advice: Don’t trust door to door salesmen.  Harsh, right?  I know.  And I’ll make in initial caveat: I’m not speaking about every door-to-door salesmen.  Many of them are hardworking, and no-doubt sincere.  But the reality is that in the security industry, door-to-door salesmen (in general) have a bad name, and there’s a good reason for it.  Too often the companies they work for encourage sleazy tactics designed to hard sell you into a system you don’t need for a monthly price you can’t afford.

So, what tips do they offer?  How can you “smell a rat” at your door?  Among other red flags, be concerned if the salesman…

  • Insists that he installs that day
  • Makes you a deal that sounds too good to be true
  • They offer free installation

In closing, kudos to the state of Arkansas.  If you live there (or even if you don’t) take their advice and just say no.  If you are in the market for security (and let’s be honest, you should be!), stop by and see us.  We’ve got the security you’re looking for.

Solar Powered Security?

Posted on by

Recently there has been a lot of talk about solar powered home security.  The topics and ideas range from strictly solar-powered systems (attached to a dedicated, small solar panel) to simply using your existing home solar to power your control panel, just as you would use it to power your refrigerator.  My goal today is to briefly discuss this new trend, hopefully avoiding getting into any muddy waters or angering anyone.

First, a disclaimer:  I’m a big fan of solar power.  I love the idea of sustainable, cheap energy.  And lets be honest, once you cut past the political side of things, everyone loves the idea of renewable energy.  What’s not to like?  As I said before, its cheap (I’m speaking of the energy source, not the equipment to harness it), its renewable/sustainable, and puts a little more power in the hands of the homeowner.  Its a win all-around.

That being said, I need to lay out another premise of my argument: Until all the bugs are worked out, and its completely reliable, there are certain things we don’t to power with solar energy.  So, for example, (and I’m happy to be corrected by a competent authority), we wouldn’t want to power a military base, essential to our national security, entirely by solar power.  I say entirely, because I think you could use it as a primary, normal source, as long as you had a completely reliable backup.

Which brings me to security.  Securing your home is not something to be taken lightly.  Its immensely important, protecting the most valuable things in your life: your loved ones.  Protecting your home and property is great, and ranks way up there in importance, but your loved ones come first.  In that case, I want my security system to be on, all the time, no matter what.  Yes, there’s a 24 hour backup in most systems and that will certainly help.  But I’ve looked into solar systems before (and I love them), but they have pretty serious weak points in the winter months.  You really need to have a solid backup system in those events.

So, my final statement: Yes, lets move towards a more efficient, and more cost-effective method of powering our home, appliances, and home security systems.  But, lets make sure that we do so in a way that keeps our families safe and secure.

Why SafeMart?

Posted on by

Howdy friends.  Sorry for the delay in posting over the past week.  We’ve been working on some great things here at SafeMart, which I’ll be sure to share with you as we roll them out.  Today, however, I want to discuss something a little different: Why SafeMart?

This is a fairly serious question.  Choosing a provider for your home security equipment and monitoring is a incredibly important decision.  The company you choose shouldn’t simply be adequate; it should be outstanding.  After all, we’re discussing the safety, and security of your home and loved ones.  This isn’t buying a new cd-player.  All of which means: You need to find the best company; the company that stands out in the crowd.  And, I can say, that company is SafeMart.

This may sound like a bold, and perhaps ridiculous, claim.  But I stand by it.  And over the next few weeks, months and years, I am going to prove it to you, by means of this blog series.  While not all of the reasons will seem earth-shattering, and while not all of them will be exclusive to SafeMart, taken together they will paint a picture of a company that is completely and totally dedicated to the safety and happiness of its customers, a company with low, competitive prices (and a low-price-guarantee), and finally a company with the single best technical support staff in the industry.  Put another way: They will paint a picture of the security company you want to protect your home; a picture of the best security company in the industry.

Free Lifetime Tech Support

Our technical support experts are available to you, Monday through Friday, 8:00am – 5:00pm, for the life of your system.  This may not seem like that big of a deal.  But when you look at the industry at large, it is.  Many home security providers offer technical support for only a limited period of time, or only while you have monitoring with them.

That may seem fair to you (hopefully not), but think of this.  What if your system has a false alarm ten years from now, and simply won’t shut up.  What if you want to start using a system again because you had a bad experience in your neighborhood.  So what you don’t need it now.  Apart from setup, you don’t need tech support early in your ownership.  You need tech support when the system starts to fail; or after you no longer remember how to use it.  And when that happens (and believe me, I’ve spoken to these people before) life is miserable.  Sitting in your house with your siren blaring, all of the neighbors losing patience, and your hair falling out by the minute is precisely when you need lifetime tech support.  And we have it.  Lots of the other guys don’t.

Don’t waste your time and energy trying to diagnose a specialty problem on a piece of advanced technology.  Let us handle that for you.  Why SafeMart?  Free Lifetime Tech Support, that’s why!

Oakland Police Won’t Tackle Crime

Posted on by

Wow.  Today is one of those days.  Each day, I come in, sip my coffee and run through the national (and sometimes, international) news concerning home security.  Usually, this entails five or six break-in stories, a smattering of how security cameras helped catch the bad-guy, and a pinch of local police department offers home security advice.  That is to say, while each situation is unique, it follows a pretty consistent pattern.

So, imagine my surprise…no, my shock when I read the following byline on DrudgeReport:

Criminals Delight: Oakland Cops Won’t Respond to ‘Minor Crimes’

What?  Obviously I couldn’t resist.  I clicked through expecting to find nothing, fully expecting to be a dupe of the media who sensationalize headlines on stories a statue would find boring.  But, instead of that boredom and duplicity, I found that honest-to-goodness its true.  The Oakland police announced a list of crimes they will not respond to.

Ok, I thought, prior to reading the list, perhaps these are legitimately small things and the Oakland PD simply can’t afford it right now.  Its good and well to have police responding to reports of skateboarders on the tennis courts, but maybe its just not in the budget.

Well, I was wrong.  Without reading the entire list, I’ll give you just a few of the ‘minor crimes’ the Oakland No Longer A Familiar Sight In Oakland? PD has decided to avoid.

  • grand theft
  • require to register as a sex offender
  • extortion
  • vandalism

and, did you guess it:

  • Burglary

Are you serious?  Is the Oakland Police Department joking?  Its one thing to choose not to respond to certain crimes.  Its a far worse thing to tell the public what those things are.  And its an unbelievable insanity when those crimes include the ones listed above.

To be honest, I don’t know what this means regarding home security systems.  Will they respond to calls from the central station?  It doesn’t appear so from the article, but its hard to tell.  Will they respond to the calls of Neighborhood Watch programs?  Again, the article appears to say no, but no one can say for certain.

What we can say for certain is this: The decision of Chief Batts to not only eliminate these crimes from his police response requirements, but also to announce them to the citizens, and yes, the criminals, of Oakland will rank as one of the most bizarre, and potentially dangerous decisions ever undertaken by an American police officer.

Do It Yourself Security….No, Seriously

Posted on by

We’ve discussed do it yourself security fairly often in the past.  After all, SafeMart is committed to supporting those homeowners interested in home security who also have the DIY mindset.  And apart from us, there are a handful of other companies similarly committed.  What you haven’t seen very often is a discussion of DIY home security by the mainstream news or from the “big guys” like ADT or Brinks.  Is this because its a bad model, or simply too difficult?  Is SafeMart appealing to an incredibly small demographic of extra-knowledgeable handymen with a ton of time on their hands to install and program a home security system?

Well, not quite.  You see, I’m going to tell you the dirty, little, not-so-secret secret of the “big guys.”  Their business model exists and, in fact, thrives on consumer ignorance.  ”Sign up with (pick your poison) and receive a free home security system.”  ”Only $99 for a system.”  You’ve heard some variation of this line when watching or hearing TV or radio ads.  And, the system is free or 99 dollars or whatever it is they’re promising.  Whats not free is the 36 month contract you have to agree to in order to get the free or discounted system.

Still, a 36 month commitment isn’t that bad for a home security system with central station monitoring.  And I agree, its not.  What is bad, what ought to be criminal is the exaggerated monthly monitoring rate.  You see with the “big guys” you’ll pay somewhere between $26 and $35 per month for standard alarm monitoring.  Still doesn’t seem bad?  Consider that SafeMart offers standard alarm monitoring from a UL listed, reliable alarm monitoring company for as little as $9 per month.  Other companies committed to the DIY model do the same.  Thats somewhere around a $200 to $300 a year difference in the cost of alarm monitoring.  And remember, you’re tied to a contract for three years.  Meaning, when its all said and done, you’ll pay somewhere between $600 and $900 more for alarm monitoring.

So, its clear that from that perspective, its really not a savings.  But, what about the cost of the system.  After all, if they give you a free system, you really are saving in the long run, right?  Lets look at the GE Simon XT, the most popular wireless security sytem on the market, and one used by the “big guys” as well as those committed to the DIY model.  Lets assume that the “big guy” is giving you the system for free.  Lets assume they only charge $30 per month (the average to low-side of these contracts).

Big Guy:

GE Simon XT System: FREE

3 Years Contract for Alarm Monitoring at $30 per month: $1,080

Total: $1,080

SafeMart:

GE Simon XT System: $249

3 Years Contract for Alarm Monitoring at $9 per month: $324

Total: $573

Total Savings: $507

Now, I want you to remember when reading this: This is best case scenario!  Most of the conventional companies will charge you an installation fee, and at least some initial payment for your system.  But, even in this best case scenario, you’re talking about an additional $500 dollars.  That doesn’t make any sense.

Make the smart choice, and if its time for you to get a home security system, don’t use one of the “big guys.”

Notes:

*This is the first installment in a series of posts on Do It Yourself Home Security.  The next post will deal with choosing a system and the last post will deal with ease of installation and programming.

*This post is not intended to make any claims about the cost, motivations, systems, etc. of any specific company.