Ackerman Security Systems

The only reason they’re getting two stars from me is because the service tech I had today was polite and honest. But beware: your contract will be full of hidden fees — not just $ 5 processing fees, but big fat $ 100 fees on top of whatever you pay monthly for service.
We have a ground floor corner unit in an apartment complex, so I figured it would be a good idea to get some security for our doors and windows. I called Ackerman to inquire (since they advertised only $ 19.99 per month for security) and they sent a sales guy to my house. Nice guy, but literally would not tell me the price of anything until I was ready to sign on the dotted line for over $ 350 of additional services. Nice try, but we passed on everything except basic door alarms. I’m charged $ 99 because «I don’t have a landline therefore we have to install a wireless router to automatically call your cell phone if the alarm goes off.» It’s 2016. Who has landlines anymore?
Price goes up to $ 30/​month, because of the lack of said landline. So they charge you more after you have to buy the equipment, which is fine, but also awful.
Then, the install tech comes — nightmarish. He spends 10 minutes opening and slamming my doors, tests my system one time, then asks me to sign a paper and bolts out (after telling me stories about setting up security systems at drug dealers’ houses, super professional).
4 months later, my partner notices that neither of the balcony doors (that face the street) are activating the alarm or chime. GREAT. They evidently never worked, because the tech was in such a hurry to leave that he didn’t actually test them.
I called for assistance and a tech guy came out the next day. As soon as he walks in, he says, «Did they tell you about the fee for today’s visit?» And I’m like, wait, because YOUR equipment isn’t working, I’m going to have to pay? And yes, friends — 90 $ for the first half hour, then another absurd charge for every additional 30 minutes. Really? Customer service never even mentioned that there was a fee. Is that something you’re supposed to just know? This means that I effectively paid for 4 months of service that wouldn’t have protected me at all from a robbery, and that’s really, really bothersome and almost fraudulent.
Luckily, the tech noticed the problem was the installation person’s fault and because it was on them, they did NOT charge me. But had he not told me about the potential fee, I would have been completely in the dark when he asked me to fork over another $ 200.
Overall, this company’s service, while shady, is quick and efficient when you have a problem. But the hidden fees and lack of transparency are the reason I’ll cancel my contract with them as soon as the year’s up.

Run! Don’t walk as Ackerman has been my provider for less than a week and what a nightmare dealing with customer service once they leave your home. After the initial install ⁴⁄₁₄ I have had to call DAILY to ensure I get credit for equipment (camera) I didn’t receive and to get my so called interactive service completed. That’s still not done after 5 phone calls to them. Now I have to call to ask why they are billing me for a camera I didn’t receive. I laugh so as not to cry as it’s beyond frustrating and I’m currently on hold now listening to their announcements and hold music suggesting I refer them to my friends etc. NOT!!! I have a receipt from ⁴⁄₁₄ clearly stating I didn’t receive a camera now I am on hold for a supervisor. Can it get any worse??! My TIME IS VALUABLE and no one should have to place repeat calls to the same company in a matter of days for the same issue.

Great service! My rep accessed my home, recommended a new wireless system. The entire job only cost $ 49.00 and I can control the system from my phone! Thanks to Chip my rep and Ackerman

Let me start by saying their equipment is brand new out-​of-​the-​box Honeywell equipment. The window sensors blend right in with my window frame and it is hard to see them. The keypad is 2013 technology (year system installed) and stylish, but big. I also have two wireless cameras connected to my system.
Now for the negative. My first interaction with Ackerman’s «Customer Service Reps» (they really need to start performing to their title) was the day I called to speak with them about one of my wireless cameras going dark. After several minutes the CSR finally told me she could not help me and would need to dispatch a tech. Great. The tech comes to my house, walks in and over to the camera, puts his fingers behind the camera and 30 seconds later he pulls them back, looks at me and says, «Problem solved.» The camera just needed to be reset and the CSR couldn’t tell me this why? Here’s the best part for the techs 5 minutes in my home, I was charged $ 99 for the service call.
Round two with Customer Service. After several years of limited use of the system, we finally made the decision to start using it on a daily basis. For whatever reason my master code would not work. So I called customer service only to be told they could not help me. I Googled the issue and all I needed or so we thought was the installer code. They wouldn’t give it to me, only installers can have that code, and the rest of the world via the internet. Technician dispatched. I’m livid because I am once again going to be charged for a service call that will take five minutes. Manager emails me to say I can call this number and speak with a tech and do it over the phone for free. I call the number and hear, «What? We can’t do that over the phone.» I am left laughing and shaking my head.
Tech shows up at my house, I give him all the codes we have and nothing works. He has to master reset the panel. Great, only problem is the master reset will not work and here’s the best part, because someone programmed in the master reset code as a user code. I can tell you given that code is something even Sheldon Cooper says is, «not a real password», I would never have installed that code. Fast forward, we need a new panel and he’s coming back two days later. Shows up to the house again and says, «let’s try one more thing.» He makes a call and a while later my panel is back up and running with the proper codes installed. Thank you very much, that will be a $ 134 for your time.
Ackerman’s biggest problem is their lack of online or telephone tech support and we know why. You’re billed up front for all your equipment, so if you do not sign up for the monthly warranty charge, they have no future billings from you after the initial purchase. They make their money on the service calls. I think in a day and age where you can buy DIY security systems that connect to apps on your phone, with online and app based video cameras, that Ackerman would jump into the 21^st century and help their consumers a little more than they are now. They are not the only security company in town and honestly, for the most part I am happy with my service, but I will be looking and someday sooner than later I will pull the plug.

If I could give this company less than 1 star I would. I have tried all avenues of cancellation (scanning, mailing a letter, calling) and they continue to charge me. I don’t even live in the apartment anymore! The contract terms are highly misleading, so please go with another company for your home security. Ackerman is dishonest and will do anything to part you with your money.

I have used Ackerman for about 15 years (both for my personal residence and for a rental property) and haven’t had any major issues. The only issue that I can think of is them wanting me to pay to have a tech come out on a weekend to check out a faulty alarm signal.
I’m somewhat surprised to see so many negative reviews. I didn’t give a higher rating because they haven’t done anything to bowl me over either. I am satisfied. I am currently interested in more security features and am looking to compare with other companies for both quality, service offerings and pricing.

I recently had a new system installed and my salesperson Nell Mapp was amazing and answered all of my questions before I ever paid anything. I already had an ADT system so I kept it and had to pay $ 99 to be able to use my old equipment. When I looked at my credit card account I did see that I was also charged $ 34.95 for the first month of service. I don’t recall that being mentioned, but it wasn’t really a huge deal.
It’s been installed for a week now and I haven’t had the false alarm issue as others have stated, but I will update this review if they do occur or if I have any issues with the service. I have a friend who recommended Ackerman to me and she had been a customer for a few years and hadn’t had any issues so I’m hoping to have the same experience.
If you are considering them I say make sure you read your contracts, try the 1 year plan if you are on the fence, and ask as many questions that will give you a peace of mind with your decision. Miscommunication and expectations seem to be the problems with other experiences based on these Unilocal reviews so I’m hoping I did enough to circumvent any issues.

**update**
Ackerman read my review and responded. I was given instructions on canceling my service without incurring a penalty. The money I had paid for 3 months of service (which I was expecting to pay) was put towards a tech call fee and it was called even. I appreciate Ackerman doing the right thing and have adjusted my rating accordingly. I would have liked to go higher but given what originally happened i couldn’t.
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Ackerman is absolute garbage. Their sales people will tell you anything to get you into a contract. I bought a home with a previously installed Ackerman alarm system. The previous owners did not give us the right alarm code and Ackerman refused to reset the system unless we paid for monitoring. Knowing that I did not want to pay for a full year of monitoring for hundreds of dollars I made sure to ask pointed questions to my sales person about whether I would be able to break contract without penalties. He said that I would not be able to get a refund on the 3 months I had paid but I would not be penalized for leaving early. I called two weeks later to cancel and was told I would owe $ 250. When I told them what I was told they said they would have to speak to the salesman to verify I was telling the truth. He denied what I said and the company refused to do anything about it. They did nothing but reset the alarm codes and now it will cost over $ 300. Watch out for these people, they are liars and crooks…

Unit has been beeping intermittently every few hours round the clock because of low battery and lost telephone connection. I have a Simon, hard wired system that uses my land based line. Technician came out, replaced one of the batteries, and basically unplugged and replugged the phone line. Charged me $ 185! Two weeks later, another battery is low and again the phone line is not connected!!! He should have checked all remote sensor batteries while here and then replaced as necessary. And they should stand behind their work. I am now trying to cancel service and waiting on a special form… at the same time they do not pro-​rate the fee so I need to pay through the end of my term, in this case October. And to make it stop beeping? It’s a hard wired system and I am on my own… will need to hire an electrician to cap the wires!

ACKERMAN continually charges my credit card for extra costs without notifying me. I am OVER it and going to have to file a complain with my credit card company and the Better Business Bureau. SHAME on Clark Howard for advertising for these creeps.
They take your money every month and offer VERY LITTLE service in return. Customer Service agents talk down to you and treat you like you are just a piece of crap putting money in their owner’s wallet.
I’d like to talk to the owner since he is supposedly local, but instead they put me on hold for hours and hours.

Considering the options available and the fact that Atlanta is an unsafe and greedy city, Ackerman is fine. For $ 19 a month for wired and $ 29 for wireless, it is what is is. Service calls are how they recover revenues for value pricing. Be courteous and respectful to reps and techs and you will get acceptable pricing and tips and tricks for maximizing your system’s performance. Victor Camacho was the sales rep that assisted me when I converted to wireless. The install tech was also super helpful providing a realistic range of options when we found a fault in some of the old wiring. There was a Macguyver fix or a $ 300 fix. My choice! Even if it is their equipment you will pay them (or a competitor) to fix and tweak — so accept the ugly truth of how the security service industry operates and be happy the monthly fee isn’t outrageous and the folks who work there are kind and intelligent. Or get a Doberman. Woof!

Currently there is a series of folksy, customer-​friendly radio and television ads running in the Atlanta and D.C. markets which leave you with the impression Ackerman is this teeny-​tiny homespun, community-​driven, customer-​first organization.
BUYER BEWARE.
The axiom «You Get What You Pay For» is both true and untrue as it pertains to Ackerman security.
Ackerman Security is the cheapest, most unresponsive, incredibly incompetent alarm company in Atlanta. Ackerman will use every cheesy, slippery sales technique, and «it’s in the fine print» type of trick to keep you locked into its horrible service.
Every single person warned me about this place, but I switched to Ackerman because it was cheaper than ADT.
Big mistake.
Wait…
BIIIGGG MISTAKE!
What did I get for my money?
— Used, repurposed, out-​of-​warranty, out-​dated, CHEAP, white-​label, wireless alarm equipment sold AS NEW at a premium price. (Rumor is: Ackerman buys lots of remnant inventory and refurbishes/​repurposes and sell as new equipment. Ackerman doesn’t have a standard set of equipment, just whatever is on the guy’s truck at the time. In fact, what you may end up purchasing is equipment which may have been equipment which the installer recently removed from another Ackerman home.)
— An auto-​renew contract (which, by the way, was written up and confirmed as a NON-​auto renew contract and mysteriously «auto-​renewed») WHOOPS!
— An abrasive, verbally abusive and shady Director of «Customer Service» who tried to enforce a phony contract for a name not even at our address. After promises to resolve this issue promptly *POOF* the Director of Customer Service vanished. He didn’t respond to emails, voicemails, or calls directly to his cell phone despite a cheerful voicemail message indicating he returned all calls within 24 hours. Funny, too that all the notes regarding our issue magically vanished just as mysteriously as the Director of «Customer Service» and Sales rep who provided a signature and a false name to an alarm contract
Do yourself a favor: STAY AWAY FROM ACKERMAN SECURITY.
Don’t be fooled by the folksy «we’re local» advertising, the self-​congratulatory industry awards, the phony promises, and the CEO responding to you directly on your review offering his cell phone number so you may speak with him directly (BTW: He’s as rude and obnoxious as the rest of the Ackerman «customer service» team. You aren’t going to get anywhere with this guy. He’s a shady slickster through and through. Remember, he’s the person responsible for leading the existing culture. Don’t waste your breath. He doesn’t want your business and will gladly tell you so.
Do yourself a favor, pay the extra and go with a reputable alarm company, because ACKERMAN security is riddled with unempowered employees, rude «executives», and a culture devoid of any sense that customers are important.
NOTE:
Despite the auto-​comment listed below by Ackerman Security’s Social Media team, I can assure you this review is not written by a competitor but by a once satisfied, now disgruntled customer who escalated issues to the appropriate channels on numerous occasions only to see them go unresolved. Not once. Not twice. But thrice. This includes interactions with the CEO who imparts the same negative, unprofessional, «I-don’t-give-a –damn-​if-​I-​keep-​your-​business» customer NO-​service tone. Laughable.

Ackerman Security sent out a «security consultant» who told us multiple times that there was no contract. When we tried to cancel, they told us we signed a 2 year contract. On the back of the card there says «No long term contract». According to Ackerman, two years is not a long time at all. I specifically chose Ackerman because I did not wish to be locked in to a contract.
There are so many alarm companies out there. Horrible customer service and dishonest business practices. If I can at least prevent one more person from being deceived by this company this review will be worth it.

I spent the last 2 weeks trying to get a detailed bid from both ADT and Ackerman. …Though I’ve seen both companies reviewed poorly on Unilocal,they are the only two realist games in town. Here’s the bottom line… I used Ackerman about 15 years ago and they were very good but during this bid process/​go-​around they were «Comcast-​like» in there sales and follow up. Ackerman may be the cheaper of the two from a monthly monitoring fee perspective but not «All-​In». Here are some comparisons:
— Warranty: ADT equipment is warranted for the period of my contract (no costs for equipment, installation and or service calls fo the two years of my contract. Ackerman was only warranted for for 1 year for parts only.) this is a a biggie.
— ADT sent out a knowledgeable sales lead that didn’t try to over sell and when he could not answer a question, got me an answer. The Ackerman sales rep was polite but knew nothing about cameras and wanted to set up different home visit for a «camera specialist» even though I stated during the email meeting set up an on a pre-​sales telephone call that I was interested in cameras and home automation. He was unprepared and his follow up dismal.
Bottom line. I choose ADT because I can cancel (contractually) them in the first six months and get my money back if they fail to deliver the system and quality that the contracts states they must have. I was able to negotiate a reduction of around 30% from their original quotes. This is a decent sized system (3−4K $). The sales rep was good and though both of these companies have very over priced equipment (think 200−400% markup) ADT was willing to aggressively negotiate and bring the prices closer to earth.
Monthly rates via Ackerman are cheaper (20−25%), no doubt, but total cost of ownership and warranty were the difference.
Special Note: This is ALL pre-​sales perspective. I’ll put an update review after 3 months that captures their install and service.

The worst customer service. Monthly payment is good for nothing. They could care less about you. I have had my alarm go off and they don’t even know what area was actually triggered. Once told me an interior motion censor was triggered and I got to my store only to find my back door was wide open. They said the wiring must have been done wrong and to fix it I WOULD HAVE TO PAY! The worst!

James George strikes again. No mention that this is for a three year contract. Yes it does say it in the contract that is for three years so that is my fault but James was not forthcoming at all with this information. I tried to call customer service to get the service stopped but was told by the representative that I would be responsible for the remainder of the balance $ 720.00! Are you kidding me! My home already had and existing security system so they had no out of pocket expense whatsoever. This is completely unprofessional and a terrible way to run a business. These things have a way of catching up to you over the long run. Pay attention to more than price and dont believe a damn thing the salesman tells you. Look at your contract! I have been in sales for more than 12 years I can tell you that if I deceived my clients the way these people do. I would not be around very long

this is where you need a 0 stars option…
ackerman is shady business. they will charge your credit card without (1) telling you how much or what for and (2) your authorization. good luck getting your money back after that happens. their customer disservice agent hung up on my bank rep while she was trying to find out the circumstances surrounding the charge (which, btw, was ackerman charging me for a tech visit for their tech to fix something they broke on a previous visit i had already paid for — was told for the second visit, i would not be responsible for them having to fix their mistake, yet, they still managed to deceptively take $ 80 of my money that i had to fight to get back).
fast forward to today. i call to cancel. i am told that my contract has been automatically renewing, so if i want to cancel, i have to pay the rest of it (7 months). i ask the customer disservice rep, «when did you guys tell me of the renewal?» the answer? this is great — «it’s in your original contract from 2011 that ackerman renews every year.» so, the only notification that my contract was up for renewal in 2013 is the contract for initial service drawn up in 2011.
Unilocalers, and those who are visiting Unilocal,ackerman security is only concerned with one thing, and that is how much money they can squeeze from your hands. you bet your ass that i receive a bill in the mail every month, but when the time for contract renewal comes up, i get nothing. not an email, a phone call, or anything in the mail stating my contract is coming up. thanks for stealing away the option of letting me cancel at that time, ackerman. you guys are real class act when it comes to being transparent. (that was sarcasm — you all are terrible.)

So, when we signed up with Ackerman, we had high hopes for it. This being my first foray into home security systems, I had some preconceived notions. First, that the system would protect my family. Second, that it would do what I had paid for, a year in advance no less. Third, that if there were problems, the company with the commercials & the «goal of very good customer service» would help me out. Unfortunately, this is not what has happened.
The system did protect as it was supposed to. However, it beeped far too frequently. When I called for support assistance, I was told multiple reasons why this occurs & that the best option was to let my system go off at least once a week. And, my favorite one, when it happened at 10 pm, to set off my alarm despite that my 3 year old was asleep & that my neighbors would’ve freaked out.
So, instead I had to unplug the system & hope it would stop overnight. I specifically asked for a manager to call me in the morning to discuss the possibilities for more quiet testing options. When this didn’t happen by 6 pm the following day, I called back again, finally getting a manager. She, finally, provided good service. Alas, this was an aberration. Same situation happened again on a Sunday. When we called, frustrated to the Nth degree, they offered to send someone out, but at my expense! When we said that they would pay any extra fees for a service tech to come on the weekend, they refused. We said we would cancel our service, & they just didn’t care.
Sad but true stories. Needless to say, my family is EXCEPTIONALLY displeased. I hope that the powers that be at Ackerman see this review & use it as an impetus for change in their organization.

Don’t do it! Horrible experience from start to finish. The salesman (Marty) was ultra pushy until I signed and then he wouldn’t answer or return any calls. They were two days late on the install and when they did show up, they were unprofessional and unprepared. They left without setting up my system and took with them any hope of retaining my business. I fought with them and got out of the contract and haven’t looked back since.
Go with Andrews Security, 5 stars all the way!

Don’t do it.
I am not a new homeowner. I own multiple homes and I’ve had alarm systems since 2002. My experience with Ackerman Security here in Atlanta has been THE WORST.
I decided to work on lowering my alarm system costs, so I switched providers and went to Ackerman Security.
My heart has been racing since then.
Why?
Because my alarm goes off frequently. For no reason at all. And well, my heart starts racing, because I am nervous — until I discover that nothing has happened. The only nice thing about this — I’ve had some nice looking, kind police officers come over and inspect my place, only to find nothing wrong. I kind of feel like I have my own Hawaii Five-​0. But I digress.
Now mind you, with my previous provider, although I paid an arm and two legs, I had not had a false alarm in several years. Ackerman came in and took over the existing system (making only a couple of equipment changes) and now the d**m thing won’t shut up.
When I call Ackerman, they are not helpful. At all.
I’ve had a technician out here and he was a nice enough guy. But his fix only lasted for a couple of weeks.
I’m very disappointed with Ackerman. They know nothing about root cause analysis. I’d like THEM to get to the bottom of this and fix my system. But they don’t seem to care.
I’ll be happy to update this review if Ackerman Security steps up its game and actually tries to fix my system.
In the meantime, I’m shopping around.