Smith Thompson Security Systems

After many years of using this monitoring service I just got off the phone with one of the rudest representatives I’ve ever experienced and my inquiry has yet to be answered or resolved. My alarm went off at 8:28 this morning. I was expecting a call within a minute or two of the incident as I have in previous similar situations. The call from their representative to ask if everything was fine unfortunately didn’t come in for over 8 minutes. When I asked why there was such a delay I was told they were experiencing a high volume of alarms going off and called when they could. I then asked how many people were responding to alarms and calling homeowners and was told basically that wasn’t my business to know. I then asked to speak with the supervisor. I was placed on hold for 15 minutes and eventually the team leader, Tracy, not the supervisor got on the phone. She was rude, told me in response to my bringing up a concern that this is a safety issue that the company answers alarms when they get them as they get them. Further, I didn’t need to know how many people answered the phones. If 1 or 2 calls come in they can handle them quickly but there were 12 to 15 when my alarm went off and that’s just the way it is. She went on to say this happens when something is going on like weather. I told her there were no weather issues here in Dallas so I’m not sure why the volume would be greater than normal. She offered no explanation for higher volume. When I tried to explain the reason why an immediate response is required, and frankly that’s what her company contractually agrees to do she said she isn’t going to talk anymore and will hang up. I asked for her name, and her supervisors phone number. She would not give the supervisors number but said she would transfer me to her voice mail and the supervisor would call me back two days later on Monday. So now I’m waiting to see if I get a call Monday. Given the twice refused request to know how many phone monitors were on duty this morning I’m sure there aren’t enough to handle the volume or they would have told me a number. I’m betting if I am finally given the requested information it will be 2, the one who called me and Tracy the rude and unprofessional team leader. If there were 12 to 15 calls and my wait time on hold was 15 minutes, that’s about 6 to 8 calls per representative over the 15 minute wait.
This is a security monitoring system whose job is quick response time. They totally dropped the ball this morning. But worse were the on hold wait time, lack of professional meaningful responses and lack of information provided when asked about it.
Very disappointing!

The security people have always called me within minutes after the alarm went off. To date it has been a false alarm triggered by us. They are prompt in resolving billing issues also.