ALERT Protective Services Review

Chicagoland s best security company for Home and business!
40 plus years in experience

I was a loyal Alert Protective customer for many years and this was a great alarm company under their original ownership. The business was sold and all but one of the people that I worked with left the organization.
That should have been my first clue there were issues. Last year it was time to update my system and we ran into major problems In the end, Alert agreed to take back the system and refund my money for both the system and unused monitoring. No they did not come and uninstall the system, I had to pay someone to do this. No they did not come and pick up the system after multiple attempts to get it returned, and yes, I'm out a lot of money. Run, don't walk away from this company. There are some great alarm companies out there.

Very professional and quick installment. Clear instructions on how to use the user-friendly panel and app. Our motion sensor set off the alarm while we were away and I got a phone call from Alert. Great to know they are ready to help 24/7. Would highly recommend

The technician was prompt, efficient, didn't make a mess and showed me that the system tested fine

Overall very satisfied! Competent staff In all aspects; from initial quote, through install and service. Salesman gave me several options for service and the technician walked me through the system. Using the mobile app allows me to keep track of people coming and going (worth the upgrade). Very competitive rates and a local company!

APS has protected my business for over ten years never a problem. I wonder if they have a reasonable home rate.

We recently purchased our home which had an old alarm system I was hoping to get connected. I contacted a few local companies, trying to see if I can get a better deal than the large national companies. Alert Protective Services were the first to respond (with both voicemail and email). Justyna came to our house to evaluate our hold system. She gave me the pros and cons of our current system or installing a new system and emailed me the next day with the prices which were all very responsible. We ended up deciding on the new system (although I was pleased I did not feel any pressure to go with the new one). We love the security and overall customer service involved with our set up. Thankfully we haven't had any break ins to test it out and hopefully we never have to but I am confident and pleased with selecting this company.

New charges being applied without notifying customers beforehand. New owners apparently. I think this is done type of law violation.

No problem with the service since installed the alarm.

We have used Alert Protective Services since we moved to the Chicago area in 2007. It is easy to speak to someone on the phone and they are immediately responsive in any event that the alarm is triggered. Representatives who come out to service the system are always professional and friendly. The alarm service is excellent.

We have also used their A/V team to install our built-in audio speakers and related equipment. I took off a star because our experience with the sales side of the business has been inconsistent. Ask for Fernando if you use the A/V services, he is responsive and cares about the quality of his work.

Have been with Alert Protective Services since 2005. Great alarm company. So when we decided to upgrade to new alarm system of course we went with them. Very professional

Been using Alert for home alarm since 1996. I don't think they've had a price increase in all that time. (It's currently 2016). Our recent house has a sump pump and they even have put in a device in the sump pump pit that once the water reaches a certain level, they call us letting us know our pump has failed. This has saved us a couple of times from a flooded basement. Great company!

I've been using Alert for my home and business for years. They are an amazing company!!

Alert is a thorough, professional company run locally. A "real person" answers the phone and is knowledgable and interested in helping you solve your problem. This is true for every day questions - "I think my touchpad isn't working, how can I test it?" - to much deeper technical issues. When I wanted to understand the specifics behind their wireless connection, I was able to talk with a true system engineer with years of experience AND the ability to explain things. Alert is first-rate.

I have been with this company for over 5 years but I suspect they switched management., The current management has been nothing but an arrogant nightmare. I have had so many issues with their competence vs previous years and their disrespect of women business owners riles me up. No company has ever gotten me this upset. I asked them to fix their original work and their omission of what they should have done initially, they asked me to pay service fee. My alarm goes haywire every 2 days and after deleting their app with an old location and reinstalling, it multiple times it still shows the old location. They won't fix it without me paying for "service call". Avoid this company especially women owned businesses, even though they send a mild looking woman to front for them. They bare their fangs after getting the business! I never rate small/medium businesses but since Im going to pay fines of $250 each to my city for their incompetence and unwillingness to provide good customer service, I might as well warn potential victims its an "all boys disrespect women business owners club"

We've worked with Alert Protective for over 20 years for both our home and business. They have been great to work with. We recently upgraded to some new technology which is very impressive. I would definitely recommend them.

Our new alarm system is great and our internet capability to activate, deactivate and receive notifications of the status of our system is phenomenal.

Alert has done a great job on our home security system. They have affordable options for every budget and the latest technology for new systems.

All the technicians with whom we dealt were extremely helpful and professional.

We just started service with Alert and so far it has been great. The person we first spoke with on the phone was very knowledgeable and friendly, then a representative came to our apartment to help us pick a package that was best for us. The system they installed only took an hour to install and it is very easy to operate and I like how I can monitor it from my phone.

Avoid Alert Protective Services. If I could get out of my contract with them today, I would, and happily at that.

Here's why:

A drunk driver hit a car on Thursday night in front of my home. We pressed the doorbell to record the incident, and it failed to record. Thankfully, no one was badly hurt and they caught the driver who left the scene. This could have gone another way, badly, and we wouldn't have had video of it. To troubleshoot the issue, we called Alert to find out why a system we pay for wasn't working, and were told a technician has to come out. (Pro Tip: this involves a 100 service fee that wasn't announced up front. The word "service fee and parts" may or may not have been used.)

Here's why Alert is totally fired now:

1. A five minute service visit whereupon the technician logged into the wireless doorbell and rebooted it solved the problem. I then learned that the 100 dollars I was charged for this "service" could have been done remotely, (and according to Howard whom I spoke to at Alert to question this "service visit" charge), it was supposedly tried and failed when the initial call was made. This does not change the fact that it took a tech five whole minutes to charge me 100 bucks with something that could have been fixed remotely.

2. It took 40 bucks and 7 days to get a battery for a system (that I had to install by the way) that should have arrived in 1-2 days. (On a system that shouldn't even use a regular non-powered non-recyclable non-chargeable battery for.)

3. I was not told to call their offices to put our system in "test" if work is being done on the house, lest it call the fire department because hanging a ceiling fan set it off and did just exactly that.

4. If you bother to go with Alert, make a note that you cannot get out of your contract unless you pay 80% of it, and - here's the kicker - email in writing notice of cancellation 30 days before it expires. Oh, and apparently notice can only be given 30 days in advance, as I attempted to give them notice now and was rudely told "I can't put a cancellation note on your account for next February."

5. Their techs couldn't get my Comcast Business wi-fi network to extend to my garage for sensors or cameras. I had to install my own cameras for the whole place. (Thankfully my cameras are better and cheaper than their exorbitant prices anyway.)

As I sit here, I contemplate my legal options for cancelling a service that has caused more headaches than it has solved.

As someone who works a help desk myself, the abysmal customer service I receive up front and on callbacks (or no callback at all in one case) is enough to find another vendor for your home security needs.

Stay Safe, Dear Readers! It's stupid out there.

All around great company , have dealt with several service guys , down to earth ,and friendly

Patrick t Martin

Installer Alex was very good. Did more than either of us expected initially, for the same fee as originally quoted.

I was with another service provider who was bought out by Alert. They had my address wrong (wrong apt. number) and actually called to report an alarm but it was for the wrong address. They had our names wrong on the account. I finally got those issues settled. I had a problem with my system and they said they needed to come out since it seemed I needed a new battery. The guy they sent couldn't find the problem and told me he was new and needed help. He called another tech in the neighborhood who came over and said I that it wasn't the battery and that I would not be charged for the appointment or the battery which I didn't need. He said the problem was that my system was old and a salesman would call and come out to assess my needs. He told me a new "mother board" would likely be less than $400.00. No-one called or came out. I called them and someone told me it would likely be about twice that amount. Then they started billing me for the work that they said I didn't owe. On three occasions they rebilled me after telling me it would be taken off. Now they have taken the money by unauthorized use of my credit card which they have for monthly billing. Their left hand doesn't seem to know what their right hand is doing. Again they said I would be contacted by a salesman to reassess my needs...no one called. Pretty disorganized and I didn't like them using my credit card for something I didn't owe. Beware!

Used to be great. Echoing another commenter, these guys were once awesome but maybe something has changed? The technicians that come to the house are great but we can NEVER get anyone on the phone and no one calls us back for days if at all. If we have a problem it takes a week to even speak to someone. Not the kind of reliability you want in an alarm company. Look elsewhere. We will.

We have been pleased with the service provided by Alert Protective Services. Installation was prompt and we have not had any problems since the installation. I would recommend them to others.

Great Chicagoland security company that I highly recommend. My experience has always been pleasant. The team is very responsive and professional. Highly recommend.

I recently met with the salesman to get a bid on a security system with cameras, and other features. The salesman was very nice, and took a look at my current alarm system, and gave me and my husband some recommendations. So at the end of the appointment we were told that a quote would be sent via email within two days. The salesman came on a weekend so I figured Tuesday or Wednesday. My husband reached out to him on Thursday and was informed that we will have a quote by the end of the day because he was busy. Not sure what is going on especially with all the good reviews that I saw for the company.

Run from this company. We moved in mid August of 2018. We called to cancel all utilities including our alarm service. Alert Protective kept charging us! We just got charged again and when we called to dispute the customer service agent said they don t take cancellations over phone! Almost a year later they still owe us money for services they did not provide. Our bank is getting involved now and blocked any future transactions and will dispute previous charges. ALERT IS A DISHONEST COMPANY!

These guys are simply fantastic , both for business and family needs.

Great, quick service. Installers were professional and knowledgeable. Great monthly goods sent through email.

I have been a client for many years and this was a great alarm company until I realized that it changed management. This company before if it had any problem with the alarm was its priority and now it is very different.

Look elsewhere, my company currently is. Credit cards used for one time payment on our account were charged without authorization. When I called, the women blatantly lied and told me they were all set up for auto pay, however, logging into my account there is a clear No for auto pay on our account. If our payment is late, do as your email states and disconnect service but to take money out of anyone's account without authorization is beyond unprofessional. Not to mention the spelling of our business name is incorrect and has never been corrected despite requesting so numerous times.

I would definitely recommend this company.
They installed an alarm and keypad in my house. They showed up on time, were very professional and cleaned up before they left.
We're very happy with their service.

Quality and professional service. I trusted Alert to wire my new construction home and they did a 5 Star job!!! They installed my Camera system and alarm. Thank you ALERT!!! My family sleep knowing it is protected.

I feel safe with this system. They are very alert and on the job.

I've had numerous issues with service after I purchase the product. Today I needed immediate service for a handicapped person to use the remote and I was told by Howard they don't have anyone availability this weekend. By 11:00 am the service tech went home for the day. I was told they had weekend emergency help when we signed up. DON"T TRUST THEM!!

Great customer service and excellent staff. Highly recommended!

We have used Alert Protective Services at our last 3 homes. They make moving sevice very easy. We have always felt safe with the personal touch of Alert Protective.

These guys will collect your installation fees and disappear. I have had to email them, call them, text them, etc. over and over. They collected the install payment 4 months ago for a job that was supposed to take two days. Utterly unprofessional. The job still isn't done and I paid them in July. All this to install roughly 8 cameras. Terrible.

We have always used Alert and are always pleased with their service.
When we moved recently we had them install a wireless alarm system and outdoor security cameras in our new home. They could not have been more responsive and professional. Highly recommended.

Alert Protective Services was referred to us by our builder for our home alarm system. They offered several monitoring packages, were professional and responsive, and did what they said they were going to do. They had a few issues with installation due to some things that were out of their control, but they handled it well.

I'd recommend Alert for home security monitoring.

I previously was frustrated with APS for overcharging me to get my older system operational again and then billing me extra for having an older system.

I ve now been a customer for 6 years and after 3 phone calls and 2 online submissions of a disconnection request, I ve still been unsuccessful in closing out my account or having them wave 2 months of monitoring I don t need.

I expect a local company competing with Ring, Nest, and others to at least try to differentiate with good, personalized customer care/experience.

Great experience working with Alert. From the first call to the install it was very easy. It's very simple to use and the phone app is great.

Old school security company that actually cares about their customers. I've had them for 15 years and going.

Great team, great service, we've been very happy so far!

My experience with alert has been good, the installation didn't take long & was simple for my home, what you need to watch out for is, you could be looked into a long contract that could cost you, if for some reason you need to get out of it early.

Reliable and alerts come to my cell phone wherever I am!