ADT’s home security contracts: A protection racket?

Summary: That "free" ADT home security system could end up costing you a lot of money if you want to escape from your contract.

In July of 2012, I sold my home in New Jersey and moved to South Florida. At the time, for the new house, I was looking for a comprehensive home automation solution that included broadband, subscriber premium television as well as home security/lighting & thermostatic control/fire & carbon monoxide detection.

I ended up going with AT&T U-Verse as my broadband and television provider. I really wanted to get AT&T Digital Life, which would have allowed me to do all of the above from a single application, but the company was about six months away from deploying it in my community.

Rather than go without a security system, I signed up (through an AT&T referral link during U-Verse provisioning, which almost certainly netted them revenue) for ADT.

I also ended up buying a NEST for home thermostatic control because ADT didn't have an equivalent product at the time.

For the ADT setup, I paid a $77.00 installation fee and I have a recurring bill for central station monitoring that is $52.99 a month. I thought it was a relatively good deal at the time, and the security monitoring and mobile app, ADT Pulse, has served its purpose.

But I've always wanted something much more integrated that did more. Google's acquisition of NEST this week for $3.2 billion has yet again piqued my interest in AT&T Digital Life, which is now avaliable in my area. ADT now has a comparable system, but I would prefer to deal with one vendor.

I had the AT&T sales technician over this morning to see what it would take to replace the NEST, the ADT system and add some additional functionality, which includes smartplugs for interior and exterior lighting automation control.

The equipment setup cost would be $450, and the monthly bill about $50.00. That would include a single smartphone/tablet app as well as a web portal that I could use to control everything in my house.

I was ready to sign on the dotted line and schedule an installation appointment, but I realized that there was still some time on ADT's central station monitoring contract.

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ADT's home security contracts: A protection racket?