The other day our ADT Security alarm system went haywire. The siren started going off for no apparent reason, and punching in our code didn't turn it off. We called customer service, and they showed no sign of trouble coming from our system. I confirmed with them that it wasn't just an unrelated smoke alarm or CO detector, then I cycled power to the system several times with no success at fixing the issue. We set up a time for a technician to come to the house and take a look.
To ADT's credit, they were very cordial on the telephone, seemed knowledgeable, and were prompt about setting up and confirming (twice) our service appointment. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with that. Also, the technician, who showed up on time, was a very nice guy. Here comes the bad part...
The technician confirmed that our system indeed had a problem, most likely stemming from a power surge (thunderstorms have been common lately). He concluded that we had multiple problems: the alarm control panel needed replacement, and the telephone distribution block (in our "smart panel") was faulty. Prior to his showing up, all of our telephones worked, and our DSL internet service was up and running. After his "troubleshooting," none of our phone jacks worked, and our DSL went down. He offered to "fix" the problem by bypassing the distribution block, requiring multiple wires/connectors to be cut. I politely declined and told him I'd figure it out later. He also didn't have any parts with him, in particular, the ones he "always carries" ...like a spare control panel that would've fixed our problem!!! This guy drove over an hour to my house to screw up my phone lines and didn't bring any #$%ing parts with him!!!
Turns out he cut the line to the phone jack we use most often, then connected the telephone line-in to the wrong jack. It took me 5 minutes to figure that out, reconnect the line-in, and find out that the cut wire was the one we needed most. A quick trip to Lowe's for a tool I've always wanted, and our "faulty" distribution block was back in service, working properly.
ADT will be calling us to schedule another service appointment. I hope they send someone who is competent this time. I know next to NOTHING about phone lines and alarm systems, and I managed to fix the "professional's" troubleshooting blunder in less time than it took him to screw it up.
Dammit.
To ADT's credit, they were very cordial on the telephone, seemed knowledgeable, and were prompt about setting up and confirming (twice) our service appointment. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with that. Also, the technician, who showed up on time, was a very nice guy. Here comes the bad part...
The technician confirmed that our system indeed had a problem, most likely stemming from a power surge (thunderstorms have been common lately). He concluded that we had multiple problems: the alarm control panel needed replacement, and the telephone distribution block (in our "smart panel") was faulty. Prior to his showing up, all of our telephones worked, and our DSL internet service was up and running. After his "troubleshooting," none of our phone jacks worked, and our DSL went down. He offered to "fix" the problem by bypassing the distribution block, requiring multiple wires/connectors to be cut. I politely declined and told him I'd figure it out later. He also didn't have any parts with him, in particular, the ones he "always carries" ...like a spare control panel that would've fixed our problem!!! This guy drove over an hour to my house to screw up my phone lines and didn't bring any #$%ing parts with him!!!
Turns out he cut the line to the phone jack we use most often, then connected the telephone line-in to the wrong jack. It took me 5 minutes to figure that out, reconnect the line-in, and find out that the cut wire was the one we needed most. A quick trip to Lowe's for a tool I've always wanted, and our "faulty" distribution block was back in service, working properly.
ADT will be calling us to schedule another service appointment. I hope they send someone who is competent this time. I know next to NOTHING about phone lines and alarm systems, and I managed to fix the "professional's" troubleshooting blunder in less time than it took him to screw it up.
Dammit.