To Foil a Thief - Home Security

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Who Rates Best (& Worst) in the Washington DC Area? Now You'll Know.

Home Security

	The prospect of having an intruder in your home is unsettling at best. So it's no surprise that the home security alarm business thrives. But most homeowners can significantly cut their risk of burglary with small expenditures and a few new habits. We discuss how to assess your home's vulnerabilities, how to discourage burglars, and whether to purchase a home alarm system. We also give advice on selecting an alarm installer. From Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK Magazine
	Read our article and findings (available exclusively to CHECKBOOK subscribers)	Back to Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK Table of Contents.


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	Name	Number of ratings	Checkbook's top rating ()		What percent of customers rated firm "superior" on our survey for "overall quality"	Firm's price index score
	Name	Number of ratings	for quality	for price		Firm's price index score
1.	5 Star Security PO Box 99 Bluemont, VA 800-742-6360	41 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
2.	ABC Burglar Alarm Systems 1532 Pointer Ridge Pl #A Bowie, MD 301-249-9200	15 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
3.	ADT Security Services All locations combined 866-746-7238	789 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
4.	Alarm Associates 6666 Luster Dr Highland, MD 301-854-0100		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
5.	Allied Alarm Specialists PO Box 6238 Alexandria, VA 703-329-8660	61 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
6.	American Home Security 2655 Duke St Alexandria, VA 703-461-8100	39 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
7.	Astech Security 1616 Postal Rd Chester, MD 410-643-3611		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
8.	Broadview Security All locations combined 800-725-3537	268 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
9.	Custom Security 13904 Wanegarden Dr Germantown, MD 301-428-3298	13 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
10.	Digital Security 204 S King St Leesburg, VA 703-742-6060	14 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
11.	Dominion Security Systems 6705 Oak Dr Alexandria, VA 703-765-2244		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
12.	Eversafe Security Systems 724 York Rd #2-A Towson, MD 410-321-0220		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
13.	Fire Burglary Alarms 12321 Wilkins Ave #A Rockville, MD 301-231-0555	43 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
14.	Guardian Alarm PO Box 509 Germantown, MD 301-972-1545	14 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
15.	Guardian Protection Services 8475 Helgerman Ct Gaithersburg, MD 301-330-1399	62 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
16.	Guardian Protection Svc 174 Thorn Hill Rd Warrendale, PA 412-788-2580		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
17.	Hofheimer Security & Telephone Systems Alexandria, VA 703-820-0808	30 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
18.	Homesafe Security Systems 1215 Greenwood Rd Baltimore, MD 888-466-3723	18 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
19.	Interamerican Security 4817 Randolph Rd Rockville, MD 301-530-9140	139 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
20.	Maximum Security 1702 Picadilly Rd Crofton, MD 301-261-3600	29 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
21.	N & D Security 4625 Old Dominion Dr #101 Arlington, VA 703-243-0499	55 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
22.	National Security 10410 Main St Fairfax, VA 703-273-5555	44 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
23.	Petitbon Alarm 2125 Baldwin Ave #10-B Crofton, MD 301-858-0820	12 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
24.	Police Patrol Security Systems PO Box 1123 Dumfries, VA 703-441-2153		Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
25.	Potomac Security Systems 9821 Kendale Rd Potomac, MD 301-767-0039	138 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
26.	Protection One Alarm Monitoring 3921 Vero Rd #A Baltimore, MD 410-247-7701	13 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
27.	Security Services PO Box 7 Libertytown, MD 301-933-6755	13 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
28.	Sentry Installation 15940 Derwood Rd Rockville, MD 301-670-1008	35 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
29.	Splaine Security Systems 3829 Plyers Mill Rd Kensington, MD 301-942-6262	52 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
30.	Ultra Guard 7632 Standish Pl Rockville, MD 301-840-8004	15 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
31.	Vector Security 8101 Hinson Farm Rd #206 Alexandria, VA 703-360-1900	97 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
32.	Vector Security 9800 Patuxent Woods Dr #B Columbia, MD 800-688-0150	199 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.
33.	Vintage Security 8220 Stayton Dr #A Jessup, MD 301-596-7663	23 ratings	Washington Consumers' CHECKBOOK has ratings of 27 local home security firms. Subscribe now for ratings, articles and more.

Washington DC home security firms by neighborhood

MD
Home Security Firms in Baltimore, MD	Home Security Firms in Bowie, MD	Home Security Firms in Chester, MD
Home Security Firms in Columbia, MD	Home Security Firms in Crofton, MD	Home Security Firms in Gaithersburg, MD
Home Security Firms in Germantown, MD	Home Security Firms in Highland, MD	Home Security Firms in Jessup, MD
Home Security Firms in Kensington, MD	Home Security Firms in Libertytown, MD	Home Security Firms in Potomac, MD
Home Security Firms in Rockville, MD	Home Security Firms in Towson, MD
PA
Home Security Firms in Warrendale, PA
VA
Home Security Firms in Alexandria, VA	Home Security Firms in Arlington, VA	Home Security Firms in Bluemont, VA
Home Security Firms in Dumfries, VA	Home Security Firms in Fairfax, VA	Home Security Firms in Leesburg, VA

Sample Subscriber Comments/Reviews About Home Security Firms

CHECKBOOK provides subscriber comments on their experiences with the firms they use. Please remember that individual subscriber comments are informal. Subscriber comments may give you insight into the types of features and problems that exist in a service field, but are not the best basis for selecting or rejecting a specific firm. To assess the quality of a firm's performance, we recommend that you give more weight to the percentages of favorable ratings. Those percentages are generally based on much larger numbers of consumers' ratings (the number of consumer ratings is noted above).

As You Can See Below, Some Home Security Firms Get High Praise from Their Customers. Some Others Don't. So Choose Carefully.
Here Are a Few Samples of the Thousands of Comments CHECKBOOK Has Collected on Hundreds of Different Home Security Firms.

Subscriber from ANNANDALE, VA wrote Another Installer: Excellent job on installation of our new security system. They did a great job of..........
Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Installer: Very grouchy staff. The person who came to make the estimate didn't check for what..........
Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Installer: I went out the back door without realizing the system was activated. It took them..........
Subscriber from GERMANTOWN, MD wrote Another Installer: upgraded to a digital system - very pleased with new system. I called the toll..........
Subscriber from BOWIE, MD wrote Another Installer: This company is outstanding........
Subscriber from MANASSAS, VA wrote Another Installer: 5-Star's in home presentation was by far the best that we saw. Also, he was..........
Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Installer: Now that I'm set up with ADT things are going fine, but trying to reinstate..........
Subscriber from FAIRFAX, VA wrote Another Installer: Pushy, tried to get us to buy something on the spot in order to save..........
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: Great outfit. Decently priced, too........
Subscriber from STERLING, VA wrote Another Installer: Salesman unsolicited. Very pushy. Talked me into service that was not needed. Now I'm stuck..........
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: Thus far, I have had very knowledgeable and pleasant repair-persons working on my alarm. I..........
Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Installer: Have used Brinks for over a decade; recently the unit battery needed replacement; they did..........
Subscriber from HAMILTON, VA wrote Another Installer: Another Checkbook find........
Subscriber from LEESBURG, VA wrote Another Installer: Worst customer service experience. Missed scheduled appointments with no calls notifying me of this fact..........
Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Installer: Ratings are from installation 5 years ago. Monitoring service since then has been excellent........
Subscriber from ROCKVILLE, MD wrote Another Installer: Service fine - but no recent work done.......
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: Knowledgable about their products and about how to specify a solid, functional system without excess..........
Subscriber from FORT WASHINGTON, MD wrote Another Installer: BEGINNING IN 1980, I USED ADT's SPRINGFIELD OFFICE FOR INSTALLATION OF SECURITY SYSTEMS IN TWO..........
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: Very consistently on duty, watching for problems........
Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Installer: Splaine monitors my system and is always reliable........
Subscriber from CHEVY CHASE, MD wrote Another Installer: Very professional staff, and excellent workmanship........
Subscriber from GERMANTOWN, MD wrote Another Installer: This service blows away the national chain companies who are literally just in it for..........
Subscriber from KENSINGTON, MD wrote Another Installer: A thoroughly professional service--very strongly recommended!.......
Subscriber from FAIRFAX STA, VA wrote Another Installer: Another Checkbook rating that paid for itself. This is another excellent family-owned business........
Subscriber from QUANTICO, VA wrote Another Installer: After repeatedly being told by customer service that I could buy a DSL filter over-the-counter..........
Subscriber from NORTH POTOMAC, MD wrote Another Installer: Very competent security installation done on time with minimum hassle and no "hard sell". We..........
Subscriber from FAIRFAX, VA wrote Another Installer: I consulted with other top-rated DC firms before going with Potomac. Potomac was the only..........
Subscriber from GAINESVILLE, VA wrote Another Installer: The technician left without ever hooking up the motion detetor after assuring me everything was..........
Subscriber from OAKTON, VA wrote Another Installer: It takes some work to get them to respond promptly but with the right push..........
Subscriber from COLLEGE PARK, MD wrote Another Installer: The cost is a bit expensive, but they do what they're supposed to........
Subscriber from SPRINGFIELD, VA wrote Another Installer: We have a Brink's system and service/maintence contract. Brink's is top-notch. I don't know why..........
Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Installer: After spending 10-15 minutes examining my townhouse, the rep from this company gave a price..........
Subscriber from OAKTON, VA wrote Another Installer: Bought a complete home system. Required four separate installation appointments to install due to lack..........
Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Installer: It was a pleasure working with Jeff Young. He was very professional, knowledgeable, and personable...........
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: We switched from ADT to Brinks, afer the ADT rep came to us with a..........
Subscriber from BETHESDA, MD wrote Another Installer: When there was a problem with the service, they charged incredible fees just to fix..........
Subscriber from STERLING, VA wrote Another Installer: Sales person was very professional and helpful in letting us know all the details and..........
Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Installer: The people were very nice, but they directed me to this service and it wasn't..........
Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Installer: Rick, owner of Maximum Security, surveyed my home and provided a no-nonsense evaluation– he didn’t..........
Subscriber from SPRINGFIELD, VA wrote Another Installer: Had system checked, and one sensor replaced; paid only $25 for the visit, in addition..........
Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Installer: Outstanding job -- end to end........
Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Installer: Allied has supplied and installed security systems for my two business locations and my home...........
Subscriber from CLIFTON, VA wrote Another Installer: Brinks continues to enhance their capabilities and provide the premier home monitored protection services for..........
Subscriber from WASHINGTON, DC wrote Another Installer: We had the alarm installed in 2005 and even now I can call them and..........
Subscriber from CENTREVILLE, VA wrote Another Installer: Service calls are expremely pricey, but reliable and well-known service........
Subscriber from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote Another Installer: My system defaulted and ADT was informed to which they responded that someone will come..........
Subscriber from LAUREL, MD wrote Another Installer: They are occasionally careless on timeliness, but overall provide excellent service........
Subscriber from ARLINGTON, VA wrote Another Installer: ADT installed the system incorrectly the first time, has taken two months to refund unneccessary..........
Subscriber from ALEXANDRIA, VA wrote Another Installer: The staff overall are excellent and very much world class. They are seriously overworked and..........
Subscriber from MC LEAN, VA wrote Another Installer: Great response back from the owner whenever he gets the call. Good company to work..........

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