AlarmForce

Formerly Bell Smart Home
Home Automation
Toronto ON M9L 1R2
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Reviews by rating (past 12 months)

Reviews for AlarmForce

Average customer rating:
7.2 10 (733 reviews)

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W00G1E2012
W00G1E2012
1 review Bracebridge, ON
0/10

Bell home security

When I moved my business I moved my account t with it as I was quite happy with their performance. However the internet provided by Bell was not strong enough to support a camera for the service. When I tried to cancel the service they charged me for terminating my contract even though they could not provide the full service I originally purchased. The Bell technician admitted that they were unable to support the system and agreed that i should be able to cancel the contract. Customer service offered a discount of 50% but being a new business $1500 is more than i could afford for no service. I have refused to pay and they have since destroyed my credit rating.

Approximate cost of services:
$120.00
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Sanjay in Milton
Sanjay in Milton
0 reviews Milton, ON
0/10

Bell Home Security -Alarm Force

We had couple of other companies for home monitoring and they were really good never had any issues. Saw a promotion from Bell and thought cat go wrong with a big name like Bell. We had horrible experience. There are no recordings from even a day before. Limit to upload pictures or videos is almost maximised before month ends. They increased our bill due as we had to switch internet provider. They wont let us cancel the contract. Normally contracts are not more than 2 years but this one is 3-5 years. Camera quality is not that good. Because if the upload limit recordings are triggered after couple of minutes. I am really frustrated and want to walk out of this contract. Next source will be Better Business Bureau.

Approximate cost of services:
$45.00
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Oakville, ON
2/10

Ongoing Issues & Tech Support takes a Week!!!

They took over my alarm service from another provider I had for 11 years with no issue. I thought it would be good to have all services w bell. Wrong!
The system has had ongoing issues since week one. Alarms going off at midnight for no reason (happened several times) smoke alarms going off when Im not cooking and no smoke at all, the panel has gone out for the 5th time today so Im trapped at home w an armed panel that has a black screen! And now its Sunday and they cant come to fix til Friday !!!!! How am I supposed to get my kids to school in the morning??? Plus 5 night without an alarm system??? Not enough staff to support. And really they cant give me an answer on why any of it happens! I think they are in over their heads on this. I dont feel safe.

Approximate cost of services:
$1,400.00
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W00G1E2012
W00G1E2012
1 review Bracebridge, ON
0/10

Moving business

Moved business location and they are unable to provide service so charged me $ 2333.10 to end my contract early

Approximate cost of services:
$233,310.00
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Ross in Toronto
Ross in Toronto
0 reviews Kitchener, ON
0/10

Bell home alarm

Started with Alarm Force before Bell took over. Renewed contract two years ago July 2021 started to get glass break alarms the night alarm was armed at the same time. Have had tech at house several times to fix. Now we are getting fire alarm at night again same time each night. Tech came replaced/moved fire alarm. ( Fire alarm never went off for 5 years but now they say was in wrong place). Now I have to repaint hallway because of hole in wall from screws when they moved it...they moved it 3 feet from original spot. Now light in family room that are connected to alarm will not shut off and alarm panel has disconnected itself from wifi. Have called Andrew who is a supervisor but he has had other people call, he has never called himself. Cannot believe the poor service and lack of knowledge Bell has regarding home alarms. They need to stick to cell phones!

Approximate cost of services:
$30.00
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

Horrible service

Had to sign a 3 year contract to get "deal". Two years in, still have to pay over $2000 to buy out the contract. They have my card on file to make sure I don't miss a payment, they haven't been charging me for the past 4 months. Now I have my credit going down and collections calling because of this company's uselessness.

Approximate cost of services:
$6,000.00
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Ryan in Scarborough
Ryan in Scarborough
3 reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

BUYER BEWARE - EVEN IF YOU SELL YOUR HOME YOU WILL HAVE TO PAY OUT THE ENTIRE CONTRACT

Do NOT sign a contract with this company. Even if you sell your home, they will hold you liable for the ENTIRETY of the balance. Don't ask me how it's possible for them to charge you for a service you can't possibly use. What a joke.
If I could give this -10 starts I would.....

Approximate cost of services:
$559.29
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
1/10

Don't Waste Your Money On Alarmforce

I installed Alarmforce monitored security intercom, motion detectors and alarm 4 years ago, before they became Bell Smarthome, because my husband and I both travel frequently for work. The first 3 years were incident free, but then my home has been broken into 3 times in the past 6 months which proved to me that the system is essentially useless. I chose Alarmforce because of the live monitoring, where someone comes on via the intercom and speaks directly to whoever has tripped the alarm, and because of their security guard response service. BUT THEN, the alarm did not sound at all during the first break in. My family was out of town for an extended period during which intruders were apparently able to easily disable the system and help themselves to my belongings. I was alerted to the break-in by happenstance by neighbor who saw a stranger walk out of the front door. of my home. I immediately called the monitoring center to see if there had been an alarm at my house---there had not been-- and I got nothing but the run-around from a pleasant but completely unknowledgeable GenXer. I was told that I needed to call technical support about the failure of the alarm and that there was nothing that they could do. Technical support was equally unhelpful, but they did agree to come out to check the alarm in A WEEKS time!! The technical support GenXer did mention, 'Oh by the way, I do see a note in the file about some kind of issue with your alarm a month or so ago, but it was never followed up on.'---all said in the cheeriest of voices. I proceeded to call the police who arrived promptly and determined that the burglars had taken up residence in my house and had likely been there for a few weeks, i.e. from right around the time of the "unknown issue" that was never followed up on and I was never informed of. When the technician finally came out a week later, he offered no explanation as to why the alarm had failed and offered no suggestions as to how we could prevent a reoccurrence. Of course, the burglars returned within a couple of weeks to continue their pillaging. This time, the alarm did sound, and the live monitor asked the intruder in my home to identify themselves (they did not) and told them that authorities had been dispatched. Alarmforce waited 30 minutes before calling to alert me about the alarm and said that a guard had been dispatched, but hadn't arrived yet. When the Alarmforce guard finally arrived, now 45 minutes or more since the alarm, he found the front door to my house unlocked, but the second interior door was locked, so he left and said it was a false alarm. Meanwhile, the intruder had breached both doors, went inside, locked the interior door, and waited for the guard to leave. Again, they marked that as a false alarm since they found the house to be "secure" when they arrived. Since there is no direct communication between the monitoring station, the onsite security guard, there was no way to tell them that an unlocked front door does not equal a secure house and that they should have assumed that someone was inside. Fast forward to the third burglary...the security guard took more than 30 minutes to arrive, and It look 4 phone calls and nearly an hour for me to get the report from the guard via the monitoring station and that was only after escalating to a supervisor. Net, net, Alarmforce is not interested in protecting your home. The response of he monitoring station is slow and apathetic, the technical support team ignores known issues with the system, which is easily dismantled by intruders, and the guards don't arrive quickly enough to be of any use. Once they do arrive, the guards do a cursory check of the premises and then leave. They cannot enter your residence without your permission, but they don't bother to tell you that and since you can't get communications through to the guards via the monitoring station you cannot instruct them to enter or help them interpret what they find. The guards will leave all of the doors to your house open and walk away and still label it a false alarm even though an alarm and motion detectors have been triggered and all of the doors to your home were locked when you left it. AND, they will not return if the alarm sounds again within 6 hours, like for example, when they leave with the intruder still in your house and he sounds the alarm again on his way out! Don't waste your money on Alarmforce! I guess I got what I paid for with the bargain price of $25 per month.

Approximate cost of services:
$25.00
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Private User
Private User
Private User reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

God what a predatory company

$45 a month, and when your payment bounces they will recharge the account over and over and over again without contacting you. $48 per NSF from my bank later, I'm screwed. ?Nobody at the company can explain why they would charge a returned payment fee to the same account again on the same day. disgusting

Approximate cost of services:
$1,600.00
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Private User
Private User
4 reviews Toronto, ON
0/10

Alarmforce does not have a click or a clue

Ported my landline to a VOIP line and BELL decided not to tell me it will not work with my existing system. Has not been properly monitored since February and I was the one who discovered it wasn't working properly in end of May. I pay in full for the year and they offered to do an upgrade to a wireless system with a sim card not needing the landline. They sent 3 techs out in 2 weeks time. 1st tech showed up 2 hrs late out of the 4 hr window and decides to tell me he is not qualified to do the install. He sets up another appointment for another tech to come out next day. 2nd tech shows up 25 mins before 4 hr window is up and makes excuse he can't install motion sensors as he doesn't have them. Make another appointment with sales guy for next Saturday and 3rd tech shows up and brings a whole different system and wants me to pay $250 for a keypad. I have 3 existing keypads and they wanted to charge me for the 2. Since I paid in full for the year, they wouldn't credit me from the moment my landline changed but from the moment I found out and actually talked to a sales rep. Don't waste your time with Bell as they are useless and don't care about your time and sanity. Do yourself a favor and go with a reputable company like ADT or Vivent. BTW I was a loyal customer of Bell since 2005 and my wife since 1990. We decided to cancel all services from Bell and have been better off since.

Approximate cost of services:
$400.00
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