Anyone else had their home burglarized?

[keving]

Alarm is getting installed and I ordered something to prevent doors from being kicked in. All my doors are getting this. It's basically a 5 foot long metal device that attaches to the door jamb with 3 inch long screws to go into the studs in the wall and reinforces the strikeplate area. My friend told me about it whose house was broken into 3 months ago. Door casings, door security, door frame repair, home security, home security doors, fix a kicked in door.

Also, I saw some videos on YouTube and the device is pretty impressive. It shows people kicking in doors in 1 or 2 tries and then with the Strikemaster and 5 minutes later of kicking the people give up.

[Karried]

I'm wanting to upgrade my Alarm system after reading all of this..

What are the best ones.. I have ADT, not impressed. What about some of the alarms that you can install (or have installed yourself) has anyone had any experience with this? http://www.homesecuritystore.com/hom...monitoring.htm or http://www.nextag.com/wireless-home-...em/search-html

I pay close to $30 a month ( and have for about 6 years ) for not a lot.

That looks pretty cool.. the StrikeMaster.....

You want want to check Craig's List as well as Local Ebay sellers for your stuff ... set up a daily auto search on Ebay and check Tulsa/OKC daily.... they have to sell it eventually and maybe they'll be stupid enough to do Ebay or Craig's List.

[BailJumper]

I have ADT, not impressed. What about some of the alarms that you can install

What are your expectations? All ADT or anyone is going to offer is sensors and monitoring. I've had ADT for a long time and am fine with them. Every time the alarm has gone off I get a call right away. My problem is with police. I always get back to the house way before the police arrive or have even been dispatched.

Personally, if my valuables are stolen I wouldn't go looking for them too hard. I'd rather have the insurance check.

[keving]

Guardian gave me a much much cheaper price than ADT and with the same level of monitoring. If you need a name/number, please PM me.

[Karried]

I've been looking into Guardian.. are you going to install it yourself? That's my issue... I like them but I want a professional installation.

ADT is probably fine.. it's just the components are older - about 10 years old ( house had it when we bought it ) and it's outdated. It also needs to be repaired pretty frequently.. the last guy that came out quoted me nearly $600 to replace the system and add a few smoke detectors (I want the heat/fire alarms that alert the fire department).

Honestly, when it comes to safety for my family, I'm not so much concerned with the price but after six years of paying close to $30 a month.... I wish I had an easier, more user friendly system with better maintenance/repair plans.

[BailJumper]

ADT installed a basic system (fire, 2 exterior doors, 3 windows and two motion) for free with a signed monitoring contract when we got it years ago. We added another exterior door, more windows, a wireless panic alarm, etc. for only $200 more.

$30/month to me is pretty reasonable. However, I have considered canceling monitoring simply because police response times are so pathetic. The alarm sound alone will run off virtually any burglar.

[keving]

I've been looking into Guardian.. are you going to install it yourself? That's my issue... I like them but I want a professional installation.

I got 6 doors (2 with wireless), 2 motion, 1 Heat/Smoke, 1 glass break sensor and 3 remotes installed for $300. A lot of people in my neighborhood have recently had Guardian systems installed and they are very pleased.

EDIT: Forgot to mention cellular backup.

[Curt]

Can't we just go back to cutting off hands. You can only steal twice. I wouldn't mind if the perp didn't even serve jail time. As an added bonus, the criminal would have to wear the hand on a chain around his neck for a few weeks (say one week for every $1,000 of theft).

I knew I liked your way of thinking for some reason. I really think we need public hangings too.

[PennyQuilts]

Back in more barbaric times, people had hands lopped off, even if they stole food to feed their children. I hate to think of that happening, these days, but I also get ticked off that some low life breaks into homes and violates the sanctity of the homes just to steal stuff they don't need - stuff they just want. I wonder how they would feel if they worked hard to buy their child something and someone stole it. If more people across the board was passionate about just how dispicable stealing is, I think people would be less likely to act like that.

[Karried]

Kevin, will you PM the number... I couldn't find any info on installation on their site. Thanks!

[mcgrawsdad]

This goes back to my complaint that pawn shops are basically fencing operations carrying a few legit goods for cover. I think burglaries would go down dramatically if pawn shops were illegal.

Agreed!

[rbayless]

If you are still looking for an alarm system provider, I recommend PSI. I had ADT and was paying $36/mo for monitoring (windows/doors/motion/heat/smoke). PSI is $10/mo cheaper and uses the same equipment. All they have to do is come out and change the board in your alarm panel which they do for free. On top of that, the first three months are free. However, best of all, if your alarm goes off, they call the monitoring station the first second until waiting 30+ seconds like ADT does.

My .02..