Prosecom

[shanagarry]

Is there any credible competition for Prosecom?

My annual contract is due for renewal and I am being asked to pay €460 - I don't have a problem with the payment - what I do have a problem with is their 'manufactured' call-outs - which a number of us got quite a lot of during the past winter.

We argued the 'toss' and won - but my faith in them and their integrity is somewhat tarnished now.

Any suggestions?

[Gazza]

Topical for me as we are thinking of installing a system having experienced a break in last week - have to say the GNR very prompt on the scene. Securitas has been recommended to me. Are you charged per call out by Prosecom and is that linked direct to the GNR or their own service?

Tks

G

[shanagarry]

Hi Gazza

Sorry to hear of your misfortune and I hope not too much was taken or damaged.

At present the facility we have is linked to Prosecom central monitoring station - wherever that may be. As we are not resident (but we do come out frequently) we are dependent on Prosecom attending any alarms. I noticed a number of pieces of paper during recent visits on their headed paper - with handwritten comments. My most recent monthly bill from the management company included costs for call outs - when there was nobody at our property. We do not rent but on occasions when friends or family have activated the alarm - they have attended promptly. In the 8 years at our current address we have never had an incident - so seeing these charges I was concerned.

I mentioned it to a friend with a property in the Sesmarias area and he has also had charges - but like us, never any sign of an intruder. We challenged the charges and after weeks of arguing and asking for proof - they decided to drop the charges. When a security company has an issue with spurious charges - I am concerned.

We are back in a couple of weeks and I will do the rounds of all the usual 'suspects'.

As a matter of interest I would be keen to know what type of security you have at present (pm me). The reason for my question is based on a recommendation from our architect to have boundary fencing and CCTV instead of shutters. We are about to start a building project and I am adamant that shutters are the best solution. In the 15 years we have owned property in Carvoeiro we have always had shutters and have never had an incident - I think they are a first class deterrent. I would really appreciate views and opinions on this important subject.

[shanagarry]

Gazza - I omitted to mention we pay an annual fee (€460) and also have a call-out charge (€40)

[Sparks]

Don't know this company but was in the alarm industry for 22 years, any alarm can suffer from false alarms even with no one in the property.

Infra red movement detectors the commonest type fitted are never 100% reliable and can on occasion give spurious false alarms, this is why they are always powerd on even if the alarm is not set you will notice the LED flick on as you walk past, this is so that hopefully they will give a false reading when the system is not set rather than when it is. They will react to sudden changes in temperature/humidity/drafts as they measure the background infra red/temperature of the room. Drafts, heating coming on sunlight can all trigger these detectors.

So activations when un occupied are not unusal, so call outs would be quite possible, I doubt they were trying to rip you off.

Hope that helps.

[widge]

I have used Prosecom for 5 years and never received a call out charge to my knowledge! It could be that my managing agent argues the case on my behalf but I'm not aware of any charges. The system works well and as soon as the alarm accidentally goes off the phone rings and you have to answer a couple of security questions.

I once had to pay for a new battery but other than that I pay the same annual charge as you and think it's good value!

[Algarve Eagle]

Like Widge, I am surprised at the call-out charges. We too pay the annual charge of 460 euros and are connected to Prosecom's central monitoring station. Our villa is more unoccupied than not, and when arriving for a visit, we frequently find notification papers from Prosecom relating to false alarm call-outs, often resulting from power cuts. We have never been billed for any extra charges relating to call-outs. Also. we do not have a managing agent so nobody is arguing on our behalf.

I believe that Prosecom have merged or been acquired by another company in recent months - maybe that other company has contracts with call-out charges and there has been some internal confusion due to merging of systems?

[shanagarry]

I am going to see them in the next couple of weeks as I do not want to have to go the expense of changing the system if I can resolve their billing matter(s). I will post the result.

[sam]

Prosecom did change hands a while ago.