# Phonewatch changes its billing procedure



## Brendan Burgess (7 May 2019)

In the past Phonewatch used to issue a very big bill.  If the customer phoned, they would get a reduction.

Last year, it was €427 and when I called, they reduced it to €320. 

This year, they issued me a bill for €339 , up 6% on the reduced price, so I don't have to go through all the hassle of asking them to cut the bill. 

And they have made a mess of their billing system. They sent me an invoice claiming it was due on 26th April even though my contract does not expire until 26 May.

They did not include the period of the contract on the invoice. 

Brendan


----------



## newtothis (7 May 2019)

You may want to shop around. We used to be with Phonewatch, but they kept increasing prices, although they did use to reduce it if you rang up (not the last time, though). We switched to a company called Action 24, who were cheaper and better to deal with: I'd used them for a commercial property and had been very happy with them (I've no connection to them).

As far as I know, Phonewatch are the most expensive in the market, relying on brand awareness and the connection to Eircom (now gone).


----------



## twofor1 (7 May 2019)

newtothis said:


> You may want to shop around. We used to be with Phonewatch, but they kept increasing prices, We switched to a company called Action 24, who were cheaper and better to deal with.


One of my elderly relations whose affairs I look after has a Phonewatch Alarm for a few years and pays a €45.98 monthly monitoring charge by direct debit, so €552 a year, which as you say is probably the most expensive around.

I always thought that an alarm system installed by Phonewatch could only be monitored by Phonewatch, so their charge was not negotiable. Great if I am wrong.

Did you have to pay for a new Action 24 alarm system to be installed ?

Can an existing Phonewatch alarm system be monitored by another less expensive provider ?

Thanks.


----------



## RedOnion (7 May 2019)

Depending on the actual panel you have, it might be possible to keep the panel and switch monitoring company.
Even if they cannot take it over, the other companies offer great prices to change the panel, if your system is compatible.

HomeSecure is a company I had got a quote from before. On their website they've a listing of some of the Phone Watch panels and if they can take over.
https://www.homesecure.ie/switch-my-monitoring/

Other companies will do similar.


----------



## Leo (8 May 2019)

twofor1 said:


> Can an existing Phonewatch alarm system be monitored by another less expensive provider ?



As above, most of the older PhoneWatch panels can be monitored by any of the other providers who will provide exactly the same level of service for less.

Since PhoneWatch were bought out by Sector Alarm, they have switched to only using their equipment. No one was buying Sector kit, so this is a means for them to continue selling equipment that wasn't able to compete with the market leaders

So if you have the older PhoneWatch kit, get another company to monitor it. If you have the newer stuff, it's likely that you do not have the protection you think you might have, and are likely better off looking for alternatives. 

When I say you likely don't have the protection you need, I've seen a few PhoneWatch installs. In one case I was successful in getting them to admit they had completely miss-sold the system and got them to uninstall and issue a refund. The installs I have seen do not offer much in the way of perimeter protection, and will in many cases only trigger an alarm once a burglar is already inside.


----------



## Shadowofthewind (31 Oct 2019)

One year ago I signed up to a contract with phonewatch that was 3 year term as part of upgrading to their new system - how stupid of me! The new system is unreliable at best especially when trying to use their mobile phone app. I complained about the poorly functioning system and an engineer came out to state it was working as expected. Since that visit I was reluctant to use the alarm as I wasn't sure if it was being enabled and disabled properly and often received calls from PhoneWatch indicating alarm was going off while we were relaxing at home. In recent months I fell out of the direct debit setup to manual monthly billing. I initially forgot to pay a bill and came to conclusion why am I actually paying for the service if I'm unhappy with it. PhoneWatch track my home activity and I'm sure are aware I have not been using the alarm which makes me wonder why they've never picked up phone to call me to understand why. Anyway, 3 months in and unpaid billing and I've received letter from a debt collector on behalf of PhoneWatch looking for funds equal to outstanding billing plus remaining contract term billing amounting to 900+ euro. I am looking for best advice on how to minimize the financial impact of this and also move away from PhoneWatch. 

One mute point at this stage - It seems wholly unfair that any utility should be allowed to have a clause in a contract with a hold on a consumers money where service will not be provided in my view and that is where governance of utility and consumer contracts is required in my opinion. 

Thanks, 
Ger.


----------



## Leo (31 Oct 2019)

Shadowofthewind said:


> One mute point at this stage - It seems wholly unfair that any utility should be allowed to have a clause in a contract with a hold on a consumers money where service will not be provided in my view and that is where governance of utility and consumer contracts is required in my opinion.



In fairness, you need to read the terms & conditions of a contract before signing it, that is the time to raise objections to any terms you don't agree with. If you have an issue with the service, you need to complain, just stopping paying when in contract is never a good idea.

I'm no fan of PhoneWatch, they supply some of the worst equipment on the market, they imply comprehensive coverage while their default system offers very limited protection, they are more expensive than pretty much all other providers and their installers aren't even qualified to wire the system up properly.


----------



## Shadowofthewind (31 Oct 2019)

Leo said:


> In fairness, you need to read the terms & conditions of a contract before signing it, that is the time to raise objections to any terms you don't agree with. If you have an issue with the service, you need to complain, just stopping paying when in contract is never a good idea.
> 
> I'm no fan of PhoneWatch, they supply some of the worst equipment on the market, they imply comprehensive coverage while their default system offers very limited protection, they are more expensive than pretty much all other providers and their installers aren't even qualified to wire the system up properly.




I probably should clarify. Terms and conditions were read and I am long term PhoneWatch customer who assumed the new system would perform similar to their old system.


----------



## Leo (31 Oct 2019)

Shadowofthewind said:


> I probably should clarify. Terms and conditions were read and I am long term PhoneWatch customer who assumed the new system would perform similar to their old system.



And when it was clear that it didn't, you should have submitted a complaint and pointed out they were failing to meet the terms of the contract. You should still do this now, and submit it all in writing and in detail. PhoneWatch have been known to back down if you put enough pressure on them and provide evidence their system is failing to perform.


----------



## Brendan Burgess (1 Jun 2020)

Brendan Burgess said:


> And they have made a mess of their billing system. They sent me an invoice claiming it was due on 26th April even though my contract does not expire until 26 May.



I have just noticed that they have done this again this year.

Their invoice had no explanation of how to pay it.  You can't pay online.  You can't do a bank transfer because they don't provide  bank details.

They rang me and gave me some rubbish about they can't renew it without talking to me so that they can check that the system is working.   That sort of rubbish really annoys me.   Presumably the system sends them a message if there is a fault?  It has nothing to do with renewal.

Leo, do you still recommend Cuala Security for maintenance and monitoring? 

Brendan


----------

