We called Alltech Installation, to purchase and install surveillance equipment for our home. When Jerry came by he told me he was in the business for 15 years and would get me state of the art equipment and install it for a price of $1400 for a 1TB DVR and 4 motion sensor night vision dome cameras. I wanted the DVR to only record when the motion sensor tripped and I wanted the cameras to be able to be viewed thru my wife's Mac, My PC and phone apps wireless, "he said no problem". I didn't know much about these things and relied on him for everything since he was the "expert". He told us he would be by in a few days and wanted 30% before he started and would send us an invoice via email. I received an unitemized invoice in for $1425. When he came by to collect the deposit he told me I would be getting a 2TB DVR, when I asked why the change from 1TB he told me it was only $20 more so why not. I dismissed this as the reason for the extra $25 then what was agreed on verbally. I asked what brand name of equipment I would be getting he told me Dahua. I looked online and saw that was a legit security system company and was satisfied. Gave him $500 and was told he would be over the following Tuesday.
Tuesday came and Jerry and his associate Bob came by to install the cameras and DVR. During installation I noticed the domed camera box was some no name brand. When I asked Jerry about this he claimed the it was Dahua "technology" that it would work just as good.
Bob did most of the work installing the cameras Jerry was in and out till most was done then he came in with the DVR which had no brand name on it. He hooked everything up and we did see the cameras working and were happy at that point. He briefly showed us how to see the recording, but there was no manual. I asked him for the manual, he told me he would email it to us. He told me what apps to use for my phone and how to view the cameras on my PC. Then he left. I then noticed only one camera was actually recording. I had to figure out how to get the other 3 cameras to record. I also had to figure out on my own how to enable and record from motion sensor.
Days passed and no email for Jerry about the manual, I called him and his reaction was "Oh, I didn't send it yet?" He finally sent the manual 12 days after installation which was not much help because I already figured out how to do most things. I had a problem with the motion sensor recording. Every time the camera turned off, the motion sensor triggered and the camera turned on. I called and emailed him about my problems as well as mentioning I never got anything to work on my wife's Mac and the web address to view on my PC stopped working. I asked if there was any firmware to upgrade the DVR. He told me he would be by the next day. He never showed up. I contacted him again, he said he would come by, by the end of the week. He never showed up. I contacted him one time he said he was sick with a cold, the next food poisoning. Jerry did showed up after like the 3rd week after I called him on Tuesday he told me he would be by, by the end of the week and came by Friday like at 4pm. He fixed my PC viewing problem, Got the cameras to be viewed on my wife's Mac but couldn't figure out the motion sensor problem and told me he would call me when he got home. Jerry never called and sometime the following week I called and asked him when he would be by and he said "today". Well again Jerry never showed.
That Saturday my DVR started beeping and I saw "UPGRADING" on the HDMI screen of my monitor. I take it the firmware needed upgrading as I suggested and asked for way in the beginning. The problem with the motion sensor triggering the cameras was fixed but now I was left to adjusting the sensitivity and threshold on the cameras which was not easy, I shouldn't have to be working this hard after paying a "professional" $1425 to purchase and install a system for me. I couldn't get the 2 front cameras to record properly on motion detection so I left them to record all the time.
Bottom line, the installation was OK, the equipment and customer service was far, far from satisfactory. 24 Hour Tech Support? I didn't even have everything I needed done month later. read more
