Tired of the "home security" ads!

It's proper marketing. They're selling a service. It would devalue their service if they demonstrated that one could easily and cheaply defend themselves and call the cops after the fact.

It's a business like any other. Gotta display your product/service in the best possible light. If you're selling Silverados and F-150s, you don't exactly want to advertise the gas mileage, eh?


-T.

Another thing I've noticed is the burglar is NEVER a minority. Always whitey.

my least favorite is the commercial for ADT where (plump and tan) sheriff John Bunnell tells us at home,

"no matter what you do to prevent a break in, its still not enough!"

The Brinks guy always says, "Are you O.K.?"

and the homeowners replies, "I think so."

I'd say, "JESUS CHRIST! NO I'M NOT O.K.!"

Gun or not, someone kicking through your front door while you're asleep is bound to get the blood flowing.

Always a favorite, basically what you're talking about

Gun store commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLxWXJkq1c

I spent a couple of the most miserable months of my life working as a residential salesperson for Brinks. They coach their salespeople to down play the usefulness of firearms for self defense in case of a home invasion and no matter what they say they use fear to pressure people into buying. And just try canceling their contract! I had to write the Oregon Attorney General's Department of Consumer Fraud to get them to cancel my service.

My apologies to any members who might be happily employed by Brinks.

Jeff, I agree with your statement. It just galled me that they actively encouraged you to dissuade people from thinking firearms might be useful as an additional precaution. From a marketing standpoint, I can understand why they did it. I just wouldn't play along.

Bashing off.

Comedian a while back did a bit where he was simulating his new home security system and how he'd still had his house broken into THREE times while he was HOME!

"Ya know" he said "I finally realized that the sign in the front yard really says -hey, I've got enough money to waste it on an alarm system". Then laughing he also says "Oh and that Weee-oooo, Weee-ooo sound that the alarm makes, that's just the system telling me I've been reamed AGAIN and it's time to go hide in the closet"!

If someone has the money to take it to that level, then I am fine with alarm systems. But I think most people would be better suited with a .45 and a dog, and that the security system should only supplement a personal firearm. If something does happen and you end up in court, being able to demonstrate that the intruder was willing to ignore an alarm before entering the premise is more likely to justify lethal force. So I think alarm systems have a place. They just aren't the end-all-be-all last word in personal security that the ads claim, and I would much rather see them depicting the women with a handgun in one hand and a phone in the other while the guy covers the top of the staircase with a shotgun or carbine.

So yes, the ads are annoying, but I am not totally against alarm systems--just those who are quixotic and naive enough to believe they offer real protection against an armed intruder or represent a viable alternative to being armed in those rare cases where the intruder is looking for trouble.

There are a couple good gun-related ones on the outdoor channel during the shooting shows. They probably aren't PC-enough to be shown on the major networks though. The Brinks/ADT ads of course always show the best case scenario. They don't show the ones where nobody answers, or all they hear on the other end is a gurgling sound.

Home security systems... ugh!

I suppose they might be of some marginal use if you're not home, or maybe if you are and are a heavy sleeper. But after having been dispatched all over the county every time a storm blew in, for false alarms, I just don't have much use for 'em.

It got to the point where we got so many false alarms during bad weather, that the Sheriff finally told dispatch not to send anybody on an alarm call during a storm.

And then there's the... unintelligent... folks that turn on the alarm as they go out the door, but leave their pets to run loose.

Yes, people, Fido will set off the motion detectors. And there's no such thing as a "pet lane" with a cat!

And then there's the call we got at Randy Travis' house. ( Yes, the C&W musician. )

The grounds keeper didn't want to let us in.
"Fine. If there's anybody in there, YOU can go ferret him out. Just don't blame us if you get shot or injured. We're not responsible if you deny us entry, and you can take it up with your boss."

He re-thought his position and sent us in.

Oh, and the officer I was with warned me not to shoot the paper mache manequin...

Seems he had been in there once before and noted a memento from one of Travis' music videos; a life size figure sitting in a folding law chair, holding a fly swatter.

( It seems that in that earlier encounter, the officer figuring out that it was a dummy was done over the sights of his gun. )

And sure enough, even knowing to expect it, it made me jump when I came around the corner and shined a light on it.



J.C.

The Brinks guy always says, "Are you O.K.?"

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Armed homeowner's response: No, I'm shaking, I feel like I have to throw up, and I just peed myself. Can you send an ambulance right away?

While Brinks sends EMS, homeowner calls lawyer.

If someone has the money to take it to that level, then I am fine with alarm systems. But I think most people would be better suited with a .45 and a dog, and that the security system should only supplement a personal firearm.

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But while the dog may have some usefulness, that .45 is useless when the person isn't home. I travel a lot and have a security system. I got it for the times I'm not there. If I don't answer my home phone if the alarm goes off, they will call my cell. If I don't answer that, then it's the cops. Whether they respond in time (or at all) is an unknown because I've never had that situation.

I do know that up to the cell phone point, it works. I have a door with a vibration and an open/close sensor on it. I wasn't home and I got a call on my cell. They can tell exactly what sensor(s) were tripped. Turns out it was the vibration one only. Had someone actually broken in through that door, the open/close sensor would have also been tripped and also any of the several motion sensors. I declined them calling the cops and had them turn the siren off as I figured it was our psycho cats chasing each other and slammed into that door. Best guess because it happened once before when we were home. I suppose someone could have beaten on the door and, if so, the alarm worked because they didn't progress any further trying to get into the house.

An alarm company asked me if I had an existing security system and I told them I did. When they asked who it was with I told them

"Kimber"

Yes, people, Fido will set off the motion detectors. And there's no such thing as a "pet lane" with a cat!

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Uh, sorry Jamie... You can have pets with motion sensors perfectly fine. At least with ADT. They can be set for different weight levels. Mine were set to 40 pounds so even if all three of our cats gang up at once, they're still well below 40 pounds. Like I said before, the ONLY thing they might have ever tripped when we weren't home is that door vibration sensor. So, unless I get robbed by a really light midget or something, I think I'll be okay.

Oh, and Kimber, Glock, Kahr, Walther and whatever else I have are standing by if we're home as well. Then there's the long guns.

An alarm system is simply one layer in your home defense system. Its not a magic talisman (to steal a well coined phrase from Mr. White) that prevents criminals from engaging in their trade against your home.

One would hope that secure doors and windows, alarms, dogs, motion actuated lights, etc., would deter a criminal enough that one would not need to fatally deter said criminal with another layer of one's home defense.

IMO, common residential alarm systems are pretty low on my list of effective deterrents. Just too easy to defeat since a common criminal tactic these days is to cut the phone lines first.

home security

My house came with an alarm system. I never paid the monthly fees for them to call me when it goes off. Our county police are starting to charge folks for calls after a couple of false alarms.

I had to disarm the motion detectors, cats and dogs were setting it off. Having the sticker on the front door may slow down some kids but won't stop a pro.

But having the alarm go off if someone comes through a window seems OK to me. Gives me and the dogs a wake up call. To me it adds a layer for home defense. The monitoring service seems like a waste of money to me.

IMO, common residential alarm systems are pretty low on my list of effective deterrents. Just too easy to defeat since a common criminal tactic these days is to cut the phone lines first.

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Nope, some of you people need to get up to speed with modern alarm systems. First the mis-info with pets and motion sensors and now this?

Systems these days have the ability to run completely independent from anything outside. If my phone lines (underground BTW) do get cut then it will revert to the back up mode and dial wirelessly. Cut the power? Back-up battery that lasts up to a week.

The monitoring service seems like a waste of money to me.

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Until you need it when you're not home. Not expensive at all, either. $24.95/month with my USAA discount = less than a dollar a day. One thing you're over looking is HOMEOWNER'S INSURANCE. The discount I get more than covers the monitoring service and in less than one year, I recovered the entire cost of the equipment and installation fees.

Stephpd, you should call ADT and ask what type of motion sensors they use. My cats have never set any one of them off. As I mentioned above, they can be set for a certain weight threshold. Don't know how that works, but it does. Even my very petite wife crawling on her hands and knees sets them off when I tested them, but not the cats. I don't know your situation, but I guess someone with a 100+ pound dog might have some problems as that's approaching "people range".

highorder said:

my least favorite is the commercial for ADT where (plump and tan) sheriff John Bunnell tells us at home,

"no matter what you do to prevent a break in, its still not enough!"

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Pfff. If I toss a couple grenades at the front door, I think that'd be enough. Or how about an RPG as the bad guy has one foot through the window?

How funny would that be? Cops show up and the side of your house it missing with pieces of bad guy among the debris. Heh.


-T.

What the hell was that, Justin?

Pfff. If I toss a couple grenades at the front door, I think that'd be enough. Or how about an RPG as the bad guy has one foot through the window?

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How about a NEF HandiRifle chambered in .300 WinMag, trauma plates duct taped to your back, and boots that you can climb walls with too?

Top that off with a eletric transportation cart too, and you'll be set!

Justin 561..... you seem to have said a whole lot of nothing.



J.C.