Vivint, the living, breathing door to door sales machine of the alarm industry, is arguably the most interesting thing to happen to security alarms in the past few years. They are having amazing success selling home security alarms and automation systems by sending massive teams of college kids door to door during their summer breaks.

What are the pros and cons of buying from these kids?

Pros

• They have a great product! They use the exact same 2GIG equipment we use at suretyCAM, although they print their company name on it and they charge more for it.
• They clearly get it. They know where the security and automation industry is going and they are moving in the right direction, the same direction we’re moving at suretyCAM.
• They’re outperforming the 800 pound gorilla. They’re reaching potential customers at the front door and selling them a system before they have time to call ADT.

Cons

• They sell aggressively and push you to make a hasty decision about home security, often taking advantage of vulnerable decision makers. Would you like it if a smooth-talking young sales shark convinced your grandparents to make a rash decision and sign a three and a half year contract?
• They drastically over-inflate the actual cost of the equipment they’re selling you so you think you’re getting a better deal than you actually are. I’ve seen their quotes and we sell the exact same 2GIG equipment for nearly half of what Vivint tells you it’s worth. We’ll sell it to you for a reasonable price every time without gimmicks or sales tricks because we want your long-term business and your respect.
• Their office isn’t local! Their sales teams and installers aren’t local! They literally ship these kids to your city during the summer months from Utah to sell as many systems as possible and then they pack up and leave a minimal service team behind to help you if you have trouble once school starts. At suretyCAM we sell to and service Columbus, OH. Our office is in Columbus, OH. When you need help we’re right here in Columbus, OH.

Should you buy a system from Vivint? Maybe, maybe not. That’s entirely up to you. They’re a good company and I like what they’re doing but you can get literally the exact same thing from your favorite local security company, suretyCAM, at a significantly lower price. You also get far better security from suretyCAM when you factor in our D Fence program, our door and window reinforcement packages and our superior security camera systems. Don’t hastily buy your security system from a pushy sales kid who just showed up at your door, tell him to come back later and call suretyCAM at (855) 787-3891 to find out what your options are. Then make an informed decision.

Update: The response to this post has been incredible! Thank you for all your support! Funny story… I just got a call from Hunter at Vivint Security posing as an interested customer and gathering information about our prices. He said his name was Glenn Burnie and he had just stumbled upon this article using Google. He even called from a Utah area code and he gave me a fake address with a zip code that’s not in Columbus Ohio! Newsflash Hunter… every zip code in Ohio starts with a 4. I guess when Vivint says “simply smarter” and “live intelligent” it doesn’t apply to their employees! (kidding) Thanks Hunter, it feels good to know we’ve made it onto Vivint’s radar, I view that as an accomplishment. No hard feelings, I like you guys and what you’re doing, I even envy the effectiveness of your door to door sales team, it’s just that we do security better. I wasn’t going to do this but after Hunter’s call I’m going to write a little about pricing.

We’ve talked to quite a few people who have invited Vivint sales kids into their homes and received quotes. Here is the skinny… They tell you the equipment you’re getting is worth a lot more than it actually is. On average they told these people the equipment they would be getting costs a little over $1,500 but Vivint will give it to them for free if they just sign a 46 month contract at $79/month. (Reminds me of ADT’s free $850 system that isn’t) Then they let the you talk them down to $69/month so you think you’re getting a bargain. Over 46 months that $69/month amounts to $3,174. How are we different? We ask you to actually pay for the equipment but we sell it at a great price, we don’t inflate it. Then we give you a reasonable monthly fee of $30.95/month. Over a 46 month contract you will usually save over $1,000 by getting your 2GIG Alarm.com system from suretyCAM instead of Vivint. Never mind that we don’t require a 3.5 year contract like Vivint does and that with suretyCAM you get to buy your system from security experts with experience, not college kids on their summer break who just took a crash course in security last month and started knocking on doors. There’s no denying you get better security and better value by choosing suretyCAM instead of Vivint. All we ask is that you talk to us and decide for yourself before signing that 46 month contract with the smooth talker in the orange shirt at your doorstep. We’ll make it worth your while.

Update: As pointed out by a Vivint employee in the comments, Vivint now offers a $49.99/month 42 month security-only package which is comparable to suretyCAM’s $45.95/month 36 month interactive security package. So with suretyCAM, you now only save $4.04 per month and 6 contract months while getting superior service with the exact same features from a local, Columbus Ohio company.