Cam I Am

Anyone who is looking specifically for complaints about Alarmforce will find a number of posts here about my disdain for them..

It’s been no secret for over a year that I am very dissatisfied with their service–both the system and customer service..

So, I finally called them today to cancel my service.  Our contract is up on June 1st of this year, but I wanted to give them plenty of lead time.  After waiting on hold for about 10 minutes, I got to tell them that I was canceling.  They asked the usual questions like why was I cancelling and “is there anything we can do to change your mind?”  After several  minutes, they said that I would have to either fax, mail or e-mail my cancellation request.  I got the information from them that I would need to include and hung up.  I then e-mailed them, as requested..

A couple days later, I get a call from them and get the same barrage of questions from them…  This time I was quite blunt and said that I didn’t want to have anything to do with their service and I want it out of my house.. 

A understand the “customer retention” department concept, but all that last phone call did was piss me off more..   I was clear in my initial conversation with them and the e-mail.  The final call was unnecessary, in my opinion..

So..  the point of this point is this..  if you have Alarmforce and want to cancel, keep the following in mind:

• They require about 60 days notice.  Don’t wait until the last day of your contract.
• They will ask you to send back ALL of the equipment that is part of the system.  I challenged them on this and asked why I needed to give back equipment that I paid for.  They quickly amended their statement to say the parts that were part of the original installation — not the extra sensors that I paid for.
• Be prepared to ship the unit to them.  They’ll provide the Purolator info, but they won’t come pick up the units themselves..

Hopefully, this helps someone.. 

Our vacation to San Francisco was amazing!  Six days of being away with my wife… and no kids!

After checking into our hotel, we walked up to Fisherman’s Wharf, ate at Boudin’s Sourdough Bread shop (clam chowder in a sourdough bowl), and then looked around the wharf.  We checked out a lot of tourist shops, the sea lions, and took in the good weather.  Then it was off to a double decker bus tour..

I could go on and on about the trip, but I’ll just keep it to the highlights..

• We went to Alcatraz and took the garden tour, which takes you to some closed parts of the island and did the cell block tour as well.  It was an amazing experience..
• Napa Valley Wine Tour – There was nothing like taking a bus tour to three different wineries, trying and buying wine.  Lunch in Sonoma, California was at this mexican restaurant..  The bext mexican food that we’ve ever had!
• Lombard Street, Alamo Square with the Painted Ladies, and Coit Tower – all must-see sites!
• The Golden Gate Bridge – we walked part-way across, then turned back!  Amazing views!
• Shopping in Union square!
• The Cable Cars – we didn’t get on one until the fourth day that we were there, but then after finding that they go near pretty much everything that we wanted to see, we used them a lot after that!
• Visit with friends – we know a couple that live in San Jose.  They came out for an evening of dinner and drinks!  It was great to see you David and Kim!
• Cable Car Museum – even though it takes 10 minutes to see the whole thing (five of which is spent staring at the cable wheels going around and around, it was interesting nonetheless!
• Restuarants – We went to Sam’s Seafood & Grill (don’t recommend it!), Bubba Gump’s, the Fog City Diner, Mel’s Diner…  the list goes on and on!  Most mornings, we went across the street to the Starbucks for a coffee and a muffin..  By the sixth day, they pretty much knew what we were going to order!
• Hyde Street Pier – We walked up and down it..  Not much to say about it, but it was nice..  We could have paid to take a tour of a couple ships there, but it was our last day..

A couple things did put us off on our trip.  Within 3 hours of being there, we were lost and someone at a kiosk offered to help… but not before spending 15 minutes trying to convince us to do a 2 hour presentation about timeshares..  We declined! 

Also, while people weren’t rude there, they weren’t overly friendly…

All in all, it was a great trip..

Next stop…  Las Vegas in the fall!   

After a long battle with WorkSafeBC/WCB, I have finally had my claim closed and received my lump sum payment for the payments I should have been receiving while I was off work..

So..  it’s time for a vacation! 

Tomorrow, my wife and I leave for a 6-day trip to San Francisco.  We booked our flight and hotel about a month ago, and have been working out our trip details..  And one of the great parts is that we are going to be leaving the kids with my mother-in-law! 

We’ll be checking out Alcatraz, Coit Tower, Lambard St, and Fisherman’s Wharf!  We booked a wine tour in the Napa Valley and even will be visiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose.

The last 3+ years have been hard for my wife and I..  So, we feel it’s well deserved! 

See you later!