Important Update for Fast Protect™ and Standard Monitoring Plans

Again huh? Time to shop for another solution.  Just ordered a system from one of your competitors to test out.

@dczubacki​ not only that, the video play back could use some improvement (the buttons in the middle of the screen, no option to move back or forward other than 10sec) gliches with random notifications or none at all. Comparability with other home equipment. 

@anessac​ Which?  I was looking at Cove.

@usmaak​ Ring. I already have other camera/Nvr so don’t have to deal with replacing those. The new system will be here Saturday.

@anessac​ Which competitor? Oops, just read your reply to someone else. I have Ring cameras but not the Ring alarm system. So it looked good enough to order it and perhaps switch over?

@timmorton4​ thank you for chiming in. We sincerely value your feedback.

It sounds like you're talking about the Grace Period, which is an important feature of our Monitoring team's protocol to prevent false alarms, and in a lot of places, steep false alarm fines.

It is important to note that this Grace Period applies only to the phone call from the professional monitoring agent. We will also send you an SMS text notification immediately as soon as the alarm event is triggered. And if you respond to that text and request dispatch, that will by pass the Grace Period, prompting the monitoring agent to call your local police department right away. So potentially, we could get dispatch to your location even faster.

It amazes me that you think that if someone breaks into my house in the middle of the night, which is about the only thing that could/should set off the alarm when we’re asleep, that I’m going to have the presence of mind to log in to my phone and text with you???  If someone breaks into my house there is no “grace period”, especially if we are in the house.  It seems that the primary reason I have a security system, is to help me be secure. But again, apparently I am the one who needs to 911 rather than log in to my phone to reply YES, which, because of the noise of the alarm going off I probably won’t hear that I have a text. 

@timmorton4​ And as one who has been woken up in the middle of the night a few times because of false alarms caused by the motion sensors, I can say that my brain wasn't quite working to its full capabilities.  I couldn't even remember my PIN the last time it happened.  And nothing is quite as freak out inducing as being woken up from a sound sleep by the burglar alarm sirens.

And even if I wake up super sharp and capable, I don't keep my phone in the bedroom.  It sits downstairs on the charger at night.

@davey_d​  Does SS even care that they have a bunch of POed LOYAL customers???? Sure doesn’t sound like it. I guess we’re just supposed to accept it, bend over and say “thank you sir, can I have another?” SMH

@timmorton4​ The 30 second grace period is not that big of a deal. It still takes 7 to 24 minutes for police to arrive.  If you are worried about physical safety to your person - life and death - then buy a gun.  A security system is just to scare away bad guys and prevent them from casually emptying your house of everything you own unhindered.  Only deadly force and wrath of a firearm can preserve your heartbeat. 

@shiherlis​ EXACTLY!!! They got us and they know it. Losing a customers doesn’t bother them because there will be others that will come along and fill the holes. They did send out an email advising of the increase a month ahead of time. You know, one of those “oh gosh darn, we sure are sorry but” type emails.

@signalguys​ Another thing that is beginning to irritate me about SimpliSafe is how close to the increases they decide to notify customers. I received the email today (Thursday, August 15, 2024). The rate hike goes into effect on September 1, 2024. I know it seems I am merely nitpicking at the moment, but it also happened last year (and the year before). Others received notification far earlier than I did. I would not have known until today if I had not visited the forum. That alone does not sit well with me. I know the majority will stay; I have already begun researching new systems (and did the day of my post).

@mgraden​ "This change will help us continue to innovate and expand how we keep you and millions of others safe every day."

The way I read this, it's so that they can develop new products or services.  It doesn't sound like they are going to provide any additional services and/or equipment that we will not have to purchase separately.  So if they develop something that we want to buy, in a way we end up paying for it twice. 

I've been looking at Cove.  I'm not sure if they're any good and I'd have to replace all of my equipment but they do have a 70% off sale going on and I'd imagine that will go right through the upcoming holiday season.

I will definitely never go back to ADT.

I know that it's "just" two dollars a month and that's "only" 24 dollars a year.  But adding that on to the previous increase it's more and the company has shown that it has no problem with increasing the rates.

@usmaak​ Look at Ring alarm and cameras.

I could not agree more ... and the FAQs do not actually answer why the price increase was necessary. The corporate speak under the very question of why the increase was necessary is almost offensively unspecific. 

I’m sure it will, but hopefully this increase won’t come to the Uk. 

Currently we’re paying £27.99 for Pro Premium which works out to about $35. 

It’s getting up there now. And giving the state of the UK at the moment l sometimes have my doubts the Police would even get here if needed. 

Craig. 

I’ve been with SimpliSafe for over 10 years. Started at $24.99 a month, then to $27.99, then to $29.99 and then in a year to $31.99. You would think loyalty would get you something, NOPE, not with SimpliSafe.

@signalguys​ I left ADT for Simplisafe for exactly this reason.  ADT is a scumbag organization that kept raising rates because they knew that they could.  I went to Simplisafe because they seemed like they wouldn't be that way.  And for a while, they were.  But things have changed.

Hi @jdmelasi​,

We certainly are not trying to bury your post. If there are multiple posts regarding the same topic, we usually like to merge them all in one thread to keep everything organized in one place and easy for all of our Community members to find.

SimpliSafe has made only a few increases over the course of a decade. As we strive to always provide our customers with the best possible security and experience, we will continue to do our best to only change prices when necessary to continue investing in our products and services.

We have been a leader in disrupting and broadening access in the home security industry, introducing the DIY installation model and offering accessible professional monitoring rates. In keeping with this, we will always strive to have affordable and transparent pricing for our customers. 

But does SS bother to listen to the concerns of their customers? Especially their long-term LOYAL customers and in these difficult economic times? Seems to many of us here that SS does NOT listen nor does SS care!! SAD!!!!

@emily_s​ No reply to my comment huh?? LOL SMH

@signalguys​ If you email support they'll send a vague reply.

Not ANOTHER price increase?!?! I will confirm once the email comes, but I will look into purchasing a new system from another company. I will take the hit on the upfront equipment costs for a more stable monthly fee. I sometimes get lost in familiarity/convenience and am only made to realize other options are better when forced to switch/change. For instance, removing cable television was one of my best decisions in the past ten years. Most recently, my domain registrar has been increasing costs per domain (.COM) by $3-$4 yearly, while Verisign is increasing costs by 70 cents. These inconveniences are a wake-up call in 2024 (in many instances). It took me a year of research before settling on SimpliSafe. As a 10+ year customer, if it takes a year to find another company, at least it will be right around the time another hike takes place.

At this point, it is beyond ridiculous and appears to be greedflation. For me, it is not so much about the price as the question of when it will end. I will not support a yearly increase.

@shiherlis​ It does seem as though they are now into yearly increases. And it's obviously not for better service if they didn't tell me that the permit had expired 7 years ago!

The problem is once they hook you in it's quite difficult to change to a different security service. They know that, and so I guess that's why they do it. 

The only reason I even posted here was because I couldn't find anybody to discuss this with in support. The permit department wouldn't forward my inquiry to support and just gave me this address, so I posted here.

Sigh.

Hi @doug7dd9ad, 

I apologize to hear this regarding your permit. Permits are controlled by the municipality where you reside, so your city should have contacted you when they noticed an issue with your permit. Our permits team is also always available to help answer any questions you may have at permits@simplisafe.com. I've already escalated your case to them, and a member of the team will be in touch to help discuss this further.

We do our best to keep our prices stable and only make modest changes when truly necessary to continue investing to provide you with the best possible experience and security. Keeping our customers safe and making that safety as accessible as possible is our priority. For more info on how this may impact you, visit the Help Center.

@emily_s​ Thanks for your reply. But please note that the price has increased by about 50% - with increases each year for the last 3 years. So it's sort of surprising.

I've been in touch with the permits team. And we sorted it out. But my permit was apparently down for 7 years without anyone at SimpliSafe letting me know! Don't your different teams talk with each other? They told me they couldn't communicate with support, which is why I ended up posting here. The alarm system itself doesn't indicate whether the permit is active or not anywhere?

Thank you.

@doug7dd9ad A stupid question here: during the years that your permit expired, was SS still providing monitoring services and, if there was an alarm, dispatch the police? If the answer is no, then I would request (and then demand) a refund. Also, did you have to pay your local government authority a fine for the lapsed permit?

Netflix of alarm systems. 🤣

@usmaak​ 100% true!!!!! And, just like Netflix, they don’t care what we say and/or if/when we leave.