When a company tells you it will take 24 hrs to get back to you regarding your inquiry on…read moreestablishing a new service, that is an indicator you are already not a priority. Thanks, NorthStar, for making my decision that much easier to go with your competitor. UPDATE: So, does that mean you didn't bother reading my response to you (see screen shot of image I just uploaded from my reply immediately back to you). Again, you have proved my point. Maybe your reps are tied up bc they're in the phone trying to respond to all the negative customer service reviews, like mine. It took you *2 weeks* to respond and accuse me of "not responding" to you when I did so within hours. Nice. Second Update: I see Martha has retracted her comment to me on my review (hence what my first Update spoke to....now it doesn't make sense, but you get the picture of what happened). More proof this company doesn't "have it together." I strongly encourage those looking for a security system to look elsewhere, or at least do your research before committing to North Star. This company has given me the run-around and I'm not even a customer! There are many other companies that value your time and business more than North Star. I am a perfect example.

I'm writing this on a day that my neighborhood just went nuts because we had some door-to-door…read moresupposed alarm company sales people going around. I called NorthStar, my security company, to see if they'd ever heard of these guys and they told me that "reputable firms don't go door to door." That reminded me that I was overdue for writing them a review. My husband and I (well, my husband mostly), interviewed four or five firms before selecting this one. Their installers are also their sales guys. In other words, these are people who know their stuff. Nobody tried to sell us something we didn't need. The guy who came out - and followed us through some installation difficulties (way our house was built, not NorthStar's fault) - his name is Gary. He is friendly and SUPER knowledgeable. He explained things and then explained them again and gave my engineer-husband all the detail he wanted. But when I had a question and DIDN'T want the detail - he boiled it down for me. Their pricing was similar to other firms we talked with. Pay for the equipment and have lower monthly monitoring, or do a 3-yr contract with higher monthly monitoring and lower/no equipment costs. They give you several options to work with your budget. Bottom line is, they weren't significantly higher or lower than anybody else. We had our first "false alarm" the other day. Our nanny accidentally set off the alarm and while she was punching the code in downstairs, my husband was also punching it in on the keypad upstairs, which cancelled the whole thing. Kinda funny actually. The monitoring service called us WITHIN TWO MINUTES. I was glad to know they were on the ball just in case we need them for real some day. In the end, we went with this firm because they were the most knowledgeable, didn't have pushy sales people, so we felt confident we were getting the info we needed to make a good decision. Turned out to be a very good decision!

We have had Relyco Security for years thru EMC, but it recently changed to EMC Security. We had to…read morehave some window sensors replaced and since it switched over, they did a thorough inspection of ever sensor, fire alarm and motion in the house. Craig did such a great job. He explained things and called before he came and was here on time. I was also impressed with Wade in the billing department. Super nice and helpful! A great company to deal with!!!

The pricing is okay. I used this provider for around 11 years. My issue with them is that they…read morerefused to sell me a replacement wall mount after I had cancelled my monitoring. Really disappointing behavior.

I don't often hawk local service providers, but felt compelled to with SPS - these guys/gals are…read moresimply awesome. After a near-miss with some lightning, which completely knocked out my First Alert system, I found out how Ackerman makes all their money - the estimate was over $650 to replace the board and that didn't include any additional bits that might need replacing (had to replace two door sensors too). I ended up buying my own Ademco kit and hiring SPS for both the install and monitoring. This time I went with a wireless unit for phone (the lightning came in via the phone line - it actually hit the service pole). A call brought Bo Beaven from SPS out to look things over and give me an estimate - their hourly rate was HALF what Ackerman charges - and since I got my own equipment when John the installer came out it was a breeze, and half again the estimated time I got from Ackerman. The entire experience was fantastic. I also ended up using them for the monitoring - which came out about the same as what Ackerman was charging me, even with the added expense for the cell service on the wireless phone. Recently I was throwing a code and was able to get a human on the phone with the first call, and get a live technician with instructions to clear the code over the phone. To top it off they're coming by next week to take another look to make sure that there isn't an issue with the wireless - that's what I call CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Got the doorbell camera so I can check who's at the door on my phone before opening. Installers…read morewere on time, cleaned up afterwards, the cost matched the estimate quoted, so good experience overall.

We have had the door to our deck extremely difficult to lock and unlock. I was the only one who…read morecould do it, and it required a lot of strength and lifting of the door knob just right. What an emergency problem that could be if there was a fire. I called Unlockit Locksmith. They couldn't have been more helpful, and came out the very next day. Our technician Eddie was super nice, professional, and had to make quite a few adjustments, but now our door locks and unlocks perfectly! Can't recommend this company enough! Will definitely use again.

Excellent service. Jose cut and programmed a spare key for my car. He was very efficient and detail…read moreoriented. I appreciated the extra effort he put in to make sure everything worked properly.

I'm honestly sick to have to come back again with another update. 4/14/25. I just discovered that…read moresomeone from their team, Tonia Latrell, created a user account on our door lock system on February 19, 2025, using an incredibly insecure PIN code -- 1234. This is a huge security lapse. That code could have been guessed by anyone and granted them unauthorized access to our building. I only found out about this after contacting the platform's support team directly, who then walked me through how to properly remove the account. This kind of negligence is unacceptable from a company that's supposed to specialize in security. It's the final straw for me, and unfortunately, it only reinforces the concerns I've shared throughout this review.

i've had a system installed seven years ago by this company. However, they have not returned my…read morecall after leaving several messages. I will update if there is a follow-up

We bought an older house which naturally did not have existing runs for ethernet and we hired Pro…read moreTech to bring our house into the modern era with 20 runs including 6 runs for exterior security cameras. Marcus and his team did a PHENOMENAL job with our install and I could not be more pleased. Being an older house, the job was not easy, but they were professional and knocked it out! I will be recommending Marcus to anyone and everyone I know that needs any low voltage, wiring, etc. work done! 10/10 on everything from service to quality to value!

Marcus was great! Punctual and efficient. He mounted all 3 of my TVs for a decent price and I…read morecouldn't be happier. Will definitely use his service in the future.