ADT door-to-door sales scam

Josh wrote:

I am looking to sell security systems in the knoxville tn area and I have experience selling... anybody know of anyone I could contact

Disagree wrote:

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I have sold door to door for 3 years and the offer is usually the best in the industry. Big companies prey on vulnerable home owners that recently had a break in (1 in 4 homeowners will have a break in). Most of the reps going door to door are honest high integrity college students looking to graduate debt free by being driven to do a job no one else would do and being compensated rather well. You wouldn't believe me if I told you how much some of them make.
The deal goes: Free Equipment, 3 year commitment, 99 activation, 39.99/mo monitoring usually.
Just be open minded when they knock on your door. Find out about them and why they're knocking on your door. Is it to protect your family from something terrible in the future? Is it to hard to listen.

NoC wrote:

This just happened to me. Attempted break-in 5 nights ago. ADT guy parks outside my door and rings my bell. Says he's got nothing to sell when I yell through my window that I'm not interested. Immediately drives away and doesn't ring anybody else's bell. What a coincidence, huh. BTW, the cops got a nice juicy thumb print, so if this is a scam, or a desperate salesman, they better beware.
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Nathan wrote:

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Oh, one more thing. To avoid having door knockers disturb a quiet evening at home, post a small "no soliciting" sign near your door or doorbell. Salespeople dislike wasting time knocking on your door, especially considering that you ignore them. Do yourself and solicitors a favor and post a tasteful sign. Also, consider purchasing an alarm system yard sign from ebay. You should expect to pay about $10 including shipping, and will not only help deter criminals, but alarm salespeople.

Nathan wrote:

I am a part owner of an ADT dealership. My reps are all employees and are required to take drug screens and background checks. Same with my installers. My company is pround to have low attrition, and my employees love their "real" jobs. My top producer was a top-producing Farmer's Insurance agent and he loves spending time door-to-door outside.
It's important to know that ADT has a dealer program as well as a corporate sales channel. Corporate salepeople run mostly preset appointments from ADT's TV campaign response leads. Systems cost upwards of $339 and require a 3 year monitoring contract. Dealers are allowed to sell the systems for $99 with a 3 year contract. Justly Paranoid, ADT cannot be responsible for getting the companies who knock on your door to stop, just as Pepsi can't control how Safeway or Wal-Mart sells their product to you. If you live in Houston, the people knocking are most likely from Ranger American, which is a very reputable dealer. The reason you don't see a car is that it's easier to walk from door to door than drive 30 feet, get out, knock, drive another 30 feet, and repeat. The car is around the corner or a couple of blocks away. If ADT was a "scam", why do 7 million American households and 25 million people worldwide use the service? ADT has been in business since 1874 and monitors 80% of the Fortune 500 companies for a reason. Most dealers do use the "trick" Andre wrote about with the yard sign. If the salesperson does not create urgency or have a good story, people don't buy. Without the $99 system in exchange for putting up a yard sign story, people don't understand how we can sell the system for such a low price (ADT pays us well for the contract, so we can afford to give a basic system away for $99). It is true, though, yard signs do help advertise in the sense that people like to keep up with their neighbors, and when the neighbors are happy with their new system, we'll usually get 2 or 3 new installs in the same neighborhood within the week. The catches are: you have to have reasonable credit (575 or higher), you must be a homeowner, you must agree to a 3 year monitoring agreement (how else would ADT make money by letting us give the systems away?).

Jeremy wrote:

I sell alarms every summer in big cities. I have done it for 2 years now, it is a great opportunity to save money. Definitely people can be unethical, as in any business practice, but the systems we give out are sold by adt for a larger amount initially, and the monitoring cost is pretty similar. The systems themselves are usually GE or honeywell products, and are exactly the same between all the big companies. Alarm systems are great, and door to door guys who market them must be honest, if they aren't the companies which hired them will fire them.