Reefmonkey Posted July 15, 2015 Share Posted July 15, 2015 Every year I have the same problem - I don't receive an invoice from the ARA Alarm Administration for renewal of my burglar alarm. I don't find out it is overdue until I get a nasty red overdue statement or automated phone call, both of which threaten me with misdemeanor fines and saying they will be directing emergency services not to respond to my house. I don't get it, they know where to send the red "overdue" notices, so obviously they have my address right, why can't they get the initial invoices there on time? With all the other crap - property taxes, car registration, dog license, monthly bills, etc, I don't think it's reasonable that they should expect me to clairvoyantly say "oh, it feels like my burglar alarm permit bill may be due" when they don't send me a bill. It pisses me off, because it's obviously another revenue-grasping BS tax, that they would threaten not to provide services to my house. I pay $7,000 in property taxes every year in addition to the thousands I pay in sales tax that goes towards emergency services which they should thus be obligated to provide no matter how I call for them. But despite all that money I provide, they are going to let me be robbed, murdered, or burned up over a measley $50 that they can't seem to figure out how to bill me for in a timely manner? What really pisses me off is that several years ago when my alarm went off twice in the span of an hour when I was completely paid up on my permit and my wife and toddler daughter were alone in the house and thought someone was breaking in, NO ONE RESPONDED! I had to call Houston Police from my business trip in Ohio and tell them that the last thing I heard from my wife was a bloodcurdling scream as the alarm went off again and cut the phone off, and still the response time was abysmal. So what exactly is this "Alarm permit fee" buying me that they think I shouldn't get emergency services if I don't pay it? It's a BS fee, but whatever, I'm used to being nickeled and dimed by government agencies, so bill me for it and I'll pay it. Or better yet, why can't it be tacked onto my burglar alarm bill just like cities and counties automatically tack on taxes and fees every time I rent a car or pay a hotel bill? Has anyone else had a problem with getting their alarm permit invoice in a timely manner, or am I just unlucky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerlooper Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 COH has a good site for managing your account. I don't know why they miss your first billing. For all recurring annual bills, I maintain a little calendar that shows me that something is getting stale. I get billed by them around Dec 11 for a Jan 25 expiry, and so far I have not lapsed in 9 years. They allow you to print out your invoice and pay it online even. https://www.houstonburglaralarmpermits.org/Citizen/City/Houston/ATB_Login.aspx The alarm itself is not much use for the immediate threat presented by the invader(s). For that, feel free to call on Mr. Glock, Mr. Colt, or Mr. Remington. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I"ll apologize up front for being snarky and critical. If it were up to me, HPD would never respond to an alarm of any type. The vast majority, over 99+% are false alarms, which waste police resources, and my tax dollars. I recommend dropping the alarm, but keep the sign. If you want an immediate response from HPD, call 911. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefmonkey Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 COH has a good site for managing your account. I don't know why they miss your first billing. For all recurring annual bills, I maintain a little calendar that shows me that something is getting stale. I get billed by them around Dec 11 for a Jan 25 expiry, and so far I have not lapsed in 9 years. They allow you to print out your invoice and pay it online even. https://www.houstonburglaralarmpermits.org/Citizen/City/Houston/ATB_Login.aspx The alarm itself is not much use for the immediate threat presented by the invader(s). For that, feel free to call on Mr. Glock, Mr. Colt, or Mr. Remington. Yeah, I found that website. I tried it a couple of years ago when my first notice was a phone call telling me I was overdue, but could not complete it because I didn't have anything telling me what my permit number was, and Brinks was no help giving me that. Now I have saved a copy of the duplicate invoice I made them send me this year, and I'm putting it in my outlook calendar to remind me to check this at the end of December, so I can do their billing job for them. The last suggestion isn't workable for me, beyond the usual statistics on that, I have small children in the house, and my wife hates guns anyway, so they would do her no good when I am out of town, which is when I worry most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefmonkey Posted July 17, 2015 Author Share Posted July 17, 2015 I"ll apologize up front for being snarky and critical. If it were up to me, HPD would never respond to an alarm of any type. The vast majority, over 99+% are false alarms, which waste police resources, and my tax dollars. I recommend dropping the alarm, but keep the sign. If you want an immediate response from HPD, call 911. You know, I have considered dropping the alarm. It came with the house and my wife just keeps paying the bill, but sometimes I wonder if it isn't more trouble than it's worth. I'm not sure my wife even sets it anymore when I am out of town, after that incident. I think what may have happened is when she armed it she didn't turn off the interior motion sensors (it's an older system and doesn't have the straightforward "stay" and "away" settings almost all newer systems have) and the cats probably set it off. And she and my stepson have always been bad about forgetting to turn it off before opening a door, and then he whined about how "traumatizing" it was for it to go off (that's another story), so it doesn't get used much and I have suggested dropping it but my wife insists on keeping it for when we go out of town (we have a house in Galveston so we are gone a decent number of weekends). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerlooper Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 I don't know about other systems, but with ADT if an alarm is sounded, they first call you up to see what is going on, and with a code word you can tell them it was false. Otherwise they will call the po-po and try to get patrol to go by. I suspect this protocol has caused a big drop in non-productive patrol dispatches over time. Every household has to decide for itself whether it is comfortable with being monitored 24/7, taking into account children, pets (with motion sensors), etc. During the holidays ADT sends out a letter telling you to instruct your guests not to play with the alarm buttons. I guess they generate a certain amount of spurious calls for service. Say what you will about nuisance alarms, but the centrally-monitored residential burglar alarm has made the resettlement of the American inner city a workable project. Before the monitored alarm, only homes with dogs and high fences stood a decent chance of resisting invasion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefmonkey Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 I don't know about other systems, but with ADT if an alarm is sounded, they first call you up to see what is going on, and with a code word you can tell them it was false. Otherwise they will call the po-po and try to get patrol to go by. I suspect this protocol has caused a big drop in non-productive patrol dispatches over time. Every household has to decide for itself whether it is comfortable with being monitored 24/7, taking into account children, pets (with motion sensors), etc. During the holidays ADT sends out a letter telling you to instruct your guests not to play with the alarm buttons. I guess they generate a certain amount of spurious calls for service. Say what you will about nuisance alarms, but the centrally-monitored residential burglar alarm has made the resettlement of the American inner city a workable project. Before the monitored alarm, only homes with dogs and high fences stood a decent chance of resisting invasion. Yeah, our system works like that, with the call from the company first. That's what was really troubling about the incident we had, the company had called to ask if everything was alright, my wife said she didn't know, and she was scared someone might be breaking in, the company alerted police dispatch and let them know it was a genuine alarm, and still no one came, so it's tough for me to have any sympathy for the city alarm division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
innerlooper Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Right, they are not always reliable in that way. As they say, "You are the first responder to your emergency. The police and rescue are the second responders." Smoke 'em if you got 'em. They are like roaches, the invaders. But use something more potent that roach spray. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBLLC Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I"ll apologize up front for being snarky and critical. If it were up to me, HPD would never respond to an alarm of any type. The vast majority, over 99+% are false alarms, which waste police resources, and my tax dollars. I recommend dropping the alarm, but keep the sign. If you want an immediate response from HPD, call 911. I know this thread is old but I just had an unpleasant experience with this situation. We PAID our annual alarm permit fee. We had the paid permit posted in the window of our office. The alarm went off in the middle of the day and the police told the monitoring service that they WOULD NOT be responding since we had an expired permit which was WRONG. Our vehicles had been broken into and three other businesses near us had been burglarized in the past 3 weeks. Calling 911 is NOT always an option. My wife is alone in the office occasionally. If she has the alarm set to stay and someone comes in with a gun she can't call 911. If you have false alarms pay the fine. Getting police out of the substations to drive around the neighborhoods is NOT a waste of tax payer money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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