Home monitoring - only a matter of time?

[Shed]

Hello, if there is anyone still out there using Alertme home monitoring. The service was once spot on but now they take days to reply to any emails, if indeed they reply at all. It seems to me only a matter of time before they completely stop supporting home monitoring, given that they no longer sell any of the hardware and all this kit is just trash. I there is anyone using this forum, do you have any experience or comments that might be helpful or informative?

[pdunn467]

Hi Shed,
Yes I am still using Alertme for home monitoring and basic automation on a daily basis.
Totally agree that the service is not what it used to be, or could have been, had the company not decided to put most of the eggs into the energy monitoring basket.

I believe the system still lives on as British Gas Safe and Secure, and the Hive boiler controls, but would have been nice to support their legacy fanbase who made the company what it is.

[Shed]

Couldn't agree more. In fact BG have stopped their home monitoring version too and only offer the energy monitoring and boiler controls. To me Alertme for home monitoring is on borrowed time. They don't supply any hardware so if anything fails you can't replace it except if you can find on ebay. I can't even get Alertme to update my subscription. I was one of their first customers but I am considering just writing it off and looking at Halo as an alternative. It seems the nearest thing to the old Alertme.

[CM75]

So far, I'm still using the monitoring system. Even outside the UK. As I bought it almost five years ago, I'm not too sad about the money spent any more. It was good while it lasted. One thing that was very annoying though was that I bought the kit with subscription. At that time, I've been told I could always switch to prepaid later. When I tried to do exactly this about a year later they had stopped offering the prepaid kit and of course I wasn't allowed to switch. So I'm still paying five quid per month, but in general my system is still working fine. I would like to replace one of my keyfobs, that seems to be the weak spot. I guess I will just continue to use the system for now and then just cancel it. I don't really expect to get any money for it at that point if I tried to sell it.
The only thing I would like: To actually get the accumulated credit back when I cancel. I don't know about the UK, but in other European countries you have a right to get the money back on your prepaid phone account when you cancel it. It is your credit, you paid the money but didn't use it for any service.

[roobarb!]

The only thing I would like: To actually get the accumulated credit back when I cancel. I don't know about the UK, but in other European countries you have a right to get the money back on your prepaid phone account when you cancel it. It is your credit, you paid the money but didn't use it for any service.

You may well be able to argue that - if your account has been topping up the whole time and you've not been depleting it.

Give them a call - they've always been great on the phone with me and have sorted any issues out very quickly.

With regard to the longevity of the monitoring system, I believe it will make an appearance again in the Hive system one day. I don't have any special knowledge, but Hive is built on the exact same AlertMe system as everything else and I can't see why they wouldn't expand the range once more people have the system in their homes. For example, a friend recently had a new boiler installed and he was given Hive for free. Now why would BG not want to expand the range of services through that little hub that's already in his home?

Last time I spoke to BG customer services, all of the accessories are still available to purchase over the phone. This is price list.

[Weeg]

Hi,

Regarding the subscription service which I've been on since 2008, I noticed that AlertMe have not taken any money from my account since 2011!

Anyone else not being deducted the monthly subs?