Cape Town - Load shedding continues to add to the ire of alarm system clients who are subjected to interactive voice response (IVR) calls through the night.
After reading in the Cape Times about an ADT client being “harassed” by calls during the night and early morning hours as panic buttons trip when load shedding schedules rotate, another client came forward.
A tenant who rents a property where an alarm system is installed, and who did not want to be named out of fear of victimisation, said more has to be done about old battery packs that cannot carry the load any more due to continuous load shedding.
“Where does ADT expect me, a struggling client to afford a backup battery and unit? My landlady pays them for a service, but the service delivered is putrid ... I note that if there is load shedding at night that we are bound to have an alarm or panic button trip and it happens like clockwork. You then get a call from an IVR and you have to then flag that the alarm trip is a false alarm,” the disgruntled tenant said, accusing the company of incompetence.
Enquiries to ADT resulted in the matter being resolved.
Group head of communications and marketing: Fidelity ADT, Charnel Hattingh, said: “Our team made contact with the customer on Friday morning to see how we can assist him. We’ve also spoken to him about the response vehicles that arrive after a signal was cancelled, and explained that we are investigating this for him.
We will also assist him on other battery options for the alarm system. We remind residents of Cape Town of the importance of maintaining their security systems, in the same way that any other electronic device or system would be maintained.”
The company also advised clients to regularly test their alarm systems.
Cape Times