Update on Cable Companies Selling Alarm Services: Can Comcast Compete?

As Comcast continues to roll out the XFINITY ™ Home offer in over half the Comcast markets, the questions remain: how are customers reacting to Comcast’s entry into the home security arena, and what does it mean for traditional alarm companies? We have heard (anecdotally of course) that the rate of adoption has been underwhelming: in fact, by the time Comcast expected to have 50,000 home security customers, they had only about 10,000. As I said, that is only anecdotal, but to those of us who have devoted our professional careers protecting lives and property, it’s hardly surprising if consumers are reluctant to trust their peace of mind to an entertainment company with a decidedly poor service reputation. In fact, Comcast ranks #4 on Business Insider’s list of the 18 most hated companies in America! And if Comcast customers have been slow to sign up for this additional “bundled” service, it would explain why I can’t find any reviews on Comcast’s home security offering. However, I can share one Comcast customer’s comment to the home security offer, which was posted on a FrontPoint blog:

As a former Comcast customer, I see this being a very poor decision for this company as a whole. You would think improving on customer service would be the number one priority. The reason I say former customer is for the following reasons: problems with customer care, failure to fix in-house problems, such as repairing problems within the infrastructure with land lines, constant loss of internet, and last but not least, the lack of respect for the customer. Now you’re going to add a new problem to the mix, with home security. I wouldn't recommend Comcast to anyone. I feel bad for anyone who is going to pay for this service. I think the company should fix the problems they have first before adding a new one.

I even went to Comcast’s online customer forum to find any reactions to the security offering – nothing there. But I did find plenty of frustration, complaints, and commiseration, along with a few compliments when an employee actually resolved an issue. The complaints seem to focus on poor customer service and technology that doesn’t work: again, a poor combination when you are shopping for the peace of mind you expect from an alarm system. Then I found another site, CustomerServicesScoreboard.com. The overall rating scale runs from “Excellent” to “Terrible,” and Comcast unfortunately rates the bottom designation. Here are some other stats on Comcast from the site:                 There are some other references to the Comcast home security offering. One web site affiliated with Consumer Reports fielded many comments that indicated a “thumbs down” before the product launch. My favorite is this one, a simulated response following an alarm event:

“We just received an alarm from your XFINITY Security System. The police are scheduled to arrive between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm next Thursday. Please make sure someone is home to let them in. Or, if you prefer, you may choose the self-arrest option.”

As a “real” alarm company that is focused on protecting homes and families, FrontPoint welcomes the advertising budgets that new entrants like Comcast bring to increasing public awareness of interactive monitoring services – exactly the advanced features that FrontPoint has offered since our inception in 2007. We also expect that the more people research their options, the more they’ll choose FrontPoint. As the leader in wireless home security, we specialize in the best protection: that’s why we’re the #1 ranked alarm company in the US. FrontPoint systems are safer, smarter, simpler, more affordable, and virtually impossible to defeat – and you’ll be thrilled with our service.