Reviews For Alert One Medical Alarms

The consumer reviews on this page have been submitted by former or present customers of Alert One medical alarms. As you browse through the reviews, please keep in mind that many of these medical alert providers have thousands of clients and this is only a small sampling of the opinions of their customers. If you have had a good or bad experience with Alert One, we encourage you to submit your review. If you represent this company, please feel free to submit a rebuttal.	Important: Alert One rebuttal
(Added May 18/12) I installed the Alert One systems for my mother inlaw and also for my dad. They both live alone and it gives them (and me) a feeling of security. Falling and not being able to get help immediately is the worst fear for seniors. Having that pendant can be life saving. My mother inlaw is 96 now and wears her pendant religiously. We test the monitor regularly as suggested by First Alert to make sure it operates properly. We have had no issues with her system. In my dad's case, I also ordered a daily call from the monitoring service, which I do not believe they offer any longer. But someone call every afternoon to check on him. Unfortunately, if he did not answer or if the phone was off the hook, they would contact emergency services to go check on him. He was occassionally surprised when the front door would open and several firemen would be standing there. I put a keybox at the front door (which also came from First Alert) because if my dad could not make it the door, then they would break down the door. First Alert had the keycode so emergency workers could always get in if they had to. I also installed an outside speaker on the back porch because my dad would occassionaly sit out there and if he feel, the inside speaker would not be able to communicate with him. I tested it and never had the problem that someone else reported. I also purchased the "fall monitor" that detects if you fall and cannot press your emergency button. Unfortunately, that device did not get used much because my elderly dad stayed in his pajamas most of the time and you needed a belt or pocket to attach the device to. I did test it one time, after receiving it, and it worked as advertised. My dad passed away last year and we returned the parts of the system that belonged to First Alert. They promptly credited my account for the unused part of the contract. I can say that I have personally been pleased with the First Alert Service and would recommend them to others as I have had no significant issues with their service.
(Added May 18/12) We had just purchased the system and the troubles began before even receiving the unit. After calling to find out why we didn't receive an email with the specifics of our order which we were promised, we found out the man who signed us up gave us all kinds of wrong information about what we would recieve, our payment shedule, why we didn't receive any acknowledgement, etc. The worst was we finally recieved an email 4 days later and found that they had shipped it to the wrong address. Since we had already paid on the quarterly plan we will go ahead and hook it up when it finally arrives, but fully intend to look at other plans before we pay for another 3 months.
(Added May 6/11) We received the unit, but never activated it because my mother, for whom it was bought, was hospitalized within a week of getting the unit, and it was never activated, never out of the box. After 4 months in the hospital she died, and obviously never was able to use the unit. Alert 1 was pleasant about terminating the service, but wouldn't consider any kind of refund for the purchase of equipment, despite being unopened, because "you didn't notify us of this within 30 days, that is our policy." While I understand policies, it seems reasonable under the circumstances to consider some kind of refund, or at least not to be told it was our fault we didn't handle it right. So buyer be very clear, you better pay attention and follow the policy even if people are sick and dying and you are a little distracted.
(Added May 6/11) My mother passed 6 years ago in July which left my elderly, handicapped father to live alone and 1200 miles away. I purchased the Alert1 for his in home safety and my peace of mind. The 1st time in 6 years he's had to push the button for help, it did not send out an alert to emegency services...here's why. In his home he has multiple phone lines. When he fell, he inadvertantly hit the "on" button on one of the wireless phones opening the phone lines. When he pushed his Alert1 button for help, the unit in the house blared out "EMERGENCY" the entire time he was on the floor (approx. 1 1/2 hours) but it never could send out the alarm because the phone was "off the hook." After ensuring my Dad was on the way to the hospital, I called Alert1's customer service/technical service departments only to be told by a manager on duty that day that if there are multiple phone lines in the home, a RJ31X jack must be installed to "seize" the lines and override if one is off the hook so the alert can be sent to the emergency team and that the phone service provider my father uses could install the jack free of charge. There was no apology or any other assistance given to remedy this potentially life threatening situation. I asked the manager why this was not communicated 6 years prior when I purchased the unit and told her how upset I was about the failure of the unit to work properly. I was told that the paperwork included in the box with the unit does state that fact. Unacceptable. This should be a mandatory question asked to every purchaser of the unit...this could have been a life or death situation. Alert1 should be held responsible for proper installation with all necessary jacks and any other equipment needed to ensure it works properly from the start and held liable if it fails. Needless to say, the jack installation is not free and it is difficult to find an installer that is familiar with the jack and can do the work because it falls under the home security related jack and not just a jack that gets plugged into the wall. I have my lawyers on it!
(Added Mar 11/11) System is going back in the morning. Tried to test it yesterday, pushing the "necklace" button three different times with no response. Pushed the "Emergency" button on the machine itself, still with no response. About 10 minutes later I had the thought that while I highly doubted it, perhaps a call could have gone through to the Fire Department. Tried to call them but my phone service had gone out. Used my one land-line, was assured by the FD they hadn't had an alert, and shortly thereafter my best friend AND the fire engine arrived at my house. The alarm did go to the FD and they were obligated to respond, and a call had gone to my friend as well. Absolutely nothing had come through to me. I can't imagine being in need of this service, not having any reason to believe they were contacting assistance and then not being able to use my phones - it would seem that while they are making calls, my phone is tied up. Yes, things worked the way they should have except for one problem -- I was left out of the loop and all these people were inconvenienced simply because I was trying to do a "test". Pulled out every wire and it's going back Monday morning.
(Added Mar 12/10) I have had Alert One now for about three years. I have a two story home, so I bought their main/larger speaker plus the smaller "external speaker" for the upstairs bedroom area. While I agree with the other reviews about polite operators and response time to calls, I have had nothing but trouble with the external small speaker upstairs. It works about 50-60% of the time. When it doesn't work, I can only hear them and they can only hear me through the downstairs speaker. Not very reassuring if I have problems upstairs and cannot go out to the hall or stairs and yell down to the speaker downstairs. I have had the phone lines checked twice at least, and also had an electrician look at the home to see if they could figure out WHY the upstairs speaker is not working more often. They are stumped. Alert One is stumped! I got a replacement speaker which likewise doesn't work but about 50-60% of the time. There seems to be a large difference in how loud the operators speak also, which I do find troubling, since I then have to adjust the small speaker volume or change rooms to talk to them on the larger main speaker. While they have been nice about trying to figure things out I will be sending it back and going with another company which not only has local in town service installers and sales people, but they guarantee things will work right and if not, they are here to come look at things to find out why. This is the problem with buying long distance (online) from a company with no local service people. My option is to risk the speaker phone working upstairs when I really need it, or to change services. Considering the monthly cost over a year's period, I can get a guaranteed national company installing equipment I will own (versus rent from Alert One) for less money per month, and the assurance of local servicemen to replace or repair anything that is not working as it should. When it works it is great. But this is a potential life and death situation that depends on their equipment and ability for it to work very well as expected. I am just not willing to take the chance any longer.
(Added Sept 10/09) Thumbs up for Alert One. My 85 year old dad fell three times recently and each time he used his wristwatch button to contact Alert One. They were quick to respond and very friendly. I highly recommend their service.
(Added June 24/09) I have used Alert One now for over two years. Their "operators" are very fast to answer, (30-40 seconds after I push the button) and the people are polite, very professional and friendly. For anyone needing security at home I recommend these people highly. I have the large speaker phone downstairs in the main room and a second smaller speaker upstairs in my bedroom. I also have small alert "panic buttons" in other rooms of the house and on the stairway. I don't want to wear the pendant all the time, and one never knows if they might need help in the bath, kitchen, etc. It is great peace of mind for a very reasonable annual fee to use this very good and reliable service!
(Added May 30/09) Just received the system for my 96 1/2 year old mother. Every contact I have had with this company from the initial inquiry, to sales, installation and testing (a very simple process), has been most helpful. And the best thing about it is that it is portable. She can take it to her summer home and her winter home.
(Added Aug 26/08) When I needed to order a medical alert system for my mother-in-law who lives 1200 miles from me, I selected Alert One because I found good reviews for them online. They have reasonable prices and provided us EXCELLENT service. Online ordering was easy, the unit was sent on time and worked right out of the box. Fortunately for us, there was no need to use the system to contact anyone for assistance, so I cannot address that aspect of the service. When the system was no longer needed, my mother-in-law who shipped the equipment back accidentally included a part of her own telephone in the package. I contacted the company and they resolved the problem. FANTASTIC! These days it is rare to find a company that provides even basic service, but AlertOne customer service representatives go the extra mile.

More Medical Alert Resources On MedicalAlertReviews.Com:

Medical Alert Basics

Special Features Of Medical Alert Systems

Guide To Independent Living

Home Safety

Preventing Accidents In The Home

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