We provide comprehensive systems and an array of security solutions to monitor your business, employees, home, and valuable assets. Our focus is to achieve 100% customer satisfaction. We dedicate our efforts in continuous education and training. Our dedication has earned us the title of top security installer in the San Francisco Bay area.AEC Alarms is a locally owned, independent security systems provider and we intend to keep it that way. We have adhered to our Founder's philosophy of "Honesty & Quality" and have built a solid reputation of excellence in security.
Services
AEC Alarms is the trusted name in security throughout San Francisco and the Bay Area. We are a locally-owned, independent alarm company founded in 1972. Our products and services are rooted in the Founder's philosophy of "Honesty and Quality". These values have formed the foundation of our solid reputation of excellence in commercial and residential security alike.
How Do You Protect the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) of Your Employees and Customers?. PII is any information that can identify an individual and possibly lead to identity theft or fraud. All businesses have PII, it comes from customers, employees, and vendors and is usually found in every department.
We focus on the latest technologically advanced solutions to meet our clients' needs, and with the evolution of technology, we embrace solutions that make our client's life easier and less complex. With mobile apps, text messaging, email and push notifications, we provide our clients with relevant and critical real-time alerts so necessary action can be taken and no longer have to wait until the next business day.
Closed circuit television (CCTV) surveillance cameras are deployed to monitor for theft, vandalism, and any unwanted and unauthorized activities on your property, and most commonly installed in discreet areas, parking lots, and common areas. We select and partner with top-of-the-line manufacturers using the latest technologies to provide you the solution you need for your building.
Reviews (20)
Xin X.
May 30, 2020
Vincent is the man! I run into some issue during Friday night out of business hours. Luckily, my phone was picked up by Vincent C. He knows the system very well. Most importantly, he is very patient with request. He basically walk through to debug the problem, one thing at one one time, and finally get problem resolved. This is Friday night otherwise I have to wait until next Monday. Highly recommend Vincent for his customer obsession, expertise and integrity!
Kevin T.
Aug 27, 2019
Wendy D.
Dec 19, 2018
We are really happy having AEC protecting our homes as well as our businesses. They are a family own company, so their services are exceptionally personal. When it comes to trouble, they are on top of things! They will work with you personally to resolve the issue quickly. The turn around time is amazing every single time. It is also nice when they are local, their tech can be on site when the issue can't be resolved offsite.
I like to call out Vincent in their tech support team to be extraordinary. You know when you work with him is he will go above his work requirements to meet your needs! Thank you AEC for always being there for us when we need you and also watching over our homes and businesses. We are a very very happy customers.
I like to call out Vincent in their tech support team to be extraordinary. You know when you work with him is he will go above his work requirements to meet your needs! Thank you AEC for always being there for us when we need you and also watching over our homes and businesses. We are a very very happy customers.
Steven C.
May 31, 2018
Scammed by this horrible chinese-owned company. As a chinese person, i feel disgraced. Canceled their service twice in a year over the phone. First time they said it didnt go through, 2nd time they said they never reiceived my call. Had no working service for over a year and still got billed. Will fight these scumbags to the last tooth. Luckily i have an attorney brother who is helping me. Will be seeing these crooks in court.;
Aiden C.
Apr 06, 2017
Look elsewhere for your security needs. Customer service is not available in the evenings & weekends, which surprised me for an alarm company. They didn't return phone calls when I left messages. I had to keep calling to get a live person. I didn't get the sense that they cared about their customers. We had a technical issue where the alarm intermittently beeped.
It was an updated new alarm they had installed for additional fees. We followed their instructions to get rid of the issue but it didn't work. They were not helpful at all. Eventually we stopped using it and just unplugged the power. We had to wait until our contract was up to cancel. We had an annual contract with them; not sure if that's the norm.
To cancel is a hassle. We had to call them to request a cancellation form. Then we had to email it back to them in a timely fashion (I think 72 hours). Otherwise you have to request the form again.
It was an updated new alarm they had installed for additional fees. We followed their instructions to get rid of the issue but it didn't work. They were not helpful at all. Eventually we stopped using it and just unplugged the power. We had to wait until our contract was up to cancel. We had an annual contract with them; not sure if that's the norm.
To cancel is a hassle. We had to call them to request a cancellation form. Then we had to email it back to them in a timely fashion (I think 72 hours). Otherwise you have to request the form again.
Kathleen H.
Nov 08, 2016
Stay away! We had a terrible experience with this company. There was a technical problem with our alarm that the company could not fix - the system beeped every day at 8 AM, 6 PM, and 9 PM and would not stop beeping until we turned it off. Worst of all, we had new baby and beeping from the alarm would wake him up. They charged us $500 to try to fix, but they could not fix it and refused to let us out of our contract.
Bill C.
Sep 08, 2016
Ed Y.
Jul 01, 2016
With over 25 years of dealing with AEC Alarms, I have yet to encounter something deserving of anything less than 5 stars. But this review is solely for my most recent experience with them. As I needed to upgrade my system, I contacted them to get a quote on my needs. The Sales Agent, Roger, was very responsive and was able to get me a proposal the next day and followed up by phone to make sure I had a chance to review it.
Not pushy, very informative, and certainly very professional. After I reviewed the proposal, I asked a few questions and then signed off an made a deposit as per the sales contract. Within an hour of completing that process, Christina from their Service department contacted me to set up the service call. She actually had an opening the next day but I was busy so we pushed it out a few days.
She set the time for a morning 4-hour window and then after looking up my address estimated the technician would likely arrive between 8:30 -9:00 after calling me to confirm that morning. So I scheduled my morning around this. When the morning came, my own schedule was a mess but I managed to get everything done outside the home by 8:30 and so I called the office to confirm my appointment.
The office checked and said indeed that the tech was on his way and would arrive before 9:00 am. I hung up, walked to my car to drive home and then my phone rang again. Rodrigo, the tech had arrived! Yikes, 8:39am. I was late! But they were perfectly on time. Luckily I was 5 mins away and so it all worked out. Upon my return, the technician and I handled the paperwork needed, and he started teh upgrade. Wore shoe covers inside the home, checked out the system finding only a 6 year old backup Battery in need of replacement (which we promptly replaced), and finished the upgrade within an hour.
He explained to me how to properly utilize the web and mobile app system controls and I happily paid the balance and the system was all set to go. In summary, I worked with contacts from 3 different departments by email & phone and one direct contact with a very professional technician, and the communications was very smooth. It was a perfect experience coming from their side, and not any different than all of my previous contacts and service calls since the late 1980's when Mr Au himself was still designing and building their own systems.
I assume if I were to need to cancel the services at some point, that they would follow the contracts that I'd need to go read and review as to what the terms of cancellation would be. Given this I can understand the frustration those other reviewers may have faced in needing to cancel their security service and I took that into consideration before I opted to upgrade again with AEC rather than change over to some other service, many whom offered me FREE systems and such just to switch. but AEC surveillance has helped our family a few times in the last couple decades and that performance counts a lot in my book.
Not pushy, very informative, and certainly very professional. After I reviewed the proposal, I asked a few questions and then signed off an made a deposit as per the sales contract. Within an hour of completing that process, Christina from their Service department contacted me to set up the service call. She actually had an opening the next day but I was busy so we pushed it out a few days.
She set the time for a morning 4-hour window and then after looking up my address estimated the technician would likely arrive between 8:30 -9:00 after calling me to confirm that morning. So I scheduled my morning around this. When the morning came, my own schedule was a mess but I managed to get everything done outside the home by 8:30 and so I called the office to confirm my appointment.
The office checked and said indeed that the tech was on his way and would arrive before 9:00 am. I hung up, walked to my car to drive home and then my phone rang again. Rodrigo, the tech had arrived! Yikes, 8:39am. I was late! But they were perfectly on time. Luckily I was 5 mins away and so it all worked out. Upon my return, the technician and I handled the paperwork needed, and he started teh upgrade. Wore shoe covers inside the home, checked out the system finding only a 6 year old backup Battery in need of replacement (which we promptly replaced), and finished the upgrade within an hour.
He explained to me how to properly utilize the web and mobile app system controls and I happily paid the balance and the system was all set to go. In summary, I worked with contacts from 3 different departments by email & phone and one direct contact with a very professional technician, and the communications was very smooth. It was a perfect experience coming from their side, and not any different than all of my previous contacts and service calls since the late 1980's when Mr Au himself was still designing and building their own systems.
I assume if I were to need to cancel the services at some point, that they would follow the contracts that I'd need to go read and review as to what the terms of cancellation would be. Given this I can understand the frustration those other reviewers may have faced in needing to cancel their security service and I took that into consideration before I opted to upgrade again with AEC rather than change over to some other service, many whom offered me FREE systems and such just to switch. but AEC surveillance has helped our family a few times in the last couple decades and that performance counts a lot in my book.
John D.
Jun 28, 2016
This company is the absolute worst. They are sneaky, underhanded and shady. My experience was not unlike many others I've read. You call to cancel, they advise they didn't get it in time and auto renew you for another year up front. Very shady dirty dealings. They are not on the up and up, they do not take care of their customers and should be avoided at all costs. Use anyone else.
Carol F.
May 21, 2016
We used AEC for several years when we lived in the Bay Area. We had a number of issues but we lived with it. Three years ago we sold our house just prior to the end of the 3 year contract. About 1 year ago they sent us to collection for the balance of the contract. I have asked and asked for them to send me the original contract and just now they have done so. They have dogged us for $500+. I would definitely not sign a contract with them, recommend them nor would I ever use them again.
Ms. P.
Oct 21, 2015
Two years later and still dealing with a billing mistake they made that messed up my credit. They never shut off my service after I moved and about a year later I received a bill that was in collections for almost $1000.00. Avoid this company at all costs they are scam artists and will keep billing you after you cancel then send it to collections.
After reading the previous reviews I see they do this to Many people and I am not the only one. I hope they go out of business with their fraudulent practices. Unfortunately i am being forced to pay for their mistake, avoid this company at all costs.
After reading the previous reviews I see they do this to Many people and I am not the only one. I hope they go out of business with their fraudulent practices. Unfortunately i am being forced to pay for their mistake, avoid this company at all costs.
Edmund L.
Jun 17, 2015
I was a customer with AEC Alarm for over 30 years, and the company has really become worse to worst managed. We started with very satisfactory service when we started using them to monitor our home. The company continued to bill us increasing year after year with very little improvement and services until recently we had to migrate from 2G to 3G mobile service monitoring.
They bumped up the fee to over $40/month to monitoring with upgrading fee, and 2 year contract. When our system was malfunctioning, I asked that they come and looked into it. They did and billed me for $140.50 just to identify that the motherboard is not functioning. They then requested that I pay $750 to replace the motherboard. I started looking for other companies, and found one I could install all components myself, and with a monitoring fee of $15.00 for basic monitoring, and $20.00 for web-enabled security management, and I only needed to upgrade to that level when I am out of town, and it will revert back to $15.00 when I return.
The total package for all hardware is less than $500, less than replacing the motherboard. Hey you can save a lot of money year over year just on monitoring. I reviewed all the comments here, and now I could understand why people are giving AEC 1 star or less. Imagine they do this to a 30 year customer, what can they do to you. Get another security company, there are many more credible and customer-focused companies out there than AEC.
They bumped up the fee to over $40/month to monitoring with upgrading fee, and 2 year contract. When our system was malfunctioning, I asked that they come and looked into it. They did and billed me for $140.50 just to identify that the motherboard is not functioning. They then requested that I pay $750 to replace the motherboard. I started looking for other companies, and found one I could install all components myself, and with a monitoring fee of $15.00 for basic monitoring, and $20.00 for web-enabled security management, and I only needed to upgrade to that level when I am out of town, and it will revert back to $15.00 when I return.
The total package for all hardware is less than $500, less than replacing the motherboard. Hey you can save a lot of money year over year just on monitoring. I reviewed all the comments here, and now I could understand why people are giving AEC 1 star or less. Imagine they do this to a 30 year customer, what can they do to you. Get another security company, there are many more credible and customer-focused companies out there than AEC.
Joseph Y.
Dec 25, 2014
Not suggest to work with this company. We cancel our service before 3-year contract by my wife. This company need me to cancel the service. After I called, and they request fax to confirm it. Ironically, they charge one extra year because I called after the 3-year expiration date and they renew one-year contract automatically according to their untold contract. Very frustrated experience with this company already and they insist to charge one extra year without service.
S. Z.
Aug 21, 2014
I would give it a 0 star if I'm allowed. It's been so frustrating to deal with this company. Worst customer service and communication! I've spoken multiple reps there to discontinue the service since May and they still send me bills till today even though they have NOT provided services since May! I spoke with multiple people there and everyone has a different answer. How can company like this even survive in the service industry?
Cora M.
Jan 28, 2014
Train your employees! After being woken up at the crack of dawn by beeping one morning by our AEC alarm displaying a "Supervisory" alert, I called to see what the issue was and their customer service rep said she would have a technician remotely check the status for us and give me a follow up call with a response in a few minutes. I thought the problem would be quickly resolved.
Half an hour later, I still had not received a follow up call so I called back and got a different service rep who had to transfer me back to the original rep who was "handling" my case. The rep apologized for forgetting to return my call and informed me they would have to schedule a technician to come onsite to see what the issue was. She then said another person would be in contact with me to schedule an appointment. Hours later, I had received no call from anyone so I called back AGAIN only to have their team tell me they had no availability for appointments until later on during the week. What?
At this point, I had enough of the calling back and forth and asked to speak with one of their managers who apologized and said he would do everything he could do get an appointment for me the very next day and assured me he would call me back personally. The next morning, I received a call (not from the manager) to have a technician come and assist me that day. Technician came and for an hour was "fixing" the system-this cost me $100-I called the manager expressing my displeasure with the overall services and the best thing he could do for me was take $10 off-after a few more minutes of apologizing for my experience he reluctantly agreed to take $20. I guess that counts for something? All in all, it's not about the money at the end of the day-just do your job!
Half an hour later, I still had not received a follow up call so I called back and got a different service rep who had to transfer me back to the original rep who was "handling" my case. The rep apologized for forgetting to return my call and informed me they would have to schedule a technician to come onsite to see what the issue was. She then said another person would be in contact with me to schedule an appointment. Hours later, I had received no call from anyone so I called back AGAIN only to have their team tell me they had no availability for appointments until later on during the week. What?
At this point, I had enough of the calling back and forth and asked to speak with one of their managers who apologized and said he would do everything he could do get an appointment for me the very next day and assured me he would call me back personally. The next morning, I received a call (not from the manager) to have a technician come and assist me that day. Technician came and for an hour was "fixing" the system-this cost me $100-I called the manager expressing my displeasure with the overall services and the best thing he could do for me was take $10 off-after a few more minutes of apologizing for my experience he reluctantly agreed to take $20. I guess that counts for something? All in all, it's not about the money at the end of the day-just do your job!
Michael C.
Dec 05, 2013
HORRIBLE COMPANY! We spent $5,000 on an alarm system and it's never worked properly. Now we have an incessant beeping that randomly comes on for no explanation. It has woken us up at all hours of the day and night and there is no solution in sight. Beware of what you sign. They asked us to sign a contract that forbids us from requesting them to repair problems. We have friends with $500 systems that work better!
Marwan A.
Nov 13, 2013
Stay away from this horrible business and save your money, as they show very unethical business practices. The funny thing is that on their work order paper work, their motto is "Honesty and Quality", you be the judge if they had either of these adjectives. After purchasing a house which had AEC equipment already installed, we called AEC to schedule an appointment so they can show us the features of the installed Alarm.
They asked for $120 per hour to provide this service, we agreed to pay that, as we were interested in activating the security service. On the day of appointment, the technician, tested the system and all was working as expected except that the backup battery needed to be replaced. They asked for $37.98 to replace the battery and we agreed to pay. After replacing the battery, the system stopped working.
The technician then said that the initial hour is over, and if he had to stay longer to fix the problem (that he just caused, I might add!) we have to pay AEC Alarms for the extra time, this is obviously not reasonable so I refused and asked to speak to a manager, he called his manager and he was allowed to work an additional hour to investigate the issue.
After the second hour was up, he again said that if he had to stay longer to fix the issue (that he just caused, I might add again!), we have to pay AEC Alarms for the additional time. At that time, I needed to go to work, so I called his manager Henry V. to complain, I was told by the admin who answered the phone that he may not be available for a week! (I thought that was odd, since the technician just spoke to him) I left him a long message describing the issue and giving him a chance to fix the issue.
And I also left the operation manager (Pui) a voice mail asking that they address the issue that AEC Alarms has caused. Neither manager have called back but they did not forget to cash the check. I reported this company to BBB and now to Yelp. Stay away, find a different better alarms company.
They asked for $120 per hour to provide this service, we agreed to pay that, as we were interested in activating the security service. On the day of appointment, the technician, tested the system and all was working as expected except that the backup battery needed to be replaced. They asked for $37.98 to replace the battery and we agreed to pay. After replacing the battery, the system stopped working.
The technician then said that the initial hour is over, and if he had to stay longer to fix the problem (that he just caused, I might add!) we have to pay AEC Alarms for the extra time, this is obviously not reasonable so I refused and asked to speak to a manager, he called his manager and he was allowed to work an additional hour to investigate the issue.
After the second hour was up, he again said that if he had to stay longer to fix the issue (that he just caused, I might add again!), we have to pay AEC Alarms for the additional time. At that time, I needed to go to work, so I called his manager Henry V. to complain, I was told by the admin who answered the phone that he may not be available for a week! (I thought that was odd, since the technician just spoke to him) I left him a long message describing the issue and giving him a chance to fix the issue.
And I also left the operation manager (Pui) a voice mail asking that they address the issue that AEC Alarms has caused. Neither manager have called back but they did not forget to cash the check. I reported this company to BBB and now to Yelp. Stay away, find a different better alarms company.
Andrew L.
Nov 20, 2012
Horrible company! I have tried for 2 years to cancel my service. I was told I had to cancel 30 days prior to renewal. I waited a full year to call and cancel. I was told to fax my cancellation request-which I did. I called to confirm receipt- which I was told they received and it would be cancelled. I received a bill the following month- called again and was told it was an error and would be corrected.
Then I received a past due bill the next month and that I was going to collections! No one should have to go through this much to cancel anything! They bank on you forgetting and sticking you for another year or two contract. I am contacting the Better Business Bureau on this one.
Then I received a past due bill the next month and that I was going to collections! No one should have to go through this much to cancel anything! They bank on you forgetting and sticking you for another year or two contract. I am contacting the Better Business Bureau on this one.
Darrell E.
Sep 18, 2012
Don't use this company. I was a customer for over 6 years and cancelled my service back in May since I had closed my business. 4 months later I received an invoice. After calling I find out that they had never received the cancellation and that you're automatically renewed for a year (mine was in Feb). If I had known that I would have cancelled the service in Feb.
They stated that they never receive my cancellation form back in May either. Why is it called a cancellation form if you can't actually cancel your account? They should send out a notification annually if your contract renews each year. Oh, and I was hung up on once by their billing department, put through to voicemail when I was being transferred, and a few months ago the billing department never returned my voicemail. Customer service is terrible. Go with a different company that doesn't have deceptive business practices.
They stated that they never receive my cancellation form back in May either. Why is it called a cancellation form if you can't actually cancel your account? They should send out a notification annually if your contract renews each year. Oh, and I was hung up on once by their billing department, put through to voicemail when I was being transferred, and a few months ago the billing department never returned my voicemail. Customer service is terrible. Go with a different company that doesn't have deceptive business practices.
Flamingo M.
May 09, 2012
10 months after my first review the company contacted me via message on Yelp and asked me to contact them to allow them to "work out" my issue. They are very non-specific about the type of issue and/or the help. Seriously? No. I would not use your company again if you walked on glass to my door and offered me a lifetime of free service, including my very own bodyguard who looked just like Kevin Costner (before he got old, of course).
Here is a clue, AEC. Waiting 10 months to contact a former customer who actually reviewed you on Yelp indicates you either a) have run out of old customers to hound for yearly contracts; or b) think this will help your abysmal Yelp score. Yeah. Not. Going. To happen.
Here is a clue, AEC. Waiting 10 months to contact a former customer who actually reviewed you on Yelp indicates you either a) have run out of old customers to hound for yearly contracts; or b) think this will help your abysmal Yelp score. Yeah. Not. Going. To happen.
