# F'ing lying sacks of manure from ADT just rang my doorbell **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 25, 2021, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752 "2021-02-25T22:46:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/41 "2021-02-26T20:11:52Z")
Are you serious? You pay these numbskulls $49 a month? No joking, why? I don’t get it. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/42 "2021-02-26T20:19:52Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > “Yes, I am the homeowner – Legolas, son of Thranduil, king of the Woodland Realm.” 😃 “This is my wife Mistress Katy of Perry…” ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/43 "2021-02-26T20:30:39Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > > [@k9bfriender](#): > > > > **I once considered putting up a sign to the effect of:** > > > > Before you ring that bell, you should know two things. One, I _hate_ to be interrupted. Two, I _do_ enjoy yelling at people. > > > > Life’s a choice, make yours. - > > “The guard dogs are trained to associate food with the sound of a bell” “The dogs have tested positive. Twice.” ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/44 "2021-02-26T20:53:29Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Are you serious? You pay these numbskulls $49 a month? > > No joking, why? I don’t get it. They have a pretty good app, that allows me to watch cameras live or record clips of movement. Simplysafe only offers live, no recording. Also, they call the police or fire if something is amiss. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/45 "2021-02-26T20:58:25Z")
$49 seems awfully steep for that. Nearly $600 a year? But I guess if you like the peace of mind it gives you. I would consider that robbery though. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/46 "2021-02-26T21:01:36Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > $49 seems awfully steep for that. Nearly $600 a year? Well, it’s not free anywhere else, so it’s the difference that we’re paying to go with ADT. Maybe 300 per year. Not cheap, but monitored alarm does save us something on our homeowners insurance. I don’t know how much. And does give us peace of mind. In the old days, my wife was often home alone while I traveled, and we don’t have any neighbors to keep an eye on us. And when she traveled with me, the house was empty for days or weeks at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/47 "2021-02-26T21:02:21Z")
We are often on extended RV trips during the spring to fall time frame every year, so the house is empty. We have good neighbors who keep an eye out, but if there was an intrusion, ADT will try to call me, then the neighbor, then the cops. If I notify them ahead of time that I will be gone, they will just notify the cops first. There is also heat detectors in the kitchen and the basement. If they alert, ADT immediately notifies the FD. So it’s worth the monthly cost to me. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/48 "2021-02-26T21:03:04Z")
Avery recent article about the effectiveness of ADT: [Why ADT is Dead | Home Security Secrets | Deep Sentinel](https://www.deepsentinel.com/blogs/home-security/why-adt-is-dead-are-you-really-safe/) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/49 "2021-02-26T21:09:38Z")
That’s written by another security company, so I take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/50 "2021-02-26T21:11:15Z")
Most definitely, but it does pretty much line up with everything I’ve read about security companies over the last few years. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/51 "2021-02-26T21:16:06Z")
I just had a Nice Young Man ® from the telephone company knock loudly and ring my doorbell while I was in a conference call. He would not stop (I guess he knew I was home as my window is visible from the street) I told him I was busy, working from home. Goodbye. He would Not. Shut. Up. Loudly blathering his spiel. NO. NOT INTERESTED. blather blather blather blather. I finally shouted at him GO AWAY! GO AWAY NOW! And shut the door on him as he was still talking non-stop. I swear he was still talking on my doorstep for another 30 seconds as he seemed to be unable to stop the garble spewing from his mouth-hole. Jeezus, I’m normally not that rude but this guy took the prize. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/52 "2021-02-26T21:16:46Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > Before you ring that bell, you should know two things. One, I _hate_ to be interrupted. Two, I _do_ enjoy yelling at people. I have a sign on my door that says “I do not want to convert to your religion.” Cut the number of missionaries in half. I put the same thing up in Spanish, and now I don’t get any, and I had been getting about 3 a week. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/53 "2021-02-26T21:24:26Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I’ve found “I’m not the homeowner” to shut them down quickly and if they ask “when will they return?” simply reply “I don’t know”. “Well, it will be a while I imagine. They’ve been clawing at the door trying to get out of the basement for two weeks now.” ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/54 "2021-02-26T22:54:11Z")
I seem to get people selling solar. I’d like solar; I want solar, but it’s just not time yet. I guess what I should do is a keep a list of the companies that bother me to put into the “no” file for when the time is right to get solar. The last one was bad. She was trying to do that scam where they pretend like they’re from the local utility, but she kept getting the company names messed up. No ID or clipboard, but she did have an [orange vest](https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ergodyne-GLoWEAR-Orange-Hi-Vis-Non-Certified-Standard-Vest-8020HL/308979200)! The ones I really feel sorry for are the ones where the person doing the selling is the one getting scammed. One European young woman a few years ago was trying to sell education materials. It is a summer work scam perpetrated on foreign college students. She really wanted to come in the house. I offered her water and sunscreen, but wouldn’t let her in. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/55 "2021-02-26T22:56:50Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > > [@Hampshire](#): > > > > I’ve found “I’m not the homeowner” to shut them down quickly and if they ask “when will they return?” simply reply “I don’t know”. > > “Well, it will be a while I imagine. They’ve been clawing at the door trying to get out of the basement for two weeks now.” - They quiet down much sooner if you don’t feed 'em. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/56 "2021-02-26T23:02:47Z")
I think any door ringers or cold callers have the opposite of desired reaction from me. If unsolicited, I assume also unethical and won’t do business with you. The only exception to this would have been a neighborhood kid offering to shovel snow or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![FastDan1](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fastdan1/32/427_2.png) [@FastDan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FastDan1)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/57 "2021-02-26T23:05:14Z")
Who cares about their comeback? And no need to make up a story. Say, “No thanks”, and shut the door. They will eventually get the hint and leave. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/58 "2021-02-26T23:10:08Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > The ones I really feel sorry for are the ones where the person doing the selling is the one getting scammed. One European young woman a few years ago was trying to sell education materials. It is a summer work scam perpetrated on foreign college students. She really wanted to come in the house. I offered her water and sunscreen, but wouldn’t let her in. I remember a few years back a really nice young man was a foreign student from Africa, he was extremely polite and almost seemed embarrassed to come to the door so I felt bad for him. But the books he was trying to sell were not of any interest to me at all. I wonder if it was the same business. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/59 "2021-02-26T23:30:18Z")
Like spam, these schemes must work enough of the time such that sending these lying sacks of manure out to our doors is worth the effort. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752/60 "2021-02-26T23:58:03Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > > [@What\_Exit](#): > > > > Are you serious? You pay these numbskulls $49 a month? > > > > No joking, why? I don’t get it. > > They have a pretty good app, that allows me to watch cameras live or record clips of movement. Simplysafe only offers live, no recording. Also, they call the police or fire if something is amiss. Looks like Simplisafe does offer motion-activated event recording with notification of the monitoring service, so they can check your camera feed to see if there’s actually an intruder and then call authorities. No idea how much that costs (their standard monitoring fee is considerably cheaper than what places like ADT charge). > **[SimpliSafe Cameras Review](https://www.reviews.org/home-security/simplisafe-cameras-review/)** > > SimpliSafe has four security cameras: Wired and wireless indoor cameras, an outdoor camera, and the Video Doorbell Pro. But are they good enough for your house? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fing-lying-sacks-of-manure-from-adt-just-rang-my-doorbell/933752.md?page=4)