Purchasing and Second Hand Systems

[roobarb!]

Availability

As of July 2014 the only actively marketed AlertMe equipment in the UK is Hive from British Gas.
At the time of writing there are no officially supported accessories for the Hive system.

Energy Systems are no longer available direct from AlertMe, which is a shame, because they were a bargain.

Security Systems are no longer available from AlertMe or British Gas since BG ceased development of Safe & Secure.

Accessories are available from British Gas in accordance with the price list and you can order by calling 0800 980 8593.
You won't be able to order a new Hub or bundle package.

Both AlertMe and British Gas will replace faulty equipment under the terms of their warranty.
Contact AlertMe on 0845 200 2874 or support@alertme.com.
Contact British Gas 'Geek Squad' on 0800 980 8614.


Second-Hand

Second-hand equipment may be the way many people go; there are just a few things to consider:

• The seller will have to ask AlertMe or British Gas to de-register their system.
• The system MUST have its unique ID code sticker (the little 'ABC123' code).
• Security kits (cuboid hub with an orange logo or rectangular hub) should normally be supplied with a SIM card.
• Security kits (cuboid hub) with a clear logo on top do not have battery backup or SIM capabilities.

Unless the seller provides you with a username and password for the account, you will need to speak to AlertMe or British Gas at some point in the process. You will definitely need to if there's a subscription fee to be transferred. It is always safest to check with the original retailer first; AlertMe have always been helpful in this regard. If the system you are buying does not appear to have a SIM card, definitely give the original retailer a call. They'll be able to advise on whether a replacement SIM can be supplied.

If you are buying a British Gas branded system, you must work with the seller and BG to ensure the system is swapped over. AlertMe can't do anything about these accounts and you will need to speak to the British Gas 'Geek Squad' team on 0800 980 8614. Their attitude to resales is unknown at the moment, so good luck!


I Have My System

The following only applies to AlertMe systems.

Once you have a de-registered system, you will need to connect it to your AlertMe account. As many second-hand systems will be lacking documentation, there are a couple of links you need. If you already have an AlertMe account, simply start the setup process here:

https://www.alertme.com/setup

If you don't already have one, or your main account already has a system associated with it, you can create a new account here:

https://www.alertme.com/user/register

From that point simply follow the on-screen instructions to set up your system.


Alternative

There is an alternative to all this. You could purchase a Lowe's Iris system from the US.

I haven't tried it, but the system is also based on AlertMe, many of the accessories are identical and I don't see any reason why UK SmartPlugs wouldn't work with the US hub. They retail with no restrictions from any Lowes store (US equivalent to B&Q) and can be imported for about £100 for a Safe & Secure Kit (all taxes and shipping included).

Again, I've not tried and don't know anyone that has, but it would be a great experiment!

[wobbles]

Hi Roobarb,

Thanks alot for your very informative post.

Q1 - Can you let me know if AlertMe EVER did supply internal sirens for their system or was it only BG systems that had this option?

Q2 - Did AM used to supply cameras?

Cheers

Wobbles

[roobarb!]

Q1 - Can you let me know if AlertMe EVER did supply internal sirens for their system or was it only BG systems that had this option?

Only the BG system had a siren of any kind - they sold an external alarm box.

However, it would be very easy to make your own using the AlertMe system. Simply connect any existing siren / strobe box cabling to an appropriate power supply (usual wall plug thing, 12V is common to power them, I believe) then plug that in to a SmartPlug. Call the SmartPlug 'Siren' and set up the SmartPlug to switch on whenever the alarm is triggered. There's even an option for SmartPlugs to be activated for x-number-of-minutes, which is good as the maximum permissible siren time is 20 minutes.

Personally I'm of the view that sirens only serve to annoy your neighbours, but I'm assuming you live out of earshot of me, so go ahead!

Obviously, you'd need to check that any power supply is correct for the devices in your siren box.

Q2 - Did AM used to supply cameras?

Yes, they did. And they worked reasonably well, if being a tad conspicuous. They were a Sercomm RC8021 unit, so if you can find one of those somewhere, you might be able to add it to your AlertMe system.

[roobarb!]

Updated opening post with latest info.

[nebooo]

Well, some feedback re "Both AlertMe and British Gas will replace faulty equipment under the terms of their warranty."

My AlertMe button which I was using as a doorbell was developed a fault and I've sent it to AlertMe support who confirmed the fault, but said they cannot do anything as the button was out of production and suggested to dispose it or return the faulty one back to me.

So I don't have any buttons anymore

[roobarb!]

Really? That's no good. They most certainly do still manufacture them.

http://www.lowes.com/pd_388563-41166-BT ... Id=3735313

Tada!

[Mikey99]

Availability
Accessories are available from British Gas in accordance with the price list and you can order by calling 0800 980 8593.

I want to buy two more Smartplugs for my energy monitor system before stock runs out, I just tried calling the BG number in the post (above) and you get the general British gas auto answer system with only 4 options:
1) Buy Hive
2) Something about your British Gas account
3) Arrange an engineer visit
4) Tech support for Hive

None of these seem to match buying the stuff on the document above. I'm going to try 1) and see if they know anything!

[Mikey99]

Well this should be interesting, if it works. I pressed 1) and still the options didn't sound relevant, so I bashed '*' several times and got an operator. I was on the phone for about 5 mins, most of which was on hold while he furiously asked colleagues, looked things up etc, periodically coming back to check my full postal address (twice). I wasn't convinced he knew what I was talking about! However, finally he came back to the phone and saicd, right, all sorted for me, two Smartplugs, should be with me 3-5 days. I enquired what the total price was - he said he'd passed it to the dispatch team, they would be in touch regarding cost. I've no confidence this is going to work, I was never asked to pay and don't know the price - something just over £60 would have at least let me know that he'd identified what I was after!

So I suppose I now just wait and see if anyone contacts me or if anything arrives (unpaid for!).

[Mikey99]

As I feared - nothing. I don't think the guy knew anything, though what he actually did I'll never know.

But the bottom line seems to be that you CAN'T order spares from the British Gas number above.....

[roobarb!]

But the bottom line seems to be that you CAN'T order spares from the British Gas number above.....

Oh dear. That's not good. Guess it's eBay for the time being, then.

I'm surprised it's taking them such a long time to push out any more Hive products, actually. They seem to be going very softly-softly.