HTC Security
Is This Your Business?Author: Kalicia Bateman
HTC, Inc. is headquartered in Conway, South Carolina. Since its founding in 1952, the company has provided customers of Horry and Georgetown counties with communication products. Currently,the company offers high speed internet, digital television, home security, and local and long distance phone services. Customers can bundles services with HTC for discounts. Some of HTC's home security packages are compatible with home automation. The company uses industry leader, Alarm.com, allowing customers to control their home security system and home automation devices with their mobile device or computer.
Top Ranked Companies
The Good
- Bundle Discounts
- Compatible Monitoring with Some Existing Security Systems
- Home Automation
- High Degree of Transparency in Pricing
HTC offers discounts to its customers for bundling their existing services (TV, internet, or home phone service) with its home security packages. As such, customers can save up to $10 per month with company discounts. Customers purchasing a security package from HTC need to have either a landline home telephone or high speed internet for the system to work correctly. HTC can monitor some existing security systems, contingent upon compatibility. Whether a system is compatible or not is determined by an in-home visit and inspection by an HTC installer. Customers can add home automation products to their system with some packages, giving them a smart home that is controlled from their mobile device or computer. The company is very transparent with its pricing and packages, which is different than many companies in the industry. Pricing for equipment is also published, which is also unique among its competitors.
The Bad
- Terms of Contract Not Fully Transparent
- Small Geographic Service Area
- Lack of Specific Information About Home Automation Compatibility
While HTC is more transparent than many of its competitors in regards to pricing, it could still be more transparent with its customers. Information about the contract is not published online, such as its cancellation policy or a sample contract. Customers are responsible for 100 percent of the remainder of their 36 month service contract should they terminate for any reason, without exception. As this fee can be quite significant and perhaps unexpected by many customers, it would greatly improve the company's transparency if it would publish this information. HTC has a relatively small geographic service area in South Carolina. If customers are not in this area, they cannot receive service from the company. Little information is available about the brands or models of equipment that are included in the company's packages. Likewise, customers are not given much information about the compatibility of home automation devices and the system.
The Bottom Line
HTC offers several services to its customers, giving added value. The company includes bundling discounts in its pricing structure, so customers can save by purchasing products that they are already planning to buy from HTC. The company is more transparent with its pricing for both equipment and monitoring service than many of its competitors, but not transparent with its contract and cancellation policy.
