We've had an ADT security system since we moved into our home nearly 12 years ago. If you've never had such a service, it works like this: You sink a fairly large sum (often, $1000 or more) into installation of the hardware, then you pay a monthly fee (in ADT's case, for us, $30.36) for the company to monitor the system and report any alarms indicating break-in, fire, or other bad stuff.

Our ADT system was getting old and crotchety, and we were getting tired of waiting two weeks for a service technician when we needed one. So I called ADT (supposedly the nation's largest such company, and a division of Tyco) and two smaller, regional security companies to get estimates on new systems.

You all know where this is headed. Regional company #1 said, we'll have a rep call you back today; she did, and was in my home that afternoon, pitching her service. Regional company #2 said the same thing; their rep called soon after, and set an appointment to come by two days later.

At ADT, I negotiated a treacherous automated phone system to customer service, and then to sales, where I was told that a rep would call--and I'm not making this up--"within 72 hours."

That was one month ago. Needless to say, I haven't heard back. The regional companies' systems are both fine, and their monitoring service costs between $5 and $8 a month less than ADT's.

So, why are we still with ADT? As of last week, we're not. Which is what happens when companies get too big (and arrogant, I'd say) to pay attention to their customers.