HOUSTON -- Local 2 Investigates your home security alarm. You might think $20 to $50 is a small price to pay for some peace of mind, knowing that help will arrive if someone breaks into your home.

But KPRC Local 2 investigative reporter Amy Davis explained why you may be paying for a false sense of security.

"Everything was broken," said Jessica McDaniel, describing how she and her husband Beau Pope found their southwest Houston home on Aug. 17 when they came home from work.

Their flat-screen TV was gone.

"All of my jewelry was gone," said McDaniels.

And Pope said their home security alarm was just lying on the ground beeping.

"I blame ADT," said McDaniels.

McDaniels paid ADT to install an alarm in her home in 2007. She paid the bill every month.

"They were my point of defense," McDaniels said. "And if something was going to happen, they were the ones who were going to tell HPD to come to my house and make sure everything's OK."

But ADT never called when burglars broke into her home -- not McDaniels, not even the police.

"We paid for that and it just wasn't there," said Pope.

Across town in Spring, Gerald Ennis accidentally set off his own alarm and was stunned by what he didn't hear.

"It's going through my mind saying 'OK, is it going to take them five minutes, 10 minutes?'" explained Ennis. "My goodness, here's 15 minutes, nothing's happening."

Comcast Home Security told Ennis it hadn't monitored his alarm for 15 months.

"For some reason, I had been deleted from their monitoring system," Ennis said.

He was deleted even though Comcast continued to deduct the monthly service fee from his bank account.

"When you pay the bill and it says 'doors and windows armed,' you assume you're protected," Dorothy Wilson, also an ADT customer, told Davis.

But Wilson discovered her two dogs were the only real deterrent to burglars.

"I couldn't believe it," she said.

"You may have service. You may not. Play Russian roulette and find out," said Dan Parsons, president of the Houston Better Business Bureau.

Parsons said it's not what consumers expect when we pay for a service.

"People are doing this, thinking they are doing the right thing and counting that that expenditure's protecting them," he said.

Comcast wouldn't talk on camera about Ennis' case, but the company sent us a statement apologizing for the inconvenience.

It went on to say, "While upgrading our home security operating and billing systems, his account was incorrectly placed in inactive status."

After our call, Comcast agreed to credit Ennis for the 15 months of service he didn't actually receive.

"I don't think, if it wasn't for y'all, I wouldn't have gotten it back," Ennis told Davis.

More than a month after we asked, ADT told us an ADT-authorized dealer actually placed Wilson's system out of service.

ADT did say Wilson should continue testing her alarm because ADT employees say the company does not send test signals to make sure your alarm is communicating properly.

"You're doing your part in paying the bill and turning it on isn't enough," Wilson said.

Local 2 Investigates got the same information from alarm companies. Both ADT and Comcast told us it is the customer's responsibility to test their alarm every month.

Comcast's customer contract actually reads that the subscriber shall "carefully test the system daily during the term of this agreement" and "notify the company in the event of any defect."

"The company's getting paid to do this," said Parsons. "And you'd like to think that you shouldn't have to worry and then have a false sense of security. It's more than a false sense of security. It's letting the ball drop from someone who's in the business to do this."

When ADT refused to give McDaniels any answers, her insurance company hired an alarm expert to test her alarm system.

We obtained a copy of the investigator's report that says ADT improperly installed the cellular backup alarm in McDaniels' home. When the burglars ripped out the alarm hooked to her telephone line, the backup never sent a signal to ADT.

The investigator wrote, "ADT's actions and inactions in this matter were deceptive and a deliberate disregard to the safety and security of Ms. McDaniel" -- what he believes is a violation of the Texas Occupations Code.

"They provided me with a box that beeped when I went in and out of my house to make me feel a little better," McDaniels said.

McDaniels' insurance company is now battling with ADT to recoup the $14,000 in damage and stolen property from the burglary.

So, who's looking out for the rest of us? In Texas, alarm companies must be licensed by the Department of Public Safety's Private Security Bureau, but when we spoke with that agency about what we found, a spokesman said these are contract issues and DPS cannot enforce contract issues.

DPS does take complaints against alarm companies. To find out how and where to file a complaint if you have one, visit www.txdps.state.tx.us/psb/consumer/info_complaints.htm.

You should also check your alarm system monthly. If you don't know how to do that, call your alarm company to find out.

ADT's Full Statement

"The concerns of ADT customer Jessica McDaniel and customer Dorothy Wilson are two separate and unrelated matters. A billing issue resulted in Ms. Wilson’s system being taken out of service. Ms. McDaniel’s security alarm panel was destroyed by a burglar before the panel could transmit an alarm signal.

"Ms. Wilson originally contracted for the installation of her alarm system with a company called Protect Your Home, an independent Authorized Dealer of ADT. A question about payment status on the Wilson account prompted Protect Your Home auditors to place the system out of service. This was discovered through a routine test of the alarm system and Ms. Wilson was provided a full refund.

"ADT is investigating the situation with Ms. McDaniel and urges anyone with an electronic security system to test it periodically to assure it is communicating properly with the customer monitoring center and to help identify any potential programming issues that may exist.

"To help provide an added layer of protection, ADT recommends customers use an additional or secondary method of communication, such as a cellular back-up, to help assure alarm signals are transmitted to an alarm company’s central monitoring station.

"ADT places a premium on the safety and security of its customers. If a customer has a question regarding their system, including instructions on how to test their system properly, they are encouraged to call 1-(800) ADT-ASAP."

Comcast's Full Statement

"We apologize for any inconvenience Mr. Ennis experienced as a result of a highly unusual technical issue. While upgrading our Home Security operating and billing systems, his account was incorrectly placed in an inactive status. At Comcast, providing high-quality uninterrupted service to our customers is our number one priority and we have taken the appropriate steps to ensure that this unusual incident does not happen again."