Brinks Security

Brinks Tower No Longer Picks Up a Signal: The ADT repairman told me that after the past 3 months of nobody being able to find out why the trouble light is coming on and why the alarm goes off randomly all the time, the new equipment we paid for no longer works and does not connect with a tower supplied by AT&T. But it is possible it works in other neighborhoods in Houston, really. The tech said he had worked for Brinks and now that he is an ADT employee, he hates how Brinks is treating everyone. He thought a solution could be found, it was costing a large amount of people money, lack of security and a bad name for ADT. He said he hated going out everyday and seeing how the company was treating their customers.

He told me I should be able to break my contract because essentially, it is worth nothing. He stated it would be wise to change over to Protection One or we could buy a $200 booster and drill a hole in the wall and drop wires down through the ceiling to reach to our modem and it might work or it might not work. This is not what the salesperson sold us when we bought the system. So far now, we basically have no protection and are still paying a monthly monitoring fee. Why is there no class action lawsuit coming out of all these complaints? Talk about talking out of both sides of your mouth. Shame on Brinks for cheating their customers by ensuring a false sense of security.

They told me I will own the system but someone from Brinks called me and ask me to key in a code that would disconnect me from their monitoring system. What it did was to disarm my system all together. Now, none of my 4 key fobs do not work, my alarm does not work and my garage door opener does not work. The system will beep each day at the same time until I disconnect the battery. They know what they were doing, I completed my agreement with them and now they have left me with nothing! I am really angry and about to turn them in to the Better Business!

I hope this gets to Brinks trucks that pick up money! I was coming out of Eastgate Wal-Mart. I was parked in handycap spot. I usually come out the doors and people stop but not the truck #042078. At 12:30 pm Tuesday 1-25-12, I had to be going 25 plus mph would have run over me had I walked on out as usual. It scared me he was going so fast. He stopped at the other door and I got in my car drove drown to other door and wrote the info of his truck.

I can't believe how many stupid people there are out there, who don't read their contract. If you read all the complaints on this site, almost everyone of them says they "thought they owned their equipment", and that they "didn't know about the automatic renewal". It is true that some of the alarm sales people did not tell the whole story when signing up a customer.

After all, how many alarms do you think they would sell if they told the customer that the customer: 1. Did not own their alarm equipment. 2. Would not be able to continue to use if if they cancelled the service. 3. Would not be able to switch to another alarm company? Regardless of all that, however, the fact remains that so many people think that the "little or no money down, and high monthly payment" deal is the way to go. Do the math, people! Yes, the old Brinks company didn't do any of us any favors, and did a lot to damage what a lot of us have been working for decades to make better, but that does not excuse you from reading and understanding your contract!

I have been in the Alarm business 20 years, and follow a simple formula: The customer will pay for the actual cost of equipment and installation labor, pay a low monthly fee, with a one year contract, and they own their alarm equipment. People, there is no free lunch out there. You will always pay more by going for the low-up-front, high monthly-rate, long term contract alarm and it is very likely you will not be happy with the service you get!

After my initial contract with Brinks Security, I elected to not renew my contract, as I found the system to be ineffective and expensive. The system failed to go off, when a prowler was tampering with my window (One of my pets woke me and I called the police). I triggered the alarm manually, but this did nothing to either dissuade the prowler, or to wake my neighbors. When my initial contract expired, I informed a Brinks representative of my decision to not renew. I clearly told him that I no longer wanted service from Brinks. Brinks called some time after this, with a claim for an unpaid bill.

It seems that my contract had been automatically renewed without my consent. I talked with the representative, and we determined that I had not had service for the year, had not renewed the contract, and that the bill was in error. Since that time, I periodically get calls from collection agencies on their behalf. I have filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau, and the Federal Trade Commission. It seems that I am joining the hundreds of thousands of other former Brinks/Broadview customers, with the same type of complaint. Billing has continued and is still unclear.

I just bought a new home on May 2010 which already had a Brinks system installed. Never had a security system before so didn't worry about it much but did like the beep every time the door or windows were open as we have 5 children. We never contacted anyone about the system being connected but it was apparently still working. After a few months the door chime quit working and the keypad would not work so I assume maybe the previous owners cancelled contract had ran out.

We have a swimming pool in our back yard and a small drainage pond in the front yard. My 2 year old has gotten in the habit of sneaking out of the house to go play outside so my wife decided we should get the alarm system reactivated so she would have the door chimes back and since we have everything installed it wouldn't hurt to have a home alarm system to protect our new home.

We called and they told us that they are now ADT and they scheduled a time to send someone out to do the paperwork. During her visit she informed us that the old Brinks keypad would not be compatible with the ADT system and we would have to pay $50 to replace it so we paid her with a check. We then scheduled a time to have a technician come out and put in the new keypad. Well, during his visit he informed us that the main box in the closet would also need to be changed for another $150 plus labor. We decided to just cancel everything on the spot because we were not comfortable with the way they seemed to be operating. They just came off as sleazy, sneaky and underhanded. It took some arguing on the phone but we finally got our $50 back.

I get the impression that this is my system as they said it was not compatible and they didn't want it when the previous owner cancelled. However the system does not seem to work stand-alone. If it's not compatible then why was it working when we moved in and why did they suddenly turn it off and lock it up without any phone call or visit? Evidently they can still use this box but were trying to scam us out of more money. There has to be a way to use this system without monitoring. All the doors and windows are already set up and we even have the motion detector and fire alarm.

Seems to me this company is very deceitful and dishonest.

I recently purchased a home that has a Brinks security system installed. Every single night after I go to bed, the control panel alarm goes off at 12:23 a.m.! I have to physically get out of bed and press the "cancel" button on the control panel to get the alarm to stop. Furthermore, the "trouble" light is constantly illuminated.

I called Brinks customer care department and spoke with Gloria. I explained to Gloria that I am the new property owner and the problem I am having with the security system. Gloria asked me for the "secret code word" associated with the account for the security system that's in my home. When I told her I did not know the "secret code word" and the previous homeowner only left the numeric "user codes", Gloria told me that she would not be able to help me. I clarified her response by asking her if that meant I would have to live with the control panel alarm going off every night at 12:23 a.m., and she responded, "Yes."

I told Gloria that this is crazy, having to wake up every single night at 12:23 a.m. to turn the control panel alarm off, and Gloria repeated that without the "secret code word," nothing can be done. Even after explaining to Gloria that the security system that is attached to the home conveyed with the property when the sale of the property went through, and I am now the new owner, Gloria still said there is nothing that can be done without the previous owner's "secret code word". I went on to ask Gloria what the "trouble" light meant. She said that since the previous homeowner cancelled their telephone service, Brinks can not make a connection to the security system, thus the "trouble" light will come on. When I asked Gloria if I could use the security system locally (not connect to Brinks), she said that a technician would have to come out to check the system and then determine that. However, I would have to pay for the technician to come out.

What a farce! This company's customer service is horrible and they will do anything and everything to rip you off and take your money!

I've been a customer of Brink's for over 7 years, and now they've merged with ADT. I've had their newest Global Satellite Module system, which was working fine until about 2 months ago. Now, the control panel beeps at 3:00AM, waking us up and at various times during the day indicating C1/C-P communication problems with the tower. I've been instructed to hit cancel twice which stops the beeping, but apparently, we have no service although we are still getting billed for it!

I have seen similar complaints before about Brinks' misleading contractual practices. My 3 year contract with them ended this month (Dec 2010), and when I called to cancel the monitoring service, they are telling me that if I do that, the system in my home will not work any more. I used to have a different alarm system (I believe it was ADT) before that worked just fine, before installing Brinks.

I don't understand why Brinks is making customers pay every month, if they don't like to have monitoring service, and just use the system after 3 years as a basic alarm. What a rip-off! Will the concerned authorities take action against this company? It's totally unfair for Brinks to continue to charge me even after the contractual term to use the system. The company should pay for the previous system that was in my place, and also install it prior to the start of the contract. No consumer should ever sign up with Brinks/Broadview/ADT again, and this company's business license for home security should be canceled. These are a bunch of thieves, stealing money from people in a polished manner.

I have been a customer of Brinks Home Security for over 2 years. I recently moved to a new home and called Brinks to cancel service at my last residence. I was asked for my key phrase or code word when I called and I gave the correct code word. Then once I stated that I needed to cancel, Trey asked me for my "other" code word-- I had no idea what he was asking because I do not recall a second code word.

I told him that I do not remember and was sorry. He then went on to tell me that it was impossible to cancel my service without it. I would have to look through my files and call back when I found it and I was not able to cancel any other way. I offered to answer any other security questions and asked to speak to a supervisor; he refused to transfer me and said I would be told the same thing.

I asked again and he put me on hold for 12 minutes. Erica, a supervisor, finally came on the phone and said I could fax in a cancellation letter if I did not remember my code. Erica never apologized for Trey's remarks and inaccurate information.

I have disconnected Brinks Alarm Services after 7 years of being their customer in spite of the original 3-year contract . The reason of disconnection was due to their horrible customer service. But they totally disabled the paned by putting a secret lock code and refused to give me a code to unlock. They are trying to make this very difficult for their customers to leave their service by locking their panel. This means that I have to pay extra hundreds dollars to buy another panel to go for another alarm company.

I believe this is a very unethical way of doing business. The very reason that they are trying to keep their customers by making difficulties to leave their service is actually scaring customers away as far as possible. Is there anything that Consumers Affairs do about having Brinks company to release the code to unlock my panel? Thank you.

I suppose that is technically true, but what was unknown to me, in the fine print there is an "automatic renewal" which, even though I am month to month, I am still obligated for another year.

So even if I discontinue service, they say I am still on the hook for the rest of the year, or 10 more months at this point. Additionally, they told me I would own the equipment, but when they come to disconnect the monitoring, they will also disconnect the alarm sound, so don't be like me and assume that just because you own the equipment that the alarm will still sound once you discontinue the monitoring part.

I will never do business with ADT in the future. I will not pay the remaining 10 months and so I guess my credit will take a hit or else I'll see them in court. I don't know if the security system kept crooks out of my house, but by dealing with ADT, I feel like I have been robbed nonetheless.

I signed a contract with a Brinks representative on April 24, 2006. I paid $249 down and $30.00 a month for 4-1/2 years. I called to cancel my alarm on July 22, 2010 with them due to me fulfilling my obligation with my contract. When I called to cancel, Broadview Associate transferred to Customer Loyalty where I was offered many different offers to stay with the company. I called back a day later and cancelled my alarm/monitoring service. The woman I spoke to was very nice and stated my last monitoring would be on July 26 because that would be the last day of the billing cycle.

On July 26 around 8 pm, I received a phone call from Broadview/Brinks with a man asking me to punch in a code to my alarm system to discontinue monitoring. I punched in the code ** and the call disconnected after a long beep on my key pad. Later that night, I tried to set the alarm so I could use the door chimes, etc. My key pad did not work! I opened the doors and nothing was working. I spoke to my husband who is currently station in Afghanistan and he was outranged and demanded me to call back and ask why our system in our home no longer works.

I called Broadview/Brinks at 10:00 am on July 27, 2010; spoke to Reggie and explained the problem with the alarm not working. Mr. Reggie informed me when you cancel your monitoring, your whole system will be deactivated (not functional) and you cannot use it at all unless you pay to have the system changed to a local system (you have to purchase the system from Brinks/Broadview for $500 and whatever parts you might need in order to change it so it only works in your home) or sign up again for monitoring.

I was transferred to Customer Loyalty again; I spoke to a Shquilta who was none helpful and rude. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and spoke to Peter. I explained to Peter I disagree with the alarm in my home not working due to it not being monitored anymore by his company. I felt that I purchased this alarm equipment due to paying $1560 over the last 4 years and the equipment should still be working even if was not being monitored by his company. Mr. Peter informed me, I own nothing. The equipment in my home belongs to Broadview/Brinks. If I want the equipment to work in my home as a local alarm then, I need to purchase the equipment and pay insulation to convert the operating box over to local system. The cost of purchasing the alarm from Brinks/Broadview will be $500.00 and whatever else I might need (like installation).

I was never at anytime informed until now that Brinks still own the equipment in my home. I was under the notion that by fulfilling my obligation, I would own the equipment due to the amount of money I paid out. I asked Mr. Peter if his company would be so kindly to come out and remove their equipment that they still own and make sure to fill the holes in my walls due to their equipment being uninstalled. Mr. Peter informed me there would also be a charge for them to come out and remove their equipment, however, they will not be responsible for filling in any holes or damages left to my home.

I then went through this whole situation again with Mr. Peter explaining where I did not understand their company's rules. Mr. Peter tried to inform me on the contract I and my husband signed, it stated in big bold black letters that Brinks own all equipment. All I know is that in the contract that I have in my hand does not state that Brinks will own all equipment after fulfilling my obligation and the system will be none workable after monitoring is discontinued with the company. My contract says I will pay $29.99 a months for 4 years and deducted out of my checking account. Mr. Peter suggested when he has a contract, he fulfills his obligation. I told Mr. Peter to pull out my account because I more than fulfilled my obligation with the contract I signed. Mr. Peter then reoffered to activate my alarm with them updating my equipment by paying an additional fee and signing another three contracts.

Is Mr. Peter for real? I'd rather open up all my windows, put a sign in my front yard for all the thieves and thugs to see, so they can come in, and take everything I own before giving this company more of my business or money. I have had two other alarm companies at previous duty stations and after fulfilling my contract with them, the equipment was ours and continues to work without sending out a monitoring signal to their company. I highly recommend Broadview/Brinks policies should be reviewed and clarified for future customers. I personally feel stolen from and I believe Brinks/Broadview is still trying to ** more money out of me. This is unacceptable and needs to be made right! I want the equipment in my home to work regardless if sending out a monitoring signal.

I signed a 3-year contract with Brinks, now known as Broadview, and soon to be ADT. I'm now in the third year of the contract, but I was not able to make the full yearly payment. Broadview disconnected the service after the first six months. I've been out of service for about 4 months now. When I asked them to reactivate the service, they told me to pay the full amount, including the 4 months that the service was disconnected. They kept repeating that I am "under contract." I'm no legal expert, but I think the law protects consumers from unfair contractual terms.

Why should I pay for service that I never received? And what's with that automatic one-year renewal? When a contract ends, it ends! I've read so many complaints on this site about this company and their billing practice. I wonder if any lawyer will take a look at the contract and make it a class action lawsuit against this company. I know I won't benefit much from it, but I'm willing to help and provide any information I have.

I signed up with Brinks, the first issue was not told it was a three year contract, I informed the rep. I wanted it to be debited from my account monthly, not knowing that it wasn't; six months later, I get a bill for $210, I called to ask why, I was informed that the payment has not been debited from my account. Due to a lost of income in the household, could not afford to pay it, the service was disconnected, so I assumed I only owed what the back payment; wrong.

Then I was informed there is a three year contract and I needed to pay what I owed up to that day; now if they send me to collections for the amount I owe; why does it go up every month until the contract ends, that is so unfair. If you send me to collections for what I owe, why do they add the monthly charge every month still? Brinks is not willing to assist you in any way. I was willing to pay the back payment of $210.00 but now it is over $500.00. I have called several times to take care of the bill, but it continues to go up.

I have a rental property and last September, the tenant allegedly got robbed. He then asked if I could contract with Brinks for a security system. He stated they would offer a good deal. So I agreed unknowingly since they rushed me to sign the contract, I did not realize it was a three-year contract. The tenant only had a one year lease, which I didn't plan to renew. The system was installed in October 2009. The tenant then moved out two months later leaving a mess and a security system to pay.

I called Brinks and told them of the problem and they instructed me to disable the system but that I should continue to make monthly payments until I got a new tenant in. It is now May and a new tenant is moving in the end of the month. However, they do not wish to pay for a security system. I called Brinks and they refused to let me out of this contract. It is incredible that in these hard times that this company is unwilling to work with the consumer. There must be a way to fight this and I wish someone could come up with some helpful advise.

I have been with Brink's since 2001 for my house and business security. I knew I had signed 3 years contract with Brinks but I was never told the contract gets renewed at end of the each term. So people, "please read the contract line by line". On Friday, 03/26/2010, my Brink's system was dead, so we called the customer Loyalty ( what a funny name) to notify them our system is out and for them to send a tech for repair. I was told I have to pay for tech and equipment repair. They have me in a contract and Monitoring agreement.

If the system is dead, how would they monitor my house? Loyalty rep told me it is my issue and they want their fees. And the bottom line is, they don't care about their customers, (loyalty dept) told me that. My advise, stay away from Brink's and read line by line. The installer and sales people do not tell you about the fine lines. Be careful to fall in the trap I am in now. I have given them 8 months in advance to cancel my service, let's see what will happen then. Stay away from Brink's.

I got Brinks (now Broadview) Home Security when I moved into my home over 3 years ago. After reviewing their rates (I pay about $38 a month), I found their service is overpriced and decided to switch. When I tried to cancel, they promptly told me that my 3-year contract was up Oct. 31, 2009 and was automatically renewed for another year. Since the date I wanted to cancel was in January, this means cancellation would be $30 for each month left or $270 (9 months). Even though this was in small print in the lengthy contract and not revealed to me at the time, I still think that if the original contract was fulfilled, they should terminate without such a large penalty. Where is their "customer care"? All they are accomplishing with this is bad mouth to mouth advertising because I will never use them again after this episode is over. Even though the economy has affected my income severely, Brinks could care less. I am stuck with paying their high rates even after fulfilling the original 3-year contract.

Brink's Home Security sold me an alarm system under a false pretence that the system would be belong to me if only I maintained monitoring services agreement with them for three years.

I did that and more. Recently, I decided to suspend my monitoring services for a while, that caused Bring's to totally disable my alarm system even though I have paid up the 3 year term and should own the system.

They are crocks, with false advertisement that and sales patches of free alarm system if you maintain monitoring services for three years. Now they are demanding $500.00 from me for the equipment I should own due to the three year contract services for monitoring.

When Brinks installed my alarm system, I was told that I would own the system. It has now been over 3 years and I have terminated my contract. The system doesn't work any longer. I called Brinks and they said I did not own the equipment, that all I did was pay for the install.

Brinks is a rip-off.

I activated Brinks Security in 2007. My neighborhood doesn't have cable and the house doesn't have phone land lines so I use Clearwire wireless. Brinks never told me that they had poor interoperability with a wireless provider. After over a year of paying on my contract, alarms constantly went off in the middle of the night. Multiple technicians came out and the last technician told me cancel my services until Comcast came to the neighborhood. I called Brinks and asked them to turn off my system.

I bought Brinks to protect me and my family. Getting woken up in the middle of the night turned into a health risk issue as we sleep on different floors than the alarm box which posed safety issues. I called customer service and told them my dilemma. They told me to write a letter and I could end my contract. I actually wrote 3 letters because they kept billing me for $699.00 for the remainder of the contract - even though I turned off the service in January 2009.

They submitted the bill to a collection agency without telling me. As someone with great credit this amounted to the company extorting money from me. I paid the $699 to clear the collection but I am a well paid professional and this took valuable time from my schedule and I don't want this to happen to someone else. When I would talk to the customer representatives they would say, "Well you did sign a contract' but before I signed up for the service if I had been told that Brinks was not compatible with Clearwire I would not have signed up.

They are wrong here and I am not going to let this slide. This is just the first of many emails I will be writing and phone calls being made.

When Brinks installed my alarm system, I was told that I would own the system. I was also told that the service I paid for every month for almost 6 years would monitor my alarm and call emergency services when ever needed. One day, while at work, Brinks called me and saif the alarm was going off. I knew my wife was home alone and the kids were at least safe in school. I called my wife on the other line and got no answer. Paniced, I called her cell and still no answer. I told the Brinks rep to call the police and he refused. He said that I had never signed some paper work indicating that I had purchased a license from the city. Well, I had done that, his paper work was wrong. He continued to say that he could not do anything.

I did a little checking and I am not a lawyer. But I think that when Brinks told me that I owned the system, and them over a month later disabled the system over the phone line, that is a crime. I may be wrong, but when someone sends a code over the phone line to intentionally disable or otherwise do harm to someone else's property is a crime. Correct?

Thanks,

Three years ago, I moved into this house due to adopting my son's two sisters. We got Brinks placed on the house and were told at that time, "we would own the equipment after the 3-year contract". I needed this system for the new children in my house getting out. I paid over $500 the first year with installation and over $300 for the next 2 years. Now my contract is over and my system does not work. I contacted Brinks and they said the equipment is theirs and there is nothing I can do except reattach or pay to buy the system. This is wrong, I am not a lawyer. I was told I would own the system and be able to use it. The company is a ripoff.

My dispute involves Brinks apparently upgrading my service to a yearly contract when I was paying more per month specifically to avoid a contract. I signed up for my alarm service with Brinks over a year ago. At the time of signing, I was offered two prices if I recall correctly, it was around $10 per month on a yearly contract or $13 a month without a contract. I knew I might switch service eventually and informed the Brinks salesman of that so I opted for the monthly contact.

Over a year later I decided I needed a cellular alarm which I was told Brinks does not offer (apparently this information was also incorrect). I was told that my contract automatically upgraded to a yearly after 3 months of service. This is unacceptable, why did they offer me a monthly contract at a higher price if in reality it was not a monthly contract? I would like my service to stop at the next billing cycle. I did not agree to yearly service, in fact I paid more each month to avoid a contract. They are going to continue to bill me.

Brinks compromises your personal security as a strong arm tactic to force you to continue your contract. They said, "too bad, your system will not work at all" (no siren, lights, etc.). Even though you have paid your contract in full, if you don't keep our monitoring service. We sent a code over the phone line to prevent any alarm operation, not just block it from phone monitoring. Just like the many other complaints about Brinks, after 4 years as a "paying customer", I was unemployed and needed to reduce expenses. I called Brinks to request removal from the monthly monitoring ($40 month). I was promised my security system (and the many accessories that I paid for and owned) would still work as a stand-alone service. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Once they send the blocking code over the phone lines, warning to other consumers, disconnect your phone line 24 hours in advance of a disconnect from their service. You will at least have an alarm system. My alarm did not work. When I called customer service, they promised again to fix it until a supervisor (read that high pressure salesman) got on the line to tell me I needed to send them $1600 to buy the system and even then, it would never work with another monitoring service. This is the most criminal corporation I have ever dealt with. It is like dealing with those groups who sell vacation timeshares, hold you hostage and then try to steal from you. Shame on you Brinks. You are the kind of company that give salespeople a bad name. I think I will go talk to a politician or car salesman, at least they are many times higher on the integrity scale.

We wanted to continue the Brinks home alarm system that was already in place when we purchased the house 9/08. When contacted by the sales rep Richard **, he informed us that we could add the basement area for free. If we ever wanted to separate the systems, we could and then there would be a charge, but otherwise it was free and included in our $30 a month payment. He had my husband sign for the contract as I had left.

The next day when the unit was to be installed, he had me sign another contract which was for the downstairs unit. I didn't know that we were signing 2 separate contracts until we started receiving 2 different bills for unit A and unit B. This is one house with a basement area, not apartments. When we contacted Brinks Corp., they said they would fix the problem. We continued to receive 2 bills and called our local office who said that since we had signed 2 contracts for 3 years each of us were stuck with the payments. This is costing us $30 a month to have our basement alarm system which has never been used and not necessary. We are stuck in a 3 year contract.

I am a police officer in a large metro area who answers calls. Last year I took an attempted burglary report from a woman who had a Brinks alarm. She informed me that the offenders had cut her phone line and that disarmed her alarm system. She had sustained a few thousand dollar losses. She said to prevent that she had to purchase a wireless upgrade. So in order to have a reliable alarm service and not just a deterrent (until the criminals figure out that to disarm the alarm just cut the phone wires, and then the deterrent won't be there). Consumers will have to pay an additional $275.00 installation fee and a $10.00 monthly monitor fee. If a burglar knows that cutting the telephone wires will result in disabling the alarm, what is the point in having an alarm?

Brinks never explained this to me. When I called to ask about this the rep said the alarm is a deterrent. I can purchase a loud siren from Radio Shack. This is not fair to Brinks alarm consumers as they believe they are protected and is something the consumers need to be made aware of. Also, in my city burglar alarms are not a priority call and I have been dispatched to a residence long after the burglar has left the scene. Too many false alarms and low manpower. I believe that not too many folks are aware of this phone line situation.

A few weeks ago my husband was laid off from a very WELL paying job which he had been employed with for over 10 years. We called Brinks to inform them of our new financial hardship and to see if we could suspend our service until he found another job. We had already turned off our home phone service since it was an extra expense that we just could no longer afford. We had also already worked out suspensions or financial hardship claims with all of our other creditors...credit cards, satellite, cell phone, mortgage, etc. with no real difficulty.

We were appalled after speaking with Brinks. They offer no hardship clause nor will they work with you if you need to cancel your service do to job loss. We were in the last 9 months of a 3 year contract which we had been paying on well and never really had any issues or complaints about.

When we signed the contract 2.5 years earlier we fully expected to maintain the service for the duration of the contract, however due to mitigating and uncontrollable circumstances we could no longer afford the service. We are trying to be responsible Americans and do everything we can to pay our debts, however Brinks has been the MOST difficult and unrelenting company we have had to deal with!

2. You may subscribe to a different service which is $5 more per month and you must pay a $175+ dollar installation fee!

I find it appaling that they can do this to their customers and get away with it when LARGE banks are helping people cut their mortgages and all of america is suffering right now. This company is only concerned about themselves and has NO RESPECT for their customers regardless of how long or how well you have been a customer to them.

I WILL NEVER RECOMMEND BRINKS TO ANYONE I KNOW! Consequences: our credit is now ruined and we are having to try and work with an attorney to get the matter reconciled.

1. At the time on installation I paid $24. I was told this fee would cover my permit with the city to have the alarm and that they would file all the necessary paperwork. Payment was provided on 2/13/09 cleared bank and as of 3/6/09, the registration with the city had not been done by Brinks or their installation representative.

2. I also provided information regarding a pet (dog) living in the home at this time, at the time of service cancellation on 3/6/09 this information had not been updated on my Brinks account.

3. They showed up unprepared for the installation they did not have necessary parts and tools so they could not complete the installation. I was told at this time that I would be contacted on 2/16/09 to schedule a time for the installation to be completed. (This, at minimum, would have included a key pad at the back door and the wireless sensors in the main living areas).

4. There is a large window in the main living area that they suggested they hard wire because they did not have the wireless parts on the truck. There was a problem during this hard wire installation and a set of wood window blinds were broken (I have had them repaired at a cost of $48.)

5. I was never contacted by Brinks or their installation representative. I had to call Brinks directly and complain about this and to schedule the appointment to complete the installation.

6. The sensor at the back door began setting off the alarm and beeping randomly I notified Brinks of this when I called to schedule a time to have the installation completed.

7. The alarm went off late one night. Since no key pad was installed at the back door, I waited for the Brinks to call before I went to the front door. However, my house phone never rang but I did have a voicemail from Brinks. I was reached on my cell phone, which is my secondary contact number.

8. The appointment to complete the installation was scheduled for 3/4/09 between 12-4p. I was contacted by Southern Colorado Security System around 1:30p this day, they indicated they did not have the parts and would have to reschedule.

9. This same day, 3/4/09, I received a monthly bill from Brinks. A bill in the full monthly amount, for a system that was not yet fully installed or working correctly.

10. This same day, 3/4/09, I was contacted by a neighbor at my former residence where the alarm had been moved from, they informed me that an alarm had been going off for nearly a week. Despite this alarm sounding, I never received a call from Brinks.

11. On 3/5/09 I received a call on my cell phone, which I could not pick up. I checked the voicemail within 10 minutes of receiving. It was a Brinks representative indicating that there was an alarm incident at my home and I needed to call them. I immediately returned the call. There was no sense of urgency on behalf of the representative I spoke with. She informed me that the alarm was set off due to the back door, which is the faulty sensor I had problems with from the beginning. She indicated the police had been called and I needed to go home. She took the make and model of my vehicle.

12. As I was driving home my cell phone rang again, another Brinks representative. He was calling to inform me of an alarm incident at my home. He had no knowledge of the conversation I had with his co-worker. He informed me that the police had not been called because, as already listed above, the paperwork had not yet been filed with the city and my account did not indicate a pet being in the home.

13. Again, I checked my home phone, no call from Brinks and yet I had a voicemail. Im guessing when the system was installed something was not done right here. I informed them of the type of phone services I had at the time of installation.

14. I went home, stopped the alarm and contacted Brinks. I was told that the department I needed to speak with was out that day.

15. I contacted Brinks on 3/6/09.I informed the representative that I wanted to cancel my account due to everything listed above. She informed me that I only had 72 hours to cancel the agreement from when I signed it. She was not concerned that it had not been done right to begin with, that I was never contacted regarding the completion of the installation, that appointments were canceled or that paperwork and information that was paid for and provided was not filed or updated.

16. I asked to speak with a manager; she put me on hold, came back on the phone and informed that her manager said I only had 72 hours to cancel and that he would not speak with me.

17. I notified Brinks in writing of all their mistakes which clearly show they breached the contract. They declined my request to cancel with no penalties. They sent a form letter which did not address a single concern I had.

At the time I requested the cancellation, the system had not been installed right or complete and I seemed to be the only party concerned about this. What if there had been a real emergency?

I moved and had to move my Brink's service. A month later Brink's still did not have my correct address where my alarm is installed and told me my account was cancelled by me and they billed me for $800+ because they claimed I did not fulfill my contract! But they were taking my money on my monthly auto-pay, so how could they say my account was cancelled? Then I could not access my online account with Brink's to change payment form, so they emailed me a new password.

The password did not work, so I called again and was told I can not access my online account because my account is cancelled. I said, but you are taking my money on my monthly payment! I have had Brink's for 10 years and I don't know what has happened in the last year or so, but the customer service is horrible, and I am stuck in a 3 year + contract (which they claim has been cancelled), and I can't change service. I am appalled, and disgusted with Brinks and concerned whether they are even really monitoring my home.

Wasting hours on end on the phone with multiple Brink's people, none of whom tell me a same story. Nobody there knows what is going on!

This is a sub-contractor for Brinks Home Security. Contact on our rear door was placed in middle of the glass door. When opening, contact hits frame of door. Adhesive was used and not permanently screwed in. First, we cannot fully open door. Second, contact needs to me moved to proper corner of frame. Three, alarm sounded 2am in morning due to improper contact placement. Four, Brinks calls for alarm event, I explain the problem. Was told they would be happy to repair at no charge. Brinks main office scheduled appt for tech to come for Weds, April 1, 2009. No call, no show.

I called three times since then, and get same lame answer that they would be happy to send tech out from main Brinks corp. Requested call from business owner on Thursday, April 2, 2009. They informed me it would take up to 48 hours to get call back. No call back due to a weekend. Called again and informed them that I would not honor their contract, if they are not going to honor the proper installation as they said they would at no charge. Finally talked to subcontractors secretary directly last Friday. I told her that the 48 hour turn around for a call back is going to be longer than 48 hours. Suggested manager/owner contacts me as soon as possible. Still no call.

Called Brinks this morning, again getting the same lame message. They will send a message to contractor. As of today, April 8, 2009, no contact from subcontractor listed above. First complaint I have ever had to make as I have worked in corporate business management in years past. This is by far the most unprofessional service we ever had. Was wondering if I can pay another electronics engineer to come and repair and send the invoice to above named business. Before we default on payments, I deemed it necessary to file this complaint to protect later when we refuse to pay or get referred to a credit agency. They just need to complete the job before we send any money for their lack of customer service and professionalism. We have a life and a lot to do to sit around and wait for these people to show.

The only consequence that may incur is the potential of this company referring us to a credit agency for non-payment and late charges due to default on their part of an improper installation. And again, possible loss of work hours to be available for a tech if they ever come. Already happened one time, we refuse to take paid time off to be available for unprofessional conduct on their part.

When we built our home in Fla in 2005, we had Brinks install the home security system as we had used them before in Texas.Brinks charged us approx $1,600 broken down by items on thier installation order. We just recently cancelled the alarm monitoring and to my chagrin, the contract states that after all this time, the equipment still belongs to them. Unfortunately, we did not take the time to read the contract, so we are somewhat at fault ,although when we dealt with the salesperson from Jacksonville, he never once mentioned that the cost was all for installation and the equipment would always be owned by Brinks. We called Brinks today and the customer rep. just pointed me to the contract and said there was nothing they could do.

The result is we have paid almost $3,000 to Brinks, we cannot use the equipment and their equipment is not compatible with any other alarm monitoring co. We do declare that Brinks was deceptive in their dealings with us and want to make the public be aware of this. Do read your contracts but more importantly, we strongly recommend you DO NOT USE BRINKS.

On February 3, 2008, I called Brinks Home Security after almost 5 years of service and requested a deactivation of my service at 12 Wosniak Court because I was moving to a new location and will be selling the premise that the Brinks Home Security was installed in April of 2008. Since I could not recall the required codeword/password to make the request, the sales representative said I could fax them a written letter with my signature so they can authenticate the signature. I faxed them the deactivation request letter with my signature on February 4, 2008 through my personal fax machine and assumed that it was automatically deactivated. I still have a copy of the fax transmission document an confirmation report to prove this.

Because of a lot of activities that year (marriage, selling my home and purchasing a new one), I did not realize that Brinks continued to charge my account until the end of the year 2008.

I called Brinks on January 13, 2009 and spoke with a Ms. Janice C, explaining the situation. I further tell her that I have sold the home in April 2008, and that I deactivated the phone registered to the account so the phone account associated the monitored residence home owner so monitoring service should not even work. She referenced a "Mr. P" as her manager and said that she never received a fax, although she would arrange with Mr. P that if I resent another fax with my signature again, she would arrange with Mr. P to deactivate my account and reimburse me for the charges through Dec 2008. She also apologized, mentioning that her records show that the new homeowners called Brinks, inquiring about setting up and continuing the home security monitoring. This leads me to suspect that they are charging 2 different accounts for a service to one location. I fax yet another deactivation request with my signature and this time use a 3rd party fax service to ensure that an independent party confirmed the fax transmission. I have a copy of this transmission and confirmation. I never receive a call from a Mr. P.

Three weeks later, there is no word from Brinks and I find that they once again charged my checking account. Furthermore, they send a letter to my *new* home address in Sparta regarding the Wosniak Court home (i.e.: the home I no longer own) stating that they are increasing my monthly fee.

To stop the automatic payments, on March 11, I file a request through my bank, JP Morgan Chase, and submit a claim explaining this situation and request that they refuse any further automatic deductions from Brinks. Chase approves the claims reimburses me for the $27.99 for the months of January 2009 and February 2009 on March 15.

I receive another letter from Brinks on Saturday March 28, now billing me for the reverse payments that Chase reclaimed, and for "monitoring" from March 19 through April 18, 2009.

I call Brinks today at 10am EST, speak with "Laramie" and request to directly speak with Mr. Potts. I get transferred to an oddly sounding generic voicemail with no direct voiceprint of a "Mr. P". I now question whether this person exists or is an alias for a general bin of complaints.

This is a ridiculous situation. I no longer own this home, do not have the subscribed number (implying that they are not even monitoring the home with the direct line attached to that system), and have complied with all their fallback procedures to validate my identity. And yet they will not let me out of my contract.

I order Brinks Homes Security months after my new husband and I moved into our new home. There was a rash of home robbery in our community. The home already had all the Brinks equiptment, all we had to do was turn it on. The sales person was too eager to have me to sign the contract & turn on the equiptment building off the fear of home invasion and robbery. I never heard it explained that if you chose to no longer use your service, you will be billed for 3 years of contracted time. Six month or so, my marriage went bust, I had to move out in the middle of the night. I sought refuge with my 91 yr old mom.

I called the Brinks, cutting off service, explaining my hardship situation (due to economic times, am not able to find work in my mom's rual town & now I am her caregiver).The husband & I got divorced and the home sold. Brinks told me to write a letter to billing dept explaining my hardship. then they denied me... and sent the denial letter to the sold property That was over 2 years ago. Now my credit report is scarred up and the best they can tell me is to transfer the service my husband paid for over to my 91 yr old mom's house in another state...and let her pay for it! This is an OUTRAGE!

Please, where is the Class Action suit. My bill at Brinks is Now $700. WHY? Are they crasy, where is the buy out clause? They make no offer to work with costumers on any level. Please. Lawyer, contact me. I am ready! The consequences is called STRESS! who wants to have terrible migrane headaches every day because you can't work out solutions with your creditors!

I had a false alarm sound that would not turn off. Brinks was totally unaware of the alarm which makes me wonder if they were monitoring at all. Their commercials are very misleading. I believe their equipment is faulty and when you contact them, you get very poor and unsatisfactory service from their customer service department. Their contracts are too long term, especially for the poor service you receive.

They keep billing me for service I don't receive or that is totally unsatisfactory.

I had a Brinks alarm installed the end of last year and after reading one of the complaints I am going to reread the contract and make sure a date is in because I am going to cancel the day it is up. I keep getting false alarms. Once I told them my password and Brinks still sent the police out. I have a letter from the City of Miami that I get two a year and then I must pay $50.00 for each one after that. Every time the false alarm goes off, it is a different zone which makes me think all their equipment is defective. Also when you call to report the false alarm you are left on hold for some time. I never had this problem with ADT. I made a real mistake switching.

I am a current customer as a result of the commercial Brinks have which implied that Brinks system was secure. WELL! I activate my alarm as soon as I enter my home and as soon as I leave. Earlier this week, I'm upstairs in my bedroom, relaxing about to fall asleep and I roll over and realize someone is about to enter my bedroom! I jumped and yell who's that!?!? Thank God it was my brother, who has the code. After I told him that he scarred the begeebies out of me, I said but I didn't hear the sound that something was open. He said it went off and he put in the code, which I didn't hear either.

Since then I've been examining the system to find the volume so that I could adjust it higher in order to hear it when someone enters. Couldn't find it so I called and was told that it didn't have a volume. I responded I paid a lot of money for a system that I can't hear, that doesn't make since. The sound is to notify me that someone is in my home but I can't hear it. She transferred me to the manager of customer service and I was told for an additional fee I could have a key pad placed in my bedroom or I could press Instant.

Both options were not feasible as it broke my purse to sign up for this fake security so to give them more money for a poorly designed system is not an option and my brother checks on me and my son often, so when he comes in the alarm will go off if I chose the Instant option. She the thought she was reassuring me by letting me know that I would have 40 SECONDS! I told her that it takes less than that for someone to break in, come into my bedroom and force me to press the code to turn off the activation with seconds left! Then I just found out that the response time should the alarm go off is not as soon as I was believing it was. WHAT A POOR SYSTEM! I wonder how many lawsuits they have.

I owned and operated several professional alarm companies in Florida between 1974 and 1994, and have installed over 2000 home and business security systems. I have recently been watching Brinks alarm tv commercials that are blatently untrue and fraudulent.

The typical (and most commonly sold or leased) alarm system depends on a digital communicating device to report an attempted break-in, and the reporting and call-back time averages 30 to 60 seconds, and sometimes longer. The commercial shows an elapsed time of only 5 seconds, with no disclaimer that actual response time may not be that fast. Immediate alarm signal transmission is still possible for systems monitored by leased by dedicated phone lines, but this is technology that is rarely used today. A disclaimer should be used, otherwise users may expect to receive that level of service....a lie that will certainly result in more sales for Brinks.

Further, at the close of the commercial, the police are shown on the victim's porch taking a report, and a Brinks yard sign is in the foreground. Intruders rarely want to break-in to a property that has an alarm system. An alarm system works best by it's mere presence as a deterrent. If the alarm is activated, then it's activation is a secondary deterrent. This commercial was poorly conceived and is misleading in nature and gives the professional alarm industry a tarnished image.

I tried to cancel service and they refused saying I signed a 3 year contract for service when service was activiated. I did not I pulled out my copy and noted that the time of service was blank, the said it was filled in on thier copy and there is nothing they can do I would like to know why my copy is blank when it is a copy of the original.I am now forced to pay or have a mark on my credit score they offered me a reducded rate and I feel this is unjust and poor if not criminal business practice.

10 months of payments for not wanted service.

Brinks Security employees are thiefs and liars. The salesperson told us lie after lie to sell us a Brinks security system. For example, he said we were purchasing the equipment, not leasing it. He told us that when we remodeled, there would be no additional charge to add more sensors. He told us that it would only take one hour to install the new system (it took about 5 hours) and that there would be no visible wires (there is a big wire running along my kitchen ceiling). When the installer left, he stole my existing security system that was still in working order. I have not had any problems with the system, however I plan to cancel the service as soon as my contract is up because I do not want to deal with such a dishonest company.

Existing Moose security system was taken by installer without my permission.

Brinks forces consumers to go into an annual contract (small fine prints) & collects due without providing service to the consumers. Whether one sells home or not, financial difficulty or not, it's annual collection. Although consumer provide 30 day notice of termination to Brinks, it is meaningless because consumer still liable for full year payment to Brinks.

I've been with Brinks for past 6 years, Per Brinks, only I can cancel the contract without monetary due is 30 day written notice to Brinks before my annual renewal date. Whether I am moving, fiancial difficulty, or dissatified with their service, I am still binding by their contract and can not cancel anytime except 30 days window of annual renewal date. Therefore, I am liable for full payments to Brinks per Brinks employees.

I signed a three year contract with Brinks and they did not install a smoke detector during inital instalation. I complained to thier customer service department attepting tto get out of the contract withing 30 days and they told me that all payments were due upon cancelation. I agree to the additional charge for the smoke detector but I am extremely displease with the "Large corporation" feel Brinks has become of late. At my previous home, I was a customer since 2002 - there goes customer loyalty or service. From no on its a local service for me...

Originally, notified them last October 2007, that I wanted to cancel service.

I was told I was under contract, until January 2009.

I called today to cancel and they said it was automatically renewed for a one year subscription without prior notification. They are going to bill me for the entire year.

the service has not worked, as their customer support rep advised me , since our phone company was switched in October, but I was never told this until today (1/16/09).

I will be charged for $26.99 for an additional 11 months and I would like not to pay, as I believe they were obligated to notify me of the renewal, as well as the situation where my alarm was not functioning due to a telephone line issue. I believe they were in a breach of contract, since October 2007 when the phone service provider was changed to Verizon and the phone line would not function with the alarm due to the additional DSL service.

We had a Brinks Security System installed. Signed a three year agreement. During installation the service tech damaged our vehicle (and did not say anything about it to us) My husband noticed it the following day. We contacted Brinks, they sent out a service guy. He told us to get an estimate fax it over and they would take care of it.

Faxed over the estimate the General Manager of the location said our tech says if he did it he didn't know he did. You can't prove he did it, therefore we are not paying for it. We said we want to cancel the system if we are going to be treated in this manner. Of course, Brinks response is you can cancel it if you want, but you owe us $1,200.00 for the term of the three year contract. I am now waiting for someone in Irving Texas to contact me to see if we can resolve this issue without having to go to court. Beware of signing contracts!

I have a contract with Brink for 3 years coming due in June of 2009, I had severe damage due to Hurricane Ike in Houston. My windows I replaced as an upgrade. I called Brinks to come reconnect sensors and they first told me about a labor charge which in my opinion is too much, $50 first 30 minutes and $20 each additional 15 minutes!!! When I wanted to schedule for service I was told I needed to pay $75 for each missing sensor, I have 10 windows and 2 doors needing service! I can not get out of the contract either. I'm a single mother of two girls and I've always had an alarm. We feel safer, now I find myself unable to pay for what they want to charge me and I can not get out of the contract. I'm paying for service which I'm not getting because the sensors are not working!!!

Had to sell Mobile in June 2008. Had Brinks 1 year and told them to remove as new owner did not want. Had them stop my auto deduction for Sept. I had signed a three year contract. System was not even working the last month and they refused to come out unless I paid. Did not have money for that. Told them I could not live in WA anytmore because of health problems and going to Yuma for further treatment in Mexico. They kept sending me nasty letters and by their own requirements, if I am in a area that does not have Brinks I do not have to pay.

I sent electric bills (one of their requirements) and now a lease and more electric co. proof. They just keep sending nasty letters to my son's address in WA and will not acknowledge my proof I have sent. I have also sent by signed return receipt. Please help me get out of this nightmare. As I have read, there are lot of people that their deceptive practices are effecting. Please help us get a class action going. They know I am disabled and that this stress is causing me problems but do not care.

I do not have any money. Am on SS Disability. The stress is causing me terrible headaches and effecting my back that I had major surgury on. I can not sleep as they threaten to turn me in to credit buerau. I have worked hard all of my life, always paid my bills and had a great credit score. They can now turn me in and it is a nightmare to get off a credit report once it's on there. I can not handle much more stress. In effect pretty much ruin the rest of my life. Need your help.

Brinks fine-printed me into an annual contract that I can't discontinue unless I give 30 days advance notice before the bill is due.

Since I didn't know that, and missed the deadline, I now owe $330 for another whole year of pointless monitoring. I see they obviously don't care and do it on purpose because there are whole web sites dedicated to exactly this complaint. Where's a good class action lawyer when you need one?

We want to cancel our contract with Brinks due to poor service. Other security services in our area are cheaper and offer more services for less money.

Brinks expects us to pay off the remainder of a contract, 20 months = $700.00+. We expected to pay some sort of penalty but not this much.

I called Brinks Home Security (Alarm System) to cancel my services with them after approx. 5 years. I have discontinued the use of my home phone, and the system will not work without it. I was advised by Brinks that I was under contract and that if I cancelled the service I would be expected to pay for 11 months more. They stated to me that if I wanted to cancel the contract that I would have to call them 30 days prior to my yearly service renewal. This does not seem fair and somewhat against the law? Can you help? Please advise. Thanks!

11 more months paying for a service I am no longer receiving will result in $320.00 that I cannot afford during these difficult financial times.

I filed for divorce from my wife in Feb. 2008 which included a financial separation. My wife owns our house and Brinks wupplied the security system. I called Brinks to tell them to contact her, preferably y going to the house, in March 2008 to update the security agreement because even though I signed the security form I was no longer willing to pay the bill. They did nothing. I since protested the bill and finally in May 2008 terminated the agreement.

There had been two homicides in the town where the house is located and I didn't want to make a judgement about turning the security off but rather wanted them to get together with my ex-wife to make a new agreement. As I said, they did nothing and when I protested sending the bills to me, they still did nothing. They refused to receive FAXes with legal documents showing the divorce and financial separation were actually in process.

I finally paid the bill with the system cancelled. They charged me with a late payment fee. The last I heard from them is that they would call me back by today. They never did. That was just a lie to put me off. I WOULD NOT DO BUSINESS WITH BRINK'S HOME SECURITY.

They scammed me. Lucky for me I saw it big time during the install and failure to do as they said. I contacted corp in dallas and cancelled my contract within 24 hrs, you have 3 days to cancel contracts in florida by the ay. With my cancelled contract they had no recourse on me. They never repaired my home. I have the gear they attempted to install and a sign on my lawn. They stole my $400 for the install attempt but I never paid a month service. I guess the appearance of the gear and the sign has kept the bad guys away.

I still have the gear and saved over $1500 in monitor fees over time so far. I am still not sure who won though. They fired all the employees that handled my job and they still operate in my area. It is a shame that they are allowed to do what they did to me. I am sure any others get burned and do not get to take self action like I did.

I lost my job. I've been out of work for over 9 months & had to file a chapter 7 Banktruptcy. I also lost my house & now have to move out. Last month a person from Brinks Security had told me That my 12 months were up & I could cancel anytime. When I called to cancel on 10/10/08, They said that I was responsible for the balance of the 3 year contract that I signed. I guess I signed it figuring that I was going to be living there for a long time. As it works out, I have to vacate the premises in two weeks. I signed the contract on the present premises & feel that I should not have to pay them any more for their services.

They want me to pay approx. $600.00 for services that I no longer require. Because of my bankruptcy, I don't need them to report this to the credit bureaus. I am trying to repair my bad credit.

Appx. two weeks later, I received a letter from them, stating they feel i owe them $1295.64 for the installation of equipment that I dont have and gave me a contract # for a contract that I didn't sign

I now have to take the time off work to deal with this matter in civil court as well as the aggravation of being a potential scam victim

I had Brinks install a security system in July 2008. I am in the process of selling my home and when I called Brinks I was advised that I still have a 22 month committment to the contract and that I would be billed for the remaining months. This is ridiculous! I will no longer own the home where the service is located. Since I did not recall signing a 3 year contract, I reviewed the documents and yes there it was in small print.

As it turns out, I had to run an errand while the service was being installed so I asked my estranged husband to stay at my home while the service was being installed. While I was gone, the Brinks serviceman got him to sign my name on the contract. I did not authorize anyone to sign my name to a 3 year contract. So I did not actually sign the contract.

Since I am the sole homeowner wasn't it the responsibility of the Brinks representative to make sure that the person singing the contract had the authorization of the homeowner? I would not have committted myself to a 3 year contract that ties me to a service even if I no longer lived at the address.

I have been informed by Brinks that I am responsible for paying for the additional 22 months of service eventhough I will no longer be living at the address where the service exists. I was also advised that if I do not pay, I take the risk of being reported to the credit bureau. I have an EXCELLENT credit credit score (800) and I do not want this to go against my credit record. I am retired and on a fixed income and can not afford this unneccessary expense.

In August 2007 I attended a Trenton Thunder (Double-A baseball game) in Trenton, NJ). Brinks had a table display promoting a contest to win a free home security system and installation. I filled out a card and wasn't expecting to win anything. A few days later I was contacted by a salesman John to tell me I had WON the contest and would be receiving a FREE home security system and FREE installation.

An appointment was made and John came out to my house and had me sign a bunch of papers - with alot of fine print. Unfortunately one of them was for a 3 year service contract. I have paid for the service for 1 full year, but after my wife and I got 2 dogs we decided we didn't need the service anymore. So I contacted Brinks to terminate the service. They informed me that I still owed them over 800.00 for 2 more years of the service contract. I explained to them that I had WON the free home security system and free installation.

I did not know I was bound to continue a contract for three years or would be held liable for the outstanding charges. I feel as though Brinks used deceitful sales tactics and were not forthcoming as they should have been about the contract. I think I should be able to get out of the 3 year commitment since I won the FREE system and FREE installation. I would like them to terminate the remaining 2 years due to the way the contest was presented to me and the service agreement not fully explained to me. Otherwise had I been a fully informed consumer, I might have made a different decision.

I have opened the brink account for about 7 months. I have always assuming my house is very safe since I have the alarm system. However, until this month the intruder broke into my house and the motion detector can not even detects the movements. Later, I called the Brink securtiy and they told me that the system in my house was unable to send the signals. Then, next day they send a technician out, I asked him why someone can broke into the house and how can the motion detector not detected the movement. He was telling me that the system can only help prevent KIDS not the PROFESSIONAL THEFTS.

In addition, from his words he have already knew it from the first day when installed the equipment that the motion detector (the one is prewired in my house) is too far above the ground and he did not advise that I should have it adjusts or perhaps install another motion detector. I just think the security system is not secure at all. Because it can only prevent KIDS.

After the technician left, i called the brinks 1800 number and ask about why the sales and tech did not advise us how the system should be properly adjusted or position to be more effectively to secure the house. Then, they was telling me the motion detector is kept at the height because to prevent some of people who got pet in the house. But from first day when i called them about the price and the day when the tech was came out install the system, I have told them i have not pet in my house.

They just give me all kind of excuses tried to let me know they have no responablility for all of these, and all these things are happend is all my fault. In addition, this makes me feel like the alarm system is useless. Because just like me, if someone is breaking into my house next time, they probability will tell me again my system is not communicate and can't send signals. Then, they dont have to responsible for anything. So, why i have to pay for the monthly fee and sign the contract with them for 3 years

My mother in law passed away and we have been trying for a month now to cancel the service. Apparently a death certificate is not proof enough that she wants to cancel. We have sent letter after letter to no availe, we are now having to conact an attorney to cancel service. This is going to cost us a pretty penny all over a $25.00 a month bill. This is just crazy and wrong

Relocated to GA and leased a house for a year. All the homes in the community were protected by Brinks and this was even advertised at the entrance to the community. so I called Brinks to have the monitoring service activated as the keypads were already installed in the home. A technician came and activated the monitoring system and everything was fine until...I called Brinks 90 days before my lease was up to find out what the process was for discontinuing service. I was told all I had to do was send in a copy of the lease and the service contract would end.

Well, after that call, all of the keypads displayed an error code. I called Brinks and asked them what was going on and they said we thought you were cancelling the service. I informed them that I still had two more months on my lease and needed protection for the home throughout the lease period. I was assured that the service would be turned back in within hours. It never was reactivated. I called repeatedly several days in a row and was told repeatedly service would be turned back on in a matter of hours. it never was.

However, after we moved, Brinks sent a bill for $752 and some change which represented two years of monitoring fees even though our lease was just for a year. I have tried unsuccessfully to resolve this with them via phone fax and mail to no avail. What makes this even worse is I was a loyal Brinks customer since 1996 and this was the first time I had leased a home as opposed to being the homeowner and this is how I was rewarded.

Even though Brinks failed to provide monitoring service for the full term of my lease, Brinks has turned my account over to collections and I will have to fight this in small claims court. My credit was excellent until now. I am incensed that Brinks would have the audacity to do this to me. Unfortunately, it appears my recourse is limited and their immunity is unlimited despite a pattern of disreputable business practices in several states.

Relocated to GA and leased a house for a year. All the homes in the community were protected by Brinks and this was even advertised at the entrance to the community. so I called Brinks to have the monitoring service activated as the keypads were already installed in the home. A technician came and activated the monitoring system and everything was fine until...I called Brinks 90 days before my lease was up to find out what the process was for discontinuing service. I was told all I had to do was send in a copy of the lease and the service contract would end. Well, after that call, all of the keypads displayed an error code.

I called Brinks and asked them what was going on and they said we thought you were cancelling the service. I informed them that I still had two more months on my lease and needed protection for the home throughout the lease period. I was assured that the service would be turned back in within hours. It never was reactivated. I called repeatedly several days in a row and was told repeatedly service would be turned back on in a matter of hours. it never was.

However, after we moved, Brinks sent a bill for $752 and some change which represented two years of monitoring fees even though our lease was just for a year. I have tried unsuccessfully to resolve this with them via phone fax and mail to no avail. What makes this even worse is I was a loyal Brinks customer since 1996 and this was the first time I had leased a home as opposed to being the homeowner and this is how I was rewarded.

Even though Brinks failed to provide monitoring service for the full term of my lease, Brinks has turned my account over to collections and I will have to fight this in small claims court. My credit was excellent until now. I am incensed that Brinks would have the audacity to do this to me. Unfortunately, it appears my recourse is limited and their immunity is unlimited despite a pattern of disreputable business practices in several states.

This company is IMPOSSIBLE to get rid of. I called to cancel my service over 3 months ago, and they insist that I cannot because my contract automatically rolls over. They would not even accept a cancellation with a penalty, and said I had to pay a years worth of sevices. It took over 2 months to get a copy of my contract in the mail, that DID NOT specify my contract rolled over, every year. They are now billing me for 3 months, when I now have a new company. Still after having no activity on my account, I cannot cancel my service. I am being billed for over 3 months of services rendered, that I have not used.

New customer has to pay an additonal $20.00 for a yard sign to advertise for Brinks. We feel that with the amount of real and personal property we are trying to protect that two free yard signs is a reasonable request. after all we sign a three agreement and visibility of the sign would be free advertisment for Brinks. The other option is to leave the two free ADT signs in the yard; all we want is security protection anyway. We are not happy with the service thus far. Thank you

A sales reprensetative came to my home in which I purchased a complete alarm system wich included the system, installation and monotoring. The price given to me from the sales rep then changed when the technician came to install. I then paid for the year in full and since then have gotten 2 bills from Brinks. I have contacted them and disputed as 2 different amounts from the sales rep and instalation gentelmen.

I since got 2 bills with 2 different balances. I paid the bill and now have a credit which I had to request to get back, otherwise would be credited to my bill next year April. Now I am having a problem with my system in my home and i have only had the alarm two months and they want to charge me labor fees to send someone out. However, my alarm is setting off on its own.

I am completely aggravated and frustrated with them and there terrible service and all the different things i was told by my sales rep. i signed a contract with one rate and now charged another. i do not understand how they can do this. i would never recommend anyone to this company as you will have complete fustration and dissatisfaction.

I should first point out that I worked for Brinks for one miserable month. The sales tactics they teach you are beyond slimey. They use fear to sell try to get you to do a quick one-call sale so you don't have time to read their full contract. After I quit them I e-mailed them that I wanted to cancel my service. I was at least smart enough to sign a month to month contract rather than a multi year agreement. I hear they don't even offer those any more.

They kept trying to get me to call them which I would not do because I knew the tactics they would try to use to keep me. They try to play on your guilt by saying things like so you're not concerned about your family's safety? To make a long story short I ended up having to have the Oregon State AG's dept of consumer fraud write them a letter to get them to cancel my service.

Their reply was that they would have canceled my service if I had faxed them a letter (something they never mentioned in any previous communication with me).

I purchased a Brinks security system and monthly service. Initial cost for equipment was $535. In order to reduce expenses I decided to disconnect my land line phone and go to a wireless security system. I discussed this with Brinks prior to the end of the 3 year contract. No mention was ever made of the clause in small print on the contract of the automatic renewal of the contract unless they were notified within 30 days. After the three years were up I believed that I had fulfilled the terms of the contract and once again spoke to Brinks regarding a wireless system.

I eventually scheduled an appointment for a Brinks wireless installation but then cancelled that appointment when I found another company at a much cheaper rate. I did at that time cancel the appointment and also cancelled the Brinks service. Sometime after that I received a call from Brinks regarding the cancellation and was transferred to an individual who told me about the small print clause and said that I owe an additional $272.79. Since I paid up front over $500 and then $38 mnthly for the next three years and then some I have refused to pay this. I am concerned about the reflection on my credit.

I am a 70 year old single woman who wants to stop working and to reduce expenses. I am appalled that a company of Brinks stature whom I thought to be reputable would go to this extent to squeeze out dollars. My account has been turned over to a collection agency and I have received a threatening notice saying that I have failed to pay for equipment and services. This is just unbelievable to me and I look forward to spreading the news about Brinks.

Consequences will be damage to my credit if reported to a credit agency; humiliation if I were obligated to pay, as well unbelivably taken advantage of.

Brinks Security call me and said thet were recevieing a trouble call from my box and that I needed to disconnect my system by disconnecting my battery. I told that my back had been injured and I was unabe to do that and please sedn out a technician. The agent then said, Can I get my neighbor to do it and I said, my neighbors are doctors and I am sure thet have better things tto do than work on my burgular alarm. I then explain to the the customer service agent that I was having work being done at my house and possibly one of the workers cut a wire and that I would by pass the doors that was giving a trouble call to their office. The custimer service agent insisted that I disconnect my system all together and refuse to send me a technician and that thet did not have a techician that work over the holiday weekend (momorrial day). I told him okay, send me a tech out the next tuesday and I would pay for it if its my fault and I am no longer going to take these rude comment from you and let me speak toa supervisor.

I spoke with a supervisor and he explain to me that they will only send a tech out when its their own fault with theor system. I told him this is a dumb idea and that you have no regards for your customers and should't matter who fault the problem was cause by as long as it is rectified and especially if I am willing to pay for it. Any way, I told them to get a custmer service tech again by tuesday.

I sat around all tuesday and no service tech. So I called again, and spoke to a different customer service agent and was made aware of that no sevice call was never sent to my home and the earliest one that could be sent 2 days later. I threaten to cancell after 9 years of service and was told they would come take their equipment out of my house. I was then greeted first thing the next morning with a Brinks service tech to remove the system out of my house. After paying for this system for over nine and half years I am sure I have paid for this system at least three times. I would not recondmend them to anyone and their policy [is bad] from techs to management.

I also had damage to my walls where he ripped the systems off my walls

I have had my Brinks Home Security since i moved into my home in August of 2007, After a month or so of service my control panel began beeping several times daily, Saying it had CP trouble and CH trouble, I would call them and complain and they would run a test which would render my telephone dead for more than an hour., Well today 9 months later, i called again to complain and i was rudley told that my alarm system i have been paying for all this time has not had a signel going to their office since Oct. of 2007

Well to say the least i was in total shock! I have left my girls alone to run errands, felt safe while i was sleeping and today i was completely ripped of all the safety i thought i had in my home, Brinks customer service was rude to me and uncaring and acted as if this was my fault somehow. They knew all along that my home was not being protected and told me that they DO NOT monitor my home 24 hrs a day as they suggest in their advertisement ect. They offered to give me a 1 month credit for my inconvience! Can you belive this, i completely trusted that my family was safe and it was all a complete LIE! My home could of caught fire and NO FIRE DEPARTMENT would have came , My home could have been invaded and NO COPS would have been called.I can not believe for all these months i have bascially paid for nothing. Well i dont feel safe in my home any more with there service and i do not reccomend them to anyone .

Long story short, I decided to purchase a home security system with Brinks. I could not have a credit score of 570 or lower or else they couldn't help me. I knew I was well higher than that report since I check on my credit report all the time. But to my surprise he gave all my information to someone on the telephone and then said, after they ran my credit report, that my score was well under 570 and I would need a $300.00 security deposit. The consultant kept asking me, will you pay it? I get my credit report score each month from the three credit reporting agencies and was confident I would have no problem. I went to my files to show the consultant, this is my score of just last month way past 570, he wasn't sure what the problem was but would check on it. I never heard back. Beware of the schemes of BRINKS, after he saw my score papers he packed up and left not sure what to say next. KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR CREDIT REPORT.

The Brinks installers (All Tech LLC) installed a complete home alarm system in my home. During the installation, they unplugged my freezer and left it unplugged. This caused $1,500 worth of food to be destroyed. Because we didn't have receipts, they told us there was no way we could prove the claim so they were only going to give us $500. We told them we kept the damaged food and the prices are still on most of the items. They added up to over $1,500. They were mostly steaks and other high-priced items.

Brinks told us to basically pound sand, and they weren't going to pay. We're out $1000. Their customer service people were rude. Their response to us was just try and prove our claim in court. We ended up taking the $500, but we're still out $1000.

Signed up for Brinks Security. the technician explained the cost for motion sensor was $195. Technician stated that was the cost of the equipment (not lease or use or installation) I also purchased extended plan so no labor cost. Subsequently learned of fallibility of system by cutting phone line. I inquired about prevention and was told of radio back up ( Should be primary if you asked me or cellular) I was told of an additional $200 fee and $7 monthly.

I stated we had extended plan. Jeremy, the rep told me it was for the equipment. Then I learned in fact the $195 cost for the motion detector and $200 cost for radio back up was not purchases; the equipment still belongs to Brinks. The first representative tech misrepresented the facts. He said the cost of the equipment was for the hardware...yet I don't own the equipment. In fact it is for installation and use. It was never disclosed despite direct questioning.

I was a customer of Brinks Home Security for 5 years until last month I switched. Brinks' monthly fee is $10 higher than its competitors. When I called to cancel, I really got a surprise. They said they own the equipment (control panel, keypad, motion detector, window detectors, etc.) installed in my home, and they need to remove them. I spent more than $400 for installation (promotional standard package $99, additional keypad and motion detector at $300+). They told me all this money was for installation labor. I certainly don't agree; the salesperson did not mention anything like this but instead made it sound like if I fulfill the contract (3 year) I got to keep the equipment. I did not let them take the equipment because the motion detectors and window detectors are being re-used, although I have control panel and keypads in a box.

A week later they sent me a bill of $500 for the equipment. There is a clause in the contract saying they are the owner. But I was not aware until they pointed out over the phone during the argument. As you know, there is no way to read through the several pages of small font, printed contract before you sign it. My argument is (1) the salesperson should make me aware of the consequence of canceling their service; (2) they should explain why the equipment now costs $500, not $200 or $800, and whether depreciation is considered.

I called Brinks to cancel my service (after 4 years of service), and they told me that they would have to come in and remove the equipment. When I signed up for the equipment the salesperson told me that the equipment would be mine after the service agreement (3 years). I even called their main number and confirmed that with another salesperson. It seems to me that this company is deceiving their customers by having their sales force push for something that is not true. Brinks' customer service claims the contract says that the equipment is theirs and they have the right to remove it.

After removing the equipment, holes were left in the walls and the technician refused to clean the mess. People should stay away from Brinks. I would never use them again and will speak against them any chance I get.

I have not had a reliable security alarm system since the first day that I got the system. There are trouble codes everyday and when I call Brinks, nothing has been done to date. The alarm provider is AAA Alarms in El Paso who have not given me good service either. I am currently at the mercy of a three year contract with Brinks. I would love to change service providers as soon as possible. I have $1 Million in property that I feel does not have protection.

On my birthday, my home was broken into while I was out of town. The burglars set off the Brinks system, and they went to the key pad, pushed the fire alarm, and basically defeated the system. The fire department came instead of the cops, sitting outside in my front yard, waiting for entry authorization, while the burglars went out the back. Not just that, but Brinks misdialed one of my emergency contacts who was my neighbor that was home at the time. They offered no apology or remedy, and most of the people I spoke with, including local manager Job Rivas, were all very arrogant. I asked them if they at least had reliability to hire literate people, since they claimed no liability even for the misdial--which I only discovered when they sent me the incident transcripts. I went up the ladder to finally reach a Ben Everett in Dallas. He made an offer to reimburse me, but then I could never reach him again. I informed them I was no longer paying the bill since the system was useless, failed twice in the same incident, and it still got charged off to my credit.

In the end, I had my home violated because the burglars apparently knew how to defeat their system. My possessions were gone, they claimed no liability for stopping the police once the burglars pushed the fire alarm, even though break-in was initially signaled, or that they misdialed my emergency contact, but still charged me for their lack of service/failure.

I have been using Brink's home monitoring service for over 4 years. Recently I decided to cancel the service and when I called to cancel, I was told that I will have to pay the remaining 7 months left in the contract. Although my three year commitment has been fullfilled, I didn't realize that the contract also states (in fineprint under Section 3, subsection A.):

"this agreement will automatically continue for successive one year renewal terms unless you or Brinks give written notice of cancellation to the other at least 60 days before the initial or renewal term ends."

I feel that it is very unfair and misleading for any vendor to enforce such an outrageous term. According to Foley & Lardner, LLP www.foleylardner.com):

"The Illinois Contract Renewal Act makes an evergree clause in a contract entered into after June 1, 2000 unenforceable by the party that prepared the contract, unless the clause is clear and conspicuous. Although the law does not define conspicuous, the Uniform Commercial Code does; and the usual practice has become to meet its requirements by using all capital letters and bold-face type."

Then, by the unifrom commercial code, Brinks contract is not conspicuous. I feel that consumers are being taken advantage by Brinks Home Security System.

We recently decided to cancel monitoring by Brinks Home Security and have a new company take over the monitoring. Brinks has informed us that they wish to send out a technician to remove all Brinks equipment including wiring and sensors throughout the house. When I purchased the house in 2001, it already had all the equipment installed.

At the time, we purchased or should I say paid for two smoke detectors that were supposedly faulty. Brinks is now claiming that they own all the equipment and wiring installed in the premise and claim if we do not allow them to remove all wiring, sensors etc. then they would send us a bill for $500.00.

I called to cancel my brinks home security system and was told I'd have to be home because someone from Brinks would have to come over to remove the two keypads as well as the transformer. I couldn't believe they would remove the keypads so I called our local Brinks branch and was told by the manager that they do not need to remove the system, by doing so, they would leave holes in the wall and we'd probably have to repair the wall and then repaint it. He then said all they would do is disable the dialer and leave the equipment there at no additional cost to me.

I then called Brinks at their 1800 number and spoke to a Shaterra. When I asked her if I had the option of keeping the equipment, she replied yes, but at a cost of $500.00. That's when I told her what the manager from our local Brinks branch assured me. I truly think Brinks is in the business of trying to keep you as their customer by a) lowering your bill if you tell them you are thinking of canceling (they cut my bill in 1/2 for 6 months) and then if you call again to say you decided to cancel, they would stick you with either unfinished walls with holes in it, or charge you an outrageous fee for you to keep the equipment.

I was away from my home when the fire alarm was activated. It turned out it was caused by a plumber soldering some pipes. The fire department came and saw there was no fire and left. I called Brinks and asked them to remotely stop the alarm from going off and they told me it was a $20 charge! I've had this system for 13 years and couldn't believe they would charge me to turn off the alarm.

I was told they would waive the fee IF I agreed to a service call to test my system. In other words to avoid a $20 fee, I had to commit to a $50+ fee and time off from work! I can't believe this is standard in the industry, but I'm going to find out.

I also contact my town hall, permit dept and was told that Brinks does this a lot, charges people for permits but does not pull them.

I requested a refund for the permit fee, and was told that would take about 2 months to be able to receive my refund, they needed to research it, when they know they made the mistake, I have spoken to other Brinks customers that state they had never had a permit for work for them either

In April 2003 the main telephone line my home was inoperable. I contacted SBC Ameritech to repair the problem, however, their findings during their investigation reflected that the problem was was due to a defect in the alarm system installed by Brinks Security. I contacted Brinks and informed them of the problem. The 1st technician 51800/D Bidwell came out and stated he fixed the problem and provided his phone numbers for contact if the problem continued. I contacted him to tell him that I was unable to make calls from my home because the phone line was still dropping calls. He never returned my phone calls, so I contacted Brinks again 1-week later.

The service Manager, Steven came out inspected the work of the technician and stated that he will be sending a Sr. Technician out to repair the problem. The supervisor called me back 2-weeks later to inform me he could not find my paper work or repair order and did not provide an operable phone number,so I was unable to reach him. I then contacted Brinks again in June to express my disappointment in their workmanship and poor customer service. I was unable to use my home phone during the length of this time. Another repair technician came out who proclaimed he fixed the problem, at which time I agreed to add a new keypad on the 2nd floor of my home.

To my surprise, 2 hours after he left the alarm light indicator did not work, so I contacted Brinks again to come out and correct the problem. Technician 51800/D Bidwell stated that he fixed the problem only to find out later that I had a dysfunctional product that created false alarm sounds for the entire weekend. I am also still having problems with my phone, unable to make or receive calls.

I was a renter in a home there was a Brinks Home Security System in place. I hooked up service for about a year and a half. I always paid my bill and never had any problems. The owner filed Bankruptcy (the home owner) and I had to move out. So I notified Brinks to let them know I needed to disconnect my service because I had to move out. They said that was fine and they would note it. After moving out. I went back to the home to clean up and accidentally set off the alarm. I called Brinks to let them know it was a false alarm and they indicated to me that they were not getting the notice of the alarm because I had disconnected service. so I figured all was fine on both ends.. a few month later I get this outrageous bill saying I owe them all kinds of money..

I sent a letter back WITH the statment indicating that I had cancelled service months prior.. but now I have a bill for over $1,000.. they're response was oh yea,, we saw you cancelled.. but you need to put it in WRITING.. we have a FORM you need to fill out.. I indicated that no one EVER sent the form when I disconnected service and it was acknowledged that I had INDEED disconnect service... but they're STILL trying to charge me fully knowing I moved OUT of the home over 3 YEARS ago.!!! They are trying to bill me for a service I did NOT receive.. and NOT only that.. the home was BOUGHT by someone else.

I purchased a BRINKS Home Security System and and had my house prewired for the system so that the hardware would be ready to be installed when I took title of the house in 6 months. I pre-paid 50% of the $941 for the system. A little over 1 month after I purchased the BRINKS system and had my house pre-wired, a strong thunderstorm with strong winds passed over my house and caused my house as well as 4 others to be severely damaged and all 5 houses had to be demolished and rebuilt. I contacted the salesperson who sold us the BRINKS system and he in turn contacted his supervisor to see what could be done about re-wiring the house.

I stated to the area manager of BRINKS that I felt I should not have to pay to have the house re-wired since it was not my fault or anyone's fault that the house collapsed. The area manager said he did not know if he would be able to waive the re-wiring fee and said he would get back to me. After waiting over 2 weeks for a response and not getting one, I decided to call back and was told by my salesperson that the area manager was away on vacation and that he would contact me with an answer as to whether I would have to pay for the re-wiring as soon as the area manager came back from vacation and he was able discuss my situation to him again. The salesperson finally called back and told me the area manager felt that since it was not BRINKS fault that my house collapsed as well that BRINKS should not have to pay to have my house re-wired again and that I would have to pay an additional service fee of $200.

I told the salesperson this is unacceptable and decided to contact the regional manager responsible for the Jersey City, NJ area. After 3 calls to the BRINKS 800 number I was able to get the number of the regional manager and left him a message on his voice mail. That evening I received a phone call from the regional manager and he asked me who I thought was going to pay to have the house rewired and I stated I felt BRINKS should absorb the cost of the rewiring. The regional manager stated he would not do this because he had a responsibility to the company's shareholders.

When I bought my home 10 years ago it had a Brinks' alarm system already installed. I called the company and started service. Recently I had a new alarm system installed (ADT) and called Brinks to cancel service. The operator told me that I only had one chance a year to cancel and I would have to pay the monthly service for nine more months before I could cancel. She went on to explain that Brink's (unlike ADT) owned the equipment in my home and would need to come out and pick it up. I don't remember signing a contract with Brink's since the system was in the house when I bought it and all I did was call them up and start service. I have requested a copy of the contract and a list of all of the equipment that they want to remove. Are they responsible for cleaning up the mess when they remove the equipment?