
Michael of Lake Park, FL on April 11, 2012
Satisfaction Rating1/5
Deceptive Advertising/Sales Tactics: I have never been one to complain, but I felt compelled to let other consumers know of this company's practices. One day, I arrived home to find a delivery post-it on my door saying GE tried to contact me for delivery and this was a final notification (I had never gotten any prior notifications). Thinking it was for a package delivery, I called and was connected to this company trying to sell me their security system with free installation and set up. They said I had been selected for a free $2,000 system and free installation, and the only thing I would have to pay is $39.99 per month. It felt like a good idea so I agreed to have the system installed.
The next day, an installer came and installed the system. At the end, after he had drilled into my wall and installed the system, he tried to have me sign a lengthy 5+ page contract. It should be noted that I'm an attorney and, after review, this was one of the most one-sided and unfair contract I had ever seen. The contract had provisions for a 5-year binding agreement, automatic renewal, penalty clauses, clauses allowing them to listen in to the home any time they wished, and clauses allowing the company to avoid any legal liability even if they didn't perform their services correctly. Needless to say, after he told me about the 5-year agreement, which I would have to pay off if I canceled earlier, I refused to sign the contract. The installer left and stated his boss would call me to work things out.
The next day or so, I was contacted by a company representative saying he was sorry he forgot to tell me about the 5-year term of the contract and that it was standard throughout the alarm industry. He ultimately said he could do a three-year contract and I told him I would think about it. Thereafter, I finally did my homework on the company and found several hundred complaints with the Better Business Bureau. I also looked up the exact alarm system in the house and discovered I could buy it brand new for less than $300 total. Needless to say, I was not getting anywhere near a 2,000 alarm system as they advertised.
Bottom line, I was lied to and important information was conveniently withheld. I would never feel safe doing business with this company knowing they lied to me so I will have them take their system out of my house. Hopefully, they will repair the holes in the walls. Follow the old adage, "buyers beware".