ADT

I recently purchased and moved into a newly built home in a new sub-development. Since I moved in, ADT has been making unsolicited sales calls to my house once a week at 7:00 PM. The first few times I told the ADT Sales person I was not interested. On 10/24/2006, I told the sales person that showed up that I have repeatedly told them that I am not interested in their services and I would like them to stop bothering me. The sales person said, "You'll be sorry" as he walked away.

In the morning, I found a "secured by ADT" sticker on my car with the following written across the back of it in large green letters, "*******!" When I got to work, I called ADT and was put in touch with someone at 561-988-3600. From what I was told, the person who came to my door was not an ADT employee, but was an Authorized Dealer. Upon further questioning, I found out that ADT does not screen any of their sales people for criminal backgrounds.

This is quite scary considering these people are gaining access to neighborhoods and homes under the pretext of selling security. I have already called the Lathrop, CA police department and will be filing out a complaint directed towards ADT for harassment and threats.

I am now in fear that my house will be vandalized or broken into by someone from ADT.

When the police came to my home, they felt ADT bore some responsibility, and my insurance company thought so as well. But when I wrote to ADT about it, their response basically was 'We don't know if your home was actually burglarized, and if it was, so what--that's what you have insurance for. We will vigorously defend any lawsuit you file'.

I have a police report and pictures (which I sent them) showing the disarmed alarm system, the broken window, etc., and they insinuate that I was lying about my home being burglarized! Not only was my home burglarized, but the fact that the burglars knew exactly what to do to disarm the system tells me that this definitely was not their first time.

ADT instructed us to turn off the alarm system, which deactivated the security system, and stated they would not be responsible for any security breeches during this time.

We were also told that a service person would not be available until Tuesday (this occured early Friday evening).

When I called ADT to cancel I found out that I would have to pay 75% of 3 yr contract. News to me, that would add up to $473.

ADT customer service, said they could not do anything for me, either pay each month or eat the cost of 473. Very Shady Company!!!

On July, 06 we attempted to make a payment via phone to ADT, but their system would not take the payment.

We have received a penality citation notice from the City of Dallas, because we have not been able to prove we have alarm coverage.

I spoke to three different people who gave me three different options. One operator told me she'd write on my request that I had requested termination previously and that there should not be a problem. However, the super (Tylanda) said read contract. I understood notice was needed, but I gave an early notice by several months and was told to wait til end of June. Not told, send a letter again in May 06. Although the contract says 30 days, I gave more than two notices, each in writing months earlier. They just refuse to accept my earlier request without a confirmation number. I paid on time and completed terms of contract. The first operation never said a confirmation number was even available.

I called them and asked if they had the date I canceled. They said March 26th. I asked if they bill for services in advance, and they said yes. So I asked, "then why I was being billed for april, may and june when their system says I cancelled in March?" All of a sudden he says "... well... uh, I mean with YOUR account we bill RETRO, meaning the charge on your card is for Jan-Mar".

I don't think so! I've done 3 chargebacks on my amex and each time ADT tells a different story. The last one saying that we didn't cancel until May 26th.

Amex credited my account and said that they would seek retribution from them as it was obvious they were changing the story each time.

I tried to cancel service and was charged pro-rated amount for the next month because of so called 30-day notice. Never was told it was a 3-year contract, was told by ADT representative that it was a 2-year contract with cancellation fee of $200.

Overall sorry service and poor communication.

So what good is the do-not-call list if alleged non-profits can team up with commercial enterprises? And then the commercial enterprise can call you (even if you're on the list) and tell you non-profits are exempt from the DNC list regulations? This totally astounded me.

The gentleman calls to say he's with the Children's Relief Fund, and don't worry, we're not looking for donations. The sigh of relief is short-lived as he proceeds to tell me they're working with ADT home security. When I said I was on the DNC list, he tells me non-profits are exempt from it.

While I fear this is legal -- it's not right! Until someone steps up and makes non-profits accountable to the DNC list, this is the kind of garbage we can expect. I'm writing my congressman next!

In July of 2005 I moved into a rental townhome and looked into getting the security system in the home activited (ADT). The ADT rep came out and told me that I needed a new system, because the old system wasn't compatible with their current monitoring equipment. I explained I was renting but he said I could get the wireless system and that way when I moved I could take the system with me.

I agreed and paid $500 for the wireless system and signed a service agreement that I thought was a one year (but it turned out to be a three year agreement).

Now it is Decmember and I am moving (again) for my job. ADT has informed me that I cannot take the system with me, unless I have one of their techs uninstall it and reinstall it (at a cost of about $600 - 2 hours to take it out and two hours to put it in at $150 an hour). I have to buy another $500 system for my new house. I can cancel, but it will cost me 75% of the remaining balance of my contract.

The day after I was robbed, ADT came to my rental house and installed a system. A year later, I was relocated due to my work so I contacted ADT to inform that I did not need service in the rental house and the new location already had an alarm system provided. That is when I found out that I had to continue to pay for the security system.

When I explained that I DID NOT OWN THE HOME AND I WAS NOT INFORMED THAT I HAD TO BE OR SHOULD BE the home owner, ADT representative said there was nothing they could do. ADT told me the only way to get out of the contract was to have the homeowner agree to take over the contract or the new renter.

The homowner said she would take over the contract, but she didn't. Two months after I moved out, the new renter called me to find out what my access code was because the alarm was going off. Without my knowledge, ADT continued to charge my credit card while providing service to the new renters. The home phone that was used for the alarm system was NOT in my name so I could not have the phone disconnected when I moved.

I called them 5 times and no return calls. So I assumed they were taken care of. Then I get a letter 6 months later from a law office. And they were very threatening but right… it is cheaper to pay them then a lawyer and the paperwork does state that we have to pay 90% cancellation fees.

We are being forced to try and sell it to the buyers of our home or pay $830.05 which is 75% of the remaining amount. Nowhere in the contract does it rule out a scenario like ours. Our problem is the lack of consideration of the situation and the seemingly greedy desire to charge us unfairly.

I am looking to shell out $650 for services that I will not and can not receive.

I took the feb 17th appt. with a 12-5 window. I was home the whole time, I called at 3pm to assure that thet they were still coming and they said they were en route. 5:30, still nothing, no courtesy call. I called spoke to angela she gave me to tech, tech handed me to kurt and he said they will have to reschedule. I said absolutely not, I was going to leave early next morning for a week and I need this corrected. Also, they never gave me a call -- I had to call them.

I than spoke to Demitre who assured me someone will come. 7,8 -- Nothing heard. 8:30, Bob calls said he is running late, I said o.k. He said can you reschedule to tomorrow? I explained it was impossible. At this point I had also stressed to this company the danger my son faces without this alarm working. He assured me that he will be in my home 9:00-9:30. 9:11pm Missy calls and tells me tech will not show and I have to reschedule.

1. The alarm was misled when my security system is on or off.

2. The alarm is fixed six times and ADT Technicians couldn't any solutions.

4. The false alarm drives me insane. The alarm set's on by itself. The alarm went on from my bedroom window. Since the condo where I stay is located on the 2nd floor, it is a very remote chance that any intruder will come from the bedroom window.

We repeatedly asked and were told that we could cancel at any time. After about a year of monthly payments and calming down like the rest of the country I decided to cancel the monthly service. I was told that to read the fine print in the contract and I was liable for two years at 75%. Currently a collection agency has contacted me and ADT want the two years at 75%. I am more than willing to go to court as these bloodsuckers should not be allowed to capitalize on my personal fear for profit. Their timing was by no means accidental.

Because of ADT continually drafting my account after being told not to, the bank closed my account because of overdrafts (from ADT) in the amount of $101.00. After the Bankruptcy was discharged, I now have $101.00 from the bank in collections, and outstanding bills from ADT that I can not get off my credit report because I've already filed bankruptcy. This has all be due to ADT's incompetence and lack of obeying the law.

Anyway, we signed a contract. No address was specified for monitoring on the contract as it was left blank when we signed (I have a copy). To make a long story short, we moved and ADT wouldn't honor the salesmen's promises. They say the "dealership" made the promises of moving our system, not ADT as they just provide monitoring. Of course, the dealership is no longer in business. An ADT rep told me that they don't like working with the dealerships and they are trying to get rid of them because of these issues.

What's funny is ADT won't provide monitoring services to me if I reinstall the system myself at the new address. They're talking out of both sides of their mouth. So, I'm stuck with paying my pre-authorized credit card charges of 29.99 which they say I can't stop, and ADT will NOT provide monitoring services to a different address. The Better Business Bureau was worthless beacause they just note that we agree to disagree. I don't even see my complaint as a "black mark" on their web site.

ADT keeps asking for extensions of time to respond to the complaint, and I just keep paying them. What really steams me is that ADT bad mouths the authorized dealerships and blames all issues on them, but they are aware of all business practices of dealerships and are glad to purchase new contracts from them. FYI, you can buy security systems from local companies (or wireless self install kits online) and get monitoring for 1/2 the price of ADT.

The consequences is that a collection agency is now hounding me for $75.25 which I refuse to pay since I've cancelled this service repeatedly.

Since I am in the military, and able to be moved pretty quickly from residence to residence, I thought that a good deal, and signed on for 3 years. I never saw a written military clause from Robert or ADT to this date, even though I continue to ask ADT for a copy. They have stated many times that they do have one, and that all their authorized dealers and ADT are bound by this clause.

I received Permanent Change of Station orders to proceed to Laughlin AFB, Texas that same year about one month after I signed ADT's contract. I was only able to move into base housing, where ADT security service is not permitted. When I called to cancel the service, invoking the military clause, ADT was more than willing to work with me and relieve me of the contract. Unfortunately, Interactive Systems was not. They said I was bound by the contract I signed, which was ADT's authorized dealer contract, and that I owe them the remainder of payments for the service agreement.

I contacted ADT, who said they would contact Interactive Systems and straighten it all out. Almost two and a half years go by, and I receive a collections notice in the mail from General Services Bureau. They claimed that I owed Interactive Systems $742.25 for monitoring service rendered during the past couple of years. I contacted ADT immediately, and asked them what happened. They stated that they don't have any jurisdiction over private, authorized dealers of ADT and their collecting of fees.

I contacted General Services Bureau with two certified letters and supporting documentation explaining my position. They responded to the first letter with another copy of the ADT contract, and the second letter recieved no response. I contacted ADT once again, and recieved a warm response from one of the sales representatives who gave me valuable information on how to alleviate this nuisance.

I faxed her documents to support my case. She said she would pass the paperwork along to Karen Stitt, the ADT authorized dealer manager, who in turn would deal with the payment and fix the problem. I haven't heard from this sales representative since, even though I have contacted her extention about 20 times. About 3 weeks after I submitted this paperwork, I contacted General Services Bureau, who said that the account in question was now closed, and the balance was $0.00. I asked for a receipt, and they said they would send one ASAP.

When I didn't recieve a receipt about 3 weeks after the fact, I contacted them again. This time, the representative said that the account was "pulled," and the balance was $0.00 still. I asked again for a receipt, and her answer was that "We don't do that." I figured that I would contact Interactive Systems to close this problem once and for all and ask for information as to what happened. I wanted to know if ADT paid the amount, or is it still open. Before I could do that though, I discovered when refinancing my home that the payment showed up in my credit report as delinquent. I was stunned!

During this whole event, I was never contacted by Interactive Systems, or ADT that I owed any money to them. The only notice I received was from General Services Bureau. According to the Dealer contract, I need to receive notice of their intent to collect payment from me. In any case. I never received any invoices, a phone call, or a letter to signify their intent. It was not until General Services Bureau contacted me with a letter to collect that I realized the problem existed.

At the end of three months of this I got upset and requested the alarm to be taken off. Again I received more appointments for someone to come and take the alarm off -- again no one came. After another month of this I was told they do not come to get the equipment since they cannot use it again. I told them to close the account. Now they keep sending me bills stating I have a contract and they want to charge me $500.

At the time, we were considering putting our house up for sale and we explained that to the salespersons. They told us that in order for us to receive the "free installation" we would have to sign the contract for three years. I again explained that we do not think that we will live in this house for three years and that we did not want to sign the contract. They were persistent. One "pretended" to call a supervisor and ask if we would be able to break the contract if we moved within the three years. The "supervisor" reassured me that the contract was easy to break as long as we SOLD OUR HOUSE we would not be obligated to the terms of the contract.

I asked that it be put in writing, and that section be crossed off our contract. The salespersons did cross it through and initial it. We were satisfied with their cooperativeness and we agreed to have the system installed. In Nov. 2002 we put our house on the market and it sold in two weeks. We officially sold our house in Feb. 2003, at which time, we called to cancel our contract. During the phone conversation, the person agreed to cancel our service and stated that they would send our final bill.

When we received our bill, it stated that we owed over $950.00 for 75% of the contract. We were completely surprised to say the least. My wife called and was told that NO MATTER WHAT we could not break the contract. My wife explained that we were assured and reassured that by selling our house, the contract would be voided and she was laughed at by the phone rep. When asked to speak with the Manager, she was told that there was no way a manager would talk to her. Aggravated, my wife hung up to call back a different day. Of course, each and every time she called, she got the same run around.

Finally two months later, she talked to the only helpful person at ADT, Melissa. Melissa explained to my wife that independent contractors do the door to door sales. (by the way they work on commission only) She told my that ADT gets a lot of complaints due to the deceitful tactics of these salespeople. She also told me that ADT does not officially own the contract, that the company that initially sold it to us holds the contract for one year and then ADT buys the contract. She told us to contact that company for problems.

My wife then called that company. She was told by the Manager that the sales crew that sold to us that day no longer works for the company and that all of the files for that crew has come up "missing." I agreed to send a copy of our contract, which I did. Of course I received no call. I called back two weeks later. The manager stated that he can't be sure who put that line through the part of the contract in question, however in any event, the salespeople are NOT AUTHORIZED to alter the contract in any way. I explained to the Manager that they called their supervisor and got authorization. The Manager said that the supervisor was the one who initially sold me the service, and of course he is no longer with the agency. And we were instructed to call ADT.

Sam should go to Small Claims Court with a copy of the contract that was modified by the salesperson.

Even after the system was removed they still kept taking the payments out of my bank account. They did this for many months. Also the police were sent to my house for no reason and I was charged by the police dept. for a false alarm. I am a diabetic and the stress and frustration has aggravated this condition.

I try calling and they tell me they will settle this matter but after I hang up the phone I never hear from them until I call again and get the same response.

Vincent should stop calling and start writing. He can send a certified, return-receipt-requested letter, reminding ADT that it has previously agreed to refund his money and stating that if he does not receive payment within 30 days he will institute legal action. Ideally he should include a copy of the letter he received from ADT. If ADT doesn't pay up, Vincent can sue them in Small Claims Court.

A sales representative came to my home as he was going from door to door. He told me that if I placed their company's sign in front of my house, that they would give my a home security system free of charge. All I had to do was to sign up for the service, and that if I didn't want the service later on, that I could cancel it at any time, and that the company may either take the system back out, or let me keep it.

What he didn't tell me is that after the three-day cancellation date if I decide to cancel the service, that their contract says that I have to pay them 75% of the remaining service charge for a three-year contract. I called the company a few months later because my mother didn't like the system, and she didn't use it. I sent a letter of cancellation in November. Then I found out that I still owe them $742.00. I believe this is contractual fraud, and that I have been deceived by ADT Security Services, Inc.

Richard ought to read contracts before he signs them. Also, when he has an evening to spare, he could go rent a copy of "Tin Men," where he'd see the exact same pitch used by some pretty spiffy aluminum-siding salesmen.