Vivint Reviews

If there is nothing they can do, why are they putting me on hold. Hoping I would hang up? Then, I explained how the thermostat system does not work on my house as I am on boiler system. She asked how I cool my house. I said I have a window A/C. Then, she indicated that the system needs to be hooked up to my A/C. I indicated again that I was on a boiler system and that I do not have an A/C connected to my furnace. Then, Rachel indicated that I would have to get an A/C for their system to work properly in my home! Yes, that was my reaction. I said, "You want me to convert my whole house so that it accommodates your system, but you will do nothing to accommodate me?" She just kept saying "I am trying to help you." You can tell she was running out of options and finally said she would fax my certificate to my insurance company. I just laughed and said go ahead, I've been receiving a discount since I bought the house as I had alarm systems all along.

They think they are so special that you would actually get a further discount on your insurance. Vivint has put a real thorn in my side!

So now, I'm in automatic renewal for 12 months at an address I no longer live at, and there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. I'm a single mother of 4 children with other uses of $600 for the next year. This is not right.

So after a month, I called and she claimed I have to pay to have somebody come out. I refused. I made a complaint at the Better Business Bureau to report the company. Then they said they would send somebody out. I requested to have my refund for all the months I didn't use the system or I'm not paying anymore. They would then offer one month free. What a joke. I went, I think, almost one year without using it, so I changed my bank account so they could not take anymore money from me. Now, I have creditors calling me and it's on my credit report.

Actually, when Chris ** signed our agreement, he was not even a supervisor, he wasn't even from this area. Mr. ** explained to us that they were so busy that he was called from a totally different area to help install APX systems. Another argument is that, had I known then what I know now, I would have never signed up with them. We have completed our obligation to them for the 3-year period of time, why didn't the company send a complimentary letter explaining that our time period was about up and give us an option to re-sign? The huge problem - We have just sold our home, I had no idea about this whole mess until I called to cancel our agreement.

Each time I call, I get nowhere when I ask to speak to someone higher than a supervisor. I even asked to speak with the CEO of the company and I was told, "You will never talk to him." Oh, really!? Wrong answer! They have just opened a new reason for me to do more extensive research on this company. We have no need for an alarm system due to the fact that we are having our dream home built. I even went as far to tell them that if they let us out of our contract, we would be willing to consider using them for our new home. Not now! Not ever!

I am curious about why the contract is still binding when they were bought out. Isn't there supposed to be a letter sent to existing customers informing us about the change and give us the opportunity to accept the new contract? Is it legal for them to transfer contracts without giving the customer the opportunity to sign a new contract? I am looking forward to hearing from someone very soon.

Guess what, it was free! What a lie. Now it has been about 1 year now, guess what! I don’t have anything but the basic system! This unethical company rushed to my house removed my old system installed their basic system and locked me into the contract. Great ethics! I spoke to a so-called manager with the so-called company and basically wasted my time. They like to act concerned but they all are a bunch of scum! Now in order for me to get the system I need, I will have to purchase and install myself.

I’m glad I read this blog. I will have my cancellation notice in before the 12 month period that this so-called company has once again found the way to screw the customer. I’m so mad right now and I promise I will cost them more than the $1,400.00 it would cost to cancel my contract. And believe me this town of 100K people will listen. I know I’ve got 4 to 5 people go to ADT vs. Scum Security Company or Vivint in short. Looks to me I’m ahead already, 5 people = $7,000.00 and counting.

Here's how I was able to cancel: It took a solid two hours of arguing with different workers at Vivint. On our first contract, it stipulated under term for services that Vivint will "provide you with written notice of the renewal not less than 60 days no more than 120 days prior to the end of the original term or any renewal term." If you have this in your contract and they didn't send you the letter, they are in breach of contract and you should be allowed to cancel. My renewal offer conveniently had this part removed. I had to renew my contract when we moved because I hadn't fulfilled the first one therefore giving me two separate contracts.

On my second contract, each paragraph states 60 months of service. We signed up for a three year contract (36 months) and the salesman crossed out the 60 months on the contract which I'm sure is part of the sales pitch but forgot to cross it out under the terms of service paragraph therefore making that entire paragraph no longer legitimate since we were signed up for 36 months. Because of this, the written notice of 30 days before cancellation clause was no longer in effect for us and we were able to cancel by phone at any time. This is how we got out of our contract and I hope it works for you too. It is a shame that customers fulfill their three-year contract and are then bullied into another year. I think this business is questionable to say the least in its dealings with customers.

I called after several months and told APX that I could no longer afford to keep paying it and the representative told me I was locked into a 2-year contract. I told her that the representative that signed me up told me that I could cancel any time. She told me she had no record of that communication. How typical.

Nonetheless, she told me that if I stopped paying it, the remainder of the balance would be reported on my credit report. She did not seem to care that I had lost my job and had no means of paying it.

A few months later, I got a letter in the mail saying APX was bought by Vivint and when I walked outside a week later, I had a new Vivint sign in my yard and the APX sign was gone.

If APX was bought by Vivint, does this not require a new contract to be signed by the consumer? Something seems wrong about what they're doing!

Apparently, Vivint continued to "monitor" us and charge us a monitoring fee without our consent. We received a notice on October 6 seeking a balance forward of $86.58 and another month's monitoring service fee. I notified them via support at vivint.com that we attempted to close the account on August 8, that we would not be able to pay for any additional charges, and that we still considered the account closed. Vivint ignored this communication, and, on November 8, we received yet another notice, this time seeking a balance forward of $129.87 and yet another month's monitoring service fee.

This notice was followed by another notice on November 9; only this time, the notice instructed us that we "must remit the total balance due or contact Vivint immediately at 888-346-9292 to set up acceptable payment arrangements. If we fail to comply, Vivint will take legal action at its disposal including full acceleration of our contract for the entire term to be paid immediately."

I again contacted Vivint via support at vivint.com and I informed them that, “unfortunately, our financial status had not changed since I first contacted you on August 8 (to close the account due to a lack of disposable income). I am still unemployed and our total monthly income has not increased. We still do not have disposable income; therefore, we cannot help you at this time. If you decide to take legal action, I cannot assure you that we would have any more money at that time than we do now to pay you."

Salvador ** replied on 11/10/2011, "We understand the situation that you are currently in. Our billing department would be more than willing to work with us and get this situation resolved and avoid the account being sent to an outside collection." He attached a copy of our cancellation options that replied were unacceptable: $613.05 to pay off the remaining balance (which we still do not have--nor are we likely to in the near future) or someone to take over the account for the remainder of the "contract" (again, we don't know anyone who could or would be able to do this).

Ten days later, Manuel, with Account Resolutions, called and left both an answering machine message on the home phone and a voicemail message on my cell phone with an “Account Forgiveness” option. I wonder what that really means.

When I called Vivint alarm I was told that since the alarm is in my ex-roommate and her father’s name, there is nothing they can do about it and that my roommate, Markel or her father would have to call and cancel. Well Markel did not leave on good terms and just left me stuck with this bill and he will not do anything about it. I have asked for someone to come out and get the alarm system and nobody will do that until Roger or Markel calls and cancels it. I have had to go negative in my account twice now because of this and I believe that if this is my bank account I should be able to stop payment at anytime and they should be responsible for payment.

My alarm went off one early morning and I was forced to decide whether the alarm was a false alarm or if it was a real threat. I didn't have time to make that determination since the dispatcher impatiently made me choose . So I told her it was false. The next day, I called to complain about the service and to cancel the contract. They would not cancel the contract unless I had someone to take over the contract or I could buy it out. They gave me two months free service, instead. Later my alarm continued to go off from time to time and I got frustrated with all the false alarms so I called to complain again and wanted to cancel my service. They would not cancel, but they did give me two more months of free service. At that time, I stopped using the alarm service and haven't been using it since.

When my credit card expired, I didn't renew it with them hoping that they would cancel the service. I told them again that I wanted to cancel but they refused and said that they will be sending my account to Collections if I don't start paying again. I still do not use the service and the $40/month is not only a burden to me, it is well-above the standard rate for such monitoring. I do not want this service. On numerous occasions I wrote to cancel contract on my check and payment stubs but they would not honor it. I was supposed to get a call back from a rep last weekend but they didn't call. I'm still frustrated and want to cancel my services altogether. I am still paying for services I do not use.

Okay, it got even better when I contacted them stating that I canceled this service, they said okay so I would just need to pay for the remaining term of the one year extension ($600). They were unwilling to do anything about this. After threatening a lawsuit, reporting them to BBB, talking with almost all of their management staff, they finally credited me for the one year extension. But this took hours and action before they would do anything.

My mother feeling very overwhelmed, consequently did a reverse mortgage on her house to cover the debt. When she was hospitalized recently, I discovered the paperwork on some of this debt when I was looking for bills that needed to be paid (electric, telephone bills, etc.). I can not understand how a car company would permit a senior in her 80's to sign for an auto loan. Why didn't some kind of flag go up? When I confronted Niema ***, the ex-friend, about the loan, she didn't care one iota about the outstanding debt to my mother. To date, she has given my mother a total of $1500. The loan, which my mother paid off, was close to thirty thousand dollars ($30,000). What options do I have on recovering any of my mother's money?

Secondly, a salesman from APX Alarm Security Solutions persuaded my 88 year old mother in to signing up for a five-year contract for house alarm system with APX Alarm Security Solutions, now VIVINT. Over the last year, her health has greatly deteriorated. Living in her two storey home, my mother suffers from Congestive Heart Failure, Kidney Failure, and Aplastic anemia. She is now living with me and my husband in a rancher and transitioning to Caring Way Palliative Home Care. I recently contacted VIVINT and asked that my mother's account be closed because she was no longer living in the home.

I was told by a representative named Curtis (employee #***) that her contract would not end until July 2012 and the only exception was if she was living in an assistant living facility or found another person to transfer the remaining time left on the contract. VIVINT receives a monthly charge of $39.99 which is automatically deducted from her checking account. Is there any options that I have to discontinue this bill that my mother cannot afford or keep? In both of these situations, I think they preyed on my mother's age and bad health. Any advice you could give would be greatly appreciated.

So when I called back in August and again in September, I told the representative that they would not get any money until my central unit is fixed. So in September, I called several times and each time they would send someone out but I needed to pay the account before it went to collections. I told them that I wasn't paying anything until my unit was fixed. Still, none showed up.

I called on October 12, trying to find out about sending someone and was told by the customer service representative that my account has been sent to a collection agency and charged off because of nonpayment. I told her that I wasn't paying anything until someone came out to fix my unit. The representative stated that I needed to pay a reinstatement fee of $200 for this account before they would send someone out to look at it. So I told her that they would be hearing from my attorney.

Now, we can not run the central unit for heat or air because it burned out.

I'm disputing this with my bank because I did not authorize them to take the money out of my account!

On May 30, 2011, I called Vivint and informed them that since my contract was up, I no longer wanted monitoring services. I was told that since I didn't write in at least 30 days prior to the end of my contract date, it automatically renewed for one year. I asked if there was some way I could take care of the contract. I was told I could find someone to "take over payments on my account" or pay the total fee for one year. This has got to be the most underhanded trick I have ever heard of.

Why should I pay to have this company monitor my home? I could have just hired them outright to steal money from me with their cheating contract. I am a retiree and living on a fixed income and can ill afford to be cheated by unprofessional companies. In order to get out of this contract, I had to pay $492.19 (the monthly fee for the rest of the year).

If you wish to discontinue their services, they require you to write them no later than 30 days prior to the end of their contract and no sooner than 6 months prior to the end of the contract. I had been out of the country (in China) for the previous 6 months. I told the account representative this and asked if there was some way I could take care of this. I was told I could find someone to take over my account and payments or pay the entire amount for the year. They wouldn't work with me at all.

I had $492.19 remaining on my contract, so I told them to take it from my American Express charge card and to cancel all services immediately. I believe this company is cheating homeowners by this "contract" they use. They charge on a monthly basis for their services, but they use a yearly contract to cheat the homeowners out of almost $600.00 a year. If the homeowner wants to cancel any time before the end of the contract, they have to pay the full contract off or find someone to take over payments.

And if you are out of the country and didn't write in, they don't even try to work with the client, so the client doesn't have to pay the full year. Even if their contract is legal by Utah State law, I believe it is underhanded and unprofessional--aimed at tricking unsuspecting homeowners out of their cash.

Vivint doesn't notify their clients of upcoming end of contracts. But they sure made it a point to call me trying to sell additional items or "new and upgraded" monitoring systems! Why couldn't they tell me that my contract was due to expire and what I should do if I wished to discontinue services? Of course, they wouldn't do that; that would be the honorable thing to do.

I feel Vivint Alarms should refund my $492.19 to me and cancel all services. I also believe this company should be investigated for their business practices

Our nightmare began after on or about 20 months within our 39-month contract with the new Vivint. The company changed name without even notifying us of the matter and coincidentally enough with the municipal changes within our state associated with false alarms. The rate increased due to these, from $75.00 to $125.00 to $150.00 and likewise without a customer service notification about the matter.

We suddenly started to experience false alarms due to motion detection. I continually left work to come home to check on the status of my home, and each time, things were in perfect condition. Initially, I noticed that the volume from the panel each time was altered or lower from how we left it. We usually raise the volume, but there had been no signs of activity in the home. I began communication with the company with the purpose of resolving the issue or getting to the bottom of it.

I was advised the following: 1. that we needed to pay somewhere around $800.00 approx. to get out of the contract, 2. or refer the company to a friend or family member who could retain the contract until the end of the period of agreement during the outstanding months to avoid the liability of the penalty. I advised the company that, at this point, I was unsatisfied with the service, because no one could explain the root of the problem. So I would not be able to recommend them.

To prevent any allegations of the company that they were not successful in communicating with us or having inability to provide optimum service due to problem with the telephone line, we proceeded to acquire a new and additional telephone line (somewhere in mid-January 2011) the same night when we were first notified about the false alarms (late that night) in order to honor the 39-month contract.

We then later learned that there was apparently false alarm prior to that date, when we had a celebration at home, and we had no recollection of the alarm and neither of the company contacting us about the matter. In communications with the company, they advised that in order to get a repairman to our home, we needed to pay an approx. $40.00 amount that differ from the signed contract.

We refused to have to pay anything as we did not make any changes to our lifestyle, our personal life, secured space, or home prior to the malfunction or receiving false alarms. The false alarms continued a few more days into the month, and suddenly, it then somehow stop. A police officer who visited our home advised that we insist with the company that they sent a technician to fix the problem at their expense, as he advised having the same system and been able to obtain that kind of service from the company. Base on the records provided by the police department, the false alarms were on average on or about one or two a day with few changes.

The company accepted sending someone to our home on or about two or four days after the alarms ceased in the month of January 2011. The technician came to the home, but when I inquired about checking the motion detector, he indicated that he had not been instructed to check for this one. I shared that this was weird, because this was the root of the problem. We had another technician sent out to our home to whom we agreed to, and this person added another unit to our home and verified the functioning of the equipment.

On or about mid-February 2011, again, the nightmare began. I was contacted by an employee of the company, and we proceeded to verify the emergency contact and others and who appeared to be willing to help us and been very concerned about the matter. This person requested that I forward the municipality / police fees/bills to her in order to assist us with getting reimbursed. Also, we scheduled another technician to visit our home per company's request, and this happenned the day after my conversation with the company employee.

The next day or two days after my communication with this person, the false alarms commenced again; only this time, they intensified supposedly on or about 10 or up to 15 or more in a day. I had requested that they sent someone other than the employees who had already visited our home, and they proceeded to send the first employee who visited our home. I expressed my discontent, and he contacted the company. Another person for the day or the fourth person was sent out.

At this point, I was expecting to see a supervisor or someone who had the title and expertise in my home, but this was not the case. The company continued to insist that we shall set the alarm but not activate the "away" function, when in the first place this is the reason why we acquired an alarm system to know that there is protection while we are absent from home, to give us a peace of mind.

Long behold, my mom got sick, and the false alarms affected her at her job. The employer requested that she removed them as an emergency number in case of false alarms. Likewise, in my case, there had been pre-existing issues in my workplace, and the false alarms issue surfaced in one of my management and HR Predetermination meetings, as this had been an excuse on my part for perhaps wanting to be absent from work.

Over the course of our relationship and the last two months, there were many inconsistencies, such as false alarms when we were at home and the panel had not gone off or been set on, activations of the panel even when we were at home sick and we could clearly see that nothing was occurring in the home (sometimes in intervals of every 20 minutes), or inconsistencies in contacting the different point of contacts and emergency contacts. I continually requested the name of the owner or to be connected with the legal department in order to reach to a compromise to avoid the stress and the increase of expenses.

Further, continually, the police visits, giving our neighbors the impression that on our residence or home, there are illegal activities or others even at times abruptly. There were interruptions at work due to false alarm, increase in gasoline expense due to excessive trips to the home to verify the situation, increase in false alarms fees, and transportation expenses due to the fact that we needed to contact customer service in order to even try to activate my system or change my password or whatever was delaying or preventing me from arriving to my work on time no matter if I called the company an hour before my departure time from home.

We even experience inability to make changes of my code, even though this should be possible. Each time we needed to contact the company, I have requested on three separate occasions an alarm history, and until this date, this have not been provided to me. On one occasion, I was advised by one of the employees that in order to get the report, they needed to call in the panel. We received somewhere on or about 6 to 8 calls to the panel, until I had to communicate with the company again to stop it because it was past midnight. And even then, we still have not been provided with a copy of the history. Dealing with the alarm company and system became my job after work pretty much on a daily basis.

I filed a complaint with BBB in the end of March, and April 7, 2011 was my deadline to submit additional update. That day, I contacted the company prior to providing update to the BBB as the Bureau encourage you to solve the issue with the company prior to filing a complaint. On 4/7/2011, I contacted the company to follow up on the outstanding invoices submitted mid-March 2011. I talked to Mr. Nick ** who advised that he were going to help me and that at the end of the day, we were going to be fully paid. He contacted me on my cell phone each time, all the way up to 4/10/2011 to advise that all was set. There had been issued a waiver to get us paid up. And Mrs. ** was going to contact us on Monday, 4/11/2011.

In that conversation, I also learned that the company decided to cancel the monitoring of my alarm system on 3/28/2011 without giving us a notification of the effective day for this to take place or that they were planning to do so. I proceeded to verify as usual by activating the system and walking in the house. And indeed, I got no response from the panel and likewise in opening the doors.

As a matter of fact, I have been billed by him with no idea of what I am billed for, as I have never received an invoice. Also, he has advised me that he will not provide me with a breakdown of the expenses until May, but I have a total of $1,600.00 outstanding with him as well.

The company has indicated that they contacted our home in order to offer a free upgrade, but the employee had actually contacted my work on a day off. and on another occasion, she contacted my mom who advised her that she was stepping out for a doctor appointment, and mom told her to talked to me. Also, the company employee Mrs. Chelsea ** hang up.

I proceeded to email the company contacts to request that this person call her back, but I never received a call from this person. Mrs. ** called mom's cell phone number on 4/11/2011, even though the company had been advised due to a doctor's notice that they shall limit conversation with mom, because of her health. The medical bills are all associated with mom's medical expenses as consequence to the false alarms. Mrs. ** only advised that they were going to pay only for the false alarms fees of about $575.00, leaving over $,2000.00 in expenses associated to false alarms outstanding. I also contacted the company on 4/12/2011 to talk to Mr. **, and the customer service employee after he verified all my data proceeded to hang up on me.

I only found this information out because I was looking to change services and called to complain. I was told that I signed the agreement and prior to installing my system, I was given a telephone survey and this is where they told me. The manager on call, Abigale, kindly offered to get their legal department to email me the recording of that conversation. I'll be real curious how clear they made that statement. When a nice group of guys comes to you neighborhood offering to sell you an APX system, say, "Oops, now it's Vivint," and slam the door on them. Now, I'm financially responsible up to mid-2013 for their services that costs more than others I was looking into.

Since we were so unhappy with their tactics, we would never do that to anyone we know. We sent approximately $1,000 at that time and told them we were removing the equipment. We had to have the phone company come in to rewire our phone to remove the monitor and ensure that our phone would still work. While removing the monitor it triggered an alert and APX called. When I explained that we were removing the equipment they set the account in the system so that it would not trigger an alert.

In March 2009 I received a letter from APX stating that we needed to contact the town to inspect the equipment because there was an open permit. I called the Code Enforcement Division in my town and explained that we no longer had the system and sent them a letter with the information they needed to cancel the permit. Fast forward to October 2010, I just received a statement from APX. This is the first communication from them since I spoke with them when removing the equipment. I called and it seems that the $1,000 that was sent was not considered full payment and now they are going to start billing me again. I divorced this past year and lost my job in May, but as everyone knows they have no hardship clause or compassion for anyone undergoing difficult circumstances. I said that I find issue with the fact that they want me to pay for service on a system that does not exist and is not considered legal in my town since there was never an approval on the permit. They are going to get back to me, but I feel that it's probably to make it seem like they are trying to help.

The woman on the phone stated that the account showed as canceled but then reopened. She tried to use the tactic that after getting the letter from my husband he agreed during a phone conversation to keep it, to which I said no, he never did or he would not have sent them $1,000 for what he thought was a payment to close out the contract. I am probably going to have to pay the additional $1,052 to get the contract cancelled and get APX out of my life. I can't really afford to give them the money but it will be worth it if I never have to hear from them again. Warn everyone you know that if they decide to get an alarm system to make sure they know how long the contract is for. If they do decide to get one, they need to check for hardship clauses in the contract because APX doesn't care how dire your circumstances are. They still expect you to pay a monthly monitoring fee even when they aren't monitoring anything!

After system was installed and in place for a little while, I called APX to have the system removed. APX informed me we were in a contract with them until 2012. We did not sign up for this. APX cannot produce the paperwork that we filled out nor the rep who hustled us. Meanwhile extorting a monthly payment from us. We were told we had the right to cancel in the beginning.

APX told us in order to get out of the contract, we would have to buy the equipment for $1000 plus or find someone to take the contract over ourselves. We were never asked after this so called model period did we want the system permanently. We would have declined. APX automatically initiated the contract. We are still fighting. Beware of APX business and reps.

As spring begins, the workers begin foraging for nectar and pollen. At the beginning of the season, there are usually no drones. Drones are raised later in spring and since they are needed in order to fertilize the queen, bees' reproductive season has not begun until the drones are born. As spring becomes summer, the workers continue their foraging activities. By now, the number of members in the hive has increased, which means that production of honey has ramped up as well. If the insects' numbers are getting out of hand, the bees will build queen cells in order to create more queens in the future. If they do this, they are basically preparing for the entire hive to swarm, which is where the old queen will leave with a majority of the workers in order to start a new hive. Any newly hatched queen will lead the remaining bees to repopulate the old hive all over again.

One of the main tasks that a beekeeper wants to do is to avoid swarming. There are several ways, but one of the most effective is simply to remove queen cells as soon as they are detected. As long as queen cells are not present, the chances of a swarm are very small. As fall approaches, the bees begin to prepare for the cold months ahead. Brood (non-adult bees, from eggs through the various stages of larvae) decrease in number. Bees that hatched the latest in the season have been less worn down by the demands of the hive, so they are usually the fattest and most able to survive the winter.

Because drones are only necessary for fertilizing the queen and no more fertilization takes place as winter approaches, a vast majority of the drones are kicked out of the hive and left to starve rather than to consume the resources of the hive without contributing to its survival. A few lucky males are kept around in case they are needed for any queens that emerge early. If winter is not too harsh, bees may still be active throughout these months, although less so than ordinary. If the months are very cold, they will cluster close together in order to wait for the beginning of spring, when they can emerge and repeat the entire process over again.

Next month, I got a bill for the debited amount plus the monthly fee. I sent them again a copy of everything. Do not hear from them. This goes on until I started getting phone calls from Audit Systems, their collection agency. Of course they are not interested in the facts but just the money. I finally agreed to a buyout amount but that turns out to be just shy of $600.00. We cannot afford that so I cancelled that. Now on 9 September I am still dealing with both companies. To re-instate, the contract, in the meantime we have removed their equipment, there is a $200.00 fee plus of course, the past due. These people used to operate under a different name, with the same business practices. These people know they have you over a barrel and just plain flat do not care. They are all about the money and not human understanding.

As the salesman was doing his pitch for the product, he told me that he needed a monthly monitoring fee plus first month fee. I told him to come back the following day as this was my weekly payday. He assured me to lock this price in, I had to do it today. I don't have a checking account. My girlfriend and I live together and she pays bills with her checking account. He persuaded me to give him her checking account info. I did this thinking this would move things along with the understanding that I still had to talk this agreement over with her.

Also I didn't know at the time I gave him her info that they were gonna auto debit her account for 60 months. I thought they were going to bill us thru the mail. He told me they could hold onto the check for one or two weeks if I needed them too. But I decided after they installed, that this was wrong of what I just did. So I cancelled. 8 weeks later they debited her account for 198.00. and has tarnished my relationship with my girlfriend. Never ever make these decisions without talking this kinda thing over with your loved one.

What makes this even worse is Apx (after reading all the complaints against this company ) is not a reputable company in my opinion. The end of this story is the salesman came back that night at 9:30 pm and begged my girlfriend for a fully written out check which at that time she flat out told the guy she didn't want the alarm system and to take it out. We haven't seen him since. Apx also debited her account without even having her signature on anything which was my fault. She didn't consent or sign anything.

You're on a corner, and if you let us put our sign in your yard, we can make some money. We will give you a free alarm system if you do three things: 1) keep the sign up for three years, 2) let us know if it ever is stolen or a storm blows it away, and 3) never tell your neighbors you got your system for free.

"He repeated this spiel several times and then went on trying to scare us by talking about lock bumping and how if someone cut our phone line, our system would not work (which is not true). I told him we don't have a land line and it works just fine. Then he asked about the system, making me very uncomfortable. He kept talking about how they were associated with Honeywell and that all the individual pieces of all systems were manufactured by Honeywell--a comment I have not yet vetted. The mosquitoes were so bad that I finally let him into the foyer, where my husband was listening in.

The man then told us that we would get the system for free. It would work with our existing equipment except we would have to change the pads to cellular pads. As we got further into the conversation, he said that as long as we had the sign in the yard, we would get the system for free. Then I asked, "If we had it out there for 20 years, we would never have to pay a dime? "

He said, "Yes." Then he said we would just have to pay the cell phone fee to keep a connection with all the towers in the area, so if one is down, the others still work. That would be just $11 a week. Oh, and there was a $99 activation fee, but we would get extra points for that. We would get 7 points just for having the sign and then 8 more when we paid the activation fee.

We could trade these points for parts of the system like control pads, smoke detectors, glass break detectors, motion sensors (rated up to 80 lbs--so you could leave the motion sensor on even if you had cats, which we do), and so on. And if we asked for this kind of equipment from our current provider, it would cost $397or was it $365? He said both prices.

I handed the papers he had given me to look at to my husband and moved over to my computer where I typed in APX Alarm Security Systems and found complaints here and at other sites. Really too many, to get into here. He claimed they were Better Business Approved, so I went to the BBB site and found they were not accredited.

He kept wanting me to go to the APX site, but I told him "No, just as you said people could write whatever they wanted on the internet good or bad, it isn't hard to make up a website and put anything you want on it "including a fraudulent BBB symbol. " He started stuttering and stammering and going over his list of things to say, to which I told him "As a matter of fact, *inserted his name here*. If we were to have any break-ins now--I think we could quickly conclude who our first suspect might be."

He then started talking about how he had a solicitor's license with the city and how he was just trying to save us money and I told him I think I was done with our conversation. That really got to him and my husband ushered him out. He started down the street to harass our neighbors and I called the police telling this guy was soliciting a fraudulent product and how they were a scam and how I knew they were a scam and they sent out a car to talk to him.

He saw the police cruiser and waited before going up to another house. After it passed, he proceeded back on his journey. My husband talked to the officer and he turned around and stopped the man and talked with him. We did not sign with APX because my husband and I understand that any oral agreement goes out the window once you sign that contract and we checked before we even looked at the contract to see if this company was legit.

No BBB Accreditation, plenty of consumer complaints, and he simply wanted me to look at their website because everyone else was lying. This guy was asking all kinds of questions regarding our system and was touching our control panel next to the front door, looking for info, I assume. Don't trust these guys!

I said my husband used to work with him, and we've not heard anything about that. She said it happened and she had talked to the couple across the street from them and sold them an alarm system. The husband worked nights, they had two little girls, and the lady was pregnant. Also, she was afraid to be there by her self.

I continued to talk to her, and she called her office and got a man on the phone. Then we agreed to buy the system. At the time, our neighbor was over here and she stated she would like to see about one also. Miranda called whomever she talked to at her home office, and she stated they could not pull her up at that address. I asked, "Why not?"

She has lived there over ten years, and we had only lived here for little over three years. She couldn't answer my question. And then she asked, "Can I give them your name?" I said why. To verify she lives there, she said yes. Miranda and the man I spoke with on the phone told me to write a voided check in the amount of $86.49. That was for the draft from the bank for the first three months for our system. And they said after that it would be for $53.49.

Miranda was talking with Carrie here at my house and said she would bring her $50.00 the next day, which was something like a rebate. Miranda then called the tech, and he must have been waiting around the corner, for he was here in about ten minutes. Then Miranda left and went to Carrie's house. After they were through with the paperwork and installing the systems, it was around 10:00pm or after at both our houses.

Well, the next day, Miranda didn't come to bring Carrie her $50.00 she had promised. It went that way for over two weeks. I called Miranda and told her about it. I usually call my bank's automated service to make sure that my drafts have all cleared and they were. But there was one I didn't have in my check book in the amount of $88.80 in June 2010, and the automated teller didn't give me the amount that APX was to draft for $86.49. So when I hung up and called the bank to have it checked and talked to a live agent, they said the $88.80 was from APX.

I got so upset and called the APX customer service, and they said it was due to Florida taxes, not knowing what they were. I told them that they did and they were added into the amount to be taken out after the three-month period. Then I told them to come take this thing out of my house, that I did not want it, and that it was an unauthorized amount.

My husband and I had to sign the cancellation slip and fax it to them. A guy named Matthew came from Jacksonville, Florida in two days and removed it. Then in about three days, Carrie was not home; she was at her doctor's. Miranda went by her house and left two envelopes. When Carrie came back, she came over and gave me the envelopes. In one, there was three $20.00 bills (totaling $60.00) and in the other one, it had my name on it and a letter written to me.

The letter stated, "I'm sorry for any financial hardships I have caused you, but there were problems with your paperwork, because Mrs. ** didn't pass credit. I have filled out the same paperwork and just need your signature." I have kept everything from those people. I have called these people and talked to so many customer service people and also supposedly three supervisors. I went so far as to tell them Carrie is on disability and her cousin is her representative who gets her disability check.

Then they wanted a letter from Social Security to that effect; we got that. They wanted the new contract and letter faxed to them, and that was done. Now they said there were two problems stated; now they want a doctor's letter. This woman has medical papers years back. She had her first brain tumor when she was six years old. She has papers dating back to 1992. But that should not be the problem. That thing should come out of her house. It was done with my credit check. They didn't have my permission to do that.

First of all, it should have not been put in her house; she failed the credit check. This is stress I don't need. What is wrong with these people? Do they not know what this can do to some people? Or do they not care? This all was done by scamming us. Isn't there a law against it? I have signed nothing. And these people need to learn. This is a big bunch of lies.

My husband and I take care of a disabled grandson, who has a lot of medical problems, and I have enough to deal with on a daily basis, and we are not getting any younger. It is now 4:30, and I have not been to bed yet. By the way, there was no break-in, and I had Mrs. ** call her bank and stop payment on the draft from APX. By the way, I got on the computer and printed out my credit; they did the quick check on May 2010.

Eric from the home damages department emailed me a release statement so they could go forward with getting the damage repaired. I signed it and faxed it back within probably two hours of him sending that. Another week or so went by. I had to call Eric over and over, trying to get them to do something about the damages he kept saying he was looking for a repair man in my area. The first week of June, I went on a cruise for a week. When I got back, I had six voice mails from the APX scheduling department trying to setup a day for them to come pick up their equipment. I had no messages from the home damage department about fixing my house. I found my own repair man had him come by my house and see the damage and he and Eric spoke. From what I was told, the repair man sent Eric his W-9 so APX could pay him. I never saw the repairman again and never heard back from Eric either.

Every week, about 4 times a week, I get calls from their scheduling department wanting to come pick up their equipment. I never get calls from the home damage department trying to get my house fixed. I have told the APX scheduling department numerous times to put in my file not to call me to pick up equipment until my home is fixed. Yet they keep calling. Today July 2, 2010, I received a certified letter from Valerie ** from APX's customer service department. The letter states that APX has made numerous attempts to contact me so they could remove the equipment from my home. Since I haven't responded, they intend to charge me for the amount of the equipment, $1,475.00. The letter states I have ten days to contact APX and let them remove the equipment or I have to pay the above listed amount.

So I called the customer service number and asked to speak to Valerie **. They wouldn't connect me to her. The lady I spoke to looked up my information and assured me APX would get the problem resolved in a reasonable amount of time. So I asked her if it were her home, would almost two months be a reasonable amount of time? She agreed it was unacceptable. Shortly after that, we got disconnected. Eric then called and said he thought my home was fixed. I asked him if they call their customers and checked to see if everything was done and he said yes, they do, but it takes a little time. Then he said, "Well, that’s just an excuse.” We agreed to look for a different repairman because the first guy didn't work out. He told me he was looking for repairmen in my area and would call me back in 20 minutes. That was 7 1/2 hours ago and I still haven't heard back from him. Two holes in a roof. Never use APX Alarm. Tell everyone: do not do business with APX Alarm.

If you have an existing alarm system, you probably have an existing contract. They automatically renew unless you cancel them before the end of the current term. Being in the business, the APX salesman should have known we would have penalties if we switched services in the middle of the term. When we found out, we cancelled the APX contract in the first three days. APX came and took their equipment but said it was against policy to hook our old system back up. Despite calls to their home office, we got no relief. We are now going to have to pay a $150 service charge to get our old system hooked up. If you have an existing system doesn’t make the same mistake my wife made.

Although the product is a good one, the fact the company wouldn't do the right thing when their salesman lied to us is all you need to know. Do business with someone else. Regardless of which company you use, be aware that your contract automatically renews. After your initial term expires, your equipment is paid for. Cancel your contract in advance of its expiration and find a lower cost monitoring service.

They were late coming to my house for a family picnic and I called and they were installing it right there and then. I went there as soon as I could and asked Tyler if he didn't see the sign on the door and he said yes he did! But he continued to pressure my parents knowing that they were late for a family event and he knew if he kept pressuring them they would buy it. My mother gave them her checking account number to debit her account.

I am on my way today to close her account out and call the company to come take it out. These people should be shut down for pressuring older people into this stuff. On a holiday they showed up and their license plates say “UTAH” and we live in St. Joseph Missouri. What would you think?

They have been charging me for 6 months now for a service I didn't get and they still have left the old system lying dormant in the house I sold. Why do I have to pay for this. I didn't know the system could not be installed in my new house. The have sent my bills to collections, in which I was never questioned or notified of this being done. I don't think I should pay for something that could not be installed and for the equipment they have left in my old house!

They sent my bill to a collection agency, which damages your credit without my knowing of the situation. I thought they would just go retrieve the old system in the house I sold? This is causing me great stress because my wife has been terminally ill and I had to move to downsize our living space from 3200 sq.ft. to 1300 sq.ft. With that said, what do I do. The association of the Condo's I live at has full time security, which I didn't know when I moved in?

I reminded the service desk that I paid them for service and if I have a problem with my car, the dealership doesn't tell me to fix it myself. After a little arguing, they agreed to send a technician to reapply the sensor. When the technician came, he appeared to be about 22, talked on his cell phone the whole time and was basically not what I would call professional.

I attempted to take advantage of the "cancel anytime" deal shortly thereafter and was informed that I would have to either buy out my contract or transfer it to someone else. After a lengthy conversation, in which I learned that my salesman had flat out lied to me, I hung up in frustration with no resolution. I rarely activate the alarm system, turned out my dog and children would inadvertently set it off pretty frequently and it was more trouble than it was worth. I resigned myself to the fact of throwing money out the window every month.

In January of this year, I emailed a letter to APX requesting an early termination of my contract due to tough economical times. Again, I was informed I could buy it out or transfer it. I responded that if I had the money in the first place, I wouldn't be attempting to terminate early and also that I would never recommend them to anyone. At this point, I am counting the days until the end of my contract (July 24). I have mailed them a letter stating that at the end of the contract term, I do not want it to auto renew. We'll see how well that's followed.

In the last three months, two APX technicians have tried to fix the problem but failed. Now they are suggesting me to have the system installed through the cell phone and not through land line. The equipment costs around $200.00 plus my monthly payment would go $5.00 more. I wish I could come out of this contract but the only option for me is to pay them upfront for the duration of my contract. This problem is affecting my daily work because I work from home and need to remain connected to my Company's intranet all the time.

Now my issue, someone showed up at my door and since my contract with ADT Alarm had expired and they offered to add to my system for $99, I agreed. I signed the 5 year contract not realizing that in a couple of years, I would lose my part time job and eventually have to sell my home. I lived with my kids for a few months and now live in rental duplex. I am a senior citizen and am retired so live on a very limited income. The part time job was keeping me going financially.

After selling my home, I contacted APX to inform them and stupidly believed that they would agree to cancel my contract under the circumstances. But they gave me choices, continue to pay monthly until end of contract or pay them $2,000+ still owing. I realized that I had signed the contract but did not know I would no longer have a home to put one in.

I even tried to make a settlement of $500 to $1,000 but they would not accept this. They wanted all their money. They are threatening to put a lien against me for which I told them to go ahead. At my age, I will never own a home again and have nothing they can take. After a few months, I agreed to pay them $50 a month just to keep it off my credit. I was able to pay for a couple of months but now no longer have the money to pay.

With the economy the way it is, so many losing their homes and jobs you would think they could be sympathetic but it has not been the case.

I called to cancel and they told me I couldn't. So I continued paying, and then was forced to leave my house. I called them to tell them that I no longer would reside there, and Adam told me that I was still responsible for paying. Needless to say, my landlord didn't want the equipment, so we removed all, and I offered to mail it back to them. Adam's response was, "We are not in the habit of leasing equipment." Now, I get a collection notice from them for over $1,800.00 and I am on a fixed income (which the sales rep knew at the time). To boot, I didn't even own the place! If there is some sort of class action being planned against APX, please count me in!

Please help me get this dispute solved. I told the managers that I was willing to pay from "May" 2008 to September 2008, even though I didn’t get the service. The technicians were very nice and came out and tried their best to get it working and checked in to report the work they had done before they left the house, but it still occurred over and over again. I won’t trust this alarm ever again. Thank you for your help. I am a retired senior citizen and needed that "alert" which goes around the neck they were offering for free with the alarm. I haven't been able to use that either.

December 13th, I talked to a young man named Aaron at the alarm system, he said the new owners should call and transfer the account to their name, and that should write a letter to the company stating what had happened. I gave the message to Teresa and told her what the man said. Her husband Jeffery heard the conversation. I wrote and mailed the letter to the APX alarm system, relinquishing my plan to new owners. The Swans never called the company. I called and talked to Teresa once about three weeks ago and she said they would call the company right away, but that has not happened. The company calls every day and are now threatening legal action.

Consequently, they raise my monitoring rate up by $7.69 and my contract went from three years to five years. I have talked to so many people at APX about this situation. Now they tell me that I contacted them for alarm service and I signed the contract which I did because I was more or less bullied into it if I wanted to maintain an alarm system. When I said I had a letter showing they were to absorb my contract, everyone acted like they knew nothing about it and I was a new customer seeking service. I told them I had never heard of them before I got the letter. I feel like I was set up because I know people who still have Soldier Alarm.

I purchased an alarm system on July 24, 2008 from a representative who went from door to door, offering the product with free installation and for a monthly charge of $44.99. At that time, I was in good financial standing and decided to have the alarm installed and signed their contract for a 5 year plan.

Well since the alarm has been installed, I have not used it once and while I knew that it was not their problem, a lot has changed over the last year and I am now having financial difficulties and falling behind in my bills. I am trying to see where I can cut back and since I have never used the alarm, I called the company to see if there were any options for me.

I knew I signed the contract, so I explained my situation to the representative and asked if I could just suspend the service for a year. By that time, hopefully I will be in a better position and start up the payments again. But the representative advised that it was not possible and could only suspend it for 2 months which would really not help. I asked what my other options were and he advised that I would have to pay off the remainder of the five years in full, for them to cancel the service which is also not an option for me. So I don't know what else I can do.

I don't want to just stop paying and then end up in collections but there are more important bills that I have to pay to keep a roof over my head. Are there any options for me to take or because I signed the contract I am stuck? Please help.

I hope resolutions can be posted, this is my 2nd attempt to try. The complaint against APX Alarm posted on 09/23 with follow-up of 10/11 has been resolved to our satisfaction. A representative from APX's consumer advocacy department contacted us. After listening patiently to our issue, he agreed to have our circumstances reviewed. APX telephoned us the next day and offered us a fully satisfactory resolution.

If the use of a genuine consumer advocacy department (we did not know they had one) is indicative of improved response to consumers, expect APX BBB rating to climb. Although our issues with APX are resolved, I will continue to actively seek MO and FTC statutory clarification of the issues raised in our dispute related to rights and legal impact of written cancellation in home solicitation sales. If addressed (I realize how slim my chances are of achieving this), these would protect consumers (and businesses) from misunderstandings.

On the contract, we left off a signature and were offered a free month of service if we filled it out and submitted the paperwork within 30 days. We did 3 times and were expecting 3 months of service for free. That never happened. Instead, they took the 3 months out of checking account. I went to the bank and closed the account. I got the 3 months back and quit paying the bill. The company started to send me letters and I fought back. I called our Police Officer over our area, and he called the company to find out if they had a license to sell in Aurora. At that time, Sebastian did. At this point, I found that Sebastian was from Alberta, Canada and so I called the Canadian Consulate to see what they could do.

I was very mad at this point, because I felt I was scammed and the response from APX was demeaning and belittling. I had read multiple complaints to the BBB, and the response that I got from APX was "As such, it is Ms. ** responsibility to ensure that there are sufficient funds to be withdrawn on the 5th of each month. To resolve this dispute, APX Alarm will waive the insufficient fund and late fees levied by APX Alarm in the amount of $54.00. However, Ms. ** will remain responsible for any overdraft fees her bank may have charged her." I told them I was not accepting their terms and demanded that the contract be voided. How dare they tell me how to manage money? They would give 3 months for free? They charged us for 3 months with no warning.

Finally, a collection company called me and I explained to them that I was going to pursue a civil suit against the company if I could find a lawyer willing to take the case to a class action. Not yet. I have not given up! The collection agency got a manager on the phone, and he said that his company was not going to pursue us for the contract. They were not getting involved in a litigation. I explained to him that I have not started one yet, but I am going to. I find that APX alarm is a predator. They scared us (me) into buying this system because of my dogs. I know better now. And now, I use my dogs to keep the salespeople away. Both of the dogs bark and I cannot hear a thing the solicitor is saying. So, I waive them off and shut the door.

APX Alarm and/or Anderson Crenshaw claim the following:

1. A faxed cancellation of contract is not valid because it is faxed, rather than mailed or hand delivered.

2. Oral consent over the telephone after receiving a cancellation legally reverses the cancellation. No later written agreement is needed.

FYI to anyone facing these assertions:

1. Utah Code 70C-5-102(4), the notice of cancellation may take any form (as is also true in my state of MO and, I would guess, all other states as well).

2. In Taran Distributing vs. Ami, the US Court of Appeals (237 F2d 488) upheld a lower court ruling that a (undisputed) telephone conversation (in this case with a company president) cannot reverse a written cancellation of a contract. Such a conversation "lacks substantial manifestations of firm oral undertakings between intelligent business men."

This high standard for oral statements to carry weight equal to or greater than written contracts US Court of Appeals in Ziolkowski vs. Caterpillar Incorporated (996 F2d 1220) sets out the high standards that would be necessary for any oral statement to have contractual weight. The full terms and obligations must be fully understood (this suggests sufficient levels of contract law understanding that exists with both parties) and it must be the clear intention of both parties to establish an oral contract. In that particular case under review, the court ruled any oral statements that were made must be understood only as an "agreement to make and agreement." This, the court asserts, is not a binding contract.

Finally, no court decision I can find has specifically addressed the practice of a company (APX Alarm) pursuing a consumer further after receiving a written cancellation. The FTC code is also silent on this, although the intent of code (establishing a legal right of cancellation within three business days; and, protecting consumer's from point of sale decisions made under the influence of a skilled salesperson) seems to be violated.

I would wish a clarification of this question were addressed in federal court or clear statutory wording: Can a company involved in unsolicited door to door sales, upon receiving a valid, timely written cancellation of a sales contract, directly contact that consumer to pressure/persuade them to change their minds?

Well, APX did give me "3 months" free to figure out what I can do. (It was not free; it's tacked on to the end of contract.) Then another 3 months when I told them I have no reason to keep system, house will be foreclosing, and I will not own a house again for a very long time. Well, I wrote 3 letters explaining my situation and practically begging them to void my contract. I never heard from them again, until yesterday. Collection Agency. $1790.00. We have moved to Oregon, lost our house in Sparks, and are now renting. I am working a temporary job. I am at a loss on this and completely blown away. When we asked the "very nice" sales reps those exact questions, we never thought it would happen to us. And now that it has, we see they bold-faced lied to us.

I didn't submit, but by my putting in my TP number they somehow processed it anyway. I caught the dickens trying to get that off of my telephone bill and when I called the company to ask what service they were providing for me, the owner, a very nasty man, told me that he was protecting my name and address. What? I let him have it and told him he better take that off my bill. He talked to me very rough and was very angry, but he did it eventually. Then APX called and it was on from that point on. I hope a class action lawsuit will be filed against these guys because this is fraud and we don't need to be taken by these fast talking, lying young men. Now, take into account that, while we are seeking a class action lawsuit, how rich they have become as our expense. How cruel!

We were getting our living room painted and our friend took the system down to paint behind it and well, we still have not received a call from APX concerning that our monitor was not connected. We also had to close our checking account out due to some issues with the bank and you know, when APX finally decided to call us, when they realized they weren't getting paid anymore and haven't mentioned that our house is not being monitored anymore. Sounds like to me that it's a total ripoff! I do not recommend anyone putting an APX Alarm System in their home unless they just want to piss money away!

About four days later "Chris" from APX called, told her he was sorry she had decided to cancel. He asked Linda if she'd allow APX the chance to come back and make things right. She was in the middle of household stuff, unprepared for a phone call from them. And unfortunately, she was trying to be nice. She finally agreed to allow them to come back, bring some additional stuff, and try again. She barely remembers details of this conversation, but is certain she was never told her telephone consent would unconditionally nullify her rights of cancellation and establish, regardless of her satisfaction with their equipment/service - of an irrevocable five year contract. If anything like that had been said, she certainly would have refused.

Three additional visits from APX and system still could not be made to work for our house. I can explain why, but won't bother with that here. So, we were never able to use the system and contacted APX that we decided to let our cancellation stand. They insist (with no willingness to settle for one cent less) that a full five year contract is in place and demand full payment: more than $2k. We have returned all equipment to APX via (signature required) UPS. I want to emphasize that we were never presented with or signed any written agreement with APX after her written cancellation was faxed to them and received.

Central to our complaint: A written contract was signed and then legally canceled (in writing with the time period allowed by FTC and MO law). Their own "fine print" in the original contract document states that no oral changes or amendments can be made by any party: "The entire and only agreement between us is written in this agreement. It replaces any earlier oral or written understanding or agreements. It may only be changed by a written agreement signed by both you (and if married, your spouse) and us." (By the way, although named at the top of the original contract document, I was not home and did not sign it.)

At no point in the telephone conversation was my wife informed that consenting to an attempt to "make things right" obligated us (even if we remained unsatisfied with the service) to an unbreakable contract. She did understand if she was satisfied with the new setup, she would use and pay for their service. So, we have a written contract between APX and the both of us only signed by Linda. Then a written cancellation of the contract is sent by Linda, received, and (by Chris's phone call) acknowledged. And then APX initiated an unsolicited telephone call during which my wife believed she was giving them another chance. She was just trying to be polite and nice; and now she's emotionally deeply hurt by this company's calloused and unrelenting demands for more than $2,000.

We were not given anything in writing to consider and sign (or decide not to sign) after that phone call. If a door to door sales company is allowed to telephone consumers after receiving a written cancellation and pressure (they would say "persuade") an oral consent to "try again", and such consent alone is allowed the full weight of a written contract); the right to cancellation becomes nothing more than an invitation for any company to pursue the poor consumer (who is not an attorney) over the telephone and then insist an oral statement made at that moment has the weight of an irrevocable written contract.

The legal issues raises, in my opinion, are numerous: Where is consumer informed consent in this? Where are consumer rights standards protected in this practice? At what point would this "consent" become an unbreakable contract? (The instant uttered in the conversation? When new equipment is first installed? Three days after one or the other? What if the setup still did not work and a third visit brings some additional equipment? What if it still would not work satisfactorily?) Doesn't this effectively circumvent laws limiting or nullifying the validity of oral statements and agreements in door to door sales?

What information did the company representative share over the telephone prior to this oral consent? Were the contractual obligations the company asserts a consent would create fully explained (in this case, we promise you they were not)? Since the whole scenario involves an unexpected phone call in the midst of other household distractions, and is inherently impacted by the telephone persuasiveness of the APX salesperson, how can FTC and state consumer protection standards be maintained if such practices are allowed?

Nothing would have prevented APX Alarm from bringing subsequent written documents that would have provided us opportunity to assess what they now assert Linda’s consent to "let them try again" would obligate. Since the initial written contract was wholly canceled by the communication of cancellation, in my (non-lawyer) opinion, no contract existed as of that time. What else can “I hereby cancel this transaction” mean? As such, a new contract should have been presented from APX to us that could be read, assessed, and either signed or not signed.

This company has been the subject of numerous state investigations. I cannot begin to count how many (negative) news articles from all over a quick search of Google over just the past 12 months revealed. APX Alarm currently has an "F" rating with the BBB. Even in an industry I’ve now learned is prone to abuses, APX is among the worst, if not the worst.

We've been married more than 30 years and have never had a financial dispute with a company before. We feel powerless in the face of their tactics, threats, and resources. We want our issues with them settled. It is tremendously stressful. The financial impact of “paying them off” would be significant for us. But in light of their relentless pursuit of our money and my wife’s anguish, it is tempting. But I know they have done this to others and will keep on doing it.

I believe these practices are predatory. I believe they violate at least the intention of consumer protection laws, particularly those related to home solicitation sales contracts and practices. I think a survey of recent legal issues and news reports (not always exactly like ours) about APX Alarm nationwide demonstrates a pattern of abuse and disregard of consumer rights. I hope some broader action against this company (the only thing big enough to make them stop) is warranted.

They have repeatedly called us and all efforts at reasonable settlement (we already gave them $300 and told them they could keep it to cover the modest equipment costs) have been a complete failure; whether we want or use the service or not, they demand the entire contract amount. They even called us on our cell phones while we were in Zimbabwe serving in a mission work over the summer months (of course, these calls cost us). They have now turned us over to an aggressive collection agency in Dallas (Anderson, Crenshaw, and Associates) who have called on our cell phones (I don't know how they got the numbers), threatening to ruin our credit and in one conversation, to go after our home.

They say that they will post "numerous" citations of unpaid debt weekly to our credit reports. And I know it may not be against the law, but they also yelled and shouted at my poor wife until she cried. Shame on them for such bullying. I know this is not earth-shattering stuff. We're not physically injured, thank God. We spent this summer working with AIDS orphans in disease-ridden Zimbabwe. We are still blessed and thankful. This is about a very nice woman in her mid-fifties a little too naive to realize "nice" can be a bad idea with a company like this. $2,000-$2,500 is peanuts for some, but it is not for us. Neither is our credit. By the way, my wife tends to keep detailed and dated notations of telephone conversations. And of course, we have copies of all letters and the original contract and the fax of cancellation, etc.

I called APX alarm systems about the situation and they bounced me to Security Networks because they sold my contract to them. I called Security Networks and according to Mr. **, "I was not there when you signed your contract. You bought the service from APX and not from us. We just bought your contract and if you want to cancel, you will have to pay $439.89." That is more than 10 months of service! And the exact cancellation amount was not even in the contract. People like this is the one who makes you value customer service, especially in tough economic times.

I will continue my campaign in Twitter, Facebook, etc. until my situation gets resolved. I already called Clark Howard and the Hispanic newspaper in Atlanta about this.

They also added 2 more years to my contract with them when my contract was due to end at the end of this year. I told them that I did not sign anything that authorized them to do that. They said they could because I signed one with APX and they also upped the monthly fees from $44 a month to $80 a month. Plus the security deposit payment was to be taken out on the 28th of the month, but ADT was now going to take it out on the 18th. If I wanted to change it, I had to pay another fee for that to be done.

When I called APX, they were no help. They acted like they did nothing wrong, and they said it is in the contract that they can sell to any company they want. They don't have to notify us they are doing it. Also, they get to keep the security deposit. They said that it is in the contract. I found nothing that said that either.

Now, this is how the tech got me. He said, "Can I go ahead and install some of the equipment now and we will just monitor the property for now until you guys are finished." Well, I told him we really didn't have room for any of the equipment because we were knocking down walls, floors, windows, and everything. He said, "We will just do this for now and when you finish with the house, we will come back and complete everything at that time." Did you know as soon as the tech left and I went through the survey, they then had started taking the money out of my account on the 19th. I will never get an alarm from another company again.

We don't need the system and can no longer afford it as my husband was laid off. And now, we are forced to pay for something we were lied to about in the first place. Now, we have moved and they want to charge me for the transfer of a service we do not want or need anymore.

He stood there looking at me daring me and I said, "I will have to call the cops." He said that I cannot do anything about that because they are licensed to sell in our area. I closed the door and locked it and left him outside. I looked up the company's website and found a number and made a complaint about the incident. I spoke to the customer relation person and told him the details and they said they will investigate. I also said that these sales reps need to be more trained to have courtesy and not walk door to door at 8:45 pm in neighborhoods and make people mad. If anyone needs info about this company, there are some complaints and legal actions against this company at the Better Business Bureau website if you look up the company information.

I did not notice the 60-month term as written on the contract at the time, as this gentleman was very talkative and time was of essence to have our new system installed. The young man looked and acted like a clean, honest, Christian, hardworking individual. Usually a good judge of character, I entered into the contract. I did not feel the need to go through the contract, as I truly trusted him. As soon as the contract was signed I noted that the installation guy must have been waiting around the corner, because he showed up very quickly after the contract was signed. The salesman made a call to his home office, and a pre-survey took place to confirm that we were happy with the salesman and the terms of service at 8:58PM.

I wondered why John was adamant that the survey be completed by my husband, rather than myself. I had been the person with whom he was negotiating. He said that because the contract was being placed under my husband's name and credit, that he be the one to answer the questions. The installation took a horribly long time, from early evening until well after midnight. A post-satisfaction survey took place at 12:35AM (6/22). We were obviously pretty sleepy at the time of the survey! The installation kept my children from falling asleep on time, as the unit was being worked on in their bedroom. I contribute the long time it took to install the unit to the installer's lack of knowledge and skill. The installation began at 8:38PM and ended at 12:35AM the next morning!

Even though the tech thought everything was installed right, after I double checked the system a week later, I found that the unit was not sending a signal to the company, and my telephone service was not working intermittently. On 6/26/08, I was forced to schedule a service call. The installer came over and finally fixed the problem. I was apparently without security monitoring for a whole week prior to that, for which they were paid. All of this happened so quickly, due to all the problems faced with the installation, didn't have a chance to reflect on the paperwork and what the contract revealed. I was still having monitoring problems within the three day period for cancellation.

What is especially disheartening, is that I even let this deceitful person use my restroom on several occasions throughout the week, while he was working on selling to the rest of my neighborhood. Thanks to this experience, I will never trust another salesman again, from any company. Now, as my husband and I reflect, without jobs through no fault of our own, we wonder why we should be held liable to pay for services we really never intended on lasting for five years The tactic used at which to get the sale was dishonest and was a bait and switch. The installation and service was poor.

This man, to me was the devil in disguise. He even felt so comfortable, that days after the sale he brought back his co-worker, who was also selling in the area to use my restroom. All the while, I had no idea that he was scamming my family and I. After noticing the discrepancy, it was already too late according to their company customer service representative, Janet, to cancel. The three days that were allotted to me at which to cancel had since passed. I would like to end my contract, and am looking for any assistance you can give me; $1,919.52 - this amount reflects the four extra years that I never intended on agreeing to.

I have since contacted the real APEX Alarm and have spoken with the owner. This fraudulent company is not associated with the real APEX Alarm, the real company can be reached at 510-548-0515, the owner's name is Nick, and I can't read what I wrote as his last name. He was very informative about this fraudulent company APX Alarm, they are owned by Todd Peterson, Keith Melifuson, and Sean Breenchley. They are located out of Utah and their investors are Goldman Sachs.

Unfortunately, I have found that you can only submit a complaint here or if they have called you to the Do Not Call Registry Complaint, local government will not intervene due to the fact that they have a license to sell in your area and they have no way of knowing that this company is fraudulent. My best advice is to not give any information to any door to door salesmen, if you want their product, seek them out yourself.

The calls do not stop, they call at all hours of the day and evening and trying to have your number removed from their calling list is fruitless. There must be a way that we, as consumers can stop this fraud. Research them, they have terrible business practices and have no problem using trickery or fraud to get your business. They prey on the elderly and anyone else they possibly can.

The salesman agreed to return to the house in 1 hour. He did not return for almost 2-1/2 hours later. The first time we were left waiting. After he gave his speech about the system, and con my husband into the system by talking about how I would be so much safer when he was not home, the decision was made to purchase the system because it seemed to be good. We began the agreement to install the system. We had asked if we could wait a couple of days to install it because we had a lot of plans that evening and the following weekend. The salesman told us that a person was in the area and that he would be there in 10-15 minutes. An installation man arrived almost 1 to 1.5 hours later. My husband and I had plans that we had to get to. My husband spoke to the technician and told him that we needed to get to our prior engagement and it was then rescheduled with the installation person to return the next day. The installation technician again did not show on time. At this point, we were very frustrated. We had contacted the salesman and told him of our issues with the installation. He just said that he was sorry.

Due to all of this and the negative image that has been reported on TV recently about this company, I am requesting that my service and contract be terminated. When I asked about the certification/licensure of the company during the sales speech, the salesman stated that they were a very reputable company and we need not to worry. I felt a little suspicious about the company from the beginning because of the technicians. If APX is such a large company, you would think that the service technicians and sales people would have company cars. I was a little taken back by the unprofessional way of showing up in personally owned cars and retrieving 5 gallon buckets with equipment in them. As I said before, I will be sending this email to the local news channel as well. I hope this email will be returned promptly unlike the previous service I have received. I also asked the sales person about possibly stopping the service/contract in the future. He told me that the contract could be ended. When I called and spoke to the customer support person, they told me that there was a 3-day cancellation agreement and that the contract cannot be canceled.

When the ADT man stopped by, he had ID and was in a vehicle. I mentioned that to him, and he replied that everyone does it differently. He kept pushing the issue of it only being a few dollars more a month. The more I said "That's OK; I'm not interested," the more aggressive he got. Finally, I started cussing and threatened to open fire if he didn't leave my property. He caught a attitude and said, "Fine, then." and turned around and left walking. I decided to do some research on this company, and I have not seen anything good on them yet. Glad I didn't decide to sign up.

I had no intention of getting APA services. The whole thing seemed pretty bogus and hokey to me. And there is no way someone's going to walk up to my door with no proper ID and sell me something to "protect" my home; but obviously, the town police could care less! Buyer beware I guess!

About 1 month later, APX called and a technician came and installed the smoke detector. Again, fast, courteous and clean. All systems have worked perfectly for a year now. Terrific service and customer support. I do not know what happened to all that have had problems but may I suggest that they call and speak with a customer service rep and explain (not yell) their specific problem and ask for assistance from APX.

He talked all this trash about Brinks Home Security System and other ones too. He didn't make that much eye contact and also talked about one of the people across the street having a stroke not too long ago. It made me realize, is he the real deal or a scam artist? So my father let him in, but I didn't want the guy in my house. We all sat down and he was very jumpy. He even showed houses that were signed up for the company and the tech people would be coming to all of the houses that night. So as he was talking to us, I got a fresh plastic cup and filled it with water and handed it to him for fingerprints just in case my house gets robbed in the near future. He took a sip and left it.

We all finished talking and to me it just seemed too good to be true. Plus I watch all these shows about people robbing houses. I learned about systems from it and I would correct this guy and ask him other questions, making him more jumpy. He asked for both of our information, but no social security. Then he called someone with some of my father's info. The guy then left about 3 minutes later, telling us later that night tech people will be at our house putting in a system. We didn't sign any paperwork for a system to be put in. The guy was so jumpy he left his phone and some paperwork in my house. I ran outside to tell him his stuff was in my house.

Well my father was not going to sign something without reading the paperwork, so he read it once the guy left. It had that we paid nothing for all of the equipment, which seemed good. But down further it said we have to pay $1,949.61 to start the service which will be for 39 months. I came online the next day and read up about the company and saw bad things about them. So I decided to call the police and they told me that they have a permit to go around so they can't do anything about it. If you see them in your town, tell everyone to turn them away. I knew it was a scam, but we wanted to see and hear more about it just in case someone got robbed in our area.

I even argued with my phone company, until they told me it was the alarm system that was messing the service. We set up the alarm and door sensors failed to work. We had a toast slice trapped on the toaster, the whole house on smoke. The smoke detector from APX never got activated. We had to unplug the toaster. A nice technician from APX came to fix the problem, only to work for 5 days, and APX Alarm didn't care. The only thing they said (All representatives) is that you cannot cancel, the only thing you can do is to pay the term of the contract or transfer the service to someone else (WHAT???).

I will never recommend this company, not even to my worst enemy. One of the representatives made fun of me... terrible customer care (if any). Now they sent this account to a collection agency, telling me they are going to sue me, and damage my good credit record. APX checks your credit records before they knock on your doors. APX Alarm definitely uses shady business practices. How can I pay for a useless service and a toy like equipment? The APX technician told me that the doors sensors failed to work because the rainy weather, they got wet (????). What kind of security Company is APX Alarm System? Dana ** told me that the papers I signed were only my AUTHORIZATION TO INSTALL the equipment, distracting me by making me personal questions and my stupidity for not getting my reading glasses and TRUSTING A LACK OF INTEGRITY PERSON.

So on 10-19-08, I called APX and talked to Marcello. I told him that I wanted to cancel the service. He said, the only way I could do that is if I sold the alarm system to someone else or pay APX $2,000 and some dollars for it. I could not believe it! If I had known this fact, I would have never accepted the alarm system from APX. Marcello actually chuckled a little when I explained to him of how convincing the salesperson was that day. Although he did offer me a somewhat alternative as to relieving me of payments for 3 months, however the contract would be extended another 3 months. He mailed me an addendum to sign, which I have not yet got around to signing, as I wanted to contact Consumer Affairs before doing so.

I am a single parent of three and this is a revolving charge on my credit card. I can't afford this at this time let alone $2,000 dollars to pay it off. Is there anything that I can do to send this back somehow? It is in perfect condition, as it has never been used. Is it too late because this was done over 6 months ago? I have been so busy and have not had time to address this issue. I feel like I've been scammed. I would appreciate any advice that you have to offer regarding this.

I went ahead with choosing the most basic, cheap alarm system. Then, after two young men (who arrived out of nowhere and were waiting outside) started drilling the window molding and carving holes in the kitchen, the salesman told me that they need a checking account for payment and they don't accept anything else. I told the man that I have no checking account. I have absolutely nothing but a US Federal Savings account. He said, "I think that will be fine", without looking into it or verifying. I told him again that I was uncomfortable making direct payments that way anyway, but he insisted that everything would be fine. I decided I would go for it.

However, I get all my statements online, and had no idea what my routing # was. He told me "just to try and think of it". He basically suggested that I enter my account # and then call them and change it when I know the routing #. He would not accept my word that I would call with the right number, insisted that I just enter a baloney, impartial number. I signed the contract with my name, the date, etc. and he left. Then next business day I called APX and told them I needed to update my account #, and I explained that the salesman told me it was okay to give them the wrong # and call it in later.

The man on the phone was confused about that story and then told me that the payment appeared to have already gone through. I told him that there was no way that was possible, as I never gave them my routing number. He just told me, "Well, it worked, so don't worry! " Again, I was baffled, and he refused to change anything about the account info. The next billing period, I still hadn't seen any payments posted from my account, so I called them again, worried. They said that there was an error processing my account. I gave them the routing # and verified the account #. I also explained that I already called and tried to take care of this and was assured everything was okay. The man assured me that "these things happen" and he saw that I had called before. He entered the routing # I supplied from US Federal and said I had to pay a late fee for the missed payment. That seemed unfair, especially because the error was not on my end!

Anyway, the next billing cycle came and again, no payment posted. This time, however, a letter from APX Alarm came to my home - not in my name, though, in my DAD'S name!! I called them immediately and told them my dad was my first emergency contact, but NOT on the contract. He put me on hold and looked into it. When he came back, he told me that I didn't qualify for the alarm contract because of my credit. I told him that he cannot simply make my dad, the emergency contact, responsible for the alarm contract because I didn't qualify. No one ever even told me this was subject to a credit pull. The man went on to say it was no big deal, that my dad's name "HAD" to be on there as the primary contract holder because he owned the home.

I told them that this was exactly what my concern was at the get-go, and that I was told that the contract followed the tenant, not the owner. The man on the phone told me not to worry - but I am worried! Then he said, "Since you and your father both signed the contract..." I stopped DEAD in my tracks. I corrected him. My dad has 100% nothing to do with the contract at all. He said that was not the case, that the contract was signed by both parties. We went back and forth, and I asked him how that was possible if my dad wasn't there at all!

My dad actually chided me afterwards for being such a sucker, and said he wished he could have been there to kick them off my lawn! The man had no answer for why my dad's name - "AND SIGNATURE" - were on the contract. The only way they got my dad's name was from the emergency contacts I gave them - my dad (Gerald **), my best friend Rose, and my boyfriend's name were all given. I was so angry and I felt ripped off, taken advantage of, and I was scared, too, because this all seemed scary to me.

I looked at the pink slip that was given to me in my folder of documents the day they left. I was horrified to see that below my name and my signature, the name "Gerald **" was written by the salesman, and below that was a squiggle that was supposed to be my dad's signature. My dad never signed that, and I am 100% certain that the salesman forged my dad's name behind my back after I handed him the form, knowing that his name had to be on there. I don't know what to do - HELP! I don't know if this is a small-court issue, or if I should take this up with the BBB. I am very angry and I feel manipulated and taken advantage of - my dad too!

My dad had nothing to do with this but they pulled a slippery move on me, pulling my name right off the service contract and replacing it was my dad's name, a person who did not sign any contract with them. HELP! I am missing sleep over this and am helpless! My coworkers think I should taken them to court and my law student friends think I should sue! I just want out of this fraudulent contract with this unethical company! Now I realize the reason my payments won't work is because the contract and the bank info need to be in the same name - my dad's! My dad is being hounded for payment, they absolutely refuse to accept MY payment, and they forged my dad's name on the contract, right below where I signed! I want out! I feel helpless and frankly, screwed!!

We called one week later after having a false alarm in our home, they were unresponsive to help us. After 3 false alarms and the Police coming to our house we asked for the alarm to be taken out. They informed us that they would not unless we paid the entire 5 year contract out. I then called a supervisor and they said the same thing that they would not cancel the contract. I demanded to speak to the salesman who lied to us, they said they would have him call us. We have not heard form him. I want to know what legal action I can take against this company.