CPI Security Systems

WE had to wait several days for a tech to get out and had to disable the sensor to keep it from going off (the sensor is on a ground floor window so not the best scenario). The tech came after several days and put in a new sensor. I’ll say here that all of the techs (I have had a bunch come out) have been polite and respectful even if it was painfully apparent that some did not fully know what to do. Next we had the episodes involving the smoke detectors. I have 2 in the house, one on each floor. First the upstairs starting going off with no reason (no fires, no flame, no smoke, no reason). That was fixed by another tech and a week or so later the other one started doing the same thing. Same drill again, no smoke, no reason for it to go off. Another tech came and replaced that one. This time the tech said that the older panel I had might have been causing some of my issues and I ought to get a new panel.

I explained to him that I had asked for that in the beginning but was denied. He said I should call and check which I did the next day. I spoke with customer care and was told sure, they would put in a new panel but it would cost $300. I sighed and said, “No thank you, I cannot afford that” and hung up. The more I thought about it the angrier I got. All of this aggravation I had gone through, all of the days I was not able to use my system may have been caused by a panel that I never wanted in the first place. I then decided that I wanted to let people know about this. No one should have to worry about the one system they rely on to be dependable. I have had several other companies over the past 10 years and stayed with them unless they went out of business or raised their prices higher than I could afford. All of them for the most part just worked. This was my first experience with a company that I had recurring problems with the system.

I wrote up my experience to that point and posted it. I did not think anything would happen but I got several emails for others who thanked me for sharing my experience. In addition, I got a call from a customer care rep from CPI. He said that he wanted to make it right. OK, that is fine but at this point, I did not see how they could. The equipment was hit or miss and the panel I should have (and had initially requested) was out of my reach. I explained to him that I just wanted to finish out the remaining contract period and drop CPI and find another company, At that point, I felt that was all I could do. Since he was unable to really offer anything that I felt was meaningful (at least from my standpoint) we ended the call with him saying he was going to try and find alternatives for me. I appreciated that but did not have any expectations.

The next day, he called me again and this time said he had gotten permission to install the panel I wanted free of charge and would also give me a discount over three months. I said that was fine and asked when it would be done. He said I would be on the first available schedule and asked if I would reconsider updating my review. I said I would but wanted to wait until I got the panel in and had at least a couple weeks of experience since I had not great performance from their devices and systems over time. He said that was fine and I would be notified when a tech was on the way. 5 weeks later I got a call that a tech was coming. He showed up (again, respectful, polite and pleasant as all but one of them have been) and proceeded to install the panel. He got it installed and tested all of the sensors. Everything seemed to go fine and I was pleased with the new panel.

After he had left, I noticed that the old main control box (used with the old system) I’m told still had the cover off and some wires sticking out. I was able to put the cover back on since I did not want it open with those wires out (it was in a closet so not terribly impacting or visible but still worrisome). My wife and I enjoyed the new panel and decided to watch some of the instructional videos that were available on the panel itself. While viewing one, the screen suddenly went dark. Nothing we could do would bring it back. Since we could not see anything, we could not use the panel at all. I called CPI again (they are on my speed dial now) and was told that a tech would be out in three days. Consequently, my system was pretty much unusable until a new tech arrived.

Three days later a polite, respectful and pleasant tech arrived and after taking the panel apart decided to install a new one. He started to go through the install process and I noted that he called someone and had them walk him through how to do the install which did not give me a lot of confidence, particularly in light of the experiences I had had already. (Side note: I showed him the old control box and asked if that could be removed. He said, “Yes, just take a screwdriver and take it down.” I said, “It’s your box, I have no use for it.” I went back to my office (in the hose) and did not notice until after he left that the box was still on the wall. I sighed and got a screwdriver. As I was taking it down, sparks flew from one of the wires. Realizing that it was not, as he had indicated ready to be taken down, I carefully closed it up and left it along. I am going to ask the next tech to remove it).

Like the previous tech, he checked all the sensors and I noted that he took the covers of which is not something I saw the other techs do. I thought nothing of it until the next day when I got a call from CPI about a glass breakage sensor. Since I had just spoken with my wife who was in the home with our granddaughter, I was understandably anxious. I called her back immediately and she said all was well, no one was near the sensor, there had been no glass breaking and she was at a loss to why I was called. About this time, I got a call from a lady at CPI who left me a VM. She said she was a Customer Care supervisor and wanted to work with us to make things better. I called her back but got her VM. I left her a message that I appreciated that and then told her about the problem since the latest install but have not, as of this writing heard back.

Later that evening, we had another sensor give a false alarm. This was getting scary. The next morning, as my wife and I were leaving, we set the system to Away and started out the door. The alarm immediately went off. I disarmed it and insured that the option for no delay was NOT selected, it had not been. We tried again with the same result. Once again our system was unusable. WE are about to call CPI yet again for help but my expectation is that all of the issues will not be resolved. I guess I have lost all confidence in them to be able to resolve the problems we have with our system. I am now back to where I was when I wrote my first review. CPI, is a company with lots of good, polite and respectful people and I truly believe they try and some people have no problems but I can only relate my experience as factually as I can. I just wish I had never selected them.

After still being broken into through expensive deadbolts, my neighbor suggested that the burglars may be using a strong neodymium magnet. A light bulb went off and I began doing hours of research. This magnet (approx. $300) could probably affect the front door sensor from going off and the intruders could gain entry...along with opening the deadbolt with no picking or lock bumping. This is a scary scenario. I purchased a small door alarm that was coded and tested it using a small neodymium magnet I had purchased. It muffled the set alarm. This could be the latest technique burglars are using. There needs to be testing using this magnet.

Apparently CPI can override our override (or the system updated and erased the override) and we started getting alarms again. This time in the middle of the night. I called the company to cancel the service because I felt that I was not getting any value for the money I was spending. They informed me that I signed a contract for 5 years of monitoring when I had the system turned on (again no new system) (and I don't deny that a contract might have been signed, but I had just purchased a house and was very busy trying to get moved in).

I said why was this even done, I did not get any new equipment. Their reply was that they didn't force me to sign the contract. When I asked why it was necessary to obligate people to a 5 year contract, they side-stepped the question and told me the ways that I could get out of the contract. I could pay 75% of the remaining time on the contract ($750), I could upgrade my equipment (their new policy is to sell the equipment with no contracts) for $500 (+installation I'm sure) and then immediately cancel the contract, or if I sell my home and convince the new owners to purchase the service, it would void my contract.

So my options are to pay them, pay them, or sucker someone else into paying them. I will never deal with this company again and I will do everything I can to prevent others from falling into their trap. Just read their solutions on the BBB site to see how they handle customer complaints. Lesson learned, always read the contract and never do business with CPI.