Brinks Home Security™ Reviews

Approximately on June 1, 2013, I called Monitronics to let the alarm company know we were selling our home. I was asking the customer rep what happens when we sell our home, what happens with the alarm. The customer rep said that if the buyers want the alarm, the alarm stays with the house and we are out of the contract. However, if the buyers don't want the alarm, we have to take the alarm wherever we go. I told the customer rep I would keep them informed. I tried turning the alarm on with my phone. The alarm would not go on. I tried to make a payment on July 16th. An error on the computer kept coming up saying something was wrong with the web page, to try again. This continued until the 17th.

What a nightmare. I tried repeatedly to cancel this account and could not. Monitronics always had a reason why the account couldn't be canceled: The cancellation letter wasn't received in time, The wrong signature (mine as opposed to my husband's), and so on. It wasn't until I finally found an account manager who took the time to straighten it all out and acknowledged they had received letters of cancellation and had spoken to us numerous times about the issue. Won't go back to them again or recommend them to anyone.

I initially signed a 36 month contract with Monitronics, because they were the company that originally installed/monitored the home before I bought it, so I figured since the equipment was already in the location, I could just add a few extra sensors where I needed them and I would be good to go. I also gave them my bank account information because I was told that auto draft was required.

I signed a two-year contract in May of 2012 with Devcon/Pinnacle security systems. They sold my contract to Monitronics last October. I called in to get an exact date of my contract expiring and to see if I could pre-pay since we moved from our home with the system in it. They stated that I had signed a 5 year contract. I told them absolutely not and that I needed to see a copy of the contract that I signed. Well after a few phone calls and three days I get the contract emailed to me. I received a contract with my name typed in the signature section. I told them this is not the contract that I signed. They pretty much told me to go jump in a lake and go file a police report. I tried to talk to them and say I had no issue paying the remainder of my 2 year contract but the lady was very rude and kept telling me that I signed it. Unbelievable!!! Police report is being filed tomorrow!

Our original alarm company sold our account to this company without our knowledge. We called our original company to cancel the service, and we were told that the service was canceled. Fourteen months later, we noticed in an account that we don't use that this company had been billing us. This is after we had removed the original alarm company's equipment and went with another service.

Not happy with your cancel tactics! I was with you for seven years. When I called to close my account, I had to be interviewed by three people and then fax a letter of my intent to close my account. I then had to call the cancel department again for a fourth interview to close my account. I was then told at that last moment that I will be billed another month because you require a 30-day notice to close an account. I think this is outrageous as I have been outside any contract for years and always paid because I gave you my CC for easy billing.

I initially had another company install my alarm system, and then, to my great displeasure, my contract was sold to Monitronics. AT ALL COSTS, AVOID THIS COMPANY. Their equipment support is a myth. If you call in with a problem, you will spend five minutes getting to tech support, and then they will put you on hold until you hang up, usually 20 minutes for me. They don't check in with you, they don't understand the issues, and they will not listen to the problem. If you try to cancel your account, guess what, ON HOLD AGAIN. They will speed dump you to anyone that is not them, and they will put you on hold again. Once you finally give up actually trying to communicate with them, the AUTO DIALING CALLS BEGIN letting you know that you haven't paid them (for a system that doesn't work, HA!), and when you call the number back, ON HOLD!

Monitronics representatives claim my father scheduled an appointment to duplicate a service he already had. He says they simply showed up at his door unannounced - in a gated neighborhood posted "no soliciting". Representatives pressured him into signing a three-year contract, which I learned about well after the fact. Their "appointment confirmation" is a handwritten sheet containing the comment, "Target neighborhood." However, it says nothing of the date of my father's alleged request for duplicate service. The local manager informed me that after my terminally-ill 89-year-old father was deceased, it was the company's intention to sue the estate for the full balance of the contract. The manager offered a "settlement", and I replied that I would have to think about it. I removed the unit, but did not stop the automatic payments. The company withdrew, without notice or agreement, the entire balance of the contract, plus two months' payments, from my father's bank account. I have no idea if it will stop there or if they will continue to rob him. The company preys on the elderly and utilizes despicable business practices. If I could give the company a lower rating, I would do so. My father still has and uses the service that Monitronics representatives claim he wanted to replace.

System was initially installed by Devcon/Pinnacle. Many untruths told by hard-sell sales rep. First flat out untruth: The contract would be 48 months. I was uncomfortable with this length of contract and expressed my discomfort to the sales rep. But he said a shorter contract was unavailable (untruth #1). Next, he blithely assured us that the motion detectors that were installed would not be activated by the movements of our cats - untruth #2. The cats set off the motion detectors almost immediately, with the result that they are now permanently offline (the motion detectors, not the cats).

I lived in the high desert for 8.5 years. I had Monitronics install and monitor my home for eight years. I got divorced after four years and ran into major financial hardship. After five years, I requested to end the service due to financial hardship. The rep did not accept my request and proceeded to talk me into keeping the service at a reduced rate. He was good enough to keep me with them three more years.

On June 3, 2013, I wrote a review. Since then, Monitronics has contacted me several times. They could not get the sales agent to hold up his end of the deal, so Monitronics stepped in and paid me the commission that was promised by the agent. Thank you, Monitronics.

I cancelled Monitronics after 5 years. I had 2 false reports to the Phoenix police dept in 8 days due to "glass breakage". There was no glass breakage. They said it could be "keys jingling or dogs barking". I have had dogs the entire 5 years. Then they told me they needed a 30-day written notice to cancel service. They also said they could not turn off my alarm as it took up to 30 days.

On the morning of May 6, our alarm went off. We checked the entire home, and everything was secure. Four hours later, it went off again. I have had heart surgery, and this kind of thing upsets me very much. We called Monitronics, and they finally said we 'must need a new sensor'. It arrived an entire week later, leaving us with no sensor on our garage door for all that time.... and it is the least secure door in our home! As luck would have it, I was taken by ambulance to the hospital that day, May 13 (stress-related, as it turned out). THEN, my husband was admitted to the hospital from May 15 through the 18th, so we could not try to install the new sensor, leaving us without security on that door all that time.

I signed up with a company for an alarm system in June of 2012. That company was Devcon. They sold my contract to Monitronics. I don't know what month my contract was sold to them, but I've had nothing but problems. I moved in March of 2013. When I initially signed my contract with Devcon, I was told I have one free move. Any other moves after that, I would be charged $199. In March 2013, I moved and I'm being charged a $99 fee. Not to mention, when talking to the move department in March, a gentlemen told me he was going to wave my $99 fee.

I purchased a system from Monitronics some two years ago. As part of the package, they installed thermostats, which were to run my two AC units. The thermostats have been replaced a number of times; however, they continue to be a problem. Service technicians have told me that there have been lots of problems with them. I am fed up. The problem that I have now is that I have to call two service people - Monitronics to look at the thermostats and an AC guy to troubleshoot my units… thus costing me two service calls if there is a problem because one guy can't fix both. I have 12 months left on my contract, and I cannot get anyone to talk to me about this.

I received call after call for several days. I told each person to take me off the list and still I am getting daily calls on my home and cell phone. Without exaggeration, I probably got 30 calls in about two weeks.

I have been contacted by the corporate office of Monitronics (Chris) and he was very polite and eager to have a satisfied customer. We agreed to reimbursement of one month, plus the $50 dollar invoice I received from the local company will be paid by Monitronics.

I have tried over and over to rid myself of this horrible service. I stopped paying my bill sometime last year and instead of disconnecting service, this company keeps billing you and harassing you with multiple phone calls daily. I decided to give the company one more chance six months ago after they offered a credit to my bill and to send a tech out to fix the service free of charge. The next month I got a bill with a $70 charge for the tech. Upon calling in, I was told that this charge could not be credited. I have since been trying to cancel this service but to no avail. My next course of action will involve a lawyer. This company is a bunch of uneducated criminals.

I called Monitronics regarding a late fee they said I had on my account. I had recently cancelled my account and received a bill of $13.11 for a partial payment owed for my alarm bill. I contacted Monitronics to confirm that was the amount I owed. They said that was my remaining balance. I sent a check for the amount on April 1, 2013. On April 20, I received a bill saying I owed $25.50. I called to ask why and they said the payment of $13.11 was returned and I was being charged a late fee. I did not receive anything that said my payment had been returned. My check went through my bank with no problems. I am very angry with Scott from Monitronics as he continually argued that my payment was returned when I know it was not according to my bank!

Monitronics does a credit inquiry after stating that they don't check your credit. The place is run by high school dropouts. Customer service... there is none. If your equipment breaks, you have to pay for them to come out and look at it.

This company is a scam. Buyer beware. These individuals need their license revoked. Unfortunately, I bought into their contract. This system has not worked as a complete operating unit. I was told that I would be able to log onto a computer and monitor my home, control my thermos, control my doors, watch and monitor my home via video and much more. None of this is true. Not only have they made numerous appointments, wasting my time, they also come up with outrageous excuses why they can't get their alarm to work as advertised. It got so bad that I refuse to allow these individuals back into my home for fear that they have other intentions.

What a rip off! One star is too many! I was late with a bill. They call neighbors and emergency contacts and tell them there is an account issue! No emergency! I will never recommend them to anyone!

We purchased security monitoring for a home we had for sale. We were told when it sold we would be released from contract and silly me, believed a salesman. System service was not what was promised and they cannot even tell if it is working. Company says, "Sorry, salesman no longer works for us and we will not honor what he said." I have talked with the company five times trying to get this fixed. Last time was three weeks ago when they promised for the third time to get me a copy of my contract. I will never do business again with a company that requires automatic withdrawal because if you have a problem, you are screwed.

We are being forced to transfer for work. When I called Monitronics to see if they could cancel our service (as we are moving to rental housing and can't take it with us), they informed me I would be required to pay off the balance for the 18 months left on my contract. No help for people in hardship situations. They said it's to cover the equipment they installed. But when I informed them the equipment was already in my house when I got their service, they said it's because of the work they did to program the equipment. They just do whatever they can to take your money. I highly recommend going with anyone but Monitronics. They are also much more expensive than other providers.

We purchased our house brand new with an installed Monitronics alarm system. After my contract was over, I wanted to get monitoring done by a different company since they required a three-year contract. A three-year contract is not feasible due to my job. They refuse to give me my installer/master code for my system or for my cellular transmitter so I can have it monitored elsewhere. I purchased the equipment and the code that goes with it, but they refuse to surrender it to me. I'm thoroughly upset as are others in this venue. I have called BBB to complain and will be posting this on other like-minded social media forums!

We have had Monitronics for approximately 2 yrs now and have had nothing but trouble. We couldn't even use our alarm system properly because it would go off for no reason resulting in false alarms, which then resulted in fines from the police department.

We purchased our house brand new with an installed Monitronics alarm system. I wanted to get monitoring done by a different company since they required a three-year contract. We are military and a three-year contract is not feasible. They refuse to give me my installer code for my system so I can have it monitored elsewhere. I purchased the equipment and the code that goes with it, but they refuse to surrender it to me. I'm thoroughly upset.

I too have been a victim of this shady company. I originally had my alarm system with APX who sold my contract to Monitronics. I thought my contract with APX was for 3 years so when they transferred my account to Monotonic, I thought that was fine because I thought I only had 1 year left on the contract and could change after the year was up. I had 2 nice young men from Vivint come to my home who offered a better and cheaper system saving me $5 per month. I have this company to install their system and trashed the Monitronics alarm system. The next day, when I called Monitronics to cancel their services, I was told the original contract was for 5 years and I had 1 year left and would still have to pay them monthly or pay out the rest of my contract.

We have had the service for about 18 months. The service has never worked properly. We have had three service calls to no avail. According to their own CSR, our service has been disabled for the past six months. Monitronics never contacted us or attempted to find out why. Each time that I called, I was put on hold for upwards of 20 minutes. Today I was finally able to speak to one of their CSRs. He could not give me a satisfactory answer. I asked to speak to his supervisor. After a ten minute hold, a woman answered the phone. She was not able to give me any more information than the previous employee, but offered to let me speak to her supervisor.

We have an alarm system in our home. We were recently robbed and the alarm did not go off when they kicked the back door in. The amount, although very large, is irrelevant for this complaint. We called them the night of our break in; they asked if the alarm was set and could not imagine how it did not work. They were not helpful at all and had no answers for us.

The company in question bought out a null and void contract from Skyline Security and issued it fraudulently. After homes in the neighborhood I was renting in were getting broken into, we were contacted by a door-to-door salesman from Skyline Security. He said they were offering free installation due to recent crimes in the area. Being a renter, I emailed my landlord about said break-ins and a potential alarm system being installed. The sales associate had me sign my own name on the alarm contract and had me print my landlord’s name on the Sign Here portion for the homeowner. He made it seem as if their company was going to contact the landlord for approval and signature. The portion of the Alarm Contract that was for "authorization" of all terms of the contract was never went over with me and the boxes were never checked; they were left empty. I was never told I would be in a three or more years contract with them. I was under the impression I could cancel whenever, if needed. Needless to say, they never contacted by landlord (unbeknownst to me).

I regret that I ever signed a contract with the company! First of all, it was Devcon that came to me. I thought it all sounded great, but I wish I would have never got the thing! I'm now stuck with it for another two and a half years! They switched to Monitronics. We pay every month on it and can't even use it because it doesn't work right. The camera quality on it is horrible so if someone broke into my house, the picture isn't even clear enough to identify someone. So basically, the camera system is useless. One of our sensors doesn't work and they sent us a new one, but now I'm responsible for installing it. Wish I would have done better research and I would have gone with ADT - smaller contract and lower rates. We would have saved $10 a month and had 2 years less! Now I'm stuck with an alarm system that I absolutely hate. Total waste of money.

When Devcon came to my home, I was not there and the contract that was signed was a forgery. Since I did not sign this contract and it is now being serviced by you, I have taped up my camera and I did not receive a call. I did not see the cops at my door. What are you monitoring? Nothing! I would like to be let out of this contract before I contact the Federal Trade Commission about this forgery. You can send me forms for my signature and you’ll see that I did not sign this contract.

Monitronics bought my contract from another home alarm company after I had previously been with Monitronics. Now, I'm locked into a long term contract with a company I hate and they won't let me out of it. I had no say in the "assignment". In my opinion, this is an underhanded way of doing business. I left Monitronics for a reason and now I am stuck with them all over again.

After 8 years of being a customer, I decided that I could no longer deal with their terrible customer service. Upon canceling my contract with them, they informed me that it takes 2 months for the cancellation to fall through all the way, in which it resulted with them charging me for those 2 months. Their customer service is mediocre and a headache. You would think after 8 years they would treat you a little better.

Sometime in June, we were approached by individuals named Gabriel and Anthony. They claimed to be with a company called Homeland Security. At initial consultation, we were told that when the system was installed within that day, we would have three days to confirm whether we wanted to keep the system. The initial installation was never completed for at least two months. Before then we requested to just cancel the installation due to the wait. Gabriel, the technician, apologized for the mishap and requested that we allow him to finish the job before we make a decision.

My grandmother (age 92) was called and told that her existing alarm system needed upgrading. She thought she was dealing with the company she had originally gone with for her system. At no time was she told she would be moving to Monitronics. Her alarm button activated and the fire, sheriff, and EMS went to the wrong address. The passwords provided were incorrect. It took 3 phone calls to correct this. The alarm pendant provided was too sensitive. Just brushing the pendant on something was enough to set it off creating a false alarm. The company refused to break the contract saying those deficiencies were not adequate cause to break the contract. This is very poor customer service, poor response time, argumentative supervisors. I will not recommend this company,

Last week, I posted the review below as I was frustrated and unhappy with the answers to my questions. I will say that I received a call today from the executive team and the experience was night and day compared to last week. The individual was very understanding and resolved my issue without hesitation. My two cents is that if you are having issues and not getting answers, please send email from the website to the executive team and the issue will get addressed.

I posted a review about a month ago. After that, I went on their website where there is a link to contact them. I told them I was filing a complaint with Consumer Complaints and then with the AG. Almost immediately, I got a call and then a follow-up letter saying they had closed my account with a zero balance. Just a week before that, I had received a bill saying I had about a $114.00 balance. So if you are having a problem and believe you are within your rights, I suggest this as a solution. I believe my email went straight to the top. Hopefully, the letter I received was correctly taken care of and I will not get any further charges.

Installer told me if I moved that it would automatically end. What a lie! He looked me right in the face and said a move would end the contract but not true. I specifically asked him this since I knew I would be moving before the contract ended. What a scam. Worse yet, four of my neighbors have been robbed with the alarms on so obviously, the crooks know how to get around the alarms with no problem.

You are pretty much trapped into a contract that you cannot cancel until the contract is over. Not only can you not cancel, you have to send a written notice in the mail in order for them not to automatically renew! Can you say worst customer service ever? Is it really that hard to cancel your service over the phone like many other companies do? It's a scam. If you are ever thinking about getting Monitronics, don't! You will be signing your life away. Also, I moved out of my house a year ago, and I am still paying for this contract. Ridiculous!

I sold my home in Las Vegas on 8-24-12 & called Monitronics to cancel. I was not told I had to cancel in writing. I called after I was charged in Sept. & that's when I was told about the 30 days but the supervisor said she would take care of it & I would have 1 more charge on October 11, which I did get charged a prorated $19.53. Now, I have another $41.84 charge as of Nov. 13. Don't sign with them if you don't want to pay the rest of your life for an inactive system on a house you don't own.

Monitronics is a no service ripoff. I owned a home, got the alarm and service. It was sold after 12 months. Contract says 30 days cancellation. I tried to cancel and they want the entire contract paid off with no service to me at all since I have no alarm anywhere. Stay away. They have no ethics. I'm getting a lawyer.

These people got us signed up for a contract. The first few months were unremarkable. We were paying $45 for peace of mind. The 3rd month came and we had a false alarm. They tried calling us but could not reach either because we had emergencies to attend to. Automatically, they sent out a guard to inspect the house and left us a note that nothing had happened (false alarm, I repeat). The next bill came up and they charged us a fee for that "security" person. We refused to pay because it was a false alarm. We cancelled our auto pay. Ten months down the line, they are harassing us with phone calls and a different person calls us every time. Nobody paid attention to the problem. Interest is building up, and they still keep on billing us. Now we are at the collection agency level and we refuse to pay. Beware, these people are thieves!

In June of 2009, while living in PA, we had a security system installed. The contract was for 60 months. We were told there would be no additional costs for transferring the system if we moved. In April of this year, we moved to MA. The people who bought our house did not want the system and the house we bought in MA already had a security system installed. Monitronics was willing to waive the cost of a new circuit board in the system (they could not access the current one), but they insisted on adding an additional 16 months to my contract. I still have 2 years left on the existing contract. So now I am paying them monthly to monitor a system that is not even activated. I will never use them again.

They took advantage of my elderly parents. Also, while in contract, they began charging their bank account more money. When we called, they had horrible customer service and stated, "It’s only a dollar!" Regardless if it’s $50 or 1 cent, when you are in contract, you can’t decide to change the monthly service charge. They eventually changed it. During installation, they stated we would get several additional windows at the same cost. Later, we received a bill. Horrible! We can only wait until the contract is up and we will be so quick to change providers. This is my warning to any possible new customers.

Monitronics conned my elderly father into a 5 year contract at an outrageous monthly charge. Their system does not work and they never call when it activates. When we called to cancel, they stated we had to pay for the entire term of the contract even though we argued that system never works and their monthly monitoring is outrageously high. They refuse to cancel the contract or do anything about the faulty system. They are the most worthless company I have ever seen. Do not buy from them anything!

Same experience like most people with comments on this page. It is two months now since I was approached by a salesman from partner/agent Skyline Security regarding new alarm system installation. I decided to switch from ADT to new technology. Big mistake. It took me two Saturdays (July 28 and August 4, 2012 at least 6 hours each) to install the alarm system with camera and light module. Camera did not work, so was the light module. Eventually, it was taken back and I have basic alarm system. This nightmare by itself seems never ending now, though. Despite my request for amendment contract and numerous phone calls to Skyline and Monitronics, I was charged at the rate that includes camera monitoring. No credit and no adjustment to contract made yet. I got a new contract but billing situation has not changed.

I just recently purchased this system from a door salesman. I had ADT before, but I like some of the features that Monitronics offered. When I accepted the offer, I was under the impression I was going to get a bunch of features. Once the system was installed, I didn’t get all what I was told. But I am okay with that for now. However, in reading everyone comments about Monitronics, it got me worried. I would recommend suing them over deceptive practices, or if your house is broken into and they do not call… big lawsuit.

They won't let you cancel. I was a customer for 3 years and late once recently. Even though I spoke to the rep on the phone and told them I did pay, they continuously called me until they got the payment. I immediately wanted to cancel for the poor customer service. I called to cancel and they told me I had a month left before I could cancel. I waited the month and called to cancel again. First, the rep tried to keep me as a customer even though I told him at the beginning there was no use talking me into staying, I would not. He then was so rude as to state, "Do you really think another service won't call you if you are late?" My response was they wouldn't call me over and over especially after on time payments for 3 years. He was so rude. He then told me I would have to pay an additional month because you had to give them 30 days’ notice of cancellation. I had called in advance and no one told me that ever. After a few hours, I finally got a supervisor that took my final payment and stated the account was now cancelled and I didn't have to fax in a cancellation. I'm sure this isn't the end of it but we shall see. Also the website is useless.

Multiple issues with customer service and communication: My 86 year old grandmother was apparently talked into a 39 month contract. When battery was low, Monitronics contacted her and told her to replace. I replaced the batteries and guess what, the system doesn't work. Go ahead and push that button, maybe it works maybe it doesn't. The service repair guy came out and stated that if the battery is low, the system is on test. Grandmother paid for service for a system that was on test, not even operational. They have a system of re-routing complaints, and good luck trying to cancel this ridiculous contract. I would never recommend. Make sure your loved ones do not buy from door to door salesman!

They cheated my senile mother. When my mother died this week (July 2012), I found that Monitronics had gotten her to sign a 3-year contract in 2011 and they were deducting automatic payments from her bank account. For several years, she has been very confused and I've been paying her bills, all of which are sent to me. I can only imagine that they came to the door and pretended not to notice her state of mind. She already had a 5-year contract in place with Pinnacle and a fully operational system that I have been faithfully making the payments on. As far as I can see at the house, only Pinnacle's system is there, which means Monitronics has been collecting $40 per month for more than a year without ever doing anything, including placing equipment in her house. They of course want a death certificate to cancel the contract. I'm not terribly worried. The bank account they were taking money from has been closed, and I'll see them in hell before they get another penny. What a disgusting business practice, preying on old, helpless ladies!

We got Monitronics a couple of years ago. Since then, we have gone through a bankruptcy and lost our home. The service is no longer being used. They would not cancel the contract because it was for 3 years even though they are not backing up the equipment. They said they were still monitoring our house, even though the equipment was removed. They will not let us cancel. Even when we were receiving service, we would accidentally trip the alarm, and no one ever called, when with the other service (ADT) we always got a call. I don't think they even monitor, they just collect money. They said we could move the service to our new address, but we would have to write a new contract with them. No way. Now, I have to wait until the 3 years is up to cancel and from what I have read, I doubt that will happen either. Why am I paying for a service I am not receiving? How can they say that is good business practice?

This company is robo-calling me on a daily basis. I am on the governments Do Not Call List but still they call me daily with a different number. I have waited on the call and talked to their operators and they just hang up on me when I tell them to cease calling me and that I'm on the Do Not Call List. I’m really considering a lawsuit against them. I’m keeping a copy of every single call they make to my phone number. This has been going on for at least 4 months now.

I canceled my contract because of a better company who offered to help us and also offered to pay out our contract because of the total unhappiness we were experiencing. I sent a written letter to Monitronics with all the required information and canceled on the phone twice. The man I spoke with the second time continued to tell me how stupid I was and that I had gotten "slammed", even though I invited the new company into my home whereas Monitronics just showed up one day (guess who I know really slammed me). They refuse to send me my final bill for the other company and continually harass me with phone calls. Even after I contacted the BBB, the corporate office called me numerous times on a holiday when I was spending time with my family. I think 5 times in 3 hours definitely classifies as harassment! I can't wait until this mess is over!

We have been with Monitronics for about 8 years. We didn’t have a great experience, but it’s not horrible either - until we tried to cancel our service. I know that initially we signed a 3-year contract, so we weren’t under contract anymore. So, when I tried to cancel, they said they need a fax of the written request and it would take 30 days, which I know was just a way to get one more payment out of me. I sent in the request on June 4, 2012 and followed up with them on June 18. After being on hold for over an hour, they stated that the letter wasn’t official since it didn’t have my signature; however, we put everything on the cancellation request they asked for.

Customer hatred - This insecure company misleads customers. It is probably going out of business and does not cancel contract upon request. Claims a 60 month contract was signed when there was no legal reason for it. My copy is 24 months. Complete lies!

I have been repeatedly called by this company. I've hit the "opt out" option on the call at least 6 times now, and continue to be called. I'm also on the Fed "do not call" list. Please help me stop them. Thanks.

This is the worst company out there. We have had nothing but issues; between techs not even showing on the right day to smoke alarms going of for no reason. Today we had a bad smoke alarm that would not stop going off. They refused to help me power down the system to stop the alarm. Even though they monitor me for health reasons, that sounds can start a seizure. Their answer was a tech will be out in 4 to 6 hours to turn it off. This is just another in a series of bad service that has been from the start.

I started the service in 2009 when we own our home. In 2010, we lost our home, so I was told we could move it to our apartment if the landlord allowed. And they did, but because of loss of my Job, we needed to move again. I called Monitronics to let them know I was moving again, this was this year February 2012. So I told them I would try to place it in this apartment if my landlord allowed. The landlord said no, I told them I could no longer use the monitoring service. But they said my contract wasn't up yet, and that I needed to still pay the monthly service. Because of me being out of work, times being hard, we were late in our payments, I tried to explain to them why. But they only cared about the payment, so I said I would pay it as soon as I could. All the previous years, we were always on time with our payments. But they continue to call me twice a day, and when I didn't answer, they would call my family on the emergency contacts as well. I called and told them they have no right calling my contacts.

I've been paying service for a house that I sold three years ago. This company, when they want to sell you something, they treat you the nicest. When you try to cancel services that you don't need, they make your life difficult. No transaction can be done over the phone and they make you send a letter in the mail. Horrible experience. Do not buy their service, read the contracts.

Their field representative stated that Monitronics receives a signal as soon as my alarm goes off. We've had the service for a year and a half and we set the alarm off accidentally several times a month. Not once has Monitronics called us or the police to make sure everything was okay. I called them to cancel the service based on this and they said that I am bound to my 36-month contract that I signed, regardless of the fact that their rep said that they would call me every time the alarm goes off as soon as it goes off. But because the contract is vague and doesn't say anything about this, I am the one having to pay for it. They are thieves! Do not buy their service.

The salesperson came to my door and offered a money back promise via gas purchases from Holiday stations. After the period of time when you can change your mind and opt out was up, they sent a letter saying all benefits from this promotion were cancelled. Then they wanted to come fix my broken system. The first person who came to my home from this company was a thief and a liar; wouldn't they all be? I just had to keep paying till my contract runs out, even though it was broken. The entire company is just horrid!

I attempted to cancel my contract after deciding to go with a new monitoring service. Initially, Monitronics flat out refused to cancel and was going to "hold" me to the terms of my contract duration despite the fact that I told them I would pay off the balance. Apparently, payment of the balance of the contract wasn't their top priority, because within the span of 5 minutes, they offered to reduce the monthly charge twice if I stayed. So much for the terms of the contract.

It is difficult to believe that a company can claim to be monitoring your system when they can spend 3 months with the system completely removed and not bother to call you to ask about the fact that it isn't checking in.

I am getting several calls per day from a spam-bot claiming to offer Monitronics services, despite my being on the do not call list and my requests to stop the calls. The caller does not take "no" for an answer, and my direct emails to Monitronics have been ignored. The originating number is **. I have never done business with Monitronics and as a result of their calls will never do so in the future. Funding Monitronics is supporting intrusive robo-calling.

The system does not work and then will not come back out or return your phone calls, empty promise. System has not work from day 1. After a week of trying to get them to fix it, we had the old system reinstalled.

I was using ADT for several years until 2007 after being referred by a friend to this company. After the promise of cheaper service fee, I signed up my business and two houses with Monitronics. I thought I got a deal which was not true. I should know better. They use local salesman and local contractors to do the work which they have no way to control or they don't want to be liable to anything. I have false alarm many times at my business and house. Recently, it got worse. I have a glass breaker at my basement. It keeps getting offline with network. I have called many times and they also sent out the local repairman to fix it. It never really fixed the problem. Last night, it really got my nerve after it woke me up at 4 am. I am canceling the service. They said I have few months until my contract is up which I don't care. I rather get them off my back and start to using a company which do not require any contract. I think this company should not be in business and they don't care about their customers.

Since the first day we signed up, we have been lied to and given the runaround. We were told by the salesman that we would receive a 360 Surveillance camera as soon as they were available (within the following month). We called several departments along with the sales agent, Jason. They said that this would be taken care of. It never was. We kind of knew it was too good to be true. Then we had faulty equipment that kept going off when we went out of town (you can imagine how distressed we were thinking someone had broken in while we were miles away). We were told that credits to our account for the dispatch coming out would be taken care of due to the equipment. After two months, several calls to us saying our account was past due, and several calls and hours spent on the phone talking to manager after manager (between the two companies Monitronics and 1st Defense that are supposed to work together for your first year) stating this would be taken care of, it hasn't. We just received another call today stating our account is past due. We will be cancelling and will no longer be dealing with this company.

On Nov 20, 2011 at 10:53 I received a call from Monitronics, stating that there was a burglary alarm going off at my business, Mermaid Dive Center. They told me and my husband that the Polk County Sheriff's Department was on site, and had the store secured. The police officer stated that the alarm was not on when he arrived, and that someone had called to report that the front door was gone, and broken to pieces. When the officer entered the building, the alarm went off. We contacted our insurance company, and they told us that we should contact Monitronics about our losses.

My 91 year old mother, fell, broke her hip and the Monitronics unit did not work. She had to drag herself to the land line phone. She no longer lives at that residence and resides with me. Monitronics leaves messages and letters to her old address on a daily/weekly level. I have both written and phoned to stop business with them, to no avail. My poor mother is so worried about them that she is afraid to go out. They need to be put out of business.

I have made constant phone calls from the moment of installation. They first called several times daily to remind us of the $50 reference offer, then they called to review our level of satisfaction. I cancelled within the 3 day cancellation period and now receive daily threats of collections. I have documented return of their equipment and the fax, email and certified letter of cancellation. They don't acknowledge receipt of any correspondence. We have reported them to the BBB, filed numerous reviews on various threads and will continue to provide references of them at no charge. They should wake up, or else, I would be surprised if they are in business in three years.

I called as I sold my place on Nov 18, 2011, to cancel the service, and even gave them the name of the party buying the place, so they could contact them to see if they wanted the service. Now, I got a bill today for 2 month's service, and I again called customer service, and they corrected it after trying to tell me I paid in arrears, which I never did having it for 7 years. Then 15 minutes later, some guy called and said I was responsible, as they haven't been to my old place to inspect and put in the new owners' name. I told him where he could put that bill, and hung up. I am now calling the BBB to report. I could not believe what these clowns were trying to do.

I've been trying for over a year to cancel my service. I am no longer under contract so I thought it should be easy to simply cancel. I've been told various things by different reps-- to send a registered letter to them stating my desire to cancel which I find utterly ridiculous, or to call such and such number which never works.

After using their system for 2.5 years (on a 5-year contract), I decided to put my home up for sale and would no longer need their service. They said that I was bound by the contract and would work with me so I could still pay for the service. I told them that was unacceptable and they would be hearing from my attorney. They still did not back down.

They do not even deserve a rating of "zero". We had them come in, and replace ADT which was excellent. They gave us all the equipment (which, by the way, does not work). We have a floor upstairs, and the alarm went off, when the roof fell down. We expected the police to show up, but as we ended up calling the fire department, when the alarm on the on the roof started smoking. We have a report to prove it. They are aware that their system does not work, because they cannot even test it, but they are demanding payment, and say that we have a 36-month contract. They just forgot to mention, when they installed the system, that the only thing that sets off the door alarms, is when the doors are opened. It is useless, and they should not be only investigated by the federal government, but also, no one should purchase this product. We have to pay, regardless,or we end up with bad credit report. Their system, to this date, does not work, and they know it.

I purchased a security alarm system and then I tested the alarm system so when the main corporation calls to verify the password it not the same. I realized then that there is something wrong because I have the contract with me and that what on there. I called to try and fix it. There was a lot of back and forth so I asked them to send me a copy of the contract they have and it's not my signature nor my social security on there. So now, I feel that there's something extremely wrong. My information is out there and I have someone's info. I mean I'm not feeling safe.

I signed on the 1st of May 2010 with Capital Alarm and they sold it to Monitronics. I called on July 10, 2011 to cancel their service and requested that they cancel taking money from my checking account. On July 13th, we received confirmation that they stopped taking it out. I went with a company that provides better service. On July 9, the system was taken completely out. We finally heard from Monitronics on July 20th that our system was not operating properly; six heart attacks and no alert button.

Hands down to the worst experience I've ever had with any service provider. Unfortunately, at least until my contract expires, the experience will continue to be my own personal hell. The details include, but are not limited to, failure to keep pre-arranged service call appointments, refusal to honor previously agreed upon financial arrangements (e.g. charging for waived service call fees), improper billing, and harassment. Wait, what's that? Oh, it looks as though I'm receiving another harassing phone call from this company. If you enjoy nightmares in the daytime, then yes, by all means go with Monitronics.

These people fail at service. We were bullied into buying a system, three years ago, by a salesperson who walked right into our garage while my husband was working. The system has failed and sent out false alarms ever since. They outsource their repairs to unqualified small companies who are anything but professional. I disarmed the system, so we did not continue to have issues. We were not allowed to cancel until our 3-year contract expires. Finally, it expired. I called to cancel and was told that I was "putting my family at risk". When I told the customer service rep that my family was my concern and not hers, she replied "that's right it is your concern, so why are you willing to put them in danger?". When I repeated that I wanted to cancel, she told me she needed to talk to my husband because his name was primary on the account. She was rude, very intimidating and flat out wrong. I will be reporting them to the BBB if they do not cancel or continue to charge us after today. Bar none, the worst company I have ever dealt with and I spent years working in collections!

I tried to get my alarm fixed twice. They sent out a repairman for both times and charged me for that service. Within a few days, the alarm wouldn't work again. Either my alarm would work or my phone service but not both. I went to another company who spotted the problem right away, I needed a device to be compatible with AT&T U-verse. I tried to cancel service with Monitronics, they made me write a very specific letter to cancel. It is October and they are still billing me. Stay far away from this company.

We have had this alarm system for over 3 years, and nothing really bad happened, until our system started to mess up. We called for service, and it took a while and the company told my mother that she didn't know what she was doing. Then we finally get a service call placed for her house. It's labor day weekend. I understand it's not the best time for service as techs want off too. We had been without an alarm for two weeks at this time. They called and set a time but did not show up. When we called on Tuesday, the alarm company told us our alarm system was fixed, called my mother a liar and passed her around and basically just made her feel worthless.

I had a new account with Monitronics, which was paid on time until I lost my income. I struggled paying for a couple of months after. Then, I called them to see if they could work with me. I spoke with several people who told me no, that I am under contract. Once I stop paying and closed my bank account, the inside collections department began calling. I explained my situation. The representative was understanding and placed a hardship on my account.

I keep getting computer generated calls from this company, stating that I have not paid my bill. When I stay on the line to talk to a representative, I am told that they cannot remove my number because someone else listed it as an alternate contact number.

I changed alarm monitoring companies. I tried to cancel Monitronics, but they would not stop billing my account! I faxed them, as they requested, mailed them and now had to close my banking account because they keep billing me!

I am constantly harassed and treated rudely by these poorest excuses for alarm service. I never missed a payment. Yet, I am called several times daily. This account began with a company called Platinum Protection in Oct. 2009, which somehow became Monitronics. They said that I couldn't cancel this service for five years and to read what I signed. They refused to stop auto deductions from my checking account. I tried to withdraw money from my personal account. They refused to send me a bill by mail until I close out my checking account, to prevent them from causing bank fees and overdraft charges to my account. I have never even heard of a business being ran like this. I am told that if the old company did not transfer all payments to the new company, I must take care of that myself, or pay the Monitronics over one thousand dollars to close out this account and get rid of them. I have always kept a very high credit rating. And I am afraid these people will blemish my record. I just want to never hear from them again. So, I still continue to pay for a service I do not use to one of the worst businesses I have ever dealt with.

I paid off the contract for the monitoring service and canceled at the end of the contract. 8 months later, Monitronics sent me a bill for 22.15 for monitoring and taxes, and any services rendered. I called them and stated my position of refusing to pat for nothing. I informed them that I had filed a complaint with the Ore State Attorney's office and the post office for fraud. The customer service representative promptly decided to waive the charges and wished by a pleasant day. Threats of sending my debt to collections were quickly rescinded and at this point, I owe nothing. We'll see.

I have been unable to arm my alarm system because of a faulty motion sensor. I changed the batteries and called numerous times. The company finally agreed to send out a service person, mind you, I have been unable to arm my alarm for over a week now.

We were notified by Monitronics that our alarm system has not been monitored for the past 5 years due to a phone line glitch. We have been customers of this company for 10 years. When confronted with the findings that they provided to us, the "Customer Service" department basically told us it was our fault that we weren't monitoring our system. This is what I thought we paid them for at $35 a month. We were offered 4 months free monitoring which is a slap in the face considering we literally paid them for absolutely no service for 5 years. We've paid over $2,000 for nothing other than their stickers placed on our windows which is basically advertising for them, not us.

In October last year, we purchased a business and contacted Monitronics asking them to cancel our account because we were moving the store to a different location. They gave us so many hoops to jump through. We eventually gave up and just moved the store. They continued to bill us despite many many calls to tell them. We no longer have their service. Even to this day, they are constantly harassing the former owner because they wouldn't change the account to our new name because she signed the original contract. I spent an hour with them on the phone today trying to get them to change the account to my name, close the account and send me a bill. They refuse and continue to bill us for a system we haven't used in six months.

A lady walked into my house while my husband was working with an AT&T rep on fixing our internet. She just walked in and called someone on her cellphone right away to inform her of my address. Seconds later, a man arrived and they walked straight to my living room and sat down and wanted to sell me a terrific deal from their alarm company. They ended up convincing us. They wanted three blank checks from us, but I immediately said I didn’t have any. They took my ATM card information down, made me sign some quick forms and they walked out without giving me their office information.

My contract with Monitronics expired in April of 2009 and I called in to cancel the service. At the time my contract was terminated, the balance on my account is $0. However, Monitronics continued charging for their service in next two months even though there is no service. I contacted Monitronics and they said this is their policy. I denied to pay the due amount but recently I have to pay for it because Monitronics filed the balance to a collection agency.

I signed a contract on May 20th 2010 for home monitoring services. An independent installer took three days to install the alarm and to get it working properly. I was told that it was going to be $39.99 per month but my first bill and every bill after has been $54.00 per month. When I questioned them, they told me that the paperwork was wrong and wouldn't honor the stated amount on the signed contract.

I called to cancel my month to month service I signed up for with Monitronics. They told me when I called that I could reactivate the service with them because they installed the system in my home. I asked for a month to month, because it would allow me the freedom to cancel service if I moved, sold or rented this house. I was told by Kesha, no. **, that I signed a contract via e-signature. I asked to have them prove that I signed it. She told me that I must have signed it because my SS No. was on the bill, (information I gave during signing up for the service). I told her she needed to get her IT people to check on the back end how this contact was accessed electronically and how they can prove that I was the one that signed this contract, because I would never have signed a 36-month agreement. I have monitoring systems in other homes I own, so the problem isn't that I don't know about all their tricks, I did! I believe that they put my information into this contract not me. I am reporting them to the BBB in Dallas and PHX, reporting them to the district attorney in Dallas, and letting anyone I know not to use this company.

I signed a contract with Monotronics for five years of security monitoring. At that time, I had a good job and believed that I would be in my home for at least another five years. After nearly three years, I found myself unemployed. A year has passed and I was still unemployed. However, I still managed to make my monthly payment for their service.

Allow me to preface this complaint that my wife and I are at fault for not reading the contract nothing more. Over a year ago, my wife and I decided to cancel our land-line service, not knowing that by doing so, we would be rendering our security system with Monitronics useless. The other day my wife phoned the company to cancel the service, upon which we were told that we had signed a 3yr agreement which would not be fulfilled until May 2011.

I was gone for the weekend, and when I got home, we realized that someone broke into our home. They took, pretty much all our valuable electronics, including a camera with endless memories. I called Monitronics to find out why they never called me, or the police, and they said my alarm was off. I knew I turned it on, so I was telling the representative that it was on, and she kept saying they never got an intrusion alarm. When someone opens that door, you have 40 seconds to disarm the alarm, before it starts going off. Well, the people said that, whoever broke into my house, took the alarm keypad off the wall, and cut the wires!

We signed up for a 2 year agreement with them starting in September of 2008 till September 2010. I wrote them a letter in July of 2010 saying that I am sending in the next 2 payments for August and September and that we are cancelling our service as our contract is up in September. I heard nothing from them regarding this, so I assumed that it was off and they would turn our service off.

In January 2009, I entered into a service agreement (#**) with an independent agent for Monitronics. At the time, I told the agent that I only wanted the alarm system for my father, who was already 90 years old and not in good health, and therefore could not commit to more than one year. This agent agreed.

I called Monitronics to cancel the service in August after fulfilling a three year contract. The person I spoke to tried to sell me more things: "What if we sent you a wireless keypad?” "We can transfer your service to another location," etc. Even though I was calling the cancellation department, they tried every tactic to try to get me to stay with them. It was about 10 minutes of going through the runaround about not wanting anything they have to offer that I wanted to cancel. My husband grabbed the phone and said, "She said she wants to cancel so cancel it." He hung up the phone and we thought that was the end of it. I received a bill recently that we are now in October. It says that we owed $84.46 because the cancellation never went through.

I've been very happy with my Monitronics system and the contract that everyone signs clearly states the length of the contract. 90% of the complaints on here are due to consumers not reading what they sign and/or trying to weasel out of a signed contract. That's not on Monitronics, it's on you. If you sign a document saying you'll pay someone $48/month for 5 years, then you pay the money for 5 years! Don't whine about it online because you can't pay your bills.

From the beginning, their technicians have been inadequate. The installation person used my brand new dryer as a ladder, and caved in the top. They did order a new top for the dryer, but also had to send another technician to fix the faulty installation. There were so many false alarms, that the South Jordan Police Department began charging me $25/false alarm. It has not worked properly, well, ever, and on June 23, I called to cancel the service. They put me on hold for over 20 minutes, and I had to return to work.

I was with ADT at first for 2 years. I then found out through the mail that they are now Monitronics. I had been having trouble with the system, sending false signals to the Fire Dept. ADT rep came out and worked on it, said it would not do that again. Guess what I found out, he had unhooked the system altogether. I didn't find out until I was remodeling the kitchen and found the control box unhooked. Now, mind you, the system had been unhooked for two years.

Monitronics contacted me to tell me that they detected activity in a non-existent zone 8. They kept me holding on for approximately half hour and then determined that they would have to send a technician over to determine what the problem was. I decided to go with another company. While the other company was installing my new panel board, Monitronics was able to detect it. They called me and when I answered, they didn't respond. They sent my local police department over. They were fully aware that I was going to be changing my service. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

I activated service in a brand new home that already had a system installed. Monitronics configured the system to work with their equipment and automatically locked me into a 3-year contract. This information was in the paperwork signed at the time of installation, but at no time was I verbally informed that the contract was 3 years in length or even that the paperwork was the contract. In fact, I was led to believe that the paperwork was simply stating that the tech had completed the work.

I initially was "selected" by the door to door salesman for Platinum Security to be a demo house for their Simon XT home system. The deal was I didn’t have to pay for anything except monthly service for 5 years. The contract was explained to me. I don’t own the equipment until the contract is fulfilled. However, I could cancel, I just don’t keep the equipment. No big deal, right? Well, they got bought by Monitronics also. I have moved to a rental that doesn’t permit modification of the existing security system.

I had my own hair salon and I had alarm service with them. Due to the economic situation, I had to relocate to another salon with I didn't own so I couldn't transfer my service. But to my surprise I couldn't just call and tell them to discontinue service. They informed me when I call them. I had to sent them a letter to terminate my service and that they have up to 30 days from the time (they) receive the letter until before they will terminate your service. That's just not fair do you realize how long they take to do this and by the time you get the final bill it's outrageous.

I am moving after a huge ordeal with my house. I am trying to cancel the service as I no longer need it. The service has never even worked it goes off all the time for no reason. I have called them numerous times and they have never sent anyone out to see about it. I am tired of dealing with them over this and kept paying for it but now I know longer need it because of moving to a rental property. I want to sue these [people]. It seems like everyone on here has the same problem and they won't allow anyone to cancel. I am thinking about canceling the prepay with the bank, then they will just harass me trying to get me to pay the monthly charge. They say I can cancel if I pay 700.00 but I offered to pay it and then they said it would take them 60 days to cancel, but they would still charge me. This is crazy. These people need to be sued. A class action sounds great.

I moved one year ago overseas, because of imminent danger to my life through a former husband convicted of felony burglary and harassment(WA Case 279961). Monitronics refused to cancel the contract and now sent a collection agency after me, even though for one year they billed me even though no services were rendered! I paid under protest, but I would not recommend this company because the ex-husband broke several times into my house and Monitronics had no record of any incident because after disconnecting the phone line, he was free to do what he pleased!

Monitronics International. Tried to cancel contract after contract had been fulfilled. I did all that they required to do. They said that my letter was not signed. I called the company and they said that they would take care of it and I would not have to send a new letter. I was again billed for another month of service. This company has extremely poor customer service. It is extremely difficult to cancel your service. Do not ever get involved with this company. I would rather deal with the insurance company if my home was robbed! Because I have been robbed by Monitronics for 3 years!

I cancelled my account on September 09, 2010. I moved to a new business which I did not need security. However Monitronics continue billing my checking account for a whole year. I called to let them know I had been charge for a full year. I wanted my credit. They negotiated with me a 3 minth credit. I gladly accepted.

What is it going to take to stop the billings from this company? In August 2009, I called Monitronics to cancel the contract due to no work. I've been without work since then, but still they call me every month to pay the bill. At first, they told me I have to write a letter to Monitronics to cancel the service and I did. But when I approached them about it, they replayed to me that hey never received the letter and for me to cancel, I need to pay it complete. The total amount then was about $700 but due to the contract I could not cancel it. This is damaging my credit, but they do not care about it. What is it going to take to stop this?

It has such terrible customer service, and being Canadian, I can't get in touch with a Canadian representative, even though payments are to be made to an address in Ontario. I canceled my 3-year contract, 2 and 3 months in, due to billing and false alarm blunders. I received confirmation of cancellation and signed a form, wrote a letter of intent back in April, and sent my pay-out amount as well as my outstanding balance. But they never acknowledged my cancellation and continue to bill me. As well, they took my cancellation fee and applied it to my outstanding account!

I was told I won a "free installation." Sure the installation was free but the monthly service charge was not. I was never shown how the system works. I just want the monthly fees to stop and am seeking no penalty action. Just stop. Please.

Instructions for arming the device were never given. Yet I'm being charged monthly. Please disconnect the alarm and stop charging.

We'll now I'm being charged for the service call but no one ever came out. Monotronics said they came out. My dad waited and waited. Monotronics is going to send me to a collection agent if i don't I tell them I wanted to cancel their service. They don't care of course. I'm locked into a contract until 2012. In the end, there's nothing I can do but I can urge other people not to get a Monotronics system and I will be switching company when my contract is up. Also sometimes our alarm get accidentally tripped by kids or dog. Sometimes they call, other times they don't. I'm very unsatisfied with their service.

Titan Alarm installed a system at my home in June 2009. I accepted the contract, because I expected in good faith to be living at this home for the next three years. I have to move because of the economy. Even moving to TN and living with my daughter who already has an alarm system, it is impossible for them to cancel the contract. There is nothing in the contract that addresses moving.

I tried to cancel my service through the Monitronics customer service and they wouldn't do it for me. I have moved and they wanted me to extend my contract or pay a fee to move the system and I wasn't going to do either. I called the Executive Response Team at 1888- and they were extremely helpful! Fred was the gentleman’s name and he canceled the entire system for me, free of charge! If you are having problems, call the ERT!

I called as a new customer, was set up with a great package that covered everything I asked for and an extremely low rate after some negotiation. There was a small bump in the plans when it turned out no one in my entire area could install smoke sensors in a commercial location which 2 of the pieces I was getting were smoke detectors. So after speaking with monitronics again we exchanged the 2 sensors and I talked myself into buying some more equipment at a discounted price.

Monotronics is the worst business experience I have had in many years. I cancelled my system twice and continued to be billed. Contacting customer service is a nightmare. They do not respond to emails (funny because they sure do accept payments via computer). After waiting for assistance at least 20 minutes every time I called, they put off officially canceling the account for 30 days for no reason whatsoever. I hadn't even touched the alarm keypad in over a year. They are bureaucratic and untrustworthy. Don't make them your alarm choice! To avoid credit ramifications, I am being forced to pay for 3 months of service that I officially canceled over the phone because that is the only way to contact them. I certainly don't have money for services I discontinued months ago.

About a year ago, we solicited proposals for a home alarm system and selected a local company. Since then, we receive regular calls from an Indian-based telemarketing company on behalf of Monitronics (whom we had nothing to do with). For the first few months, we asked nicely to be left alone as we already had a system installed. They refuse to identify themselves further. They refuse to take us off their contact list. Now when I see their spoofed Rhode Island number on caller ID, I put on my best Pakistani accent and begin insulting their mother. What else can I do?

I have a problem with alarm sys for 4 days and I cannot get anyone to help. Do you get any other complaints about them?

We needed to cancel our service. I called May 12, 2010 so phone chat holds so forth and so on, OK just send us a letter and it will be done in 30 days. No way. They stick to you like stink. We find out now they have a so called 36 month contract with us. I say send me the proof. They reply it’s all recorded. I say prove it. Long story short $1400.00 to close the account or stuck until 2012. Scummy low class company. I'm tempted to just remove them from my instant pay. Any advice? Shoddy install just ugly. We can no longer afford this and feel scammed, used. They are very disreputable. We are not obligated.

Last Tuesday May 28th my alarm was going off when I came home. Someone broke into my house, took things and walked out the back door. Monitronics never called me and the police weren't notified until I got home from work. I have talked to several people from Monitronics and they said that they never received the signal. A technician has come out to my home twice already and ran tests and they receive the signals but when the alarm is going off nothing happens. I have talked to so many people since last Tuesday and have gotten the runaround. This service is horrible and I would never recommend anyone to do business with them.

We tried to call the Phoenix, AZ number prior to leaving on a trip. We got "that number is no longer in service." Are you people going out of business? Or what? I'm getting the feeling that Monitronics is not a reliable or stable company!

I have had a problematic wired alarm system with Monitronics for over 3 years. I decided to cancel the service but was given an option to switch to wireless with 6 months free. I was told that the wireless was less problematic than the wired. My home in Clarkston, GA was burglarized on 05/25/2010. The power was cut, turning off the alarm system which is still supposed to work because it is wireless. I was told by Monitronics that they cannot be held accountable because their device is defective?

After 3 years of service, I moved out of the state and tried to cancel the service. I called them, but they said I had to write a letter. I asked them if I could fax it to them. They said yes, so I faxed it to the number that they had given me. I have received several calls from them stating that it is an open account and they have no record of cancelation. After several calls I finally spoke to someone who was able to cancel it. It should not be that hard to cancel a service that you no longer need. They are still sending me a bill for $70.00.

I haven't had a contract with this company since my two-year commitment with them expired in November of 2009. They called me three times a day demanding money and keep billing me. I have told them at least 90 times not to call and yet they continually harass me and my children when I am not home. I want the calls and mailings stopped. I am no longer under any obligation to this company and I paid $2,000 for the security system and never use it. I am paid in full. Please help stop this harassment!

Like the other complaints I have read, Marco, with Security One, offered to have their company install a free complete home security system that we could cancel after one year without cost or obligation. They were looking to advertise their company and wanted to target houses that were appealing. When I questioned him on the 60-month contract, I was told that because the system was being given to us at no cost, this would identify it as a promo installation and they would know we could cancel after one year.

Simply put, our "account" got sold from APX Home Security to Monitronics. We were never notified by either company that our account would be or was sold. When I tried calling to cancel because I was moving to a different country because of my husband's job, we were told that there was nothing they can do. We were bound by a 60-month contract, of which we had 38 months remaining.

A salesperson was selling alarm system door-to-door late in the day (June 2008) and offered to replace my old security system for free if I advertised the company by placing a yard sign in the front of the house. I told him that I did not have my current system on and I did not know when if I was planning to ever to turn it on. But he insisted that it was free to update the system and I could call to turn on when ready to do so. I did not know that i had signed a 5-year contract. I have to pay $40 a month even though the system is not on. Neither the doors or windows are connected to the system and I did not get any motion detectors.

Late in 2008, we were approached by a salesman explaining that he was in our community offering to set up an alarm system free. We would only have to pay for the monthly payment. We live in a senior community, and the gentleman explained that he had already signed every senior he had spoken with and everyone had signed. My husband is blind and at home alone all day, and although he had LifeLine, he thought this was a better way as we would also be protected from theft and fire.

Almost 3 years ago now, this company named Platinum Alarm was running around my neighborhood talking people into "free alarm systems". All you had to do was pay for the service each month but it had to come out of your bank account you could not send a payment monthly. It was rather frightening, one minute I was talking to a salesman and the next there were like 5 guys running around my house, in my back yard, all over the place. They are drilling holes and wiring up this monstrous looking box which believe me I would truly regret later. I have not been able to use this system because it interferes with my phone and internet service but the company claims that it does not.

First, this site invites bad as well as good experiences. This not a complaint per se., but due to the litany of web site complaints about Monitronics have been asked to document our observations as new customers of Skyline Security Management located in Downey Ca. Researching home security with Skyline and their use of Monitronics led me to many web sites dealing w. complaints of this monitoring station located in Dallas TX. Many complaints were serious, disturbing, potentially fraudulent and litigious.

Monitronics is a fair company. They monitor alarm signals that our equipment sends out. If anyone took the time to read the contract, they would see we didn't even sign the contract with Monitronics. We signed with a different company and they sold our contract to Monitronics. Also, the contract states on the first page to cancel, as many other contracts states with other companies, in writing with a 30 day notice. And if you call them to cancel, sure they are going to keep you, but they will tell you exactly what to do to cancel.

People, first of all, if you would read your contract, a lot of these complaints wouldn't be typed here. There is a lot of wording to the contract and long or short, needs to be read. Also, one recommendation, if you need to contact ERT, Executive Response Team, who works for the president of Monitronics, call 1-888-758-5900 and believe me, you will be helped.

This is the worst company anybody can deal with. Customer service is worst and service. They charge bill if you cancel also. Horrible company. Thanks. We all three years we paid without service because of contract. Contract is acceptable only if they give service.

I cancelled my account, following the Monitronics' procedures after I called their customer service line. I was asked to fax in a request to cancel and that would be sufficient. A week later, they sent a letter asking me to do the same thing - this time, snail mail it. I did. 2 weeks later, they sent a letter confirming the account had been canceled. About a week later, I received a bill in the mail charging me for 2 months. I called their customer service line and the first guy told me that my account had not been canceled, but moved! Someone in the account resolution department said my cancellation notice wasn't signed. After I went off on them, they said they were going to credit the account and close it for good. We'll see.

Well, it all started about 4 years ago when my Grandma passed away. My Grandfather felt unsafe after a robbery in his home when he left to go shopping. Not long after that, he had an alarm put in from Monitronics. About a year later, a sales person shows up from SAI. They said they bought his contract from Monitronics so they changed the key pad on the wall. Of course, he does not know much since he is 78 years old.

I can't get any answers from Monitroics, when I phone them after speaking to someone I suddenly get cut off. I was not told anything about permits, my having to contact the police dept, the paramedics, the fire department in order to get a number and then call the security company with that info in order to be connected to the alarm co. I have a witness who sat through the presentation as I thought two set of ears would be better than one. I also wanted a witness so if anything did happen after I decided to take the offer, I had back up.

I have had Monitronics Alarms for 12 years and I went to cancel the service on March of 2009. They told me I have to send a letter for the reason. I did that about 4 times because they say they never received it and finally, they did. After that, they keep sending me invoices for the services from March until present. They said that I owe them back charges and late fees. Now, they have an attorney signed to this and they are extremely rude. If anyone wants an alarm system, I would highly not recommend Monitronics for any services. They say that any time you sign your name to one of their agreements after the initial term is up, it keeps renewing for 2 years after that and you have to cancel on the renewal date.

I had a door-to-door salesperson offer an alarm service which sounded good with all the bells and whistles necessary to protect my family. I signed a 3-year contract for a little more money that I had been paying for another service and was told that they were opening a office in town should I have any concerns. They never opened the local office. Their equipment was taped to newly painted walls and ceilings. Once, the base unit was plugged in to our telephone line, our telephone stopped receiving calls, and if a call came through, it was accompanied with tremendous amount of static and distortion.

Monday, 2-1-10 at approximately 1:03 in the AM my alarm went off. I called 911 and was on the phone with dispatch for about 7 minutes waiting for the police to arrive. Dispatch and the police both informed me that the alarm company had not notified them the alarm had gone off. After numerous phone calls between Monotronics and American Alarm, I spoke to Nicole from American Alarm who informed me the alarm that the alarm went off at 1:05 and 13 seconds and disarmed at 1:05 and 38 seconds and that's why no one called me.

I have heard a lot of bad stories about this company so I shouldn't be surprised. Earlier this year, a Sacramento Monitronics dealer signed my grandmother up for a three-year contract. Mind you, when I talked to my grandmother that day, she didn't really seem to know what she signed up for. (I have since noticed that the dealer had to even print her name for her).

I had Monotronics, and my home was broken into. They did not send out the police, they did not call and notify me of the break in, the burglars tore the monitoring box off the wall, and they said we did not have a signal from our phone so they did not know. Weren’t they supposed to be monitoring it 24 hours? And on top of that, when I called to complain and cancel our service, the person on the other end could barely speak English. I asked to speak to a supervisor, and guess what, they could barely speak English. Either this company should be put out of business. I lost thousands of dollars in property and jewelry because of this.

My experience with Monitronics is much like others I have read. Our system never worked. We were robbed three times. They sent repair people four times over a year. These are independent contractors. Each one said the last repair person did not know what they were doing and everything is ok. When I try to use the system I get false alarms and have paid $700.00 to my local police.

My husband worked for a company that went out of business. Monitronics was called to cancel the service and letters were also sent to cancel. Since he was the manager/contact person, they continue to harass him by phone. They somehow got my cellphone and have also been harassing me, though I was never associated with the company. They are harassing me on my cellphone while I am at work and they are eating up my cellphone time.

I am a retired teacher and my husband is unemployed since October 2009. He called Monitronics to cancel the alarm system because we can't pay it anymore and they told him that they can't cancel it. Now, we had to cancel the telephone service so we don't have any way to receive service for the alarm in case we need it and we are paying for a service we don't use.

I had a "free alarm" system installed and had monitoring for a year, then foreclosed and moved from the home. I called to cancel the service as I was not going to live there any longer. Several years later, I began receiving calls from Monitronics and collection agencies telling me I owed over $1,000 for monitoring fees for years I didn't even live in the home. When I told them I had moved and cancelled my service, they continued to harass me and demand an address to mail an invoice to. I gave them the address of my attorney, and the calls stopped.

One day last July, a few representatives from Signature Alert Home Security Systems were across the street installing a system for my neighbor. One of them came to my door soliciting an entire security system for an amazing price. He would even waive the initial fee. And who could pass up the chance to buy peace of mind!? I told him initially that my mother owned the house and that she was away in Alaska. He acted as though it did not really matter. He filled out all the paperwork and did not really give me a chance to look at it. When it came to signing the contract, he printed the both of our names, mine and my mother’s, and had me sign for both. I had no idea that could be considered forgery.

On Christmas 2008, my father passed so I moved into his house. He had Monitronics already but had no service in years so I basically called them and had the service turned on. In October, my house got broken into. I was at work, kids were in school and they kicked in my back door. So Monitronics called me and asked "Do you need us to call the police?" I said, “Yes, duh, I’m at work.” I got home and police asked, “Why isn't your alarm still going off and why didn't they call us first?” I said I have no clue, so of course I looked around. Only the flat screen my dad bought before he died was stolen.

I called in April 2009 to cancel my service. They told me I was on a contract and could not cancel without there being a fee. I called back again a week later to find out I was not on a contract and my services would be cancelled. A month later, I find out the services had not been cancelled. I needed to mail a letter to cancel my services. So, I complied with their request and mailed the cancellation notice.

I continually have called this company to cancel and with no effect. Customer service is horrible and I have made repeated attempts to fax the company. My cancellations have been confirmed that they were received but then a bill shows up next month anyway. They also have a 30-day cancel policy so every time I get a bill, they start the days over again and say I owe for the previous month. I've had it with them!

We purchased a Monitronics Monitored 2-way voice security system from Save Sleep in January 2008 for our previous address. We paid $100 in May 2009 to Save Sleep in order to transfer our equipment and service to our new residence and we have been charged $29.95 per month since January 2008 for Monitronics Security Monitoring Services. We had a problem with our system and we had left many messages for Save Sleep with no return calls. We then called Monitronics directly to inquire about our monitoring service to try to get some help and they have told me that this address has never had any type of security monitoring and that Save Sleep is charging me for a service that I never received.

My 88-year-old mother has had her life saved twice now by her previous emergency system, Life Line. In one instance, she had fallen and pressed her button, told them her situation, and then called her neighbor, who's two houses down. By the time her neighbor arrived, she came in the garage and then went straight to the front door in time to let the ambulance attendants in. That was what the button is supposed to do for her, along with the monthly monitoring service. With nothing else, that function was worth what she was paying per month.

I cannot believe that after my house was foreclosed on, they were totally careless about what I was going through. Never did I think they would continue to charge me for a service I didn't need, as I had been evicted from my house. They continue taking money from my account. How irresponsible.

I cancelled our security service in July 2009 by phone and was advised that I would have to write a letter. I complied with their request. Because we still had a few months remaining on our contract, I requested that we be sent a final invoice so that I could clear up our account with them. Their office did not comply with our request. We continued to receive monthly bills, even though I continued to request a final billing statement from them. They finally sent us the final billing in October which we promptly paid. Since that time, we have received phone calls from them on a daily basis either asking us to pay a non-existent invoice or sign up for a new service. We have requested to be taken off their phone list countless times, and we still receive daily calls. We are being forced to change our phone number.

I'm a truck driver. After a period of time, I came home to find a new security system in my home. I asked my wife what it was all about, and she said a security rep from Monitronics came around and made what she thought was a decent offer. The problem is that the system is in my name, complete with my social security number. I have never signed a contract with these people. I've requested many times a copy of the contract, so I can seek legal representation and compare any signature to mine. But I have yet to receive one. The last time I talked to their customer service, I was told that in order to clear this up, I'd have to press fraud charges against my wife. Once I sent them a copy of the police report, they'd review it and make any necessary changes in the billing. To date, I still haven't received a signed copy of the contract! I'm willing to give several handwriting samples and can prove that I was not even here when this thing was installed and any time it's requested!

My home was broken into on November 6, 2009; and neither I nor the police was notified. I left work going straight home, only to see that our home was ramshacked. The signal was going off in the home, but no signal was received by Monitronics, so they say. This is impossible, because my system is wireless and I have a cell back-up battery in the basement of my house.

I have been trying to cancel my service since June 2009. I called their customer support line and cancelled over the phone with the rep. Then, I got another bill. I called and asked about it. I was told they needed a fax. I sent the fax. I got another bill. Then, they said they needed more information. I did that. I got another bill. Then, they said they did not get the fax. I sent it again. I got another bill. I am still trying to get it cancelled.

They sold me a service alarm security. The guy who sold this to me never told me that I have to pay the police department to have the alarm. I was just told about the payment for the service when a false alarm happened because the system failed somehow. I reported to them something was wrong but they didn't help me to resolve this matter.

When purchasing our alarm system for a home in Spokane, the sales rep told us we could get out of our contract in case of a military force move. Less than a year later, we found ourselves in that situation and moved into a rental home in another state that would not allow the installation of our system. Monitronics refused to cancel our contract when we spoke with them multiple times on the phone. Over the last year, we have paid over $500 for a non-service and have another six months to go. Never use this company!

Someone from Monitronics just stopped by my door telling me she "had" to put a sign in my yard. Really? It's important to note that I do not have a Monitronics security system. Deceptive, deceptive practices.

The home alarm system was sold and installed on 7/10/2007. On 10/2/07 and 11/4/07, I tried to contact the company for lack of service and to cancel monthly monitoring service. A letter was mailed to the above company address on 2/20/08. I had moved from the condo, which was being monitored. When I disconnected the phone line, which was how the system worked, I didn't even get a call then.

I cancelled service back in May 2009 and am still getting bills and harassing phone calls at work to myself and wife. I have tried to talk to these people but get nowhere with any of them. They did not tell us we had to cancel our service by official letter, until last month when we're told we could not do it over the phone back in May. We have received numerous harassing phone calls and are very tired of it. I have read numerous complaints from other people online and cannot believe this company is still in business. Their customer service people are very rude, and you get a different person every time you try and discuss this bill. I have sent them their cancellation request back with a payment for the last month of service. But don't think this will be the end of it. I am real tired of all of their phone calls. Casey is a department, not a person. So you can never talk to the same person.

This company keeps calling me. I have attempted to call them back, and the number that came up on my phone was not a good number. I got a letter in the mail stating I need a permit. The rep did not say anything about a permit. I called today, and they (Monitronics) said they could not help me. I came to this website and saw many complaints. Gee, interesting. So that is why I am contacting you.

I recently changed alarm companies. In the process of changing systems, my installation tech showed me that the device I assumed had been monitoring my home for years was in fact a dummy unit. My home was not wireless, but the motion detector installed was only compatible with a wireless system. I wasn't going to complain, I just wanted the billing to stop. So, I sent in my letter, and we received numerous calls asking if we're sure we wanted to cancel. Then, I received another charge on my account for a service fee - a service I haven't had in two months! Even if they have to bill through the 30 days of the cancellation letter, (August 19), why am I being billed 30 days worth of service for September 10-19? This is ridiculous! Do not use this company!

My home was broken into on September 8, 2009, and neither I nor the police was notified. My husband just so happened to go straight home from work to see that our home was ramshacked and everything was gone. The criminals snatched the entire system from the wall, and no signal was sent off. This is to me impossible, because my system is wireless and I have a cell back-up battery in the basement of my house.

Please read all the former complaints about Monitronics. We have had the same problems. This is how we got out of our contract. After multiple phone calls and being disconnected multiple times, I was told we would have to send a letter. I got all the information required by Monitronics for the letter. I sent them a 2-page detailed letter of all the problems we had and everyone we talked to. I also printed a page from their website claiming 97% customer satisfaction on the first call and pages from a complaint website.

Sept. 3, 2009, I received a call saying I was going to receive a free installation of a home alarm system including a voice monitor that would allow for medical emergency assistance if I just push the intercom or police notification if there was a break-in. All I had to do was put a sign in my yard and a sticker on my window. This promotion was only available for Friday, Saturday and through the Monday holiday. I asked where they would be monitoring from, what state. She told me Texas. I said that's a long way from California, didn't seem like a good idea. She asked her manager to explain how it worked and he said that there was no problem because it was a wireless device and the connection was instant. They monitored from Texas just as most other alarm company do. He wanted to set up an appointment, but I told him I'd like to investigate his company first before someone walks into my home.

I sensed the woman at my front yard gate was a salesperson. I was just leaving in my car. I realized she was opening the gate and my 2 dogs were going to get out or jump on her. I called her over, she wouldn't come. I kept calling her and she brought her clipboard over. “Monitronics,” she said. After getting her to finally admit it was a security system and no, I don't want her in my yard, I realized she'd been trained to be manipulative. She left my front gate unlocked! Luckily, the dogs stayed home. Thanks for assuring me my feeling was right!

What a nightmare! Monitronics provides monitoring services in a market place which is very competitive and very lucrative for those companies able to sign up as many customers as possible. It's pure juice - the monthly stream for (one or three years depending) and the Simon Legree local who gets you "into a contract" are delighted with each new customer. Simply ask yourself. How many times you see those emotional commercials where the guy breaks open (usually the front door) and a clean-cut guy on the other end answers and is "sending help now!" Your tears are welled-up and you're ready to sign now to have "the added protection."

We opened an account with Monitronics in September of 2008 and have had nothing but problems ever since. The security system has never worked properly, but all they say is we'll send someone back to your house for $150.00 to evaluate the problem. The problem is that it never worked properly from the start and they want to charge more to fix their problem. I was told that I could buy a wireless motion detector to replace the one they installed and install myself, but now after purchasing one, they now say that they will have to come out and charge me another $150 to program. They are a sorry outfit and nobody should get involved with them unless you have plenty of time and money.

I would not recommend this company. The only time our burglar alarm went off was when we were on vacation 1000 miles away. We got a call from customer service saying the alarm went off, and we told them we weren't at home. They said they would call the police and hung up. Needless to say, we were on pins and needles and waited for their call, and it never came. This happened on a Saturday, and when we tried to reach Monitronics to find out the status, all we got was a recorded message saying their business hours were Monday to Friday, 10am to 5pm or something like that. It's absurd!

It is truly amazing - how one company can mess with so many people's lives. I was amazed that complaints against this company go on for 14 pages. I have tried to cancel this monitoring system numerous times before - every time hearing the same, "You are signed up through 2009." So, I finally followed all their rules about sending the letter, calling, talking to some "account manager" - who said that he could give me the same service for $9.99 - that they have been charging me $42.98 for years - if I would just continue the service. When I questioned him about why I could have it for such a great price - his comment, I kid you not - was "we believe in helping those in times of need." I lost it.

This company is a farce and should be shut down by the great state of Texas. They do not monitor your alarm. They send a code to your alarm to eliminate the delay to get out of the door. They refuse to assist, then they remind you that you still have four years on your contract. I will contact Greg Abbott, the Attorney General of the State of Texas and let him deal with these criminals.

I am so disgusted with this company. I have made several calls and tried several times to cancel my account. The alarm company has not provided me with a monitoring service for the past 7 months. I was so surprised to find so many other people shared the same problem with Monitronics. People all over the world are having the same problem with this company. This company is stealing people’s money and not providing the service and then constantly harassing people about paying. They have constantly called my family members that I used for emergency purposes only. Something needs to be done to stop this company from continuing what they are doing to consumers. It is not fair for a company to not provide their consumers with a way out of a contract. Phone companies even allow the consumers to pay a cancellation fee to get out of a contract. This company is not allowing anyone to cancel their contract and they have a very bad harassment problem. Again, there are so many complaints and a class action lawsuit needs to be filed against this company.

When a neighbor called me at work last week to tell me that the police were at my house, I called Monitronics to get information about the signal and find out why no one had called me. I have pets and had there been a break in, I would have come home or had a family member go to my house. I was told that they called my house and when I didn't answer, the police were dispatched. The first person I spoke with said they called my office and I didn't answer. There was no message and my secondary person was not called. When I called a supervisor, I was told that they were calling me at the same time I called in so they hung up?! Really? The next person I talked to said they were busy with other calls and didn't get a chance to call me (This was an hour and a half after the police were dispatched). An epidemic of crime? When I called to speak to someone else, I was told that it could take up to five hours for a call to be made to my secondary numbers after the police are dispatched. Five hours? So, my animals can wander the streets and the second line of burglars can empty my house after the police leave? From the previous post, it seems that this is a common practice now.

On May 4, 2009, our home was burglarized and ransacked. The thieves even tore the alarm system (Monitronics) off the wall thereby disconnected our phone line. Monitronics did not notify us - we had to hear from the Modesto Police Dept of the break-in. We contacted Monitronics who said they tried to call us, but our phone was disconnected (which was due to damage to the alarm system by the perpetrators). However, they do have our cell phone numbers and we were never notified. We told them we wish to cancel our service since we will be moving, and they said we have a contract until 2011 and will not release us! This is an outrage since we will not be living in the home and their service will not be used.

I talked to the woman who says she's in Dallas for the second time about not reacting to my alarm system by calling or sending the police. She claimed they were monitoring the system but that it was not working correctly and she wasn't getting the alarm signal. Yesterday was the first time she suggested that I test the system, although it had not been working for a while. Why did she not call if the system was not working? Why have they never made contact with me to test the system? My husband died recently and I noticed that they were removing money from my checking account, but never contacting me about their service. Every time I called, I was put on hold for several minutes and then get the same person on the phone and I seriously doubt that I would get the same person every time I call if this were a real call center.

I moved last year. After 6 years of service, I notified Monotronics that I would no longer need their service. They said that I needed to notify them in writing, which I did, and have a copy of the letter. They continued to bill and when I called, they said they would take care of it. They did not, and turned me over to collections for $37. The $37 bill which Monotronics turned over to collections, which I do not owe, has hurt my credit report.

On March 26, I contacted Monitronics by phone to cancel my service. I had recently been downsized, so I needed to cut expenses. I was told that I needed to mail my request. I did as instructed and received a telephone confirmation a few days later. A couple of days after that, I received a call asking why I had cancelled my service. I explained my situation to them again. Since that time, I have received (as well as my mother and father; they were on my emergency contact list) numerous calls from the company saying that I owed them money for the past months.

At the first of this year, my financial situation had changed therefore, I could no longer afford to continue the alarm service. I did not contact Monitronics, but instead, stopped the automatic monthly payment. I have received numerous phone calls at work. I explained that I could not afford the service any longer, but I got nowhere. I requested to speak to the supervisor and was put on hold forever (and the whole time I was at work, mind you) and eventually, I hung up. I just received another call and after explaining my situation again, the person asked if I had notified Monitroncs about it. He said the monthly charges would continue and that I could be reported to a collection agency. I then said to consider this my notification and he said he couldn't do that. The threats continued about a collection agency. I knew I was getting nowhere and told him to never call my work again and hung up, while he was still babbling on the other end. What is up with these people?

Monitronics is refusing or are failing to get a technician to my house to put in new equipment. I went to a wireless phone system and no longer have a land line. Phone calls are without result. I asked for a supervisor and was intentionally put on hold forever. No alarm service coverage.

I called Monitronics on 6/19 to cancel my alarm monitoring as we moved and cancelled the phone line as well. They told that I still had to pay for the service until August 19th, even though there was no phone line for them to monitor anything. They told me I had to mail a letter; then, it would take 30 days notice after they received the letter. Who does anything by mail these days? I can cancel everything else by phone (credit cards, travel reservations, airline tickets, phone lines, absolutely everything) yet Monitronics wants to get another couple months of payments out for you. So they have them primitive requirements to delay your cancellation. Stupid. They just lost my future business at my new location. This has resulted to $58.00 in fees for nothing. They're living in the land of the dinosaurs to make a few more bucks off every customer.

After canceling my contract in December 2008, with verbal agreement from a Monitronics representative, I have been billed for another 4 months of service and miscellaneous fees. This company does not honor the contracts they make with their customers. They are dishonest and cannot be trusted. The consequence of this is $132.76.

They called and I refused to take a survey. My wife says it’s a survey about smoke alarms. A day later they called back and said I won a free installation with all components for a burglar alarm system. All I had to do was pay the monthly charges for its call center. I told him it was too good to be true and he said they are with GE and his tech guy would call me in 10 minutes, and everything was on the up and up. I immediately went to this website and read the horror stories. When he called I told them about their self and never to gall again. I reported them to the do not call list and the Attorney General here in PA. Thank god for this site!

I have been a client of Monitronics since 1997. I never had any issues with installation or service. I had two false alarms and had immediate response. The problem started when I decided to cancel service. I originally had a 3-year contract, which turned to a month to month contract. I called Monitronics in August 2008 to cancel the contract and was told to send a letter. I followed up in September and they had not received it. I've made several calls, sent letters and emails with no results. Each time, Monitronics tries to convince me to keep the service. Whenever I ask for a manager, the call is disconnected. I kept paying the bill through December, hoping that they would finally cancel service but they are still billing me. I decided to stop paying and canceled my phone service. I figured since I'm retired now and on limited income, this one blemish on my credit doesn't matter to me. I hope that people will think twice about dealing with Monitronics. They might be great at the beginning, but I judge them on how they were at the end.

I had alarm system installed by 1st Defense Security Company on April 4, 2009. I was told by installer that they had to come back to finish installing some things because they had other customers to go see. They had been at my house for approx. 6 hours. I then called the installer on April 16 to ask when he would be back to finish and was told that they had not been paid by Monitronics and would not be coming back.

I had a Monitronics alarm system re-activated in a rental property. The previous tenant had it installed without my knowledge or permission. When the new tenant moved in, he had a break in and requested we re-activate the alarm system. After jumping through Monitronics’ hoops to get a contract, as I was the homeowner and they couldn't deal with the tenant directly (didn't seem to be a problem with the previous tenant), we got the system up and running.

We purchased our new home in Texas and the builder provided one-year free security system, but didn't tell us it was a 3-year contract. That company was LEC. When I was early retired, I called to cancel and they told me I had to pay the full amount of what was left on the contract, so I left it alone and paid the monthly charge, having just a few months left on the contract. I wrote to LEC (and they confirmed receipt) that I wanted to cancel just as soon as the contract was completed. About the same time, Monitronics was taking over LEC.

I have been with Monitronics for approx. 5 years. The trouble started when I came home and the alarm was going off and I was not called and there were no police at my house. So of course my fear was… do I go in? Well I am a freak and thought of my dog being in the house so I did go in. Well, there was the dog at the door waiting for me. I called Monitronics from my cell phone and said “As you can hear, my alarm is going off.” The young man on the other end said he did not show and alert from his side. Well, that was not comforting at all! He was not concerned and told me to just walk through the house to make sure everything was okay! I told him how foolish that was.

Typical experience with Monitronics as everyone, problems cancelling service after expiration of contract, but I did manage to get that done after jumping through their red tape and numerous phone calls. Now I’m trying to recover unused balance owed me from yearly payment. To date, they have ignored all communication. Based upon my experience and comments on this website, I would suggest if you have a choice, avoid any dealings with Monitronics.

My alarm system was installed and activated in August 2003. The terms of the agreement was a 3-year contract with automatic 1 year renewal. My alarm system had one false alarm and several accidental triggers (children) within the first few months that we had the system activated. At each incident, we did not receive a call from Monitronics or a response from the police. We figured out that the alarm would sound in the house and the phone line would be paralyzed. I called Monitronics several times and they said it was a problem with the phone company's lines (up to this point, we did not have a problem with our home phone).

I just signed up yesterday for service. I was worried at first after finding this site. However, after taking the time to really read into it, it appears that 90% of the complaints are from people wanting to cancel their contracts early (moving, job loss, etc.). I fully understood when I signed that if I cancel early for whatever reason, I would have to pay. Perhaps these people should have read their contracts. As a new customer, I found the company (so far) to be professional. They answered all my questions including the contract and what would happen if I cancelled early. Of course, the alarm hasn't been installed yet so I haven't really received service. However, if 90% of the complaints are because of people wanting to cancel their contracts early, those complaints should not be held against the company. I guess I'll see how my service/equipment is after everything is installed.

The Alarm Control Panel has shorted out my home phone line 4 times in 5 months. They have replaced the control panel 3 times and the problem still continues. The last 2 times this happened, the first time we had to wait 11 days for the tech to come out and fix the alarm. This last time, we are at day 11 and waiting for the tech to come out and replace the alarm control panel. They will not let us out of the 2-year contract unless we pay for the Alarm Control Panel ($325), which is an electronic piece of crap. Twice we have had to pay the phone company for a service call to come out and diagnose the phone line trouble as a short having been caused by the alarm control panel. We are having to pay $31.99 a month for a unit that likes to short out our phone line. We want out of this 2-year contract at no cost to us and no damage to our credit.

ProAlarm is not reachable. All I need is information on utilizing my security service through DSL/broadband or cellular satellite. I contacted Monitronics, and they are well aware of the ProAlarm customer’s inability to receive customer support since they cannot reach them either. Monitronics is only a monitoring company. ProAlarm is the company responsible for the equipment maintenance and service. I am aware of that. I have a 3 year contract with them, which expires on May 2010. I am trying to save a few bucks a month by eliminating my local phone service. Their contract certainly states the consequences of the homeowner breaching their contract. I HAVE HELD UP MY END OF THE DEAL. WHERE IS THEIRS?!? Time is money, and they are indeed costing me that.

I recently moved to a home with existing service. The people that purchased my old home assumed my Monitronics account which cost $11.99 per month. When I called to take over the account in my new house, I was assured that I would get the same rate. Now they tell me it is $39 a month and I have to sign a 3-year contract. Please advise as to what is correct... If I have to have a new 3-year account and my rate goes up that much, I will sever my association of several years with your company and go elsewhere. Please respond so I can proceed with getting security service for my new home. Thank you.

We were approached about purchasing a home alarm system from Monitronics. The salesman was professional and explained the terms very well, and the installation was first rate. The system has been in place since early December, with only 2 false alarms, (both my fault). The monthly monitoring price is a bit high, but consider the consequences of a violent home invasion, or need for quick contact in case of a medical emergency. Everyone else, quit 'yer whining! READ YOUR CONTRACTS BEFORE SIGNING! Don't buy it unless you can afford it! Be alert. Be informed. Take responsibility for your actions.

My sister, Leona **, is the one who has the alarm system in her home. She has a memory loss problem, and when they came to her home and talked her into putting the system in, she was not able to understand how to even work the keypad. She has never been able to use it. I have tried to no avail to contact these people to cancel her system. They never returned a call and lately, you can't even leave a message as they say the mailbox is full. I contacted the BBB. They were also unable to get a response and suggested we contact the Attorney General in their state which is exactly what we are working on now. It is just unbelievable that these people can continue to take your money and never respond to customer service calls. It makes me wonder what would happen if there actually was an emergency.