Protection 1 Reviews

Not once have any of these calls actually worked. Nothing is ever fixed. I even called to change my last name after a marriage and they refused to change my name because “it doesn't matter.” Not to mention when the alarm actually goes off on accident, the wireless system is so slow that I can casually walk up to the panel to turn it off, and the alarm company is never notified and I never get a call from them about the alarm going off. In a real emergency the alarm would be useless. So I have an alarm system that I never use because it’s just a hassle, but I still pay $42 a month.

When I called last month to cancel, prepared to just pay the rest of it off to get rid of it (contract was supposed to end in October), my contract suddenly went from 3 years to 3.5 years! This is just shady business practices all around. Three year contracts are ridiculous as it is, but to suddenly add 6 months to someone’s contract is unbelievable. I have never experienced this type of unprofessionalism before!

After 2 months of trying to fix and realign the sensors, I gave up and unplugged the system. It has now been over a year, and I still have to pay the $45/month charge for service I don't use. I called customer service to get options for cancelling. I spoke with the rudest lady who notified me in order to cancel my service I would have to pay an early termination fee over $700! It is easier to break a lease, terminate a phone contract, and get out of cable/internet service. I will never use Protection 1 again, and I am counting down the days until my contract is up.

Now they are charging us a cancellation fee to cancel something that has not worked in months, and are threatening to turn us over to collections if we don't pay for a service that has not been provided! When I've called to try to figure out what is going on, I've been amazed at how rude and incompetent their staff is, blaming me for all of this when they are the ones who merged companies without letting us know, which caused our system to break, then they charged me for a repair that made things worse. I am also reporting them to the Better Business Bureau. I advise everyone to stay far away from this dishonest, predatory company.

Last week I was broken into and due to my windows being slide up with two separate panes, the window sensors did not detect this break in which the motion sensor could’ve, but cannot be activated with my dog around. After calling ADT they recommended several solutions which also are not compatible with a dog present in the home. The only other option I have is to cancel service with this company and of course they give you the typical “oh you’ll have to pay 750$”.

In the end they false advertise their equipment to get you to sign up and from then on you’re just a monthly deposit which they know the average individual will lay over and pay. Hell of a way to run a business ADT/Protection 1!! Also, in the contract they outline no cancellation fee shall be charged if: “Your System generates excessive false alarms due to circumstances beyond our control.”. This system is generating excessive alarms based on the equipment not being compatible as it was promised with dogs under 40lbs. My solutions are the following two: 1) Continue to use the motion sensor and trigger false alarms rather than running the risk of my home being broken into again. 2) Cancel my card info and let them take me to collections where I know they will a) not waste their money or b) understand they did not live up to their expectations which were promised to the customer.

I would’ve never bought this service if I understood initially the motion sensor was not compatible with a dog. There is never a supervisor present with their company and the agents are free to treat customers as they please with no discipline (now understand that from looking at previous employee reviews on Glassdoor). DO NOT SUBJECT YOUR HARD EARNED MONEY TO THIS COMPANY'S LIES AND MANIPULATION, TRUST ME!!!

How is the customer supposed to know first if there is a problem with the equipment? Isn't that the job of the monitoring services? If the customer is paying for the monitoring services, should that burden fall on Protection One? Instead, they require the customer to notify them and they hold themselves not liable when they are collecting money but not actually providing monitoring services? Beware of this shady practice and note your contract completely before jumping in bed with this company. They will take your money but not actually provide you with any services!!

Original Review: April 2, 2019

We ended up with a Protection One system in our home we bought a few years ago. We’ve just not been happy with the system and intended to discontinue the service once the contract was up. On 4-1-2019 we attempted to pay the remainder of the service cost and cancel the service. We had to speak to some guy named Quinn who was condescending, insulting, and refused to tell us what our remaining contract balance was. We repeatedly asked for him to just tell us what the total contract cost would be so we could pay in full and end the relationship. Quinn told us that it didn’t make any sense and if I’d just quit talking he would explain why we should pay more, so we could have a warranty and stay with them, while he ignored our requests to just let us pay the service off. To be clear, the hardware is owned and the contract is only for monitoring service.

Quinn refused and continued to push and antagonize us until we hung up. We called an 800 number for ADT and asked for someone to please help us to pay in full and cancel the service, but the nice woman from ADT said she couldn’t help, that we’d have to talk to Protection One. She connected the call and it was literally the same person. I told him again, listen, please just tell us the total and let it be done. He couldn’t help himself and told me that I have to understand that it’s his job to keep us as customers at any cost. This continued forever. He argued and said everything except how we could basically just pay them to go away.

Finally he told me we had to write a letter to cancel, to which we said, "Fine, what’s the address?" Then he continued pushing us and fighting until the phone call was a screaming match. We still have not been able to finish the business with this company and we will NEVER do business with these people again. Everyone should know how they will be treated once they patronize this company and ever have to talk to Quinn. What company won’t let you pay in full and leave? Protection One.

The current bill I received for this month is no different. This is upsetting and disturbing being that ADT referred me to use Protection One being that it is a sister company but the service is far from what I received at ADT. When I first signed up, I was told that I needed to pay a fee or charge which was $64.49 cents which was debited from my debit card on 12/17/18 (four days before I moved).

After I moved in, I saw that my new residence had more windows than we expected (we were shown a model unit before moving) so I called in and asked for more sensors being that we only received three, I was then told by an employee in your sales department that I would need to pay $264 for I believe 5 or 6 more sensors, when I refused and decided to get off the phone the “sales rep” quickly dropped the price and we came to an agreement of $84.99 (which was still pretty expensive, for a new customer but also gave me the feeling of being at flea market haggling prices).

This amount was charged to my card on 12/31/19, we are now at a total of $149.48 and I had only been in the residence for 10 days and I hadn’t even activated the system yet. Doesn’t this seem like a problem? Now to top that off, one of the sensors I received just happened to have a bad battery, which was discovered while I was activating the system, the representative that helped me on this occasion was very helpful professional and apologized and stated they would ship me another sensor at no charge to me (at least that’s what she told me).

I then receive a bill at the beginning of January for $96, due by the end of January, now please just place yourself in my shoes, I’m a somewhat new customer. I have paid your company $149 in 10 days and now I have another bill for $96 and I haven’t lived in my new place for a full month?! Does that make any sense? Now let’s fast forward to 1/19/19, I received another bill in the mail for $53.48 (which is what my bill is supposed to be), but since I have just shelled out quite a bit of money I call in to confirm what is going on here, I log on to my Protection One account and my bill reads I owe $60 and not $53.

Confused, I call in to the customer service and I spoke with a woman named Audrey and explained all of the issues and she stated that I was charged for the sensors I purchased back in December, I explained to her that the amount I paid was for the shipping and sensors and she stated, "Well we don’t show you paid anything," I told her I’m looking at the charge on my account now. Audrey’s exact words were “well sir if you don’t have anything to hide, just send us a picture with your bank statement to the Protection One e-mail”. I immediately asked to speak to her manager and he was a lot more helpful and maybe had access to reports that Audrey didn’t have because he was able to see the charge, he got it cleared up and I ended up having to pay $12.

After this was said and fast forward to February I got my bill which read zero dollars, was due I was shocked and called into Protection One just to make sure this was accurate given every issue I have had with this company up to this point I didn’t want to take any chances, after speaking with a rep I was told that no I don’t owe anything for this month, I also asked to make sure my bill would still be the same amount ($53.48) and that is what I will need to pay in March and this was all confirmed.

Now I was thinking this was behind me with all of the charges and now today, I received a bill from you all which is $83.89, I can’t describe how irritating and ridiculous this is to have to deal with this much nonsense and confusion as a customer in this short amount of time. Can someone please explain this to me and get this corrected, I’m tired of this. There seems to be a break down in communication, policies and customer service within your company because this is by far one of the worst experiences I have ever had.

Their module picks up the signal but it never notified the panel and the alarm company never seen the signal. So I ask for a service call and took the day off. (If I do not work I don't get paid on my second job). They never showed. I called back and nothing came of it. I was at that point contemplating cancelling their service but again didn't because I was under contract. And honestly the hrs I work I put it on the back burner besides there is usually someone home during the winter months. So to this point I am paying for a service that does not work. So today I get a letter stating that my contract is coming up and they will be raising my rate $1.40 for "exceptional service." Yup that's what it said. Well I lost my mind.

I called them up and explained my frustrations and told the customer service rep that I could care less if it was 5 cents. It was the principle and I am seriously thinking of just cancelling the service. The rep was extremely polite but decided to feed me a line of crap which I let him get it all out then called his bluff. I am not sure if his supervisor told him to tell me this or he decided to run with this on his own. But here it is... He tells me that the service call from before was never put on the board. It showed the date but never placed on the "service board" and this is why they never came out. He then says, "While I had you on hold I looked into this and we have seen this issue before. A lot of times it's the homeowners smoke detectors and the wiring is not correct or up to date. We ask you to have a licensed electrician to come out and verify that all the wiring is correct before we come out."

So trying to not lose my cool I asked, "Please explain to me if my detectors worked before and the wiring was never touched as they are simple plug and play and they are the exact same detectors. Further your "firefighter detectors" pick up sound only (no wiring from detector to the fire module which is theirs and runs on radio signal). Please tell me why I need to pay an electrician at $60+ an hr to come out when your detector lights up when the smoke detectors sound but the signal doesn't reach the panel and the alarm company doesn't get the signal?" He asked me to hold... He came back and said, "Sir I looked into it some more and it may be your detectors and "because of the strict Fire Code Laws in Massachusetts my fear is we may have to take the module out and not be able to replace them."

So I asked, "Oh really?? Can you tell me more about this law??" Here is the amusing part. I have been a professional firefighter for 20+ years and am a certified Arson investigator as well as a Fire inspector. I am the one who goes to the homes and test them and I advise homeowners of the LAW 527 CMR!!! Then I politely told him about the law and the specific section of the law that relates to the smoke detectors. SILENCE...

I did let him off the hook and just moved forward to fix the issues rather than unleashing on him. I felt ripping him a new one even though I was that mad wouldn't solve much... Now to the average homeowner based on this representative would be on the hook for lost time and money for hiring a electrician and a tech not wanting to deal with the issue telling the homeowner it was their issue... Charging them based on that or the tech just taking the firefighter modules out thus leaving the homeless safe. So many would just cancel.

Like I said I want to leave a fair review. I have decided for the time being not to cancel because 1) my contract is not up, 2) They decided to not to raise my rate (smart decision on their behalf), 3) I am used to the service including its quirks, 4) They have assured me there will be a tech at my door on a specific date to fix the issues and 5) unfortunately there isn't much competition I currently know of that has the services they have. There probably is. I just for the moment don't have the time to have this whole service ripped out and a different one installed only to find a different kind of problem. When spring comes maybe I will change this and be able to find a better service.

One other point. My son has set the alarm off coming home from school early. They are not consistent with coming online to ask if everything is ok or notifying you via phone. Sometimes they don't even come online through panel. Others it's 10-15 minutes after... A lot can happen in 10 minutes. This was something I also brought the their attention when I first called for last appointment and was told it had to do with merger and it was being addressed. Can't say if this has in fact been addressed or not as I have not set the alarm off by accident in some time.

I found a video on YouTube that exactly explain how it can be done (I have it if anybody wants to see it). I called Protection1 and asked for history event on the equipment to see if the equipment were tampered with (the guy who installed my camera told me to ask for it), but they said it can't be done. I paid my monthly fees and depended on them to protect me, but they did not do their job right.

After agreeing to go with them, technicians came out to prep the new communication installation and then they said they would have to come back since they have brought incompatible equipment to my fire alarm system. Apparently, salesman did not correctly gave them right model number of my fire system. So I have asked them about problems that I have mentioned to salesman, and they said nothing of those issues were mentioned to them. I have explained them the problem and they said they can’t do anything about that since it’s not in their work order and told me they will have make a note since those issues should repaired before the installation.

After few days, other technicians came and they still was not aware of those issues and they could not continue the installation until those issues are repaired. So I called the salesman to ask why these problems that I have told him was never mentioned to operation department and he said he did, but seems like they never got the message. After days of calling and frustration to get repair scheduled, salesman sends me a contract estimated work order of 32 hours to get the repair done and told me actual invoice could be different depending on how long they work on the repair, could be less or more.

They finally came and repaired issues which took them less than half day. At this time I was about 2 weeks past my deadline that was set by state home and security. I finally get a reply after many emails and calls from salesman saying the installation can be scheduled after 4-6weeks. So I have told him forget the installation and I will not get monitoring system from them. And he passes the phone to someone else saying that I’m giving him ridiculous reasons and his fellow worker should hear this. “Hey, you need hear him.” Is what he told his fellow worker. So I talked to the fellow worker and he said he understands why I do not want to go with Protection 1.

So I asked the salesman to send me final invoices of all work. All these took more than a month. First reached out in Sept. 7th, 2018 and getting to repair problems I have mentioned from the beginning was done on October 17th. Now this time frame is without the installation of equipment to be installed. After asking for final charges, which was Oct. 18th, 2018, the salesman sends me email yesterday, Feb. 7th, 2019 (almost 4 month later) and invoice shows there was 31 hours involved. I replied and told him that technicians were here to repair less than that and he replied that operation department told him technicians were on site multiple days.

I am at the site all the time and when repair techs arrive I always go and see them since I am the only person that has keys to electrical room which they need access to. I have asked him to provide me work report for what and when they have done and he sends me saying they only provide all one bill, which basically means he can’t provide me work report. What kind of company does not have work order report? I have told him I am not going to make payment until I get these report.

This was the worst customer service from salesman. Promises are never kept, the most frustrating communication. I should’ve checked how bad this company reviews were before I trusted his fault statements and assurances. It’s almost a scam. THE WORST COMPANY I have ever dealt with in my 10 years of business career. If he want to get paid for ACTUAL work they did, he better get things right without a scam.

Thank you again, Rhonda from Protection 1.

Original Review: Feb. 1, 2019

When me and my husband first bought our home we were contacted and signed up with Protection 1, the service was par, no real complaints. 2 years later we switched to another company as the service was not as consistent as when we first purchased it. And the new company offered upgrades and the buyout of our contract. I signed a cancellation authorization and the $750 check was sent with it to cancel my contract in August 2017. All was well until I noticed that the automatic drafts started back up September 2018. When I noticed in January 2019 I called and explained my situation and I was given the runaround and even those at this point I’ve already overpaid over $200. They insisted that I must pay another cancellation fee!!! At first they said I needed to send in a cancellation request and they never received one even though it was obvious that the $750 sent in was their cancellation amount.

But instead they applied it as a credit to my account which is why I stopped being billed. Now they want another 300 to settle. It’s very sad that they would do this to anyone, a member of the military, and a new mom. They have no morals as a company and take advantage of anyone and lie to their customers. I’m very disappointed in this company and would NEVER recommend them to anyone. I’ve always paid my bill on time and followed all procedures but because I don’t have a copy of a letter sent and a certified proof that they received it they will not honor my cancellation as of 2017 and want even more money. I can only imagine how many people they have scammed and lied to. One person says one thing and then another representative says you have to call and talk to someone and mail in a cancellation. All they care about is money.

I called the local company rep who said mine was about the 10th call that morning. In the end, the local co contacted ADT to correct them and the money went back into my account. I searched reviews online and it did not take any time to find reviews as posted here. It's nothin' but a shakedown. There is no service. It's all about the money and they have little tolerance for a dissatisfied customer. It's a contract, they bought it and they want their $750 to part ways.

Got a call tonight from Protection 1 (seems my account has been demoted) while at work asking for "their money" as I have not sent them a dime. When I asked, "Isn't this a shakedown? I did not contract with you. I'm not using the alarm system that I paid for. You're not doing anything for me. I'm not asking you for anything, but you're telling me IOU $130 or I have to buy out at $750." Gangsta!

Do not contract with these cons. Read these reviews. It's not about providing a service/taking care of people. It's contracts and money and hostage taking. Pay up or what? I hope better business bureau gets up in your business! Where do you find the people you have running the collection calls? Not a little ole lady just yet and will not let your nasty employees intimidate me. Did not contract with you. Don't want what you have to offer.

AGAIN, we were told that would be fine. This is when the incessant calls began. One day we would talk to someone who would tell us one thing and the next something else. Finally, we spoke to a girl who assured us that they were unable to find our original contract and would have to end our service based on the missing contract. WEEKS WENT BY, and we were called again and we provided the name of the girl who told us we were out of our contract and suddenly no one had ever heard of her. The person let us know that no one could find our contract but we were not getting out of our account. More weeks and phone calls go by, they still cannot find our contract and are still calling and threatening to send us to collections. ALL THE WHILE THEY DON’T HAVE ANY RECORD OF ANY PREVIOUS CALLS.

Eventually, 2 months later someone digs up our contract and we have to continue paying for the service even though we don't live at the house anymore. So every day we get a robocall letting us know that there is a problem with our system. We have lived in Texas for 6 months now... So that's 180+ calls that we have received from Protection 1. What respectable company lies and harasses their customers? We can't get out of our contract until October 2019 so we have to deal with the incessant and annoying calls and emails from Protection 1 for a system that we haven't had for months. If I could go back in time I WOULD NEVER HAVE AGREED TO SERVICE WITH THIS BOOTLEG COMPANY. We were forced into by a buyout. DON'T DO BUSINESS WITH THEM. They seem to have amnesia when you catch them on something.

A month ago a neighbor called to tell me my alarm was going off. I called Protection 1 and they told me it must be a neighbor's alarm because they had no notice of the alarm. I said my neighbor is the one calling me! Why isn't the alarm showing up in your system? Again, an alarm is only as good as the company monitoring the system. I called to cancel their service and was told that I was under a 5 year contract until 9/23/20. I do not recall being under a contract. And it wouldn't be a problem if I was happy with the service. But I am not. After 21 years of loyalty, the response I received from Quinn was that I would have to pay $750 to break the contract. BUYER BEWARE. ALL THEY WANT IS YOUR MONEY AND THE HECK WITH SERVICE!

Original Review: Jan. 10, 2019

I am beyond disgusted with what I just learned yesterday. Before I deployed in 2015 (June timeframe of that year) I had switched home security companies; from ADT to Protection 1. The selling point to me was that I was expressly told by the Protection 1 sales associate that I would NOT be under contract with Protection 1. With this knowledge they took care of the switch from ADT to their services at Protection 1 and I had a few upgrades done to my existing system.

Sometime later, unbeknownst to me, ADT bought out Protection 1. Most likely when I was on deployment. I NEVER signed a contract and NEVER was asked to update anything in order to be under a contract. The rub: my wife and I wanted to switch to Ring, so I called to cancel service yesterday... Protection 1, now a subsidiary of ADT, is stating that I am under a 58 month contract; backdating to when I did the switch from ADT to Protection 1!!! And it will cost $800+ to break the contract.

I expressed this situation to them and told them that I signed no contract... That I only signed the release form allowing Protection 1 to deal with ADT in order to gain my services. Now it seems that I am back under ADT and magically have this contract that somehow I signed while out on deployment. I asked for proof of this contract and they said that they would send it to me via email immediately... I have received NOTHING from them and yes, I made sure that they had my correct email. There are no documents on their website either that state contracts. I feel that this is not legal and I do not know what to do without getting screwed out of $800+. I have contacted the legal office on base and currently waiting for a response. This is completely unprofessional and disgusting for anyone to be treated this way.

We were told it would cost us an exorbitant amount of money to cancel, so we continued to pay for the service although it still remains in the box and has never been installed or activated. A year later I called to cancel the service and the company still wants to charge an exorbitant amount to cancel a service that has never been activated and still remains in the box it was delivered in. This is a company I would never recommend to anyone and the opposite of good customer service. I will do my best to make sure no one I know contracts with ADT or Protection 1. I can't think of worse service, as I have been told I have to continue to pay monthly for two years for a service I have never activated or used. In today's climate, good, quality companies understand the importance of the phrase, "the customer is always right."

Terrified, I called Protection 1 at 7 am the next day to see if they could service the security system in my apartment. They told me they could not, and even though I explained this location was temporary (30 days) they eventually convinced me to run my credit, charge me $40 for the service, and set it up myself since I could not afford a technician. Fast forward to a month later and I am able to relocate, and I never set up the service.

In the process of moving I forget about the box, and a year later when I relocate again, I notice it, and call protection one to cancel. I am on the phone with them for over an hour, where they tell me they can't access my account without my verbal password which I tell them, and they tell me it's not correct. they tell me they are not going to help me, and they'll email me a reset password. ( they never did).

At this point I don't even have an online account because I've never made one, so I create an account and verify my verbal password is exactly what I told them. I call again and get transferred to the most rude, arrogant, sarcastic, and cocky account manager who tells me she doesn't care that I'm cancelling (I believe her name was Bridgett) and then asks me if I would buy more services from her. I tell her I never used the service, it's still in the box, my account shows that Protection One made monthly calls to my box and they always failed because it was never installed, and they never contacted me to see what was going on. If they had called, they would have known I didn't set up the service, and I had relocated.

The rude account manager tells me even after a year of service that I've been paying for it's $750 to cancel. I'm upset, because I called to set up a service out of fear that I told the sales person was temporary, and he failed to tell me it was a multiyear contract and he pressured me to sign asap while I was on the phone or my apartment would continue to be prone to break-ins.

I have continuously explained that I could not set up the service because it was not user friendly, and I cannot transfer the service because I'm living with an individual that already has a security system. So now I must continue paying for a box that has never been used until the end of 2020, all because I was sold a product by a salesperson using a fear tactic, instead of them allowing me to return the box. I let the account manager know I'd be leaving reviews and she told me to "go for it." I would reconsider my experience and review of Protection 1 if they did the right thing by letting me out of my contract since they pressured me to sign while over the phone, and not allowing me ample time to review.

Protection One will lie and and say things to get you to agree to something and it isn’t the truth and then they tell you it wasn’t said. Like being told we could try a camera because the one we had from them wasn’t working and it wouldn’t affect our acct and we could return it if it didn’t work. We tried it for a little over a month it definitely didn’t work so I called and told them that we could bring to them or have them pick it up. We were told that we owed them and would be charged every month accordingly and that our contract was extended due to the change. I asked to hear the recording of the conversation was told they listened to it but they wouldn’t let me hear it. I will NEVER use ADT or Protection One again. Our contract is up in April, never again. We have been customers for a very long time and it has been one lie after another locking up into another extension. These people are a rip off.

07/24/18 - I called and was told our service was inactivated because I returned the system. Explained yet again that I did not return our system, but one that was sent to us in error. Was told I would get 1 month free and the system would be reactivated in the next 24 hours. I just had to go to alarm.com, but was told a CS would call to help setup. Got the call, but nothing worked. All the time, I am getting 2 calls minimum a day, but when answered no one ever says anything even when it goes to vm... no message EVER left.

10/12/18 - Called a few months later and the CS rep said she sent an email to the alarm.com people to reactivate the system and once she receives a response she would call me back. Waited and had to call them after 13 days on 10/25/18. Spoke with 5 CS reps including one that said she gave all the info to her Supervisor and he would give me a call with a resolution. 10/31/18 - Waited 5 days then I called them and asked to speak with this Supervisor... He was out and so they left a message on my account showing that I called.

12/27/18 - Decided to try again almost 2 months later, because I am still receiving Collection calls (as one of the CS reps told me)... spoke with a rep and she was trying to help, but said I needed a new cell cord... I asked if we just return the equipment and call it a wash, she said no. So here I am again... Waiting on a call back from the CS rep who in fact wanted to tell me off (you could tell she held her tongue) when I told her it's their fault I am in this predicament. All I did was return equipment that was meant for someone in NY... trying to do the right thing... Will never use again. Never had an issue with ADT, but Protection 1 is another story!

After 3 years of using service, I contacted Protection1 to cancel the service because we had to relocate our headquarters overseas. When I contacted Protection1 to terminate the service, they informed me that I signed off a 5 year contract in 2015. I explained to the customer service representative that I requested for a name change back in 2015 and did not open a new service account. The representative informed that I signed off a new account with 5 year contract, and had to pay an outrageous termination fee of $1,584.00 after issuing a fee adjustment of $600.

I am furious with Protection1's actions for: 1. setting up a new account without informing me that they were setting up a new account when I simply asked them to change the name on the account 2. not informing me that I am signing off a new contract with a 5 year term 3. expecting me to pay off the full remainder service fees.

If I knew that I was setting up a new account with a new corporation name instead of changing the name on the account, I would have asked about the terms and read over the document more carefully. However, because the sales representative gave me false information and tricked me into signing off a new contract, wouldn't you agree that this was clearly a fraudulent action taken by Protection1?

I have the name of the sales representative who tricked me into signing a ridiculous contract as well as the emails he wrote to me. In all those emails, he did not mention that he was setting up a new account, and yet, here I am stuck with an outrageous termination fee that Protection1 is expecting me to pay. I even provided all the emails and proofs to Protection1 stating that I was scammed, but they ignored my statements and proofs. If Protection1 continues to demand for the termination fee, I will report this issue to the consumer affairs department.

Original Review: Dec. 21, 2018

Recently upgraded my home from the Ademco Vista system to their new Alarm.com system so I could arm/disarm etc. from my cell phone. To upgrade I had to sign a new extended contract. After the new installation (to which the installers did not follow instructions provided at the contract signup call) we had repeated issues with the new Image Sensor. Several false alarms later they dispatched a technician to troubleshoot. This is within a week or two after installation. During the phone call the operator states my system doesn't have a warranty so they had to charge. I told them it is BRAND NEW and she relented stating they would "waive the charge". My wife stays home to meet technician and he moves location.

Within a week it triggers another false alarm. Call again. Said they would normally charge but would "waive the charge." Okay. In the meantime need to bypass the sensor to arm. Wife stays home again to meet technician. He replaces the sensor. Within a day, sensor malfunction. Find out technician did not pair it right. Fix that. False alarm again. Again told I have no warranty but would "waive the charge" after reviewing case file. Told them I don't want it, replace it with traditional motion sensor. Dispatch technician again. Technician at house says he can't replace it with motion because..."not under warranty". They can replace it with another image sensor. Told technician just going to false alarm again, then wife has to stay home again, and repeat cycle. Told to just remove it.

Protection 1 used to be customer-oriented before being purchased by conglomerate ADT. Now you can tell they want to charge for everything and have crappy cheap products. After my contract is up (stupid me for signing for 3 years) I'm going another route. Zero problems with old system. Stick with yours if you have it, not worth new contract for substandard products. Have been Protection 1 customer for 6 years, been great. Not the same Protection 1 experience anymore.

After escalating to "management" on two different occasions and being told they would definitely get to the bottom of this, I received no return correspondence. I got a hold of another manager who basically told me I was lying since she couldn't find that they were monitoring that home or that they were charging me double. I sent her my bank statements showing her the double billing (some on the same day, some a day a part) and a week later I told them that we had the service call paperwork from June and the voicemail from them calling a week later to ask how the install went. She didn't reply to that bit of information either.

It's been since before Thanksgiving that I started this and still have received nothing back, even after threatening to get my attorneys involved. In the interim, I stopped the auto-drafting of my credit card and have disputed the past 6 months of double billing (yes, they did it again in December) with my credit card company. I have also begun looking for a new monitoring company for the house they don't seem to have a record of but unfortunately am stuck with them on the other property until August of next year. Their customer service and lack of communication is atrocious and I will be glad when I am fully free and clear of them.

Two months later I received a bill for $700. I was certain it was a mistake. When I spoke to customer service about this the rep could not explain much except to state the bill was not an error. I asked the name and contact info of the local manager and was told they could not divulge that info!! I spoke to two more reps over the last month and finally felt forced to pay it otherwise they would report a credit problem. I told three reps I felt they were taking advantage of me as they never advised me that 30 min job would cost $700. I surely would not have agreed. It is very disappointing they have treated a loyal customer so badly.

The tech showed up to install our new keypad but proceeded to tell me the current door and window sensors would not be guaranteed to work with their system and if any of the sensors failed they would not cover them. He contacted someone for pricing info on new sensors, motion sensor and fire alarm. He told me it would be $300. I let it be and went ahead and had him install new sensors and keypad.

Fast forward to this last Monday night, November 26. I left my house to take my son to practice and leaving my oldest son at home by himself with the alarm set to stay. I wasn't even 5 minutes down the road when I received a notification from my ring that someone was at my front door. I called my son and could hear the alarm going off in the background and told my son to go upstairs to my closet and hide. After I had turned around and was driving back home I received a call from the monitoring department and transferred over to tell her it wasn't a false alarm, my son is home by himself and they needed to dispatch police immediately. She asked to stay on the phone with me until police arrived, I told her I could not do that, I needed to transfer back over to my son who was in the house alone. I made it home, thankfully to find that the person did not make it into my house.

After 10 min and still no police officer I called Protection 1 back and was told the police officer was canceled. I asked by who because it wasn't us. Come to find out our police station has a 2 zone trigger policy before they consider it not be a false alarm (you are an alarm company and this should have been communicated to us in some way before signing a contract).

I asked the lady on the phone what good this did me if they come in the front door and go right back out the front door with my stuff. I was told to call 911 and have them dispatch police immediately (again I'm thinking this is a pointless step since this is what you claim- "Since 1988, Protection 1 continues to grow and become a leader in the full service security industry. We strive to provide services to residential, commercial and national customers. We will customize your security system to fit your specific home or business needs. Our 24/7 professional monitoring centers will be there to ensure your safety. Protection 1 guarantees when you call for help, you will speak with a real person. Keep your family and business safe - call today"!).

So of course since at this point I realize I'm on my own in this situation I called 911 to dispatch police because I'm a mother by herself with 4 children in the dark and I have no idea if the person who attempted to get in my front door has gone around and hiding behind my house. After a couple days to process what had happened, I called today to speak to a supervisor to figure out for the future if this is indeed protocol. I was told that "must be" (like a shrug of the shoulders, I don't know but if that's what you were told kind of way).

I asked if the 3 buttons on my keypad actually did me any good in the event I actually pushed them. I was told, "Yes. Those would be immediate." (Now keep in mind the tech installed our keypad next to the entry door from our garage.) I asked if I was supposed to send my son in front of the front door to press the panic button and then run back in front of the front door, up the stairs to hide in my closet? I told them if that's the way to get immediate help I wanted my keypad moved to my bedroom. I was then transferred to service and was told the first 30 min would cost me $120 at which point I quit listening because I was so dumbfounded by the lack of communication in every aspect as well as not willing to work with a customer but choosing to charge out the ** for business.

You as a company have done nothing to protect or feel safe in my home. My $99 ring doorbell did more for me than the $300 system that needed to be installed as well and as installation fee and $55 supposed monitoring fee a month for almost 5 years. For anyone who is considering Protection 1 for their home security system please don't do it. You will be better off and less expensive to buy the Ring doorbell and cameras to protect your property.

I again called Protection 1 in regards to the enormous charge for the service rep and for the increase in my bill. The billing rep removed the service charge and I explained to her my call from last year. She said that I should have received information on a price increase and told her I never got anything so she put me on hold to check on that and she couldn’t find anything either. She tried to transfer me to billing but supposedly they were busy so she took both my home and cell phone numbers to have the billing department call me back. I never got a call. I saw that my bill was coming due so I sent in a check for the price I was originally quoted. I wrote the information on the bill with the check.

All of a sudden I started getting phone messages stating that I had important information regarding my security system so I called and it was determined that I still owed a small amount on my bill. I proceeded to explain to the rep the info stated above and she said that she would let her manager know and this would be taken care of. I am STILL receiving phone calls! I have never had any problems with any company like I have with Protection 1. I sorely miss my previous alarm company. I was with them for many years until Protection 1 took over and never once had a problem with them. Protection 1 will make your blood pressure go up!

They emailed me a bill the next day with a due date at the end of the month. They continued to call me multiple times a day all hours of the day including 9 o’clock at night! When I got the money to pay them off I asked the rep why they are harassing me for payment when the bill wasn’t even past due yet, I was told it was due a month prior and asked again when I was going to pay it! I would never use or refer anyone to this company again. Only thing good I can say is when my dog set off the alarm they did not hassle us about it.

During this call I scheduled a service appointment to correct all the issues... NO Saturday appointments! Oh unless I want to pay for it. NOT customer focused. I did receive an email confirming my appointment between 1-5. Today I get an email confirming 8-12 with the same ticket number! I called service and they gave me some ridiculous answer as to why it did that. Add this to the list of issues I have had with this company.

This isn't just myself being unhappy about the product. This is flat out fraudulent, unethical and negligent on their part. For the longest time I just wanted the charges to stop. I'm now to the point that I want a full refund, which isn't asking much, considering telling me I signed a contract that I did not is illegal. I would of needed to actually of seen a contract to of signed it, let alone also have a signed version of the contract myself. I wouldn't even call to inquire about this company, you have no idea what trouble you might be getting yourself into.

The service tech did a good job of debugging the problem, but did not inform me of the cost of the new parts. We recently received a bill for almost $650 half for parts and half for service. The Tech was here for a little over an hour and the service charge was $330. The hourly service charges should have been communicated when we called and the Tech should have told us how much the parts would cost before installing. At $70 a month and almost a $700 service bill has me looking at NEST system.

I rearranged my calendar to work from home and waited all day. He never showed up. Apparently, there was an issue with scheduling, but they didn't relay this to me. They scheduled another technician to activate the system a few days later. Again, I rearranged my schedule to work from home and had to cancel a few meetings. A technician showed up and spent several hours, trying to figure out the system. I informed him I had to leave to pick up my kids from school. He said he would need to come back the next day.

Day 3 of rearranging my calendar to work from home and missing out on key meetings. He arrived and was at my house for hours until I had to leave to pick my up kids from school again. He said he would need to come back for a 3rd day. Day 4 of rearranging my schedule, day 3 of this technician trying to figure out how to activate the system. I had to be home all day, which is a major inconvenience as I not only had meetings to attend but various other appts/errands, etc that I was unable to accomplish for the past 4 days. He spent the entire day at my house (again). I finally asked him what the delay is and why is this taking so long. He admitted he couldn't figure out how to get the system working and needed to have his boss come by to hopefully figure it out. I was beyond annoyed at this point, I told him the boss needed to be at my house by 10 am the next morning, I waited until 10:30 and had to leave.

The technician took the equipment that was in my house and nobody can locate it. He installed 2 ADT keypads and now they need to come back to remove the ADT equipment, or I will be charged almost $900. So now I'll have holes in the walls because they took my existing equipment and I have to return their equipment. So unbelievable. Fast forward a few months and I keep getting bills for the old house that we canceled service on. Now I've had to spend hours trying to get the billing squared away. Every time I speak with someone who says I shouldn't see another bill and it should be taken care of. I repeat this every single month. I would never use or recommend Protection1/ADT to anyone. This was such an annoying, inconvenient, and costly waste of time.

I paid for the system plus several months of service we hadn’t even used and I thought that was the end of it. Now after five months of my son not even being at that location I’m getting a letter telling us they have terminated our service for nonpayment and they are going to turn it over to a credit bureau. This is a scam operation. I have called them several times to try and rectify the situation to no avail. They are asking for us to pay almost $1000 for a service we NEVER used. BEWARE STAY AWAY! Go to Sam’s and buy a unit. Much better off.

I agreed to those terms and anticipated the bill, all of my balances were paid in good standing. Now I am learning that my account was placed on a 60 day hold and I was billed for 3 months. No one even updated my billing address to where I could know my account was still activate and now I am being told I will be held accountable for a service I did not have! I am only learning of this once I received a call late September for past due balances. I have been told so many different accounts of policy and have become so confused on what is true and what is false!!!

I have been with ASG/Protection 1 going on 5 years and have never experienced such poor account management. I have been told 60 day freezes are incorrect and 90 day is the standard. Then I was informed by a supervisor, that 6 month is possible as well. They offered to credit my account for only 2 months and make me pay for a service I did not ask for. They attempted to have me keep my account active until Feb with me paying $411 in charges with no service and not even get my cancellation credit (which makes no sense.) When I asked to have my account closed numerous during my phone conversation they would not do so. I asked for a manager. They told me that they do not take calls. I was also told once I reactive service I would be billed for Nov-Jan even though I wouldn't reactivate until late Feb-early March.

Again me paying for service that I do not have, there was never an issue of me paying the remainder 24 months but what I don't understand the fact of being charged when I do not have service. I don't understand why if I'm constantly being given the wrong information and the billing was in part of mismanagement of my account, why should I be held liable?

One week later, I had not heard back from Protection 1 regarding an installation date. I called them and spent 45 minutes on the phone (before I had to end the call to go to a meeting) with no resolution. While I understand that this second representative was new, I believe camera placement should be driven by the security experts, not me. Additionally, telling me now that I must have an outlet within 5 feet of the camera seems ridiculous. I asked,"Couldn't anyone just unplug the camera?" To which the reply was, "At least you'll have them recorded unplugging it." She also suggested that I could move the cameras myself, if I did not like the views. Eleven years ago, we initially selected Protection 1 because of their expertise. It seems they are no longer a leader in the industry.

Original Review: I’ve been a Protection One customer since 1999, through several moves and relocations for work, and now here at my home for the past 12 years. Two years ago, I wanted to cancel as I had an aging system and there are so many alternatives out there. I called and was convinced that they could install the latest equipment - including cameras - for less than I was paying for month on the old fashioned system. After asking a ton of questions, including things like having control over bypasses, panel sounds and early alerts for low batteries in monitored detectors, I stupidly signed a 60 month contract. We have special needs kids and old sensitive dogs who really are thrown off by smoke detector beeps and other loud noises.

The technician was not great - I got the feeling he didn’t want to figure out how to run the wires for the outdoor camera, and so he fed me some story about how it wouldn’t be effective outside (I really wanted it there. We’ve had many things stolen off our porch). He then conned me into paying him personally for a CO detector he had in his truck - which I just noticed tonight expires in 2021.

Anyway, I’m disgusted that the detectors are no better than my battery ones when they need new batteries. They beep and chirp and the panel screams at you when you try to make any changes. You cannot bypass those in the system, and there’s no way to even turn off touchpad beeps on the panel - or even to turn them down! So these are really first world problems, but when you have a family that is super sensitive to this stuff, it’s a real PITY. I really hope they get their business together and make these systems customizable like their competitors. I feel like I was sold stories and don’t have the flexibility I believed I was getting with Protection One.

I told him that I never would have renewed had I not cleared this first and that I was told I would not be responsible if I moved. He told me it was probably a word misunderstanding between "moved" and "sold." Are you kidding me? When I said I would cancel my other property too, the service agent finally told me that as a compromise, he would drop the remainder due on my contract, but no referral credit. He kept telling me that they had a AAA rating with Better Business Bureau. That does not help me. I will start looking for another alarm company for the future. Simple transactions should not be this difficult.

How does their service link to an address and not a person. I was forced to move to a new house due to medical reasons, handicap accessible. But I cannot have my security service transfer. They just want to keep me on the hook all tied up. This is not customer service, this was tell people whatever to get them signed up. How about employees being accountable for misleading clients. I feel so cheated. I just want a secure home and to fulfill my obligation without being pushed into a corner. And for the customer service agent who told me on the phone I should have read the fine print on the 8-inch iPad screen.

What a joke. I asked a question and was lied to, that was my concern from jump street and the agent either lied or shot out an ill informed answer. So they tell me they will send me to collections. Let's see how that works. At best there will be a settlement for pennies on the dollar. Instead of them providing me with my remaining service at the full amount. I want to pay for a service I agree to, not be forced into something I did not.

Now fast forward to 7 months later we are selling our home and no longer need the service. To my surprise when I called to cancel the service I am unable to do so due to a NEW CONTRACT for the new sensors. WHAT!!! To anyone reading this STAY AWAY FROM ADT & PROTECTION 1 unless you want to sign your life away.

Original Review: Aug. 25, 2018

7 year customer, sold home, moved out of state and canceled service. Protection 1 allegedly wrote and called me at old address about money owed. They had other ways to contact me! Don't know what I owe for and neither does the bill collector! I'm angry!

Fast forward 3 years. We just moved, and my wife contacted Protection 1 about moving our service. While they were prepared to install new equipment, they could no longer honor the monthly price we had been paying, because it was a “promotional rate.” Additionally, we would have to agree to a 5 Year contract. We were unwilling to sign a contract, so we asked for them the cancel our service. We were then informed that we were in the middle of a 5-year contract, and that in order to cancel we would have to pay $839.76.

We informed the customer service representative that we were told there was NO CONTRACT when we allowed their system to be installed in our home. We requested that they send us the documentation showing the 5-year contract. After several requests for this information we were sent one document with what we believe to be forged signatures! I contracted Protection 1 again explaining this. I was told that they had multiple documents with our signatures on it, as well as a recording of a “Welcome Call” acknowledging the contract. I requested that all of the documents with our signatures be provided, as well as to hear the “Welcome Call.” After multiple requests for Protection 1 to send us all the documentation, we have only received the same one document 4 or 5 times. I have also been told that to hear the “Welcome Call,” I will need a subpoena!

We have explained to multiple representatives that this situation is completely unacceptable, and that we needed another solution. The best they could offer was a 42-month contract at an increased rate, and an activation fee, or a payoff of $750.00 This still not an acceptable solution! We are beyond frustrated with their horrible customer service and unethical business practices!!!

Original Review: Aug. 13, 2018

When my husband and I signed up with Protection One, we informed customer service over the phone that we would only be needing your services for 1 year since we were moving into a 1 year rental home. They failed to notify us that it was a 3 year contract, for an early termination fee of $750. Why would we sign up for a 3 YEAR contract if we specifically knew we would only need their services for ONE YEAR?!? Maybe because they failed to let us know it was for a 3 year contract... So not knowing this still, after our 1 year was completed, we called to ensure it was completely paid off & cancel their services. They stated there was NO balance after our last payment & NEVER mentioned that there was going to be an early termination fee, nor that we still had 2 years left on our contract. We only just found out there they lied and there was still a balance, & that it was sent to the collection agency??? Seriously?

We called to properly pay everything & you hit us with another charge & ETF & get back to us after it's already on its way to the collection agency? WHAT KIND OF COMPANY IS THIS?!?! How is this legitimate when we have services with your company for a year and we specifically notified your employees that we would only be renting for ONE year ONLY?!?! And ADT we have had for YEARS & this is how they treat their customers?!?! Wow. I guess being their part owners of Protection 1, I am hesitant to give ADT my services anymore either!!!

Original Review: Aug. 8, 2018

These people have done nothing but lie to me from day one. I got an alarm with these people and was told that my bill would drop after paying on it for 2 years, never was I told that if they lowered my monthly payment that it would require me to start my contract over. I have had this alarm company for over 3 years. My system has NEVER worked correctly. I have motion detector cameras that worked for maybe a year as long as I changed the battery in them weekly, yes I said weekly, and the batteries are not cheap, they tell you to use the lithium batteries in the cameras. We finally gave up on the cameras since the batteries were costing me roughly 30.00 per month. My alarm bill is already 50.99 per month which is outrageous compared to others. I asked to buy my contract out since there is only 11 months left and they told me it is my monthly rate times the amount of time I have left on my contract. That was never mentioned either.

These people are thieves!! This company is a huge RIP OFF!!! Never use Protection 1/ADT! Which I may add that I signed my contract with Protection 1 and not once has anyone mentioned to me that the company taking over my alarm is ADT. I only found out by calling to complain about what a crappy alarm system they gave me!! I will tell everyone I know not to use this company. When I called to inquire about my service the rep could only apologize but offered no solution, this place is HORRIBLE! I want out of my contract and I feel that I have given them plenty of money for the crappy system they installed.

We moved from one apartment to the another and we were planning on canceling our ADT because we wanted to get ready to buy a home and didn’t want to be under contract with them anymore. At that time we were told you still have a year and a half on your contract so you can pay a fee or we can transfer service for you. Keep in mind we still are talking to ADT. We chose just to transfer service since we didn’t want to pay a fee and we would just cancel at the end of the contract no big deal. Somehow we got switched over to Protection 1. I read a few forums and learned there was a merger so we thought nothing of it, happens all the time.

Now here’s the fun part,. We called today to cancel and were told that we still have 18 months. Apparently when we switched ADT wasn’t doing apartment installations anymore so anyone who wanted security had to get a DIY kit. The kits are from Protection 1 so we were not technically ADT customers anymore and the paper we signed was a new 3 year contract with Protection 1 because ADT couldn’t service us. Meanwhile none of this was explained just that we would have to install it ourselves because ADT couldn’t anymore. Nothing was said about signing a new contract or switching providers.

After getting on the phone with Protection 1 they said it should have been explained by ADT about the new contract which is complete crap considering we wanted to cancel to begin with. So they got us to pay for another 18 months by omitting stuff and also locked us into another 3 year contract. I’m all for reading contract and deals like that but when you have 10 years of no hassle experience with a company you learn to trust them. Well our trust was abused by ADT or Protection 1 it’s my fault for not reading word for word the contract but the used a crappy business tactic when they learned we wanted to cancel 18 months ago.

I will never recommend ADT or Protection 1 to anyone or support them in any way. I will pay my $700 fee and leave them. Do not trust ADT or Protection 1. Also side note we never used the Protection 1 equipment because at first we were waiting a month for the installer then we found out it was a DIY then we just never installed it ourselves. But those 18 months we had it Protection 1 never called to see how the equipment was doing or why it wasn’t set up. What if we did set it up and it was faulty but we didn’t know. They would have never followed up as a courtesy. I will be leaving this same review on ADT since they are considered the same.

So he complied via email and we went back in forth trying to narrow down all the specifics. We finally agreed on option three, which stipulated that my rate would remain the same, I would pay an amount for the cellular communicator (installed) and no contract. So I requested to get a new proposal with what we had agreed and discussed. I sent several emails requesting this information so we could move forward. I then receive an email from another associate (**) with a different proposal and not what we had previously agreed. I responded and added ** to the conversation as well as attached the email where we were in agreement and stated that what was sent was not our agreement to please see attached.

No one responded so I sent another email and still no response. This is rude and not professional and I find it unacceptable to be treated this way with the runaround and ever changing terms of what we agreed. I have been a loyal customer for 19+ years and never had any customer service issues until now. Is this the new ADT customer service? I never had a problem when it was Protection One. This is very disappointing and frustrating and would like to have this rectified as soon as possible.

I had numerous conversations with several Protection 1 representatives in an attempt to get my dispute resolved. After not hearing back from Protection 1, I assumed upon further investigation, they saw I had completed the initial contract. We recently applied for a mortgage and I learned that Protection 1 reported to the credit agencies that I did not pay the bill even though I fulfilled my 3 year obligation. This goes beyond unethical. I will be filing complaints and notices to the BBB, the Attorney General's Office of SC and NC.

Finally I was able to call customer service at Protection 1 to cancel my service and all of a sudden they told me that they were going to charge me $600.00 more dollars. I am a disabled veteran and had all these problems but that wasn't enough for them. Then when I told them I don't have to pay that money they started threatening me over the phone about how they were going to send this to the credit companies to ruin my credit... I have to say if you read this I don't recommend you use this company. Very bad...

I use Verizon cell phone and have 4 to 5 bars at my house hooked it up. Done what they said. Didn't work, they said I need a bigger antenna. So today June 4th I get my bigger antenna. No this still doesn't work, so now they claim it is my box that is bad. I asked them can't they send someone to fix this. I'm getting tired of waiting and shipping stuff around. They said no they don't have local offices. However what is this I found. 2148 Pelham Pkwy, Building 700, Pelham, AL 35124. I told them I was willing to pay for a service call and have someone come fix this. They said I have to wait on a label box up my unit send them the unit once they get it and figure out the problem. I will get another unit.

So I have been without service for now a month. You think after everything I been through they would do something more to help. Sure free month is nice but I'm unprotected. I have already spoken to a lawyer and if I get broke into for them being stupid we are going to sue Protection 1. I'm ready to box everything up and get my money back and go with another company. This is a wasted of time and nothing but a bunch of liars and people that don't care about the customers. They have my credit card on file and charge me every month. What the hell would it hurt for them to overnight me a new one. I box up and send my old one in. This place needs to be sued.

This is extortion. I asked to speak to her supervisor and Cindy told me that no one would speak to me or call me back, and that she was the final word. She did say that the call was recorded, so there is evidence. I just want a phone # of Cindy's supervisor or someone that can help me with this dilemma. One problem is that I was originally with Vulcan Security which was bought out by ASG, Protection 1, now ADT. Please respond with a phone # or phone call.

Updated on 08/22/2018: Back in May, I wrote the review and I heard from Rhonda. It seemed as though my problem was solved- she could not locate a signed contract and said the balance would be erased. Not so fast!! For the past month we have been harassed by Murphy, Lomon & Associates, a collection agency. We've asked them to contact Rhonda, the debt was absolved, but no dice. The calls and threatening letters keep coming. Rhonda, can you call them off? Thank you.

I am now receiving daily calls from P1’s collections department in an attempt to collect a “past-due balance” of over 3k. Initially, I would take the time to explain the situation to the caller and ask if they could provide me a way to resolve the matter. Every response was the same- they were as clueless as the caller before them, having no notes on previous calls, no way of accessing my account history, and no way of helping. I continue to receive daily phone calls, and now ignore them as I know that the reps that are calling are as impotent in providing resolution as the customer service reps that couldn’t do something as simple as reset a password to provide me with services according to contract. Aside from being harassed with daily phone calls, it’s infuriating that I am receiving bills for services that Protection 1 was unable to provide.

In the meantime (yes less than 24 hours) I get two more calls from them. Each time I explain. Each time they call the amount owed increases by an additional $33.95. The last person admits that this is a robocall system and says that there is nothing she can do. Finally the calls stop. In the midst of this, I call them and indicate that I am cancelling my service because of all of the nonsense they pulled. I had spoken to my brother in law that also cancelled service with them and he told me they were completely rude and wouldn't release codes until he raised complete hell. I am told I have to send them an email to cancel service. I send the email and ask for them to confirm it was received and further to release the codes. No response.

I call back several days before my new alarm company is coming to take over the system. They got the email but won't give me the codes because that is not their policy. I indicate that I know that they do it since they did it for my brother in law. They refuse to turn over the codes so it cost me $200 to get my new alarm system up and running.. Under OK rules they have to do certain things but turning over the code is not on there -- even though it would cost them nothing to do it.

So, I think my hell of Protection 1 is over but then the robocalls started almost a month after my service is over. It is now April 2018. After multiple calls from an 866 number with no message, I call that number and it is a collection service. WHAT!! I call Protection 1 and the person tells me that I owe $33.95 from November 2016. Whatever, I pay them. I don't know if I really owed them the money but the harassment over $33.95 is not worth my time. They also tried to tell me that they didn't know certain things since they bought my original alarm company through whom I originally obtained service.

My success as a business owner is built on customer service! When I ask the P1 representatives what can be done, I'm told "You knew what you were getting into when you signed the contract." Well, if we all had crystal balls to predict our futures, we'd sure be in a different place, wouldn't we? Of course, THEY can terminate for any reason at any time, no matter what. I would appreciate some help - not headache - from Protection 1. I've been a good customer, you'd think they could return the favor?!? Apparently not. And now they want to tell me I can transfer the service to my new location IF, and only if, I sign a new 42-month contract. The past two years have counted for nothing. RAWR!!!

Original Review: April 16, 2018

In a simple phrase: DON'T DO IT. Terrible customer service. Make you sign a ridiculously long contract. Their security system is very loud and annoying. Nothing positive to report about them. AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

There are 2 key points here: 1) I am NOT under contract. I signed up 10 years ago and never signed any sort of renewal. You can't just roll someone into a contract for life. 2) The product and service didn't work. How can someone pay for something that doesn't work? Even worse, when I've spoken with the service people (when I was still paying for a service that didn't work) they consistently apologized and offered me credits. Now when I talk to collections, they say I'm the one who canceled each appointment! Why would I do that? They even have records of credits they offered me in compensation. Clearly Protection One techs lie about the way they treat their customers.

Now of course they call me every day as part of a harassment campaign to get the money they feel they deserve for their lack of literally delivering any kind of service. They claim they have my contract on file and can email it to me, but I've spoken to their collections people 3 times and - no surprise here - they can't even come through on that. It's because I don't have a contract and/or they can't be bothered to deliver on even the smallest of their promises / threats. Oh - and the message from collections says, "Call us back at..." And then never actually leaves a phone number. Talk about incompetent.

So to recap. My service didn't work for 4 months. I wasted 3 days missing work waiting 4 hours each time for a tech that never showed. They lie about me canceling appointments. They claim I'm in a contract which actually ended 7 years ago. And Protection One thinks I should pay them for breaking my end of the deal? I have never had or even heard of such a bad experience. Protection One is simply terrible.

In November I contacted your accounting department to discontinue the service. I was told it was not possible without the full account number. I waited until December but discontinued automatic payments. In December I received a paper statement and immediately called your 800 number to have service discontinued. I spoke to a Customer Service Specialists by the name of Juan. He told me that he was in Dallas. I paid for the current month and past due balance with a credit card. Juan thanked me for my 10 years and that was supposed to be the end of that.

Since that time I have received calls daily telling me that I needed to contact Protection 1 because of past due balances. I now have a statement that shows a balance due of $133.90. Please clear this balance immediately and refer to your notes when this account was paid in full and account closed. The notes are there as someone confirmed it to me when I spoke to someone in February. Please take care of this immediately and reply by email that this account is closed. Thank you.

They claimed they sent numerous bills but never to the correct address and of course, none were even sent to the old address as mail had been forwarded! Finally got someone to send a bill and we were being charged all sorts of fees and buyout from the "contract" --my husband has talked to numerous people from there. Even went as far as offering to pay half the bill amount to which he was told was notated and would get it mailed to him with the agreed upon amount. NEVER happened!!! Continuous calls again!!! Finally received a "final statement" demanding payment for the FULL AMOUNT!!! DO NOT EVER USE THIS COMPANY!!! Horrible customer service and NO ETHICS! I wish I could have chosen a NEGATIVE 5 stars but isn't possible!!!

So after months of going round and round with Protection 1 and its sales, billing, and management team I just can’t do it anymore. I haven’t had 1 second of service and now I am being charged $750 for an early cancellation fee because of the inconvenience that I was put through by the total lack of professionalism and customer service. I was told “what would be the benefit of having a recorded call played back” well the recorded call is there for quality assurance. The call is being recorded to hold the customer to every word but not Protection 1.

I was told by an agent 3/14 that he would work on waiving my fee because of all the hassle and wasted time I was put through, he told me he would call me back you think he did? NO! So I asked the manager to check the prior phone calls so he could see why I am trusted and he responded with the above quote. I am highly disappointed and very angry by the terrible customer service and the fact that I am being billed a cancellation fee for this madness.

Original Review: March 16, 2018

I had been a customer for twenty-three years. My equipment failed plus it was so old the monitoring personnel did not know how to dial my system and have the speaker function (which is why we purchased this system). I called to cancel in April 2017. I could not afford a whole new system upgrade plus an increase in monthly service payments. Instead they suspended my service for three months and without notice they reactivated and charged me for three months. I had to unplug the system in April 2017 due to the failure and the power supply looked burnt. I was worried it would catch my house on fire. Many calls later in which again I thought was resolved, I get a letter stating "after numerous attempts to contact me" which I have had none, threaten collections. I have an answering machine and it falls back to voicemail if the phones are down. NO MESSAGES FROM PROTECTION 1. I would STAY AWAY from this company.

Original Review: March 12, 2018

Today I called Protection 1 to cancel my mother's account. She has had to move into an assisted living facility since she no longer can take care of herself. I first spoke with Austin and then Duane who was quite rude. I tried to explain the situation about my mother and told them that she has not lived in the home since Dec. They informed me that her bill from Jan to April was $135 something. I spoke with Austin and he agreed to lower the bill to $97.91. I then called back and had the pleasure of speaking with Duane who was rude. I was trying to find out why my mother's bill was so high for a couple of months.

I had called back in February to cancel her service and the department I needed to speak with was closed. At that point they should have told me that she would keep being charged until the account was officially closed. With everything else I'm taking care of for her, it slipped my mind to call back. So a word to the wise, if you want to cancel your account you better read the fine print. They don't sway from that contract under any circumstances.

Well, I indeed DID NOT sign a contract! Not only is the address for the contract not my old home, the signature on the contract isn't even close to anyone thinking it could be my signature. The customer center agent, rude, continuously says I'm contractually obligation but you can't be contractually obligated if you never signed a contract. So he refuses to allow me to speak with someone else and offered me a buy-out of just over $300. I'm so upset about this particularly because if you were to look at my credit report - guess what - I've never had anything on it negative, including not paying my bills! If my signature was on this contract I would absolutely pay the buy-out as I'd be contractually obligated, and that's my responsibility when signing a contract. But it isn't! Security service offered for this company is good and made me feel safe, it's too bad their representatives and contracts are awful.

I spoke to a supervisor in customer service who advised me that there was a problem with the auto dialer and that he would make sure that I no longer get any calls. They stopped for a day and continued. I requested to cancel my service due to this and was advised that I would be billed 700 from a very rude ignorant woman who didn't seem to care that the only reason why I was calling is because of the treatment that I was receiving from their company. I have never ever been treated in such a poor way by a company in my life and will seek legal assistance to distance myself from this company.

I said, "No way, the cameras were paid for and we wanted this maintenance contract nullified." Then I was told that the cameras were not paid for and that we actually had leased them and if we stopped paying we'd be breaking the lease agreement. I went over my paperwork and there was nothing in the contract that said anything about a lease. At this point we'd paid far more than the cameras were worth, but they expected us to simply keep paying in perpetuity. I insisted there was a mistake and asked if there was some way to resolve this issue.

I was told I could request a termination of the "lease" in October, whereby they would come and collect the cameras (that we'd already paid for). I went through the initial contract that our HOA signed and stressed that the word "lease" did not appear anywhere on the paperwork. I was put on hold for 15 minutes and the associate came back and basically said: "Okay, you can keep the cameras. But you can't cancel the maintenance agreement until October."

Understanding that I was dealing with a shady company, I simply stopped paying the bill. Of course, this eventually lead to a series of annoying robo-calls from debt collectors. Aggravated, I called again to try to straighten things out. This time I spoke to a woman who tried to give me the "lease" spiel again. I said we never had a lease, we'd bought the cameras free and clear, and I was tired of their runaround. I said that we didn't even need the cameras anymore and they were welcome to come by and remove them if they wanted them back.

After much arguing I got her to admit that the cameras were so old that it wouldn't even be worth the money to send a tech out to collect them. We could keep the cameras. I also asked her to zero out our account so we'd never have to deal with them again. She said okay and assured me our balance was zero and we owed no more money.

A few weeks later we got another bill in the mail. And another one. The robo-calls started again. I called back and got another associate who claimed there was no record of the previous call stating that our account had been closed and zeroed out. She said we still owed a specific amount on our "lease." And we still had to keep paying for the maintenance fee (which could be cancelled in October). I said again that they could come and get the cameras (that we'd paid for) but they would never again receive another penny from our HOA. She said fine, and that they would schedule a time for the tech to come out to remove the cameras and that our account would finally be cancelled.

This was a few months ago. No tech ever came. We're still getting bills and threatening letters about collections. This is easily the most unethical company I've ever had the displeasure of having to deal with. I was not even surprised when I came here and saw their one-star aggregate rating. Clearly we're not the only ones who have been sucked into this vortex where the bills are perpetual and cancelling service is impossible. Avoid, avoid, avoid this company.

On day 75 I called again. Person I needed to talk to was once again at lunch and would call me back in half an hour. After an hour and a half I called back. They were going to call back but the computers just came back on line. They'll call soon. “No. I want to talk to someone now.” I got someone to talk to. She said she would cancel the check they were going to send out and refund my credit card. I asked how much the refund was. Although she claimed to be canceling a check she couldn't tell me how much the refund was for. Then while I was explaining what I'd gone through to get to this point she hung up on me. I called back. Said I was disconnected. She was on another call and unable to talk to me. I was told the refund would be credited to my card. I'll believe it when I see it.

In October 2017 my company expanded into another location. The previous tenant had a security system with Protection 1, and we agreed to assume the service and equipment. In the last week of October, the outgoing occupant and I both provided a fully executed transfer of service form to Protection 1. As I type this review on February 21, 2018, that service is still not working. During the past 4 months I have exchanged more than 40 emails with Protection 1 and the former occupant of my building, and I have made numerous phone calls. For each of my emails and calls, the former occupant has made one as well. Yet, for some inexplicable reason, the service still doesn't work.

Two weeks ago I was advised that service was finally transferred to my company. I tried to set up the online account, but I was told I couldn't do so without an account number, and the account number couldn't be issued until Protection 1 came out to reprogram the panel (nobody ever offered to come out and do this). An appointment was set for the following week. Later that day my staff and I returned from a company function to find a notice on the door from Protection 1. A technician came out 5 days early and without any prior notice.

Yesterday I received my first piece of mail from Protection 1. It was a letter stating that I have a past due balance of $164.85 - for a service we have never been able to use! I called Protection 1 and was greeted by an agent who was of little help. She transferred me to the local office, where I was greeted by another representative who was condescending, rude, and mocked the fact that I don't have a password for the system (because it has never been reprogrammed). I asked to speak with a manager, to which he replied, No. That's not going to happen. When I pushed the issue, he promptly disconnected the call.

After 4 months, dozens of emails and phone calls, and being mocked by the staff at Protection 1, I sit and wait for a technician to remove the equipment from my property. I will NEVER use Protection 1 and I strongly encourage anyone reading this to look elsewhere for your protection and security needs. If you can't trust these people to handle what should be a simple administrative task, then how could you possibly trust them to secure your assets or your safety?

I offered to pay for the monthly services until the house sold. Now they have and are harassing me endlessly. I have tried on 6 different occasions to work this out. Each time the customer service representative apologizes, then assures me that they have worked this out. I hang up the phone feeling good about the situation but then they call a few days later trying to collect the $700. There is nothing worse than poor customer service. This is a company that truly does NOT care about their customers. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY TO ANYONE.

The retention specialist told us that they would first have to take us off auto draft to ensure we were not charged for any additional months and then they would send us a final bill through mail. Cancellation charge is 750$. We never received a bill in the mail. Well we just received a call from Protection 1 asking if we could pay for the last three months of our service. We once again went through the process of explaining everything that had occurred and why we want to cancel and why was our service not cancelled.

After talking to several agents then a manager we were told, "Sorry you feel like you were deceived by the original salesman but there is nothing we can do about the bill or the cancellation charge because we haven’t made enough money off of you yet." That was crazy. I am still in shock. We told them to cancel our service again and send the final bill in the mail. Please do not do business with this company. They are scam artist and unfortunately we signed our contract on a tablet. We did not get any documentation of our contract when we signed up. We were “taken”. I will pay the bill when we receive it and chalk it up to “stupid tax”. It is not easy to post something about being scammed because I feel so stupid for trusting the salesperson for this company, but I hope this will help people not make the same mistake. DO NOT USE PROTECTION 1.

I moved out of that residence and into a new residence which I knew I would be at for only two more years before I had to move again. Protection 1 set up the new security system which worked great while I was there and then the time came to move again last month at the end of my two years at that residence. I called Protection 1 to let them know I was moving and needed to cancel my service, at that point I was told I still had 11 months left on my contract and would be responsible for paying the remainder of the balance, my question was what happened to my first contract. I was informed that a new 3 year contract was created when I moved in to my new residence, which was without my knowledge because I wouldn't have agreed to it due to the fact that I knew I was moving from that residence after 2 years.

I have been ripped off before, but never by a large company like Protection 1 and now it sounds like ADT is a part of the equation as well now. I received a bill in the mail stating that I owe $447.13 for services between 1/28/18 and 11/24/18; in total I will have been with Protection 1 for five years, of which, two years of those five years I will have paid Protection 1 for zero service other than having my checking account garnished every month and a bill sent to me for $447.13. I cannot consciously recommend Protection 1 in any way as a reputable, honest company and for that matter ADT now, because they are associated. Look elsewhere or you will probably lose a $1000 dollars like I did.

I proceeded to secure a new alarm system far technologically better at less than 50% of Protection One rates, with no contract. In June of 2017, I installed the new system and turned off, unplugged the antiquated Protection One system. You think they would call? Nope!! Just confirmed my suspicion of crappy monitoring. A couple of months later Protection One sent a bill with cancellation fees and monitoring fees that went way past the date I pulled the plug. How can you monitor something that’s not even powered up?

At this point I was done. Nobody ever contacted me from Protection One. Fast forward to Jan 11, 2018. Now they have submitted me to MLA for collections. I have tried 4 times to talk to someone at MLA With no luck. I tried calling Protection One and they directed me to MLA collections. Read the reviews and DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH PROTECTION ONE!

Updated on 2/8/2018: I was contacted by someone named Rhonda from Protection One customer service. She made no attempt to correct the overcharges on my account, instead she tried to backpedal and change the subject. The phone connection was lost for less than 5 minutes. In those 5 minutes before I had a chance to call her back (she made no attempt to call me back) she posted on this site to try to make it look like she was resolving the problem. The problem still exists and if you read other reviews on this site you may come to the conclusion that this is standard practice for Protection One! Please save yourself the headache and stress, do business with a reputable and honest business. I would advise not doing business with Protection One.

Fast forward 3 months to Jan 2018. I noticed my alarm.com not working, come to find out they terminated my account. I called to resolve the issue and not only am I confused, so is customer service. After 40 minutes, apparently payment has been posting to the wrong account (I only have one account). Of course, I am told I have to call back to check if they fixed it (no offer to touch base with me once it does). So appalled at the disorganization of this company - not sure what's worse - dealing with this awful company with a lack of follow through or risk getting my house broken into?! Use Protection 1 at your own risk!

Original Review: Jan. 22, 2018

Worst customer service, tons of hidden fees! Bought a home with the equipment already in it, called to get it activated and was never told I was signing up for a 3 year service. You have to call and then email to cancel your service, the equipment stopped working a year in and we have been paying for it since without it working or else we have to pay some crazy fee! I will never recommend this comp and I have told all my neighbors to cancel and stay away. Looking forward to the day my contract is up!!!

A 2nd call to Customer Service had a rep telling us that if the Tech said it, it must be true. Just recently, we found out that was not correct and I then called Customer Service. The 1st Rep was incredibly rude and I requested a Manager, who apologized for everything, including the Tech, the misinformation, and the rude Rep. I explained that I did not mind paying for the price difference between the two sirens, but Protection 1 needed to make this right. The Manager then offered to have someone come out and install the correct siren free of charge... If, I would agree to another 3 year contract. Excuse me? Are you serious? When my contract is over, so is Protection 1 unless they do better!

Original Review: Jan. 12, 2018

We've been a customer of Protection 1 for over 7 years. Yesterday, our alarm went off. Unfortunately at that time all of us were out of the house. My husband gets a call from Protection 1 and he's told that our alarm has gone off and asked if everything is ok. My husband tells him, “No, we're away from the house and we don't know what's going on.” The rep asked my husband for our code word and my husband provided it to him and told him that he needed to call our son to see if he could get to the house quickly. My husband was at a dental appointment and got up from the exam chair to drive 15 miles home. I called Protection 1 from my work and asked them for an update and they said that my husband gave them the code word so they thought everything was ok so they did not dispatch police. I told them, “No, we don't know what's going on we need to get the police to our house now.”

The rep apologized and said that since my husband gave him the code word that that meant to stop any police dispatch. I said, “We need to get the police to our house now.” She put me on hold and said that she requested to have police dispatched to our home. I asked how I could get an update. She said that I had to call the non-emergency line for the police department and they would give me an update. I called that number and the police said they could not give me any information since they could not verify that I was the homeowner. I asked if I could conference in Protection 1. They said, no, that Protection 1 could conference me in, but I could not conference them in. So I called Protection 1 back and told them what the police said and by that time my son arrive at our home and said that everything was fine.

Luckily, for whatever reason the alarm went off for no reason. 15 minutes after my son got home, a security company left a business card on our front door. They didn't knock or ring the doorbell; they just left a card on the front door. So apparently the police were not asked to come out, but a security company. So why did she have me call my police department? So the next day, my husband comes home and our alarm is going off. There were, again, no issues with our home. My husband asks Protection 1 for assistance on figuring out the issue since now it's apparent that the alarm is going off on its own. The rep said that we most likely have a low battery. She attempted to instruct him how to take off the cover and replace the battery. My husband was convinced that he would break the device if he pulled any harder.

The rep said that we have an older device since we've been with them so long, so that we would not be able to change the battery ourselves since it was hardwired. So they would need to send someone out to replace it and it would cost us $150. Or we could buy a new package that would include this cost but we would pay more monthly. My husband was at a loss for words. After experiencing such stress the day before; being given wrong information about giving the code word; sending me on a wild goose chase with me trying to get information from the police when actually they dispatched a security company... now to fix this problem we have to pay them $150 for equipment that they installed and we cannot fix ourselves! We are taking our business elsewhere. No help at all from Protection 1. Good way to treat long-time customers.

I expressed my frustration with a representative who was anything but empathetic. He advised that there was no way around it, regardless of me having the service for over 3 years and paying my bill on time religiously. He said that it costs them money to install equipment so I offered to bring it back and he quickly changed his statement to say that the charge wasn't for equipment. I'm not paying this absurd fee. They obviously misrepresent the contract during the initial sign up by not mentioning it at all to draw you in and get you stuck into having their service indefinitely. To me, that's garbage and I won't be paying this fee.

Then they angle all of the cameras at the sky and I have to babysit the tech to tell them where to point them. They install new alarm keys pads and decide to not add a delay to exit or enter the building. Makes perfect sense if you're The Flash, but not in our case. They also tell me I can use my mag locks that were already in the building, then during the install bait and switch me to say getting them permitted to 'too hard" and takes weeks and it’s best to install strikers. Even though they had 3 weeks since the contact ink had dried to get permits they failed to do so. Overall this has been a bad deal all around and considering their poor install and cost overruns you should choose another vendor. I wish I had.

Unbeknownst to me, they set up my CC on auto payment and charged me over $350 over 6 months without my authorization. I have been on the phone with their customer service department and account executives since July and still no refund check just a lot of back and forth and empty promises. It’s extremely sad and illegal that this company in the midst of losing my 54 year old mom has zero empathy on this matter.

My protesting went nowhere- they would argue with me that their records indicate that inspections were done. Nothing I would say will make them do real inspections. Went on for 14th months. Finally I said enough, cancel the account - they said, "No, you owe us for the remainder of 6 year contract," which I didn't sign for. My contract was for year-to- year. So far they didn't provide copy of 6 year contract. I don't know what yet to come, but I am sure they will give me lots of grief, since they claim I own them $3,600. Stay away from this KS fraud, big fraud.

I have previous experiences with our alarm malfunctioning, but an example is that this morning, at 1am my alarm engaged. They could not identify which location of my house the issue was coming from (just read me the code that they have no documentation for) and offered no solution. The man I talked to on the phone was kind, I explained our recent false alarm (last week) with the same code and he was very understanding and kind. He suggested I call back in a few hours to talk to a representative. Long story short... I called, and upon speaking with the supervisor "Kristy", I was met with attitude and an explanation that my home system is 5 years old and that I should expect maintenance charges. I'm tired of spending money on poor products/poor service/attitude.

Original Review: Nov. 22, 2017

I have been a Protection 1 customer for 12 years. In the past year my system has been suffering from communication failures 6F. Last night my alarm started beeping again at 3:50 AM. I called in and was told to clear it and it would stop, well it stopped then started beeping again a few minutes later and I was told to power down the system and shut it off and service will be out in 7 days! This happened last month and I was refused a service call because "they can't do anything about a communication failure". This has been happening on and off for over a year and even though I pay for the warranty I am refused a service call.

Now I finally get a service call in a week and will have no alarm until then. Protection 1 is terrible and I would recommend that you look elsewhere for an alarm company. I am looking for a new one now. By the way take the day off and wait for our technician. I am writing here because I cannot find a number or email for the corporate office.

Original Review: Nov. 21, 2017

Have been a customer for 4+ years. Purchased from a solicitor, my first mistake. Camera in my living room is useless due to having pets, but that wasn’t explained well to me. My 2nd mistake. Was verbally told by the solicitor that there was no contract. He lied & I was locked in... I found out 2 years later. 3rd mistake. Called and requested to cancel quite some time ago (mid-2016 I believe) and informed them that my wife and I had both been placed on permanent disability incomes and needed to greatly reduce our bills. Was told I could not cancel until my contract expired. “What contract?” “You signed one, we can mail you the copy.” “I did? OK, send it to me.” When I received it I called back and asked to speak to a high level decision maker.

After explaining my case to this lady (mistake #4, can’t find her name anywhere), I was told that she would take it to her bosses and they would make the final decision. When she returned I was told that if my doctor would write them a formal letter describing my medical and financial condition/situation and requesting my service be eliminated. What?! Needless to say, my doctor wasn’t doing that. Since the letter claimed I had time left on my 3 year contract, I’d have to pay $750 for early termination. Was forced to leave it be until the 3 year expired.

Received a call yesterday (11-21) asking me if I wanted to lock into a new contract for a lower price. Was busy, so I told her I’d call back today. Called to cancel and a guy named Austin tried talking me out of it, offering me cheaper options, refused to understand my financial situation, then told me AGAIN that I was still under contract. Mind you, it’s been over FOUR YEARS!!! I asked how long of a contract and he stated “58 months”. What kind of contract is 58 months? I’ve never heard that in my life. They again claim they can mail this to me, but they are not being truthful!!! The date keeps changing, they are taking advantage of me and it’s shameful. Please help...

Of course billing was drafted automatically so I never saw a bill. Recently, I experienced a break-in and was not pleased with service provided by Protection 1 and wanted to discontinue service. It was then that I was told I had 18 months left on my contract after initially being told that it was a 3 year contract. I was told that I would have to pay $750 to cancel the contract. I requested a copy of the contract that I never received and realized that the contract was never in my name. I also asked for the automatic payments to stop, but a payment was taken out anyway.

Original Review: Nov. 15, 2017

This company calls my internet phone line repeatedly each day. They mail invoices to MY home for invoices that grow by the day. Today's invoice now states $1,016.13 for a service never provided and charges for the next year into 9/15/2018 for a fraudulent account number of **. I don't use them, never have used them. Better Business Bureau and Consumerist and any other state or federal agencies that monitor fraudulent business practices should watch out for this company. I have even spoke to a live person twice yet no change in their conduct. BEWARE!

Original Review: Nov. 13, 2017

Since my first contact with them over the phone this company mislead me to think I was talking and signing up with ADT Security Systems; the representative never told me they were Protection 1. I sign up and when the equipment arrived I was surprised to have received equipment from Protection 1 and not ADT, when I called they said they were a branch or have merged with ADT; fact they NEVER disclose this information during our conversation; so I did not even took anything out of the box, just called in to cancel and for them to provide me with return instructions, next day I returned the equipment and now they are charging me a re-stocking fee of $79 which they also failed to disclose when I called to cancel and return the equipment.

This company is misleading the customers and taking advantage of the ADT good reputation to get clients to sign up with them. I don't know how such a good company as ADT allowed this to happen. Now I have an unfair charge of $79 for just receiving and returning an equipment that I did not sign up for; because IF THEY HAVE Disclose the fact that I was not talking to ADT I have not continued to wasting my time over the phone with this so call Protection 1. Be aware and protect yourself from this bunch of thieves.

Updated on 01/03/2018: Protection 1 customer since 2005. End of June 2017, I inadvertently discovered Protection 1 had not monitored my home since August of 2016. I was told this by the Protection 1 staff when I accidentally tripped my home alarm system. Protection 1 collected my fees monthly from 2005 through July 2017. I contacted BBB, MN Attorney General Office and reported them to Federal Trade Commission. They returned only 159 dollars out of the 382 dollars owed back to me. Then Protection 1 had the audacity to publish in a review that they called me. Yes, I was called and told I would Not be getting my fees back. I would give Protection 1 a big fat ZERO if possible. If you are looking for an alarm company STAY AWAY from Protection 1. Try Night Hawk- Ask for Kevin.

After 3 years, I called and spoke to their customer service and tried to cancel, but was informed I still had 12 months on contract, and would be subject to a large cancellation fee. I let it go, and marked down in my calendar when the contract was up. We called yesterday (12 months later) to cancel again, and were informed that we now had 13 more months on the contract. I asked for a copy of the contract, and was e-mailed a pdf that has my wife's signature electronically added to it, clearly not what she signed 4 years earlier. This company has done nothing but lie and fail to provide the services asked for. They are rude, deceitful, and I will continue to dissuade anyone from ever using them.

I have excellent credit rating. So now it will be sent to a collection agency to ruin my credit. This is a huge company so make sure you know what you are getting and how much you have to pay and how ugly they get. Most companies will work with you and be nice about it. Not this one, after 7 years of full paid by me service. Now when I come home, my new alarm system went off before I could turn it off and they were on control panel asking my name, code etc. To see if I was OK. Too bad ASG/P1 didn't call when my alarm went off. Still waiting for phone reports.

On one occasion I received a phone call from Protection-One minutes after leaving my home. The representative said they detected movement in my back room, the same room monitor that had malfunctioned for 3 years. I told the rep that the movement was a glitch. She could easily see the numerous reports of malfunctions that I’ve made, but she was extremely arrogant and called the cops to bully me. Protection-One charges its customers charged extra if the police are called. Also, when the alarm system malfunctioned, it created an extremely loud and harmful siren sound that damaged my dog's hearing. My dog had to endure this lengthy alarm siren on too many occasions. I ultimately had to disable the alarm sound because of frequent malfunctions.

After years of major aggravation trying to resolve the faulty equipment and injury to my dog’s hearing, Protection-One finally offered to replace the glitchy system, however they installed an inferior quality system that immediately malfunctioned after its installation. The unit continually beeped along with other glitches. The beeping would not stop until the system was completely disconnected from all power sources. I called Protection-One in attempts to resolve the new malfunctioning system but only spoke with arrogant representatives. One bully-representative named Matt boasted that he'll cancel my contract, but only if I pay $700, the costs for the final year of my contract. For 3 years I paid for a defective alarm system that only malfunctioned. Protection-One would not release me from my contract until I spoke about getting a lawyer involved.

Protection-One is a crappy company selling faulty equipment through bully representatives who use rehearsed tactics to cheat their customers. Their excuses for malfunctions can vary, but for my issues, they usually blamed them on a spider. They suggested that a spider had crawled over my monitor on 5 separate occasions. This excuse was absurd. The monitor was in a sterile closed room far from nature. I've actually read other people's reviews who complain about being scammed by similar excuses and tactics.

Additionally, Protection-One systems are not secure. Their repairmen have a bypass code that gives them the ability to access ALL alarm systems. This 4-digit code could be given to anyone. Repairmen were able to access my alarm system with their bypass code without my knowledge. They were able to turn my system on-off and make changes without using my own security code.

The repairmen’s bypass code is the same code that works on ALL Protection-One systems, and it can turn off the alarms to all their customers. A repairman actually told me what the bypass code is and I could easily post the code in this review but it would compromise everyone’s system. This 4-digit code could be given to anyone, including thieves who could quickly disarm any Protection-One alarm. This is a major security risk, no one but the home owner should have the ability to disarm the system. Also, repairmen are able to make changes to the alarm system with their bypass code that customers are not able to do (ex: turn on-off alarm sounds, volume, etc). In order for the customer to make simple changes to their own system, they would have to pay for the repairman to visit.

After months of fighting with that a different manager agreed. But also the hardware would break the next day! NOW I've been dealing with billing for over a year!!! My bill is paid up. My next bill not due till July and has been setup on auto pay to pay when it's due. Due July 17 with auto pay to withdraw July 11. I get 2 harassing calls per day that it's past due. I send them to the lady who set things up and knows everything is fine. Yet they don't stop Calling! I have put months of my time into trying to straighten things out during a bad time during my life and I literally start shaking every time I get another call because there have been so many for OVER A YEAR!!!

Original Review: May 30, 2017

Was told I could purchase equipment from a 3rd party. After equipment was purchased and I scheduled install story changed. I purchased a home with a pre installed Protection One system, sold own my system plus have a service agreement. On Friday May 26, 2017 I found 2GIG door/window sensors and glass break sensors from another company cheaper than what Protection One sells them for. I called customer service before I purchased them to inquire if I could install them or have them installed if I purchased from a third party. I was put on hold so she could check. When she came back she told me that because I had a service agreement that I could indeed purchase these devices from a third party and a technician would come out and install them at no charge, I just needed to call back after purchase to schedule a service visit.

So I purchased the equipment for $186, I called back and spoke to another rep and told her what I was doing. She put in the request and advised the local dispatch would call the first of the week. I was called by local dispatch (Raleigh) today May, 30 2017. And told because I did not purchase the equipment from Protection One they could not install it. Mind you I called before spending $186 and was told it could be done. So I called the main CS number back and was told the same thing local office told me. They are now insisting that I have to purchase the equipment from them at their more expensive prices before they will install them. If this would have been told to me in the first place I would not have purchased the extra equipment.

They sent out one of their installers. He shook doors, looked at the PIR's and then added an additional magnet to one of the doors. He stated that the Honeywell brand of PIRs were of poor quality and prone to false alarms. He could not explain the false alarms. Well we experienced another false alarm, police response and a $65.00 service response fee from the local police. Protection One did not admit any mistakes. We decided at the end of the three years to change alarm monitoring service providers. This changed our monthly fee from $35.00 to $5.00. We experience an additional false alarm. We contacted our alarm monitoring service provider who put us in contact with a local alarm installation company who sent out a expert installer. He looked over the entire system and came to the conclusion that Protection one has mis-aligned the magnetic switches on the doors causing the false alarms.

Great!!! We changed the magnetic sensor alignment. In addition we changed the Honeywell PIRs to Bosch PIRs. We have not experienced another false alarm. I do not trust Protection One. They are in business to make money NOT to provide honest service. Protection One screwed us over... I am glad I escaped this Protection One's nightmare. It cost me approximately $1000.00 for the services and electronic equipment changes. It, the alarm system cost thousands of dollars over what it should have cost. My current alarm service provider does an excellent job, Better than Protection One, and at a great price. I duplicated this service by contracting with an alarm installer company paying just for the system' s equipment and labor to install. Saved thousands. Not ripped off by greedy unethical alarm service providers.