Protection 1 Reviews

Here is what basically happened: Protection One called to inform me that a motion detector picked up movement without the windows or doors opening. The image of the room did not show any disturbance so it was considered a glitch and the police were not called. A few days later the same thing occurred and the phone representative suggested that a technician should visit to inspect the cameras. The technician said nothing was wrong with the equipment but I was charged a hefty fee for the technician's visit. I read a lot of complaints from reviewers who suffered this exact same problem.

Firstly, it is unclear which part of the system made the glitch report, it possibly occurred in Protection Ones equipment that receives the information (in their office), not the equipment working in my apartment. The equipment was purchased with a 4-year contract from Protection One. But, the company only warranties their equipment for 90 DAYS. After the 90 days, you have to pay for their technician's repair visit. While speaking to a representative about the additional charges, she tried to sell me an extended warranty on the equipment that I purchased. Luckily I read many reviews that mentioned this sales pitch so I didn't buy into it.

Protection Ones written contract is quite suspicious because it is not dated. All contracts that are signed must be dated, however Protection One doesn't even include a field designated for the date anywhere on their written contract. Also, my written contract isn't signed by me or the salesperson, who just wrote digital over the area. I wasn't given a digital copy of the contract either.

I spent over 45 minutes trying to find out when I signed the contract with Protection One because the date isn't written on my copy. I looked for the information on their website, but it's not available. Ultimately I had to dig out my old American Express bill from February 2014 to see when the first charge was. I have 2-1/2 more years of my contract with Protection One. I most likely will not sign up with them again because their equipment must be junk if they only give a 90 day warranty.

Well, I DID have trouble. Not only are you refusing to lower my price to the agreed upon $34.99, you will charge me to cancel my subscription. The sales rep, Dillon, had no record of such a deal. So now I am to pay $44.99 for three more years. This is a disgusting bait and switch. The only reason I even AGREED to this was the reduction in price. The customer service rep said there was nothing that could be done. I am now calling the Better Business Bureau. DO NOT TRUST THIS COMPANY WHEN THEY GIVE YOU DEALS. DO NOT FALL FOR DOOR TO DOOR.

The manager was unsympathetic and did not offer me any type of option. She just said that they only had a limited number of techs and that was it. I called another company who assured me that they could come that same day and give me an estimate and install a new system the following day for the same price I was currently paying. I called Protection One back to give them another opportunity. I thought that perhaps if I "upgraded" my current system somehow, maybe I could get an installer instead of a tech and maybe if they knew I would have to leave if they couldn't accommodate my needs that they would help me. They did not.

Since that point, they are attempting to collect the remainder of the amount due for the rest of the YEAR, form an annual contract that automatically renews each year for one year. Their customer service was unconcerned with my level of satisfaction nor the fact that I had been a loyal, on-time paying customer for many years.

I was emailed a quote and not 15 minutes after the 2 men left. I started receiving phone calls and text messages trying to get me to start service. I hadn't spoken with my husband yet so I ignored them. The following day I had more emails, phone calls, and texts. Right as I'm sitting down to eat my dinner I see the men walking up to my house again at 7:30pm, I told them I wasn't interested and closed my curtains. They continued to knock on my door for a few more minutes. I thought they had left but no they went around to the back door and knocked on it as well. I contacted Protection 1's corporate office and explained the situation.

The woman told me she couldn't help me and placed me on hold. I was on hold for 30 minutes until I got fed up and hung up. I have no soliciting signs on my doors but for some reason it did not deter these guys. I will not be using Protection 1 simply because they try and force you to make and immediate decision without doing your research and then they bug the crap out of you.

They then told me I had to send something in writing to cancel the first home. I explained neither of their reps told me that was required. I also asked what phone they were calling to let me know the card had expired and it was not any phone number that anyone in our family ever had. So now I have a bill from a collection attorney for $1135.00 and they even charged me a $750.00 cancellation fee when they say I did not cancel. I have never seen so many negative reviews and BBB complaints about any company as this one has. I had been doing business with them at my office for several years so I used them not thinking to check up on them. We also did have to cancel our service with them at the business due to poor service in 2014. I am just disgusted that this company is in business. I am also looking for a new carrier for a new home. At this time it will not be Protection!

Original Review: June 4, 2015

Service never worked the way it should. Every time we left the house there was some sort of malfunction where we had to come back home. Police being called to the house for false alarms. Called for a service technician to come out and he never showed. Please choose another service provider for your home security.

So in December 2014 I first called to cancel my account with Protection One; I informed them I wanted to cancel my account. I was to need first needed to speak to an Account Rep., I am still confusing why I need to be transferred to anyone in order to cancel my "freaking" account. I was placed on hold for at least 15 minutes, which only made me more determined to cancel the damn account with Protection One. I again informed the Account Rep. that I wanted to cancel my account. She asked me why, I told her "because I want to." She then informed me that I needed to send them an email request with my name, address, account number and password. The minute I hung up with her, I sent the email.

In January 2015 I receive a bill for the next cycle, I call and send another email to cancel my service. In February 2015 I receive a reminder notice to make payment, I call and email and again. Now keep in mind I actually cancelled my service prior to end of the previous quarterly cycle and I had also paid in advance. So in February 2015, Protection One sent me a refund for about $60.00.

During May 2015 I received a demand letter for payment of $77.97 from Protection One (dated May 13, 2015). I first emailed the customer service email address shown on the letter, then I called and spoke to a gentleman named **, that told me they have no record of my emails. I told me the dates of my emails and I asked him to notice that in their system my account should show they actually sent me a refund. They are not in the business of just sending customer's money therefore it had to be for a reason, and the reason was I cancelled my account.

Mr. ** finally placed me on hold, he told me he needed to get authorization from his supervisor to cancel my account without documentation. At this point I could have lost it; but my objective was to get this damn account closed so I said ok. After an extended wait he came back and said they would close the account, I asked him to please send me a confirmation email. After about two weeks I received an email from Mr. ** indicating they would cancel my account. I thought to myself "how wonderful of you." Never use this company, their security monitoring service was not the issue for me, it was the nightmare I had endure just to cancel my account. I will never use their services again - NEVER!!!

I signed this "price quote hold" but only after I was asked and refused to give my credit card numbers or a cancelled check for this man to put on his IPad. I was told again this offer was only good for "3" days while he was in town and I would have three days to decide if I wanted to "sign up with their services" after all I was just signing to lock in a price if I did decide to "sign a contract." He then called a woman who asked me if I was told about their contract length and price.

After a few hours research and reading where people had similar complaints being told they too were not signing a "contract" and indeed sign a contract, I decided to call the company who told me that I had indeed "signed a contract." I immediately called the rep who told me I did sign a contract and I even confirmed with the woman on the phone. The woman simply asked if he told me about the contract. Again all I was signing was a paper to hold my quoted price! The company replied with "We are sorry about the misinterpretation of the information." There was no misinterpretation. I was told to my face I was not signing the actual contract. Just a holding price that was good for three days. After that I may have to pay full price for installation, etc...

Any person selling door to door is fishy. Asking for credit info on a "quote" is a red flag! Consumers need to be aware but it is so easily to be lied to and taken advantage of! I am thankful I did not give out any credit info like the rest of these individuals who are having such a hard time with this company!

Now they will send the technician again to fix the same error that has been going on for the last six months or more. Again, I will be taking some time off from work to do this and again, I asked that they replace the unit. The technician will be at my place tomorrow and if he will not have a replacement unit, I told the dispatcher not to bother sending anybody. I am sure if I terminate my contract due to this problem, I will be charged for it, or worse, they will charge me for replacing the unit if I chose to stay. This is irritating already.

But the BIG lie was when he looked across the street, and seeing a sign for a different company, told me that THAT neighbor already had their system, which was when she pulled into her driveway, I yelled across the street, and said, "This guy says you have his system. How is it?" And she WENT OFF because she is suing them at the moment to get out of the five-year contract. It only worked for two months before going off for little or no reason (steam from cooking, dog barking, or a plane flying over). She also said the people monitoring were rude and refused to follow her request to NOT send the police for a false alarm. Funny how quickly this "non-salesman" made his getaway after she was done with him. :) I felt a little bad for him personally because he was just following his script. I hope he can find a more honest line of work.

My mom is elderly and is at the beginning stages of Alzheimer's. Anyway come to find out the salesman that came on that Friday also came back on Saturday night around 8 pm proceeded to sweet-talk my mom or con my mom into signing a contract. And not only that, he went to the truck and changed shirts and said he was off duty and proceeded to sit there with his boss and have mixed drinks with my mom. When I heard this I was ** mad. I then told him that whatever she signed wouldn't be any good or legal as my signature is required on everything she signs. They then said, "sorry we had no idea her memory was bad".

I just can't believe the nerve of these salesman and what kind of training do they get if any. This is the first step so far I've done in this matter. And believe me, I am NOT done...with Protection 1 yet!! I'M contacting the Department of Aging, the BBB, and the Attorney General of my state to make it known about people like this. I just can't believe how they really go to any lengths to make a sale. Taking advantage of the elderly. WOW unbelievable. Stay CLEAR of Protection 1 because I'm not sure what they're really trying to protect...except themselves.

Then in September the bill came for the next period. I replied with a letter that the house was sold and I would no longer need monitoring services. A few weeks later, a statement came demanding immediate payment or the service would be cancelled. I again replied in writing with a copy of the purchase agreement. No response from the company. Then came more statements - directly to my new out of state address - with penalties added. A couple of months ago it stopped so I assumed that they finally figured it out or decided they were putting too much energy into trying to collect $265.90. Last week I got another letter from the company telling me to pay immediately or it would be turned over to collections and they threatened my credit rating. It should be noted, there are no outstanding service or alarm calls. In fact the system had not been turned on in the last year.

Don't believe the fake reviews you read on their site. They wouldn't have a 1.5 star rating here and more than 450 complaints with the BBB if they were a reputable company. I have also submitted a complaint with the BBB with a requested resolution to have this bill waived, stop bothering me, update their policies and train their CS staff.

Well the cool guys that said don't w things happen with our family and our landlord didn't want to put the house on the market and some other things happen with our family. l moved to pasadena with my Brother. In November I fax them a notification to stop the service and not take any more money out of my account. They continue to take money out in december which cost me overdraft charges. I called him back and they said they would refund me the money and I haven't. The really bad thing is they continue to call me on it daily basis and tell me that my account, my service is going to be cut off if I don't make a payment.

This is 6 month, I'm on live in same how to get equipment down, call me and ask him where I can mail it to, and said they didn't want equipment back in. They're still calling me to make payment. Now they're telling me I owe them for the rest of the contract. They will not stop call me. And I owe them for cancelling my contract. Why didn't they mention that in November when I asked him to cancel at that time? Can you please get these people off my back. I live in a fixed income and I'm not well and they're calling every day and it is causing me stress. Thank you.

It's a bunch of crap and he is not going to tell his boss that he told me that I have 30 days to cancel, so I had no choice but to pay 50 dollars a month for a monitoring system that went off every time I cooked or the dog barked and send the police over here or the fire department, it was ridiculous. Then I changed my bank account and forgot about adding them to my change and haven't paid them either and don't really want to pay them since I did cancel within the time they told me to cancel. I would never recommend them to anyone and I tell all my friends and neighbors to stay away from them and don't let them in your house either because all they do is lie.

My wife showed me the bill they had sent as the final amount owed and I learned that they had charged me the going rate of $49.99 per outstanding month. I made a few calls to them with no straight forward answers. Last month I start getting calls from collection agencies regarding the bill that I have mailed in a payment on with every month since I have been laid off. I am making every attempt to pay off my bill. I just wish they would get the amount I owe correct. Now when I call them they refer me to this collection agency with any questions. How can a company with whom you have been making every attempt you can to pay them send you to a collection agency and ruin your credit. The man I talked to at the agency told me that my contract had automatically renewed to a one year contract. Nowhere did I get any information regarding this was to happen or told this when I tried to cancel my account.

You would think that knowing someone is laid off from work with other more important necessities like house payment, food utilities and a family to worry about, that an effort of $25.00 a month on my balance due was noteworthy. Lords knows I went without a lot of other things that the $25 could have been used for. But No I considered the bill had to have at least something paid on it so that I didn't ruin my credit but apparently that wasn't good enough for them. they would have been just as happy if I lost everything as long as they got their money. I would not recommend them to anyone.

When I finally went to cancel, it was $750....seriously. For a system that was haphazard and constantly going off and having police/firefighters at my home, just ridiculous. I would not recommend this company to anyone, under any circumstances. They are disgusting and have poor ethics and morals and I can't wait for the day that a successful lawsuit puts them out of business.

Seriously! I was told that it I couldn't send an email to cancel---I had to use their form with my name and address already in the required boxes!!!!! And...wait 30 days before they would actually cancel. Reading these comments/complaints below I can see that I need to be proactive to make sure they don't continue to bill my bank acct. like they have done to almost every consumer complaining below. Next call is to my bank!!! Their service sucked over the years, we were just too busy and unmotivated to go thru the process of finding another company. I will never use them again!!!

I am going to increase the rating to a two star because they did remove the charges, for which I am grateful. However, I cannot in good conscience give them a higher rating at this time.

Original Review: Jan. 21, 2015

Had service with Protection One for approx 20 years but then ran into hard times (i.e. lost my job). I continued service while on unemployment but then had to cancel because I could no longer afford it. I called customer service, paid my account in full and asked them if I could suspend or cancel my service temporarily because of my financial situation. The person I spoke with canceled the service for me. I asked the person specifically if there would be any further charges and was told no, my account was paid in full, there would be no further charges.

Fast forwards about 3 months... I received a bill for approx 3 months worth of service. I called them and was told that it was for the prior three months and that I owed the money. I explained my situation to them again and told them what I was told when I canceled the service. They did not listen nor care what I was told but just insisted that I owed the money. After several more calls, I discovered that they claimed that I had to pay off my "contract." When I originally got P1 service, there was a contract but that was canceled several years ago when I briefly (about 1 month) went to another company. I do not have any recollection of signing a new contract and had been told that I was on a month to month basis. Not only that but when I returned to them, I did not get any new equipment or anything. Only the service. I have tried over and over again to get this resolved but they appear to care more about getting $100 than they do about providing their "valued customers" with any kind of customer service.

They have even forwarded my account to a lawyer who has called and sent threatening letters. What ever happened to customer service? Prior to this incident, I was singing praises of their service. Now I will tell everyone I know to stay away. These people only care about their bottom dollar. For a $100 they have ruined my credit and lost all respect. You might say, why not just pay them off? Well, besides the principal of the matter, I really don't have the money. You can't get assistance to pay this type of bill and I don't have any credit cards that I can use. What little money I am able to scrape up (usually people giving me money) I have to use for food, gas, or power & water. Anyone seen "it's a wonderful life?" Well, P1 is like "Mr. Potter." Money grubbing, unscrupulous, and lying people who don't give a rip about their customers.

April 11, 2014. I make the last payment for service period (04/29/14 to 7/28/14) with amount $93.06. In August 2014 I received billing statement from Protection One for services provided (07/29/14 to 10/28/14). I wrote the short note regarding account already request cancel service since April 2014. I also request to waive the bill, attached Cancellation letter, copy of certified mail receipt and send to Protection One Alarm Monitoring, INC. September 27, 2014, I received Past due letter with amount $93.06. Once again I send the short note to tell them account was canceled since April 2014. Request to waive the bill and attached cancellation letter with USPS certified mail receipt.

October 18, 2014, I received billing statement from Protection One for services provided (10/29/14 to 01/28/15). Once again I send the short note to tell them account was cancel since April 2014, request please waive the bill and attached cancellation letter with USPS certified mail receipt. November 13, 2014. I received a Non-Payment Letter with amount $186.12. "If your payment of $186.12 is not received with 14 days of the notification, your security monitoring service will be disconnected." I also send the short note to tell them account was cancel since April 2014, request to waive the bill and attached cancellation letter with USPS certified mail receipt.

November 24, 2014. I talked with Protection One representative Tiffany over the phone regarding this matter. She said, "I will waive the bill" when she received cancellation letter with Certified mail receipt. She gave me her email **. November 28, 2014. I send email to representative Tiffany regarding cancel account and attached USPS tracking number, Certified Mail Receipt, Last bill Statement and Proof of payment. I didn't hear anything from her - calls or email. December 11, 2014, I called to Protection One Customer Service; I talked with Sarha about cancellation matter, she transfer to representative named Austin. He request fax to 800-937-3354, the Cancellation letter with Certified Mail Receipt last April 2014 and I did. Finally, we are requesting you to waive any fee for this account, please send me confirmation this account is close; we do not owe you any money. Thank you for consideration that this account closes.

It wasn’t until my alarm went off, with no call from Protection 1, did I realize there was a problem. Customer service was called—and we were told there wasn’t any communication through the phone lines. Protection 1 informed us that there would be a $129 service-call fee to come in and check it out. Then it dawned on us—we had switched to a new phone service provider more than a year ago and most likely never rehooked the phone lines.

So for 1 ½ years we have been without any monitoring. Thank goodness nothing happened during that time. I don’t understand why Protection 1 did not notify us there was a ‘connection’ problem. Isn’t there something on there end that detects when a customer is ‘off-line’ or something to that effect. Or perhaps my woefully outdated system didn’t have that capability. I decided to go with another company.

The moment I called P1 representatives—the pitch was on. “We can offer you this .. and you can get that at no cost.” To their credit, their team did attempt to keep us as customers however their supposedly great deal, with accompanied perks, was overshadowed with some non disclosures, namely a 5 – year contract, and hefty termination fee.

Trying to cancel their service was such an arduous task. The transfers to two upper-tier reps left me wanting to just hang up on them. And the persistent negative comments about their competitors was so unnecessary. The final insult was when I was told I was technically bound to an “auto-annual yearly contract" that would end November 17, 2015. What!!??? I've been with P1 for 25+ years. The only communication I ever recall getting is when it is time to increase the rates. And while they said the auto-yearly contract is standard in the security industry, I've since discovered that isn't a true statement.

They agreed not to hold me to another year, but that since I was not giving them 30 days notice I would still have to pay until the 2/17/15 billing cycle ended. So after 1 1/2 years of paying for no service I'm still stuck paying after I've cancelled. But you know what--it's worth it, just to have P1 out of our lives. I am so displeased with this company that I will never ever recommend them to anyone!

Original Review: Dec. 17, 2014

I moved to a new town that is not in the service area for Protection One. I tried the DIY kit and the sensors would not fit the doors correctly. I talked to a rep who offered to cancel my contract with no repercussions. A payment was drafted to cover service through the end of December on 11/24/14 as well as equipment fees and shipping. Another payment was drafted on 12/1/14 and after speaking to a rep, he said it covered to the end of December as well. Since they could not help me, they are refunding the equipment, shipping, and 1 month of payment. They refuse however to refund the drafted amount on 12/1/14 due to a cancellation time period of 30 days. This would be fine had I been the one to request cancellation, however they suggested the cancellation because they could not honor the service in the contract because it is not available in my new area. If I had requested cancellation I could understand the 30 day period however that it not the case.

When speaking to a rep, he told me that nobody could help me and there was no supervisor to give a courtesy credit for something that was THEIR problem, not mine. Had they been willing to send someone to set up my alarm system, I would have no reason to request a refund for a month they did not even provide and COULD NOT provide for me. I feel that this is against their agreement of the contract due to their unwillingness to provide a technician. I should not be held to ANY form of a contract that they CANNOT honor. How can I qualify to have the cancellation fee waived but not the 30 day cancellation period? Obviously they know they are in breach of the contract, not me! I paid $43.09 on 12/1/14 via direct debit and the debit shows my NEW address not my old one. They NEVER provided service for my new address! I was told that this would be credited to my new account once it was established, but now they get to keep it. Unprofessional!

Finally get an email from Denise 10-8-14 apologizing for the delay with getting the account cancelled. She wrote as of now, the account is cancelled. I figured, finally we have this done! Then on 10-10-14 we get a call from Protection 1 about unpaid bills. I was on vacation and didn't call back. Then on 10-14-14 I was called again… Oh my, I knew we had paid our bills. A nice lady looked over the account and found this - the new management company never called but Protection 1 was STILL monitoring the property. That was not our problem!! Once the new management company didn't call they should have stopped servicing the property! However Protection 1 continued to monitor the property without approval from the NEW management company. Then they try and bill us for services that were not approved. At this point I would assume… they will never call!!!!

I filled out the form cancelling service; I have confirmation emails to that effect. Why would Protection 1 assume the new management company will pay or even our company pay for services canceled and/or not re-established???? I thought that would be my last communication. This will be the last time I communicate with anyone from Protection 1. However on 10-20-14 I get a letter that our account is past due with a balance of $142.91. I will try to send all my paperwork, emails, communications to this new Protection 1 location, Kansas City, MO but honestly when is enough-enough????

P1 told me they would have a salesperson call me first thing the next morning. Meanwhile, I am headed for California and my home is truly not protected overnight with a broken window and the alarm not armed. The next morning, I waited until 10am before I called; the person who answered said it's only been two hours and transferred me to a sales rep who during the conversation also had something smart to say like, "I'm trying to do you a favor and I don't know the layout of your home!" Needless to say, we did not get very far with that conversation. He scheduled a tech for 3:30pm. I did not like the way the conversation went so I got busy looking for a back up plan and I found ADT - made an appointment with them for 6pm.

The P1 tech showed up at the same time as the ADT Sales Rep. The P1 tech went in, checked the devices they had installed and left... didn't say anything to anyone... just left. Meanwhile ADT did a walk thru of my home pointing out and explaining what I would need like glass breaks, motion detectors, cameras, etc. He also told me that ADT pays home insurance deductible should I ever have a break in. I had not ever heard of a glass break or insurance before ADT. I liked what I heard so I signed up with ADT and they installed on 10/27/14. My home was not secure the entire weekend as I didn't hear from Protection One again.

One week later, I got home called P1 and asked if they had damage insurance? I was told yes. I told her I wanted a refund for 3 mo service paid, file a damage claim & cancel service. I was told I had a 3-yr contract with 1-1/2 yr left. I said if I signed a contract last year that is reason enough for me to cancel because that meant a sales rep had come to my home, did a walk through, made his recommendations and I signed a contract saying my home was secure. She said she had to speak with Management to see if the contract could be waived and would call me back that afternoon or the next day. I have yet to receive that call.

Yesterday, I called, spoke with a smart mouth lady who told me Protection One did receive a signal. I said "Yeah, after, my home had been ransacked." She said "you should have known your home was not secure." I said "I relied on your sales team and service tech professional recommendations as security is their area of expertise." She said she couldn't waive the contract and that I could file a claim as long as I stayed with Protection One for the remainder of the contract. If I cancelled the contract, they would send me a bill and I would not qualify for the insurance. She also said they sent a tech out and he recommended more safety devices. I told her "no he did not," that he came out, checked the devices and left without a word. She put me on hold, came back on the line, told me they could cancel the contract and refund me the 3 months that I had paid for but I would not qualify to file a claim. I told her to send the email (which I did receive) and said I would be contacting an attorney about the insurance claim. She told me, "go ahead, contact an attorney... our team of lawyers would be waiting for you." With that I hung up.

What nerve, Ten (10) years of faithful paying thinking my home is secure and after a break in they still treat my security and safety as insignificant. I could have come home in middle of the night thinking I am safe and someone could have been inside... I wouldn't have known. Oh yeah, ADT dismantled Protection One system on 10/27. When I called P1 on 11/5/14, they checked my system to see if it was working. She came back to the phone & said "system is working just fine and we're getting a good signal." HAH! NOT - their system has been sitting in my kitchen closet on the floor since 10/27/14. Meanwhile, I am out lots of money to repair 2 windows, replace blinds, jewelry, etc... It’s a bad deal. These guys are crooks who use scare tactics to keep us in contracts for a service they do not provide and refuse to take responsibility when they fail to hold up their end of the contract.

At this point I had had it so I called ADT, the next day they added the necessary equipment and I was done. I then called Protection One and canceled my service, the customer service rep became very RUDE and I ended the call. Protection One now calls multiple times a week demanding payment for balance of contract. I explain why I left them and that I did not intend to pay them and had they fixed my problems I would still be with them.

We made the service appointment for late afternoon. Tech arrived about 6pm and found the prime cell transmitter was not functioning properly, removed and replaced transmitter, serviced all wireless connections installing new batteries. Tested system, it seemed to be working ok. Tech left and 10 minutes later it malfunctioned. Called tech and had him return to fix the problem again. He removed the new transmitter and installed a better one to get system working correctly.

System seemed ok until a few months ago the smoke alarm went off and fire dept was called and I drove 60 miles to find out the smoke alarm went off and there was no problem found. The fire dept left and while I was in route the smoke alarm went off again and I was asked if I needed the fire dept called again and I stated I was 15 minutes away and I would check it when I got there. Found alarm going off, shut off alarm and removed smoke detector for inspection, removed batteries and reinstalled the batteries which reset the alarm. Again tried to get same day service but told it was not available.

On August 2, 2014 at around noon smoke alarm went off and had to shut it off as there was no reason for it. Protection one called and I told them it was caused by a defective smoke alarm and I pay for a maintenance agreement currently. Asked for a tech to come out that day to fix it and was told there would be an extra charge if they could get a tech, I told them about their same day service and they were to call me back to let me know if there was a tech coming out. Protection one did not call me back all weekend.

On Monday august 4, 2014 @ 7:30 am I get a call from a tech stating he was coming out to fix the problem but I was already 60 miles away at work and after all the problems we were cancelling the service. Called protection at 8:15am on August 4, 2014 to cancel our service and was told the person to talk to was in the office that day but would have to call me back in 24 to 48 hours. Still have not received that call. Got home and called the Kansas office and after explaining to them I wanted to cancel our service and after being transferred to 3 different people I finally got a person to take care of this. I was told the same day service does not apply to weekends as there is an extra charge.

While I was on hold waiting on the next person I listened to there on hold advertisement which stated "same day service with no up charge being standard" the web site statement says same day service. there is no disclaimer stating certain days and extra charges also there is nothing stating 30-day cancellation clause. They have never sent me a statement or receipt when they take money out of our account for the service. The service has been canceled and we are not receiving any monitoring service now so since we are not using the service I don't feel we should pay a 30 day charge since they don't offer what they say they offer.

On June 1st, my 4 cameras I bought from them stopped being visible on the Internet. I started calling and spent 1 1/2 hours on the phone with Tech Support trying to deactivate the cameras, to no avail. I finally convinced them to send a serviceman on a Saturday, and when the guy came on June 28, he immediately said, "Oh, we stopped supporting these cameras on June 1st." After I calmed down, he said that the manager would call me with an alternative.

I waited 2 weeks, called again and got the same answer. I waited 2 more weeks, and contacted another company. I called Protection 1 to cancel, and after a long hassle, was told I would owe $750 because I had just signed a 1-yr contract. When I said there was no contract, they sent me a PDF of the form I had signed which had the 1-yr agreement on the 1st page, which I never saw. When I threatened to file a consumer complaint, they cancelled the service without any mention of the contract.

Any attempts to reach out and resolve this matter had been attempted by us; however, poor follow up and very poor customer service did not get us anywhere even though we are using them for the alarm monitoring service as well. This is not a company I want to do business with. The attitude in dealing with customer is very bad and lacks respect on all levels. My advise is... Stay away!

When I received my first bill with the wireless service, I discovered the fee actually rose in price. I called the sales rep, who said I had signed the contract that showed an $8 increase in price. Keep in mind, I have been unemployed for three years and have been trying to cut expenses. I called about the higher monthly fee and said I wanted to cancel my account. Still, I received invoices. I went ahead and paid while trying to cancel the account, stating that I had been misinformed about the monthly service fee. Finally, I wrote a June 10 letter to Protection 1, again requesting cancellation of services.

In July, I received another, monthly invoice. I called Protection 1 and told them I had written a letter intending to close this account. The representative asked where I had sent the letter. When I replied with the Protection 1 address, she said that was Protection 1's something-or-other address. Not the one I needed to send the letter to. I didn't reply that it would be easy enough for the Protection 1 employee who received the letter to forward to the correct department.

The P-1 rep forwarded me to a manager, who stated that I would have to pay more than $300 to cancel the account. I replied that I was misinformed by the service tech, that I didn't look closely at the contract thinking I could trust the service tech, and now I couldn't cancel my account? We went round and round until, frustrated, I hung up the phone. So, yes, it was my fault for trusting Protection 1's service technician and not reviewing the contract closely. I've been a good customer since the early 1990s but, believe me, once I'm able to cancel this contract, they will never regain my business.

Later when I attempted to suspend their service while some work was done on my home, they wouldn't even talk to me! I had my ex-husband call...he got the runaround and was transferred 4 or 5 times to someone else in their "retention" department! Thankfully, he was in my house making the call...when they told him HE could not make changes, I got on his phone and asked if I could make changes. Then I was transferred around and told I could NOT make changes.

WE finally both got on the phone and asked, in WHOSE name the account was and which of us could cancel the account...after much argument, (and with BOTH of us on the phone) they finally decided I was 'acceptable'! After canceling the account, I was sent a $400 bill with a notation that it was for early termination of their auto-renew contract!!!! Not only will I never use them again, hell will freeze over before I'd recommend them to anyone else! They were worse than dealing with a government agency in changing information, seriously!

Original Review: June 26, 2014

The sale person said there would be a 30 day trial and that the first month fee would be paid. All of this was a lie. When called they said that service could not be cancelled and that a minimum of 750$ would be charged. There is now an enormous runaround going on as we are shuttled to this and that person. This whole experience with this company has been a complete hassle. Protection One is a slimy company that does not stand behind what their salespeople say. Please if you are going to do business with this company be careful. The salespeople will lie and tell you anything to make the sale and furthermore the company will not honor what the salespeople have promised. All in all a horrible company to do business with. I am going to open a complaint with the better business bureau. I CANNOT SAY THIS ENOUGH, DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE. THEY ARE SLIMY!!!!! !

Lie #2: "You have a panic button that is connected to police and fire depts. So if you can't get to phone or the keypad you just push the panic button". There is no panic button. I was stupid and didn't take time to verify. Now in a 3 yr contact. This is how they make customers. Not happy customers but hey - the money spends the same. A Horrible way to run a business.

Original Review: Nov. 1, 2013

System faults and failures let me to cancel and received talk down pressure to stay. Also will not be reimbursed for 2 months of prepayment. Robbed! Have had multiple false alarm issues with the Protection1 system. I've had to provide my key and pass code to neighbors to come in my house while I'm gone and have them shut the system down. Have had a Protection1 service inspect and give the okay everything is good, but system continues to malfunction. Also had a main battery issue which the system was down for a week waiting for the battery to arrive. Be prepared to install it yourself and dispose of the old hazardous battery.

I called Protection1 to cancel after over 5 years of service and was talked down to, to try to pressure me to stay with them. I refused to continue with their service and was then told that although I'm canceling my service affective today 10/31/2013 I will not be reimbursed for my prepayment of November and December. Also, cancelling over the phone is not acceptable to them. They require an email cancellation request and if not received within 7 days they will continue to bill you and take you to a collection agency if you don't pay up. Protection1 is stealing from me for 2 months of service that I will not be receiving.

This company is not even in the top 5 list. Consider other less expensive options with shorter contracts or no contracts and better service! Take a note on the problems and issues folks are experiencing when canceling with Protection1. Search on "Protection1 cancellation reviews". You will also note issues with cancelling by going to the Better Business Bureau (BBB).

Protection One didn't listen to my pleas and insisted on sending the same technician again. They kept billing me for 2 more months which I refuse to pay and I have asked them many times to remove the charges especially when they were not monitoring my home, and when their technician misbehaved. Instead of apologizing, they have handed over the account to debt-collectors now. I am not paying them out of principle and not because I can't pay 2 more months' bill. So beware, you have been warned to stay away from Protection One that doesn't understand the word "service".

About a month ago I changed my phone service to a digital phone service. When I did, I got an error message of FC on my keypad. I looked it up in the owner's manual and did what it said but nothing changed. I called Protection 1 and found out that the system was not compatible with a digital phone line. When I asked what it would take to make it work, I was told that I would have to pay $99 for the equipment upgrade and another $10 a month on top of my current bill, and would have to sign a new 3-year contract. That would be over $46/month. They are still charging me for the combined contract rate even though I only have one system and have for the last 5 years. I told the person I was talking to about the upgrade that I had been looking into another system, that the monthly charge was $15/month with no contract required (SimpliSafe). I told him that I would have to think about it and would let them know.

Nothing was ever said that the contract automatically renewed and that there was a $100 early termination fee. I called today the cancellation number on the bill to cancel service and was told that I have to do it in writing and pay a $100 termination fee. I was never told about the contact auto renewing, especially since the original company that I bought the system from has been sold several times in the time that I have had the system.

I called their main number and could get no answers as to - exactly when my contract expires, what the number is for the account management dept., or the address to send a letter of cancellation. I finally got the address through another means and sent a letter. Then I started getting daily automated calls that I needed to talk to account management. So I actually tried that one day and I got an "account manager" who would make a used car salesman proud. He demanded to know why I wanted to leave and who was I going with. He then proceeded to bad mouth the company I chose (although they have been in business 34 years and have excellent ratings and have never raised monthly rates) and started besieging me with reasons why I should stay with them. He also said they did not have my cancellation letter. I finally told him to stop - that I was leaving and that was final.

Then the daily calls started again so I talked to another account manager. She too was quite aggressive and asked demanding questions. She said they did have my cancellation letter but because it was not 30 days in advance of the date I wanted to terminate, I would have to pay another month. I said fine - at this point I'll do anything to get away from these people. She then started with the sales pitch again and I asked her to stop but she would not so I hung up. Unbelievable!

However, after I cancelled my service, all of a sudden the $50 charge appeared along with another $17 charge when I should have been sent a credit on the account as I was paid in quarterly and had a balance on my account. Now, they have harassed me and my wife with endless phone calls over $67. It is almost funny, but it is starting to get old. I have blocked all of their phone numbers from reaching my cell phone, but thought it was only right to let you know the headaches if you are considering their service. Stop and go with someone else who are professional and offer quality equipment.

Protection1 started promptly at 4:00 pm. The first place I wanted the main console installed was not a good selection, I was informed by the technician after he used the plastic snake for 30 minutes that it could not be done. I did not get an explanation. Second choice adventure, when the Protection1 technician was retrieving the snake, the wire attached with tape, the metal chain hit the back of my electrical outlet. I saw a yellow flash, and my lights were off in the kitchen. Thank goodness I have a surge protector built-in to the house.

I went to the basement, found my electrical outlet box. I identified which breaker needed to be reset. I then left the breaker in the off position and advised the technician anytime he is working near live electrical outlets, he should ask the homeowner to turn the power off on the outlet he/she will be working near.

I had requested two sensors, one on the front door, and one on the garage door. Protection1 technician said he would have to drill several holes, one in my door, and the other in the door jambs. My wife protested vehemently that she did not want any drilling done since our front door has large panes of glass and the entire door cost over $5,000.

Time passed; it's 6:30 pm and the only thing installed is the main console panel. The technician and I went to the Master bedroom I pointed where I wanted the second panel with the LCD screen and flashy icons to be installed. After 15 minutes of trying, I was informed by the Protection1 technician that the second panel, the one with the LCD screen, could not be mounted where I wanted it due to a stud.

Frustration is reaping its ugly head! Why doesn't Protection1 equip their field technicians with a cheap $15 stud finder? It would help the technician appear professional, knowledgeable; the technician would be able to detect and inform me a lot earlier that a stud was in the way before he started drilling small holes near my electrical outlet or wasting 15 minutes. Time is now 6:50 pm, I made a judgement call and decided that if in almost three hours all that the Protection1 technician had accomplished was install the main console panel and that was about 25% of the work, he would need until 9:00 pm to complete everything. I informed the technician to stop, clean up and I would have to schedule a second appointment.

I'm now super frustrated since the sales rep said it would take about 90 minutes to do the complete install of my home security system. I had accounted for an extra 30 minutes giving them a total of two hours for the entire install. Three hours later, all that was installed in my house was the main control panel.

I further informed the Protection1 technician that I owned a home security system 10 years ago by the leader in home security, ADP. I asked a simple question how come ADP ten years ago were able to install sensors on my two doors by using gorilla glue for the magnet and contact sensor, no holes were drilled in my doors. That was with 10-year-old technology, ADP was able to secure my door and Protection1 could not offer the same without having to damage my door.

Before the technician left, he suggested I go ahead and download the app for my Smartphone, I tried several times to download and install the app for my Android phone and I was presented with a pop up box that offered me to select another device to install my app.

That is my personal horrible experience with Protection. What makes it worse is that my home security has been compromised, because I have a main console panel mounted with nothing for it to control or communicate with and a sign in front of my lawn advertising Protection1 and nothing protecting my home. I will find it extremely difficult to recommend Protection1 to any of my neighbors or any one that I come in contact with that mentions they are looking for a home security system.

I talked with Protection One/Kayla ** where she stated their CS notes said that I was explained that in order to cancel the account, I had to cancel through the Account Management department (which I was never explained!) nor was it ever stated that even though I sent a written notice in 12/2012, they would keep billing us through the end of the cycle ... for a unit we did not legally own or rent which we informed them in November 2012!

So I got an offer from another company (Vivint) and decided to change companies. When I called to cancel with Protection One, I was suddenly made aware that I had a 3-year contract with the company and they want $750 for me to cancel. They said it is clearly in the contract on the first page that I signed. I am in the process of looking for my copy; however, the salesperson was very deceptive in that I was never informed that I would have a 3-year contract nor that there would be a huge contract cancellation fee. Vivint made this clear from the beginning that it was a 3-year contract. So now I either have to pay $750 to Protection One or continue to pay on both systems, neither of which I can afford.

The Vivint sales guy offered to go 1/2 and 1/2 with me on the cancellation fee, which is what I'm leaning toward at this point just to be rid of Protection One for good. That is known as good customer service when there's a bad situation that you actually have no fault in to keep me as a customer. Vivint didn't have to do anything and yet they did. Another note on Protection One service. We had our new system installed within the last 3 weeks. Has Protection One even noticed that their system has been completely disabled in my home? No. I have had zero contact with them. How can they not notice if a system has been disabled nor take the time to at least contact me to find out what's going on? If I had a serious emergency and were relying on Protection One, I would either be dead or robbed blind.

Take my advice. Go elsewhere. Protection One is not worth the time, the money nor the hassle. On the other hand, if you're looking for great service, give Vivint a call.

I received a phone call from their collections dept. 2 weeks later. The woman informed me that we had to pay for an entire year since I did not cancel prior to the automatic renewal date of August 23rd! I asked her to send me the contract. She faxed me a copy of the contract I signed with Multimedia Security in 1994. I never entered into a contract with Protection One nor have I ever received notice prior to the automatic renewal date. I should not be held accountable for the renewal since I did call in July (but they had no record), and no one called me back. In addition, I am not going to pay for an entire year of monitoring services we will not receive since they cancelled the contract in September.

All was well for two days and we left town for a four-day vacation. When we arrived home, the alarm system was once again not working for the same reason. I called them and now they were giving me a five-day out appointment. I said that was unacceptable and requested my service to be cancelled immediately. I also sent the appropriate person an email officially requesting this cancellation. Then, I get a call from another rep saying that they see my equipment is 7 years old and they would be willing to completely update my system, bringing it up to current standards. I agreed to this if they could get it installed within 24 hours and I told the person they had 3 hours to get back to me before I went with another company (Pinnacle Security using Devcon, who said they would have the new service installed that same day). I called Protection One back after 3 hours to find out the person left work early to go home and had not done anything!

I officially canceled the service, called Pinnacle back and had a new, upgraded system installed that same day! I love the new service! Now, I am getting a bill from Protection One saying I owe them for the batteries and for 0 days of them not doing anything. After calling them and talking to Angela, a supervisor, who has terrible people skills, mainly listening skills, she kept talking over me and finally said that all they would do is to discount my bill by 25% (an admission of guilt if you ask me)! I told her she can come and pick up the bad batteries they installed but she refused. I told her to send me a revised bill showing the discount before I decide to pursue my fight to not pay them for poor service! I hope this helps someone decide to find a better company!

I pay the extra to cover this but keep getting told that this will not cover someone coming on the weekend for an emergency situation and that they will not waive the fee. On Friday, May 18, 2012, I called in once again to see what was going on with the alarm system. Over the phone, I was directed by someone from tech support on what to enter into the system to manually reset it (They stated on the line that they could not access the system remotely). Once that was done, the individual stated that system should be fine and working with no problem. I ended up arming the system for the night because I did not plan on going back out.

Later that night, I had an emergency come up, so I had to leave but when I entered in my code into the system, it would not accept my code. I tried that for a while and ended up calling the company where the representative continued to state that I must not be putting in the correct code. I asked was there a way for them to disarm the system remotely and she kept stating that they could try to do this, so I could go ahead and leave but it could take between 30 minutes and 3 hours for this request to be complete and at the same time, the alarm would be going off the whole time.

I advised that this was not an option because I had neighbors. She then stated that she could instruct me on how to turn the whole system from the box. She stated that there was a key on the box that would allow me to open it. There was no key. The rep kept stating that there was a key there, and since I did not see it, I should try to use a butter knife. I explained that a butter knife would not remove the bolts from the system. Representative then stated that there was nothing else she could do for me and that she was going to transfer the call to customer service to see if they could assist me.

Eventually, after speaking with customer service, they were able to remotely turn the system off. Even with that being done, I was not able to arm my system again when I left my home and I am still unable to use the system because it will not let me change my pass code. On Monday, May 21, 2012 I spoke with an account manager to close my account due to all of the issues that I have been having. The only answer I got is, they can send someone out and if I could not take off work, I would have to pay the extra charge for someone to come on the weekend because the insurance does not cover weekend assistance and to get out of the contract, I would have to pay the $75. I was then transferred to supervisor Taylor who said they could just credit me a month's service charge for being trapped in my home on Friday and due to the previous monthly issues that I have been having.

I am very angry and dissatisfied with this company because of the problems that I have been having and due to the lack of concern when I had an emergency to attend to but due to this company's alarm system, I was unable to leave my home at the time to take care of it. Due to the persistent issue, that should be grounds to release me from the contract, but the supervisor and account managers as well as representatives do not feel that way. I requested their corporate headquarters phone number but was only provided an address which I will be writing into, along with the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, and local media.

The pastor created a written agreement disclaiming any liability on the church, which was signed by them. The licensed electrician followed the wiring diagram provided by Protection 1 but the relays were fried. Several emails and text messages promised to issue the credit. This was in August 2011. We are now in January 2012 and no credit has been issued. When the church failed to pay for the next quarter's monitoring services because it had written agreement and supporting emails and texts, Protection 1 began its harassment of the pastor and his family.

The harassment got so bad the pastor had to change the phone number to the parsonage. When they figured out the parsonage phone number had changed, they started harassing the pastor on his cell phone at his place of employment. They have issued numerous collection notices thru the mail and emails. Even though their services were terminated in December because they defaulted on their written agreements, they are billing the church for services thru May 31, 2012. We filed a complaint with the BBB in Kansas. Protection 1 lied in its response. We have now filed complaints with the Department of Public Safety Private Security Division as well as the Texas Attorney General.

The service technicians who installed my security cameras could not get them to work and camped out in my house working on my laptop for two full days. On the second day, the man said he had to use the bathroom which I directed him to my guest bathroom. Well, he took a big dump in my bathroom and did not flush the toilet. Since I do not regularly use this bathroom, I did not notice until the bathroom started to stink up the whole house after a few days. Then I had to go in and clean up the biggest mess you ever saw. I was completely disgusted. In the end, the only problem with the cameras was that they were using an out-of-date router. After two full days of camping out in my house, they finally ordered the correct router and the cameras worked within 5 minutes of the new router being installed.

At some point, one of my cameras stopped working. I called Protection One and informed them of this. Again, I had to take time off of work to be home so that someone could pick up the malfunctioning camera. They would not allow me to ship it to them. They wanted me to take additional time off work to have someone deliver a new one and program it. Well, after my previous experiences, I did not want any more of their service people in my home. When the employee came by the house with the camera, I took it from him but did not let him in. I then called the company and had them program the camera over the phone. A simple matter of logging into the internet and entering the cameras' MAC ID and name. You can access the set up screen from your own account on the internet, but Protection One will not give you admin rights to set up your own equipment.

Recently, I decided I wanted to purchase two additional cameras. I called the company and I asked to place the order, but I asked that the cameras be shipped to me and that they be programmed via the internet prior to shipment. I spoke to someone name Fernando. This Fernando seemed to make it his mission to make this the most difficult task I would ever perform. He had a "screw you lady" attitude right from the very beginning, even though I was spending over $600 on a new equipment with his company. He told me the cameras could not be shipped, that I had to take time off of work to be home for them to be delivered and programmed.

When I asked why I couldn't take responsibility and have them shipped via FedEx or UPS, he got a huge attitude and refused to discuss this possibility. I said, I had laptops and flat screen TVs shipped to my house without any problem. He said, not from my company. After the cameras were ordered and had arrived, this Fernando called me to arrange a delivery time. Again, I tried to explain the difficulty of getting time off work. He abruptly told me he could ship them back if I didn't want them and I could reorder them when I am ready. I told him I did not want to send them back. I would not have ordered them if I didn't want them. I was simply trying to come up with a workable way of getting them since it was nearly impossible for me to get time off of work.

In the end, I told him I would have someone else at my house and arrange for a day. He gave me a time of noon to 5PM. I asked if a 5-hour window was really necessary and he said it was. So I called my daughter and she was only available from 1PM to 5PM. So I called Fernando back and said I could have someone at my house from 1-5 or another day. He said 1-5 was fine. So I asked, then a four hour window was acceptable then? He did not answer me. I feel that this employee was not trying to be helpful at all and was purposely trying to make things difficult for me. I wonder if I could not have had the cameras shipped to my home if I had simply been able to speak to someone more reasonable.

When the cameras were delivered, it was clear that they had not been pre-programmed as I had requested, so I had to make another phone call. The representative I spoke to was completely confused. Even though I gave her all my information, she did not seem to know what kind of system I had. I kept repeating, I just needed someone to log into the internet and program the cameras. Well, she ended up calling Fernando, who told her I now needed to have someone come out to my house at a cost of $95 for a service call and $105/hour to install the new cameras. I told her no. That I had this done over the phone before and that I did not want her to speak to this Fernando anymore.

She called another technician, who was also completely confused and said he needed to call Honeywell. Honeywell was closed for the day. She continued to call technicians and finally, called the technician who programmed the camera for me the first time over the phone. It took him literally less than 30 seconds to program my two new cameras after I read off the ID numbers to him. He did this over the phone and no one had to come to the house, after Fernando told me 100 times that it could not be done. I now had it done twice. If only you're willing to age 20 years to get it done.

I didn't realize until today, when I tried to cancel, that the contract on paper was completely different from what the salesperson sold me on the phone. I called the customer service and asked them to pull up the recorded conversation. Conveniently, every call recorded option didn't worked in my case; the phone call was not recorded. If it had been, they would have found that the salesperson very blatantly lied to me.

I cannot renew the contract in my new place because I am not allowed to install a security system per HOA rules. Most contracts offer an out if you are unable to fulfill the requirements of the contract. Now, I have to keep paying the monthly charge for something I can't use or pay $750 to cancel. Even cell phone contracts are only $250, plus they prorate the $250 over the two months! As a result, I am obliged to pay a $750 cancellation fee in this economy.

I finally reached someone in November 2009 who worked with me over the phone to reprogram remotes. It didn't work. He asked me if I have the right receiver. I didn't know. He sent a tech who said that the original agent was wrong--my remotes only work with the system in the old house. He further told me that I needed to buy more equipment. Then he put me on the phone with the local office.

Protection One gave me multiple quotes; the first one almost $300! As I declined, the price went down. When I said I was going to another service because I'm taking care of my father with Alzheimer's and couldn't devote hours of my days/weeks to Protection One, the agent on phone asked, "Will you stay with us, if there was no cost for equipment?" I agreed.

Another tech came out the next day, and the receiver was installed. But the installer presented me with a 3-year contract extension, which I declined. He called the office. Several people called me back, each one telling me that I couldn't have receiver/remotes without a 3-year contract. Note that I didn't have a 3-year contract to begin with and there was no mention of a new contract when I was told that a receiver was being installed.

Next day, the installer came to remove the receiver. I got more phone calls from the office. Meanwhile, I signed up with another service. Protection One called again. They wanted to send back the installer a third time! I told them I was with another company. The response from the Protection One agent was that they'll harass me indefinitely, if I don't let the installer come out again and sign contract extension and that I'd get many bills, collections, credit ruined, threats, threats, etc.

My life revolved around Protection One and my father being in and out of the hospital. I received two final bills: one for $200, another for $313. Again, just like the cost of receiver, they are more disparate figures.

I contacted the Better Business Bureau. There was no response. But then the phone calls started. I started getting phone calls 4 times per day (2 on each phone line). In October 2010, my lawyer wrote a cease and desist. Rosalinda ** agreed to cease and desist, but the number of phone calls each day doubled. As required by law to commence a cease and desist, I answered several subsequent phone calls, but they were all automated. I have screen shots of every phone call made to my cell phone. I also have the dates and names of everyone who called me and the gist of the conversations.

Now, February 2011, I received a notice that they're sending my account to collections. Note that this has been going on for 2 years. I relied on the original agent's assurance that my remotes would work in the new house with only over-the-phone reprogramming needed. I made dozens of phone calls between March 2009 and November 2009 to reprogram remotes, all of which resulted in multiple transfers before being hung up on. Then I got shaken down for money via countless phone calls and agents, pressured into contract extensions, then threatened with harassment and my credit tarnished.

In 2010, the present owner of the business found out that the cost for Protection One was almost double that of another local company.He changed the security system in the building. He did not sign the original contract, so he is not responsible in any way for fees Protection One is trying to collect, saying they did not receive 2 months notice of cancellation.

When the contract was cancelled, they tried to keep it in force by offering to match the price of the new Security company and did not say that there was a 2 months notice requirement. Since the contract was cancelled by the new business owner who did not sign the original contract, they should not have accepted the cancellation without notifying the building owner. They did not. So in essence, they are at fault.

They continue to harass both the present owner of the business, who does not own the building and the previous owner, who signed the contract quite a long time ago and who has not owned the business that occupies the building for over 10 years. Protection One has harassed the previous business owner for almost a year, making repeated phone calls, sometimes as often as three times a day to their home phone.

Repeated explanations have failed to correct their attempts to collect about $400 for what they claim is due because of failure to notify cancellation, 2 months before terminating their service. We challenge their claim. We the owner of the building was never once called about a 2 month cancellation requirement and only learned of this when repeatedly harassing phone calls have made to the owner of the building. He is now willing to contact a lawyer and pursue undue harassment on the part of Protection One.

They are at fault for accepting cancellation from the non-signer of the contract and have harassed the owner of the building in spite of explanations made by phone to them. We are fed up with phone calls, two and three times every single day. After reading the many complaints filed against this company, it is probable that action on our part against them will be likely.

If they don't receive the cancellation in time or acknowledge that they received it, they will renew again and I will be forced to another year. Numerous complaints appear on the Web indicating that they use this tactic to force renewals as they deny receiving the notice of request to cancel. The address they provide for the letter is a P.O. box so how can you confirm receipt if no one is there to sign it? This is a baiting tactic. Terminating the service now will cost me out-of-pocket expenses.

I didn't realize until a month ago when I tried to cancel that the contract on paper was completely different than what the salesperson sold me on the phone. I called the customer service and asked them to pull up the recorded conversation. Conveniently, the every call is recorded option didn't work in my case. The phone call was not recorded. If it had been, they would have found that the salesperson very blatantly lied to me. I cannot renew the contract in my new place because I am not allowed to install a security system per HOA rules. Most contracts offer you an out if you are unable to fulfill the requirements of the contract. Now I have to keep paying the monthly charge for something I can't use or pay $750 to cancel. Even cell phone contracts are only $250, plus they prorate the $250 over the 2 months!

They continued to withdraw from my bank until the bank was informed to stop all payments to that account since it was already closed. Protection One had no further communication with me regarding the said account. I received a letter in the mail from Asset Resources, Inc., a collection agency, demanding payment for balance owed to Protection One. I spoke with a Steve. He claimed to be a Supervisor. He was rude, out of control, disrespectful, and shouting over the phone. He continued to threaten me regarding this matter to the Credit Report Department. I responded to him that I needed to speak with Protection One to understand what situation or circumstances had occurred that was unknown to me.

I placed a call to Protection One at 17:15 pm Eastern Time and spoke with Michelle. She was informed that I was extremely disappointed with a company that had my account for many years and failed to communicate with me had there been a dispute with me terminating the service. I moved from that address August 1, 2009. The Post Office had my new address and all my mails are being delivered timely. The California home telephone # was disconnected. However, my cell # remained the same. At no time did I receive a call or a letter indicating a dispute. I then spoke with Jennifer, a Supervisor, from 17:45 pm to 18:00, Eastern Time. According to her, I signed a contract and am responsible for the term of the contract. I had an initial contract, and after 20 years, why would a contract be needed, was my comment.

There was never at any time a late payment. I believed that Protection One failed to notify me by telephone or in writing since August 2009, and when I communicated with them in October 2009. As a paying and employed consumer, I have the right to be treated fairly. This situation has given me heart palpitations and a headache. I requested another Supervisor in an attempt to try and resolve this lack of communication. Lisa spoke with me from 18:00pm to 18:50pm. At this time, I was very exhausted and informed her that I will make a complaint in writing and report this situation to the News Media. She questioned if that would give me satisfaction. I believe that the public need to know that loyalty is not as important to some companies as money. Lisa promised that she would be in touch with me this week by Friday 2, 2010. She was given my home and cell telephone number. I am now retired, and paying for a service that was cancelled is a hardship for me in an economic time such as this.

In April of 2009, I wrote them a letter explaining that the system still was not working and hadn't worked since Sept. of 2008. I also explained that my husband had lost his job in 2008, I lost my job in March of 2009 and we were unable to continue to pay for a service that wasn't working. We received no response. I did continue to pay for the service until October of 2009 when we ran out of money. In January someone called and we requested once again to cancel the service. They said they would send us a card to cancel it. This went on once or twice a month until April 26 when I finally requested a card and they sent one out. I returned the card, they responded saying they received it. On May 6 I was sent an invoice for $359.10 for monitoring services until April of 2011. All this for a system that worked correctly for only 7 months.

Of course I was livid and complained, but to no avail. I made my initial complaint to the then CEO Annette Beck. When I inquired later (after she had left the position), the lady I spoke to indicated that Annette Beck's notes did not indicate that I called about termination, but a problem with service. I never had a problem with service because I was not residing in the house. This company is nothing but a vulture and not willing to resolve issues in the interest of fairness!

My daughter and her husband got dressed and drove over to my home. My daughter entered the locked front door and found that the alarm key pad had been ripped off the wall. She continued on and discovered that some of the drawers of my jewelry armoire in my master bedroom had been gone through and a couple of them were lying on the floor. In addition, my dresser drawers had been rifled through and my safe which was bolted to the floor was pried up and taken. Upon further inspection, she found that the thief had broken a window in my family room to gain entrance.

Protection One called my house once again, I believe because the front door had been opened and asked if everything was okay. My daughter informed them the house had been broken into. They then asked her if she wanted them to call the police to which she said yes. The safe contained all of my fine jewelry, most of which was purchased in the 1970’s and 1980’s as well as my will, the pink slips to my vehicles, some old coins left to me by my parents and some wrapped silver dollars I had been saving. My daughter also kept her jewelry in the safe and a collection of $2 bills.

A week later at about 4:30 in the afternoon, I decided to air out my room and opened the window in my master bedroom. About three minutes later, my phone rang. Protection One was calling because they said there was an alarm that was going off. I explained to them that I had been robbed one week prior and there wasn’t even a keypad on the wall. I hung up the phone only to hear my cellphone ring. Another representative told me that I needed to supply them with the okay code. When I gave her the code, she said that it was wrong. I informed her that it was the correct code and that the original code (which was a number) had been changed a couple of years ago to a word. Apparently, this monitoring station didn’t get the change and called the police. When the police arrived, I had to prove my residency. Funny how Protection One didn’t feel it necessary to call the police at 12:30 in the morning but felt it necessary at 4:30 in the afternoon. To add injury to insult, I also received a bill from Protection One that same day for $95.00. The bill was for technical services.

I feel that Protection One failed to protect me. I pay a monthly fee to this company to monitor their alarm system and for what? They didn’t call the police even though they were informed that no one was home and they couldn’t explain what an extension module failure was. I spoke to my neighbors who said they never heard an alarm siren sound. The thief crossed in front of a motion sensor on the way to the master bedroom and ripped the sensor off the back door I believed when he left my home. In addition, they put my daughter in a potentially dangerous situation. They told her there was no alarm going off, that it was an extension module failure. I’m thankful that by the time she entered my home the thief was gone.

My daughter and I were not only robbed of our possessions but of our sense of security too. I am now installing window guards on my home costing thousands of dollars. A Protection One technician came to my home on 10/22/09 to check my alarm and told me and my neighbor the alarm was working and had been armed and should have gone off. I asked for a report. He said it will be mailed to me.

The day after the technician was in our house I noticed the theft. The bottle of ** and bottle of ** were gone. My husband contacted Protection One immediately and was told that they would look into it. We never heard back from them. I called three times over the last six months and never got a call back. Today I spoke with the regional manager who told me that an internal investigation was performed and that he can assure me their technicians were not at fault. He would not tell me the details of their internal investigation. Lovely. So, basically what he was saying was that we stole our own medication and they are not at fault. Do not let these people in your home, and if you do, do not leave them unsupervised.

Protection one has sent me bills through out the whole time. I started out with a credit on my account of two months. I've talked to dozens of people who all assured me it was taken care of. Now I get a bill for almost 250.00 stating I owe them for their basic alarm system. On the billing for the equipment I paid for; $1164.00 plus another 150.00 for the cell feature. They state the basic system is exclusively theirs. The itemized statement I have clearly includes their basic system. I feel Protection one is clearly out to rob me.

Loss of credit of payments, these people are driving me crazy!

This has caused me severe mental trauma and physical anguish. Also I had to pay $318.00 in the settlement as well.