Complaint Review: APX/APEX Alarm Security Solutions Inc.

Ripoff Report Verified REVIEW:

EDitors UPDATE: Positive rating and recognition has been given to APX Alarm for its commitment to excellence in customer service.

Ripoff Reports discussions with the company have uncovered an ongoing commitment to total customer satisfaction. You can expect to have any questions or concerns that you have with them to be answered and resolved in a timely manner. They have shown us their customer service process, and it reflects a desire to serve customers, as well as fix problems.

The company's management specifically told us about how their job is to simplify lives and help people to live intelligently. The management really wants every person who buys a system to feel valued. The concern for each customer's experience starts at the top, and is reflected in the action of every employee they hire.

The company also works to monitor their sales and customer support calls to see how they can be improved. They use these calls as examples for employees in training. Currently, Vivint is working to make changes to their contracts to make things easier for their customers as they have found that many of their complaints stem from feeling misled or customers paid fees they did not feel they authorized.

Ripoff Report Verified .. part of Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business..


Statements from company executives

"We are committed to making homes safe for families. With advanced early detection systems, many home fires are preventable and can be stopped in the beginning stages, saving lives. We have a plan for every family and every budget, and whether you choose our most basic or expanded services, you can be sure of our top quality technology and expert customer support.

STATED IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE COMPANY.

We have simplified our customer service process to decrease the amount of time that a customer has to wait before speaking with a representative. Our customer service will look at your contract, listen to recorded phone calls, and make sure to get to the bottom of your issue to resolve things THE RIGHT WAY. We want customer's to have a positive experience, and we understand that sometimes customer's fall on hard times. We're willing to work with all of our customers. Their experience and safety are our primary concerns.

Read more about why consumers should feel confident when doing business with a member of Rip-off Report's Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program. Yes, its a long name for a program that does a lot for both consumers and businesses alike.

Read about Ripoff Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program,.. A program that benefits the consumer, assures them of complete satisfaction and confidence when doing business with a member business. this program works.

As a matter of policy, when a business becomes a member of the Corporate Advocacy Programthey agree to allow Ripoff Report to contact every client who filed a complaint so they can make things right with them. In order to confirm that the complaints were resolved, Ripoff Report is copied on all responses so we can insure that the member business did right by their customer..

NOW TO THE ORIGINAL REPORT THAT WAS FILED

----------------------------------- AXP/APEX Alarm Security Solutions, Inc. APX Alarm Bait and Switch Tactics! Provo Utah

You APX/APEX, (whatever it is today), guys really take the cake. Do a simple Google search for 'consumer complaints APX APEX Security and see what comes up. Go to the Utah BBB and search the same. There are HUNDREDS of complaints nationwide. There are (as of June 11, 2008) 931 BBB complaints in the last 36 months! And your biggest concern is being called a Mormon??? And for the fool who considered being called a Mormon, when you ARE a Mormon, derogatory; Huh? What the hell was your point? A Christian is a Christian, a Jew is a Jew, a Protestant is a Protestant, etc etc. Your kind of elitist attitude is part and parcel the problem. Seeing as the majority of APX/APEX employees and owners are Mormons, it is entirely acceptable to categorize the company's actions and employees as, "You Mormons".

You're working for, or have worked for, an organization whose basic business model appears to be the wholesale fleecing of America's citizens. I had a salesman come to my home last week to sell APX services. Normally I toss salesmen off my property but my wife and I just happened to be in the market for a system to replace our non functional ancient system. So I let him in to talk...after keeping him standing out in the cold wind for 20 minutes. In those 20 minutes he told me no less than 10 times that a system would be installed "absolutely at no cost to you just for helping us out with advertising by placing a couple signs on your lawn". I live on a corner lot so it made sense for a company to want high visibility.

In the house, my wife and I talked with the salesman (Brandon or something like that...he made it a point to leave no card) for an hour. Again, he stated no less than 5 more times there was "no cost to you whatsoever". We decided we wanted to utilize the existing wiring for the old alarm system. It covered every door, every window, even three storage doors on the side of the house used to store lawnmowers and such. He said "the Vista system is robust and can handle that noooo problem."

THEN he got to the end of the nice long pink contract and said, "For helping us out (he used that statement more times than I can recall) the normal monitoring fee has been reduced to just $39.99!" I said. "Whoa whoa whoa. Back that crooked truck up! You said it was free." He tried to tell us he meant the hardware and we jumped all over him. I asked him why he felt the need to be deceptive and asked him why he didn't believe in his product enough to be honest. No answer.

We normally NEVER make decisions without researching but we had seen the APX sign on some of our neighbors houses and figured that between the reasonable price and our neighbors having the service it would be OK this once. Man were WE wrong!

No sooner had we agreed in writing to accept the service that the salesman played with his Blackberry under the table and moments later the doorbell rang. Low and behold lookie there...4 installers who just "happened" to be down the street.

In the ruckus of the installers dragging in buckets and boxes, the salesman slipped out. Things were moving along normally, other than the fact it was getting to be late evening and I hadn't eaten dinner, when the 'lead' installer came to me holding an inverted control panel with a blinking red light. He explained the Vista panel (so highly touted by the salesman) worked off a cellular GSM network and it couldn't get a signal. (I work for Sprint as a technician so am no dummy when it comes to such things). I said, "And???" He explained he had another panel that WOULD work. I asked how it was possible one would work and one wouldn't. He said he didn't know but it just did. There was a snag tho, says the installer. It can't handle the 13 points of coverage agreed upon in the contract.

By this time, I'm tired after a full day of work, I'm hungry, I'm cranky. I told him to just install the d**n thing and I'd deal with it tomorrow. After they beat a hasty retreat, my wife and I decided the system wasn't a good fit for us and would simply cancel the next day. As the contract HAS to offer a 3 day right to cancel per FTC guidelines, we figured we had no problems.

The next day I called APX/APEX and told them I wanted to cancel. The woman offered me free service for a couple months but if I wanted more equipment to cover the missing points, it would be more money. I asked how it was possible now to have those missing points covered when I was told the non-Vista panel couldn't do it. She said "we have ways." I still insisted I wanted to cancel.

I prepared a written letter (as instructed) explaining why I wanted to cancel and signed and dated the bottom portion of the contract made for that purpose, and got it into the mail. I called APX/APEX to let them know it was on the way and the woman who answered said, "Ohhhh. I sure hope it makes it in time. Didn't our rep tell you yesterday that you could have faxed it?" Noooooooo! She didn't!

THEN on May 29th, again in the evening, I receive a call from what I can only surmise is someone from a Retentions Dept. His name was Taylor. Seemed like a nice enough guy. He too launched into offering the sun and moon. Nope. Thanks. Nope. Thanks. I told him I really don't have any problems with the company other than the deceptive sales practice by the salesman and the fact the equipment isn't capable of fulfilling the contractual obligations. (It works both ways if you guys at APX/APEX are reading this!) I get bounced to someone telling me an installer will be at my home the coming Monday to install additional equipment? Huh?

I tried over the weekend to call but Taylor obviously doesn't work weekends. So, I call early Monday morning and tell them to cancel the installer and cancel my *#$@! contract. AGAIN I'm offered the sun, moon, and stars to stay.

I tried calling Taylor from Monday to Wednesday when I finally got him...after being offered the same sun, moon, and stars by whomever took the call before handing it to Taylor.

Our conversation started out good enough...but deteriorated fast. "No we are NOT going to cancel the contract. You reversed the cancellation." I asked Taylor if he had it in writing and he told said, "No. It's recorded." I said, "How is it you can record my conversation without asking my permission or informing me you're doing it?" He flatly replied, "It isn't a federal requirement."

I told him I was going to have my bank refuse withdrawl of any more funds from them. (APX/APEX quick snagged $44.99 the very next day after the 'install'). He said, "We'll send it to collections." Just like that. Threatening me. I said good. I have a contract signed not just by ME but also by YOUR sales rep stating you will install one type of system and you can't do it and we'd see how it played out in court. (I believe I also threatened to create a YouTube video. I was pretty d**n mad at his snotty arrogant attitude at this point.) The conversation ended there.

My bank it turns out will charge me a fee for blocking withdrawls...for EACH instance. And that's not foolproof because APX/APEX can simply change the amount by a penny and it will slip past my banks computers. So I now have to close the checking account I've had for 10 years, and reopen another one with low numbered checks. Nice. Thanks. So much for my credit rating. I'm willing to let it take the hit before I pay that slimey organization one more penny.

So, for anyone researching APX/APEX?...RUN THE OTHER WAY! GET THEM OUT OF YOUR HOUSE AND DON"T SIGN ANYTHING!

Greg Kenosha, Wisconsin
U.S.A.