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Defender Direct Protect Your Home FRADULENT BILLING PRACTICES Indianapolis, Indiana
Defender Direct is an authorized dealer for ADT. My alarm system was installed
in Sept. 2012 by a youngman named Adam who presented himself as an employee of
ADT. In Nov. 2012 I learned that my contact with ADT was purchased by Protect
Your Home aka Defender Direct. I've received several letters (not invoices) from
Defender Direct asking to be reimburse for a Permit Fee.
According to Defender
Direct the permit fee is charged by my city, municipiality, and state. The
letter states; Defender Direct paid the permit fees on my behalf and now I owe
them. I currently live in Cincinnati,Ohio.
I've verified with the city that they
do not charge nor collect permit fees for home security systems. I've tried on
several occassions (each time I've received a letter) to explain this to
Defender Direct. The customer service rep. always, always becomes very agitated,
angry, and rude with me.
I simply state I'm not paying for this bogus charge and
hang up. They are very consistent because a few short weeks later, I receive
another letter from them. The first letter I received attempting to collect a permit
fee was for approximately $60.00. All subsequent letters have increased in dollar
amount. The most recent letter I've received
is dated 01/11/2013 with an amount due of; $1,127.23 for a non existent permit fee.
I don't reside in a mansion, nor do I have
antique furniture, expensive paintings or other luxury items. To date, I've
never received a bill from Defender Direct. I called to inquire why I have never
received a bill. I've only received letters re: this bogus permit fee. I was
advised my account did not qualify for billing. I said to the customer service rep. "you can not be serious".
I saw an ad in a neighborhood paper for an ADT home security system. The
install fee was only $99.00
I thought it was a bargin. Everyone I spoke with
initially represented themselves as employees of ADT. Unfortunately, I found out
too much that "in the ad" it mentions PROTECT YOUR HOME an authorized dealer of
ADT.
I don't believe I am the only person that has a negative experience with
this company. I'm cancelling my contract and moving on to a more reptuable
company. This is a typical example of buyer beware. The business practices are unethical and borderline illegal.
2 Updates & Rebuttals
swwade
Cincinnati,Ohio,
Just the facts!
#3Author of original report
Wed, May 29, 2013
Re: Permit Fees WE read the contract, did you? The contract states Permit Fees as required by City, State, Municipaility-neither of the three (3) in the state where WE reside require or collect permit fees. We are required to register our alarm which was done in Sept. 2012. We started receiving invoices and phone calls from Defender Direct on Sept. 12, 2012 requesting payment for the Permit Fees. We sent documentation from our city, state, & municipality which indicated PERMIT FEES ARE NOT REQUIRED. Unfortunately, Defender Direct continued to call us and send invoices for the Permit Fees. Defender Direct continued to contact us attempting to collect the Permit Fees until Feb. 2013 when we notified the State Attorney General of Indiana about the "collection tactics" of this company. Defender Direct is trying to spread rumors, so we had to STATE THE FACTS. CONSUMER BE WARE!!!
Dark
Indianapolis,Indiana,
Inside city Limits
#3UPDATE Employee
Wed, May 29, 2013
For those of you not aware the government is in a bit of a financial pickle. This goes all the way down from washington to your local courthouse.
Do you realize how much of a pain it is to have to file permits for alarm systems?
Do you realize that no matter what provider of security you go through you will have to have one?
Do you realize that if you don't have the permit the city can fine you THOUSANDS of dollars in false alarm fees?
Do you realize that your permit was only $60.60 and that while it is not super cheap it is perfectly reasonable considering the city of cincinnati requires it? See below Link
http://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/police/permits-auctions-references/false-alarm-reduction-unit/
Do you realize it will cost you $900.00 the first time your Unregistered system has a false alarm?
Do you realize that if your credit is less than stellar any company investing hundreds of dollars into YOUR home up front is going to want some sort of guarantee that you'll actually pay the bill?
Do you realize that there are places around the country where you have to pay more than 100 dollars up front for a permit?
Did you even read the paperwork that you signed when you had the system installed?
If the answer to all of these questions wasn't a resounding yes then perhaps you should think before you make ridiculous and inaccurate accusations.