Complaint Review: Detech Fire Sense Technologies Magnum ATI Southern Atlantic Safety

 Just to set the record straight for the guy who posted about Detech smoke detectors being "ionization"- he is WRONG. I have the boxes that the rep left- they clearly say "OPTICAL"- and when you remove the black smoke chamber you can see the optic lens(I think that's what its called). My opinion is just that, an opinion and for what its worth I feel I got value for my money. Yeah, $250 seemed like a lot up front, but I broke it down to cost per year/warranty- so 12 bucks a year- based on the 20 year warranty. I also have some heat detectors which I have not been able to find anywhere else.  My neighbor the fire inspector thought they were great. Enough for me. You need to make your own judgements, and maybe this Florida group isnt the most ethical. But the guy I dealt with was straightforward and decent. Midwestern people have more values than some!(IMHO)

Like many of the consumers who have posted here, my wife, daughter and I were one of the many who listened to presentations by a DeTech representative (noted by the DeTech shirt he wore to our presentations).  We signed up to win Disney on Ice tickets at a local buffet and were later called to set up an appointment to listen to a "no-obligation/no-sales" presentation about fire safety.  Sounds like a good idea...appointment set.  On the first presentation I will agree that there was a lot of information to build their defense to better protect our family against fires. 

This was done by showing us a 15 minute video about a family who had lost their daughter in a fire, along with images of fire scenes where a young child was found deceased after a fire and her body outline was left in her crib.  Very graphic to say the least.  We agreed to have them come back after being offered a gift card to a restaurant of our choice.  Last night we had our second presentation which DID turn into a sales pitch.  Having a "First Responder" background, and being a former police officer and a current manager for a nationwide SAFETY company what I am about to say is my own personal OPINION of DeTech Fire Systems:

DeTech has good intentions and I have no reason to believe their equipment isn't superior equipment.  The presenters were very kind and I am not here to attack their professional demenor, HOWEVER:

- I can purchase the IDENTICAL fire extinguisher at a fraction of the cost in a retail market

- DeTech smoke alarms are ionization alarms (which only are good for open flame), if you read report, after report statistical studies show that the best alarm to have in a RESIDENTIAL setting is a combination Photoelectric/Ionization

- You cannot put a cost on my families safety, however when I can pay a fraction of the cost for the same (or in specific circumstances, better) equipment I will purchase that.

- They did show a report that 35% of the time alarms will not function properly, without intentionally setting a fire, how can they guarantee that their equipment isn't the same

- The second presentation did turn into a sales pitch which put a sour taste in my mouth about their tactics.

Bottom line, if you don't mind sitting through a very informative (but graphic) guilt trip of a presentation for some free tickets, gas card, dinner certificate and can turn down a heavy sales pitch it's a good presentation and will open your eyes. DeTech is not a bad company, they are just like any other sales company out there trying to sell their overly priced merchandise to consumers.

It seems like I hit a sore spot with you.  Questioning my ethics?  My ethics cost me a very lucrative career in ripping people off( long story, nobody cares).  I think you took too much offense to my "burn" metaphor, and that's just what it was, a metaphor.  Hiding behind a keyboard???  Now please, this is a low blow.  I wasn't provided a phone number by a Detech salesperson.  I have no legitimate connection at all to her purchase, didn't you read my original post?  All I can really do is "hide" behind my keyboard and whine about the predatory, pressure, and force tactics of a company selling average products at a premium price.  If only one person thinks twice from reading these posts, then I feel better for speaking up.  I have also done as much as possible to share my experience with "real people" in Palm Coast.  Apparently, others are taking my words seriously.

Angry Phil

Just to share my experience with Dave Meadors, you can take from this what you will. Just wanted to give some more information on the subject matter of Detech equipment, and their sales tactics from the company S.A.S. Specialists (on his business card and Im guessing they are the Southern Atlantic Safety that others mention) www.sasspecialists.com

My wife and I too attended an educational session at a friends house, like the others, with the same $40 gas card and $25 dinner card.

We also felt as though we didnt learn anything about how to help ourselves in a fire situation, but that whatever fire detection we had was worthless. Dave did the presentation and came off as very arrogant and blunt; using fear of losing children and focusing more on those couples more so than my wife and I.

As you might guess, we dont have any children yet. After the session was over, he did the spiel about coming to your house to look at your individual needs (which I totally agree with, every house is different) and that he would only be around for the next three days; that he would be too busy and not in the area, etc. etc. just like the others said. So I had no problem letting him come out, because I had the time and I was more curious about their products and what kind of devices I would need and where. I have no doubt he somewhat knows what hes talking about, I just think their business tactics of fear, act now or never, and blatant price gouging is where theyre going wrong.

And heres my reasoning behind the act now or never and the price gouging. Dave came to our house, a little over 30 minutes later than scheduled, no big deal, but immediately said that his partner had bailed on him. I said he bailed on you? in a friendly manner and his response was something along the lines of his partner had something come up, like his kid got sick or something. Then we came into my house and he told my wife the same thing about his partner bailing on him but without any hesitation said that his kid was sick more confidently. So from my shoes, it sounded like he made it up when I prompted him about the issue as he was getting out of his car, then was for sure about it when he met my wife. Children seem to be a pressure point they work at, but doesnt work well on me yet. Im 26 and have no children.

So then we walked around the house after being shown the devices and he suggested every place they should go. Our house needed seven devices, 2 heat detectors, 5 regular detectors. We then sat down and he pitched us the package that would work for us which was around $2700, but could be about $2500 if we paid in cash or check. I told him I couldnt spend that kind of money so quickly after learning about it so soon. I told him that I have had experiences in the past that I bought something quickly and regretted it a little because of the price I ended up paying. So that was my reasoning for not committing. Then he went into the lowering price tactic. He basically said he didn't really notice how well our house was laid out with the high open ceiling in the center of the house and how it could help (loved this part). He knocked off one regular detector in the living room and left the heat detector alone, then removed the hallway detector because anything there would flow into the living room ceiling setting that one off. He also removed the spare bed room detector because we werent using it.

So now we were down to four detectors, and the price was about $1800 or $1600 if we paid in cash or check. He also said that if we had a ladder, he could put them up right then as it only takes about 10 minutes.

So lets say it took him an hour to put them all up anyways, and I paid him $200 for that hour for labor. That would be a ridiculous amount right? That leaves $1400 left for the 4 detectors and the freebees they throw in (1 CO detector, 1 fire extinguisher and something else I cant remember). I dont see the technology in them being worth anywhere near that much. And the heat detector isnt even electronic; its a spring loaded device thats made from steel.

Some other things that I thought about; might be worth you thinking about too:

At one point he said they dont like the chained smoke detectors, because when one goes off, they all go off, and you have no clue where the fire is. Well ok, if you cant tell where its at by the time you reach your living room, it might be small enough to put out yourself. If not, you probably have plenty of time to escape in which you wouldnt care where
its at. Their detectors are not connected to one another, so they go off independently. So if my back bedroom, on the opposite side of the house, down the curved hallway catches fire in the middle of the night, the alarm in there might not wake me up because its too far away to hear. Now Im wasting precious seconds in their 1-2 minute window of escape time. It would have to consume that room and move into other areas of the house before we would be alerted, so I dont know entirely what to think about that scenario.

He is also called Sr. V.P. - Operations on his business card. Apparently that involves running the show at the education sessions, the sales pitching at your house, and then the installation right after you agree to it. Educator, salesman, installer; guess thats what a V.P. means in that company. He also drove an Altima to our house, not sure if that means hes telling the truth when hes not on commission, or if its a rental car\company car to sell the illusion if so. Said he lives about 3 hours away. You can formulate your own opinion there. Just more of an FYI.

I will say Dave was much more reserved and less pushy at our house than at the educational session. It didnt take much
talking to let him know I wanted to wait and think about it and he did not push after the second pitch. He gave me his business card and headed on his way to the next house and I thanked him very much so for his time. I knew going into
the thing I wasnt going to buy their products if it was anything over say $500. When you add in the no children part, he might have given up easier because he figured it was a waste of time to try harder on us. He can probably tell by now which parents will buy and which wont.

What Im probably going to do within a couple months is replace my existing smoke detectors (five interconnecting ionization types about 11 years old) with five 2 in 1 photoelectric and ionization style detectors. Those run about $30-40. Then I might add a heat detector in my laundry room (once I look into it more), as it not only has the washer and dryer in it, but the hot water heater, the air handler and electric service panel. That one runs about $35. All in all I would be looking at minor work replacing my interconnecting ones with new ones that interconnect as well; then adding a new one into the setup all for under $250. I just dont see where they get the $1800 and $2700 figures as suggested. Unless they come every 10 years to replace them again, but if so, that would have been an awfully good selling point that I never heard in the pitch.

All in all I have to say it was a semi-positive experience because I wont feel bad about buying from such a questionable company. I did learn a couple of things, more so on my own than from the educational session; but it lead me to look into what I actually have as protection that I would have otherwise been oblivious to for years. Hopefully you found this
informative and can decide for yourself if you meet Dave Meadors or anyone else as S.A.S.

Final note, I waited until I got the gift cards to post all this. I did get a $25 Wal-Mart card and a $25 Darden restaurant card, ready to use. Then the gas card was another send away with a few more steps and $10 increments.

you must be quite the ethical guy to suggest someone should "burn" Just that statement alone shows anyone who reads your sentiments that you are simply one who hides behind a keyboard. If you tryly have a complaint, then yuo really should contact the company- and i think the detech guy gave you his corporate phone number. Regardless of the quality of their stuff I do not understand how anyone can take your complaints seriously when you make statements like you do. shame on you.

It's been a while since I've checked on this thread but I'm glad I did.  An official response from detech? We should feel so honored.  Be assured, disgruntled employees have labeled themselves as such, as well as ex-wives.  The only one who has not labeled themselves accurately is detech themselves.  A respectable company? BBB accredited?... and not claiming a responsibility for their regional representatives???   Just another fine print disclaimer.  Lucky for detech, I am just an anonymous "trash talker", if it were my money on the line, I would've gotten it back.  My mother is one to tread water rather than make waves, and despite all my efforts has refused to take action against this company.  I was genuinely lifted to read that others experienced the same occurrence and followed a better path because of what I (and others) wrote.  Pass the word, tell your friends, and hopefully these guys will "burn".

Angry Phil

My wife and I were notified we won tickets to a Sesame Street concert for our daughter several weeks after we signed up for this drawing at a Detech booth at a kids fair we went to. Cool, and all we had to do was listen to the representative about fire safety and like other reviewers said there were some scare tactics used here. That was it. Nothing about their products, nice. So we did and after the fire safety presentation I scheduled another appointment to learn about their products and that presentation went well too. The representative was really nice and seemed trustworthy! Then comes the price! We ended up getting the lowest package that included the central alarm unit, 3 smoke detectors, 1 heat detector and 1 fire extinguisher for the low price of around $1200, sarcasm, that we would pay in 4 monthly payments.  He said he is not allowed to do this but since he thought we were nice that he would allow us to make several payments.The original price was much higher but we brought the price down after "negotiating". The packages go up into the thousands of dollars! If we bought what they recommended we needed for our house it would cost around $3,700 for smoke and fire protection! He also went through the process of us being able to sell these to others or have group demonstrations at our house too. Seemed a little shady. Next, I asked if we could think about it for a few days and that triggered a quick responce of "no, this is a one time deal". Again, shady. I read through the contract and saw that you can cancel within three days after signing, which he did not show us when we went through the paper work, so I figured okay we do need new smoke detectors and I can cancel tomorrow if I want to. Guess what, I did! I compaired their special Fire Sence technology that only they are supposed to have to some of the GE brand smoke detectors. Same thing only the GE ones are around $50 to $60 compared to the Detech low price of $250 a piece ones! By the way, the main unit panel that DeTech uses is actually a GE Simon XT control unit that they just put the Detech sticker on the front! I new I had to check this out when I saw the rep bring in a GE box and take the unit out and install it.  Look up the GE Simon XT and all of the features it has that Detech doesn't sell like motion sensors, window sensors, water sensors and more all for a fraction of what Detech sells just for fire protection! You can have so much more home protection by using the GE products or other home security products than what Detech offers. When I brought this to the reps attention he started to get defensive like he was getting backed into a corner. I gave him part numbers of two other brands that use the same if not better technology in their fire detectors at a fraction of the cost of theirs and he said he will look into it and call the main office and call me back. I told him to call me back today because I was going to cancel the contract. He didn't like that. He called me back in ten minutes and said he will stop by later in the evening to pick up the equipment and tear up the contract. He did and I'm glad. So in summary, eventhough the rep was nice, scare tacticts and "act now" pressure was used for a ridiculously repackaged over-priced inferior product. So, buyer beware and do your research!
    To Mr. Michael J. Hafeman of DeTech, your prducts are inferior and cost many times more than others. That is what makes them a ripoff. Not your sales tactics, BBB rating or belonging to the Direct Selling Association.  Your salesmen/saleswomen compare older smoke detector technology to your product which in turn makes it look great, but maybe try to compare your detectors to other brands that have the same technology, which has been standard for some time now. I didn't need to contact your office to file a complaint because I cancelled your product. I still have the ripped up contract and check with pictures of your equipment that I took so you cannot say that I am not decribing your product. If you want to respond to this you can but I think I have given others enough information so that they can compare your product to others.

Thank You,
    -Mike

Today, I filed my own Rip-off Report in regards to my experience with Southern Atlantic Safety (Report: #636037).

Like I said in my report, I was not ripped off; I wanted to get my experience out there so future "customers" can benefit from our story. I hope that these "customers" do the research and decide whether the product (along with SAS) is or is not for them and not get pressured into such a massive purchase. But more importantly, I wanted to express my disgust on being the "customer" and still coming out feeling like I was nearly scammed!

Angry Phil, thank you for going out of your way to post your experience. Your post was a huge factor in our decision to halt the process and do a lot more research. Only after weeks of b.s. from Dave Meadors did we get our refund and part ways with Southern Atlantic Safety. And because of his actions or lack there of, we decide that we wanted nothing to do with Southern Atlantic Safety no matter what they were selling or how beneficial it would be towards our family.

Good luck to everyone else out there looking into Southern Atlantic Safety selling the DeTech fire & smoke alarms.

The following is DeTechs response to this anonymous accusation:

DeTech, Inc is a national wholesaler of high quality fire detection equipment.  Our products are distributed through independent authorized dealers throughout the U.S.  The dealers are typically family owned businesses and are responsible for local sales, service and installation. The anonymous complaints on this report are geared towards the local dealer based in Palm Coast, Florida.  They have reported to us that they do not know who these individuals are; they feel it may be a disgruntled ex-employee and an ex-wife of one their sales reps. Perhaps even a competitor.

Nonetheless, DeTech, Inc. takes every consumer inquiry very seriously, even though they are actually the customers of our independent dealers.  We have worked very hard over the past 10 years to insure the people we do business with are well trained and ethical. Since our inception, we have been in good standing with the Better Business Bureau and are proud of our A+ rating.  We are also members of the Direct Selling Association, which is a 100 year-old organization that governs our industry. We have always complied with their rigid Code of Ethics standards and we are a member in high standings.  In addition we are members of several other business and charitable organizations related to our industry.

We find it difficult, if not impossibleand possibly even careless to respond to any accusations with only limited facts. We have done everything in our power to get to the bottom of these accusations and yet it remains a blemish on our otherwise stellar record. The individuals that filed these complaints are all anonymous. They never contacted our office or gave us any opportunity to attempt to resolve their issues with the local company they dealt with. Most of the information printed is so sensationalized (and optimized), that we question if the consumer actually wrote them.

Unfortunately, The Rip Off Report will not verify or tell us who may be involved.  The description of the events taking place in this complaint do not describe our systems or recommended practices and we do not condone the practice as described.  However, we do not feel we have the right to discipline one of our dealers when we have no record of this complaint and no way to verify the truth, since the complaint is curiously anonymous.

DeTech products have been on the market for many years. We have many dedicated dealers throughout the U.S. who are truly passionate about educating and protecting families from the devastation that fire can cause. We hope that anyone viewing the Rip Off Report will use common sense and realize that not everything posted on the internet is true, especially something coming from an anonymous source. 

If the person that posted this would like to talk to us about your complaint and accusations, please contact our corporate offices at 262-236-0123 and we will get the independent dealer involved in a resolution. Once again, we stand proud of our 10-year reputation and mission and will always immediately address any consumer concerns that are directed to us. 

Michael J. Hafeman

President & CEO

DeTech, Inc.

Dave Meadors is a sales rep for southern atlantic and I've seen first hand how low he'll go to guilt/petrify parents into buying the alarms. If he calls you because you won a bike or gas card do not set up an appt with him. The man has no moral compass and could care less about your family.

I am an ex-employee and have seen first hand the scare tactics involved. This is a shady company that use to be located in Northern Kentucky. Also, be aware Pete Lucarelli is a silent partner who will stoop even lower then Dave Meadors.

Detech as a company should be ashamed of themselves for letting this type of activity take place, but as the old saying goes "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree"

I just got hired onto Goldstar systems in Rapid City, SD. Their sister company is Triad systems and the smoke and heat alarms are the exact same they are trying to get us to sell (117 degrees, 5 minutes of alarm, infared that "sees" the smoke). They only want couples, no singles; it takes about 2 hours; they told us each home is different and needs a walk through to see how many are needed and mentioned a home usually needs about 7, which is how many they installed in that mother's home; and it gives the customers 3 days also. My managers names are ryan and gary. Does that sound familiar to anyone? He said he owned 7 cars but one day his daughter or someone called who he gave his card to and I could hear over the phone her say it didn't work due to insufficient funds. He would also talk on the phone in the office but talk out loud in front of us when talking about buying a car for $20,000 to $30,000. Some of his customer stories were kind of unrealistic also and there was suppose to be 8 people hired on but there were only 2 of us there, me, 22 yrs old, and another girl, 21 yrs old. Would someone please respond if they have any information for me!! Thank you!!!!

Re: Detech (South Atlantic Safety), Palm Coast Florida
Posting positive reports is harder to do than ripping a company with heavy negatives.

With full disclosure in mind we have just signed up and had Detech fire alarms installed. We checked out 'RipOff Report' and found very negative reports on Detech.

I then went to the local Fire Dept and found a Lt. who had worked the Detech program. He stated that the equipment was better than that sold by Wal-Mart/Home Depot etc. He stated that he had no problem with money relations/promises with Detech. However, he did say the sales representative and he did not click. That was the only problem he encountered.

I think that the 5-6 persons who have posted severe accusations need to review their comments to determine if they have been fair and balanced. Of course our involvement is short and only time will tell if we have made a wise choice or not. I am not ready to condemn a company, a product or an individual based on 5-6 negative reports.

The safety and lives saved by fire alarm equipment is a worthy endeavor. Lives saved outweigh the cost of equipment even if it is a bit pricey.

Rick
Palm Coast, Florida

Dear Angry Phil,

I read your complaint with disgust - I too would feel as angry as you, if these clowns "ripped off" my mother! The sad thing is I think I know who one of these scumbags is - almost embarrassed to admit - my EX-husband (Mr Magnum ATI).

He also rips off his children, almost on a monthly basis, it's called NOT PAYING CHILD SUPPORT and his children's medical bills.

He is just the type of person who I would expect would be capable of doing this kind of "job" for a living and, trust me, he WILL be able to sleep very well at night - this kind of scamming does not phase these TYPE of people one bit!

I have a lot more information on this IDIOT! - Please feel free to respond. Would like to make contact with you to hear and share more info if you are willing - will check site regularly to see if you respond.

Dear Angry Phil,

I read your complaint with disgust - I too would feel as angry as you, if these clowns "ripped off" my mother! The sad thing is I think I know who one of these scumbags is - almost embarrassed to admit - my EX-husband (Mr Magnum ATI).

He also rips off his children, almost on a monthly basis, it's called NOT PAYING CHILD SUPPORT and his children's medical bills.

He is just the type of person who I would expect would be capable of doing this kind of "job" for a living and, trust me, he WILL be able to sleep very well at night - this kind of scamming does not phase these TYPE of people one bit!

I have a lot more information on this IDIOT! - Please feel free to respond. Would like to make contact with you to hear and share more info if you are willing - will check site regularly to see if you respond.

Dear Angry Phil,

I read your complaint with disgust - I too would feel as angry as you, if these clowns "ripped off" my mother! The sad thing is I think I know who one of these scumbags is - almost embarrassed to admit - my EX-husband (Mr Magnum ATI).

He also rips off his children, almost on a monthly basis, it's called NOT PAYING CHILD SUPPORT and his children's medical bills.

He is just the type of person who I would expect would be capable of doing this kind of "job" for a living and, trust me, he WILL be able to sleep very well at night - this kind of scamming does not phase these TYPE of people one bit!

I have a lot more information on this IDIOT! - Please feel free to respond. Would like to make contact with you to hear and share more info if you are willing - will check site regularly to see if you respond.