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Monitronics International Inc or ProAlert Ripoff Self-renewing contract not notified by mail or phone victimized many consumers Dallas or Salt Lake City Texas or Utah
My Dad just before his death(May 99) signed up for a Security System with ProAlert based out of Salt Lake City, Utah. He talked my Mom into signing the contract also. My Mom burns food sometimes and when the alarm goes off she gets flustered and can't remember her Code. So on January 2001, the Fire department and Police arrived, plus her neighbor.
They all tried to help get the alarm off and they called ProAlert and they wouldn't turn it off without the code. Finally they came and unplugged it and it's never been hooked up again. My brother called and told them to cancel the service and they said they couldn't until the contract was up. No notice was sent to my Mom that her contract was up for renewal and she keeps all her bills. It was up in April 22, 2002.
We didn't have a copy of the contract. My brother never was told that he needed to write a letter of cancellation 30 days in advance of the anniversary. Well I called on May 1st and they told me it was renewed again and that we couldn't cancel it. So I had her automated draft from her checking account cancelled, so they wouldn't get anymore money from my Mom. They already had over a year and 4 months payments for nothing.
She is 79 years old and hasn't ever done anything with business of any kind. They did finally send a copy of the contract and they did finally cancel, but they want her to pay $450 for nothing. They are preying on the Elderly and ripping them off. I have even talked to their lawyer and all he would say is we need to get Mom legally declared Incompetant to take care of any business dealings.
I really don't want to do this, unless I have to. Our local TV Station is KUTV and they have a reporter named Bill Gephart and he reported on Monitronics and their auto-renewal contracts. Just log onto getgephart.com and read the article from Aug 12, 2002.
My son just called on Jan 4, 2003 and he didn't get any satisfaction either. He did call the local company (ProAlert, 1293 W 2200 S, Suite B, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119. Ph # 801-972-5152) and they were supposed to call back and never did. If any suggestions please contact me. Thank You!
Catherine
West Point, Utah
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Bob
Phoenix,Arizona,
U.S.A.
EX-Installation Technician ..Not only do they treat their customers very poorly; but they also treat their employees very poorly.
#2UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, September 24, 2003
I worked as an installation technician for Pro Alert. Not only do they treat their customers very poorly; but they also treat their employees very poorly. I know of many employees who have gone for many months without being paid. They only pay the employees that they need. If they do not need them, they hold their checks. I do not know why nobody has gone to the labor commission. In Utah, the company and the employees both have to have a Burglar Alarm License, and I know that Pro Alert is being watched by the government agency that provides this license. I do not think that Pro Alert is going to be in Utah for much longer. Phoenix Alarm is also owned by Pro Alert and this area, the state of Arizona, is the problem. They have to many accounts and not enough technicians to handle all of the accounts. The Technicians that they do have are usually not trained or do not know what they are doing, and are over worked. They have a few Technicians that are very good, but very few, and these technicians are under paid, so they end up going to another company.