Complaint Review: Security Associates International - SAI

I have filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission Fraud division against SAI.

Agaist my better judgement I agreed to enter into an automatic payment arrangement with a security monitoring company, on the condition that we had a written agreement that they would only debit my account on a specified date for an agreed upon amount.

Two weeks later they hit my account 7 times, overdrawing my account, causing overdraft fees. I called them countless times, emailed them repeatedly, spent hours and hours on hold, being transferred around from billing to customer service and back again. I asked to speak to the legal department, I was transferred to voicemail, of course no one called me back.

I spoke to a number of people in customer service who agreed SAI wrongfully charged my account and agreed to reimburse my account for the overcharges and then refund the overdraft fees. I waited 2 months, calling every other day before I finally had to place a stop payment with my bank and filed the complaint against them with the BBB and FTC.

SAI's rebuttal to my complaint was that they did not overcharge me, even though when they explained the charges the amounts clearly didn't add up for the 1 month I had service. They never addressed the fact they debited my account on any day of the month they pleased, instead of the date we agreed upon. The terms of the BBB complaint were finally that they agreed to remove me from automatic payment and put me on paperbilling.

The BBB closed the case, even though I still protested because they never followed through on any of their promises to reimburse my account. But the BBB said they believed SAI had made a "good faith effort". As soon as the case was closed, they charged my account again! They did NOT follow through with what the terms of the BBB arbitration were. I demanded to cancel the service. I never got a copy of the alleged "3 year contract" they claim I am tied to. They refuse to give me a copy of my "contract".

I filed a dispute with my bank and put a stop payment on the automatic payment again. I am furious at the irony. Who would have expected to get ripped off by their security company??

It is a clear violation of consumer protection laws to take advantage of automatic payment agreements to the extent that they did and the Better Business Bureau did nothing to help. I was very disappointed and I'm considering legal action against SAI.

The only thing the Federal Trade Commission did was send me online literature about how to get help if you are having trouble paying your bills. I have VERY good credit, I don't have any trouble paying my bills. They didn't even read my complaint.

Cmcd1070
Denver, Colorado
U.S.A.

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