Complaint Review: Vivint | Ripoff Report Verified Safe

I signed up for an APX alarm monitoring system in 2008.  I chose APX Alarm (the former name of Vivint) because they offered cellular alarm services and I don't have a landline at my home.  During the sales process, per the best of my recollection, I agreed to a 2 year term for the contract, with an automatic renewal on a year-to-year basis after two years.  I made a mental note to contact them prior to the contract renewing.

As the system was nearing 2 years of age, I contacted APX Alarm because they had not yet made a service call to have a promised fire sensor installed in my garage.  I had neighbors who lost their home to a garage fire and this was an important part of my decision to purchase from APX.  It took a number of calls to have the fire sensor installed because they (per the people I spoke with at APX, from memory) didn't have enough technicians who were able to install that part.

Last summer I had a (false) alarm and was not contacted by Vivint (this was after the name changed).  I had been busy and hadn't contacted them to find out why I wasn't called when I realized my account was past due.  I decided that I was going to get the problem with not being called resolved before I paid my bill, figuring it was a simple oversight and it would be solved immediately.

After making a fairly large number of calls, and never reaching a person who was able to change my account so I was always called on an alarm (the Vivint technical support person confirmed that Vivint does not always call on an alarm, which was the way my previous provider, ADT, operated), the account fell so far behind it was at risk of going to collections.

In addition to the alarm that I wasn't called regarding, the backup battery in the system failed and I asked the support person why I wasn't notified that I had a bad battery and needed it replaced.  At that time, I told the person I spoke with that I wasn't just unsatisfied, I was extremely dissatisfied, but that they were being given a chance to make things right and win me back.

In December, 2011 I spoke with a gentleman who promised to get someone from their technical support area to make the required change made so I'd always be called, and who also agreed to waive some of the past due amount.  The technical support staff never reached me and as a result the account eventually went to collections.  I explained, as I had several times before, that because alarms are known to have "secret" panic codes, which are often published or well known to criminals, I did not want to rely on cancelling the alarm as a way to avoid having a call made to my phone.

In February, 2012 I was contacted by a collections agency.  I told the person that Vivint had not fulfilled the terms of their agreements and had broken numerous promises.  It was at this time that I was told I supposedly had a 60 month monitoring contract.  This contradicts my best recollections (that it was a 24 month contract) as well as things I'd been told when APX installed the fire sensor about two years ago.

Today (2/8/12) I explained to the woman (Jessica) I spoke to in Billing that I was willing to send in 4 months payment (since they did actually monitor the system during part of the time and I'm always willing to pay for services received) and that I very much wanted my home monitored, but that they needed to keep their promises.  I also requested a copy of the original contract.

Unless someone actually needs a service provided by Vivint, I would not recommend them.  In my opinion, they provide very poor customer service and often fail to follow through on their promise.