mr freeman
Tennessee,#2Consumer Suggestion
Mon, June 27, 2011
I have worked in the security industry for about 15 years now and this post sounds like a common situation.
when purchasing a security system ALL WAYS!! search all paperwork for the monthly rate, and duration of the contract. the average rate now is about $35 per month with the major companies.
The sales rep that sold this system more than likely worked for a dealership (just like a car dealer, bill heard "Chevrolet", Chuck Hutton "Chevrolet. they both sell Chevy's but they are not the Chevrolet company). With that in mind, the monitoring station and the company that collects the monthly payment are usually the same but they're not the "dealer" that is responsible for servicing the alarm. Always keep the sales rep.'s info as well as the local office (dealerships) info and if you have problems like this contact the install manager at the local office, if it's not resolved reasonably, ask for the office manager or the owner (which is sometimes the same person). Don't let a problem go for weeks or months before calling, and if they aren't in a hurry to fix the problem call the manager every day if need be. if it goes on too long, let them know your going to file a complaint with the BBB if it's not taken care of by a certain date. On the deadline given file a complaint and contact the monitoring station with the problem. (get the name of the person at the monitoring station and contact them again if not resolved. after that call the lawyers!!
This process may sound long but at the most shouldn't go on for more than 2 weeks (keeping in mind that there are only "X" number of technicians and a schedule that may be full for up to a week or 2. Following these steps, It's been my experience that 99% of customer complaints are taken care of within a matter of days when it reaches the office manager stage. If it reaches the BBB stage the company should be reported and ran out of business. They are a bad reflection on the rest of the industry.