Complaint Review: Vivint - Provo Utah

Our nightmare began after on or about 20 months within our 39 months contract with the new Vivint, former APX alarm company.  To mention that the company changed name without event notifying us of the matter.  And coincidentally enough with the Municipal changes within our state associated with false alarms and the increase in rate due to these from $75.00 to $125 to $150.00 and likewise without a customer service notification about the matter being that it is their industry.

We suddenly started to experience false alarms due to motion detection.  I continually left work to come home to check on the status of my home and each time things were in perfect condition.  Initially I noticed that the volume from the panel each time was altered or lower from how we left it.  As we will usually raise the volume, but had no signs of activity in the home.  I began communication with the company with the purpose of resolving the issue or getting to the bottom of it and I was advised the following 1. that we needed to pay somewhere around $800.00 approx. to get out of the contract, 2. or refer the company to a friend or family member who could retain the contract until the end of the period of agreement the outstanding months to avoid the liability of the penalty. I advised the company that at this point I was unsatisfied with the service because no one could explain the root of the problem so I would not be able to recommend them and to prevent any allegations of the company that they were not successful in communicating with us or having inability to provide optimum service due to problem with the telephone line we proceeded to acquire a new and additional telephone line (somewhere in mid Jan 2011) the same night we were first  notified about the false alarms (late that night) in order to honor the 39 months contract.  We then later learned that there was apparently false alarm prior to that date, when we had a celebration at home and we had no recollection of the alarm and neither of the company contacting us about the matter.  In communications with the company they advise that in order to get a repairman to our home we needed to pay the approx. $40.00 dollars amount that differ from the signed contract.  We refused to have to pay anything as we did not made any changes to our lifestyle, our personal life, secured space or home prior to the malfunction or receiving false alarms. The false alarms continued few more days into the month and suddenly it then somehow stop.  A police officer who visited our home advised that we insist with the company that they sent a technician to fix the problem at their expense as he advised having the same system and been able to obtain that kind of service from the company.  Base on the records provided by the police department the false alarms were on average on or about one or two a day with few changes. 

 

The company accepted in sending someone to our home on or about two or four days after the alarms ceased in the month of Jan, 2011.  The technician came to the home, but when I inquire about checking the motion detector he indicated that he had not been instructed to check for this one.  I shared that this was weird because this was the root of the problem.   We had another technician send out to our home to which we agree to and this person added another unit to our home and verified the functioning of the equipment.  On or about Mid February, 2011 again the nightmare began I was contacted by an employee of the company and we proceeded to verify the emergency contact and others and who appears to be willing to help us and been very concern about the matter.  This person requested that I forwarded the Municipality (Police fees bills to her in order to assist us with getting reimbursed) . We schedule another technician visit to our home per the company request and this happen the day after my conversation with the company employee.  The next day or two days after my communication with this person the false alarms commenced again only this time they intensified.   Supposedly, on or about10 or up to 15 or more in a day.  I had requested that they sent someone other than the employees who had already visited our home and they proceeded to send the first employee who visited our home.  I express my discontent and he contacted the company and another person for the day or fourth person was send out.  At this point I was expecting to see a supervisor or someone who had the title and expertise in my home, but this was not the case.  The company continued to insist that we shall set the alarm but not activate the away function, when in the first place this is the reason why we acquire an alarm system to know that there is protection while we are absent from home, to give us a peace of mind.

Long behold my mom got sick, the false alarms affected her at her job the employer requested that she removed them as an emergency number in case of false alarms, likewise, in my case there had been pre- existing issues in my workplace and the false alarms issue surface in one of my management and HR Predetermination meetings as this been an excuse on my part for perhaps wanting to be absent from work.  Over the course of our relationship and the last two months there were many inconsistencies, such as false alarms when we were in the home and the panel had not gone off or been set on, activations of the panel even when we were at home sick and we could clearly see that nothing was occurring in the home, sometimes in intervals of every 20 min, inconsistencies in contacting the different point of contacts and emergency contacts,  I continually requested the name of the owner or to be connected with the legal department in order to reach to a compromise to avoid the stress and the increase of expenses, continually police visit giving our neighbors the impression that on our residence or home there are illegal activities or others even at times abruptly, interruptions at work due to false alarm, increase in gasoline expense due to excessive trips to the home to verify the situation, increase in false alarms fees, transportations expenses due to the fact that we needed to contact customer service in order to even try to activate my system or change my password or whatever each time delaying or preventing me from arriving to my work on time no matter if I called the company an hour before my departure time from home.  We even experience inability to make changes of my code even though this should be possible each time needed to contact the company, I have requested on three separate occasions an alarm history and until this date this have not been provided to me.  On one occasion I was advised by one of the employee that in order to get the report they needed to call in the panel and we receive somewhere on or about 6 to 8 calls to the panel until I had to communicate with the company again to stop it because it was past midnight, and even then we have still not been provided with copy of the history.  Dealing with the alarm company and system became my job after work on pretty much on a daily basis.

 

I file a complaint with BBB in the end of March and April 7, 2011 was my deadline to submit additional update that day I contacted the company prior to providing update to the BBB as the Bureau encourage you to solve the issue with the company prior filling a complain.  On 4/7/2011 I contacted the company to follow up on the outstanding invoices submitted Mid- March, 2011.  I talked to Mr. Nick Welcker who advised that he were going to help me and at the end of the day that we were going to be fully paid.  He contacted me on my cell phone each time all the way up to  4/10/2011 to advised that all was set there had been issued a waiver to get us paid up and Mrs. Chantal was going to contact us on Monday, 4/11/2011.    In that conversation I also learned that the company decided to cancel the monitoring of my alarm system on 3/28/2011 without giving us a notification of the effective day for this to take place or that they were planning to do so.  I proceeded to verify as usual by activating the system and walking in the house and indeed I got no response from the panel and likewise opening the doors.  We were under the impression that they were still monitoring our home.   Other than an officer coming to my home to advise that the cops were going to request for the system to be turned off due to over on or about 40 false alarms calls I was never notified of a date or a time.  I had an attorney with whom I maintained communication about the matter but whom never advised me on how to solve the issue or what were my rights and never review my paperwork.  As a matter of fact I am been billed by him with no idea of what I am billed for, as I have never received an invoice and he has advised me that he will not provide me with a breakdown of the expenses until may but I have a total of $1,600.00 outstanding with him as well. The company has indicated that they contacted our home in order to offer a free upgrade, but the employee had actually contacted my work on a day off and on another occasion contacted my mom who advised her that she was stepping out for a doctor appointment and mom told her to talked to me and the company employee Mrs. Chelsea Guifford hang up.  I proceeded to email the company contacts to request that this person call her back but never received a call from this person.  Mrs. Chantal called mom cell phone number on 4/11/2011 even though when the company had been advised due to a doctor notice that they shall limit conversation with mom, because of her health.  The medical bills are all associated mom medical expenses as consequence to the false alarms.   Mrs. Chantal only advised that they are going to pay only for the false alarms fees  of on or about $575.00 leaving over $,2000.00 in expenses associated to false alarms outstanding.

I contacted the company on 4/12/2011 to talk to Mr. Welcker  and the customer service employee after he verified all my data proceeded to hang up on me.

 

 

This email was sent to the company on Mar 2, 2011 to Mrs Hadder.

The present note is to follow up on our conversation about the matter on Monday, Feb 14, 2011 and likewise your call on Saturday Feb 19,2011.  I apologize for not have gotten in touch with you sooner, but within the last days I have not been feeling well and my health have been compromised.  Up to the last invoice I have at hand the outstanding balance base on invoice dated 2/09/2011 and with a due date of 3/11/2011 for $600.00 and this cover the days from 12/30/2010 until 1/17/2011.  Each police dispatch visit with a charge of $75.00.  I will be sending it to the fax number you provided, per your request to 1-801-377-4116 

 .

 

With the purpose to provide you with information about the performance of the system within the last days y share that we were visited for the third time by one of your technicians on Feb. 16, 2011. Even though, I provided instructions that you sent a different technician other than the two who had visited our home.  To our surprise they sent the same technician who had visited our house the first time, whom had not resolved the issue.  After expressing our discontent a different person was sent out.  He changed the panel and the motion detection system.  But as you can appreciate or observed attached even thereafter we had false alarms.  I had to leave work at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday Feb 16, 2011 due to false alarm and they continue in the subsequent dates.

 

On our end we have increased our monthly expenses by currently paying for a telephone line exclusively for the alarm system to avoid any discrepancies in the communication through the telephone.  We have incurred in additional transportation cost due to the fact of the time that it is required to address the many discrepancies with the system resulting in having to incur in taxi expenses.  As we only have one vehicle at home that serves for transportation for two individuals and if the one that drives has to stay back to interact with your technical support that result in the other having to seek other ways of transportation.  We also, had to take my mother Cecilia to the emergency room at the  hospital because of pain in her heart due to the many issues with the false alarms.

We do not understand the root of these problems due to the fact that we enjoyed approximately 20 months of contract with a good relationship and a service that until then was normal, but within the last 2 months we have presented many contingencies.  When I contacted your company last month to find out the resource to ending out contract I was advised that in order to end the contract I had to pay you approximately the amount of $800.00.  So far we are unhappy with the service and this difficulties are bringing additional stress to the members of my family, it is embarrassing to us to have the police at all times at our home, we are unable to enjoyed peace and tranquility and likewise a peace of mind we interested in with this service.  We have concerns that the police (Anchorage Police Department) will not respond when we really need it and also due to the excessive additional expenses and the physical effort to clear this.  Not to include the problems that this present when I have to leave my place of work due to false alarms.  And it is apparent that you are not providing us with the appropriate service when we are having multiple alarms.  In our home there are only two adults and we are both careful when using your system. 

 

I do appreciate you taking the responsibility, however my family and I are overwhelmed and feel harassed.  I will like to state that if this problem with false alarms persist we will like to request that our business relationship shall be terminated due to malfunction with us been released of any further contractual obligations in reference to #1155171.  As you can see below we have requested an updated bill for the rest of February.  We will forward this upon receipt.  Thanks in advance for your attention to this matter and your prompt attention will be appreciated