alarm capital alliance

Do not purchase security system thru this company, I have Security Watch since 2004 and my system has not been working since 2006 when it went crazy and I called the company instead of saying it was in my phone lines they told be I would need to have a sevice person come out to look at it which would have cost me but they told me to put a code in the box which it stop acting crazy so I though everything was working properly. When I tried to cancel my contract in 2005 after having three year of this crap I called them November of 2005 to cancel they said I could not cancel my contract because I did not give 90 days notice in cerified mail my renewal was Jan. 1, 2006. I called our attorney generals office to get help and they said they could get my payment down from 44.00 to 25.00 a month which I agreed to for the next three years. Security Watch sold thier business without notifing me of this in 2006. I received nothing not even a phone call from the new company and they still took my money with wasn't the 25.00 but 44.00 month. When my system started acting up again I tried to call Security Watch and all the phone numbers I could find was disconnected so I called my bank and had a stop payment put on any more payments from them which cost me again 30.00, this is when I found out they were charging me the 44.00 a month not 25.00. My bank was really nice and gave me a phone number that was on the bill they get which help me get in touch with the new company Alarm Captial Alliance that had my old company since 2006 they said they sent a letter which I never received and also told me my service wasn't working since they had my system I ask them why they did not call me they said they didn't know why. I have been paying for a service since 2006 at a payment of 44.00 a month that wasn't working my family and I could have died in a fire, during a robbery and they couldn't do anything to help me because my system doesn't work isn't it so nice you have a security system to protect your family and paying for it monthly and it doesn't work. When I called them and told them I stop payment on anymore payments from them they said they would put me in collection and put it on my credit report so I am getting my states attorney general office to see if they can get me some of my money back that I have paid or could I take them to court over this. I can not believe I was paying for a service I wasn't getting. Belive me I will never have another security system put in my home even if they give it to me free with a guard at my door 24/7. Please don't get anything from this company EVER!!!!

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This is an official response from Alarm Capital Alliance. We apologize for any inconvenience over your service and we thank you for your comment.

From your note, we are not clear if you called the monitoring station or if you waited for them to call you; however, we want to let you know that this type of situation occurs every so often because the property owner proactively tries to call the monitoring station when an alarm is disarmed. Unfortunately, when the monitoring station is attempting to call the owner simultaneously, the signal can fault. When an alarm signal is triggered, property owners should wait to be called by the monitoring station.

We understand that you are upset and we are very sorry for your frustration.

Please note that we measure our success on customer satisfaction and will be addressing this issue internally so that it does not happen again. Again, we appreciate your comment and apologize for any confusion. Since we could not verify your account information through this correspondence, we invite you to call us at 866-677-0201 to further discuss the fine on your account with a Customer Care representative.

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This is an official response from Alarm Capital Alliance. We are sorry it took so long to get back to you, but we have just recently put a system in place to address old and ongoing customer comments online. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience or confusion over your monitoring agreement. When our company enters into a relationship with a Dealer, we notify all customers under that Dealer of the change by sending a letter in the mail. The telephone number you called in 2005 to cancel your services must have been Alarm Capital Alliance. Therefore, you must have received the notification letter stating that we would be managing your account.

In regard to the automatic renewal policy, we believe it is our duty to keep our customers secure. For the safety of those we serve we do our best to avoid lapses or intermittent disconnection of service. Towards that end, once a term expires the contract is automatically renewed. Additionally, we require written notice of intent to cancel 30 days prior to the termination date. This is an industry-wide practice put in place to protect our customers from fraudulent termination of services.

We understand that it is very frustrating when an alarm system in inoperable. We try very hard to keep fluid communication with our customers and to stay on top of account information so that when a system is not working we can send out a technician or troubleshoot over the phone. From your comment, it does not sound like you called our Customer Service Representatives to tell them of your inoperable system. Please note, it is our policy to schedule service immediately for the safety of our customers and we would have discounted you for the time it was not working.

Again, we are sorry for any frustration you have endured. Our friendly Customer Service Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8am-8pm EST at 866-484-4800 to speak with you on any future questions or concerns you may have. We thank you for your business and hope to service you in the future.

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I agree I stop paying and I continue to get collections calls here is my experience with this company.

I am cancelling the agreement both because the 36 month agreement has been met and because of the gross incompetence in the monitoring of my house, property and family.

Here is what happened:

1. Since your company has taken over the monitoring of my alarm from Connective Home; on multiple occasions the door has been opened with the system active and the alarm was cancelled within seconds of entering the house. Each time that the phone has been answered to notify the monitoring center that everything is ok there is no one on the line. The police are called and then I am forced to pay a fine for a false alarm. Most monitoring systems have the keypad inside the house. So disabling the alarm system is completed by first triggering the alarm by opening a door and then entering the correct code to cancel the alarm.

2. On March 12, 2008 the alarm was triggered and cancelled within seconds as verified by your system technician. My partner had opened the door and proceeded to cancel the alarm at the keypad. Again the phone was answered there was no one on the other end. Once again the police were summoned and again it took an hour for the police to arrive as your system sent a message header stating the emergency was at 400 Spackman Lane, an address that does not exist. Only in the body of the message did the correct address appear. As the police officer explained to my partner the police use the message header in order to respond as quickly as possible.

3. Since your organization has failed to adequately explain the problem with the phone and I have previously paid a fine of $50.00 to the West Whiteland police department fine for a false alarm, I fully expect your company to pay the false alarm fine for this most recent incident.

I think you will understand why I am upset at way the monitoring of my home security has been handled. My experience with your company clearly shows that I cannot trust you to monitory the security of my home and property. Please cancel my account and stop all requests for payment through my credit card as I have notified them not to accept requests for payments.

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10/16/09

I'm in Minneapolis, MN I too did not know my service provider sold out. Prior my service was with our location Gas Company. I received a bill from Alarm Center 1400 Providence Road Suit 3055 Media, Pa 19063, same address as this company. I too canceled payment thought my account that is when the calls started asking for their money. I told them the alarm has not worked for sometime, they asked me if I have cable and internet, I said yes they then said my phone line is messing it up and I have to call the cable company. After a year or so trying to get the two companies out at the sometime. When both companies came they stood in my kitchen telling each other what each had to do to make it right, they ended up walking way from each other and nothing was done. So about 6 months later and not paying on my bill they sent out a tech who said we needed a defuse put in the wall behind the control panel in the wall, and here is the kicker he then said he can't do it because he could get sued, and left it on my kitchen table.

As far as I know the Alarm works after last week they sent a man to change the system to what they call digital.

I still have not paid the bill; I am still waiting for the adjustment they said they would give me on my bill.

After reading all of this I will be contacting the Atty General here in MN.

Thank you, this was an eye opener on what I am really dealing with.

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I am also having trouble with these people. My original contract with local company stated 5 years which in TX you legally must offer 3yrs min, so the sales person wrote 36 for 3 yrs for my term. Well now the Alarm Center as they call themself to us here in TX is telling me I have 5 yrs with them/after they saw my contract they agreed it was for 3 yrs but I had to send written request to cancel 30 days prior to renewal date or they would automatically renew me for another year. Well I was 7 days late and they are dragging their feet with what they are willing to do for us to allow us out of this contract. Customer service told me that I had a new contract with them that is after my local contract...no the first contract is bond, the one after was never agreed upon by us...period. Thank you all for listing your complaints, I will not except the supervisor's offer to give what ADT is giving us, I will sign up with ADT or no one at all..this is too stressful dealing with those who are more out to get your money then concerned about your protection. Alarm Center has been nothing but inconsistent with their service over the years anyway, I do not reccommend this company to anyone. And if your local company sells your contract to them I found out that legally you have 30 days to decided if you want to cancel your contract or not because they have changed your agreement by selling it to an outsider.

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I am having the same problem in NJ. Sounds almost like I tyed in the above complaint. The problems are so similar. I ahve filed 2 complaints with the BBB and neither helped. Alarm capital claims that my account is still active. I am going to take further steps wit Attorny General. My name is with collections.

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I did not get your email address, write me at maarie2001 AT yahoo.com

They were waiting for someone else to fill a complaint with the Attorney General in PA before doing anything there. If you file a complaint too, that makes at least two.

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Similar problem with this rip off company - I'm filing a complaint with attorney general, and it's beginning to look like maybe a class action would be appropriate here. Any big wig attorneys looking for a case? Sales rep will acknowledge he forgot to cross off auto renewal on policy. They turned over to collection agency from hell - violated every single Fair Collections law - I'm wondering if the two are related, but can't tell since I never did get the collection company to give me name/address. Now this bogus charge is on my credit report, costing me even more in interest rates, insurance rates, etc... grrrrr

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Same problem, I've filed with BBB and the PA States Attorney's office. My next stop, the Federal Trade Commission. These people need to be stopped.