ComplaintsforAmerican Security & AV Systems, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  10/21/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  American Security installed a security system and A/V connections in our home when it was built in 2019. We signed a contract 7/12/2019 for American Security to monitor the security system. We called about a year ago to discuss cancellation and was told we could not cancel at that time. We called today and were told we missed our 30-day cancellation window, and our contract has a 2-year automatic renewal. We were not notified of the expiration of our initial 3 years or of the upcoming or implemented renewal. When we asked, ****** responded that they couldn't possibly do that as they would have to hire someone - or a team of people - to track all the contract renewal dates and correspond with customers. The only option to cancel at this point is to pay the full amount remaining of the 2-year contract that expires 7/12/2024.This is a highly unethical way to do business - to rely on holding customers hostage for income rather than the quality of the service provided. Not notifying customers of an upcoming automatic renewal then having no option for cancellation other than full payment is unreasonable and unethical.We did submit a request to cancel our contract effective 7/12/2024 as ****** indicated we could do that despite us being previously told we could not cancel early. However, we would like to discontinue the monitoring and cancel the contract effective the end of the month at no additional cost.

  

  Business response

  11/04/2022

  This is to respond in regard to *********************** complaint. I did listen to the recording of the phone call from ****** about when her contract ends today. The phone call was received on 6/11/22 at 1:00 PM.  ****** called in to make a payment and then ask to be directed to someone who could tell her when her contract ends.  She was transferred to our service department.  She was told on this phone call her agreement started on 7/12/19 and it was a 3-year agreement.  She was also told she would go into a roll over for additional 2 years on 7/12/22.  ****** said thank you and goodbye.  She did not inquire about cancelling during this phone call. 

   

  She called in on 10/21/22 and spoke with ****** about cancelling her services.  Her agreement had already gone into a 2-year renewal on 7/12/22.  Her current contract ends on 7/12/24.

• Initial Complaint

  02/22/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have been trying to cancel this security service since May 2021. I called and spoke with Samantha and asked what I needed to do to facilitate the cancellation. She said she would email me a form to fill out and return. I never received the form. They claimed they didn't have my email on file when I called to inquire. Hmmm... seems strange you wouldn't confirm my info in May. They allegedly resent the form in July...which I didn't receive. Checked my junk mail multiple times. I called again in the fall and again in January 2022. Now, almost nine months later they email me the form along with an early termination fee of $765.45. This fee includes $250 fee for the price of the removal of 10 plus year old equipment. This equipment, which doesn't even work as the alarm (which wasn't even set ) starting going off over the New Years' weekend when a dog sitter entered our empty house. No call from AS or the police. Luckily the house guest was able to get it to turn off. This company is unprofessional. I have never seen or signed a long term service agreement. I tried in good faith to cancel this service 9 months ago and have gotten the run around so they can just keep billing me. I am done and will not be paying them anymore money for a service that doesn't work and they are not providing.

  

  Business response

  03/07/2022

  ******** called in on 5/17/21 to cancel services. Samantha was working on this. She was trying to send ******** the cancellation form to fill out. We are a security company and we do have to have it in writing when cancelling services. Samantha was not able to email the form we did not have a valid email address on her account. Samantha attempted to call ******** several times to get a valid email. Her voice message mailbox full. Samantha could not leave a message.

  ******** called back on 7/14/21 stating she had cancelled months ago. We explained to her again we must have a cancel request form filled out. We got a valid email from her that day. Tried sending the cancel form to her several times. She said she never received it. We asked her to look in her spam/junk mail.

  We finally mailed the cancel request form to her on 2/16/22. We still have not gotten this form back from her. We do still have her system active at our ******* *******. We have not stopped billing her. We just sent her a 10 disconnect on 2/23/22 for nonpayment from January. We do have a valid contract that she signed 

  Customer response

  03/14/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  
  I find it interesting that they acknowledge that I contacted them back in May to cancel service but couldn't reach me to send me the cancelation notice.  They had my email address and phone number.  I did reach out when I didn't get the notice via email and still nothing.  No one called me.  I am a realtor and I'm constantly on my phone and my mailbox is never full.  They are just passing the buck.  I also stated in my initial complaint to the BBB that the monitor isn't even working... notice how there was no reaching out to me about that.  This company is not about customer service.  It's just about charging people for a service they don't even provide.  How often have they asked to come check on the equipment to make sure it's up to date and functioning?  NEVER ONCE.  Or the time I reached out and asked for a yard sign to place in front of my house.... NEVER GOT IT.  I am not paying a termination fee.
  
  

• Initial Complaint

  12/01/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have had problems with the systems installed from day 1. Every time a problem occurs they want to send out a technician at a cost to me to repair their system. They are now calling me daily because their 90 second delay does not work when we turn off the system and the alarm automatically goes off. They have contacted the police department so many times that the police are now charging me $150 every time they are dispatched. Issues have been going on for years. I have asked multiple times, since October, when are contract expires so that we can cancel and they have not responded. They did send me a cancellation agreement wanting to charge me $950. Be aware.

  

  Business response

  01/06/2022

  ***** owns his equipment at his business. Therefore, when he needs a service call it is chargeable. This is not our equipment to maintain. The monthly rate he pays American is strictly for monitoring services.

  When we moved his equipment from one address to another in September 2019 the phone service was not the same at new address as he had at old address. Therefore, his system was not communicating. We did end up putting a wireless communicator on his system so it would communicate to central station in 2/25/20 and this solved the problem. We charge $199.00 + Tax to install this device. ** We did this at no charge for ***** as a courtesy. (When he was moving locations, he did not know, and we did not know he would need this device.)

  The request to cancel form does show a balance of $950.00 at the bottom. Once we go on site and deprogram our codes out of the security system this $950.00 is credited off with a $0 balance owed. If the customer does not schedule appointment for us to deprogram, they do owe the $950.00. We did get ***** deprogrammed today.

  ***** was working with Samantha in our cancellation department. Unfortunately, Samantha did get COVID during the time they were emailing back and forth. Therefore, there was a lag time of him getting his contract date. She did give him his dates when she returned to the office.

  ******* accounts with American Security & AV Systems have been closed and taken care of at this point.

  Thank you

  Sharon ******* Office Manager ****************

  Customer response

  01/13/2022

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  This is the opposite of what the company actually told me regarding ownership.  They indicated to me that I was leasing the equipment and in their deprogramming actually came and took the equipment away.  If I owned it, why did they take it.away? Additionally, when they removed the equipment, they left holes in the wall.  I now have to hire a painter to come in and fill the holes, plaster and paint.

  
  

  Additionally, they charged me $800 at my home and office to cancel my service.  Despite having non-functional equipment for several years, they actually charged me to the end of the contract date, to get out.  

  
  

  I would not, by any means, ever recommend anyone do business with such a non-customer oriented company.  Once you sign a contract, you may be stuck for a long time frame with these folks. 
  
  

  

  Business response

  03/08/2022

  I am emailing you in regards to ***** *********** BBB Complaint ID #********.
  I have attached his signed agreements for his home and his business.
  
  In paragraph #9 it does out line that upon removal of our equipment we are not obligated to repair or restore property.
  In paragraph #16 it does explain the company has no responsibility for the communication.  It is the subscribers responsibility to have proper transmission services. 
  
  Please let me know if you need further information on ******* Complaint.
  
  Have a great day.
  

• Initial Complaint

  10/13/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We have had Securicom (now known as American Securicom) as our home monitoring system since 2014. We are no longer under any contract, and I contacted them to discontinue our home monitoring service (for which there is a $36/month charge). They sent me back a cancellation form, by which I have to agree to pay them $663.50. I asked them to show me a contract indicating that I have to pay them this money (there is no contract as our contract expired). They will not do anything until I sign the form and allow them to come into my home to "deprogram" our system. I cannot sign the cancelation form because it obligates me to pay them $663.50, which I do not owe them because there is no contract. I simply want to cancel our monitoring service.

  

  Business response

  11/05/2021

  The BBB was advised that the consumer was mistaken that there was not a contract and was under contract with the business.  Due to the nature of the business, they cannot cancel service without a signed cancellation form.  The consumer has agreed to sign the cancellation form and the cancellation amount with the business. 

• Initial Complaint

  09/14/2021

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  *********************** reached out to me in early April saying that my security system was going to be obsolete and I must update. He sent me a quote (AAAQ6022) that was $992.78 to upgrade my system on 4/13/21.Rather than pay this fee to upgrade my system, I requested they cancel my service effective immediately on 4/15/21 via email. Since then, I've spoken to multiple people within the company.They are now saying my contract auto renews each year in January and I had to give them 2 months notice prior to that in order to cancel. I have no choice but to pay $435.54 to pay for the entire year and have turned me over to collections.They should have notified me I would have to upgrade my system before the auto renew. I shouldn't be forced to pay to update without the option to cancel my service.On 9/1/21 ****** contacted me and agreed to only charge the prorated amount to my **** and processed the transaction. 9/3/21 they sent me yet another invoice for the remaining balance.

  

  Business response

  09/28/2021

  The comment from ******************* about the salesman Rob reaching out to him in April about his security system becoming obsolete and he must update is not a true statement.
  A company representative Rob was working on a project calling customer's with older 3G Wireless Alarm Communicators on their security systems. These, like any older cellular phone will need updated to be compatible with the new 5G cellular beginning 2023.
  ***** Security System itself was not going to be obsolete he just needed to upgrade the wireless cellular communication device before the cellular change is made. *** had told Rob he wanted some other devices upgraded.
  Rob had put together a Quote with the new Wireless Cellular Communicator and other devices upon ***** request, which the quote amounted to  $992.78.  This quote was to upgrade his whole system and the wireless communicator. (He did not need to upgrade his whole system, he requested to do so)
  
  The invoice for his annual monitoring was from 1/1/21 thru 12/31/21.  He was past due on this invoice so we had sent him a disconnection notice 8/20/21.  I have attached this invoice for your review.  You will notice in the memo area:  No refunds given upon the event of cancellation.  This invoice dated 1/1/21 was past due.  He did not request to cancel until April 15, 2021.  (We have to subscribe to services for a year)  We do not prorate annual invoices.   
  
  When *** called in to cancel in April we sent him a cancel form to fill out and he has never filled this out and returned to us to complete the cancel process.  We are a security company, so we do not just cancel services with verifying the customers and the request. We have a form they are required to fill out to complete the cancellation process.  This  was explained to ****************. We had emailed him a number of times to send the cancel form back so we could begin the cancelation process, and that he did owe this open invoices.
  
  He did speak with **************** on 9/3/21 where **************** gave him his credit card to pay the invoice up to April. ****** did not make any commitment this would be final payment nor any credits issued. He stated he would talk with the accounting person. ****** is a sales representative and does not authorize charges to be credited off.

  Customer response

  10/01/2021

   I am rejecting this response because:
  
  When Rob contacted me he told me I had to upgrade the cellular unit "soon" or my service would no longer be monitored.  They certainly never told me I had until 2023 to do that and it's not in any of the email correspondence that I've attached to this claim. While he was here, he said my smoke detectors were very old and recommended that they be replaced as well.  That is what was included in the $992 quote I was given.

   

  The cancelation letter they are referring to is attached, as well as my response.  I didn't complete it because it said I would owe the full year's worth of monitoring PLUS $250 for the disconnection/deprogram appointment.  I responded to them asking again for the amount owed to be adjusted to the prorated amount through April.  From then on we just went round and round, per the other emails I've already attached.

   

  ****** did in fact tell me that he understood my situation and that I could just pay the prorated amount.  That is why I authorized him to charge my credit card the partial amount, not the full years worth of monitoring.  I wouldn't have agreed to pay anything unless I felt the issue had been resolved.  They are simply not telling the truth. 

   

  Thanks for your assistance in this matter.  I've already paid for the services that I received up until I requested the termination.  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩