Complain about a product or service

Protect America

Pamela of Oneonta, AL February 6, 2009

Pamela of Oneonta AL (02/06/09)
I just went through a similar problem with Protect America. I had called them to lower my mortgage insurance, The rep I spoke with Eric (wont give last name) raced me through a site in which he told me I didnt need to read. then we did a 3-way call to my husband, Eric told my husband that we would need to get drafted a fee for 19.95 for shipping and handling, my husband then asked to not draft from his account after this first time fee, Eric informed my husband 3 times that this was only a one time starting process and that they would not debit anymore money from our account they took out the initial S&H fee of 19.95.

And on February 2 2009 they did debit again in the sum of 29.95 which caused major problems in our checking account ( 4 NFS Charges), I called these people and they are not willing to work with me on the issue. Accordance to Alabama law I had 3 days from the time I received this equipment to cancel my contract with them, I let them know about Alabama law, and continued to cancel my contract on the third day.

Now they are harassing me via phone, and email. Since this happened my husband had to cancel his debit card and file a dispute to stop them from pulling out of our account again. Now I have contacted my Governor whom just called me today concerning this, he is sending information to the attorney general of consumer affairs. I also wrote to the President and filed a report to the BBB.

4 NFS Chargers of 38 because it caused my bank account to go into the negative. plus the initial 29.95. which adds up to 181.85 total.

Carol of Avon, IN February 2, 2009

Carol of Avon IN (02/02/09)
The product is not a quality product. You have to be willing to spend hours on the phone to get it to work at all. If/when it fails it beeps until you finally disconnect it. The Website and sales people are very professional. Once that contract is signed, you are trapped.

It is legal for a company to have a contract where they are responsible for nothing and you are responsible to pay whether the product works are not? I believe this contract is consumer entrapment. Read the many complaints against Protect America. They should be renamed Rip Off America and put out of business. Surely, this cannot be legal.

Jen of Liberty Twp, OH January 14, 2009

Jen of Liberty Twp OH (01/14/09)
BEWARE! Due to a company relocation I moved from Phoenix to Cincinnati. I had 6 mos. left on my contract so I contacted Protect America to find out my options. Protect America stated I could transfer the alarm system to my new residence. Once I moved into my house I contacted Protect America to reinstall my system. I was advised they had no technicians in my area. Stuck with a system I could no longer use I choose not to renew my contract. I advised Protect America in writing 45 days prior to the contract ending and received a telephone confirmation. This however did not stop Protect America from renewing my contract for another two years.

I contacted customer service numerous occassions, the staff was rude and unwilling to work with me. I wrote a letter to management and got no reply. Subsequently, I was turned over to collections. I was harrassed daily for months. My collection account shows a balance of 527.00. I am completely astonished at the way this company does business. I am now a happy ADT customer.

Despite fullfilling my initial 2 yr. contract, I now owe an additional 527.00 to a collection agency. My credit score has dropped over 100 pts.

Carmen of Gibsonton, FL January 9, 2009

Carmen of Gibsonton FL (01/09/09)
I started my service with Protect America in March of 2006 when I purchased a home. After experiencing high pressured sales tactics, they waived a fee, or so they said. This fee was immediately debited from my account and I had to dispute the fee and wait 30 days for a refund! Then once the equipment was actually mailed to me, it turned out to be faulty equipment, not working properly, etc. When I called and requested new sensors, the fee for this was extremely high. I decided against purchasing more sensors and went with ADT instead.

At this point I tried to get out of my contract but the fees were more than what I owed on the contract so I decided to fulfill my contractual obligation of three years of service like a responsible consumer would. Jan 8th, 2009 I sent my cancellation request. After not hearing back from the cancellation department as I was informed would be the next step, I called them.

Today, Jan 9th, 2009 I have been informed that my contract will cancel De 2010 because I missed the 60 day notice cancellation request by two weeks! I told them that I refuse to pay another year on service I have not used in over two years and that for 2 weeks I should not be penalized for an entire year! I have stopped the ACH from my checking account and will just have to deal with the repercussions of collections and possible charge off.

I don't understand how this company can continue to be deceptive in their practices in which I see as unreasonable. A 30 day notice should suffice but apparently with Protect America it does not. I was not even aware that a 60 day notice was mandatory or my contract would be automatically renewed. That is ridiculous. When I first got my service, due to the horrible experience I had then submitted a complaint to the CEO and to the BBB. Now here I am again having issues with the same company. I certainly hope that enough voices are heard and a class action lawsuit does stem from this.

Amitra of Long Beach, CA January 5, 2009

Amitra of Long Beach CA (01/05/09)
I moved into a new home in Janurary 2007. The former owner had a security system installed on the premises. I contacted Protect America to see if I could take over the contract that was currently enforced on this property. I was sent a contract and an ACH draft bank form. After submitting the form right away Protect America took the first payment of 27.00 even before setting the account up or giving me access and security codes. I was contacted several times after that by protect america 8am in the morning to set up the services after explaining I was at work 8-5 and the best time to set the service up would be after 6pm. The only time I was contacted after 6pm was when the collectors starting calling for payment.

I was billed 4 months for no service before finally telling my bank not to allow any more drafts from this company. After 6 months I finally spoke with a rep who attempted to set the system up only to find out I could not use the keypad that was currently in the home. I was told they would send me a new key pad. Once I received the new keypad, I was told by the next rep that I should have kept the old one because it works off of cellular lines and he couldnt set the new key pad up because of the type of phone service I had. I sent the key pad back to Protect America and have yet to receive another once since.

As a result of their negiligence, they have sent me to a collections agency and now have a lawyers office calling me. They are trying to force me to pay over 600.00. When I explained to the attorney's office everything that happened they still wanted me to pay 200 for service I have yet to receive. When I refused I was told I would continue to receive collection calls. I would like to have this account closed,and withdrawn from all lawyers offices. In addition to. have no further harrassments from any other agencies and be refunded for the 4 months of service I never received.

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