Home Alarm System & Personal Care Alarm
Shame on AlarmForce! My father lives in a tiny 900 sqft retirement cottage in a gated community. The complex has security guards on the premises and each unit comes with a monitored alarm system.
Despite this, AlarmForce sold him on the idea of their 2-way system and personal care alarm systems and signed him up for 3-year contracts on both. My father is deaf so a 2-way system is useless to him, and he lives in Florida from November - May, so a personal "panic button" with a monthly fee would also be a waste. Never mind the fact that he cannot afford to pay for these things to begin with (The cost esimate above is based on $25/month + $35/Month x 12 months x 3 years).
The AlarmForce equipment was installed adjecent to the existing alarm equipment just before my father went south for the winter. When he returned, he saw this new equipment and asked what it was and why it was there; he didn't seem to remember the sales call.
We contacted AlarmForce customer support on his behalf to cancel the services with a full explanation but they were toatlly unsympathetic saying that he signed the contract and is responsible for paying for the duration. My father is 80, in frail health and like many his age, his memory is failing him. He most likely didn't understand what he was signing. It is beyond unacceptable that my father would be sold something he clearly doesn't need, and to be enrolled in two long term contracts. The evidence suggests to me that this company is only interested in signing people up at any cost.
Note that I am not commenting on the AlarmForce equipment or the services they provide, I will leave that for others, however they are not for everyone, and clearly not for people like my father who is deaf and already had a monitored alarm system at the time. The sales person should have realized this and in all good conscience, not proceeded - instead he saw an easy sale.
For their part, once the situation was fully explained to them, AlarmForce should have acknowledged their mistake and cancelled the agreements with a full refund of all monies paid to date. That would have been excellent customer service. Instead, they simply re-state that he has signed the contracts and will be held to them - that is not customer service, it is pure greed.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $2,520.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Acknowledge that your services are not for everyone, and do not allow your sales staff to take advantage of an obviously frail senior like you seem to have done in this case. If you care one iota about customer service, you should apologize for the treatment my father received and refund all the money you took ($70 / + tax month for the two systems - AlarmForce and AlarmCare - that he never needed from day one).
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Don't be fooled by their advertising. A 2-way alarm system is a gimmick most people don't need and will never use.