Brinks Home Security
Reviews and Complaints

I called GE something or other to have an alarm system installed which was a sub contractor of Monitronic Alarm Co. I live in a river bottoms of a large river and have intermittent phone service so I asked if they had a system that worked off a cell phone. They told me that yes they did and that they had a Simon XT system that would be compatible with that. The Installer came out and installed the main system in the front house and only a door sensor in my apartment and I'm the one paying for the system. I asked him where the control pad was for my door that I was supposed to get and he said that I didn't need one that the little key fob with the four buttons on it was all I needed. After three months they were cooking something in the front house and the smoke alarm set it off. They couldn't remember how to turn it off till they called and asked me. I immediately called Monitronics to cancel the alarm and they told me that they never got one. After talking to them we figured out that not only did they not give me a keypad for my apartment, they also didn't install the cellular communicator to call out wirelessly. I asked the lady at Monitronics about it and she said it wasn't in my contract. So neither did they give me a keypad but also no way of calling dispatch. That was to whole point behind getting the Simon XT unit was because of that. I now have a very expensive smoke alarm! They wanted another $350 for the GSM cellular communicator. I checked the price on the internet for it and it's 199.95 so it does cost almost as much as the Simon XT deluxe package of $284.95 which includes the Main console, power transformer, 24 hour backup battery, pet immune motion sensor, 3 wireless door/window transmitters and 4 button remote plus misc wiring. The wireless smoke detector also costs $82.50 so the way I figure it for three years thats $1, 512 minus 367.45 for parts and that leaves 1144.55 for installation and to monitor for 3 years. Like I said that's a pretty expensive smoke alarm! Don't trust these people especially being they don't give you a copy of the contract!

They made me pay for 3 years in advance when I wanted to cancel my alarm because I am moving, over a thousand dollars! I wasn't happy with the service or system, the window sensors — which they glue on — come loose through use of window and heat of sun exposure. We've had too many false alarms, bad customer service, and it wasn't cheap to begin with. I've had the technicians over an exhausting amount of times to fix what was a brand new system.

They have you locked in for 5 years or more, and you can transfer the bad service and system, by ripping it out of the wall and windows of the old house, which I am sure the new home owner will appreciate! Or you can beg the new home owner to take over your account!

All of you people are complaining about cancelling service, collection calls, an faulty equipment...first off if you thoroughly read your contracts before signing rather than behaving like a child at Christmas due to all the free equipment maybe you wouldv'e seen that fine print of 36 month contract. Which you had already been informed of from the technician over the phone before the installation department even came to your house! Which I know for a fact cause I work for the sales department! As for collection calls...you get those from not paying your bill. Just like credit card companies do as well. If you'd pay your bill which you agreed to in the first place...you wouldn't get called. So pay your bills! Take responsibility for yourselves an stop bad mouthing Monitronics due to you being irresponsible! Monitronic's has saved many lives, homes, pets, an priceless items an keepsakes for 1000's of people maybe if all those people took as much time telling their stories as all of you "unsatisfied wronged customers" which is 100% due to your own negligence than maybe we'd be able to save more people from tragedies!

I moved away from the house in AZ that I had their services set up. Sales rep mentioned that in case I move, the services will be transferrable. I asked for service transfer to new home in FL. They told me I have to renew the contract for another 3yrs. Since it was a rental home, I was not sure if I would stay with the new house for such period. If I move again, I will have to renew the contract again for another 3yrs. In the end, I will have to stay with their services indefinitely.

What's worse? They never put the contract period on the bill so I don't know if I am paying for the service beyond the contract. The original house in AZ stands empty for 2years now and I had to disable the security to avoid police service charges in case real estate agent couldn't disable the alarm past enough when they are showing the house.

There has to be something to make these people to be responsible.

I make a deal with a company named Platinum. The deal was I will buy the home alarm system if they remove the 5 year monitoring contract clause.

After a few short months, my contract was sold to Monitronics. No big deal I thought, until I decided I wanted out. They say I have to stay with them for 5 years, even though the 5 year clause was X'd out in my contract. They say if I don't pay, they will turn me over to a collection agency.

A second thing to mention. Just yesterday, my house alarm goes off. The cops show up, everything is good. My wife calls Monitronics to clarify what seal was broken. The Monitronics guy suggests that I was sneaking into the house in the back way and then leaving too slowly. He is suggesting I am doing something bad? What a ***.

Please, don't use this company! And don't use Platinum either! They are in bed together but you are the only one getting screwed.

I had Monitronics install my system back in 2008 when I suffered a robbery that left me with almost nothing in my home. The system worked well when someone tried to break in a 2nd time while I was out. Last night, even though my system went off in my house, "the signal didn't reach" Monitronics themselves so once again I was robbed. The phone line was active and not cut.. they busted my window out, opened it and left out the front door with my belongings as if they lived here.

I'm now moving and since no one at Monitronics can tell me how they didn't see the signal for alarm going off, I am canceling my service with them effective my move.

A few weeks ago I got a knock on the door from ADT, a competitor of Monitronics Alarm. The ADT people were told me that there had been a break-in within the neighborhood and they wanted to make sure that I had an alarm sytem set-up in my house. Then it just hit me. Those were the exact same words that came from the guy that sold me the Monitronics alarm system almost 2 years ago. I felt really like a sucker for believing their scare tactics. Whether the break-in was true or not, I should have known to assess the situation and not get suckered to these long contracts costing you as much as $1500. With that money I could have just bought a $700 security home security camera that I can monitor from my laptop anywhere. I tried to cancel my contract, but no luck. They put some nice and fake acting business person to sell you the product then give you the worst costumer service person when you try to cancel. Bottom line, I was told I can't cancel even if I lost my job or get sick. They want their money, that's all and they don't care about your well-being and safety.

Momotronics and platium protection alarm system are horrible companies!the salesman that stopped by my home more or less pressured me into getting platium protection alarm system!they installed it that day but i have not been able to use it do to a bogus voice command on the system. it says garage door open when activated we do not have a garage. when i called i got the run around switched to differnt people then told to change the batteries! we are unable to open the system.i called again to no avail just got the run around!i with held 1 month payment because we can not use the system! was harrassed by monotronics, they kept calling my house saying i owed 2 months i have prove i only owed 1 month!i explained why i have not paid Jan.2010 payment and was given a run around again between monotronics and platiumprotection !was told nothing could be done about the problem and i had to pay 2 months owed before anything could be done or an installer sent out to check the system! or i could pay $2000.00 and they would come get the sytem but need the money up front. please do not get involved with thses companies!i am getting a hold of the b.b.b. of ohio! i paid the 2 months when i got my Feb.2010 bill but no one has come to check the system and now i get a voice activated call saying i owe money! thinking about getting an attorney!

Its about Monitronics security.

They asked us to sign contract for three years.After installing the system it used to give false alarm.Three times police came for alarm . we have to pay police department $70 each time bill came due false alarm.WE contacted monitronics they didn't come or fixed.even police couldn't stop alarm when alarm was going off.

we wanted to cancel it, instead of giving peace of mind it gave us nuisance.but they said we have contract.we paid 3years without service.

july 09 contract finished but still charging.they didn't send a letter also.

We called still they say send a letter of cancellation.

I signed a 3 year contract with Monitronics. I fulfilled my 3 year committment and went on month to month billing. After some time I moved out of the house where the alarm system was installed, but rented it out to tenants who wanted to have the alarm system activated. So I call Monitronics and schedule a service appointment because the alarm is not working. They send out an independent dealer who arrives at the house and says the alarm is not working because the phone is not operational. Well the tenants had been in the house for at least one month and did have the phone system up and working so none of us understood what this guy was talking about, because we could pick up the phone and hear a dial tone, but according to him, when he tested the line, he said he could not hear a dial tone. Anyway - we call AT&T to come out and check the line - who miarculously is there within an hour. They check the line and of course there is no issue with it. I call the idiots at Monitronics again and request a service technician be sent out to correct the problem with the alarm system. So as I am making an appt with Monitronics for the service technicial, I am telling them that I do not expect to have to pay a second service charge, because the guy could have and should have fixed it the first time. I was assured that there would not be an additional cost for the second visit. The first bill was $91 - for nothing! So the guy comes out (the same guy) exactly one week to the day, later. He finds that there is nothing wrong with the line, which is suspicious because AT&T never touched a thing! Anyway he comes, he fixes the system and wants my tenant to sign a bill for an additional $125. My tenant gets me on the phone and I explain to the technician that I was told I would not receive a second bill because no work was completed the first time. He says that Monitronics is wrong and that he expected to be paid. Well I did not pay him. I spent days and days, including the day of service on the phone with Monitronics who is now telling me that they cannot find the rep who told me that I would not be charged, but that because I was no longer under contract with them that I would have a bill whenever a service technician visited my house, whether or not they did anything. This was contrary to what I was told prior to rescheduling the technician to come out. After weeks of going back and forth with Monitronics, while I thought it was a still active investigation, they sent me to collections. I absolutely would not recommend them or their services to anyone. They give out mis-information and when customers make decisions based on the wrong information given to them, the customer has to pay the price. Now that I am in collections, I am going to give them their $249 so that I will never have to deal with them again. Never, ever again!

High pressure taactics of door-to-door salesperson. He misrepresented what was offered: free installation and one $39 monthly payment for fee. Only after giving him all of my information, including my SOCIIAL SECURITY NUMBER, HE ASKED ME TO SIGN A CONTRACT AGREEING TO $39 MONTHLY PAYMENTS FOREVERAFTER!

This was after a half hour he spent assuring me that this security protection was aabsolutely free, a Christmas present for my block and my only obligation outside of the initial $39 payment was my permission to place an advertising sign in my yard.

I did not sign the contract but am troubled by the prospect of having my social security and credit card numbler known by a fraudulent company. The salesman presented me with his card showing his name and what I suppose is the office he works out of.
21455 Melrose Avenue, Suite 18, Southfield, Mi48075. His name is Malik Raheem.

Monitronics would not let me out of contract even after i called with in the three days some one was going to call back but did not then when i called back they said there was no record of me calling and i was stuck in contract unless i would pay like 80% of countract just one big scam.no one wants to help all they want is there money and the system they put in dose not do that good of a job i can break in any time and not set off alarm plus no one told me at any time i would also have to pay the city a fee also more details no one told me about the hole think is not worth it. will never deal with them again nor recomend them to any one.

The absolute worst security system ever. None of the systems they have work properly, and they install systems incorrectly and won't come out to fix them. DO NOT USE this Company.

We signed up for security alarm services with Monitronics in February 2007 at our home in Tempe, AZ. We sold the home in March 2009 and contacted Monitronics via email to let them know that we would no longer need the service because we had sold the home. They asked us to provide them with a letter, which I did, explaining the reason for cancellation. Never did they mention to me that I would be responsible for an additional year on my contract in any correspondence or telephone call I received confirming the cancellation. Starting in July the collections department - phone number [protected] in Topeka, KS starting calling me three times each day, even called my sister on her cell phone several times, telling me that I was in jeopardy of losing my "security service" and would be unprotected unless I paid the past due amount. Again, I went through the whole story with them about selling the house and they would each time tell me that I needed to contact Customer Service in Dallas - which I did by telephone and letter. Finally on 8/12/09 my husband called and found out that we were responsible for "buying out" the remainder of the contract because we had a three year commitment with them through Feb 2010. They said they would send an "end of contract" letter to us with the amount owed and we should pay that upon receipt. I received the letter dated 8/27/09 on 9/8/09 and mailed them off a check for the total balance on 9/11/09. During the time period from when my husband spoke with them on 8/12/09 through today 9/23/09, I have received over 11 phone calls from their collections department - most of which I've ignored but four of them I've taken, discussed and explained the situation with the representative who calls. Each time they seem to be confused, not sure what is going on and can't tell me what the status of the account is. Last night I received a call from their collections department at 8:45pm and she told me I owed over $600 on the account. I called the Dallas office this morning to discuss and again they seemed confused and promised me that they would consider the account closed and remove any additional charges since the $409.93 had been received. I would recommend this company to my worst enemy. I've never dealt with a more screwed up company in regards to billing, collection and customer service in my entire life! Buyer BEWARE!

DO NOT USE MONITRONICS! I tried to cancell my account three times after my two year commitment ended. I paid the remainder of my contract in full, but I am still receiving bills, and every time I call in to resolve the situation I'm placed on hold for 10-20 minutes. These guys are impossible to end a commitment with.

If you want out of the home security contract..FORGET IT. Monitronics is a company who will
latch on to you ( and your personal numbers you give them in confidence ) for any money they
can recieve! I cancelled service, asked for final bill amount and please stop with the harassing calls.
it is still 4 months later and they call me and my contacts up to 4 times a day. If anything, I feel less
secure now then when I ordered my alarm system. everytime the phone rings.
MY ADVICE. ANY COMPANY BESIDES MONITRONICS

The following letter has been sent multiple times to Monitronics with no resolution...

Excuse the following angry tone of this letter, but I am quite frustrated. For the last year I have been dealing with your company's poor customer service. It has resulted in the repositioning of your sign in my front yard so that it's not noticeable to potential clients - and will soon lead to me putting flyers on every house in our community telling this story.

After a year of talking to too many Monitronics representatives on the phone to count... this issue is still not resolved. And it's a measly $40 charge.

It begs one to ask: What is going on?

I've decided to stop calling, since that has not worked previously. I will write it all down here instead. Please forward it to a person that can actually do something about the situation.

The story:

After a botched sales job where the representative misquoted the price of having touchscreens installed (first big disappointment in your company) we had several installation blunders as well. One was that the installer didn't know how to even install the touch screen. The other was that they didn't know how to work it or tell me how to work it. It went on and on until finally things were cleared up by another installer that knew what he was doing.

Through all of them - we were told that our dog would not set off the motion alarm - as they had been rated to 'ignore' small pets. They asked the weight of our dog and concluded it was properly rated. I figured it was the heat sensor that worked according to body size. In any case - with this reassurance (from multiple representatives of your company) - we were not concerned.

Fast forward to our dog, of course, setting off our alarm. Why was this happening? No one at Monitronics could say - but they were willing to eat up our free 'passes' and even charge us for one of the times.

We called as soon as we got the bill and were told it would be taken off, as yes, the charge was ridiculous.

To add insult to injury - we ended up with an alarm system where the motion detector was useless because a small toy-dog would set it off. Very disappointed.

Fast forward to today - the matter is STILL unresolved. This after numerous calls and WASTED hours explaining the same thing again and again. (which is why I'm not calling anymore.)

The last person I talked to was a very nice and seemingly competent supervisor named Sean (ID 8565)

He was VERY clear about doing the following (I made him repeat it - that's how I know how clear he was):

* $21 late fees removed
* Original $39 fee removed
* Original 'free' guard visits removed from record
* NonBillable service call to be set up to see why the alarm was sounding

Sure enough - we had installers come. A good sign! Finally Monitronics was doing what they said they would. They said, "Oh yeah, it might be that the dog sits on the couch and triggers the alarm." To which we said, "Obviously dogs like to get on couches if they're small - that's where they sit." So it was a non-isssue. They should have told us this from the beginning. We would have never set the motion detector. Very simple.

All was good.

Except... the next month I get a BILL AGAIN. $41?

What is going on? I figured maybe it would take a while for the system to clear it - but no. We still keep getting the same bogus bill.

This needs to be handled asap - and it needs to be handled without further hassle to us. I think that $41 is pretty darn trivial when compared to the warnings we will give to future potential customers (via blogging, word of mouth and flyers if that's what it takes) concerning the complete failure of your ability to handle a simple customer service situation.

So - Thank you in advance for fixing these ridiculous errors on my account asap.

Sincerely yours,

xxx

It's been nearly 2 years since we first signed our contract with Monitronics - and this is still unresolved. Since this letter, there were several more calls that promised to fixed this issue, but in the end never did. At this point, we are waiting for our contract with them to expire.

Save yourself the unnecessary stress... Do not use this company.

Almost two years ago after fulfilling our two year contract we called Monitronics to cancel service because our system needed repair and they never came to repair it, and were told we couldn't do that over the phone, we had to send a certified letter. Which we did. THREE TIMES! Then they said we needed to send ANOTHER letter to a different letter, which we did, THREE TIMES! All the while they continued to charge us for each month's service and send bills, and each month we would call them and go over all of this with them to no avail. Put us in collections too! They just will not stop calling and will not let you disconnect. Called again at 7:07 AM this morning, I have HAD IT but don't know who to report them to. If anyone knows who to report them to PLEASE let me know! I want to sue these people!